The morning came with nothing eventful taking place during the night. Once those I shared the tent with were out, I began to pack up the tent. As I did, I noticed the female had gone off a ways to pray. Something about how devout she looked made me miss how faithful I once was to Heironious... I also felt like she was foolish to be so devout.
As I tucked the last of the tent back into my haversack, a shadow loomed over me suddenly.
“Yesterday you said you were an Angel,” Cloudbreaker’s voice echoed. I bit my lip. I had hoped that would have been forgotten...
“Well, I still am an Angelic,” I corrected.
“How did you offend your God that you would be cast from Heaven?”
I pursed my lip and slowly turned around. It bothered me how obvious my fall was.
“A good question,” Grendel said moving closer to hear. I bit my tongue, nervous about the answer I was about to give.
“I caught my God in a lie. He threw me out to prevent me from doing anything about it,” I simply said. I didn’t want to go into the depths of what had happened, not yet. Cloudbreaker and Grendel looked at each other seeming to discern between themselves if I spoke truth.
“You say you caught your God lying. How do I know you’re not a liar yourself?” Cloudbreaker asked.
I scoffed. I wasn’t about to vy for my honesty. If they wanted proof of my integrity, they’d have to witness it for themselves.
“I have a solution,” the female said suddenly. She was standing right behind me.
“And what would that be?” Grendel asked.
“I’m a Cleric. I can enchant an area in which no one can lie,” she explained.
“I like this idea. If we are to work together, we need to trust each other and make sure our motives are pure,” Cloudbreaker said.
“We should all share our story too,” Trickfoot suggested. Nods were all around, except by me and Bal Vyr (who had since rejoined the group). I was unenthusiastic. What story could I possibly say that wouldn’t end up with them hating me? The most good I had done was with Raæin before getting kidnapped and doing an honest days work for a month. Everything else was just chaos, murder, and lies.
Trickfoot went first. He told us that he was an adventuring bard. He desired to become a renowned bard through his heroic deeds. Something other bards would sing about.
Surprisingly, Bal Vyr chose to go next. He basically said that his story was sad, painful and something he’d rather not share. If any of us wanted to know, then we had to ask him personally. The cleric then pointed out a different mark that was upon Bal Vyr’s chest. It was the mark of a dark God named, Loth? She wanted to know if he worshipped her. He said it wasn’t like he had a choice though that was debated heavily between him, the female and Grendel.
After Bal Vyr sat down, the female stood, introducing herself as Lash. She’s a servant of her God, the Raven Queen. I felt like I knew who the God was, but even now I can’t recall clearly who she is. It seemed quite foreign. But we were in an enchanted area of Truth.
Cloudbreaker stood up once Lash sat down. Apparently he was exiled because his tribe couldn’t care for him when he got severely injured. Bal Vyr interjected asking incredulously why his tribe had exiled him for being injured. Apparently his kind, only the strong survive. Bal Vyr suggests that the Drows aren’t so different from the Goliaths. I was sure Cloudbreaker was about ready to kill Bal Vyr, but he simply mentioned that his kind don’t enslave folk and that he was chosen by his God. That was why he lived after being badly hurt.
Something about his words made me wonder if that’s why I’ve survived so much since my return. Was there a deity watching over me? If so, I owed them my allegiance...
Grendel then stood. He was a crusader for some order, the name escapes me now. His focus is to bring about Justice, for that is what his order does. To uphold Justice to all. Bal Vyr questioned whose laws he abides by if he’s in foreign lands. Grendel mentioned he would abide by the law of Justice.
It was then my turn to speak again. I stated that I was like Bal Vyr in which my past was full of pain and things I’d rather not share unless asked. I then reiterated that I was a fallen Angelic of Heironious and that I had caught him in a lie. No one questioned me further and so I sat down.
Before heading out, Cloudbreaker made it known those who had shared the most had earn most of his trust. Part of me felt those words were directed toward me. Then again as the day progressed, it would seem Cloudbreaker wasn’t as menacing as he appeared to be.
The party decided it’d be best to follow a canyon path to a river that could take us south to the Baronies of Goldtide.The land sounded peaceful, which easily swayed me to head in that direction. It was also preferable over the vision Lash received if we went along the Kutur’s pass. There were mixed feelings about walking the sheer cliffs in the pass, so much that Lash prayed and apparently the Raven Queen gave her a vision of our death.
As we traveled the canyon path, Cloudbreaker fell back to walk with me. I felt nervous in his presence. I was use to being one of the tallest. With Cloudbreaker by my side, he easily towered a foot above me.
“Can you fly with those wings?” he asked. I looked at him, thinking it was an odd question, “I have never flown... My father used to tell me that generations ago, before the Giants took the mountains, the Goliaths used to ride great eagles high above the mountain valleys,” he looked to the sky, “I would love to fly one day.”
There was a softness then that I hadn’t seen the first day. It was almost like looking at a completely new person. I was certain he was stern and hard, incapable of the softness he now displayed.
I flexed my wings some, feeling fairly certain they weren’t strong enough yet.
“I use to fly. Before waking up in that bowl, I was rather good at it,” I replied. I then flapped my wings and lept off the ground. Sure enough I landed a moment later. I shrugged. "Yeah, my strength isn't what it use to be. Knowing the mark is upon me, I wonder if that's what's zapped all the strength I had. I suppose it could be worse. At least this time when I woke up I'm still walking on two legs and very much myself.
"As for flying, I use to have a circlet that could let you alter self. Whoever put me in that bowl back there took it unfortunately. Perhaps if we can find our way back to France- er, I mean the Wetland Jungles, my friend Raæin could give you a ride,” I responded. I was a bit curious if anyone would have noticed my mention of the Wetland Jungles, but no one seemed to flinch.
“What do you mean by 'this time' - you seem to know much about this mark. I’m guessing this happened to you before?” Cloudbreaker continued to pry. I wasn’t annoyed by his inquisitiveness, I had answered him in a way that would lead to more questions if he listened carefully. Still, my eyes hooded over at the thought of my past kidnappings.
“Unfortunately for me, since my return to the mortal realm, I have been kidnapped more times than I can care for. This is the third time I’ve been taken, though the second time to be completely lost. The first time I was poisoned and was slowly turning into a lizard. The man who did it to me nearly succeeded. The mark being placed upon me is very much new though," I ended it there for I didn’t want to go into details of the mark.
“That is indeed unfortunate, fallen one...” there was a mixture of hurt hearing him acknowledge me as fallen, yet there was reverence to it that it seemed he wasn’t judging me, “I cannot confess to having been kidnapped myself, but I know what it feels like to be away from home... It has been five years since I last set foot in the mountains... Five years of selling my sword from town to town, trying to find meaning in a life I wasn't born into..." Cloudbreaker became silent as he pondered.
“Okay. Now what is a Raæin?” the Goliath asked.
A small chuckle escaped me.
"Sorry," I apologized, I didn’t want Cloudbreaker confusing my laugh to be at him, "Raæin isn't a what, but rather a who. He's a Celestial Charger. He's been my friend and mentor from my youth,” Wow that sounded old... “A gift, if I remember correctly, from Heironious himself... or perhaps it was my people. Anyways, he's able to fly.”
We walked on a little further in silence. I was curious if he, or anyone in the party for that matter, had heard of my name.
"Cloudbreaker, this may sound presumptuous, but what have you heard of me, Araja Eloirakn?"
"I do not believe that I have ever heard your name before Araja. The same way I expect that you never heard mine. Why?"
Part of me felt disappointed that he hadn’t heard my name, but that was a good sign. No pretence expectations or hate toward me. He could truly judge me as I was then.
“One can't be too careful, though if that were true, I keep asking myself why I didn't use an alias. My name is had for good and evil,” I answered openly. I had thought about saying my name was Amy, but like I said, it was a way for me to see what kind of people I was among. “And no, I haven't heard of you or anyone in this party. You're the first Goliath I've met and Bal Vyr, over there, is the first Drow I've met.”
Cloudbreaker gave a nod of his head. He then moved on to the others. He was the only one among us interested in chatting. No questions came to mind other than wanting to know where we were and if they knew me. I chose to remain silent.
I then overheard Cloudbreaker speaking to Grendel.
“My people have always tried to be fair, Grendel. Fair in their dealings with all others and what not, but that can be hard sometimes. Hard to work out what is fair. Do you always know whether something is Just or Unjust or is that decision sometimes difficult for you?”
Before I could stop myself, my tongue spoke my mind, “When is anyone ever sure?” I could see Grendel turn his head my way before looking at Cloudbreaker.
“For the most part Justice is not easy, good Goliath and Angelic. That is why I studied it's ways ever since I was a young boy. There are many situations where Justice sits, waiting for someone to bring it to it's rightful place at the forefront of life. I must say I do not always know when anything is Just or unjust, but we can work to figure that out. That is a large part of my Order, trying to find out whether things were Just or not.“
I was glad Grendel didn’t make it out that Justice was black and white. Even for him, a crusader, and his order had difficulty. Once more it was a reminder how disappointing it was that there wasn’t a direct formula for discerning what was right and wrong; just and unjust. Sometimes I wish life was black and white like myself.
Cloudbreaker and Bal Vyr scouted ahead for us. The Drow had put a disguise on to look like a wood Elf. I envied him somewhat.
Only Cloudbreaker returned after a time. He saw wheat fields ahead and just beyond it a river.
Another hour later, we happened across a tragic scene. A man had been crucified on the side of the road. Something about it was foreboding. We soon saw the black mark upon it’s twisted and mutated body. It was quite revolting.
Lash’s breath became shallow. Her eyes were set on something beyond the crucified man. There was a black raven, dead, near by.
“I don’t know who this man was and we don’t have the time to bury him,” Cloudbreaker said. He knelt down and struck some steel with his flint. The crucifix caught fire easily. Thick smoke billowed into the sky as Lash muttered some parting words and Grendel muttered how Justly Cloudbreaker acted.
Suddenly a loud horn sounded. I looked to see where it came from, but all I noticed was how the smoke was clearly signalling to someone. I suggested we move on in case trouble was on its way. Cloudbreaker went to climb one of the cliffs to get a better look of where we were and if he could see the cause of the horn. As he did that, we heard something stumble behind us.
“Who the hell gave away our position!?” Bal Vyr demanded.
“It matters not, it is done,” Grendel responded.
“You were gone an hour and a half and you’re upset that we lit a fire? Seems like this is what helped you find us,” Lash added. The Drow sputtered a little before pursing his lips when no one seemed to care about his concerns.
Cloudbreaker returned mentioning that we were roughly a mile from the river. Bal Vyr also encouraged that we get a move on before whoever blew the horn found us.
The canyon soon opened up to an enormous wheat field. It looked to go on for a mile along the river. Just beyond the river was a town. Everyone was eager to get to it. They elaborated about the possible lodging and food we could get there. I dampered their excitement by asking if any had money. I knew my pack carried no currency, hence my uninterest in storming the town.
The wheat field was golden and days from harvest. We walked through the fields, making sure not to trample the wheat. We got fairly close to the river and could see it had a steady pace to it. We located a ford and were making way to it when the horn we had heard earlier sounded again.
There was a tower at the head of the village. In the tower were guards. Cloudbreaker tried waving to them but the guards didn’t mimic his gesture. Grendel suggested that he would speak with the locals since his order was well respected across the land. I was perfectly happy with Grendel doing the talking. He was charismatic and had a way with words that I didn’t.
Grendel lead us closer to the river edge. The folk in the tower however found that offensive.
“That’s far enough demons! Leave these lands or we’ll destroy the lot of you!” one of them cried out. Immediately I knew we were in trouble.
“Good sir! We are no demons. My name is Grendel from the Order of (Athvala?). The Order of Justice. We mean you no harm. If anything, we can help you.”
There was silence in which I could see the man call down to someone.
“I’ve never heard of your order. Stay out of our lands! We know where you’ve come from!”
Grendel expressed how we primarily needed passage down the river and reminded them that we meant no harm.
I looked toward the village, trying to see what it looked like. Behind their meager walls, I could see the villagers all armed and ready. They looked ready to fight and capable at that.
Bal Vyr stepped forward only for an arrow zip by him.
“War is another form of diplomacy!” the Drow shouted.
“Wait stop! We mean you no harm!” Cloudbreaker shouted too. Grendel repeated himself once more on top of the Goliath’s cry. The man in the tower ordered someone behind him to go get the town Elder. He then shouted at us to remain put. We all complied.
After a few minutes, an old man emerges from the crowd. He looked livid. He asked us if we bore the mark to which we affirmed we did. The Elder then ordered the town to slay us. The town began to advance toward us. The river was deep, Bal Vyr and Grendel began to give out orders to which we could kill the villagers that would give us the best advantage at survival. I shook my head. That was not the way I wanted to start the first few days in this new land. I wasn’t going to repeat what I had done with the Goblins...
“No. We shouldn’t kill them. I think these people are scared,” I began.
“We’ve just told them we meant no harm, many times,” Grendel reminded.
“Yes, but I don’t think they understand. You and I, we know we’re in control despite the mark marring our body. They however do not,” I persisted. Bal Vyr made no mind to my counsel. He warned the villagers if they crossed the river that we’d retaliate. I gripped at my forehead, frustrated.
Archers appeared on the bank of the river, taking aim. Grendel stood at his full height and bellowed to the citizens of the town how we had purpose. It was quite moving actually. His words reminded me much of Gemmel. Without the light there could be no dark....
Unfortunately the Elder was equally charismatic and reminded his people how we were the heretics. The villagers continued to advance. Part of me was now ready to fight. I wasn’t about to let them destroy us, but part of me pitied that they didn’t trust us.
Half of the citizens suddenly stopped in the waist deep river ford. I heard Lash speak out to them and seemed to have caught their attention.
“Seriously, we can’t be considering actually killing these people?” Cloudbreaker questioned. His words snapped me from my determination to destroy them for their ignorance and continued aggressiveness toward us.
“I’d say now would be a good time to leave,” Lash added.
“I agree, let’s go,” I urged. Bal Vyr jabbed at me for my unwillingness to fight. I would have been more annoyed by it considering I wasn’t the one who suggested retreat, but I honestly could care less of the Drow’s opinion.
Grendel was obviously disgruntled, “Justice needs to be served!” he demanded.
“No Grendel. Like Araja said, these folk are scared. They’re not trying to be unjust. They’re trying to protect themselves,” Cloudbreaker responded.
“True, but their leader...” Grendel said menacingly.
Cloudbreaker rebuked the crusader. Grendel clearly not thrilled cried out to the people once more, asking them why they marched against us. Bal Vyr added to it, coming across more aggressive than persuasive. The folk who weren’t stunned in the ford by Lash’s words pressed forward while the Elder answered.
“The mark is a blasphemy against the Gods of this world. It must be cleansed as soon as it appears in this world,” he spat. I shook my head again. There was no use to trying to convince him that the mark wasn’t as bad as it was made out to be. He was like me; convinced that the only right thing to do was to kill the bearer of the mark.
“Look,” I caught Trickfoot saying. He was pointing south of the folk in the river. Tied up were four boats at a dock on the river.
“Ah, our escape plan,” Bal Vyr said.
“Except all the folk between us and the boats,” Cloudbreaker mentioned, “Here, let us retreat and devise a plan. Perhaps we could come back at night and take the boats then?”
The majority of us agreed to retreat and plan. I took no further prompting and ran back through the wheat field, Lash and Trickfoot close behind me.
Once safe in the canyon, with others gathered around, the debate of what to do about the people ensued. Everyone wanted to steal the boats, but what we couldn’t settle on for a while was whether to leave the village unharmed or not.
“Like I said, I’m pretty sure they’re just scared,” I repeated myself.
“Why?” Bal Vyr asked.
“Because I use to be like them. I thought the mark possessed the being and made the bearer evil and helpless to the mark’s power. The only way to stop them was by killing them,” I elaborated.
“Wait, you know about the mark?” Grendel asked.
“Yeah and why haven’t you brought this to our attention sooner?” Bal Vyr added.
“Last time I mentioned my knowledge of the mark, past folk I use to travel with thought I was crazy. In my first life it was instilled in me that the mark was bad and one had to be killed to prevent the mark bearer from committing heinous crimes. When I was cast from the Kingdom, it became known to me what a lie the mark was. It was just a symbol of loyalty to Heironious and Erythnul!” I vented.
“You’re talking about the mark we’re all wearing right?” Bal Vyr questioned.
“Yes.”
“How is Heironeous even involved in this?” Bal Vyr continued, “Why is it a dead God cursing us?”
I cocked my head at the last question.
“He’s... dead?”
“Yes,” Grendel answered, “He died in the God Wars a few generations ago.”
I eyed them both closely. Something didn’t seem right. In fact, I knew they were lying. I hadn’t been back in the mortal plain long enough for generations to have passed. I may be in a new land, but I still had Gemmel’s stone in my hand and my hair hadn’t grown long enough to suggest I was out for decades. I had seen Heironeous in his new form months ago.
My eyes glared back. Clearly they thought I was crazy and were trying to fool me. That was until Lash pulled out a book, and placed a black feather upon it.
“Araja, I can assure you that Heironeous is dead,” she solemnly said. Her words pierced something in my mind. She spoke truth and I could feel my head reel. There was a God’s War? Was Heironeous stopped then? Had I been out a couple generations?
I barely caught word of Bal Vyr re-asking his question about a dead God marking us. I studdard, too distracted by my thoughts. A thrill ran through me at the notion of Heironeous dead. How I wished I was there. However, the mark was still around. Perhaps Erythnul was still reigning strong... I dropped out of the discussion as I worked through my thoughts.
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