The Shadows of Grace

13

T he ground shook as if giants buried beneath the world were thrashing as they stirred. Above him the sky bled fire, waves of it falling to the horizon. He felt blood on his hands and tasted rot on his tongue. When he looked down and saw the dead child in his arms, chest ripped open by hundreds of squirming black worms, Qurrah allowed the nightmare to wake him.

He sat up and pulled his hood over his head as he looked around. They were surrounded by Thulos’s demons, most sleeping in blankets with their weapons at their sides. A few patrolled the area, giant torches in hand. One passed by, nodding in greeting.

“Why are you awake?” Tessanna asked, startling him. She hadn’t moved, and her eyes were still closed as if she were asleep.

“A dream,” he said. “Where is Velixar?”

Tessanna propped herself up on her elbow, her long hair cascading over her face.

“You know he doesn’t sleep,” she said. “And he certainly doesn’t keep us aware of his doings.”

“Shush then,” Qurrah said, glancing about the camp. “Follow me.”

Together they slipped through the camp, avoiding the patrolling guards and their torchlight. Near their camp stood thousands of undead, all raised from the murdered people of Neldar. They were perfectly still, awaiting Velixar’s orders. Qurrah grabbed Tessanna’s hand and pulled her through the rotting ranks. Several rows in, he stopped and turned to her, feeling safe enough to whisper.

“Mordeina is very close,” Qurrah said. “If Velixar is to regain leadership of Karak’s followers, he needs to do so soon.”

“How do you know it is tonight?” Tessanna asked. “You do this only because of your dream.”

“I don’t care,” the half-orc said. “Preston wants you dead. I feel it time we put his nuisance to an end.”

Tessanna giggled. “We’re going to be naughty tonight, aren’t we?” she asked.

Qurrah smiled at her. “We need to be careful. If things go bad, flee back to Ulamn.”

“I’ll be fine,” she said. “It’s you I’m worried about.”

Qurrah put his hand on her abdomen, where a tight bulge had grown on her slender frame.

“You protect our child’s life then,” he said. “Leave me to die if you must.”

“So romantic,” she said. “Lead on, lover.”

They hurried past the undead, further and further south, to where the rest of the army camped. From behind the rotting body of a gigantic Veldaren soldier, they peered out at the first wave of guards. The tested patrolled the entire camp, holding torches in their bone hands. Their tents were placed in an outer ring, protecting the inner camps. Krieger’s paladins slept further inside, and at the very heart of it all were the priests. Qurrah scratched his chin, pondering the best method to enter.

“This won’t be easy,” he said. “Kill as few as possible. We don’t need the survivors rallying behind another in a desperate bid for vengeance against us and Velixar.”

“No fun,” Tessanna muttered, turning back to the few wandering tested. A wave of her hand and they slumped to the ground, fast asleep. “No challenge either,” she added.

“They’re just fodder,” Qurrah said, grabbing her hand. “What did you expect?”

They slipped through the outer ring of the camp, silent as a shadow. Tessanna had to cast her sleep spell only twice, both on tested that neared them during their slow patrol. Together they slipped inside a tent where three more slept. A wave of Qurrah’s hand and shadows crawled over their lips. Another spell and gray mist rose up from the dirt, latching around the three like a spider’s web. This startled them awake, but they could not move and could not make a sound. From inside the tent the two peered out, watching a lone dark paladin walk by.

“You know, Krieger’s always hated us,” Tessanna said.

“It doesn’t matter,” Qurrah said. “No killing them.”

“Fine.”

She yanked a chunk of dirt from the ground, blew across it, and then winked at Qurrah. The dirt shimmered red, and then it flew, propelled by some unseen force. It smacked the dark paladin square in the mouth, hard enough to snap his head back. Tessanna rushed out of the tent, her knife drawn. She jammed it into the neck of the paladin, who was busy struggling to pull the dirt out of his mouth. His body slackened immediately. She licked the blade, her eyes flaring wild at the taste of blood.

Qurrah glared but did not reprimand her. They hurried, knowing it would not be long before someone noticed the dead guard. That hurrying cost them, however, for Qurrah tripped, stumbling and rolling beside the priests’ tents. He froze, waiting for someone to awake, and that was when he realized just how quiet the camp was. No snoring. No stirring in the night. He got to his knees and yanked open the flap of the nearby tent. Empty.

“What’s going on?” Tessanna asked. She crossed her arms and looked about, suddenly shy and nervous. “Where are they, Qurrah?”

The half-orc closed the flap and stood. “I don’t know,” he said. “But something’s not right. We need to find out what, and fast.”

He took her hand, and together the two ran toward the center of the camp. As they approached, they saw rows of torches, the light growing incredibly bright. Priests and dark paladins held them, forming a giant arc encircling a clearing. In spite of all their numbers, they were remarkably silent. Qurrah could hear Preston talking to them, his voice rising and falling in inflection and urgency. He couldn’t make out his words, not yet, but in his gut he knew what was going on. There was only one possibility.

“They’ve captured Velixar,” Qurrah said. “Or plan on doing so soon. We need to get closer.”

“Hold my hands,” Tessanna said. “I’ll get us there, like a good girl. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

He took her hands and nodded. Tessanna closed her eyes and whispered the words of magic to her spell. The shadows cast by the torchlight suddenly shrank in on themselves, crawling around their legs and waist as if they were alive. Qurrah felt his skin tingling. He clutched Tessanna’s hands as his entire vision went dark.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Trust me,” Tessanna said. “And shush, or you’ll let the bad men know we’re here.”

He waited, completely in the dark. Tessanna resumed her magical incantations. The darkness in front of his eyes faded to gray, then white, and then finally a reddish gold. Her words ended, and then he felt his stomach lurch as his entire world shifted at an angle. He saw Preston, and heard his words as if he were a foot away. It looked as if he were staring up from the dirt, and as Preston moved he fought away a wave of nausea, for his entire perspective shifted and reformed with each step the priest took. At last Qurrah figured out where he was watching from. He was inside Preston’s shadow.

Qurrah strained, and he felt his perspective shift. All around were paladins and priests of Karak. Their faces were somber, their eyes dark and tired. Tied to a stake before them was Velixar. His arms were behind his back, his hands wrapped with two different ropes. His feet were bound. He wasn’t gagged, but still he remained silent. Only his eyes moved, watching Preston pace.

“Karak has always warned about pride,” Preston said. “He has always warned that no matter who we are, how great we think we might be, we can always fall. We can always succumb to lies, to fear, and to chaos. That is what has happened, my brothers! That truth you now look upon.”

Velixar opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. Preston ignored him.

“Since the dawn of our time Velixar has done Karak’s will,” the priest said. “He was given tremendous power, and a life that will be akin to ours when we die. But judge a tree by its fruit, says our lord! What has Velixar done? What has this supposed hand of Karak ever done?”

“Chaos!” shouted one of the priests.

“That’s right!” Preston said, pointing at the priest. “He has sown war at every turn. He has stirred up the creatures of the wedge and let them murder and ravage. And now, when victory was within our grasp, he harbored a paladin of the enemy, and still gives free reign to a daughter of the whore.”

“Blasphemy!” cried the crowd.

Qurrah looked about, searching for Krieger. He found him standing with several other paladins, all of them with their arms crossed and their weapons at their sides. They watched intently, and while they didn’t appear too thrilled with the events transpiring, they were clearly doing nothing to stop them.

“Velixar has become nothing but an agent of chaos,” Preston continued. “He serves only himself, for in his pride he believes that he decides Karak’s will, instead of listening for it, praying for it, and revealing such wisdom to others. I ask you now, do you want to see his face? The true face of this fallen prophet?”

The crowd fell silent. Qurrah felt he should intervene, but was not sure how. There were so many. Unable to act, he watched Velixar’s trial.

Preston pulled out his pendant and held it before Velixar’s face. It shimmered red. Velixar winced. The movement of his features halted. His skin peeled away, vanishing like mist. Illusion after illusion stripped bare and banished. Only bone remained. A skull with eyes. Velixar again tried to speak, but no sound came forth.

“How do they hold him prisoner?” Qurrah asked. He didn’t see Tessanna nearby, and did not know if she could hear him.

“Quiet,” was all Tessanna said. Their words came out of Preston’s shadow, but they were lost in the sudden din as the servants of Karak looked upon a living skeleton burning with power and anger.

“Is this who we should follow?” Preston asked. “This… this corpse?”

Several shouted no.

“Is this who we should sacrifice our faith, our laws, and our rule to follow?” he asked.

More shouts of no.

“Is this who we should place our faith in, over our very faith in Karak?”

Many more shouts. The crowd wanted blood. Preston turned, and as his symbol left Velixar’s face his flesh slowly reappeared. Qurrah felt a tug on his hand, and in a single stomach-wrenching moment his sight returned to his own eyes and not the shadows. He collapsed to his knees and stared, this time at the backs of the throng.

“What should we do?” Tessanna asked. “There are so many…”

“I abandoned him once before,” Qurrah said. “I hid like a coward as elves riddled his body with arrows. I will not do so again. He has given us a child. For that, I owe him dearly.”

“A good reason,” Tessanna said, a sinister gleam in her eye. Suddenly she laughed, the wild sound drawing attention to her, but not so much as the sudden thunderbolt she called from the sky to her fingertips. The sound roared over the group, and almost instinctively the priests and paladins parted at her arrival.

“You call me the daughter of the whore,” Tessanna said. Yellow light washed over her as the lightning still circled and spun, held captive by her fingers. “You wish me dead, don’t you, servants of an imprisoned god?”

“You let the paladin of Ashhur escape!” Preston said, the only one seemingly unfazed by her arrival. “Our laws are clear.”

“And so you punish Velixar,” Tessanna said. A wave of her hand and the lightning gained life, crawling down her arms and around her shoulders like a snake. She winked at Velixar, who stared, calm and curious.

“He protects you,” Preston insisted. “He does not care for Karak’s will. He only seeks power.”

“Not like you seek power, wretch,” Tessanna said. “At least he seeks it through strength and faith, not cowardice and lies.”

“Enough!” Preston shouted. “Kill her!”

Qurrah laughed as he entered their circle, his whip drawn and alive with flame. None charged. The lightning swirled from Tessanna’s shoulders to her waist and legs, her entire body shimmering with light.

“This is a sham of a trial,” Qurrah said, sneering at the priest. “And the man you accuse is bound and unable to defend his name. Velixar was never afraid of the truth. Are you?”

“His words are poison,” Preston said. Sweat poured down his face. “We have listened to him long enough.”

“Listen to him again,” Tessanna said, flicking a finger at Velixar. A spark of lightning shot to his throat, charring skin. His body shuddered, his mouth opened, and then he spoke, the magic holding him silent finally banished.

“Her words are true, Preston,” Velixar said. He let his burning red eyes fall upon all who surrounded him, prepared to take what life he had. “You are a coward and a liar. Karak would never entrust his final victory to your hands. I have faced the very might of Ashhur himself! Legions have professed my name. Yet all you control are a rabble of tested and a small congregation of priests.”

“Karak’s words are strong in my heart,” Preston said.

“You hear nothing of our god,” Velixar said. “And I will prove it.”

Qurrah lashed at the bonds holding his teacher to the stake, the fire of his whip leaping hungrily at the dry cords. Velixar stumbled free, holding the stake to keep his balance. As Preston watched in horror, Velixar reached down his own throat and pulled out a blackened and burnt pendant. He tossed it to the ground in disgust.

“Such vile contraptions to control my power,” he said. “I should destroy you here and now.”

“No,” Krieger shouted, drawing their attention to him and his paladins. “I want to see this proof you offer.”

“Are my words not enough?” Velixar asked.

“They are words, just as his,” Krieger said. “You offered proof. Show us. Let us see you still hear the voice of Karak, and your will is his.”

Velixar laughed, deep and vile. He had not done such a display since the early years of Dezrel, when worship in Karak had temporarily descended into a barbaric competition of fanaticism. The gods had just been defeated and imprisoned, and many sought out new gods to worship. He had shown them their error, and he would show the servants gathered about him in the same way.

“Qurrah, give me your whip,” he asked. Qurrah did as he was told. Velixar lashed the dirt three times. He shouted the words of a spell as he did, and at the third lashing a giant fire sprang from the earth. Velixar handed back the whip, then stood before the flame. It was up to his chest, and it burned a mixture of black and purple.

“Krieger, come to my side,” Velixar said. “Place your hand into the fire.”

“What sorcery is this?” Krieger asked.

“If you are faithful to Karak, the fire will not burn,” said the prophet. “Just as it will not burn in the Abyss, unlike what Ashhur so vainly claims.”

The dark paladin took off his gauntlet and stepped forward. He glanced side to side, feeling all eyes upon him. He would not falter, not in front of so many. He plunged his hand into the fire. He never even winced. The fire did not burn. It wasn’t even warm.

“Keep your hand there,” Velixar said. “And keep your faith strong. As long as your hand is within, all will see I use no trickery.”

Without another word he plunged his own arm into the fire. It washed over him like liquid, and did not burn.

“Prove your own faith,” Qurrah said to Preston. “You claim the name Melorak, great servant and leader of Karak. Prove you belong at their side.”

“So be it,” Preston said, wiping the sweat from his brow. “I will show you I hear his voice.”

Qurrah crossed his arms as Tessanna wrapped her own around his waist. He felt the hairs on his skin raise as the lightning that swirled around her sparkled on his robes. They watched as Preston pulled the sleeve of his robe up to his elbow, seeming weak and small before the demonic glow.

“Show them, oh mighty god,” the priest prayed, loud enough so all could hear. “Humble me, but may they see your truth.”

He thrust his hand into the fire.

It burned.

He screamed and held his arm to his chest. His skin was already peeling.

“Now you see,” Velixar said. “Karak has deemed you unworthy.”

The fire grew larger, burning higher and higher. Krieger pulled back, even he unable to withstand the flame. Velixar, though, stepped inside, and was bathed within.

“I am the prophet!” he shouted. “I am the Word! It is I who leads, and shall forever lead! You have doubted my truth, but doubt no longer.”

“Kill him,” Preston shouted. He reached for Krieger with his good arm, but the paladin brushed him away.

“Your time is over,” Krieger said to him.

Velixar stepped from the flame, purple fire still surrounding his body. He grabbed Preston’s shoulder and spun him about. Preston nearly fainted at what he saw. He saw a face with features forever shifting, deep within fire that would not consume the flesh it burned. He saw two red eyes within, their rage hotter than any fire and deeper than any ocean. He screamed, but heard no sound. He only felt pain, horrific, spreading pain. His vision faded. His senses failed. Like a man of straw he burned away in Velixar’s arms, nothing but bone and ash remaining of his failed faith.

In the sudden silence, Tessanna giggled.

“That was pretty,” she said. She pointed a finger, and the lightning surrounding her struck the ash, scattering Preston’s remains so violently not a trace remained. As the purple flame continued to surround Velixar, the priests and dark paladins knelt in his presence, many professing shame or asking for forgiveness.

Velixar approached Krieger and reached out his hand.

“Stand,” he said. “You need not bow.”

Krieger took Velixar’s hand, wincing at the pain. His flesh did not burn, however, and he accepted it as punishment for ever doubting the prophet of Karak. He stood, his head still bowed. Velixar turned to Qurrah and gestured for him to near. Qurrah wrapped his whip around his arm, pulled his hood low over his face, and left. Tessanna joined him, but only after blowing Velixar a kiss.

“Their faith is nil,” Krieger said as he watched them go.

“For the girl perhaps,” Velixar said. “But Qurrah still has hope. Give him time.”

The fire withered away, and the priests rose from their knees in the sudden dark.

“Krieger has withstood Karak’s judgment,” Velixar said to them. “He will be in charge of your priestly order, just as he controls Karak’s faithful paladins. Now return to your tents. Mordeina is within our grasp, and we must be ready!”

More bowing, more begging for forgiveness. Velixar dismissed it with a wave. As they left, he bent down and picked up the pendant Preston had shoved down his throat.

“How did he know about this?” he wondered aloud as he flipped it side to side, staring at the brutal carvings nearly hidden by the blackened marks made from a multitude of fires. He handed it to Krieger, who examined it closely.

“What is this?” the dark paladin asked.

“Something you must keep close to you at all times,” Velixar said. “Keep it safe, and keep it hidden. Speak not of it again.”

T essanna huddled under blankets, but Qurrah did not join her. He sat hunched over, his arms pulled inside his robes for warmth. The girl peered at him from the sheets.

“You’re waiting for him, aren’t you?” she asked. Qurrah looked away, and that was answer enough.

“He isn’t mad,” she said. “He can’t be. What is it that worries you?”

“Not now,” said Qurrah.

They waited. The half-orc created a fire with a few words of magic, the deep red flame providing little warmth. A few minutes later, Velixar approached, his red eyes peering at Qurrah with hidden curiosity.

“You would not take my hand,” Velixar said. “Is your faith in Karak that weak, or are you just afraid to show it to others?”

“I hold no faith in Karak,” Qurrah said, not meeting his gaze. “You have never demanded that of me.”

“After all you have done?” Velixar asked. “And all he has done for you, you still have no faith? What will it take, Qurrah Tun?”

“I hold faith in you,” Qurrah said, his eyes leaving the fire for just a moment. “I trust in your judgment. I understand you in your faith. And I hold hope that you will keep your promise, and grant me and Tessanna a second life somewhere far away from here.”

“I am just a man, no matter my strength,” Velixar said. “I will fail you. It is inevitable. Are you so certain it is I you should hold your faith in?”

Qurrah stood. His words came heavy and certain.

“Karak has proven nothing to me. I am withering away for him. I have given my all, yet what have I gained in return?”

“You have gained a child,” Velixar argued.

“He’s right,” Tessanna said. “Please Qurrah, you know he’s right.”

The half-orc quieted. Velixar shook his head, saddened by the sudden disruption in Qurrah’s faith.

“Keep remembering,” Velixar said. “Remember when you entered Veldaren as a conqueror. Remember the certainty and power of Karak’s voice. Remember the times you held faith, and then decide, were they so long ago? Were they so false? Or are they something to reach for, to struggle and claw with every shred of your strength to regain?”

The man in black left them alone, but his presence lingered long after he was gone.

“A child,” Qurrah said as he joined Tessanna beneath the blankets. “We sacrifice the whole world for a child.”

“Could you do the opposite?” Tessanna asked as she curled against him. “Could you sacrifice a child for the entire world?”

He placed his hand on her growing belly and thought of that life extinguished, of Karak’s army destroyed, and Velixar defeated and broken. He tried to think of living in that world. A soft stir of motion pushed against his palm, and he knew he could not.

“Precious,” he whispered. “And no, I never could.”

“Then do what needs to be done,” Tessanna whispered before kissing him. “Just as you always have and always will.”

He kissed her back, accepting her wisdom. Accepting what needed to be done. For her. For him. For their child.

Especially their child.