Champion

Chapter 19

Astinus had shown them to their rooms, helped them settle Meadowgrass into a stall, and guided them to The Howling Moons Tavern; which lay a few hundred feet down the main road from the temple. They were now seated at one of the many tables in the cozy establishment. While they were waiting for the waitress to return with their meals, David and Laurena finished up the story of their encounter with the highwaymen. Astinus had requested they tell him what had happened in detail.

"...so I cut her free from the post, we grabbed her horse and supplies, and hid out in a cave until morning. Since then we have had no other trouble on the road here," David explained.

"And killing them was your only option?" Astinus inquired.

"Huh?" David responded, surprised at the question.

"To clarify, you had no other way of stopping them than ending their lives?" the priest asked.

"Well, I could have waited until they were done with the young lady, had fallen asleep, and then snuck into their camp and asked them to pretty please surrender with sugar on top. But I figured that she wouldn't have appreciated my restraint after they finished with whatever they planned to do to her," he responded sarcastically.

Seeing that this line of questioning would not be productive Astinus decided to change the subject, and asked Laurena, "Acolyte, do you remember hearing any of their names?"

"Umm, I think the leader was called Boast, and the larger one was called Thalmer, or Farmer," she said hesitantly.

Hearing these names Astinus nodded his head, as though they were confirming something he had already known.

"Broast and Dalmer," Astinus said, correcting her. "And the three with them were probably Andre, Farris, and Gaius; although Farat, Dorn, and Octavius are also missing." Astinus sighed, "It is unfortunate that you killed those men, but I believe I understand your reasons. Yet please remember Champion, that Eros holds all life precious, even the lives of criminals. I ask that next time you try to avoid bloodshed."

David looked at Astinus as though he had suddenly sprouted a d**k on his forehead.

"Let's just gloss right over you Monday morning quarterbacking my decisions, and skip to the part where you know so much about the people that tried to harm the lady here," he said, his tone showing his resentment of the man's comments.

I bet this tree hugger would have let her get r***d just so he wouldn't get his hands dirty, David thought to himself with disgust.

Laurena first shot a scandalized look at David for his tone towards the priest, but his words caused her to quickly cast an inquisitive look in Astinus' direction.

"Those men were once citizens of this town," Astinus explained with a sigh. "They were foolish as young men, and greedy. There were many more of them back then, and not long after the youngest reached their eighteenth winter they traveled as a group to the west. They claimed to seek treasures supposedly abandoned in the fishing village that had been destroyed by the invaders of the Great Battle. But they returned two seasons later; fewer in number, empty-handed, and angry.

"It had taken them months to find the abandoned village. They claimed to have only been there a handful of days, finding nothing of value during that time, when they came under attack from a large group of strange people. These attackers were numerous, and fought with both total rage and a frightening disregard for their own lives. They slaughtered nearly half of those that had traveled to the village, and the ones who survived to return claimed they had barely escaped with their lives. Twenty foolish young men left this town seeking riches, only eleven returned. "

Shaking his head, Astinus paused in his story to thank the waitress who had finally returned with their food. Taking a sip of his water, he cleared his throat and continued.

"After those eleven returned they were different. They were angrier, and greedier. I was able to convince three to come to the temple for worship and counseling, but those eight that I mentioned refused. They told me an old fart who hid in his temple knew nothing of their loss and fear," he said sadly.

"Soon I began to hear rumors regarding them. Money and prized possessions going missing, strange accidents happening to people they disagreed with, and travelers being found on the roads outside of town beaten and robbed. This region had been peaceful since the last wolves were driven out many generations ago, and now it was seeing more violence than had happened anywhere in Erosius since the Great Battle. No one had come to me with a direct complaint against them, but I began to investigate anyway. I could not read their auras without a witness or evidence of a crime, and I could not read them when they came to the temple because they no longer attended services. Yet I was soon suspicious.

"Finally, one night in the tavern, they became very drunk and began bragging about finally finding their treasure. We discovered their meaning the next day. They had attacked a wealthy trader and his daughter along the Lexian Road, beating them both and leaving them to die. The trader passed on before they were found, but I was able to heal the daughter's injuries. She managed to describe her attackers in great detail, confirming my suspicions, but by then the eight men I mentioned had already fled the village.

"We never knew where they had gone, but I have recently been hearing stories of travelers getting robbed or going missing in Snow Gap Pass. I had sent a request to the Great Temple for an Inquisitor to look into it, but have heard nothing back yet."

Turning to David he said, "And now it seems I can cancel that request, since you already found the answers that they would seek."

"I wouldn't be in such a hurry to quit just yet," David replied. "It sounds like there may still be three of them out there somewhere, and I doubt they are going to just give up now. They may move on, they may not, but they seem dedicated to taking from others rather than making an honest living. In my experience people generally don't change, and I doubt that those three are going to be the ones to alter that belief."

Astinus ate a few bites of his meal while he considered David's words, finally nodding his reluctant agreement. "I understand you concerns, and I find myself agreeing. Also, knowing now the cause of all the trouble in the mountains, I will insist on accompanying the investigator when he or she arrives. Those men are from this town, and thus my responsibility. Had I acted on my suspicions sooner much pain and loss could have been prevented."

David nodded in agreement with the priest's words. The older man was a little too quick to rush to judgment concerning his actions in the mountains, but Astinus also took his duty seriously. That was something David could easily respect.

David thought of all he had learned lately. He did not fully understand this world, but it seems that Erosius was pretty much a theocracy. The clergy seemed to be responsible for maintaining order and educating the populace, in addition to providing spiritual guidance. He was leery of any one organization having that much power, but then again the supposed checks and balances of the United States government hadn't exactly stopped his country from being run into the ground. He decided to reserve his judgment of them until he knew more.

Besides, he thought to himself, being able to read someone's guilt or innocence using magic probably cuts down on corruption, deception, and false imprisonment.

After discussing such serious topics, each of the trio ate the rest of their meals in silence. Despite the quality of the meal, each barely tasted their food, lost as they were in their own thoughts. Eventually David looked down to notice he had cleaned his plate without even realizing it, and decided that a break from his current thoughts was necessary.

"Astinus, what can you tell me of the last Champion?" he inquired of the priest.

Jolted from his own reflections, Astinus considered David's question for a moment. "Not here young man," he replied eventually. "It is nearly time for us to return to the temple, and that is a long story that will have us here past the Moons' closing. Let us return to the temple, and I shall do my best to answer your questions about the past."

After paying for their meals Astinus led them back to the temple, steeling himself to re-open old wounds in order to help this new Champion.

The three had barely noticed the man that had sat quietly at the next table during their meal. None of them saw the man follow them to the door. Nor did they see him watch them from the front of the tavern as they made their way down the road.

*** Unexpected Complications ***

122120MAR13 DW

Wolfsvale, Erosius

Broast, Dalmer, and three more of their men were dead. This was unfortunate news to Lucius, for he had been making a steady profit selling their stolen goods throughout the region. Supposedly working as a traveling trader, he was mostly just their fence. He would travel to the mountain pass every two weeks, collecting their latest haul, and then transport it to Lexia to sell or trade. Then he would take his proceeds back home to Wolfsvale, setting aside the cut for Broast and his men, which he took on his next trip to the mountains. He was not sure what the three survivors would do, but he assumed they would want the earnings from the last trip whatever they decided.

Will they risk coming here for it? he thought to himself.

He hoped they would not, but had no way to know. Depending on who had survived, their actions could vary widely.

Lucius thought about what he would do if they came. Should he leave, and try to meet them on the road? He did not want to be seen with them at all, but it was far better than being observed with them in Wolfsvale. What if they were caught? He knew that Astinus was certainly powerful enough to read their auras to verify their guilt. They might expose his participation, and then he would lose everything. He would either join them in servitude for his crimes, or spend his life on the run from the clergy.

He had only escaped notice thus far because he had tried to regain his faith after returning from that Eros cured abandoned village. It hadn't worked; Eros was a blind, s*x-crazed fool. But by at least trying he, Galen, and Francos had separated themselves from the other eight. When those fools had gotten drunk he and Francos were already on their way to Lexia with the latest haul. It took them almost a week to find enough buyers for such a large shipment, and the two were away from the town for well over a fortnight. Upon their return Galen had explained what happened.