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Lone Wolf's Progress So Far

Hey all, Just wanted to post the condensed version of lone wolf's plot, if you've read the other posts you already know what you're in for.

that aside i do ghostwrite high fantasy stories for other people, here's a link to my fiverr service if you're interested.
i also do work outside of fiverr and prefer that, but if you want to arrange it, contact me here in the comments.

Now, here's the compiled chapters for lone wolf.


[Lone Wolf

Chapter 1

Summoned Beast Battle

Today was a grand occasion for the temple to the benevolent god of light, Mateus in the realm of Grantsis. This day the priestess had finally acquired the name of a powerful demon from the dark planes, and was planning to summon the fiend in the temple to be sacrificed to mateus.

All in the temple had preparations set in place, the temple knights of Eceledon, the land that hosted the Luminaire faith, were stationed at each exit and powerful barriers were erected by the priests and priestesses.

No expense for the demon's sacrifice had been spared, in the city below, the people were made keenly aware that the temple would be hosting a powerful devil, one of the seven princes of darkness, this one titled “the old wolf” and that their summoning ritual would bring it forth, where it would then be restrained by powerful magics while the invocations and prayers to mateus were to be made.

This was to be the first grand summoning of any sort in nearly ten centuries, the last of which had been a devil princess named rubella, who died at the temple, sacrificed to the lord of light that her soul might ascend to the highest reaches where she would serve him forevermore as a warrior angel.

The people of grantsis, the largest nation on the continent of eceledon, were enthusiastic about the event, and were celebrating the coming sacrifice of the vile demon that would doubtless be summoned forth, a festival was already underway.

The knights made it clear however, that this also had an incredibly high risk of going badly, the priests and priestesses of the temple set about making certain the people knew of the risk and were willing to abandon the city of Dimmery at a moment's notice.

It didn't take long for them to forget this fact, and they began the festival even as the grand summoning ritual entered its second day.

An altar in the main chamber was set before a great crimson summoning circle, the circle had the name of the demon prince inscribed upon virtually every part of its surface along with the words of power that would draw it into the world of Lusedarc, where the head priest would then summon the angel Khasimir to end the demon and bring his soul to mateus.

If however, the demon proved so mighty that the angel could not be summoned, for some devils could counter holy summoning without thinking about the action, they were prepared to go further and summon their god in person.

Mateus had, after all, dealt the fatal blow to the demon princess during the last grand summoning due to just such a problem arising.

The days stretched on, and the people's prayers became more fervent, lending considerable power to the circle, the priests would come in shifts to maintain the summoning magic, seldom tiring due to being able to freely shift the person speaking the invocations. Water was brought to them that their voices be maintained, and all around the white room with windows spilling radiant light through gold and red stained glass windows the air was solemn, determined, and filled with jubilation at the prospect of bringing another foul underworld demon to god's embrace.

The people of the luminaire faith were, to say the least, utterly dedicated to their work of cleansing evil, they rooted it out wherever they could with a vigor and eagerness easily passing fanaticism, few would dare question them, for in their eyes, they were naturally right and should never be called into question.

Eventually a darkness began spilling forth from the circle, and slowly but surely a form materialized from the center.

Yawning, a young man of no older than twenty, wearing tall knee-high boots adorned with metal plates on the front that were each covered in a wolf-like image and wearing a long, black trenchcoat of midnight hued silk over his shoulders, beneath which a fine button up shirt of an equally dark color, complete with an ascot at the front, materialized before them.

His hair was long, longer than most women's and his face was fierce like a lion's. Yet his eyes were filled with a gentle disinterest that bordered on lethargy.

He stretched once more, giving a great yawn as the head priestess in charge of the ritual cried out “Yes!! we finally summoned him!!”

“Prince Lurion Vel Khassis!” The high priestess Anne cried, leveling a magical staff in his direction as she spoke “we have successfully brought you to our domain!”

Prince “Lurion” was of course nobody of the sort, though it was his given name, he hadn't ever accepted it as his own. No, the man, for surely, the temple knights thought to themselves as they looked at him, this was no devil, was in truth named Garland, by his own choosing Garland Oaks's given name of lurion was one he'd abandoned in his younger years due to a falling out with his father.

Garland looked upon the proceedings all around him, glancing down at the summoning circle and then taking in the room he was now within.

He recalled going to sleep on a couch in portland, then awakening here, but garland was no fool, nor was he one to mistake a dream for the real anymore than he would the real for a dream realm. He acted, but only once he was convinced of the necessity of action.

In this case he looked, he observed, and he kept his mouth shut while the priestess continued what he deemed “Unnecessary ranting about something religious” which of course was hardly something he cared for.

The room was wide, circular in nature, there was an altar before him and from it, the priestess making all the noise was standing, arms outstretched to what he assumed to be heaven or some deity.

He immediately noted the doors, open, that the people of the realm might enter to see his final moments for themselves.

The room was filled with several warriors wearing ivory armor, their helms with slit T-shaped visors showing little to nothing of their faces.

The room was decorated, the walls held lamps shaped like candlesticks with magical lighting at the tips, though garland couldn't have known that, and thus assumed them to be electrical or perhaps just very bright fires.

The knights wore swords at their hips, the room itself was featureless and white save for flowers of pure white hanging from pots, these had glowing petals, and this detail was precisely what informed garland of his unusual situation.

Now the lights he could have passed off as being electricity, and thereby assumed, reasonably so, that this was another location in his world of earth, and that he'd been kidnapped by a mad congregation, but that wouldn't quite explain why he'd woken up standing, or why strange roiling shadows had receded into the bizarre circle with HIS given named etched all over it!

While garland was of a world that did not, could not believe in magic or the arcane, he was incredibly open minded and immediately assumed, ironically, that this was a situation involving magic due to the flowers giving off a strange glow, and the medieval appearance of the clerics and knights. This was something he wanted to instinctively rebuke, but he quickly denied himself the pleasure to instead listen more closely to the mad ranting of the very strange woman with pointed ears at the altar.

“and when the lord mateus finally comes for you, your soul shall serve-”

yep, that was a dangerous word if ever he'd heard one, garland loathed servitude of any kind, if anyone thought him a servant or a slave, they would find themselves woefully, and painfully mistaken.

Garland kept listening however, immediately coming to the conclusion that he was in very real danger.

“Now then demon prince lurion, what have you to say? Any final words before the angel comes to strike you down.”

Garland was a simple, but very, very, very rebellious man, to the degree that if he so much as sniffed authority, he would flee, or fight with virtually all his will.

But being simple was not the same as being a fool, garland was simple in the sense that he'd forced simplicity onto his wits to keep them and their constant questions from running his mind ragged, garland was a very insightful man for his age, he'd always been insightful, but had often suffered for it, having the intelligence, or rather any sign of it, beaten out of him at a young age only to have it explode forth the moment he was free to cause him no end to stress.

He needed it now, however, and he immediately assumed two things for posterity's sake, the first, that this was an organized religion of some sort, a safe assumption to be sure, given how the long rant had involved gods and devils, never a good sign. The second, that virtually every person in this room was a complete fool and was witlessly following their leader, the strange elf-lady, or what he assumed was an elf, and that she was also a fool.

Fools, could be fooled, as the saying he made up right then and there went, and garland decided that if he was this “demon prince” they spoke of, then perhaps he should play the part and see where it all went.

“Indeed.” he began, stepping forward as the knights all around winced and went for their weapons.

“I do have many, things I should be saying, however I feel that the first among my words shall be this!” he tried to look as livid as possible, an air of cold rage played over his features as he lifted his hands into the air.

“FOOLS!!” he roared. “YOU DARE TO SUMMON ME?!?! THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS?!(he had gotten lucky with that assumption, he didn't actually think himself a prince of anything, indeed he was quite the pauper, as most wise men often are) “i shall make you all SUFFER for this transgression!!” he turned about, stalking toward the summoning circle to get a closer look at the mechanism which had summoned him to this bizarre world, he couldn't make heads or tails of it however, and slowly turned his head to regard the advancing knights and priests with magical charms, doubtless these would bind him in some way, so he kept his distance as he wheeled about suddenly, prompting them to jump back, terrified.

He was dangerous, so it seemed.

Smiling inside, he continued. “Yes….you should ALL suffer!! but do not think I will be so kind as to offer any of you a quick death! HA!! death will be a distant impossibility where you insignificant insects are concerned!! BEHOLD!!” he lifted his arms high into the air and they jumped back, the head priestess, her face a mask, watched tight-lipped as the “demon” continued his tirade “summon the angel.” she bade.

“Khasimir, holiest of the holy angels, bringer of the light of judgment!! send forth your arrows to detain this foul devil!” one of the summoners cried.

To their shock, the angel didn't come.

“what trickery? Can he be so powerful?! Must we bother our holy lord mateus with this?!” she cried out in horror.

“YES FOOLS!! SUMMON THE MASTER INSTEAD!” garland continued, utterly confused as to why they were summoning anything, though he immediately realized he'd been summoned and thus took the matter more seriously.

“LOOK WELL!! NO ANGELS WILL COME NEAR ME IN MY EVIL!! SUMMON YOUR GOD THEN!! BUT BEFORE YOU DO, KNOW THAT HE WILL WITNESS YOUR SUFFERING AND ANGUISH BEFORE THE END!!” raising his hands, he began making up words to a fake incantation and trying to think of a way out of this dilemma.

“BEHOLD MY DARK POWERS AND DESPAIR WORMS!!! FOR YOU FACE THE LEGENDARY DEMON PRINCE LURION (he hated saying that, but he needed to make it convincing to instill terror, thus he swallowed his pride and used the name they seemed to know) to his amazement, all in the room began to back away slowly in terror as he chanted gibberish and japanese, constantly making stuff up as he stepped forward ominously as his voice lifted, only making their terror worse.

He immediately interrupted with a quick cock of his head, and pointing to the left of the room he cried “JUMPING JEEHOOSAFET WHAT IN THE SEVEN HELLS IS THAT ABOMINATION?!?!”

To his amazement, and to their own chagrin, the priests had been so terrified that they glanced in the direction he'd pointed when he'd suddenly gone from an imposing specter of evil to surprised and terrified in order to see what could possibly terrify a devil. and when he ran past them, leaping over the altar and laughing “HAHAHAHAHAHAA!! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU FELL FOR THAT GYAAAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!” it took the stunned group of high priests, temple knights and the priestess a few seconds to register the event, so paralyzing was their shock.

The priestess's face had gone a ghostly white as she stared off after the black clad demon she'd summoned, the blood draining from her features and a few shades of gray appearing on her customary spun-gold colored hair as she watched him escaping through a distant hallway, immediately turning left and fleeing down the outer staircases along the tower's outer walls.

“a-after him...” she whispered. That whisper then became a scream as she ordered the knights out of their stupor and sent them after the fleeing demon. Cries of “STOP THE DEVIL FROM ESCAPING THE TEMPLE!! HE MUST NOT BE PERMITTED TO ENTER THE CITY!!”

Chapter 2

Wolf's escape, Enter Dainslief The Hero

Garland was confused beyond words, but more importantly, he was impressed.

The “temple” if that's what it could be called was actually a pale ivory tower that was so tall that it rose higher than the mountain it was nestled beside, but the tower didn't shoot straight up, it tapered like a ziggurat, though it was difficult to see that at first, as the portion of the tower he was on was straight and cylindrical, the outer wall consisting of multiple staircases that spiraled down all around the side.

Statues of a holy god towered over small “balconies” that overlooked a vast forest-coated city, the city itself poked out of the deep green foliage of the vast forest, and all around the sides of the mountain the buildings, and people far below could be seen.

Fires burned from great metal grate enclosed sconces, each fire burned a curious white, what garland couldn't know was that the fires were actually magical in nature, their magic coming from several enchanted pebbles tied off in a sack.

The balconies were lined with flowers and greenery, and garland thought to himself that were it not for the rather tense situation he was in, he'd very much enjoy living in a place like this.

The tower's circumference was immeasurably wide, fully two miles around, for that was just the greatness of mateus, that his people would build something so unreasonably phallic and see to it that it was given the proper treatment of being reasonably wide and thick.

The tower's very top was a done he'd hastily raced out of through a staircase leading down, the staircase had led to this grand outer wall and the vista he now witnessed. The sun was just now sinking, painting the skies overhead a gentle orange and glowing butterflies flew around the fires of the sconces, alighting near the great bowls without burning.

Garland of course took the sight in for half a second before returning to the business at hand, escape, and he had never wanted to escape something more than he did now.

Far below guards calmly walked up the staircase, deciding that perhaps they didn't know what demons looked like, garland calmly made his way down seeming in a bit of an anxious hurry.

“well hello there lad! Here to see the demon?” one guard asked.

“why yes! I just saw it!” he admitted and that drew a look of surprise from the guards as they glanced at one another nervously.

“I dare not return, for so terrible was it to behold I would surely have gone mad. Praise be to mateus!” garland said, faking it as best he could while he mulled over the new information of the guards not knowing what a devil looked like, or that his appearance was perhaps not unusual for the people here.

“I'm afraid I must egress. So horrific was the sight that the priestess feared for my health.”

“I understand father, please, be easy...maker's breath what happened to your ears!!” one asked.

“ah...a strange magic of the devil, before he was restrained by the angel he cast a curse on several members of the clergy, told us he would give us the appearance of the vile monsters known as “Humans” though in truth I know not the importance of this, it was as trifling as a change of my ears. I'm sure the curse will wear off, and if not...well...I shall miss them...my pointed ears, but it is a small sacrifice to pay in service to the almighty god.”

they nodded in approval, offering prayers and allowing him to pass.

He made it a point to fasten his trenchcoat a bit more to better resemble a pastor as he hastily made his way down the stairs, but part of the way down a scream erupted from high above.

Glancing up, he saw the high priestess pointing in his direction as she screamed “STOP HIM!! THAT'S THE DEMON THAT WE SUMMONED!! WE MUST DETAIN HIM AT ONCE!!!”

the guards turned to him, and garland grinned sheepishly. “well they ARE rather fetching ears I must admit-” the priestess and a group of temple knights and priestesses closed in, and with a sigh he pointed behind them “EGADS!! WHAT SORT OF MONSTER IS THAT?!?!”

to his amazement, all of the clergy and knights, including the high priestess, turned to glance behind them once more, and the high priestess gave a resigned sigh as she heard garland's laughter “HAHAHA!! IT WORKED TWICE!! IT WORKED TWICE IN ONE DAY!! YOU PEOPLE ARE HILARIOUS!!! AAHAHAHAHA!!!”

she turned to see him descending down the stairs with incredible haste, as he made his way around to a second set of stairs leading down he could hear a bloodcurdling scream of wrath emerge from the elfmaid's lips only to be muffled as he danced past several monks and fryars praying to portraits of a strange horned man wearing a white gown and with hair unmistakably similar to david bowie's when he played the goblin king in labyrinth.

Just then a pair of knights jumped down from the higher staircase as he brushed past the room to the next set of stairs toward the outer wall, and garland stopped in his tracks, glancing up to see that they'd descended from quite a height.

Slowly backing up, he considered this new information “How in the blazes did you survive that jump?” he asked as the knights advanced on him.

“Our faith makes our feet strong worm, now stop right there devil, we're to be sacrificing you to our lord, mateus!” they gestured to the painting while the fryars and monks, recognizing that they were in the same room as the summoned devil, immediately rushed out of the room in horror.

Garland wisely considered his situation, he was dealing with nonhumans of some sort, that much was plain, but their abilities were clearly above human, meaning they had great strength in those limbs.

It also meant that he was at a foul sort of disadvantage.

Behind him, the advancing knights and priests were having trouble getting past the sudden flood of monks and the two before while, while well armed...were only two.

Garland had never fought a day in his life, though he'd always vowed that if his freedom were ever threatened again, he'd kill if need be.

So this was to be a test of that vow then.

The first knight came on with his weapon aimed at garland's breast, turning aside, he found it remarkably easy to respond to the attack, indeed, it seemed as though it were coming in a few seconds more slowly than he was expecting, and he managed to grab the knight's leading wrist and disarm him.

Without pausing to think, he reversed the direction of the blade and drove it into the knight's heart wordlessly, the other screamed in horror and came on, only to find garland using his comrade's body as a shield.

Dealing a fatal blow to the already dying elf, the comrade held his friend in his arms when garland thrust the limp body at him.

A moment later, the elf's head, helm and all, were spinning in the air, and garland continued on, taking the sheath from the body and putting it on, sheathing the weapon as he went.

To his dismay, more were waiting for him, this time priests.

With words of prayer they summoned bizarre rings of light that slowly rose up in small pillars, to his surprise these attacks were very predictable, and he need only keep moving to avoid them.

Still their range could potentially be a nuisance, and so without thinking, he slew the clerics casting the spells as he passed, he didn't enjoy the act, but as far as he was concerned this whole temple and all in it were potentially his enemies, he couldn't suffer them to get in his way and live, the risks of letting too many pursue him were simply too great.

Soon it became a battle as he raced down yet another set of stairs, cutting down knights as he passed them without giving a thought to who they were or what they wanted with him, he was working on pure terrified instinct at this moment.

These clerics were threatening his freedom.

None could be suffered to stand in the way of his freedom.

To garland, freedom was life itself, without freedom he couldn't count himself as a living being, he had to be free, to be anything less was to be dead.

And so he fought as a demon possessed animal then, tearing through the unwary knights as he made his way, not daring to give them license to respond even as the larger group of clerics and knights continued to give chase.

In the distance a woman riding a silver dragon appeared, brandishing a spear thick with lightning and he paused, taking a moment to assess this new threat.

The woman was the high priestess from before, now wearing battle armor, her hair whipping in the wind, the silver dragon roared, the sound deafening and it opened its maw.

He'd seen enough fantasy books to know it wasn't about to vomit up teddy bears at him, he ran, hard and fast as the icy breath of the dragon struck the wall behind him.

He heard the crack of an electric bolt and jumped just as it slammed into the wall right where his feet had been, now he was dealing with a slowly advancing wall of white death and a deranged battle priestess with a magical bolt throwing spear hell-bent on killing or capturing him.

And the ground didn't appear any closer than before, though he'd surely descended several hundred feet already.

Not thinking on it, he ran, he found that his stamina hadn't yet depleted, curious, given how he was flat-footed and couldn't run for more than ten feet at a time, to have to run several stories as he'd been doing only to find himself not tiring….it defied belief.

More magic circles sprung up at his feet and he kept moving to avoid these too, just as he was nearing a part of the staircase level with the boughs of a great tree growing from on of the gardens on the upper wall, the dragon appeared in front of him, its maw opening to unleash its killer breath.

As fortune would have it, there was a door to his right, and he immediately burst through it, racing through a dim room filled with curtains and smoke and...the sounds of pleasure?

He glanced to his left and to his right, finding countless elf-maids and men going at it like rabbits, their bodies sweaty and heaving as they indulged in the throes of passionate lovemaking in what appeared to be a room wholly dedicated to it.

“quite the religion” he admitted he he glanced around. “the human world is more chaste than this.”
One woman with a man atop her glanced at him and smiled as she moved rhythmically with her mate.

“come father...join us for the...holy ceremony….mateus's wife, goddess of love, would surely bless me with your children as well as sir dainslief's here.”

the elf called dainslief glanced up from the maiden to see the “father” staring at them as though they'd committed a grave sin.

“Let em go...it's clear he's in a hurry matilda. Besides, only babe you're bearing is mine.” he growled, getting back to it.

Garland took a moment to calm down as he made his way past the lovemaking couples in various “Booths” comprised of scarlet drapes barely separating them, incense and food, as well as what he assumed to be narcotics, littered the carpet floors smoke from scented candles and brass incense pots both on the floor and hanging from the fresco painted ceilings hung thick in the air, clearly the religion was a dual religion, or perhaps it had a pantheon, there was mateus, that much was certain, as he was the one to be sacrificed to him, but mateus had a wife? And she was an accepted goddess of love in what seemed to be a chaste religion?

He didn't quite get it, but he suspected that this faith worked on wildly different beliefs than what humans, ever the virtuous hypocrites that they were, would have allowed or accepted.

He found the next ten rooms ahead to be more of the same, aphrodisiacs clung to the air in the form of incense, elf men were copulating with men, women were going down on women, it was a dedicated orgy floor for this seeming goddess of fertility and love, no doubt the elves and their religion was founded on this to better attract believers, or...another far more disturbing possibility….the god they worshiped was every bit as real as the goddess they fucked for, and the whole faith was founded on an actual pantheon, something garland's people, the humans, simply didn't have.

In a way, it made him feel quite depressed, but as a virgin and one not particularly interested in copulation of any sort, he decided to leave this strange floor with as much dignity as he could muster, keeping his weapon sheathed as he made his way through countless rooms before finding a staircase leading further down.

The high priestess made her way into the room, and she smiled at the orgy taking place on this floor, yes this was just the sort of thing she approved of, worship of mateus's loving wife, the goddess of love and fertility, she carefully set the knights and priests at her side to looking around with great care for signs that the demon had disguised himself among the lovers.

To her disdain, she soon found dainslief, the captain of the temple knights, having his way with an elf priestess, in particular he was taking her from behind now, and, she noted, doing it to the wrong orifice.

“dainslief, I appreciate your efforts on this sacred day.” the priestess said and the captain glanced up to see her. “but aside from the fact that you're supposed to impregnate a maiden, not send her to the restrooms, erm...how to say..did a dark clad fellow come through here?”

“yep, seemed pretty disinterested in joining us though.” dainslief said with a sigh.

“he was so handsome too.” the elfmaid said through her pleasured gasps. “I wished he would have joined us for a good rutting…”

“dainslief, I must ask you to help me detain him. That fiend you saw is the demon we summoned.”

dainslief stopped cold, glancing up at her in shock.

She nodded quietly. “I dare not disrupt the session, but...through base trickery he managed to elude our bonds. It seems the old wolf is cunning indeed. We need your arm on this, he's already killed several temple knights in his flight.”


“figures.” dainslief grumbled, and he disengaged, despite the priestess's protests.

“Hey, alex right?” he asked, motioning to one of the guards. “Keep her company for me, I don't like abandoning my lady during this-” he coughed “most holy of times, but...eh, sacrifices.” he gave a shrug and began to put his clothing on.

The one called alex began stripping, and the elf maid soon found herself grinning at this new specimen, his abs practically double dainslief's ab size, and she all but pulled him to her as he managed to free his helm.

Conversely dainslief began putting on his armor and attire and strapping a broadsword to his back.

“don't hurt him my sweet.” the priestess cried as alex began thrusting. “he seems like such a nice fellow.”

dainslief did agree there, whoever the demon was, he didn't seem like the sort of person who'd kill for the pleasure of it.

“cappin him alive then lady trish.” dainslief said dismissively to the high priestess.

“thank you dainslief, it would be appreciated. May mateus and his loving wife watch over you-”

“yeah, yeah...damned demon's gonna take a few licks for killing my boys though.” he shrugged, chalking it up to panic.

He didn't know much about demons, but supposedly the last time a grand summoning had taken place, the demon princess had begged for her life before the end.

Not something dainslief thought demons did, though he'd only heard of this from secondhand accounts or “alternate accounts from sources the church didn't give credence to” which in most cases meant they were quite reliable.

In particular, the harrowing account of the last surviving elf who'd been there to see it for himself, ghido, who witnessed the demon maiden for himself and saw nothing showing her to be “evil” in any capacity.

She'd begged for mercy, according to the old sage, and she'd been taken by mateus himself, screaming and begging for mercy from the clerics, who continued their prayers.

Only ghido had been affected by her cries it seemed, and for his “Misconduct” he'd been quietly excommunicated from the faith.

So dainslief didn't really give to much thought to the “demon” as he stood before the front gates of the holy chapel, the main room leading to the outside, he'd taken a shortcut, jumping down several flights of stairs to await the demon as he approached via several staircases.

When he finally entered the main chapel at the base of the temple, he wasn't very tired, something dainslief thought strange, he'd been expected the demon to be at least somewhat fatigued by his descent, but he chalked it up to the devil's supernatural qualities.

Now, standing before it, he put his hand on the hilt of his weapon and drew it.

“greetings again father. I have orders to bring you in alive.”


Garland blinked, hadn't he just seen this elf not an hour ago having sex in the upper floors? Forty stories up?

“Dainslief yes?” he asked, approaching the knight captain, visibly shaken and confused.

“Yeah I jumped down a few flights to head you off...why didn't you?”

“I wasn't aware it was possible..I suppose I shall have to remember you elves can do that.”

“elves eh? Some kinda slang term for us?” he asked, staring into the weapon as he checked his stubble, his hair was frightfully long and ragged, and his armor consisted of a blue longcoat with buttons of pure platinum, he wore a white hood, though because of the length of his messy hair he often just kept it down to avoid looking like an idiot.

His sword, jungengormand, was a massive broad blade thrice his own size, and had to be sheathed at a diagonal angle to avoid it getting in the way.

“what are your people called? And why are you waiting for me instead of that proverbial army from before?”

“Because mr demon, I'm all they need now. You killed my boys...er..I didn't really introduce myself. Knight captain dainslief, of the luminaire faith. My people are called the hydalians. And you? You're that demon jurion or whatever right? “

“Lurion, is my given name, though I am called garland. I disowned that name years ago. I would very much like to know how your people came to know my name at all. But we can continue that for another time. For now I would like to ask, what Is this?”

“what is what?” dainslief asked, checking his stubble in the reflection of the blade and frowning.

“this? Me being summoned here, these priests trying to force me to serve this...god...what is this about?”

“you're a demon, the demon prince...er..whatever your name was. In our faith you're the old wolf, one of seven princes of darkness. We came across your summonable name and took the opportunity to summon you forth as a sacrifice to god. Or so the church has said.”

“for what purpose?” garland asked.

“Probably because they wanted to show mateus their appreciation. Gods, it's a strange relationship they have to mortals. Anywho, so that's why you killed my boys then? We summoned you and you thought you'd just cut my guys down?”

“No, I cut them down for the same reason I'd ever cut anyone down. Your church thought to force me to be a slave against my will. I am no man's slave, no god's slave, I would rather die one thousand deaths a free man than be killed and made a god's slave. Your church, in summoning me here to be a “Sacrifice” has unwittingly defiled me in the worst imaginable way.” garland tore his weapon from its sheathe and pointed it at dainslief. “you threatened my freedom. To me, freedom is life, I can't live without it. Thus I fought to kill your men, who stood in the way of that freedom.”

“freedom to do what?” dainslief asked.

“i...don't understand the question. Freedom is freedom, it doesn't matter what I would do with it. The freedom itself is most valuable to me.”

dainslief took that in, trying to reconcile it with the church's teachings.

“How would you feel, sir dainslief, if you went to bed in your unassuming home one night, only to awake and find yourself threatened by an order of fanatics? Forced to be a sacrifice without ever knowing why or how?”

“yeah, it'd be pretty shitty.” dainslief admitted. “unfortunately orders are orders pal. You're under arrest. My boys didn't die for nothing, so that's good. I can forgive you for putting em down for that reason at least, but i've a job to do.”

“My apologies, sir dainslief...but I must resist arrest.” garland replied coldly.

“that, young fellow, was a mistake.” dainslief said, assuming a stance.

Garland had killed most of the knights and clerics on his way down by taking them by surprise as he went, and so faced with this captain, who was clearly more dangerous than the small army that had been chasing him earlier, he realized he wasn't quite as prepared for a trained, prepared warrior.

And yet the door was behind dainslief, and so garland could only assume his own stance, and try to puzzle a way out of this predicament.

No doubt this elf would buy time for the priests to come in with their magics and bind him, then drag him to his death, helpless, and worse, he'd have to listen to them pray and sermon him.

That was surely a fate worse than death.

“Dainslief...” garland began as he slowly drew near, weapon ready. “You have my sincerest apologies for disrupting your lovemaking for this trifle, however know this, you stand between me and my freedom, I will show you no more quarter than your men. Get out of my way, this is the only warning I'll give you.”

“did you give my boys warning?” dainslief asked.

“Of course not.” garland replied coldly. “it's confused logic to be sure, but i'm not exactly in an ideal situation.”

“aw, I get special treatment from everyone.” dainslief said mockingly. “even demon princes. Man you're gonna need new legs after i'm DONE WITH YOU-” on he came, with enough speed and force to kick up a whirlwind.

And garland braced himself for a certain defeat.

Chapter 3

Dainslief and the old wolf clash

Garland had attributed his uncharacteristic burst of stamina to the adrenaline induced by the terror of his situation, but when dainslief's sword came crashing down before him, sending out a shockwave that lifted benches all around him, he wasn't so sure that was the case.

Garland saw the attack and found avoiding it easy, though he saw the shockwave coming in with incredible speed, he saw too, a similar vision, but slower.

It was strange, it was almost as if he was perceiving two different events, and he found moving out of the way of the attack to be very easy.

When the shockwave slammed into the altar at the back of the chapel, the blast shattered the stained glass windows, sending a rain of diamond dust raining down as dainslief blinked in confusion, seeing the demon prince had narrowly avoided the attack.

“a wiseass eh?” dainslief muttered. “fine, let's see you dodge THIS-” another blow, this one sending three shockwaves at him, one behind the first one, and another snaking to the left and right of the other two.

And once again garland saw it coming at two distinct speeds, very fast, and very slowly, and he focused on avoiding the slower speed, it was the same image, but it seemed to be playing twice in his mind, as though at the same time, yet somehow not.

He could guess that something was altering his senses for him, perhaps a toxin in the air, or perhaps this world's influence on him was causing an anomaly, if this world had magic, how would it affect a non-magic user? These thoughts came to him as the foremost image of the three shockwaves resembling a climhazzard attack, came toward him, now entirely slowed down.

No magic was this, however, merely garland's perception of the event being altered.

Stepping to the side of the foremost shockwave, he calmly stepped back as the one winding between the other two passed a mere two inches before him, its form like a serpent made of dust clouds blown about by a cutting wind pressure.

The third one exploded, but he saw it coming long before it could affect him, and he wisely moved away, only grazed by the force as it gently pressed into him.

The blow immediately sped up his perception, and suddenly his mind and senses were running at normal speeds, and his arms stung from lifting them to block the blast of air as he was knocked into a pillar.

Dainslief let out a chuckle, thinking victory his, only to find his dark clad adversary hardly fazed, glancing left and right garland blinked.

“I must confess, you're quite tricky sir knight.”

growling, dainslief lifted his blade and charged, deciding that perhaps he wasn't taking the threat seriously enough, just as he neared garland, roaring angrily, he tripped and tumbled head over heels, grabbing his heel a bit too quickly, garland noted, and immediately crying out in pain “OH!! oh my ankle!!! i've sprained it!!”

a moment of silence ensued between the two as garland watched him warily before asking “really?” which was immediately punctuated by “Oh yeah, totally hurt my foot, I'll be limping for a month at least!”

more silence ensued.

“Yep.” dainslief said after another minute of confused glaring “totally busted, it's going to take a loooot of time in the chambers of passion with my favorite priestesses to heal this...hehe….gonna need LOTS of succor….totally...”

“you're pulling my leg.” garland growled.

“that's not funny, can't you see i'm wounded?” dainslief growled.

Another minute of silence, and dainslief gave a cough “y-you know….if you were clever….you could probably escape...with me in the condition i'm in….i can't possibly chase you down.”

“I killed your men.” garland stated flatly, and he shrugged. “we have resurrection magic, they'll be back on their feet in no time.”

that gave garland pause, resurrection magic….meaning one could be revived from death? Such a thing would have been invaluable in his world.

“sounds convenient for you then….does it have limits?” he asked.

“yeah, burn a body to ash and the spells are useless...but uh...you sure you should be sticking around here? Shouldn't you be...I dunno...leaving?”

“should I be? What of your duty?”

dainslief gestured to his leg incredulously. “I'm wounded you idiot!! I can't fight at all! NOPE!! NOT AT ALL!! I'M TRULY DEFEATED!!” he raised his voice and garland sighed and moved past him without a word.

“you're welcome.” dainslief shouted after him, and garland gave a shrug in his general direction before exiting through the doors.

He didn't get far, for just as he ran outside, the silver dragon appeared, landing before him with the high priestess astride it.

“So, dainslief has fallen.”

“Yes.” garland replied. “he has a sprained ankle if you can believe it.”

she scowled and leveled the spear, visibly brimming with crackling arcs of lightning.

“Demon, you're to be sacrificed to our lord effective immediately. Come Tiamat, let us disable him, that he might be sent to mateus without further convenience!!”

The dragon called tiamat gave a chuckle at that and the high priestess dismounted as the silver dragon took to the skies while the priestess slowly circled him, keeping the spear leveled at him.

“You people summon me here to kill me, yet you don't seem to get that I'm not interested in serving your god.” garland growled. “Well, since sir dainslief was so generous as to give me his name, I would like very much to know the name of the maiden who so presumptuously woke me from my slumber and tried to slay me for her god.”

“I am called high priestess Anne, and you will come with me, the question is, how many limbs will you be missing? One? Two? All? So long as your core self Is intact I hardly feel that the great lord mateus will care a whit for the state of your body.”

“Spoken like a true fanatic.” garland returned, adjusting his ascot as he looked up at the dragon, who was no doubt waiting for the priestess to engage, to compliment her attacks and make it more difficult for him to evade her.

“tell me priestess….why? Why are you tormenting me like this?” he asked and she paused, a confused look on her face. “Because you are a demon, we are well within our rights to sacrifice you dark prince.”

garland nodded, confirming his suspicions that coaxing rational conversation out of this woman, his chief antagonist, was as distant as possibilities could become.

“very well then.” he said, I'll go with you willingly.”

“t-truly?” she asked, incredulous.

“Yes! I'm bored, perhaps this mateus will be a worthy vision for me to behold before the end. Come, lead the way for me.”

she blinked, confused, after all he'd slain, she wasn't convinced that he was actually going to submit, and he gestured up to tiamat. “i cannot possibly fight or outrun a dragon.” he explained. “If I am to be sacrificed, I shall do so of my own accord.”

nodding, she moved closer, a look of calm over her features. “I'm sure that the lord mateus will be grateful for your...cooperation on this matter.” she replied. “oh how I envy you devil, to be summoned to his side and-”

“hold on!! what is that?!” garland cried pointing behind her.

She gave a sigh and brought the spear up. “that won't work a third time!” she growled.

“I disagree! It worked perfectly!” garland replied, staring up at….something.

It was then she noted the looming shadow of something behind her, she turned and saw a hideous sight, a tall, muscular archdemon with curving ramlike horns, whose every breath brought with it curls of smoke, he was in the middle of lifting a clenched fist to backhand her when she glanced around, and to his credit, garland did well to hide his surprise at the sudden appearance of the creature.

“So YOU are the devil they summoned?” the demon asked in growling tones as it knelt to meet him at eye level (it was fully twenty feet tall and had to do this just to stare him in the eyes)

“nothing special, welp, better get this over with-” he lifted his powerful muscular arms, each as thick as a tree trunk in size, and brought them down on garland's head, or tried to.

But to garland, the devil's attack seemed to be moving quite slowly, and testing this bizarre new reflex out, he moved to touch the demon's hand as it came crashing down ever so slowly, to his surprise, the force of the blow seemed to be ever slightly mitigated by his mere touch, leading garland to the hypothesis that his body was somehow improving in this strange world.

Balling his fist, he punched the demon's arms with full force as they came down, and to his amazement, he sent the devil's arms flying wide.

Blinking in stupefied surprise, the devil looked to both of his arms, then growling, brought them down again, now they were aflame.

Walking to the demon's side, for he was still in slow motion, as was most of the world, garland decided that the world wasn't moving slowly, he was simply moving faster and perceiving everything with more clarity, hence the reason he had perceived two instances of the shockwaves earlier, his body was adjusting to the heightened sensory input and trying to adapt.

Moving behind the devil, he aimed a fist for its spine and punched with full force, which to him felt like a normal blow, but to the demon it would mean death.

Garland's hand tore through the demon's back and easily broke his spine, the demon spun about mid-swing, not intentionally, its body simply spasmed and he was thrown to the side by the force of his attempted assault combined with the sudden irrational jerking of his form.

Nodding, garland turned to the priestess, who even now was staggering to her feet, leaning on her weapon.

Walking toward her, he grabbed the spear, tearing it from her grasp.

The dragon, having recovered from the shock of watching the demon assault her mistress, was even now racing toward them, snarling angrily as the devil it was ordered to capture neared the high priestess.

Grabbing the priestess by the throat, he lifted her up.

She muttered a prayer then, and garland rolled his eyes and held her up as the dragon landed mere inches from them.

“release her scum!!!” tiamat snarled.

“No, I think I'll keep her, she may make for a wonderful hostage in such an unreasonable situation.”

the dragon growled hatefully, and garland found he didn't quite like the taste of his own words.

Hostage taking wasn't something he was familiar with, but he certainly didn't respect the process, it was pretentious, aside from anything else, and one could easily break the illusion of a hostage by giving up the hostage, it was the hostage taker in a dire situation, not the other way around, and only a coward took one.

With a sigh he tossed her to the dragon's feet.

“get her out of here, devils seem to be attacking your people, you should worry about them, and less about me.”

“that...” the high priestess coughed “was zasalamel, an archdemon of incredible renown….you...you'd slay one of your own kind?”

he glanced to the demon, its body loosing a pool of blood blacker than night.

Shrugging, he held onto the spear. “I don't know anyone like that. And besides...he struck me first.” he ran, doing his best to escape in time for the two to recover and realize they should still be chasing him.

A small army formed in the lower reaches of the city, he passed countless buildings and plazas filled with elves celebrating the coming demise of a demon prince, all the while questioning just what demons were in the context of this world, and how it was he was supposedly one of them.

He recalled that the clergy had called him the old wolf, perhaps that was related to it, perhaps not.

He suspected, however, that this was all an elaborate ruse by the actual devil they fully intended to summon, and that he, garland, was a victim of a long-standing sham of sorts, one that mateus had apparently no interest in correcting.

Or perhaps not? Perhaps he was this demon prince after all? It wouldn't be the first secret his fool of a father had kept from him, and certainly wouldn't be the last. Even so, for secrets, this was extreme.

Confetti flew in the air, music played, and at the edge of the celebrations groups of holy knights milled about anxiously, seeking their prey. The streets were thick with hundreds of elves praising their gods and praying for the success of the coming sacrifice...his own.

Warily, he moved into what he assumed to be a shop, the elf at the desk's ears perked up and he shouted “welcome to the inn of ill omen!! will you be staying long father?”

“Oh..no...um...how to say...I am being chased by the demon!! it has escaped the temple, murdered several members of the clergy and targets me with its curse!! is there a back door?”

“well yes!! what of the knights?” the innkeep asked, terrified.

“all unaware, the demon took on a disguise the moment it left the temple, even now it stalks me, seeking to do me in!! it's determined to finish the job for some...confounded reason of sadism!!”

“this way father!! this way!!” the innkeep cried, and he ushered garland through a door leading into an alley.

Content that he'd found a safe avenue, he immediately climbed a ladder leading to the rooftops, only to find tiamat making a pass.

With an angry roar she turned, whipping about.

Garland still had the high priestess's spear, though he knew not if throwing it was a particularly good idea.

He'd seen it, or at least assumed, that it could fire bolts of electricity, and was thus determined to see if perhaps that could do the job he needed, holding the spear aloft, he made as though he was about the throw it and pushed it forward

nothing.

“damned magic...” he cursed, thinking to just throw the spear and be done with it.

Just then dainslief appeared on the tiled roof, slowly advancing toward him.

“Oh, dainslief. Foot all better?” garland asked.

“Yep, one could say it was a miracle.” dainslief replied dryly, and the two shared a nervous chuckle as they squared off uneasily.

“I must say….I like you.” garland admitted.

“don't make my job harder for me kid. I don't really feel like doing it, but the boss has spoken.” he gestured toward the high priestess atop the dragon.

“come quietly and I suppose they'll make it quick..I don't bloody know. Just...do whatever.”
“alright, well...erm...” he considered his choices then, he had a few, his newfound strength and perception would surely aid him, but he sensed that it would do little good against this particular opponent.

Dainslief didn't seem a pushover.

Or even an elite.

He seemed far above that level of talent for a swordsman.

Meaning that, even with enhanced strength and speed, garland stood little chance against him.

“OH heavens!! look there!! what is that abomination!!” garland cried, and dainslief, confused, glanced behind him.

Garland couldn't stop laughing as he fled, all the while the high priestess's frustrated scream all but rent the air asunder as the dragon, sensing the danger atop her back, immediately gave chase, all the while dainslief kept looking around asking “what is it?”

almost at the gates, he immediately saw a small army gathering before them and gritting his teeth, he leaped into the air, higher than he'd wished, and aimed the spear at the group.

It occurred to garland that, given his unnatural strength and speed, he should perhaps make up an attack name for the sake of looking cool, entirely for vanity reasons of course, and even then he envisioned the spear striking the group with force enough to create a small explosion of force that would scatter them.

And so when he shouted “Raging Wolf Drive!” none of the knights stationed at the gates seemed to know what to make of the shout, until that is, he and the spear came flying at them, him barely holding on, for he'd flung the spear forward as though to throw it, only to grip the handle more tightly when he realized he'd still need it for general melee.

Instead the force of the thrust was significant enough to send him flying with the spear and both came crashing into the group with a shockwave of electricity that sent them all flying in every direction.

Not one to double check his blessings, he took up the spear and crashed through the heavy wooden gates, which gave like paper before his newfound might, all the while the guards panicked and cried out, thinking to perhaps stop him before he fled.

The angry cries of the high priestess were a guilty pleasure for garland then, he wasn't the sort of person who enjoyed making enemies, and so he continued to feel bad that he'd been forced to make one in an entire faith this unfortunate day.

But he wasn't in the humor to give the matter much thought, perhaps when celebrations ended and perhaps when he'd found a place to collect his thoughts, he might make amends to this church or find the means to reconcile with them, for surely this was all a misunderstanding, and if what dainslief had said about resurrection spells was true, then surely he'd done no lasting damage.

Of course, the demon immediately rose to his thoughts, why was a demon attacking someone known to be a demon? Was it sent by someone? That seemed the most likely choice, but then...by whom?

He raced down the green pastures beyond the city at frightening speeds, though to him the whole landscape was passing by normally. And he wondered just where he'd found himself, and why it was he'd been summoned like this?

Eventually he found a peaceful place to rest beneath a great oak surrounded by diminutive winged humanoids no bigger than his finger, he immediately recognized them as fairies, though he knew not how they were real, or if any of this was real.

His thoughts swam about as he watched them flutter, their wings glowing in the evening gloom as an ocean of stars slowly swam into view overhead, revealed by the receding dress of the sun as she gently sank to her satin bed to be with her lover, the moon.

He watched this new world, the faint crackle of the high priestess's spear glowing in the dark and illuminating his stern features as he came to terms with all that had happened.

But he hadn't the faintest idea of where he was, or how to get back home.

Moreover, he wasn't entirely convinced he wanted to return home, for compared to this...newness! Home was quite dull indeed.

Chapter 4

The lessons of the forest begin.

Before the aurora, the man was like a specter of death, a looming shadow in the evening light.

His eyes glowed a pale red as he looked down upon Lurion, not uttering a sound, he reached down and picked him up by the arm.

The chill wind was calm, but bit furiously into his skin wherever the figure touched him, and as he stared into those eyes, the dull crimson irises glowing like smoldering embers, he felt that death would be preferable to meeting that gaze on any other day.

“My son, a dragon, yet so….so far away from your true potential.” he muttered. “someday son, you will wake up and find yourself a stranger in a strange land, without ever really knowing why. When that day arrives….dry your tears, offer no prayers to the gods, move forward, and do not look back, lest you forget who it is you truly are….WAKE UP!!!”

Garland's eyes snapped open just as a pair of fairies giggled and flew behind some shrubs and foliage, their prank apparently having been a success.

Garland didn't see the painting on his face from the berry juices they'd mixed together, but he wouldn't have cared.

Garland's ego was, in a sense, bordering nonexistent, his sense of self and his ego had deteriorated to a bare shell since his childhood, he barely did anything on earth, he sat in libraries that would host him, surfing the internet and mulling over the tedium of existence. Oh he held jobs of course, but he was undeniably a vagrant in the human world, and now, here in the elven and fairy world, he was surely worse than a mere parasite on society.

No...not a parasite, he thought as he rubbed his face, noting the red smear and rolling his eyes before cursing “gods damned fairies.” and seeking out the closest source of water he could find.

In his world, the economy was crumbling due to world war three, the president had launched a preemptive attack on syria, leading to china panicking and sending a force down to north korea to bar refugees when north korea inevitably garnered the ire of the newest president.

What followed was...a nuclear exchange...the first in history. North korea launched a missile on the nearest chinese city, and from there the US intervened on china's behalf.

Together the two nations stormed north korea.

Of course, then russia became involved, and shortly thereafter another nuclear exchange was had, but this one was brief, and very devastating.

An area of washington DC was struck, and then the US responded by launching their own nukes, but on top of that they sent their full military force into russia, with china and many other nations backing the effort due to russia's newfound belligerence.

And so world war three had begun in earnest, with most large nations siding with china and the US and many lesser nations siding with russia.

It was around this time that garland had gone to sleep on a couch at a friend's home, and awoke a sacrifice in a temple.

He wasn't certain, but he had an idea that the timing of his summoning was no coincidence. Garland knew little of his lineage, but he'd met his father, and he had the distinct feeling his father was a dangerous character, perhaps not even human.

As he mulled over the possibility that his father had somehow been involved, a pair of fairies brought a small wooden bowl, three of them held it aloft and set it down at his feet.

It was filled with water, and he eyed the bowl warily, but decided that if he broke out in a rash due to the water being tainted, it wouldn't be so bad as the mess on his face in dire need of washing.

Taking care to wash the mixture off, he rose to his feet and took in the surroundings while the fairies settled on his shoulders, picking at his hair and studying his ears and facial features.

He didn't respond to their poking and prodding, too intent on the forest.

The roads were in plain view, barely a few dozen yards away, elves were busy traveling via carts and coming and going in droves. The landscape beyond the roads were littered with farms, but the pastures weren't cleared out, if anything they were mixed with the forest, and only identifiable by the fences surrounding them.

He looked to the forest.

The trees were massive, moreso than any forest he was familiar with, their trunks alone were the size of small houses and their boughs formed roads, in fact he could see people high above traveling the trees, having formed actual roads on their branches.

While there was no apparent way up or down, the elves didn't seem to have much trouble getting up, indeed, one made his way toward the forest, eying garland for a second before bowing respectfully, no doubt assuming him to be a pastor for god, and then he leaped with incredible strength, easily clearing the thirty foot distance in a single bound and landing safely and gingerly atop a “roadway branch”

these branches formed a vast complex network all about the canopy, and garland had to admit, he was impressed with how at peace with nature the elves were.

But he had more pressing matters to consider.

With a yawn he moved to the roads, noting that the number of carts was considerably higher, there was virtually no foot traffic passing him as he made his way as far away from the city as he could.

The first day of walking wasn't particularly troubling, the fairies remained on his shoulders, and when the elves noted him with them riding him, they seemed impressed and sometimes offered him prayers or shouts of approval.

While he tried to converse with them, he found that the fairies didn't speak his language at all, even if they sympathized in the universal tongue of body language.

Rather than be put off however, he assumed that his newfound companions would simply be riding his shoulders for as long as they deemed it necessary.

The next day they decided It was time to leave, and they offered him a shout of farewell and what he assumed was encouragement before fluttering away.

He waved, but deep down inside, he simply didn't care.

Something was nagging at him, and being in this peculiar world wasn't brushing that feeling that something was amiss away.

Of course that was likely the something that was amiss.

His stomach grumbling soon clued him in, and he noted that he hadn't “felt” hungry every since he got here.

Normally when he was hungry he would feel awash with fatigue and his stomach would feel as though it was filled with hot coals threatening to turn his insides to dust, now however he felt no strain from hunger, he hadn't even noticed he'd not eaten or wanted to eat for a while.

But he wasn't sure exactly how one hunted, or even how to cook.

No doubt if he were to try cooking over a campfire, he would soon be met with opposition from the elves, for elves were nature lovers, at least according to his understanding of them from fantasy novels, indeed they were also xenophobic, and there was even a race that enslaved all other races and lived on flying dragonships!!

fantasy literature aside, garland realized he'd need to hunt something, he hadn't the slightest idea what was or wasn't edible, but he needed food, even if he didn't feel particularly hungry.

Deciding it was high time to test his newfound strength and stamina, he left for the nearby forest and- finding a sapling, carefully aimed at it and launched a punch with full force.

The sapling shattered beneath the blow as though it were made of foam atop a mug of ale, and he stared blankly at his fist, trying to reconcile this new truth with what he knew of his considerable limits.

He was a weakling on earth, always had been, a worthless sort of person with barely the strength to go for a walk, though he wasn't heavy, he wasn't fit either, and this was due in large part to his flat-footedness. His feet lacked an arch, and so he couldn't run without crippling himself for a few days.

Here however, in this world, his body was undergoing some manner of change, or perhaps it was merely gravity was less in this world?

He considered that argument, taking a stone and dropping it.

The stone seemed to be what he would consider a normal sized one, and it felt heavy enough in his hand, when he dropped it, it fell normally, landing with a soft huff onto the thick carpet of grass and moss at his feet.

Just then, a naked woman with green skin emerged from the sapling he'd sundered, looking positively livid.

Snarling she pushed him back and away, and he held up his hands defensively as she gestured to the sapling, speaking a strange tongue he didn't know.

Confused, he stared at her as she shouted at him, gesturing to the sapling.

Perhaps she was accusing him?

Gritting her teeth she summoned a blade of emerald energy from that air and moved to attack him, the blade sliced the air before him as he backed away, unsure of what to do.

As he danced back, more green skinned humanoids emerged from the trees, sleepily blinking and watching the exchange, as they did so one of them, a bearded fellow with antlers, stopped the maiden and turned to face garland.

“she says you injured her tree...is this true young one?”

“I….I did….forgive me I….I wasn't...I had no idea these were your homes-”

“Homes?” the ent replied in surprise. “Boy those are our bodies!! you crippled my syena as surely as if you punched her yourself!”

“How...how might I make amends? I truly did not know!”

“Normally...” he began, pushing the maiden behind him as he turned to face garland, looking him over carefully. “we would demand you repair the tree with green magic...but you don't look to be a hydalian. What are you then? How is it you do not know of my kind?”
“I am garland...a human.”

that sent a gasp of shock from the ents and he realized that it wasn't a good thing to be human right now.

“Balderdash, your kind went extinct years ago! no- centuries ago!! mateus killed the lot of you!”

“I wouldn't know anything about that sir.” garland replied. “i was summoned here from another world as a sacrifice to this...mateus. In my world there are no spirits living in trees...or fairies...or hydalians.” (he wanted to say elf, but decided that perhaps political correctness was called for in a foreign world)

“spirits he calls us! Hah! How very human!” the ent fell over the word “Human” in an accusing manner but let the matter drop.

“alright then human, you are to be our prisoner.”

“for what purpose?” garland asked, bristling.

“we shall teach you the ways of green magic and this world, as you call it. If you were indeed summoned from another world you will doubtless cause trouble here without intending. In exchange for our teachings we shall take from you a stipend of time and freedom from you. If you refuse...well...I suppose you will refuse. We will have great disdain for you, but you are free to leave and never enter our forests again. At least not without battling our kind, and wouldn't you know it? Forests account for most of the world!” the ent grinned.

“I see no problem with waging endless battle.” garland replied coldly and it was the ent's turn to be surprised by the comment.

“I would reconsider your words with great care-”

“Let me be clear here tree spirit.” garland continued. “those who threaten my freedom for any reasons become my enemy no matter what. Those who are my enemy have absolutely no right to have a hold of any sort over me. You consider your offer reasonable and expect a willing servant out of me, a stipend of time and freedom, now a rational person, be he man or elf (he was too livid to be politically correct) would positively leap at that offer when the threat of being forced out of the world's forests was the alternative. I on the other hand, would burn the forests to the ground to spite you for the mere act of making such a bargain. So tree spirit, I highly suggest you reconsider just what sort of person it is you think you're speaking to. I can be rational, but I will not be if my freedom is taken for granted. But i'm open to continued bargaining if you retract your threat.”

“and if you do not retract yours?” the ent asked, growing angry.

He went pale when he saw garland's eyes narrow, almost too murderously to belong to any human, and the ent did not doubt that this human before him would deliberately pick the path of the most resistance for the sheer pleasure of spitting on his offer for the sake of his pride.

“Perhaps I was being…..too callous.” the ent said warily and syrena practically screamed at him.

He lifted a hand to silence her.

“then our offer will be changed. You are free to come and go through our forests, and we shall not do you harm, but we shall not aid you either, should you refuse us. However If you wish to perhaps make amends...we would ask you pay a price of time and freedom in order to learn more and repair my daughter's tree.”

“then.” garland bowed. “I humbly accept your generous offer of tutelage.

The ent breathed a sigh of relief at this, glad to at least be making some headway on the matter of his daughter's broken tree.

“we are known as the macha, ents the hydalians call us. “tree spirits” as you call us. We are extensions of the trees we call home, they are our bodies, and what you see is our soul given a form and image. For ten winters you will live among us and serve the grove, ten years human, within that time we shall teach you our tongue, teach you our ways, teach you what we know of the world, and when the hydalians come inquiring about their sacrifice...” he turned to syena “we shall keep silent on your presence here. You will repair my daughter's tree before it dies.”

“what happens if it dies?” garland asked and the ent stared at him for a few moments as though the answer was obvious.

“and...you show no concern?”

“it will take weeks for the trauma to her tree to kill it. I give you one to learn the basic repairing magicks and heal her tree. If, within that time it dies….she dies. But do not think that for us, death is the end. Our kind are reborn, and very, very long lived. This is my fifty-thousandth life cycle here. I am known as Par-Salain, the tree of wisdom, and my people, as you may have guessed, number in the thousands.”

Garland began his lessons for the next two days, learning from par directly, but his understanding of magic was so limited that par ended up repairing the damage to syena himself to be safe before continuing.

“you shall instead mend her back to full health.” he explained. “had I known you were so difficult to teach spells to, I would've done this sooner.”

“My apologies.” garland said, his eyes downcast by this failure, for the past two days par had been trying to teach him how to reach into the earth and speak to the life-force, but garland hadn't the slightest idea what that even meant.

“we shall begin as a sapling would, with meditation. You are to sit and remain silent for half a day.”

“I need to eat.” garland said in protest but par held up a hand. “you will be brought food shortly, we have two ari trees who've just borne fruit. You shall devour those for the time.”

“are you...alright with that?” he asked and the ent laughed. “come now boy!! it is how we reproduce, you fleshlings devour the meat of our fruit and cast the seeds, and they delve into the soil over time while our souls, adrift as they are in the lifestream, find one and inhabit it!”

“your kind seem very attuned to life after death.” he noted.

“all plants are. It's you fleshlings who are always confused. We plants and plantkin are life incarnate, we are the wheel of life and death, and enlightened to it we are!! meditate, food will come shortly.”

garland did precisely that, deciding that perhaps learning magic would be beneficial to his survival on this strange new world.

Chapter 5

Green magic

The ents were uncharacteristically kind, he noted as he ate and maintained his meditation.

They'd brought him to a secluded grove deep inside the forest, here only a single beam of light emerged through the canopy, spilling over a small shrine that looked as though it could have been a shinto shrine, now a moss coated relic in disrepair, the shimenawa over the front barely holding.

How curious that a relic from a culture in my world should be here! Garland had thought as he observed it, for the design was unmistakably of the shinto faith.

Upon seeing this, he had immediately assumed that perhaps this was a dream after all! But quickly dismissed the notion, dreams weren't this convincing and didn't feel quite so real.

No, if this was a dream, it was surely a dream of the afterlife.

The ents claimed that humans had settled in this forest hundreds of years ago, castoffs from a different dimension, and that this shrine had been at the heart of a small village, one mateus had personally cleansed when he had seen them living here.

Something about the humans had offended the god, that much was certain.

Here, the ents brought him baskets of fruit, he ate sparingly, taking great pains to bury the seeds when he was done.

The shrine was on an island at the heart of a small pond, its surface thick with green aquatic mold. Bugs, chiefly dragonflies, flew all around, and the thin beams of sunlight that somehow squeezed their way into the canopies barely offered any measure of light here.

Ten winters was the agreement, a full ten years of life in this strange world, and so sitting at the shinto shrine's entrance, garland meditated for the first half of the day as bade, par instructed him to send his thoughts into the ground, look for a light, but garland struggled with understanding the basic concept.

He came from a world where magic didn't exist, where men who were of faith were openly ridiculed, a man who was religious minded ran the risk of being disowned by society entirely.

So to garland, the idea was hard to reconcile with what he knew of superstitions and faith, but then again, he was summoned by an elven religious order as a sacrifice, so perhaps this train of thought wasn't the most convenient to hold at this time.

Leaves fell on the lake, only to be assaulted by the fish that swam in the pond, the ents would come by on stepping stones, their feet barely rustling the leaves or making a sound as he settled there in meditation, reaching into the ground with his thoughts, probing.

He thought of his father then

“Look at them son, worthless animals, the lot of them!! they live as squalid fiends, barely comprehending anything of importance or value!” the tall shadowy figure said, motioning to the people passing by on the streets, talking on cellphones or driving to work. The tall skyscrapers of new york loomed overhead, like mighty tombstones to some obscene deity that he couldn't fathom.

“they disappoint me son. As well they should disappoint you!”

“why should I care?” lurion asked angrily. “they're not our problem!”
“that...is where you are wrong my son.” the shadow said, kneeling down to stare him in the eyes. “they, in their arrogance, would prey upon one another like cannibals, and they prey upon us as well!! never forget son, they are monsters to us!”

“it's not my place to look down on them, why is it yours?!” lurion cried, receiving a backhand from the shadow.

“because if I do not judge them...who then will? Who else has the courage to see the madness and put a stop to it?!”

“and who puts a stop to you father?!” he cried out angrily.

“if you knew what you were saying...”

“Garland, wake up!” Par said, kneeling on his haunches to stare at him.

Blinking, garland glanced about. “My apologies, I seemed to have dozed off.”
“it's part of the process. Many saplings enter dormant states during their sessions. It's perfectly fine..here-” he handed garland a bottle of crafted glass filled with water. “the lady of the heart of the forest wishes you to have it. It refills with an endless supply of water. If will prove useful to you, as the pond here-” he gestured to the pool surrounding the shrine- “Is unfit for drinking...the algae is breeding at this time, swallowing it is ill-advised.” standing he glanced around. “seems you eat slowly, strange, I was certain humans were far more ravenous than this.”

“ever since I came to this world, my appetite has dwindled and my strength increased dramatically, my senses have improved as well. Perhaps I am ill?”

“Illness seldom gives strength. No, I wonder if perhaps the hydalians were right to name you devil. Yet you insist you are human?”

“In my world, I was never this strong, I was comparable to humans. You say you met my kind?”

“Yes, they used to be a primary force on this world, numbering in the billions. But years upon years of garnering displeasure from the god of light ended miserably for them when he lost his patience and struck them all down. Years later a castoff group came to this very forest where they lived for some time. The hydalians caught wind of them and...”
he trailed off, and garland didn't need further explanation.

“for now I need you to help with something. The second half of the service we require of you and payment for your lessons, you are to help the grove out in small ways. Here-” he handed garland a sack, glancing into it, he saw it was filled with glowing gems.

“those are life-stones, spread them at the roots of every tree, two per tree, continue this until nightfall.”
with that he left, and garland shrugged and set about to work, taking care to not overlook even the smallest of saplings.

He traveled along the paths, dropping two gems down whenever he came across a tree, which was every step he took. The sack refilled continually, and to his credit, he maintained the pace, easily setting gems around six hundred trees before the day was finished.

Once the sun set, par returned and took the sack. “you may return to your shrine now, get some rest and begin the day with meditation as we've discussed.

The next day was much the same, he awoke, and normally he expected that he would immediately need to use the restroom.

To his surprise, the urge was nonexistent.

“I am becoming like these trees.” he lamented. “as still as stone, yet alive and barely able to do anything save grow and shed my leaves!” a panic fell over him, his needs were diminishing with the passing of every day, but without need...what urgency to life would there be? To his thinking, needs were a way to establish purpose, without need there was no do, without doing there was no animation, no point really. One could literally sit in one place for all eternity and not budge and it would be the same.

No, he reasoned, the trees live, and if their sentience as ents is any indication, they seem perfectly at peace with their immobility.

He began his meditation with the usual haze of worries and fears swimming across his thoughts like angry koi fish, or perhaps a swarm of buzzing gnats flying about in stinging, annoying clouds in the summer heat.

In his unsettled condition, he reflected on another parental figure…

she stood there, arms crossed as she stared down at him, her eyes glowed too, but these glowed a soft gold, as opposed to HIS crimson.'

“tell me what happened.” she bade.'

“He….he wants to kill them all.” lurion replied.

“he wants to kill them all because he has the wits of a utilitarian and none of the creativity needed. He is right to despise them of course, humans are monstrous..but then..so is every beast. If we are to judge them, where do we then stand?” she shrugged. “quit thinking about it the way he does. Quit thinking about such small, trivial matters, let your father simmer and fume, it is his choice and we've no right to change his mind on the matter.”
“what if I want to stop him!?” lurion cried.

“oh then by all means try! But enough of this.” she picked him up and carried him to her bed.

“I'm not tired.” he grumbled.

“no, of course not. But you need to rest all the same. All humans do.”
“am I human?” he asked.

She frowned at that, “Perhaps you are. What then? Will you fight in humanity's defense? Will you battle for the beasts that dared to upset your father so?”
“Maybe I will! He doesn't deserve to be around them if he's so cruel!”

“Ah, you must really hate him! But do not be sad, my son...someday...someday you will miss your father dearly when he's gone!”
“No! I don't need a father, or a mother! I don't need mankind or anyone!! if people like him get to judge anyone at the drop of a hat, if he can force his expectations on people like that, then i'd rather stand alone...forever!!”

“forever….” she whispered, stroking his hair as she looked deep into his eyes “is a frightfully long time, my son.”
“I'll stand alone forever!” lurion shouted. “I don't need anyone!! I don't need anything!! I'll fight the world!! better to be the world's enemy than to be looked down on by all the people in it!! I refuse to carry the weight of the world like those humans and my father seem intent on doing, I won't share that burden!! I won't!!”

she nodded. “I suppose you've every right to reject your fate...but perhaps you will change your tune when faced with the reality?”

Garland opened his eyes.

“Forever….is a frightfully long time..hm?”

He hardly remembered anything about his mother and father, let alone what they looked like. Reflecting on them revealed precious little about what they were, why they had a decidedly anti-human view, or why it was he had considered them human at all.

Was he human? All evidence before his arrival on this world seemed to indicate that he was quite human, but his newfound strength, stamina, and the steady decline of his needs had begun to convince him that he wasn't human at all.

Perhaps he was a demon after all?

Garland mulled that over then faced himself with another, more daunting question.

Why was he subjecting himself to this?

He then settled on an answer, his conscience wouldn't let him avoid it. He'd wronged someone, and while he was fiercely independent and loathe to be bound to anything, debts included, garland didn't like hurting others, especially if the wounding was unintentional.

When par returned with the sack of gems, garland's first stop was to syena's tree.

Ten years was not so long to repay a debt owed to a victim of his own foolishness, he decided as he gingerly placed two gems at her roots.

Syena then appeared, arms crossed as she glared at him, with a humble bow he turned away, stalking through the forest and continuing his duty to the grove without complaint.

The next four weeks weren't especially fruitful, his meditation often led to sleep, or worse, nightmares, but finally, one morning, he managed to catch something.

It was tangible, as though there was a green river of light below him and some invisible part of him was touching it.

He felt it pulse, flow and writhe beneath that invisible hand he extended into the ground, and without thinking, he lifted it up to inspect it.

Hearing the ground explode all around him, his eyes snapped open in alarm, and he found himself surrounded by newborn trees and vines, one had actually pierced the roof of the shinto shrine behind him as it rose from the ground, and to his delight, he realized he'd summoned green magic for the first time in his life.

Par came to the shrine to find garland inspecting the trees he'd summoned, and with a smile he set down the basket of fruit.

“empty shells.” he explained. “More like spears or weapons to our kind, we cannot inhabit them, as they did not begin as seeds. They are trees without us ents in them.”

he stroked his green beard as he looked over the saplings and trees. “a good first attempt, these will last several decades before they deteriorate. Tomorrow you will begin the next phase of your training, learning how to shape wood. With that knowledge you will finish repairing my daughter, agreed?”

“of course.” garland said with a bow, and par left him the sack of gems and the unspoken command.

Garland would continue the day spreading the life gems all around the forest, two per tree, until evening.

This time he'd spread them to well over a thousand before the day had ended.

Chapter 6

Dark Priest Xande

He watched as the two men squared off with the homeless man, his father held him tight, preventing him from rushing to the elderly man's defense as the two men, gang members he would later find out, beat the fool senseless.

“Look well upon it my son, there is not a single person in this group who is not a victim and villain.” he explained as the two gang members struck out, beating the man half to death.

The homeless man pulled a gun halfway into the beating and fired off a shot, screaming in some manner of deranged gibberish.

The remaining gang member fled through the streets, but not before being shot in the back as he fled.

The homeless man, in his fury, then turned on lurion and his father.

“A pity, though he wasn't worth the breath he drew, he still lived.” lurion's father lamented, and with a wave of his hand the homeless man burst into flame.

“father what did you do?!” lurion cried.

“did you not see him? He would have killed us both, his wits were gone in any case. That man was so addicted to drugs that he attacked a younger member of those people's gang in order to rob him, these two were dispensing their own twisted form of justice...and look at them now...hm.” he nodded as he gestured to the two corpses littering the alley.

“this is mankind, my son. Abandon all delusions of reason from the human race now. Humanity are devils, to them, those positive emotions you love so much are but a fretful convenience at best. They do not care for you, they do not even care for one another save when they've the luxury to do so. No son, give men nothing, and they will begin to take, teach a man violence, and he will learn to hate. This is the true shape of men, lurion...devils...the lot of them, eventually they may become mighty demons if they continue down this path...and I wonder what you will say in their defense then? Will you perhaps bring up the necessity of their actions? Do not make me laugh. Those gang members are just as vile as that vagrant they were beating, there were no true victims here, only animals, scrabbling for senseless purpose in a world bereft of it. I wonder….is this the world you crave little one? A world of….”freedom?” his father began to laugh at that, a cold, haunting sound that rang melodiously across the brick walls of the buildings keeping this small alley encased in frigid shadow.

The dead remained even as his father dragged him into the snowy streets of new york.

“Never forget this lesson, my son. Men are not worthy of you, or me..they will live and die alone, surrounded by the eternal pretense of social and cultural values, but eternally isolated from one another. Family? Friendship? All alternative names for business arrangements, pretentious nonsense dropped at the first sign of tro-” lurion pulled away from him.

“You don't understand anything!!” he yelled, and he fled through the crowds while his father watched on, impassively.

All around him the faces of complete strangers stared onward, empty, hollow, devoid of life, forever trapped in the merciless cycle of society, a self-feeding abyss of nothingness enforced on pain of death.

He saw their faces for what they truly were then, masks, masks being worn to defend the facade of social cooperation, masks meant to sustain simple survival.

“you're wrong!” lurion shouted as he raced through the streets. “they're more than that!!”

“But they weren't, were they lurion?” garland asked as he awoke, barely cognizant enough to halt his own words as he spoke of the past self, almost as if “Lurion” were another person.

“In the end they warred with themselves on a planetary scale a third time. A third time with weapons so powerful...they surely doomed the world….world war three...nuclear annihilation. What good was your faith in men, little pup? What use was your hope for the good of men when the good of men may well have never existed at all?”

he muttered this as he rose, shaking off a day's worth of sleep.

Ten years had passed, yet garland hadn't aged, he had, however, learned a substantial amount about alendarc, the world he was in.

alendarc was the realm of magic, a realm where dreams became reality.

Over ten years garland had meditated, had trained, and had ultimately acquired a modest understanding of green magic, the power to manipulate and summon plantlife at will.

But this green magic wasn't useful in battle.

Syena's tree had been mended five years ago, but garland didn't care about that any longer.

In truth, garland's thoughts turned to home, earth, the world that was surely a nuclear wasteland by now, and if it wasn't, it was surely in bad shape.

Garland couldn't imagine that humans, who couldn't stop killing one another for over two thousand years, could hope for anything resembling a happy ending, and he no longer thought of them as anything other than beasts.

With the tenth year ended on this very day, garland had no further reason to be here. He'd learned all he could from the ents, and he departed the forest before they could see him off.

Over the past ten years his appetite had diminished, fading away entirely. He'd taken time to explore his body, and found that its supernatural strengths had been coupled with an almost complete removal of his needs.

He no longer ate, save once or twice a month, and even then food didn't seem to sustain him anymore, his body remained whole, never deteriorating, never aging.

Ten years was not so long, but garland, once twenty five, was now in his mid-thirties, what should have been a milestone was little more than a simple acknowledgment that he'd aged at all, and he barely felt any older.

Perhaps it was his presence in this world? Or perhaps he needed to accept that he was never human to begin with, and that his human weaknesses had been exclusive to his time on earth.

No matter.

Without thinking, he headed for the city of dimmery for a rematch against the temple of mateus, he felt the need to settle a score with them, perhaps for vengeance, or perhaps he could bury the hatchet?

The moment the thought left his mind however, he instead turned away.

His daily routine in the grove had been maintained for ten years, ten years of doing the same thing over and over, meditate, train in basic green magic spells, tend to the grove.

On it had gone for ten years, ten years spent wholly on one set of daily actions.

Garland wanted nothing to do with the city of elves, he left, barely aware that his black coat was frayed, his pants tattered, his boots stained.

Ten years without replacing his clothing, ten years locked in a sort of behavioral stasis, had taken its toll on his apparel.

He didn't care.

Before he could leave however, the two fairies he'd met earlier came up to him and chanted words of power he recognized as some manner of spell.

Casting a pair of luminous orbs at him, his body was engulfed in a curious light, and he stood there, glancing at his frame as their magic went to work, mending and enhancing his clothing.

His coat was restored, the tatters and fraying at the bottom now resembling bat-wing tips, the zipper had been replaced with a golden fringe, and the buckles were now shaped like moons and could no longer be connected.

The shoulder pads now had a set of silver pauldrons that were affixed with glowing crimson sigils that he would later discover cast basic barrier spells around him to keep him dry during the rain.

His boots had undergone the more drastic change, the metal plates, rusted and deteriorated as they'd been, were now wolf-faced emblems etched onto each strap hooking over the front of the boot, each wolf face glowed a dull red.

The strap's edges now resembled bat-wings, and the bottoms had been completely restored.

His pants had been mended entirely and a gold chain spilled over one of the pockets, looping around his front to hang as an ornament of sorts, from this chain several small bead chains hung loosely, each one affixed with what resembled a spell tag.

His shirt was more or less unchanged, though his ascot was now crimson instead of black, the collar of his shirt was a bit higher and laced with gold.

He looked to the fairies for an explanation, but they simply giggled and fled, and after inspecting his restored clothing, he gave a sigh and decided that they'd simply helped him out of the goodness of their hearts. Tricksters or no, they seemed amicable enough.

Taking off the coat, he noted that there was a glowing red image on the back of the coat, the face of a dragon.

Shrugging he put the coat back on and left, wondering where he should go next. Dimmery seemed a reasonable start if he wanted answers, but he would doubtless meet resistance from the locals if he tried.

All the same, perhaps discovering who had given the fanatics the means to summon him would bring him closer to resolving the mystery of why he was even here.

Torn between purpose and the desire to simply wander, he reluctantly began the journey to dimmery, ready for a fight should it come to that.

Despite his efforts, par managed to find him just as he was exiting the forest, and the ent stopped him.

“where will you go?” he asked.

Garland shrugged. “I wish to sate my curiosity. I'm heading back to the temple, where I was summoned. It is my hope to infiltrate the city unnoticed and gather information.”

“Be careful if you must enter, as you are well aware, elves came to the ents seeking you out. They found little of course, to convince them of your presence here, but they were very determined to have you.”

“sounds like their problem, not mine.”

The ent thrust a maple staff out toward him.

“with this, you are now a green mage. You have come to understand our people over the ten years you've spent here. At my behest, the fairies Palom and Porom have enchanted your clothing to ensure it doesn't wear down again.”

“I confess, I find the alterations they made...quite fetching.” garland replied, taking the staff and looking it over.

“walk with care, you will be in danger if you return to the elves. No doubt they will hope to finish what they began. You have been a friend to us and- where are you going?” garland didn't bother sticking around to listen to par-salain finish his speech about friendship and debts owed, it wasn't his way, he loathed such speeches, seeing them as pretentious nonsense.

“Know that you have allies in us, lone wolf!! do not turn away from our kinship!!” par called out after him, but garland wasn't listening.

He loathed the idea of being friends with anyone, this had been a business matter, and little else, and while he relished in helping the ents, he didn't wish to burden them with his presence any longer.

He had no intention of ever returning to their grove.

He didn't want to feel the inevitable sting of betrayal when they turned on him out of convenience.

Just like…."they" had done…

he arrived at the gates to dimmery mere days later, he wore a hood to conceal his features. One of the alterations to his attire was the presence of a face mask, and he made it a point to combine it with his hood to fully mask his features. His clothing was close enough to elven priest clothing that he wouldn't be immediately recognized as “the demon” but he was wary of the elves nonetheless.

Still when he entered they addressed him as “father” once more mistaking him for a pastor of the luminaire faith, he made it through the gates, one hand gripping the staff as he tapped it against the cobblestones, weaving through the crowds of elves on their way to work, or perhaps to the markets, another hand folded behind his back while his eyes settled on the temple, it practically dominated the entire skyline on one side of the city, so vast was it that garland hardly understood how he'd ever managed to escape the thing.

And now he was going to be returning to the summoning room to inspect the circle, assuming it remained.

As he walked, a guard walked up to him and, saluting said “sir, we have need of you!! please come this way!!”

“For what purpose?” garland asked, irritated.

“we need a healer sir!!”

“I am ill-taught in the ways of healing magicks. For whatever reasons my capacity to use them was stunted.”

“and..you are a pastor of the faith sir?” the guard asked, shocked.

“I compensated for my shortcomings with basic green magicks, subsequently I am unfit to be a healer. I offer succor in the form of my wisdom, but the church has barred me from casting healing spells, preferring to use my green magic for other..less savory purposes.”

the temple knight was at a loss for what to do, and it was clear to garland that he was expecting a healer of the church.

“I have been long away from the city.” garland explained. “two decades, in fact. My memory is abominable and I seem to have forgotten much, if you would kindly direct me to where I might fetch for you a proper healer, I will be of service in that capacity my son.”

the temple knight brightened at this, and with a bow gave garland directions to the white district, an area of buildings comprised entirely of white stonework. This was where most healers were trained, and after a moment he nodded “ah yes, I remember now. Thank you my son, I fear I am not the most competent of pastors, hence why I was asked to work outside the city, but I shall see to it that healers are brought to you. I shall return shortly.”

despite his reservations on the matter, garland decided that if he was to impersonate the clergy, he might as well own the role, and when he finally made his way to the white district, he wasn't disappointed by the sight.

The white district spread unfettered by the presence of trees, for a good three miles, white buildings and towers of white and gold spread for a considerable distance, light magic was all over the district, finding the healers guild wasn't so difficult, when he entered he immediately asked if there were any pastors free to aid him.

Two volunteered, and he explained the situation to them complete with the lie that he was unable to be a proper healer, and thus served the church in other capacities. He introduced himself as father Xande, and explained that a guard needed the services of healers right away.

Upon returning to what he later learned was known as the “Primus” district, the guard escorted the two healers into a nearby building.

Following after them garland beheld a truly horrific sight.

An elf lay in bed, his skin had gone pitch black and his extremities seemed to be turning into shadows, he tried to figure out what the illness was by listening to the healers as they discussed the disease with growing concern.

“Shadowblight.” one said, shaking his head. “He will need to be burned.”

“can you do nothing?!” the guard asked.

“it's a fatal illness, only one whose heart is not aligned fully with our lord mateus can hope to mitigate the disease. It would take a soul of true generosity, who did not mind risking his own life, to even hold the disease. If he was not resistant to it, he would also be consumed by it and become contagious.

“Perhaps...” garland began. “I might be of service after all.”

the two blinked as they turned to face him their expressions incredulous. “father, what are you saying? You are aligned with the lord, are you not?”

“there is a reason my capacity for healing arts is stunted.” garland explained as he moved to the elf. “I am not truly aligned with mateus. It is ever my curse to question all things, including the gods. Mark me my brethren, I am cursed with a mind that must always scrutinize, must always question..must always….”

“doubt.” came the accusing reply from one of the healers.

“for this, my capacity for healing arts is bare, if not altogether nonexistent. My understanding of the arcane is also sorely limited. I was asked to work outside the city for this very reason, my questions are...not welcome in the order of light. I ask things many would consider blasphemous. I was recalled when I deemed it necessary to keep my mouth shut. However, though I am a pastor of the luminaire faith, it is a title only, a way to keep this foolish thinker from perhaps spreading information or views that could potentially do great harm to the order. In other words, I am kept on a leash, out of respect for my insightfulness, and the potential a stray word can have to cause..inconvenience to the order.”

“if your heart is not truly aligned with mateus...perhaps you can...take the shadowblight?” one healer mused.

“I could, my will may be aligned with god, but my heart still doubts. A heart that beats with doubt makes a marvelous nest for the shadows, i've found. And eventually my heart will be swayed by the lord, I am sure of it, when that time comes, the blight will be erased from my body.”

“and what if you don't? What if it consumes you?”

“then I discreetly abandon the city and live in isolation, where I will be consumed alone, without running the risk of spreading the disease.” garland replied calmly, and after a moment, the healers came to a consensus and gestured to the ill elf.

“Please father, we're aware that this is unorthodox, but we shall be grateful for your sacrifice.”

“I am all too happy to make it my sons!” garland replied, moving over to the elf.

“Just imagine there's a funnel in your hands, sucking out the shadows.” one healer explained, and garland did precisely that.

He'd learned that the key to controlling magic and manipulating magical fields was to visualize, and have faith that the vision would connect to the real.

To his amazement, the dark pall began to leave the elf, his extremities began to materialize, as if they'd always been there.

Within mere minutes, garland had effectively taken the darkness from the elf into himself, and upon looking himself over, he admitted that he didn't feel any different.

Turning to the elven healers they stepped back in shock, shaking their heads, clearly confused.

“not even the stain of shadow blights you!!” one said in amazement.

“do not mistake this for a blessing.” garland warned as he looked himself over. “Be grateful that men of doubt such as myself exist to fulfill such ends, but do not presume that you should join our ranks. I have little doubt in my mind that had anyone else attempted this, they would have been consumed. Do not be impressed by what I did, look upon it with a grim understanding that my actions today are a result of my flaws as a pastor of the faith. Convenient, true, but flaws they yet remain.”
he bowed.

The guard rushed to the elf's side. “Brother!! it'll be alright!! you've been cured!! thank you father xande!! thank you for everything!!' he cried.

“it was a trifle. No doubt once word of this spreads, I will be made into a pariah. Perhaps I should consider leaving the city, even though I was recalled? I would hate to stir trouble...”

“No!! it's...more than fine!! we of the luminaire faith believe that the flaws of men are part of what makes them beautiful, surely you remember that, yes?” one of the healers cried out, appalled by the idea that he would be made a pariah for such a kind act.

It was then garland realized something.

Elves were decidedly different from humans, in that they were not overly mistrusting of one another, even now the healers and the guard blessed him and thanked him from the bottom of their hearts. Garland left the building and made for the temple, feeling very much conflicted by this.

Had they been humans, doubt and suspicion would surely have ruled them, turning their responses into fear and disdain, instead they were praising him.

He shuddered at the idea that he was worthy of praise at all, given his deception, and of course, if too much attention was brought to the “dark priest xande” no doubt his cover would be blown and he would be jailed, or worse, sacrificed to mateus.

He needed to hurry, before word of his good deed spread too far.]