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Flying was usually a joyous experience for Shaine. There didn't seem to be any troubles when he was alone in the open sky, the ground beneath him far away. Looking down, the trappings of civilization appeared like a collection children's dollhouses.
There was not much joy today, though. He was keenly aware that he was flying towards a problem. Dealing with the Holy Order was usually fun for him, prickling their oversized egos and poking holes in their nonsensical faith.
Except now it seemed he must be an ambassador, so that meant constantly checking his tongue and wasting his energy on diplomacy. He knew his face was twisted up into a grimace. Even as the sun shined brightly on him and he sailed effortlessly through the air on the power of his song.
No. No joy here. If he was truly honest with himself, it was not the Holy Order that troubled him. They were not capable of causing such a stir within him.
Sister Nayala was still disappointed in him. She still didn't trust him. Shaine didn't like to deal with negative emotions, but this hurt him.
It had been an entire year. How much longer must he be punished? She had told him she still wouldn't have called on him save the fact that he was specifically requested by the Order of Nine. What must he do to get back into her good graces?
Sometimes Shaine felt the old War Soryans would never offer respect to any Soryan who didn't fight in the war. It wasn't fair. It wasn't his fault that he wasn't even alive then. One day he would show his prowess in battle, in war, then he would show Nayala that he was worthy of respect.
Of course, there would have to be a war of some sort for him to fight in. He hated it when reality spoiled his fantasies. Shaine supposed hoping for a war was a bit too much. Still, there had to be some way to prove his ability.
He continued flying for a short while. He didn't really want to reach his destination, but he also didn't want to be much later. Nayala would have words if he kept them waiting too long. He increased the tempo of his song, granting himself a burst of speed. Very quickly, the city of Aeremandt grew larger in Shaine's vision.
Soryans had been warned about flying too brazenly in and out of the city of Aeremandt. The Soryan Masters had feared that flying in and around the cities would make them seem arrogant, as if they were showing off. They felt it might be a needless jab at the Holy Order.
Most of the time Soryans would just teleport in, but Shaine found the restriction annoying. So what if people saw what they could do? It would probably gain them far more recruits. Who wouldn't want to fly?
Today Shaine ignored the restriction. He flew directly over the city toward the largest building in sight - The Holy Cathedral of Aeremon.
He didn't want to risk simply teleporting into the building or onto the grounds and triggering some sort of defense response. It would be absurd to attack the Holy Order, but he couldn't count on them to listen to reason. The followers of Aeremon were extremely uptight and pig-headed.
Either way, he didn't know where to go inside the building anyway. He had been inside the Cathedral before, when he was a sickly child, well before Nayala found him and he became a Soryan, but those dim memories would not help him with today's task. He decided it would be best to just land at the front entrance.
Shaine began his descent. As he got closer he could see a large crowd in the sprawling courtyard. They were all looking at something at the bottom of the steps of the Cathedral.
Flying in closer still he smiled when he saw it. It was a Kelland flying box. An extremely ugly metal tub. It was pointed on the front end, and there was glass a little way back from the point. Shaine supposed it was so they could see.
There were two long, flat protrusions on either side, and jutting pieces of metal on the back. Shaine thought they must be wings. Are they trying to make this thing appear to be a bird? Shaine wondered. If so, they had failed in his estimation. It was completely without grace.
He was so lost in thought that he hadn't realized the crowd had shifted its focus from the ship to him. It was not every day that a Soryan flew onto the grounds of the Holy Cathedral of Aeremon.
When he realized the eyes were on him, Shaine began doing some aerial spins and somersaults to amuse the crowd. He heard cries of OOOOH's and AAAHH's from the people below.
He gave it an extra flourish before he landed softly at the top of the steps. He knew he shouldn't, but with such a crowd gathered, he couldn't help himself. With all eyes on him he raised his hand toward the people, then shouted, using the power of his magic to project his voice.
"GREETINGS, ALL, FROM THE SORYAN ORDER!"
He heard a shocked gasp ripple through the crowd. It seemed as if many of the people were now frowning at him. Shaine had meant it all in fun, but it looked as if he had offended the crowd. Nayala would definitely hear of this.
It was only right, he supposed. Those gathering in the courtyard of the Holy Cathedral would not naturally be conditioned to respond favorably to a Soryan. He wished he would have thought of that a few moments earlier.
Quickly, he turned his back to them and walked to the large, ornately worked double door leading into the Cathedral. Most of the exterior of the Cathedral was white and gold, while the doors were made up of stained glass images of the God and his Holy Disciples.
Shaine pulled open the door and stepped inside. There was an adjustment to be made as the light inside was nowhere near as bright as the sunlight outside. The stained glass was filtering colored streams of light into this large entryway. This first chamber was meant to hold hundreds and hundreds of citizens as they made their way into the pews for service.
Now it was empty. No doubt closed because of his visit. There was only one person besides himself there. A man in dark half-robes that failed to conceal the muscle of his frame. The pants leggings protruding from under the thigh-length robe ended in tough leather boots that had obviously seen a lot of wear. The man was bald.
This man is no simple monk, transcribing old texts in the cloister. Shaine walked closer. Obviously this person was here for him, but the man did not speak.
"I'm Shaine Sharra of the Soryan Order. I'm here to see the Kelland envoy."
As he got closer, Shaine could see the man's eyes. They were so cold. Shaine stopped, despite himself. He had never seen such hatred. At least not this close. The man finally spoke. His voice was flat and hard.
"I know who you are. I am here to take you to the envoy. You will walk where I lead. You will not attempt to deviate from the path I choose. You will not speak to any other members of the clergy while you are here."
Shaine was annoyed, but about to speak to agree to the terms, but the man spoke again.
"You will leave your sword here."
Now Shaine was angry. "I'll do nothing of the sort, Holy Man. I'll respect your rules, but only to a point." Shaine would show this fool that he could not be intimidated.
There was a long silence while they both stared. Finally, the robed man turned his back to Shaine and began moving through the doors behind him.
"Keep up, Soryan. Stay with me at all times."
Caught off guard, Shaine found he had to jog a little to catch up to the robed man. He thought the man must have been testing him, to see if he would leave his sword behind?
If it was really that important, would he have given in that easy? Shaine didn't think so. He narrowed his eyes at the man's shoulder blades, as if he might strike a blow there.
In that instant, the man's head whipped around, seemingly in response to Shaine's glare.
Immediately, Shaine changed his expression. He put on his usual half-smirk and shrugged his shoulders.
The man's head turned back to the front, but Shaine saw a quick look of disgust on his face.
It seemed he was being led the roundabout way to wherever they were going. He noted quickly that they were traveling down mostly side corridors and unused passages. Was no one about? Had they cleared the entire Cathedral for him? Tried to keep the devout away from the corrupting influence of the evil Soryan?
Shaine thought he might as well try to talk to this dark man. Perhaps he could learn something of interest.
"Excuse me, Holy Brother, may I ask your name?"
The response was immediate. "No."
Shaine was taken aback. "I cannot even ask your name?", he tried to keep the annoyance out of his voice but he feared he failed.
Again the man spoke and his voice was cold. "You may ask all you wish, but I do not answer to Soryans." He did not bother to face Shaine as he spoke. The contempt in his voice when he said the word "Soryans" was plain.
Now Shaine was truly angry. He knew he shouldn't let this holy fool get to him but he couldn't help it. It was only the image of Nayala's disappointed face that kept him from saying something he might have regretted later.
They continued down the winding hallways in silence. Shaine felt they had been walking for ages. This place did not seem so big from the outside.
"Can we not just teleport there?" Shaine expected a brusque response, but he asked anyway.
"You will not perform any Soryan Magic within these walls."
Shaine rolled his eyes. "Well, can YOU teleport us?"
"No. Aeremon's Holy Power will not be used to accommodate Soryan weakness. Perhaps you should try walking more instead of flying and you would not be so tired." The man did not turn to face Shaine as he spoke.
Again the disdain and insult. Shaine was in no way tired, but he was bored and frustrated with all the walking. Even though he was fuming, he decided to keep quiet because he wasn't sure if he could trust himself anymore. He didn't want to end up working with the Builders for another year.
Finally, they came to a decidedly undecorated area of the Cathedral. Plain unbleached rock unadorned with stained glass or other ornament.
The man stopped in front of a large wooden door. Shaine feared he was being led to a dungeon.
With a snap, the man turned on his heels and stood off to the side of the door.
"Go inside."
By now Shaine knew better than to ask the man what was inside, so he pulled the door open slowly and looked in. From what he could see, it was the top of some sort of audience chamber, although one apparently meant for fewer than fifty people.
As he passed through the door, he glanced over at the man for what he hoped was the last time. The two caught eyes. Shaine felt a tiny shiver as he looked away.
Such hatred, he thought.
The door shut behind him with powerful force, just missing hitting him in the back. Shaine was certain the holy brother had used his magic to slam the door on him.
If I ever met that man on a battlefield...
Shaine let the thought drift away. The room he was in was indeed a small audience chamber. Shaine was at the top of several rows of seats. Walkways led down to a flat area of bare stone. The room was built to amplify the sounds made by those at the bottom, to carry their words all the way to the top.
There were two people standing down there. One he did not recognize. She was obviously not of Il'Doran. She had the light skin coloring common to that land, and her hair was such light yellow as to almost be white. Shaine thought the girl looked to be about as old as himself.
She wore the dark blue uniform of a Kelland Regulatory Agent. Attached to her belt was long device. That must be one of the Kelland "firearms", thought Shaine. From what he understood, they did not produce fire.
The girl was not of paramount importance to him, though. The person standing next to her was someone Shaine already knew. He had of course been told by Sister Nayala that he would be here, but Shaine found himself smiling when he looked upon the scowling visage of Anton Marryn.
Their adventure with the dragon seemed like a lifetime ago. Even though it had been only one year, it had been a year of dreadfully boring toil for Shaine.
"Anton! How have you fared this past year?" Shaine had seen Anton but one time after that night. It had been at an official event decreed by the Order of Nine, a display to show the people how well the Holy Order and the Soryans were getting along.
They had been branded as heroes, and yet Shaine had found so few opportunities to take advantage of it because of his punishment. It wasn't really fair.
As Shaine descended toward the pair Anton replied.
"How I've fared is my business Soryan, and none of yours! Now let's get this farce over with so I can get back to my work." Anton's face was pouty and angry. Shaine couldn't help but laugh.
This angered Anton even more. "It's bad enough you're late, but now you soil the Holy Cathedral itself!"
Shaine gestured at the surrounding. "Yes, I'm sorry my Soryan presence is defiling this rank, dark, ugly testament to the glory of Aeremon." Having reached the bottom, Shaine now stood directly in front of Anton, who was working himself up into a fury.
"This is the only room in the Cathedral FIT to hold a meeting with a Soryan! You're lucky you were allowed in at all!"
Shaine laughed again. "Of course. Lucky. I'd call it a master stroke of luck to be standing here wasting my time with you on some toss-off mission for Kelland."
Anton was bout to retort when the nearly forgotten Kelland Agent interrupted.
"Toss-off mission? Does that mean what I think it does? Is that all this is to you?" She was clearly becoming agitated.
"People are dying in my country! We need your help, and when I come here to get it, they stuff me into a basement with a skinny monk trying to convert me, then you show up and start arguing like children! You wouldn't treat my father this way!" The girls hands were waving wildly. Shaine was amused, and yet he felt bad. Nayala would again not be pleased.
The two boys looked at each other, then their eyes fell down to the ground. Anton muttered at no one in particular. "It's just a revenant."
The girl threw her hands up in the air. "A revenant! That's what we were told! I don't care what it's called, how do we kill it?"
The two boys were silent for a moment, then they both started speaking at once.
"Well, if I sing a song of release..."
"Using the power of Aeremon..."
Then they both turned toward each other.
"Aeremon??" Shaine snorted in derision.
"Song of release?!" Anton spat with disgust.
At that point a heated argument erupted between the two. The yelling bounced off the walls of the chamber and echoed in the young girl's ears. Finally, she could take no more. She stuck two fingers in her mouth and blew a piercingly loud whistle, just the way her father had taught her. The heads of both the boys snapped around to face her.
"Can we please just go? I have my ship in the courtyard, can we just please argue later? My task is to fly you back to Kelland and assist you in the destruction of this revenant."
There was silence now. The Soryan and the Holy Brother both looked a bit uncomfortable. Shaine was the first to speak.
"You want us to travel in your flying box?" Both him and Anton looked as if they did not care for the thought.
The girl took a deep breath. "It's not a box. It's a Selium-Class Aeroship. Top of the line for speed. It's very comfortable and safe. You don't have to be afraid."
Anton snorted. "We aren't afraid, girl. The only thing we fear is wasted time. I'll teleport us and your ship to Kelland immediately so we can get this over with."
Shaine held up a hand. "I can probably do it more efficiently, you'll have to go get a scroll or something, and time is of the essence."
Now Anton snapped again. "You couldn't even take us to Baradia! Kelland is farther than that!"
"That was then! I've learned since then, I can take us anywhere in the world..!" Shaine had turned away from the girl again, but she now stepped in between them.
"I was given specific instructions. I am to bring you back to Kelland in my ship. You were ordered to comply with me, correct?"
Shaine shrugged. Anton looked away and muttered something.
"You two are the best they could come up with? I really hope you're worth it. Either way your manners are everything we were told in Kelland. Arrogant and rude!"
Shaine held up both hands. "I'm sorry. I apologize. This situation is not about me, it's about helping your people, and the Soryan Order...", the girl cut him off before he could finish.
"Yes, I know. The Soryans are better than the Holy Order! It's all you ever talk about! Neither one of you even asked me my name, you know."
Anton folded his arms and his face was scowling. "I didn't have to, they introduced us, remember?"
She rounded on him. "So what is my name, then?"
Anton opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. He closed his mouth and looked away. Shaine started to laugh, but a sharp look form the girl stifled it.
"It's Heather. Regulatory Agent Heather Trathe. Don't bother introducing yourselves, I already know exactly who you are."
The two boys traded a look when she said her name. Then Shaine smiled and offered his hand to the girl. "Heather, I'm very sorry our first meeting has happened this way. I believe this is how the Kelland greet one another?"
Heather reached out and shook his hand. "So you do know something about Kelland?" She was smiling now. She then extended her hand to Anton. He merely looked at it, then looked up at her, but did not move.
Shaine spoke, and there was no derision or laughter in his voice. "He will not touch the bare skin of a woman. It is the way of Aeremon." It was just a statement of fact. Anton nodded his head towards Shaine in approval.
Heather's face showed some surprise for a moment but she managed to put a blank look on to cover it. "Well, that's great. Just great. Now, how do we get out of here and get back to my ship?"
There was another moment of silence, then Shaine and Anton both started speaking at the same time...
Heather squeezed her eyes shut and put her hands up to her temples as the argument escalated.
Well, at least I'm getting them on the ship as I was told. Her orders had little to do with Anton, but Shaine was of great interest to her people.
***
Freidrich walked alone this night in one of the major cities of this nation. The same as almost every night. He liked to gather his thoughts away from others. These past months in Kelland had been a dream come true. The nights were so full of possibilities. He could never have imagined such a place.
It seemed this Revenant knew what he was doing after all.
At first, when Freidrich had felt the pull, he had tried to resist. He knew there was no point, yet he did it anyway. He had been caught up with revenants twice before in the last 300 years, and each time he had barely escaped with his life after the Holy Order of Aeremon had destroyed the creatures.
This Revenant, though. This one was different. It was undoubtedly insane, as all of them were, but it also had a plan. The proof was right in front of him. Kelland.
Why had they not come here before? In all the world, this place was particularly ill-equipped to deal with them. Again, it was like a dream come true, the perfect place to live out his days.
Of course, vampires such as himself did not dream, and certainly were not alive.
He laughed out loud. He couldn't help it. He liked to think of the faces of these foolish, completely uneducated people. The looks on their faces when he would materialize out of the mist. When he would run up to them as a wolf, then become a man in front of their eyes. The faces were priceless!
And the weapons. The pitiable, pathetic weapons they wielded here. This land was tailor-made for such as him. They fired at him with metal slugs, each weapon firing more and faster slugs than before, all doing him absolutely no harm whatsoever.
He wondered what they would think if they knew they'd be better off sharpening a piece of wood and stabbing him with it. Or at the very least brandishing a torch at him.
He laughed again, but then turned his mind to business. He was on a "kill and catch" mission. The Revenant had told them that they could kill one person, and take one person. The person they brought back with them had to be unmolested. Mostly.
Friedrich was a mild bit annoyed that there were not many people on the streets. When they had first got here, the streets were packed at all times of night. Some of the less careful among his brethren had caused a mild panic among the population and people were beginning to take precautions.
No precaution they took could save them, though. Friedrich knew he could literally walk into any public place and take a person at random. In the absence of any significant magical force, he was unstoppable. At least until the sun came up.
He passed by the window of some sort of clothing store. There were dresses and jewelry displayed in the window. Friedrich was not interested in the wares of the shop, but instead took note of his appearance. He was not from this land, though he looked much as they did. He had fair skin and brown hair, no facial hair of any kind.
Thin to the point of gauntness, his clothes did not fit very well. He had taken them from some of the people he had killed. It seemed no one shared his physical dimensions.
He tried to see more detail of himself but it was no use. There was some truth to the mythology. It was difficult to catch a vampire's reflection.
What he always found strange was the more perfect the device, the less you could see. You would not see a vampire at all in a true mirror, but in this dirty shop window he could make out just enough to adjust his hair and clothing, try to make himself appear non-threatening.
It wasn't necessary, but it did make the surprise more profound when he revealed himself to his prey.
The night was half over, and Friedrich was hungry, so he endeavored to move on. There was no one out in this district so it was time to move to a more populated area.
He whistled to himself softly. If they could just pull back a little, keep from going out of control they could really have something here in this land.
The Revenant, though...it was intent on luring a Soryan here. Most savvy undead knew that to face a Soryan was to face guaranteed destruction. Those Holy Order magicians were also formidable, but could be bested with effort and preparation, or at least they might not pursue when you tried to escape.
Not Soryans, though. No undead who ever stood to face one survived. Their magic was too powerful. Once on your trail they were impossible to shake. Friedrich had almost been destroyed once by one over one hundred years ago. it had taken a minor miracle to escape.
They were best avoided, but the Revenant was obsessed. It wanted one, and as usual with revenants, it wouldn't listen to reason.
As an undead vampire, Friedrich had not known the emotion of hope for a long time, but walking down the deserted street, he found himself hoping the Revenant did not ruin this thing for everyone.
Click to read Chapter 14 - The Arrivals |
