Chương 48: Vol 1. The Church of Kaelreth’s Ascension: Part 1

Kareth galloped her horse through the copses, a torch clenched in one paw, up the grassy hills, then down toward Elarin. The city lay mostly dark beneath her, save for the low moonlight of the gibbous moon and the occasional amber window and the wavering lanterns that people forgot to extinguish outside of inns and taverns. The torchlight crawled across her armour in wavering streaks of yellowish-orange, illuminating the crudely drawn Sacred Heart of Seroth on her breastplate.

Her gelding's hooves thundered against the cobbles once she passed the outer cottages. Clack-clack-clack-clack-clack. The sound ricocheted through the air as she passed tightly packed rows of timber-and-stone houses. She turned sharply around one corner, ducked beneath a sagging clothesline, then disappeared down a narrow alley before she came across an empty, verdant clearing: a green commons that had once been a grazing ground before Elarin had grown around it.

Four other women were already arriving, their armour dulled by the dust and grime they had picked up through their travels. Upon each breastplate was the Sacred Heart of Seroth. Their horses snorted and pawed at the earth, but eventually, they reined them in. Kareth climbed off her Thoroughbred while the gelding tossed his head to and fro and stamped irefully against the grass. She shortened the reins and laid one clawed paw against the thick muscles of his neck, feeling them twitch beneath her pads.

She scratched lightly and commanded:"Lie!" The gelding snorted, breath steaming from his nostrils, then obediently folded his forelegs and lowered himself into the grass. Kareth straightened. She was a sinewy woman, broad through the shoulders, weathered around the muzzle; one ear was split right down the middle, giving her the uncanny appearance of having three ears; several pale scars wove along the back of her neck like neighbouring rivers, going down beneath the collar of her armour.

"Sister Kareth!" one of the women, Tavira, called out.

"By the Great Mother, it has been a good minute." Kareth turned. Her stern expression was softened somewhat by recognition. Tavira looked a little older than she had remembered. A thin scar now cut through the fur on the side of her head. Kareth stuck her torch into the dirt.

"Indeed, Sister Tavira," Kareth said, "I have not seen you since we served in the graces of Lady Ceryne. That was a good three years now, I believe." The two women clasped forearms first, grasped each other's paws, then Tavira abruptly pulled Kareth into a crushing embrace. Kareth let out a tiny laugh, her claws scraping the metal on the back of Tavira's breastplate.

"Still trying to crack my ribs and shatter them into little pieces, I see."

"Hey now, if three years have not toughened you up, that is hardly my fault, Sister Kareth." Tavira stepped back. Her smile slowly diminished.

"And just think now," she said, lowering her voice despite the empty clearing and speaking in a clear, stern cadence, "we not only get to serve in the graces of a royal once more, but also restore what has been lost." Kareth flicked her ears.

"Indeed, Seroth has truly blessed us dearly with this opportunity. Tell me, how did the raid on the Cathedral of House Caelrune go? Did you retrieve the letter?" Tavira looked away for a moment, then fixed her gaze on Kareth.

"I would not call it a successful raid," she admitted, "but I am confident that the letter has been destroyed." Kareth swished her tail quizzically.

"What do you mean?" This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"The cathedral is no longer standing," a voice called. It was one of the other women in the clearing.

"Ah, Kareth, these are some of your new sisters: Sister Averin, Sister Velran, and Sister Selira." Kareth stepped forward and shook each of their paws. Averin was the oldest of the three, her muzzle already a light silver—though she still had tremendous bulk beneath her armour. Velran was narrow, tall, with one long scar above her eye. Selira was clearly youngish, perhaps around eighteen, with little of the typical scarring older warriors bore.

"I am honoured the gods have brought us to this meeting point."

"Indeed," Sister Selira said as she shook Kareth's paw, "I have heard many good things about your exploits."

"Hopefully only good things," Kareth said with a playful ear flick. She let go.

"Now, what do you mean the cathedral no longer stands?"

"Exactly as it sounds, Sister Kareth," Tavira said.

"When we arrived, smoke was already pouring from the bell tower. Then the roof collapsed. Gods, Kareth, I felt the intensity of the collapse through my paws a good hundred paces away. The stained glass burst outward, and before we knew it, the grey stones turned yellow as flames engulfed it entirely."

"It was a late-night service," Selira said.

"The type you occasionally see held for the truly devout during the Serothtine season. The High Priestess must have been in there, and if she were in there, her letter must have been in there." Kareth scowled.

"Did you see who did such treachery to the gods?"

"No." Tavira shook her head.

"They had a large number of people, that was for sure, but we did not wish to get close; they outnumbered us plenty." Kareth's jaw tightened. One claw tapped against the pommel of her sword. She scoffed, but then said, "Logic dictates that to be the right choice; morally, it was not. Still…" Kareth's eyes widened as she thought of something.

"Did one of the other priests send out a letter for a replacement High Priestess of the Caelrune realm?"

"Yes," Velran said, pulling something from the bag on the side of her horse. She threw it over to Kareth.

"We retrieved it; the priestess had sworn loyalty to the Reformers after being held at blade point, and so we spared her. Let us hope she does not go back on her word when Lady Selvara Maraveth wins the Coniton, or may the gods help her soul."

"Indeed," Kareth said.

"May I do the honour?"

"Of course, Sister Kareth," Velran said with a slight bow. Kareth pulled the piece of paper from its casing, then dropped it over the torch.

"May false authority return to ash, where it belongs." The others bowed their heads. The paper fluttered downward, then the second the dancing flames touched the parchment—like a Venus flytrap—the flames gobbled it, excreting it as ash.

"Now that is done," Kareth said, "there is something I wish to do in this city."

"And what may that be?" Tavira asked. Kareth stared beyond the rooftops; off in the far distance, in front of the night sky, barely discernible twin spires rose above Elarin.

"The artifact." Tavira tilted her head, then wiggled her ears in recognition.

"Oh, yes, the sword that belonged to Kaelreth; I forgot that it is said to reside at the Church of Kaelreth's Ascension here in Elarin."

"I say this with utmost grace and respect for our great warrior prophet," Averin said, "but whether it is truly that magnificent sword with which the First Beloved had blessed the Prophet Kaelreth, or whether it is nothing more than a forgery, has yet to be disproven or proven."

"Still," Kareth said, "I wish to seize it from the likes of the heretics. If it truly is what it is said to be, then it must be in the hands of the Reformers."

"You make a persuasive argument, Sister Kareth," Selira said.

"And it should not take us too long; we could get it done before the sun rises." The other women looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

"Alright, let us head out then," Kareth said.

"I believe I do know the direction it is in."

"That is not too hard to figure out," Tavira said, "it is a rather big building."

"Yes, but it is far, far harder in the moonlight." And so each of them got on her horse and galloped over to the church. Behind them, the last fragments of the priestess's letter glowed red among the grass before collapsing into ash.