His Redemption (TheCorsair and Xana)

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"It probably would be a good idea," Matthias added, smiling a little at the surprised look Mykel gave him. "What? Just because I happen to be persona non grata there..."

"I don't know that I'd say that..." Mykel began, diplomatically.

"Please," Matthias interrupted. "We both know you're a terrible liar. Which always made it interesting that you were also good at poker and chess. And there's only one way that I'd be welcomed back to the temple, and you know it."

Mykel nodded. "Yes. In chains, and delivered to the synod."

"Which," Matthias finished, "is not something I'm particularly interested in. I may have wanted one of you two to kill me, back when I was a prisoner there, but I've no interest in dying now." He grinned, showing off entirely human teeth as he rested an affectionate arm on Ari's shoulder. "Things have changed, since then."

"Clearly," came Mykel's dry answer. "But... how? I mean, I can still sense the demonic presence in you, but..."

"But I'm clearly not a demon any more?"

"Exactly." Mykel looked from Matthias to Aurianna and back. "How... no, what did you two do?" After a moment's hesitation, he added "About the demon, I mean."

Laughing, Matthias headed for the linen closet. "There's a long and somewhat uncomfortable tale there, Mykel. But it was done with a little help from Hydranes."
 
She felt the fantasy of returning to the temple in time deflate with Matthias’ words. Of course he wouldn’t be welcomed, even after what did to save Monsford. Neither of them were all that eager to return to the temple anytime soon, or even at all. There was brief moment of gloom as she considered all the things she was losing in remaining in Monsford. The friends she might never see again, the only home she had ever known, but much of that was washed away when he declared that he had something to live for, now. She cuddled up to him with a smile on her face, reflecting the pride she felt in his remark.

Then the conversation turned to how it came to be that Matthias was no longer a demon, and Aurianna could only shrug. “Don’t look at me, I don’t know much more of it than that. The demon is bound, and out of our lives now, and we are free to pursue our own happiness.”

“Well, for defeating a demon lord and her army, I’d say you’ve earned yourself a bit of happiness” Mykel admitted, rising now. He took the linens from Matthias, “I’ll make up my own bed. As I understand it, the two of you have some discussing to do. After all, I think it would be rather… painful for you, if you were to miss your own wedding.” He met Matthias’ gaze, before motioning back towards Aurianna with his eyes. “I would still be interested in that tale, perhaps over a game of chess. But it can wait for tomorrow. I’ve been traveling for weeks, and my back could use a real bed for once. Night, you two.”

Aurianna stood now, as the door closed behind Mykel, pulling Matthias into her arms. “We should talk about the wedding. Or, more accurately, I should inform you that Ingrud has taken it upon herself to use our wedding as celebration of Monsford’s victory over the Hydranes. Which she has begun planning to occur in a week’s time.“ Aurianna laughed lightly, kissing Matthias before he could protest. She rested her head on his chest as she continued to explain.

“Admittedly, I should have put up more of a protest, but as much as I like being your fiancée, I am quite looking forward to being your wife. And I would like to wear my wedding dress before it has to be completely remade to account for our child.” She kissed him again at the word, overwhelmed by the love and bond she felt to him in the moment. The kiss lingered, with her hands running through his hair and down to caress the firm muscles in his shoulders and back.

“I know it’s sudden, but after everything we’ve been through I don’t want to wait another moment. I hope you feel the same?”
 
Matthias returned the kiss, then pulled Aurianna into an embrace. "I don't mind at all. Although I'm a little surprised they want to celebrate it thus big - I did help destroya large chunk of the town, after all." After a moment, he grinned. "Although, admittedly, less than the Host of Torment would have..."

He kissed her again. "So, if they want to make it a huge event, let them. Just so long as when it's over - big ir small - you're still my wife."


Mykel sat on the bed, stripping his armor off and listening to the conversation. He wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but they weren't far away. "Matthias and Ari," he whispered to himself, trying out the sound of it. And he found that he wasn't sure what he thought.

A decade ago, he might have approved. Hypothetically. If Aurianna wasn't a skinny teenage girl with a crush and Matthias wasn't engaged to Rielle, that is. But... He ran a finger through his hair, conflicted. She was his daughter, and she deserved happiness after all she'd been through. And once, Matthias had been like a son to him.

But he'd sold himself to Baath-Me'el, as well. Could he be trusted, again?

Perhaps.

"Goddess," he laughed to himself. "She's got me doing it..."
 
“Your wife.” A peck on the lips. “My husband.” another kiss, moist and quick, “The father of my child.” A deeper kiss, pulling his body tight to hers. Pressing her forehead against his as the kiss broke, “For the rest of our lives.”


As it turns out, it is indeed possible to plan a wedding in a week, as long as there is nothing else that needs doing. Aurianna was grateful for Clara’s enthusiasm, and Ingrud’s organizing skills, or else it would have never gotten done. And now she sat at the vanity, brushing her hair while Clara laced up her gown.

“This dress is so beautiful,” Clara whispered reverently, running her hand along the soft fabric. Aurianna laughed softly, smoothing out the skirt. She was glad the tailor had talked her into the two tone design, with a deep crimson to contrast with the gold satin.

“Jude really outdid himself. It’s a shame I am only going to get to wear it once,” Ari admitted, pulling her hair out of the way so Clara could secure the ruby necklace that Ingrud was letting her wear. “Your dress is very pretty as well. And something you can wear again.”

Clara blushed at the compliment, brushing her hair back behind her head. “Thank you. And I’m sure you’ll have a reason to wear this dress again. Maybe another wedding,” Clara justified, before catching herself. “I mean someone else’s, of course.“ Both women burst into exuberant laughter.

“You’re positively glowing,” Ingrud declared as she joined them in the room, wearing her own lovely midnight blue gown, “Nervous?”

Aurianna let out a sigh, before breaking into a big smile, “Only that I might throw up on someone.”

“I thought of that. Here,” Ingrud offered her a cup of ginger tea. She started playing with Aurianna’s locks as she took a drink of the tea, “Now how are we going to do your hair?”

“I was just going to wear it down,” Aurianna mentioned, before taking another deep drink of her tea.

“No, you need something special,” Ingrud insisted, pulling some strands away from her face, the mayor’s deft hands braided the strands she held, creating a crown of plaits to adorn Ari’s dark tresses. “What do you think?”

“I like it. I really should just defer to your wisdom in these matters,” Ari admitted, examining herself from a few angles.

“You have made a wise decision, one you will not regret” Ingrud informed her.
“Now stand up, let me look at you.”

The gold of the dress shimmered and shined and Aurianna spun and showed herself off to the women, caught up in the magic of the moment. “I think I am ready.”

“Well than, Let’s get the ceremony started, shall we?” Ingrud declared, leading Clara and Aurianna to the Church.
 
"I'm still rather shocked that you agreed to be my best man," Matthias murmured out of the side of his mouth.

Myself made a soft sound of dismissal. "I always liked you. Well, except for the last decade..."

"Yeah, understood."

"And you seem to have given Aurianna some well-deserved happiness." He grinned a little. "Just don't fuck this up and make me kill you."

Matthias snorted laughter.

The two men stood before the small shrine to the goddess Afodesia. The presence of priests and religious structures in general was not tolerated by the Godslayer, and even the cult centers of his mate were fairly inconspicuous. This one happened to be a three foot sculpture of a woman in a flowing gown, with a spear in one hand and a chalice in the other. It stood on a slab of granite in a small copse of ash and elder that served as the closest to a chapel that the devoted of Afodisia could claim.

Few enough in Monsford would claim to be "devoted". But most of them celebrated a variant of the goddess' marriage rites, out of respect to the Lord of Fearfire and his mate. And most of them, it seemed, had turned out for this wedding - they lined the streets that approached the shrine, and the trees were full of well-wishers. Matthias eyed them all, and swallowed nervously.

"Relax," Mykel laughed, slapping him on the shoulder. "You'll do fine."

Matthias swallowed again, and shifted nervously. "I feel like a peacock." He was dressed in Bryce of red velvet tucked into polished black boots, and.a white shirt, and a red velvet frock coat lined with gold satin.

"You do," answered Mykel cheerfully. For his own part, he wore his formal uniform - black breeches and black collarless coat, trimmed with gold. "But nobody's going to care about you."

Music began to play, the soft sounds of dulcimer and lute and violin, and the distant sound of cheering could be heard. Heart in his mouth, still feeling as if none of this could be real, he turned to join in watching for his bride.
 
Four months ago, Aurianna had stood at Justine’s side while her friend and Cassi exchanged vows. At the same time, she had fantasized what her own wedding would like. She wouldn’t have expected any of this. Not the setting, not the groom, not the small shrine that served as the altar for her vows. She had expected to be with Jeoram at the altar of the grand Cathedral, surrounded her fellow Paladins. She had thought Justine would be at her side, not the teenaged Clara. None save Oracle could have known how drastically things would change in the span of a few months.

There was no time to be consumed by the painful memories of Jeoram, and what he did to her on the altar, or to lament the missing presence of Justine or her other friends from the Order. Instead there was Clara, and Ingrud and Mykel to support her. Instead there was Monsford, and the idyllic little shrine to give her vows before. Instead there was Matthias joining her, a man she loved with all of her being, a man whose child she was thrilled to be carrying.

Aurianna was surprised by the amount of people who had turned up to see her to the altar. Large crowds staring at her, cheering as she walked passed, eyes taking her in. There was a time when such a spectacle would have had her uncomfortable. Tension still formed at the edge of her mind, but the glee of the day overcame of the darkness of her past. This would be the memory she would associate with such scenes, not the other one.

At the end of the procession stood Matthias, dressed in fineries she had never him in before. Goddess, he looked so handsome, she found herself blushing with a giddy smile on her lips. It was hard to resist the urge to kiss him as she joined him at the altar, but she settled on taking his hands in her own, flesh and steel fingers intertwining as she looked up into his eyes as the priest began to speak.

“Afodisia celebrates all acts of love. None more than the binding of two souls in Eternal Union.” Aurianna squeezed Matthias hand as the words were spoken, A beaming smile lighting up her face.

“Love is the foundation of society. Love is the soil that nourishes the buds of friendship and romance. It is the sun light that warms us in our darkest moments. It is the water that quenches the thirsty soul. It is the air that sustains our life when pain threatens to choke us. With each blossom of love, garden’s grow into families, and communities.

“When the earth was young, and Gods and Dragons warred over its dominion, there was only bloodshed and death. The fighting was ceaseless, both the divine and draconic had seen heavy losses. Not might nor magic could overcome this conflict, a conflict which threatened the very nature of existence. Only through the love and devotion Verrier and Afodisia felt for one another could this struggle find resolution.

“Love is a force of nature, as strong as any flood or earthquake. Love can move mountains and change the course of rivers. Love is healing, and love is redemption.” He turned now to the couple, “Aurianna, you may say your vows to Matthias now.”

“Matthias, I cherish the life we have created together here, and I vow to continue to build our house into a home. We have journeyed far and wide together, and I look forward to beginning this new journey with you, as we discover the joys and struggles of parenthood. I vow to always have your back, and to support you, however you need. I love you, Matthias, and I am proud to be your wife.”

“And now Matthias, you may say your vows to Aurianna.”
 
Matthias lost any sense of the words the priest spoke as Aurianna took his hand. He was too busy watching her face, drowning in the expression of rafiant joy on her features. Words hummed in his ears, a musical background hum set to the rhythm of his own pulse, and all he cated about was the touch of ner hand and the smile on his face and the sense of wonder that she'd chosen him. Chosen a soulless husk, a shadiw of the man he'd once bedn.

For an instant that bubbling joy turned cold as he felt the demon slither and shift restlessly within him. He'd have to find a permanent solution, soon. But not now. Not today. Not with...

An elbow jabbed him in the ribs. "Vows!" Mykel hissed.

"I..." He licked his lips, suddenly finding his store of words withered and gone. He'd prepared and memirized, but everything he had thought of now seemed pale. Empty. Insufficient to do justice to his emotiins and to his wife to be. "I..."

He drew a deep breath. "Aurianna... I..." He swalliwed. "Through you, I've... been blessed more than I deserve. I... you..." Looking deep into her eyes, he felt the nerves fade. All that mattered, now, was her. "You have given me love, and joy, and new life. You have given me gifts beyond anything I deserve, and I will spend all my days returning them to you." He felt tears glisten in his eyes. "I love you, Aurianna, and I am honored to be your husband."
 
“Now, with an act of love, the Goddess will join your souls for all eternity, for what she has united may never be sundered,” the priest declared motioning for the two of them to kiss.

Aurianna didn’t waste another moment, pulling Matthias against her to indulge in a deep, full bodied kiss, cheered on by well wishers. “I love you,” she whispered, as they broke the seal of their lips to breathe, “I love you, Matthias.”


Aurianna’s cheeks actually hurt from how much she had been smiling and giggling this day. She tried to tone it down a bit, but each time she looked over at Matthias, at her husband, she was smiling again, so overcome by the overwhelming love and joy of the day to care. And each time he leaned over to peck at her cheek, or brush an errant strand of hair behind her ear, she was blushing and giggling like a teenager. Like the 16 year old girl who secretly dreamt of this moment before everything had gone to hell.

It was late afternoon as they finished their meal, and couples were already dancing to the lively music playing in the background of the reception. Matthias finished his goblet of wine in a long swig, and Ari stole a kiss as soon as it left his lips. She wasn’t drinking, of course, but she craved just the taste of it that lingered on his tongue. Besides, she was drunk enough on delight.

The song finished, and the caller called out for the happy couple to take their first dance as husband and wife. “It is our first dance, ever. Married or not,” Aurianna protested, but the crowd motivated them and they were alone on the dance floor with a ring of people encircling them.

Aurianna could call herself skilled in many arenas, but dancing was not one. Many had told her she possessed the grace of the Goddess, but all would have taken back those words if they could see her dance. Fortunately the band took pity on her, playing a simple rhythm that even she could follow. Truthfully, her embarrassment over her lack of skills on the dance floor evaporated as she gazed into Matthias’ eyes, and saw the love and devotion in his eyes.

“This isn’t so bad,” She whispered, as he pulled her back into his arms after twirling her. “We should do this more often. Though, I think I prefer the dance we do in bed. I know all the steps to that one.” She teased, nuzzling his cheek. “Speaking of which, I can’t wait to sneak away from the party, so we can make love as husband and wife. Especially since Ingrud agreed to put Mykel up for the night.”

The song ended and clapping could be heard. A steady, loud beat, slow enough to be almost mocking. The crowd turned now, to see the uninvited guest, wearing full plate as black as night and twice as bitter. He removed the helm that concealed his features, long golden hair coming free first. A menacing fanged grin spread over his face, crimson eyes burning into Aurianna’s.

“Oh, what lovely couple you two are. I am glad I was able to make it to the wedding, despite not being invited. Except , we were already joined upon Afodisia’s altar, weren’t we Aurianna? " His grin was smug and dark, the same smug dark grin he left her with, as he finished his assault on her.

“Still, I come bearing gifts. Or should I say, old, familiar friends of yours, Matthias. You do remember the ravenous, don’t you?” Jeoram asked mocking, until his voice was drowned out by the insane fury of steel scaled demons pour in the gates.
 
Clara had been enjoying herself immensely, dancing in turn with Sigurd and Sue and Thora and sometimes with all of them at once. When she wasn't watching Aurianna and Matthias wistfully, envying her teacher's gorgeous dress and the happiness on her face and the joy in her eyes. Idly she scraped her tongue against her teeth, remembering the taste of Verrier's blood and wondering if she'd ever have the chance to stand like that - a happy bride, dancing with her husband. Then she glanced back at her friends. Well, husband and wives, the way things seemed to be going.

For that matter, did she want to marry? Was it necessary?

And then she heard the slow clap, and the shiver of dread as the crowd fell silent. Turning slowly, she saw him. A figure in midnight black plate armor, engraved with runes and images that sent a thrill of dread through her nerves. His long golden hair stirred in the breeze as he removed his helm, and Clara gasped in shock and fear as she recognized the figure of the man who... who had... had raped Auriana. Who had threatened to do the same to her. Icy fear clutched her heart, and her voice shook. "Thora... go. Get... get my sword. Please."

"Clara, what..?" the redhead asked, confused.

"Go!" Clara barked. "Arm yourself!"


“Oh, what lovely couple you two are. I am glad I was able to make it to the wedding, despite not being invited. Except , we were already joined upon Afodisia’s altar, weren’t we Aurianna? " His grin was smug and dark, the same smug dark grin he left her with, as he finished his assault on her.

It was a foolish gesture, and Matthias knew it even as he moved to place himself between Jeoram and Aurianna. "Go to..." The words died unsaid as he saw... emptiness. Emptiness in the man's eyes, emptiness through which something looked. Emptiness he recognized.

Behind him, Mykel drew his blade. "You bastard!" the older man snarled. "I'll..."


“Still, I come bearing gifts. Or should I say, old, familiar friends of yours, Matthias."

"What?" Dread seized him. He couldn't mean..?

"You do remember the ravenous, don’t you?” Jeoram asked mocking.

The people of Monsford went mad with panic as the reptilian demons of hunger - the Ravenous - flooded into the open square. Blood spurted and flowed, some of it shed by the demons and some of it by the crowd as it struggled and fought with itself to escape. Jeoram laughed long and loud, until an unearthly roar shattered the sound. Clara rose above the crowd on leathery golden wings, face distorted into something reptilian with a mouth full of fangs as she hurled herself at the fallen Paladin. "Bastard!" she roared as she struck him with incandescent fury, sending them both rolling across the cobblestones of the square. "I said I'd kill you with my bare hands!"

Even as they fought, blood flowing as demon and dragon tore at one another with fang and talon, Matthias looked around wildly. "Go!" he cried, shoving Aurianna towards Mykel. "Don't look at me like that! Go get your spear, woman! I'll hold them!" Drawing a deep breath, he clenched his fists and turned towards the oncoming demon tide. "I still remember the command language!"
 
Aurianna stood stiffly, transfixed by the arrival of Jeoram. Immobilized, as he spoke of how he violated her, glorying in the pain he caused her. Nightmare images of that night flooded her mind, of a time she was powerless to do anything, turning this into another time she was powerless to do anything. She Watched as Clara, or at least a version of Clara, with talons and wings tackled Jeoram. A version of Clara she had only seen in a half remembered dream. Clara clawed at his face, creating furrows of black clood and wounded flesh. Jeoram latched onto her arm as she raked at his face, tearing a chunk of muscle off. Her blood gushed in his mouth and down his chin, closing the wounds she had caused. Sue pulled her back as she howled in agony, clutching at her wounded forearm.

"Go!" he cried, shoving Aurianna towards Mykel. "Don't look at me like that! Go get your spear, woman! I'll hold them!"

Matthias’ words and actions brought her out of her trance, propelling her to act. She pushed through the throngs of terrified guests, making way to their residence. A Ravenous lunged at her, catching her steel arm with steel teeth. Driving forward, she forced the demon against a brick wall, slamming her arm into it until it’s head with a pulpy, misshapen mass. Another charged her form the side, but she managed a quick jab, splintering it’s teeth. She followed up with her knee pressing on its chest, cavity in the cavity within.

Finally, she made it home, tearing through carefully organized spaces to pull out all their spare weapons. Xander and Alvida had followed her, and she tossed them as much as they could carry, before grabbing a couple long swords, a shield and her own golden spear. Finally, after a half moment’s considered, she cut her dress, ruining it’s exquisite beauty for the sake of mobility.

She rushed back into the epicenter of gore, distributing weapons as she went along. Sue received a sword and shield, and Matthias the other sword, giving Aurianna a chance to take in the situation. Mykel and Jeoram were engaged in battle, Mykel’s silver blade locked with Jeoram’s Hellfire sword. They seemed well matched, until a Ravenous tackled Mykel from the side. A direwolf pounced on the ravenous in turn, crushing its head within its massive jaw. Aurianna had no idea where the wolf came from, but if it was killing demons, it must be an ally.

Charging now, Aurianna pierced Jeoram’s shoulder with her spear. Spinning, he dislodged her weapon, circling to her left. “Ari, all those years we spent training instead of fucking, and you think I don’t know your style by now? How long did I let you beat me, in the hopes you would finally spread your legs for me? Who could have known that taking it from you felt so much better? However, you might give yourself to me now, huh? You just love fucking demons.”

His words had her enraged, sending sloppy slashed he could easily deflect. He pinned her spear to the ground, and followed up with a vicious backhand, sending her spinning into a pile of half eaten bodies.

“Should I take you back to Baath Me’el in your wedding dress? Or should I give you a wedding night you will always remember?” He leered down on her, licking her blood off his gauntlet.

“Son of a bitch!” Mykel’s angry roar was louder the mindless howls of the Ravenous. Jeoram just turned in time to stop his overhead slash. They exchanged blows for a time, Mykel actually maintaining advantage for a time. Until Jeoram sidestepped wrapping her arm around Mykel’s neck, and piercing his blade through the Lord Commander’s back. A loud explosion came from the east, the Dragon’s Fire blasting the gathered group of Ravenous.

“What in Thanades’ name?” Jeoram asked, watching his demons burst into several pieces. He turned on his heels, dropping Mykel before he could finish draining his life. Aurianna caught him as he fell off Jeoram’s blade.

“Mykel,” Aurianna murmured, attempting the prayer of laying on hands. But the wound was too big for her spells to have enough effect. “I need more of Verrier’s blood,” she cried, as she felt Mykel’s life slip through her blood soaked fingers.
 
"That was stupid," Sue scolded, shouting to be heard above the chaos of battle. She dragged at Clara, her goddess-gifted strength taxed to the utmost bu Clara's single-minded fury. "You're wearing a dress! He's-"

"He's a murderous bastard!" Clara raged.

"You're unarmed and wearing a dress," Sue shouted. "He's in full plate, and..."

"I'll kill him!"

Sue's response was an open-handed slap, delivered with force that would have killed an ordinary mortal. "He'll kill you!" Sue screamed. "Fight like this, and he'll kill you!" She gestured widely. "And then, what about Sigurd? And Thora?" Tears glistened in her eyes, mingled with the frustrated fury. "What about me?"

Clara shook her head and shuddered, then nodded. "All right. Yeah, you're right. Let's go get some weapons." Her golden wings spread wide. "Sue?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Sue smiled. "Yeah, well, IYIIIII," The rest of the sentence faded into a shriek as Clara grabbed her and launched into the air.


"I thought you said you could control them!" the mayor shouted.

"Baath-Me'el revoked the command keys!" Matthias shouted back. His eyes seemed to flame. "Ravenous! One who holds authority commands! Ravenous!"

The nearest of the demons of gluttony hesitated, then turned to face him. Matthias gestured at another demon. "Kill!"

The demon hesitated again, then tore into its comrade. The mayor whoped in glee, then caught Matthias' arm as he stumbled. "Are you all right?"

"No, I..." His voice trailed away, then he straightened up and smiled. "it's nothing. I'm fine. Now."


Matthias stared down at Mykel and Aurianna, then walked past them towards Jeoram. The fallen Paladin watched him approach, and sneered. "Going to defend your whore's honor?"

Matthias' eyes filled with blood, blazing crimson as his skin turned white as leprosy. "No, he answered, laughing at the shock in the other demon's eyes. "I'm going to eat your heart and cage your soul, so I can torture you at leisure."
 
“Ari…it’s…it’s too late.” Mykel told her, reaching up for her, landing a heavy hand on her shoulder. Blood smeared her skin and dress.

“Don’t talk,” she pleaded with him, looking frantically for someone to help.

“Ari, listen! I need to…tell…”he started, gasping as speaking became more strennous.

“It can wait!” she cried, tears flooding her eyes as she put more pressure on his wound, feeling her hands grow slippery as blood drenched them both.

“No…not anymore. Ari…I should have told you before. I should have…I love you Ari. I’m−”

“−My father, I know. Just shut up so I can help you.” She demanded, tears streaming down her face. But he just laughed, before coughing up blood.

“She’s proud of you…We’re proud…you…” His hand fell from her shoulder, and Aurianna closed his eyes for him.

Aurianna looked up at Matthias as he moved passed them, pleading wordlessly. But her voice was stuck in her throat as she caught his eyes, bloody red breaking through the hazel, and the color drain from his skin with each breath “…Matthias?”

But the man she loved was gone, replaced by the demon once more. After the loss of her father, there would be no more losses this day. Not so long as Aurianna breathed. Standing, and retrieving her spear, Aurianna began to call upon the Goddess.

“Afodisia! Hear my rage! I am your servant, and your spear! Guide my fury to strike down your enemies!” Golden light filled her weapon as the words left her mouth, empowering her with the glory of the Goddess. Leaping towards the warring demons, wearing the skins of the man she loved, and the man she once loved, she caught a hard slash from Jeoram’s great sword on her steel arm. With Jeoram before her and Matthias behind, she stabbed at the ground, unleashing the divine power in a holy explosion. Matthias, Jeoram, the remaining ravenous, all knocked prone with the power of her spell. Another blast from the dragon’s fire hit nearby, and another grouping of Ravenous were destroyed.


Jeoram quickly began to realize the odds were against him. At least he had an idea of what had befallen Hydranes, Intel to bring back to his master. And just as valuable, the location of the traitor and his paladin whore. So he commanded the Ravenous to cover his retreat, fleeing out the western gate.



Between her spell, and the shots fired from the Dragon’s fire, Aurianna didn’t see where Jeoram had fled, though she had an idea, as she watched the Ravenous flee to the west. Once, she would have followed, no matter the risk. Sought revenge on the man who had taken so much from her. But Monsford needed her. Clara needed her. Matthias needed her. Their child needed her, needed her to be smarter, and more cautious.

So she turned to Matthias, unsure if she would find the man or the demon .
 
Thora dodged, slipping to one side to evade an overhand strike from the Ravenous she faced. Claws tore great furrows in the ear has she dove foreword, hacking savagely at the demon's hamstring with her axe. Assuming it had a hamstring. Not that it mattered. Her blow skittered off the steely scales, notching the edge. She rolled again, gasping in pain as the move jarred her dislocated left wrist. It was the worst injury she'd sustained in the fight, taken when another of the Ravenous had torn her shield from her arm. Could have been worse, though. She still had an arm.

The demon bellowed as it wheeled to face her, then shook like a terrier and uttered a quizzical bleat as Sigurd landed on it's shoulders. The bleat became a howl of pain and fury as he drove a dagger into it's left eye. He hurled himself from the demon's back as it reached for him, and scooted backwards as it lumbered after him.

"Get away from him you bastard!" she roared, lunging forward and hammering at the demon's spine (did it have a spine?) with her axe. Limited to a single hand her blows lacked the force she wanted to apply, but she made up for it with enthusiasm. Once. Twice. Three times. With the fourth stroke she buried the axe to the haft in the thing's neck.

It still managed a dozen steps before it died.

"Are you all right?" Sigurd asked, running to her as she tugged at the embedded axe.

Her response was a frustrated snarl as she punched him. "Moron!" she screamed, grabbing him and kissing him. "You could've been killed!"

"So could you!" Sigurd snapped back.

"I'm trained!" Thora responded, tears in her eyes. "I'm an Acolyte of the Mount, and..."

"I live in Monsford," Sigurd pointed out. "I've been taught to fight longer than I've been training as a..."

"Damnit!" Thora interrupted. I don't..."

"I don't want to lose you either," he interrupted in turn, holding her close. "That's why I'm here!"

"Less talk!" Sue bellowed at them. "More fighting! You can be sappy when we've won!"

The golden-haired Paladin was a mess. Her once-fine party dress hung in bloody rags, and shallow wounds and clotted blood covered her skin. Her bright-bladed sword was dulled with demon blood, and the heavy steel shield she bore so lightly was dented and rent. She gasped for breath, her divinely-enhanced stamina taxed by the hard fighting, and her blue eyes shine behind a mask of mixed demon and human blood. "Where's Clara?"

"I..." Thora said, then hesitated as another Ravenous screamed in agony and fell. Half-naked, bare flesh covered with golden scales where she'd been wounded, she gripped the hilt of her mother's broadsword with both hands as the demon collapsed. Black blood flew in a gout as she tore the blade free, drenching the tatters of her gown in the process.

"Am I weird for thinking that's hot?" Sigurd asked.

"Idiot," Thora answered.

Then the dragon's fire weapons roared, and they all flinched.


Matthias advanced towards Aurianna, licking his lips. Miss me??" he laughed, rubbing his crotch. "Because I've missed you..."

Mykel watched the demonic form of his former pupil - and his son-in-law - through dimming eyes. Ari could take care of herself, he told himself. Save your strength.

"I'm going to have you," the demon growled, jerking his hips suggestively. He sneered as Aurianna gripped her spear. "I'm gonna fuck you on daddy's Ari! I can't shut up! can't hold I'm in charge, now!. Kill me! While you..!"

He should save his strength. But his vision was dimming, and all he could see was Lyara's smile, and the little girl he had failed when she needed him most. When she had needed a father, and not a Lord Commander. "Afodisia," he whispered, blood trickling from his lips. "Sword of love and lover of war..."

Matthias was the only other thing he could see. A dual thing, rags and tatters striving against a thing of blackness.

"In Your Name I banish Your foe. In Your Name I drive it forth."

The pain was gone. All that remained was the golden light gathering in his hand. It felt too heavy to lift, but then he felt a soft hand on his wrist. "You didn't fail her," Lyara said. "And you won't now."

Was it Lyara who stood with him now, to protect their daughter? It was it Afodisia Herself? Or... did it matter? Lyara had always been Afodisia, in his eyes.

"BEGONE!" His voice was thunder as he came to his feet, driving his hands into Matthias' chest. Then he stumbled, and would have fallen if Lyara had not been there to catch him. "It's been so long,@ she wept, her tears of joy staining his cheeks as she kissed him. "But you've finally come home!



Matthias staggered, blood flowing back into his limbs as divine glory flooded his body and the demon howled in agony. He struck then, wrapping the fiend in chains and binding him back down. But... how long? How long would it hold, this time?

Then he saw his mentor, unmoving and lying in a pool of his own blood. "Mykel!" he called, dropping to his knees.
 
“No…” Aurianna whimpered, met with the red eyes of the man who was supposed to be her husband, at the demon who wore his skin. It wasn’t the threats of sexual assault that had her frozen in place, but the loss of the man, that man who loved her, who had just vowed to love her for the rest of his life.

“…kill me! While you can!”

“NO!” She shrieked, backing away from him “I can’t!”

Anything else she or Matthias could say was lost as Mykel roared, heavenly light filling the surrounding area. She watched as he poured his last ounces of strength in Matthias, bloody hands filled with golden vibrancy. And how he slumped to the ground immediately after. Matthias, her Matthias called out the man’s name, but Ari knew it was too late. Still, it wasn’t time now to mourn.

‘Clara?” She called, jumping over dead and dying bodies. She saw the girl, what remained of the girl she knew, running towards the Ravenous, running after Jeoram. It felt terribly familiar to another scene, from a few months ago, as Aurianna chased after Matthias, determined to kill him. “Clara! Clara stop!”

“He’s getting away!” Clara argued, following with wings spread wide.

“If you go after him, you’ll end up as I did. In chains before Baath Me’el, to be violated by his court!” Clara stopped so quickly it was as if an invisible rope had caught her by the waist. She turned to see the bloodied figure of her former mistress, and felt the truth of her words, pierced the furious haze of her form. She landed on her feet, running towards Lady Ari, her draconic features fading away as she drew closer. Aurianna pulled her close, “Monsford needs you now. I need you now.”

“Of course, Lady Aurianna.”



Ari wasn’t sure she could face Matthias right now. The demon had broken free of its binding, taken control. She hadn’t even known that was a possibility, until she was looking into his bloody eyes. It had taken her father’s life to restrain the demon once more. How long would it last?.She could handle herself but…their child. If the demon attacked her unexpectedly, and she lost the baby. Aurianna shook, hand place protectively against her stomach..

Dammit all to hell! This was Jeoram’s fault! Matthias wouldn’t have had to push him, to unleash the demon if Jeoram hadn’t shown up. Mykel wouldn’t have died. If only she wasn’t pregnant! She hunt that son of a bitch down, and repay all the hurt her caused her. Still, what if she had been further along when the demon reared its head? Unprepared for his aggression, there was no telling the damage that could be done.

She couldn’t think about it. The hateful smirk on Jeoram’s face, the malicious lust in Matthias, her husabnd’s eyes. Mykel’s body, face down in a puddle of his own blood. So she busied herself, lending her healing to the survivors, keeping away from Matthias until she could figure out what to even say to him.
 
"Mykel," Matthias whispered, reaching out to touch the body of his one-time instructor. He stopped. What would he do? Shake the man's shoulder? Call for an obviously dead man to wake up? What would it benefit him? But... somehow... He wanted to do something, make some gesture. But he didn't know what. What could he say? What could he do? And now Aurianna held back, watching him warily with her spear in one hand and a protective arm over her abdomen. Everyone was watching him with the same expression, wary and afraid, waiting to see what would happen next. Waiting to see if the demon would reclaim him again, to see if he would need to be put down with fire and steel.

Shaking, he pushed himself to his feet. A hesitant step took him a little closer to Aurianna, but the worry and dread in her eyes was his worst nightmare. Shoulders slumped, he turned and walked away blindly. The townsfolk shied away from him, clearing a path for him through the streets as he passed them. Those who hadn't seen had heard, and word spread quickly. By morning, he knew, there would be townsfolk who believed it was Matthias the Traitor who had called the Ravenous to Monsford. That he had been in league with the demon who had attacked the town. And who could blame them? Not so long ago, it would have been him.

Except that he would have butchered the whole town. Jeoram was clearly a fool, an idiot with no clue how to deply the Ravenous. The Demons of Lust should have slaughtered this whole town! They...

Fuck. Even his thoughts were prey to the demon, now. This couldn't last. For Ari, for their child, he had to find a more permanent solution. Except that there isn't one.


It had fallen to Clara and Sue to see to Mykel's body. Matthias had vanished into the crowd, and they had both agreed that it Lady Aurianna needed time to... well, to deal with discovering he was her father moments before his death. And so they carried his body back into the small stand of trees that served as Afodisia's chapel, to lay him before the votive shrine until he could be washed and dressed for burial.

He wouldn't be alone, though. A lot of people had died.

"It's... not fair," Clara murmured. She'd managed to tug her shredded dress back into some semblance of modesty - although it could be argued that, given the sheer amount of gore and filth that coated her skin, she was hardly naked anyway. Not that she was concerned, since 'modesty' was something that other faiths preached. But she didn't want to trip.

"Who said it was?" Sue answered.

"No, I know," Clara sighed. "It's just... she just found out. And now he's... gone."

Both of them gestured at Thora, who had just found out that (thanks to the Ravenous) she was now the ranking priestess of Afodisia in Monsford. "There," she gestured, "at the foot of the shrine." She wiped a tear from her own eye. "He led Her warriors in life. Let him lead her faithful into the next."
 
“What are you doing?” Ingrud asked, gently pushing Aurianna aside over the body she was wrapping.

“Tending to the wounded?”Aurianna growled resisting for only a moment as Ingrud took the bandages from her hands.


“Yes because wrapping wounds is the best use for our on hand Paladins,” Ingrud countered. “Any idiot could do this.”

“Are you calling me an idiot?” Aurianna shot back, too overwhelmed with the day’s events not to take offense.

“Well, seeing as I’ve now met two men you’ve chosen romantically, I think the word night fit,” Ingrud lectured, finding her own temper running just as high after the hell she had lived through twice now. The paladin flinched, and sunk back from her knees. Ingrud sighed, and tied off the wound, “I didn’t mean that.”

“You’re right. I’m an idiot who attached herself to a demon. In Afodisia’s name no less,” Aurianna said bitterly, pushing herself to her feet.

“You knew what he was. A man who would sacrifice his humanity to save others,” Ingrud argued, as Aurianna offered her a hand up. The words shook her. It was her fault the demon was in him, again. Because she had thought she could tame the demon. He had bound the demon so it couldn’t hurt her, and he took on the entire burden of that choice. “Go to your husband. You need each other now.” Aurianna opened her mouth to argue but Ingrud shook her head, pushing her away. “We have things settled here. Go to him!”



Aurianna made her way through the town, looking and calling for him. But it had been hours since she had watching him leave with guarded eyes. And now as night fell, he was nowhere to be found. So she made her way to the shrine, where her former student and friends were tending to her father’s body.

“Lady Ari?” Clara called, as Aurianna made her way to them.

“He should be interred at the Seraphim wall. All the Lord Commanders are laid to rest there,” Aurianna argued, looking upon the body.

“I thought you’d want to bury him here. So you can pay your respects,” Clara suggested, coming to Aurianna’s side.

“The entire temple will want to pay their respects to him,” Aurianna insisted, rubbing her flesh arm with a steel hand. “He was a beloved Lord Commander after all.”

“Ari…he was your father, too,” Clara said, bringing an arm around her.

“I know! And it’s my fault he was here! It’s my fault he is….” Aurianna cried, falling to her knees. Clara scooped her into her arms, stroking her hair.

“He was here because he loved you,” Clara told her, let her cry it out for a few moments.

“Where is Matthias?” Sue asked. Aurianna just shook her head, and cried harder.

“I don’t know. I can’t find him,” She managed to sob out.

“I’m sure he is just giving you some space. He will turn up,” Clara offered, hopefully. “Come on, let’s get you home, you need to rest. All this stress isn’t good for the baby.”
 
Clara felt wretched. Sick, and tired, and emotionally drained. Terrified of the transformations she'd undergone during the fight, and if the terrifying rage that had consumed her. Not a berserkergang, but a fury that the demon's had invaded what was hers. A fury that left her with the taste of flame in her mouth and a... a contempt for the weak creatures that impeded her. A feeling that she was apart from humanity, and superior to it.

It terrified her.

All she wanted now was to soak in a hot bath. To scrub away the clotted gore that caked her body and matted her hair. Then to lose herself in Sue or Thora or Sigurd or all of them, fucking until the day vanished into exhausted slumber. But that probably wouldn't happen - Thora was seeing to the dead, and Sue and Sigurd were tending to the living, and Lady Aurianna didn't need to be alone.

Ari's home was dark. Silent. Empty. She could smell the flowers she and Sue and Thora had spent hours arranging, filling the newlyweds home with beauty and color in celebration of their union. Now, in the yellow light of the candle, they seemed dull and dead.

"I'm sure he's all right," she said, talking to fill the silence. "He's... probably just... shaken up. He'll be home soon, and then I'll get out of here. There's a cried, after all. Sometimes."

Goddess. She was babbling, now.

Fetching a few coals from the hearth - taking sure to se the rings, even though she new that live coals wouldn't burn her now - she got the stove lit. "I'll... make some tea." She wasn't actually thirsty, but she was keyed up. Wound up. Needed to be doing something. "Or... would you rather I hear up water for a bath? You... well, you look as filthy as I feel."
 
“A bath sounds nice,” Aurianna admitted, pulling out the large tub they had stored away. The sound of metal scrapping on wood seemed especially loud in the oppressive silence of her home. Her mind seemed loud in comparison to the funereal quiet of the night. Just last night she had stayed up with Matthias and Mykel, her husband and her father, reminiscing about times at the temple, back when they were all paladins. An effort to sooth those pre-wedding jitters. But now her father was dead and her husband was missing. Gone, somehow she knew.

Quiet tears streamed down her cheeks as she worked herself out of the ruined remains of her wedding dress. Torn in places, purposely cut in others, coated in coagulated black and scarlet blood, it was not the way she imagined disrobing tonight. Not the way she had hoped to be disrobed. Where were Matthias’ hands, to unlace her and trail down her skin? Where were his lips, to kiss and taste her, and whisper words of love and worship against her skin? Where was he? When she needed him to hold and love and comfort her?

You abandoned him, when he needed you as well. Her mind reminded her. Reminded her that she had looked upon him with cool, distant eyes. You abandoned him, and then you wonder why he is not here? Sighing, wiping her eyes with a steel fist, she wrapped herself in a robe and entered the living area, just as Clara finished filling her tub with steamy water. “Thanks,” She whispered, pulling Clara into a needy hug. It went on for several moments in silence before Aurianna ended it with a kiss on Clara’s forehead.

“You should go,” Aurianna declared, resting her hands on Clara’s shoulders. She smiled weakly, before brushing away a bloodied clump of hair from Clara’s face.

“But Mistress you shouldn’t be alone right now!” Clara insisted, “Not after everything that happened.”

“It’s okay. Matthias will be back soon,” Aurianna explained, knowing the words were a lie a she spoke them. The fiction felt as if it pierced her heart, but she forced a smile. “It’s not as if he would abandon his pregnant wife on our wedding night.”

“I’ll just stay until then!”Clara assured her, but Aurianna was leading her to the door. She could have fought back, asserted her strength, which rivaled her mistress’ now. But Lady Ari was pregnant and they were both exhausted. There had been enough fighting this day.

“Get some rest. We have to prepare to return the Lord Commander to the temple, so he can be properly buried. And We should send word tot eh temple by pigeon, so then can elect a new Lord Commander,” Aurianna listed off, keeping her mind busy with tasks so Matthias’ absence wouldn’t feel as consuming. But as she closed the door behind Clara, she felt the onslaught of grief grip her. Choking sobbing following her as she sunk against the door.


The night had been long and lonely, but somehow she had fallen asleep at some point. As much as it hurt, she wasn’t surprised to find herself waking alone. Matthias was gone. As much as she might have wanted to spend the day cry in bed, there were things to do, so she willed herself up.

Where had he gone? He wouldn’t have gone after Jeoram, would he? Even with his magic, he couldn’t go up against the fallen paladin. If the demon took over again, it would be closer, but Jeoram was armed and armored, and Matthias just wore the ruined suit coat. Surely Matthias wasn’t so foolish to throw his life away? But, if he feared she no longer loved him…

Thoughts consumed her as she donned her armor, for the first time in over a month. Worry gnawed at her as she packed herself for the trip back to the temple. Guilt troubled her as she forced herself to eat some breakfast. Still, everything that needed it got done, and it was time to leave the home they made together. Finding some optimism she hadn’t expected, she left a note on the kitchen table.

Matthias, I left to the temple, to see Mykel my father’s body to rest. I don’t expect to stay long, and I’ll send word when I have arrived.
I love you,
Your wife

Leaving it folded on the table, Aurianna took one last longing look around their home, and picked up her pack, loading it in the cart that would carry Mykel’s casket. She noted that Clara, Sue, Thora, Sigurd, and the wolf were joining her, as Ingrud saw everyone off.

“I’ll see your house tended to,” Ingrud assured her, pulling Aurianna tight against her.

“Just until Matthias returns,” Aurianna insisted, unsure if she were putting on a brave face or clinging to hope.

“Of course,” Ingrud agreed, “After I kick his ass in your absence.” With one last light laugh, Aurianna bid farewell to Monsford.
 
"You're still insisting on riding that thing?" Sigurd griped.

"Hope's not a thing!" Thora replied, cinching the saddle around the dire wolf's chest. "She's a puppy!" With that she scratched behind the wolf's ears.

"She's a giant carnivore that scares the horses," Sigurd replied.

"Don't listen to the nasty man," Thora cooed, rubbing her cheek against Hope's muzzle and face. "You're mommy' widdle baby, aren't you? Aren't you? Yes you are! Yes you are!"

Sigurd made a nauseated sound, and Sue and Clara laughed before turning their attentions back to their own saddles. In truth, the horses weren't overly bothered by the wolf. Wary, yes, but not afraid. Thora's beastmastery saw to that.

Verrier saw to that as well. The wolves weren't the only beasts grown stronger and more fierce under his influence, after all.

"You know," Clara said, "after everything that's happened, I never expected to go back to the Temple. I wonder if i's changed much."

Sue saw the expression on Clara's face, and the way she looked with concern at Lady Aurianna. 'Everything' was said a great deal. "I doubt it," she answered. "It's only been half a year."

"It feels longer," Clara murmured. "A lifetime."


His great regret was that he hadn't said goodbye. But, if he had, it would have sapped his resolve. He wanted to stay with his new wife, with his Ari. But he was a danger to everyone about him, now. His demon clawed at the prison of his mind - he'd sensed weakness and now fought hard for it. And with his demonic strength, and his magic, and the utter lack of morality and conscience, his demonic self would make an abattoir of Montford.

And he knew what he'd do to Ari. The demon-sent visions weren't necessary. The same things he'd done to hundreds of men and women who'd been objects of his infernal pleasures.

He'd cut his own throat, first.

And so he fled, without saying goodbye. First on foot, until he had the presence of mind to call up elementals of earth and stone to bear him tirelessly. The spirits of the air or the river would have been faster, but he had no desire to test the Godslayer's goodwill with flight. And the blood of two dragons had made the River wild and chaotic.

It took a week to make the journey, perhaps a quarter of the time a horse would have needed. The Seraphin Wall glittered white on the far side of the river, and he stared at it with a mixture of hope and dread. There was no turning back, not now.


Thora ride point, allowing Hope to follow Matthias' scent. For half a day they followed the dire wolf as she snuffled and trotted, until finally she began circling in confusion. "I... I think she's lost the trail."

Sigurd looked around, keenly inspecting the ground. Then he dismounted, singing something softly as he examined deep, oddly-shaped gouges in the earth. "Magic," he finally said. "He called up the gnomes, the earth-spirits - here." A pause. "Or, at least, someone did.
 
“You didn’t visit him, when he was last here,” Oracle noted, fingers intertwined as golden eyes seemed to bore into Rielle’s mind. The unflinching gaze of the Goddess. Suddenly this “friendly chat” between them felt like an inquisition. Much like the kind she used to be in charge of, when she was High Inquisitor, and not Lady Commander. “Why not?”

Rielle sighed before answering, “Because Matthias and I had a history, and I wasn’t going to be able to partial while questioning him. Why are we talking about this?”

“I am trying to get an understanding of the woman who will be leading us. Why didn’t you visit him outside the scope of your duty?”

“Why would I want to visit a demon who mocked me with the face of my lost love?” Rielle shot back, “The Matthias I loved died over a decade ago.”

“So you didn’t think it were possible for him to be redeemed?” Oracle prodded.

“At the time, no. Whatever he had done for Aurianna, he had still taken her to Baath Me’el in the first place. He was uncooperative in his questionings, until we applied binding circles, and he consistently begged for death.” Rielle reminded her. Oracle might have been able to see beyond, but everyone else had to rely on the facts laid out before them. “Clearly I was wrong, given the reports we received from Monsford. That he stood in defense of the town, against the Host of Torment, and that his magic helped bring down the demon dragon. If Monsford wants to keep him, so be it. I’ve moved on, and apparently, so has he.”

“And if he comes back?” Oracle prompted.

“Why? Is he?” Rielle retorted, not used to being on this side of the questioning. The Oracle would have been one hell of an inquisitor.

“Perhaps.”

“I don’t see why he would. The only thing that awaits him here is a trial for the decade he served Baath Me’el.”

“Because the path of redemption retreads old ground.”


They had wasted a day following Matthias’ scent, and Aurianna cursed under her breath. She wasn’t sure who exactly she was mad at. Matthias, for leaving her? Or Thora, for suggesting that her wolf could find him? Or perhaps herself, for daring to hope?

“We’ve wasted enough time. We need to get to the temple already,” Aurianna commanded pushing ahead to avoid the sympathetic looks on their faces. Enough time had been wasted on this fool’s errand.


Justine watched from the Seraphim wall. There had been reports of Ravenous two weeks past, which had her briefly concerned that Matthias was indeed the demon most everyone though he was. But then they had received the report of Jeoram attacking Monsford with the demons, and killing the Lord Commander in the process.

Justine wanted to go after him. Practically begged Rielle to assign her a couple of paladins so she could strike down the traitor. She reviled demons, of course, every mortal did, at least every mortal that wasn’t corrupted by them, but she had never felt this level burning hatred, hate that felt consuming at times. She hated Matthias, when she had gotten word he had captured Ari, and took her to Baath Me’el to be tortured. She still hated him when she had discovered he had rescued her, for reasons he himself did not know. She hated him when he took Aurianna and Clara in the dead of night, after having killed six paladins. She hated him slightly less when she learned the truth of it. And now, after seeing the happiness he had brought Ari, after everything? She still didn’t like him, but she didn’t hate him either.

But Jeoram? A thousand deaths would not be enough to inflict her wrath upon him. Losing her Paladinhood would be nearly worth the price of torturing him, if she though it could bring her satisfaction. But it wouldn’t wash away what happened to Ari, or make her want to return to the temple. And now she couldn’t count on her best friend being around. Ari wouldn’t be there to see the birth of her and Cassi’s child. She wouldn’t be there if Ari decided to marry Matthias, or if she wised up and found someone else. Their children wouldn’t play with one another, or grow up together. Nothing would ever be as it was, ever again.

Still, Sue had sent word that they were returning, to bring Mykel’s body to rest at the temple. Rielle wouldn’t authorize anything until Ari returned, so she could get the details from her directly. Ari would be home briefly. Justine wanted to believe things would be different, and she would want to stay, but she knew that was unlikely. Not with Matthias waiting for her in Monsford, and the horror of that night waited here.

So she waited here, for some signs of Jeoram, and for Ari. It would be a week or so at least, if they were able to travel without much trouble. What she saw to the northeast, following the Sarn, was neither of them. Matthias. What the hell was he doing here? Had…had something happened to Ari? Panic leapt into her throat.

“Someone approaches. I’ll go check it out,” She said, ignoring the words of protest from Jaegr. She turned the crank on the lift as fast as her hands could move, her heart pounding louder than the screeching gears. As soon as it touched the ground she was already sprinting towards him.

“Where Ari? Did something happen to her?”
 
It was Justine. Well, she might be willing to hear him out. She hadn't just put an arrow through his throat, after all. So, forcing himself to relax, he watched her hit the ground and jog towards him. "Where's Ari? Did something happen to her?"

"No, i mean, well..." He licked lips that were suddenly dry, all too aware of hiw easily even this petite Paladin could kill him. "She's fine, although... well, she found out that Mykel was her father as he died in front of her."

Her eyes widened a trifle. "Her father..? We'd received word that he'd been slain by that bastard Jeoram." She spat, clearing her mouth of his name. "But I hadn't... no, that's not the point. Why are you here, traitor?"

He brustled as the epithet stung him, then forced himself to relax. "Remember how I..." He swallowed. "How I bound the demon that, that attacked Ari? At Monsford?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Yes..?"

"It... he, escaped. Took me over, and-" Suddenly the world was a blur as something crashed heavily into his chest, hammering the air from his lungs. Justine knelt abive him, an iron hand on his throat and steel in her fist.

"What did you do to her, you bastard!"

"Nuh..." he croaked, scrabbling at her fingers as he struggled to breathe. The demon's laughter echoed in his mind.

"Hasn't she suffered enough at your hands?" Justineroared. "You took her to..."

"Nothing!" Matthias croaked out, eyes frantic. "Mykel stopped me!"

"Then why are you here?" she hissed.

"Mykel... Mykel bought me time," he croaked, still tugging at her fingers. They may as well have been a sreel collar for alk the good it did. "But the demon... the demon is growing stronger. I don't know how long I can hold him."

"So?"

He wasn't certain if the question was curiousity ir apathy, but he pressed on. "I came to surrender. I came, hoping the demon could be biund, or exercised, or..." Giving up on freeing himself, he slumped into the dirt. "I came, because I know what I'll do to Ari, if he consumes me. To Ari, and to our child."

He losed his eyes, steeling himself. "Take me to the Inquisition, Justine. Free me, execute me, I don't care. But my demonic soul has to be banished or slain, whatever they do to me."
 
Justine swallowed hard, taking in all the information Matthias had revealed. Mykel was Aurianna’s father, and she had watched him die. She was carrying Matthias’ child, and now he was at risk of hurting her, if the demon took control. She eased up of his throat, just a bit. After all, she didn’t want to be responsible for killing him, and breaking Aurianna’s heart.

So she stood up, dusting herself off and watching him warily. “Come on traitor. The Inquisition waits.”



Rielle had just made her way to the top of the Seraphim as the lift was reaching it. She had received word that Justine was talking, and then had attacked Matthias, but there didn’t seem to be any ill will between them as they came into view. Just Justine’s typical sourness, and a guarded look in Matthias’ eyes. His hazel eyes, she immediately noticed, every bit the man she had once loved.

She had caught glimpses of him, last he was here. The pallid skinned, crimson eye demon who had tormented the Order for almost a decade. It was easy not to care, then. It was further proof that her Matthias had been long gone.

Now though? Now he was every bit the man she had loved. The man who had proposed on bended knee, and promised his undying love. The same teenage boy who left her love notes hidden in books. This was the man she thought she would spend the rest of her life with, all those years ago.

“Matthias is surrendering,” Justine announced to Rielle, who nodded, carefully examining her once fiancé. He didn’t appear to need restraining, and the report regarding Mykel’s death only mentions Jeoram as an aggressor.

“Well then Matthias, I will escort you down to your cell, and take your testimony, regarding the death of former Lord Commander Mykel,” Rielle instructed, leading him back to the cell he occupied three months ago.

“I will have some fresh clothes sent down,” She offered as she opened the cell for him. “Do I need to have you restrained?” She asked, a question then once might have held playful implications, but was coldly serious now.

“So, was it your wedding to Ari that was attacked by Jeoram?” She asked flat out. Matthias knew her well enough that he shouldn’t be surprised by her incredibly accurate summation of the events. Still, he knew she enjoyed laying out her thought process.

“You wouldn’t usually dress like this, so it must have been a special occasion, a fact supported by Mykel’s staying in Monsford for over a week after arriving. Possibly it could have been a celebration of Clara and Sue’s Promotion to Paladin from Aspirant, but that kind of event can be arranged in a day or two at most. Only the wedding of his daughter could justify him staying the week. And I figured out he was her father years ago, a fact he did not deny when I asked out it. He only asked that I not saying anything to her, as he was waiting for the right moment to tell her.

“So, why the quick nuptials? Is she pregnant, or did you decide that just surviving a massive demon onslaught meant that you needed to live in the moment?” There wasn’t much bitterness in her voice as she asked. Surely he remembered how long their engagement had been, as he waited to finish Aurianna’s training before committing fully to her.

“Tell me what happened in Monsford, the day Mykel died. And why you are here now, to surrender yourself?”
 
Matthias had expected quite a number of things once he surrendered, but awkwardness hadn't been one of them. And being handed to your former fiancee, the one you abandoned because you sold your soul to darkness, qualified as awkward. And it became more awkward by the moment as she escorted him down into the Temple and back to the exact same cell this had all started in three months ago. "Do I need to have you restrained?"

Once, he'd have risen to the bait. Both of them had been quite dominant in bed, and both of them had enjoyed the ferel of being restrained as the other used them. But now... "The Demonqueller Rune," he said. "And the Rune of the Chain. That way, even if the demon gets free again..."

I won't lay waste to half the Temple before you subdue me. He'd studied the Primal Language in Baath-Me'el's court, but he'd been too drunk on his raw demonic might to really embrace it at the time. He doubtrd he'd overlook it again.

Then Rielle was asking questions she'd already worked out the answer for, a trait that hadn't changed since he'd last seen her. Sne had a keenly analytical mind, after all. The bitterness in her voice was new, though, and he winced as he heard it. He'd put it there, after all. "Tell me what happened in Monsford, the day Mykel died. And why you are here now, to surrender yourself?"

"Killed," Matthias corrected by reflex. He'd always been a teacher.

"What?"

"Mykel didn't die, Rielle. That implies a peaceful passing of natural causes. He was killed. By that son of a bitch Jeoram, who decided to follow in my footsteps."

"He's a demon, then." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes. He sold himself to Baath-Me'el, and has been rewarded with my old offices, it seems." He offered a sour mockery of a smile. "In a way, you could say, we are brothers now. He even commands the Ravenous."

Rielle pulled up a stool. "Tell me."

Matthias glanced around, then settled on the floor. "Not much to tell, although I can try to go into exhaustive detail later if you want. Jeoram and the Ravenous crashed the party. Mykel was the only one armed, and attacked Jeoram to buy time for me to try to wrest control of the Ravenous and for the others to arm themselves. Then things got... hectic."

He bit his lip, thinking. "I missed some of the details - speaking the Primal Language takes a lot of concentration. But Mykel acquitted himself well, for an unarmored swordsman fighting a man in plate. He was actually thr better swordsman."

"No surprise there," Rielle interrupted.

"No, not really. But Jeoram still skewered him with a hellfire blade, making a terrible wound mortal by stealing some of his life."

"So why are you here?" Rielle demanded.

"Because," Matthias answered, leaning against the wall, "I had to bind my demon soul within me. After Hydranes tore it from me in an act that was assuredly not mercy. He had to be caged, and I was the only thing to hand that would work. But... it fights me. And it broke free, in Monsford. Repossessed me. And Mykel used the last of his strength to put it back down. Temporarily."

He sighed. "I've been reinfected by a conscience, ever since Hydranes tortured me. And it would be so easy to give in, to return to what I was. To silence that conscience in demonic power once more. To be free of guilt and dread and self-loathing, to be strong and confident again." He chuckled, a hollow sound. "But, believe it or not, Matthias the man is terrified of what I'd become. What I'd do to my friends, to my wife and unborn child. Of what ai coukd do with my magics and my demonic power."

Sitting up, he looked Rielle in the eyes. "My demon soul needs to be put down, Rielle. For the sake of everyone. And..." he shrugged, "it doesn't matter what happens to me. I'm just the soulless husk of a damned fool, after all. More of a zombie that can think than anything else. My soul was consumed, a decade ago."
 
Rielle studied Matthias for a moment. “You know, we don’t know all that much about what happens when a human gives up their soul in exchange for demonic power. It’s not like we get to study the subjects all that often. Most of the time they are cut down when the opportunity arises. Like you would have been, had Oracle not stepped in to stop it. Hydranes may have inadvertently taught us something new, when she…well” Rielle waved her hand to fill in the details. “Did Hydranes know what she was doing when she separated your demonic soul? She must have. I mean it’s possible she didn’t care if you lived or died, but Hydranes has had decades to experiment on humans. Who could possibly know more than the Demon Lords about the possibilities of soul binding?”

Rielle was standing, pacing back and forth as her mind worked through the possibilities. “Hydranes forced the demon out of your soul, and you survived! This is…unprecedented! Matthias, we could use this knowledge, to drive the demonic souls out of others.” She stopped herself, looking down at him. “I’m…I’m sorry. I am getting ahead of myself. You aren’t a case to study. You are a person,” She said reminding herself as much as affirming to him. “If the demon was forced out of you once, it could be again. You could be human, again. Of course you would still need to be put on trial…” Rielle trailed off, shaking her head.

A steward delivered fresh clothes and the two blank runes. She gave Matthias a bit of privacy to dress, while she applied the binding spells to the runes, and once he was ready she placed them on his wrists, just as before. “I can have the tribunal assembled for the day after tomorrow. In the meantime I’ll scour the library for whatever information I can find, in regards the demon, whether it can be bound in a different prison or exercised. Though, it won’t really matter if the tribunal decides to execute you…” It was hard to look at him, like this and say those words. “In all likelihood, it will be decided before Aurianna arrives with Mykel’s body. Unless you want her testify in your defense.”



“So, how does electing a new Lord Commander go?” Clara asked as they sat around the fire, finishing the evening meal.

“Not exactly sure. I was still an aspirant the last time it happened,” Aurianna explained, leaning against a tree trunk, looking up at the stars. “I was just an aspirant, as a matter of fact,” she began to recall. “Mykel had actually been my instructor, at first. It was a bit odd, now that I think about it, since he had been a field commander for a few years by then. But he did have a bit of pull, and arranged to be my instructor, once I became old enough. Then, about a month or two into my training, the former Lord Commander Leopold fell during the Siege of Troion. Mykel was elected, and he assigned Matthias to take over my training.” Aurianna explained. She laughed bitterly at the fact that a conversation that was likely intended to get her mind off her missing husband was bringing him up.

“It’s likely already happened. If we are lucky, we won’t have another in our lifetime. That is to say that our new Lord Commander will live a long life, not that we will die anytime soon.” Ari justified, trying push Matthias out of her mind again.

“Who do you think it might be?” Clara asked, obviously trying to help. Aurianna just shrugged.

“We’ve both been away from temple politics for a couple months now, so it’s hard to tell who it could be. Usually a field commander, perhaps Levan or Pietra.” Ari surmised, “Rielle’s been High Inquisitor for almost 11 years now. I could her being elected just to get her off the inquisition.” Aurianna laughed in her closed mouth, before remembering that she was Matthias’ fiancée first. With a sigh to push back the pain, Aurianna got up. “I am going to bed. We have a long day of riding ahead of us tomorrow.”
 
"Human again?" Matthias smiled sadly at the thought. "Human, sort of i guess. But keep this in mind, Rielle: I have no soul."

The excitement seemed to drain from her face. "No soul?"

"As far as I can tell, none. I..." He paused as an acolyte arrrived, bearing a bundle of clothing. Rielle pushed it through the bars to him and stepped to one side, giving him a measure of privacy as he changed. That was the oddest feeling about all of this - the realization that the last time they spoke, she'd have insisted on watching. And 'helping', in a way that woukd have left them both needing to get dressed.

Now, though, the closest she came to those games was tge way her fingers brushed his wrists ss she clamped the Runes about them. "No soul," she prompted.

Nodding grimly, he seated himself on the floor. "I'm not possessed, not in the common understanding of the term. Once Baath-Me'el and his court had finished with me, once they'd broken me to the point that I was sincere when I begged him to take me, he tore my soul from my body." Simple words, placing a gloss on days of torture. "The demon filled the gaping wound that was left."

She eyed him, only a flicker of horror giving the lie to her detached expression. "How did you survive?"

Matthias shrugged. "As a demon, it was..."

"Not that," Rielle interrupted. "Everything we know about the soul tells us that you should have died when your soul was removed. Everything." She leaned forward. "And don't talk to me of zombies, Matthias. You and I both know you aren't one. You'd be mindless if you were. How did you survive, and how did you survive having the demon torn out?"

"I... don't know," Matthias finally confessed.

"Which is why we need to know." Matthias recognized her expression. He was a puzzle for her to solve, now. "I can have the tribunal assembled for the day after tomorrow." And like that she was off, thinking aloud about how she could study and research the problem before her. But it also led her to the final problem: Aurianna.

"She... she should speak in my defense," he finally murmured. He had to look away, because he could see the pain in her eyes - distant and controlled, but there - as they both spoke of her. A decade, it seemed, wasn't enough to utterly destroy memories. For either of them. "And... her testimony would be invaluable for your studies. She, well, what she went through was the beginnings of what I was subjected to. But, yes. If the tribunal will wait, then she should speak."


It was cool at night, on the plains. Aurianna was a dim shape illuminated by the stars and the ruddy glow of the banked coals. Thora and Sigurd were another, tangled in each other's arms beneath their blankets. Clara had listened to them quietly make love as she sat her watch, soft moans and hushed sighs as they tried to be discrete, and the temptation to join in had been strong.

She hadn't, in the end. This was dangerous country, after all.

Sue's footsteps, soft as they were, announced her presence. The other Paladin settled herself down beside her, rubbing her eyes. "My watch," she yawned.

"In a minute, yeah," Clara agreed.

"Anything happen? Other than those two, I mean?" Sue nodded at the sleeping forms.

Clara chuckled. "You heard them too?"

"Yeah. Kind of hard not to." She poked the coals with a stick, sending little flames licking skyward. "Are... are you really going to marry them?"

"I..." Clara thought about that for a moment. "Yeah. Eventually. Not in a real hurry, though. I mean, I just turned sixteen." Sue chuckled at that, and they fell into a companiable silence. "What about you?" she finally asked.

"I'm three months older than you," Sue responded.

"No..." Clara said. "I mean, that is," she felt her face burn scarlet as she stammered. "Would, would you... that is, would you? Marry... me?" Words started to tumble out in a rush. "I mean, you're my best friend and I really..."

Laughing, Sue shut her up with a kiss. "Yes, silly. Do I have to marry them, too?"

"Uhm... maybe?" Clara kissed her back, then scratched her head in thought. "I... don't know how that actually works. We can..." Sue kissed her again, ending that thought. Then they kissed some more, xighing a litgle as hands explored bidies and clothes began to loosen.

Finally, though, Sue drew away. "Go get some sleep," she said with a smile. "I am not going to be a good guard if you keep that up."

"All right," Clara sighed, lacing her shirt back up. She leaned forward and stole a last kiss. "I love you."

"Love you too," Sue answered, slapping her on the butt. "Go."
 
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