With the light having faded, Fellaroth was left standing alone in the empty square, contemplating what had just transpired. Letting out a deep sigh, Fellaroth raised his head and looked to the sky and saw that the miasma that had until moments ago filled the town, had now dissipated and the clear afternoon sky and setting sun were once again visible. Looking around the square in the fading afternoon light, Fellaroth saw the corpses of the sentinels he had killed earlier, along with the buildings he had cleanly sliced through, and with a wave of his right hand, the bodies turned to dust and what remained of the sliced buildings fell to nothing more than piles of rubble. Taking a deep breath, Fellaroth withdrew his wings back into his body, and his divine glow began to fade as he slowly made his way back to the church.
Entering through the missing door that he had broken down earlier, Fellaroth surveyed the destroyed church, still feeling a profound sense of failure in the knowledge that it was due to his own actions that all of this had come to pass. Turning to his right, Fellaroth saw that his companions still lay unconscious beneath the barrier that he had erected to protect them from not only the falling rubble but also any creatures that may have meant them harm while he was otherwise occupied. Lifting two fingers on his right hand, Fellaroth’s companions’ unconscious bodies rose into the air and floated along behind him, as he walked back into the empty town square. Walking down the church steps with his companions in tow, Fellaroth dropped his barrier, allowing the rubble of the church to finally fall and cover the ground where his companions had lain only moments earlier. The unconscious bodies of Riegert, Calvin, and Jackson rested peacefully on the paved floor of the town square as Fellaroth took one last deep breath before allowing them to wake.
“Oh, my head!” said Riegert, rubbing his temples as he slowly sat up and tried to make sense of his surroundings. A sudden bolt of realisation hit him, causing him to vault to his feet with his weapon at the ready, as he called to his companions. “Is everyone alright?”
“We’re alright!” answered Calvin, looking over and seeing that Jackson had been sitting upright and was actively and calmly surveying their surroundings. “How did we get outside? Fell, was this your doing?” he added upon seeing Fellaroth standing a few paces away from them.
“Yes, I managed to drag the three of you out of the church before it collapsed on us.”
“Thank you, Fell. What would we do without you?”
“Really Calvin? You’re just going to take him at his word?” asked Riegert, now turning his sword on Fellaroth.
“I have no reason to doubt him, Riegert, and besides, we are out here, and the church clearly has collapsed!”
“It’s a little too convenient for me! What happened to the preacher and all of those creatures that roamed this town? What happened to that strange fog that clouded this place, and why are you yet again without injury?”
“Why do you have so little trust in Fellaroth, Riegert? What has he done to earn such distrust from you?”
“You really haven’t seen any of it? The number of times he received grievous injuries during that fight before we entered the church, the strange powers and feats he displayed, not to mention that he somehow managed to face off against a foe that managed to knock all three of us out without even trying, dispatched all of the creatures in this place and purified the air, while still managing to look as though he has just returned from a midday stroll!”
“So, he was able to defeat a single powerful enemy who had tainted the land, and in so doing reverted all of the harm that was done by that evil preacher. It’s obvious that without the evil priest’s powers to sustain whatever it is that he was doing, the creatures were sent back to where they came from, and the fog dissipated. Fellaroth has shown time and again that he is far more powerful than the three of us. This shouldn’t come as a shock to you Riegert!”
“I don’t even need to ask if you agree, Calvin. If this is what Jackson is thinking, then I have no doubt that you would likely have come to a similar conclusion.”
“Why are you so dead set against Fell lately?”
“Did neither of you notice when we were lifted into the air by that priest, that Fellaroth was somehow miraculously unaffected by his power?”
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“He’s stronger than we are Riegert, it wouldn’t surprise me!”
“None of this makes any sense to me!”
“Then why not let Fell explain to us what happened himself?” said Calvin, looking over at Fellaroth expectantly.
“It is just as you two have surmised. The priest’s powers were not as effective on me as they were on the three of you, and after a tough battle, I was able to defeat him. Once he was defeated, his body seemed to turn to dust, along with all of the creatures he had summoned into this world!” answered Fellaroth, feeling truly guilty that he was forced to lie to the people who had trusted him so implicitly, and whom he had come to trust as well.
“A tough battle you say? And yet here you stand before us without so much as a rip in your shirt. You have no bruises, no cuts… no evidence that such a battle has taken place. You’re going to have to do better to convince me Fellaroth.
“I don’t know what to tell you, Riegert. Should the fact that you are alive, and all traces of evil having been cleared from this town not be evidence enough for you?”
“There are things that you’re not telling us Fellaroth, things that I think we have the right to know about!”
“Like what exactly Riegert, what is it that I am not telling you?”
“Why don’t we start with who you really are? I mean, you appeared alone deep in a forest one night, this strange figure who was able to fend off our three-pronged attack, single-handedly I might add! A feat that even The Prince’s party had a hard time doing. You have knowledge of a long-forgotten past that no one else seems to know about, you were able to navigate those castles as though you yourself had built them… then I watched you get flung off the roof of a building, impaled by a demonic creature’s weapon, only to reappear having killed the creature and with no injury anywhere on you, and now, you are unaffected by the dark magic of an evil priest, who was able to knock the three of us out in an instant, and when we come too, you have managed to defeat the evil priest and cleanse the land as well? You, Fellaroth, are not who you say you are. You’re not what you say you are.”
“What are you trying to say, Riegert? Are you saying that I am some kind of demon? Are you saying that I am somehow in league with the evil creatures that plague this land, that I was somehow in league with this evil priest?”
“That’s not what I’m saying Fellaroth…”
“It sounds to me like that’s what you’re saying, Riegert. Fellaroth has been nothing but an asset to our party ever since he appeared in that forest…” interrupted Calvin. “Now I won’t pretend to know why he was alone in that forest on that night, nor will I pretend that I don’t want to know, but one thing that I do know is that Fell saved each of our lives up there on that roof, and again in that church. Think what you will of him, but if it wasn’t for Fell, none of us would be here to have this argument right now!”
“What you have said is true Calvin, but how can we trust someone who keeps so much from us?”
“To trust a member of an adventure party, we need only trust in another person’s skills and know that they will not turn those skills against us. We have taken many people into our party for their skills having known far less about them than we do about Fell here… What about that trapper that we took into our party five years ago to guide us through those swamps that bordered the Elvin land? Do either of you even know what his name was?” asked Jackson.
“No, but that was different Jackson!”
“How was it different Riegert?”
“He was only ever made a member of this party to guide us through those swamps, he was never going to be a long-term member of this party!”
“He guided us through those swamps for nearly two years Riegert, and for two years you never called him anything other than Trapper!”
“That’s what he asked us to call him!”
“But you never asked him for his real name, Riegert, nor did you ever ask him how he came to know those swamps so well. Why does it matter that Fell knows these things? The fact is that he does, and he is using that knowledge to help our party!”
“You’re right Jackson. It didn’t bother me when it was Trapper, I don’t know why it’s bothering me so much now. I apologise Fell. As long as you continue to help our party, I won’t ask you these questions again.”
“That’s quite alright Riegert, I can understand where your concerns are coming from. Be assured that I will always do what’s in the best interests of this party, and the day that I can no longer do that, I will willingly leave.”
“Wait, you’re planning on leaving us Fell?” asked Calvin, truly shocked by this revelation.
“There will eventually come a time when we will need to part ways, but for now, I will continue to look out for each of you as I have.”
“What are you talking about Fell? Why will you have to leave us?”
“As you know, The God Mythus sometimes speaks to me and gives me revelations of things that I need to do. One such revelation is of a nature that I would rather not drag the three of you into. I will travel with you and continue to gather the information that I need, but when the time comes for me to complete this task, then we will need to part ways.” He answered, before adding silently. ‘Forgive me Mythus, for using your name in a lie like that.”
“Very well, Fell. For now, we will accept this explanation, but I hope that in time you will come to view us differently, and perhaps see fit to include us in this mission that was given to you by Mythus.”
“Thank you, for your understanding Calvin, and you two as well, Riegert and Jackson. I really do value each of you!”