by B T Litell
“These priests are from the Order of Herons, Drendil’s only surviving sect of priests. There are five orders of priests that are each marked by different birds. Drendil is the Heron, Prikea the raven, Ofari the owl, Udin the hawk, and Istraes the swallow. Each governs the Magic within their continent. That is the hope. Here in Drendil there is also the Sorcerer’s College that I mentioned aboard Queller, though they do much less governing over Magic than they used to. They also teach much less Magic than they used to, but their reputation for starting the Second War will be hard to break. Erith should be the only city in Drendil with a temple and priests that have not fallen to Madness. I will hold to the hope that that will be changed after we complete our mission,” Joshua explained when he saw Michael eying the markings.
“Welcome Brother Raven. We get very few visitors from the other continents, and it is our pleasure to welcome you to our temple. How may we help you?” one of the Heron Priests said, walking over to Michael and Joshua.
Joshua briefly explained the purpose behind their visit, with the Heron Priests nodding their understanding. During the explanation, and hearing their need to find the Shadow Knight, the other priests motioned for the visitors to join the priesthood in their study downstairs. They would be more at liberty to speak behind closed doors. The Order of Herons’ study looked quite similar to the Order of Ravens’ that Michael had seen before. In the middle of the room stood a large table. Shelves surrounded the room, and the shelves bent under the weight of the stacks of books they bore. On the center of the table was a small teapot with a matching set of seven handle less mugs. Various oil lamps were placed in strategic locations around which cast light evenly throughout the cozy room. The space was neither large nor small and would serve the purpose it needed to for Michael and Joshua to get information that would aid them in their quest.
Just as in Prikea, the priests prepared tea for their guests. Unlike the Order of Ravens, the Herons used spells to heat the water, speeding up the process significantly. There apparently were fewer trepidations concerning the priesthood openly using Magic in Drendil than there were in Prikea. While they prepared the water for the tea, Joshua explained their visit, going into greater detail about Michael’s premonitions which came as the nightmares which had been plaguing him for over a month now, the Shadow Knight and the army he led to destroy the unknown city, and the other two people Michael needed to find for his mission. The Heron priests took a few moments to consider the information they had received before providing their suggestions.
“Brother Joshua, have you considered all the possibilities of this premonition?” one of the Herons asked. He had long, silver hair drawn into a ponytail at the back of his neck and a silver beard long enough that it covered his neck and the top of the Heron on his chest.
“What possibilities do you mean?” Joshua replied as he examined a map of Drendil that the Herons had opened on the table.
“One possibility is that you are this James person that Michael has seen in the dreams,” the priest replied. “I know you are a priest and therefore a Mage by skill and trade. I also know that most Mages do not fight with physical weapons. Lastly, I realize that your name is not James. But something about your presence tells me that you are one of the men Michael needs to complete his journey. There is a bond between you two, though not one of Magic that we could easily see or examine more thoroughly without causing some interference between you two.”
“A bond, you say?” Joshua pondered. He sipped at some of the tea for a brief moment before an idea struck him. “Do you think it would be possible to investigate the bond and search for anyone else that may be connected with that same bond? If we did that, it could lead us to this Sven person we have to find!”
“Great thinking, Brother Joshua,” one of the other Herons replied. “Michael would you allow us to delve into you so we might examine this bond between you and Joshua?”
“What is involved in delving? It sounds like something that will hurt. Will it hurt?” Michael asked, suddenly rethinking his desire to stay in the room.
“It won’t hurt, child. In fact, the only thing should feel is a lightness, as if you are a cloud floating above the world. We simply need to find this bond within your spirit that connects you and Joshua so that we might examine it,” the priest replied. He turned to the other Heron Priests before continuing. “Brothers, join each other and when I find this bond, search the world for the rest of it. We must find what else, if anything, the bond is connected to before we let them go on their way.”
The other priests started casting spells, creating a large cloud of light in the space above the table. Michael looked at the cloud and saw the continent he stood on as if viewed from a few kilometers above the ground. He only recognized that he was looking at Drendil from looking at the maps he had seen aboard Queller and here in the temple. There was something about the sight of the world seen from that height that confused and overwhelmed him, and he felt the room had started to spin under his feet. Then the Heron Priest came over and, using both hands, grasped Michael’s head gently. His hands were clammy, but felt neither hot nor cold, and his skin was noticeably soft. Suddenly, the hands against his head grew warm, the temperature rose until it was just shy of uncomfortably hot, then stopped.
A pulse jolted through Michael from the priest’s hands. His entire body tensed then everything felt…different. Michael’s body felt lighter, almost as if he could levitate from the chair he was sitting in. His arms felt like they were floating in the air, unsupported by anything. Despite this feeling, his arms were still firmly planted on the arms of the chair he said in. Every muscle in his body relaxed from his neck to his feet. Michael decided he would not care if this feeling stayed forever, though he knew that was unrealistic.
“I have found the bond. It doesn’t look like Magic, at least not one that I have studied before. But the bond is certainly there. And it branches off somewhere else. Brothers,” the priest turned to the others, “can you grab the bond and search for it? Quickly, please. I wish not to risk harming Michael by keeping him under this spell for longer than is needed.”
The image in the cloud changed. No longer was it the continent. The view of Drendil jolted and closed in on Erith. As the picture zoomed it showed grainy and eventually it became clearer. The view inside the cloud showed the road inside the main gate on the eastern side of the city, not far from the temple. Two travelers, a man and a woman, could be seen inside the cloud floating over the table. They wore robes and cloaks that would be typically seen on travelers. The man, tall and slender, though obviously strong, walked on the woman’s right. She was shorter than the man, though she also looked muscular even through her layers of robes and cloaks. Their faces were similar; both had beak-shaped noses, green eyes, brown hair with golden highlights throughout. Or was it blonde hair with brown streaks throughout? It could have been either.
“Are they connected with the bond? Perhaps that is why they have come to Erith. It’s hard to imagine they would know this, though the bond is very powerful,” one of the priests said.
“They look aggressive, not hostile, but perhaps less than friendly to strangers coming up to them to tell them about a quest such as yours,” another priest stated. “I would advise caution approaching them, Brothers.”
“If they’re bonded, we need them, right?” Michael asked, finally free from the priest’s touch. His body still had to fully recover from the delving spell, so some of his words were slurred or stuttered.
“That is my thought, though I have been wrong in the past. For all we know, they could be bonded because of the Shadow Knight. It’s very hard to say,” Joshua replied, refilling his cup of tea. Randall had not let them heat up any water for tea during their voyage, something that had clearly irritated Joshua. One of the irritations, at least.
“We can use the bond and attempt to locate the Shadow Knight, though I don’t know what could happen if we do that. With only ten priests, we might be too weak to
touch something so dark. This is a difficult endeavor without knowing how powerful your foe currently is. What are your thoughts, Brother?” one of the priests asked, looking to Joshua for help.
“We must find out where the Shadow Knight is, if he is in this plane at all. Can we look into another plane of reality, like he can?” The room grew silent at this question.
“You are asking for something that has been prohibited by every Order of priests on all five continents. We cannot go beyond this mortal plane, Brother Joshua. And even staying on this plane to search for the Shadow Knight is too risky. The weakest Shadow Knight we have run across was still stronger than four priests,” someone finally replied.
“Then we have to try something!” Joshua shouted as he slammed his fist on the table. He just barely missed his cup of tea, but only just. “We cannot possibly expect to fight this Shadow Knight without any knowledge or expectation of what is to come. Yes, the Orders and the College have all banned the use and study of Dark Magic, and the Order has banned the practice of anything that reaches beyond this realm, but realistically this plane didn’t have Magic of any kind until those stars fell from the sky and Master Fylson, the first wizard, discovered a secret that had previously been hidden beyond this world. In that case, any Magic should be cast aside and prohibited.”
“You’re making a fair argument, Brother Joshua, but as priests we took an oath…”
“The oath means nothing to me if we cannot do what needs to be done,” Joshua growled as he cut off the other priest. “I know that goes against what the priesthood stands for, but what is the purpose of an oath if the lives of all humanity and Elven people is at risk. Do you understand what we are dealing with here? Madness will return and hit the world harder than it had before if this Knight isn’t stopped. The same Madness that drove people from Drendil and left Erith as the only city standing freely on the entire blasted continent. That same Madness is keeping Michael and I from returning to the only lives we have ever known because Prikea has exiled us for fear we will spread this disease with us if we were to return. I am going to do what I must to stop that from happening, because this is not the only continent at risk. The entire planet will fall but stick to your oaths if you must.”
The Heron Priests sat silently around the table, sharing looks amongst themselves but not bringing their eyes to Michael or Joshua. They stared into their cups of tea and pondered the statements that Joshua had just made and the treachery of his words. Clearly, they pondered the best path to take with this particular predicament. Saving the world was more important than maintaining an oath and list of prohibitions. But the Dark Magic was prohibited for a reason, something decided upon hundreds of years ago by a group of Mages with greater wisdom than the priesthood boasted.
“This response will not please you, Joshua, but we cannot decide anything with this right now, without discussing it amongst our entire Order,” one of the Herons replied finally.
“What more is there to discuss? We either save the world by finding this Shadow Knight, or risk all life as we know it,” Joshua replied.
“We need, and request, a day to decide what our choice will be. We cannot be hasty in making this choice, Joshua. We are talking about the foundation of our Orders,” one of the Herons replied finally.
“Please, understand,” the leader of the Herons pled.
“Fine. We will return this time tomorrow. Make the correct choice, is all I can beg of you,” Joshua said as he finished the last of his tea and stepped toward the door.
Joshua opened the door, walked out, and slammed it behind him. Michael sat at the table briefly, waiting to see how the Herons would react to Joshua’s tirade. The Herons sat around their table, idly exchanging glances back and forth, unsure about what had just happened. Michael took another sip from his cup of tea, not wanting to waste anything his hosts had provided him. Despite Joshua’s frustrations, they were quite a hospitable group of men. He finally stood and looked each priest in the eyes before he made his way toward the door. With his hand on the knob he stopped and turned to the priests once more.
“Some rules are meant to maintain the safety of civilization. Others simply hurt people. I hope you can make the right choice here, no matter how hard that is for you. And I’m sorry about Joshua. He’s still upset about not being able to return to Prikea. His whole life is there, as is mine. You must understand his frustration with our situation. Please consider that while making your decision, no matter what that decision may be. Have a good rest of the day.”
Outside of the study, Michael bumped into Joshua before they walked up the stairs to leave the temple. Joshua remained silent for the whole walk to a nearby inn, obviously bothered by the Order of the Herons. The stress of their mission didn’t help to alleviate his worry. Nor their fate. There was plenty for anyone to be worried about at the moment. Finally, after enough silence, Michael stopped in the middle of the inn’s courtyard. Joshua stopped as well, turning to Michael.
“You shouldn’t have apologized for me. The Herons are not listening to reason and the day they need to make this decision is simply wasting our time. We need to find supplies, money, everything. And I don’t know how to do all of that in the day they have given us, nor in the two days we have left in this city before we have to register with the magistrate,” Joshua said, his face finally calm.
“Perhaps we can talk to the Herons about getting some assistance with supplies that we need for our mission. Even if they don’t want to help us by looking for the Shadow Knight, I’m sure they will help us with that. First, we need to find out where the Shadow Knight is, and where this battle is supposed to happen. Should we try to find the other two the priests identified?” Michael asked, unsure what reaction his question would bring.
“That’s not a bad idea Michael. Let’s get a room here, then we can try to find them. I can track the bond the Herons found. The spell they used, while effective, is not the best one. I need you to be able to walk with me, and for too long after that spell, you weren’t able to do that earlier.”
“Let’s get a room then, and we should eat too. I’m sure the inn will have better food than Queller had,” Michael said, longingly. Dried fruits and meats only go so far.
Outside the temple was a plaza with some shops and two inns. Both of the inns showed similar facades, though one was smaller than the other. After a quick moment of thought, Joshua opted for the smaller inn, as there would likely be fewer people there who would overhear their conversations. The fare for their rooms would likely be less than the larger inn. Their selected inn, named The Snorting Pig, was a quaint inn, with a small walkway which cut through a nice, well-kept lawn. Butting right up against the front of the inn was a small garden with flowers which sported blooms of various colors. Michael recognized a couple herbs that had been planted in the midst of the flowers. At least they looked similar to some herbs he had grown in his own garden. He had never claimed to have a green thumb, but herbs were infinitely harder to kill than flowers were. Delicate things, flowers. Above the garden, to the right of the door as they looked at it, was a colored glass window with an unrealistically corpulent pig that looked quite cheerful. The words ‘The Snorting Pig’ showed in white letters over the happy boar, and Michael felt the window was a nice touch, rather than a simple painted sign for the inn’s name.
Inside the Snorting Pig a few men sat around a table as they drank and played a card game while the innkeeper stood behind the bar cleaning glasses and wiping down the bar top. The tavern maids moved throughout the room, seeming to dance across the straw-covered floor. A few lamps in the tavern provided light, though not much. It was better that the room was only dimly lit. Few customers would want to go into a brightly lit tavern. They were supposed to be dark and grimy looking. Loose straw covered the plain wooden floor, probably to absorb vomit or spilled beer. Michael didn’t notice any unpleasant smells. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Whatever food the innkeeper had made, in the large cauldron which hung ove
r the hearth, filled the tavern area with a savory, appetizing smell.
“Please take your hood down, Master priest,” the innkeeper called to Joshua, who lowered his hood compliantly. No reason to cause any trouble with the man before getting a room from him.
“We need a room for the night,” Joshua said as he removed a small, leather pouch from his robes and tossed it onto the bar. The bag clinked and the innkeeper’s eyes grew excitedly large at the mere sound of coins.
Looking inside the bag, the innkeeper jolted, seeing foreign coins. He counted what was in the pouch, shrugged and tucked the coins into his own pouch, jostling the coin purse after to once again hear the satisfying clinking of gold. His payment received, he removed a small lock box from beneath the bar and handed a key to Joshua then provided directions to the room. Upstairs, last room on the left. That would be their home for the night. He also offered the bathtub and one of the tavern maids to aid with the bathing process, if they so wanted, free of charge, claiming it was included with the price of the room. Michael would definitely be taking a bath later, as it had been a couple weeks since his last, and he felt dirtier than the tavern floor.
“What have you for dinner tonight?” Michael asked, hoping to see a menu or at least have a few options.
“We have a peppered boar stew with potatoes and veggies. Comes with some good, hearty bread. I can have some sent up to your room if you would like,” the innkeeper replied, wiping his hands on his once-white apron.
“That will be perfect. Thank you,” Joshua said, heading toward the stairs at the other end of the room.
“Would you like the stew sent up before or after your baths, master priest?”