As the door opened, the silver sword symbol of the Order’s Faith splitting in front of us as the two door wings were pulled inward as if magic moved them (and I can’t really exclude the eventuality…) , an incredible sight materialized before my unbelieving eyes. The room was huge, constituting the whole tower floor. The dimension was amplified by the near total emptiness of it, relevant exception an ivory throne elevated about four meters above the ground, right in the centre of the hall, where the roof was forming the spike that constituted the highest point of the Cathedral. The pavement was made of some sort of white, polished marble reflecting so much the light that, although rather scarce, at first it was almost blinding me, while on the walls and roof was painted a stunning starred night sky, which was clearer and clearer towards the position of the throne, to become bright sunlight right above the throne itself. There, bathing under a powerful stream of light, was the Counsellor himself.
Though the architecture of the place, and the feeling, the atmosphere it created were impressive to say the least, the being sitting on the ivory throne was by far outshining everything I had ever seen in my not really boring life. Two things were suddenly fearfully clear to me: Edgar Havelock was powerful beyond his charge and authority, and Edgar Havelock was no human being. He was impressively tall... even if he was sitting I could safely esteem him even taller than Cyrus. He was wearing only white silk pants, leather boots and few pieces of a golden decorative armor to cover small parts of his bare torso and shoulders. But it wasn’t his size, or his powerful muscles, or his long, white hair that seemed to emit a light of their own to impress me. Oh no…Huge, white feathered wings were attached to his back, and were resting withdrawn, one each side of the throne. As we approached, he jumped down… four meters of flight, but with his wings spread out he landed light like a feather. When I met his supernatural glowing white gaze, my heart skipped a beat.
“I have been waiting for you. Speak, Cyrus” he said, in a calm, yet commanding voice. And, for the first time, I saw my companion removing the hood from his head as he knelt , revealing a handsome face with violet eyes and cinder blonde , short hair. I immediately followed his example, touching the ground with my knee and bowing my head, overwhelmed by Havelock’s presence. “I made contact with the Dark One named Arctorios the Silver, oh Holy One, but I am afraid I let him slip through my fingers. I was not able to best him in battle, but I identified two of his agents. This man I brought to Your presence is…”
“Captain Dominic Gaan” he interrupted “ex soldier of the royal army, now a swashbuckler traveling the Kingdom, his sword for hire. I know you, warrior. This time, you accepted the wrong assignment” the cold indifference with which he pronounced the last words, made me understand even more in how much danger my life was. “You’re not unknown to me, swordsman. Don't be surprised, for very few things escape my sight, and never for long. I am the Herald of God, and this is his House. Very few mortals have ever seen me or this place and lived. We will see if you can convince me to make you an exception” the tone of his voice and the implications in his words turned my blood into ice. I had to struggle with all my might not to start shaking. “Regarding the agents of Arctorios, I believe you refer to the elven girl and Jeren Osten. They are heading to Drassis, I expect them to be here very soon, and I want you to take care of them once and for all. Arctorios managed to cloak his presence…for now. The other Dark Ones are helping him, I can feel it. Those left alive are working with him, and we still don’t know what they’re after…” his voice trailed off, and he started pacing the room, seeming unaware of our presence. Then, a sudden thought struck me: how could he know all this? How could he know the two associates of this “Arctorios”, or where they went? How could he know Cyrus didn’t discover anything else of value?
Suddenly, he stopped pacing and fixed his glowing eyes on me: “I know, mortal. It’s not for your mind to fully understand the nature of my powers. The important is , from your point of view, that what I can see in your mind makes me judge you useful, so you will go on existing. Fail me, and...first,I will kill you, then I will hurt you a lot.” I couldn’t even collect an answer, I limited myself to nod and I lowered my head, unable to sustain that stare, and the glimpse of what lied beyond it…
“It’s of capital importance” he continued, his attention to my companion again “ that you do not let the lies of the Dark One shake your faith with doubt. Remember brother Cyrus, that faith is our shield, and heretics and unclean must be purged, burned by its flame and dispersed like ashes in the wind, as the rising sun of God disperses the shadows of the night in its wake”
“Yes, Holy One” replied Cyrus with deference. “What am I to do now?” asked with fervor. “You will strike at our enemy brother, with righteous fury. I know that the elf named Jenesia and the former lord Osten will come here to Drassis in order to meet with Voriath the Shadow. I want you to follow them until they contact him, and then I want you to eliminate all three”. Voriath The Shadow…the legendary thief. Even admitting that he could be found (and all the city’s forces had no luck for years and years, while he goes on stealing the most precious and jealously guarded items in Ancient Quarter…), why would they want to contact him? And how could it be worth coming to Drassis, in the most dangerous place for them to be? They had to have a very, very good reason… but a reason I could not begin to fathom. In any case, it seemed like I would have met again with my former employer, and consequently I was probably about to have a chance to thank him properly for the mess he turned my life into…
“As you wish, Holy One.” Said Cyrus, breaking the thread of my thoughts.
“You may go now. I need to speak with God” said the Counsellor, turning his back to us, and disappearing behind his enormous, white wings.
“May his light shine down forever over mankind” replied Cyrus, which slowly raised, bowed once more and went out, with me on his heels. I was relieved beyond imagination that I could put some distance and many walls between me and that supernatural gaze. We found brother Tarrin waiting outside the massive door, and he escorted us to the outer gate in an enduring silence. By my side, I was in a daze. My head was spinning with questions, and I had seen too many unbelievable things in too short a timespan for my tastes… and there was that feeling inside me, that feeling that started some days ago, and yet a lifetime ago, when I was captain of the bodyguards of a nobleman in the small merchant city of Haven, the day the shadows grew longer… the feeling I was trapped in all this beyond the will of the Order… beyond the circumstances of my involvement… I started to feel I had a part in this, and I started to realize I did NOT want a way out. I wanted answers… surprisingly, I was decided to go to the bottom of it, against what reason was telling me, against my sense of danger, against the voice that kept me alive through so many dangers…and I had absolutely no clue why.
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