CHAPTER SEVENELIAS AND THE HOLY CITY

  Seeing the man in front of him lower his bow and then sheath his sword, Elias Romwell looked back at his fellow Knights of Providence and waved. As they dismounted from their horses, the knights lifted up their visors, keeping their helmets on, unlike their captain.

  “At ease, men,” announced Elias as he gestured at the mercenary. Then he nodded again. “Your name, sir?”

  “Garrick. Garrick Landow,” replied the mercenary, shouldering his bow. Onyx trotted over to Garrick and eyed the men in front of them. Then the mystic wolf bared his teeth. Not in the most menacing of ways, but enough that Elias could tell that he was far from calm.

  “The mystic wolf is yours! Then you have bonded. No one can command such a beautiful and noble creature if they have not!” said the Knight of Providence. “We are to receive three of the magnificent animals as a gift from Elf Queen Ilsa Lightshower in the days to come. But to have already seen one now, and in battle, has truly been a blessing from Elion.”

  Garrick looked over at the dead trolls. “You should thank them.” Then he looked back at Elias. “Onyx is ferocious only when he needs to be. How long have trolls been near The Holy City? I have been here many times on jobs. It is not like them.”

  Elias moved his helmet from his hand onto his hip, and held it there fast with his wrist. The other knights rexed more as well, and walked over to the dead trolls. The captain studied Garrick’s appearance, noting his age, his clothes, his weaponry.

  “Do not worry, mercenary. They are outliers. However they made their way to the outskirts of The Holy City, they are no more now. The High Priest bid us take care of the monsters here and search the area for any others. This aggression will not stand. People are already on their way to The Holy City for the Festival of Kaminess. Her memory will be celebrated, not sullied by death.

  “Captain,” interrupted a calm voice.Elias looked over at one of the knights, who had broken off from the other three that were still studying the trolls.

  “The visitor’s story checks out,” replied the knight. Elias and Garrick looked over at a pile of bones near the tunnel exit. In all the action they hadn’t seen it.

  “We had no reason to think his story a lie, but at least we know the truth for certain,” said Elias, sorrowfully. Then he lifted his head back up and spoke loud and clear to the knight by the bones. “Stephen, when we get back, send some knights to guard this tunnel. We will have no more bloodshed before the festival starts this week.”

  Once he was done giving orders, Elias looked back at Garrick. “We had a man entering The Holy City tell us of these trolls and how he and his friends were attacked. He was the only one to survive.”

  After both Garrick and Elias looked over at the trolls, the captain of The Knights of Providence then extended his hand to the mercenary, who took it.

  “Though I know it was not your intention to do half of our work for us this day, I appreciate you and the mystic wolf taking care of them. Is there something I can do for you Garrick, before we leave?”

  Garrick opened his pack and pulled out Braelind’s ring. Upon seeing it, Elias’ eyes widened for a moment, then he looked up at the mercenary.

  “I know you know what this is,” spoke Garrick.

  “I do. Why do you have it?” questioned Elias.

  Garrick was quiet for a moment. “I came upon a cleric who was being attacked by three bandits. He was on his way back from a pilgrimage to the catacombs of the Temple Ruins. I took care of his attackers, but it was too te...”

  Elias’ head turned quickly over towards the three knights, who had moved on from looking at the trolls to admiring Onyx from afar.

  “Men, Stephen and I will not be going with you on the sweep of the area. After you have surveyed the nd, return and guard the tunnel. I will send others to repce you ter. Understood?”

  “Yes sir!” yelled the knights, moving their visors back into pce. As they started toward their horses, Stephen joined Garrick and Elias.

  “Captain, what is wrong?” whispered Stephen. Garrick watched as Elias grabbed the knight’s shoulder firmly.

  “My friend, this will not be easy to hear, but this man has news of Braelind,” stated Elias in a low voice. Then Stephen looked down at the ring in Garrick’s hand.

  “After I defeated the bandits that had attacked him, he was alive, but gravely injured,” continued Garrick. “Before he died, he gave me his ring and this.” Garrick grabbed the scroll from his pack. Elias went to grab it, but Garrick lowered the parchment. “I was told to only give this scroll to the High Priest himself.”

  Stephen continued to look at the ring as Elias eyed the scroll.

  “You do not trust me Garrick? I know we have just met, but I am the captain of The Knights of Providence, a warrior that answers to the High priest, but to Elion above all.”

  Garrick measured his words carefully before speaking. “It is not that I do not trust you, but I gave my word. I believe you of all people can understand that,” replied Garrick.

  “I see. And I respect that. And I respect Braelind,” said Elias in a low voice.

  Elias gnced over at Stephen, who was still looking at the ring in Garrick’s hand. His face was pale now.

  “Your uncle was a good man,” spoke the captain as he put his arm around his fellow knight. “I loved him, as did anyone who had the privilege to know him.”

  Elias pced his hand on Stephen’s head and brought it to the side of his own. “He is with Elion now. I know he will be there to greet us when it is our time to enter his Embrace.” Then he let go of Stephen’s head.

  “May I have his ring, please?” whispered Stephen to Garrick, finally lifting his head. Garrick let the ring roll from his palm to his thumb and pointer finger and pced it into the knight’s hand. Then the mercenary took a deep breath.

  “I never knew my father, Stephen. It was my uncle that helped my mother to raise me,” spoke Garrick, calmly and with reassurance. Then he leaned his head back. “This quiver I use was his.”

  After a moment of contemption, the mercenary continued. “Braelind did not tell me who to give this to, but I have no doubt he would want you to have it.”

  Garrick looked over at Elias and then back at Stephen, who had pced the ring onto one of his fingers. The knight wiped his eyes quickly and, still in shock, started to fidget with his mustache before pcing his helmet over his long brown hair.

  “Braelind told me that ring would grant me entry to see the High Priest,” began Garrick. Then he looked solely at Elias. “I trust that you can arrange an audience with him. What is on this scroll, if it is to be believed, will change the world of Danaria forever. I promised Braelind I would deliver it, and that is what I pn to do today.”

  “What is on it?” asked Elias, most interested.

  Garrick studied Elias for a moment, as he contempted his response. He had trusted Braelind, one of The Brethren. If Elion was in any of this, he could now trust this Knight of Providence. Garrick then looked out at Onyx, who had started to trot toward The Holy City, which was already beginning to light up the darkening sky.

  “Knowledge of the location of the King Priest’s Scepter Sword,” announced Garrick.

  Elias’ eyes became big. He looked up to the sky for a moment and then closed them. Opening his eyes again, he returned his helmet to his head. Then he pced a hand on Garrick’s shoulder.

  “Mercenary, mount up behind Stephen. You can tell us the whole story on the way. Make sure your memory is clear...” replied the captain, after looking at The Holy City off in the distance. Elias looked over at Stephen, who nodded back. Then the captain returned his gaze back to Garrick and finished, “...because you will get your audience with the High Priest tonight.”

  Upon reaching Elionthanost, The Holy City, Garrick could see clearly their destination past the emptying marketpce and surrounding inns. The Temple of Unfaltering Devotion shone ever bright, and would be even more beautiful when night finally fell.

  As with the outside perimeter of the city, Knights of Providence guarded the inside of the city, with most of those knights surrounding the temple.

  Interspersed between the visitors, merchants, knights, and the clerics dressed in their white robes, Garrick viewed all the statues as they went. With the upcoming Festival of Kaminess only days away, her images were almost everywhere he looked. As always, the giant statue of her holding a book open was kept immacutely, along with the smaller statues of the previous High Priests, and the monuments to the dragons that first served Elion.

  However, the biggest statue of all was of the legendary King Priest himself, lifting the Scepter Sword in the air, having just been handed the ruling weapon by the god of all creation.

  Garrick took his eyes off the statues and looked again before him at The Temple of Unfaltering Devotion, as they continued toward it. The mercenary still marveled at its size. The temple was as big as the castle at the fortified city of Parnigal, where soldiers now trained and resided alongside the Academy of Higher Learning, with its students and thinkers. Both the castle in Parnigal and The Temple of Unfaltering Devotion in The Holy City had been made at the same time, hundreds of years ago. The only building that eclipsed their size currently was King Brock’s new castle in Aubrelon.

  As they reached the temple, Garrick looked out at an almost entirely human popution. Unlike the marketpce they had ridden through, there were now only a few elves and dwarves. This was the holiest temple of Elion in The Human Kingdom Lands. It was the home of the High Priest and The Brethren. The highest cleric of man and his council.

  However, it was also the most accessible of the three Great Temples of Elion to look upon. With the dwarven temple high in their mountains and the elven temple in their forest, which was closed off to most outsiders, the fact that these elves and dwarves could not only enter The Holy City, but view The Temple of Unfaltering Devotion in all its grandeur was a testament to not just King Brock, but Liam Jarstinian, who had become the most interesting High Priest to serve over the st hundred years. Jarstinian had not become a cleric of Elion till ter in life. And with that, his decisions sometimes were viewed as radical, but often other times as enlightened, depending on who you asked.

  The horses that The Knights of Providence and mercenary rode slowed to a trot as they entered the outer gate that surrounded the temple. Knights near and further away saluted or waved at Elias as they passed. Finally, as Garrick, Onyx, Elias, and Stephen arrived at the rge ornate doors that boasted the entrance to The Temple of Unfaltering Devotion, the horses slowed to a stop. As the men dismounted, the mystic wolf gazed out at the green grass that surrounded the Great Temple.

  “I am sorry Garrick, but Onyx cannot continue with us,” spoke Elias apologetically. “I trust you understand.” Then the captain’s face was reassuring. “I will have Stephen stay with him in the courtyard while we speak to the High Priest.”

  “I understand,” replied Garrick. Then he nodded at Stephen.

  “I will not leave his side. You have my word,” assured the knight, patting Onyx with confidence.

  After the short walk to the far end of the courtyard, Garrick knelt down in front of Onyx and stroked his bck fur as he looked into his eyes. “I will return for you in a bit. Do not worry, soon we will be back on our way to The Crossroads. To the mercenary guild and a new job. With any luck, I will be sipping cider with the beautiful Melita and you will be lounging around with Pawps and the Big Mawmoo.”

  Garrick stood up and looked over at the Great Temple before him, running his right hand over his beard. Then he looked over at Elias, patted the bag at his side with his left hand and announced, “Let us go now. I have a promise to keep.”