Cold air blew in a cloudless sky as a sleek blue form passed at terrible speed. She flew for hours, finding the distant northern mountains and then pressed on over the peaks. The world became a barren landscape of gray teeth jutting out of white jaws. It was tranquil and isolated, far from the dangers of humans, and war.
All she wanted was to be away from them, the terrible vicious humans who kept bringing her harm. They had butchered her, nearly killed her, and then burned her eyes before impaling her on their barbed spears. Time and again, the rodents managed to injure her and bring her to tears. She was ashamed they hurt her so, and her pride made her shake with rage.
She closed her eyes and roared out that rage as the white peaks passed beneath. Not since Whiteford had she been so consumed with anger. Not since they cut off her wings and threatened to make her a prisoner to be humiliated and abused.
The pains of the battle replayed in her mind a hundred times. She felt the barbed spears being ripped out in torrents of pain. She felt the sudden drain of strength as Thayle pulled on her to form the great shield overhead.
She wondered if Thayle or Gersius could kill her by drawing on her power? The very thought made her rage even more; why could they pull on her without any control on her part? She was little more than a resource to be used at their pleasure. A tool to be pulled out and put away when needed. Did they really love her? Or did they love what she could do for them?
Her anger flared as she struggled to get control of it. In the back of her mind, a battle raged between Lilly and Azurastra. The dragon called on her to rise up, feed her nature, and do what dragons do. The human countered and pleaded with her to remember the love she cherished and deny the beast. Lilly realized the somehow, her dragon nature had surged forward and nearly taken control. It was as if pulling on her power so heavily removed who she was and left only the dragon behind; A wild, angry beast that cared for nothing but self-preservation.
She landed on the slopes of the mountain and stomped along a ridge line. It was nothing but snow and ice over uncaring stone. The air was clear, and the sun was now past noon heading for the later hours of the day. She roared in anger again and slashed at the ice and stone, throwing a handful of debris to the side.
“Why are men so twisted?” she yelled into the mountains. Her voice echoed for a moment but was quickly drowned away by the wind over the peaks. The desolate isolation only fed the beast inside, calling her to return to her nature.
Dots of red appeared on the snow, and only then did she remember she was wounded. She reached a hand to her face and chanted a prayer, healing her wounds but feeling very tired for the effort.
Was this why she was so angry? Was feeling weak while in her dragon form what truly upset her? She didn’t mind her human form feeling weak because it was weak, but her true form; her dragon form; that was strong!
She stalked across the snow heading for a narrow valley and scanned the walls. There in the snow line was what looked like a dark opening. She made her way across the steep side and poked her head into what looked like a cave. It was small, maybe two and half times her size wide, and barely double her height. It was littered with fallen stones and pebbles. She sniffed the air and decided that it smelled like the cold air of the mountain. Satisfied, she climbed in and turned about to lay down and rest.
How long had it been since she was alone in her cave? She shook her head and stretched out to let her mind clear. It was soothing to be alone, and she felt protected being so isolated. She wondered what would happen if she closed her eyes and let the dragon sleep take her. Let fifty years go by and wake up to find a changed world — one where she didn't have to fight in some terrible war.
“Why are you so angry?” she said to herself as she laid her head on the rock. Her emotions were running wild and spinning through her mind. She saw scenes of the terrible moments since meeting Gersius mixed in with the moments of love and wonder. It all flowed together like a raging storm on the ocean, making it impossible to think.
“Go to sleep,” her dragon nature called. “Let the ages pass, and all will be right when you wake.”
Her breathing slowed, and her mind began to wander as the sleep overtook her. It was then that she noticed the shadow pass over the cave opening. Something large enough to block the sun for a moment had flown overhead.
She lifted her head with a start and reached her neck toward the opening. Carefully she climbed to the lip of the cave and stuck her head out just enough to look up. In the cloudless sky, heading away from her was a red dragon.
In a panic, she retreated into the cave. It was a male dragon slightly larger than she was. She wondered if it was the one that attacked her in the valley. If it was the same dragon, then perhaps her hoard was here as well?
“What do you care about your horde now?” she said to herself. “You have a new life with Gersius and Thayle. She tried to convince herself she didn't need it, but deep in the back of her mind, a desire to get her horde back clawed at her.
“It’s our hoard, he stole it from you!” her dragon voice hissed.
“No, this is dangerous. Gersius won’t be there to save you a second time!” she argued as the dragon began to fly out of sight.
The thought of losing him and a chance to get her hoard back drove her to action. Against all her senses, she hurried out of the cave. What would it hurt to follow him for a little bit? When the voiced in her head remained silent, she went with the dragon desire. With a great flap of her wings, she took to the sky to follow the now distant dot of red.
****
With the sound of the horns, the army retreated without ever committing its cavalry. Gersius allowed the men who could still walk to flee. Instead, he focused his attention on the hundreds of men who lay dying of horrific injuries before him.
He had the most critically wounded of his men seen to first. The priests of Vellis made healing look easy as they walked from man to man, quickly mending wounds. Despite their help, some had died. Many from injuries so lethal their lifespans were measured in seconds. Others had been wounded early in the battle and expired before they were reached. Still, many of the enemy were saved thanks to the priests of his army.
These men looked at them in disbelief as they were healed and restored. They were made to sit quietly, under guard to the side of the horrific battlefield. Once they were settled and the battlefield cleaned of fallen weapons and equipment, he set out to find Lengwin.
“High priest, I need a word with you,” Gersius said sternly.
“Of course,” he replied with a furrowed brow.
Gersius led him away from the others before turning to face him. “When did you know our scouts were missing?”
Lengwin looked up at him with confusion evident on his face.
“Lengwin, when did you know?”
“This morning was the first real proof. I sent men out to see if they could find them,” he replied.
“This morning? So hours before the battle,” Gersius pried.
Lengwin nodded. “I knew just before morning prayers.”
Gersius closed his eyes. That was four hours, at least before the attack. Had he known the scouts were missing, he would not have been caught so unprepared.
“Is something the matter?” Lengwin asked.
Gersius took a moment to think of his reply. Lengwin was a holy priest, not a battle priest. He didn't understand war or the signs of battle. Still, Gersius needed to educate the man, his decision to keep this information to himself had nearly cost them all their lives.
“I needed to know the scouts were missing. It would have changed this entire battle,” Gersius said as calmly as he could.
“I wasn't sure they were missing. I sent men out to confirm it.”
Gersius understood the logic. It was a common mistake to always want confirmation before making a decision, but in war, you had to make decisions with little or no information.
“How many men failed to report in?” he asked.
“Three,” Lengwin replied.
Gersius chewed his bottom lip and glared at Lengwin. He had to remind himself again; this was not a soldier. “One scout missing is a cause for concern. Three is not something that can't be ignored!”
“I wasn't ignoring it. I sent men to investigate.”
“And where are those men?” Gersius asked.
Lengwin looked lost, and Gersius realized they too never came back.
“I can't bother you with every detail of the march. I have to make some decisions myself,” Lengwin argued.
Gersius understood this point as well. There was too much for him to handle personally. He had to delegate, as Mingfe kept pointing out. Lengwin was a High Priest, a leader in the order of Astikar, and he needed to be given some measure of authority in the camp.
“What did you think happened to these scouts?” Gersius demanded to know.
“I don’t know what happened to them, that’s why I sent men to find out!” Lengwin answered harshly.
“You should have alerted me that they were missing!” Gersius retorted.
“Scouts show up late all the time. Every day I have a scout that comes back in an hour or more late. I didn't want to raise the alarm over a suspicion that I could not validate.”
“You didn't have one scout late. You had three of them. You should have told me.” Gersius said, trying hard to lower his voice.
“Gersius, I am not a man of war. I do not immediately assume the worst. If anything, the worst for me is to assume they got drunk in some roadside tavern.”
Gersius flared his nostrils, wanting to berate the man for his lax point of view, but he could not. He began to tremble as he struggled to check his anger. Then as if by mercy, a tender hand came to his shoulder.
“Be at peace my love, I can feel your anger from across the yard,” Thayle whispered in his ear. “What has you two so upset?” she asked, looking at them both.
“I believe I am to blame for not telling Gersius we were missing some scouts. I may have allowed us to blunder into this battle blind,” Lengwin admitted.
Gersius took a moment to clear his head and take solace in his wife. Thayle's raven black hair was tossed around wildly, and she had to keep brushing loose strands from her face. Her gently angled eyes always made her look mysterious and exotic, and her soft pale skin made her look tender and kind. When she smiled, he always felt a sense of love and warmth that comforted him. Now blood stained her armor, and a smudge of it ran across a cheek.
She turned to look at Lengwin and nodded in understanding. “Fortunately, they did not attack right away, they allowed us to form our lines,” Thayle pointed out to remind them both that it hadn't been a full disaster.
“If I had known ahead of time, we could have picked a battlefield that favored us. They had the high ground, and hid the ballista behind the hills,” Gersius pointed out.
“They were waiting here, Gersius. I doubt they would have come to us,” Thayle argued.
“Lilly could have died with one of those spears in her heart!” he countered.
Thayle didn't even want to think of it. Just having Lilly not with them was disturbing enough. She briefly wondered what Lilly was doing and how long she was going to need to calm down. The last thoughts in her head had been so cruel and dragon-like. To her alarm, the thoughts that plagued Gersius's mind were very similar.”
“Any of us could be dead; it was a simple error in judgment, my love. Please, we survived; let us be grateful for that.”
“There are many who did not survive. Many were your priestesses,” Gersius pointed out.
Thayle closed her eyes. She knew that some of the priests and priestesses of Ulustrah had fallen. She fought back the tears that wanted to come to her eyes. “We knew people would die if we walked this path; we cannot be surprised when they do.”
“But the cost?” he insisted.
“Gersius!” Thayle said forcefully to get his attention. “The cost has been paid. None of us expected a battle of this scale so soon. There was no reason to assume a few missing scouts meant an army was about to attack. Please, my love, I can feel your pain. You're upset over Lilly, and your afraid she won't come back. I assure you, she will be back, and she will need your love to keep her safe. Now please, we knew people were going to die, do not punish High Priest Lengwin for it.”
Gersius smiled at his wife and wiped a strand of hair from her face.
“I know people will die. I just wish I had more control of that battle. I could have saved more.”
“Gersius, I am sorry,” Lengwin pleaded.
“No, High Priest Lengwin. Thayle is right; I knew this path would be bloody. I asked you to walk it with me. I cannot accuse you now of the blood shed on its course. Besides, we both know this is why you are with us because there is no blood on your hands.”
“Astikar preserves us; it stays that way,” Lengwin prayed.
“Astikar may need to preserve us. The closer we get to Calathen, the larger the forces they can send against us will be,” Gersius reminded them both.
“Let us hope this plan of yours works,” Lengwin replied as he looked out over the captives. “Do you think they will change sides?”
Gersius turned to look out across the field of carnage at the hundreds of captives. If he could turn some of them to their cause, he could replace losses and grow larger. Shadros stood nearby, towering over them with his great blazing blue eyes scanning them as if daring them to anger him.
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“Let us hope they do,” Gersius said. He turned to regard Lengwin and sighed. “I am sorry, I did not mean to burden you with this.”
“I am the one who should be sorry. I should have told you when they were more than an hour late. It's just that you are so busy, and the burden of so much is on your shoulders. I only wanted to take some of that burden away.”
Gersius clasped the man on the shoulder and held him firm. “Your nature will make you a great Father Abbot, but perhaps not a good general.”
“Astikar be merciful. I never have to learn how,” Lengwin replied.
Both men parted with a nod, and Thayle escorted Gersius across the yard to the assembled men that Shadros and several of the priests of Astikar were guarding.
Gersius stood tall before them in his shining silver armor still stained with the blood of their fallen comrades. Thayle stood beside him in her matching armor, and they both glared down at the assembled captives.
“Which one of you would like to tell me why you marched to attack me?” he asked them, using the dual voice to both shock them and command their attention.
To his surprise, one man stood right away. He wore a dull brown coat over mail. It had a terrible tear in the armor across the chest, and dried blood covered his clothes. It was clear he was horribly injured in the fighting and only survived because of Gersius's mercy.
“You are the false dragon knight!” the man spat. “You betrayed the order of Astikar, and you seek to destroy his faith by killing it's Father Abbot.”
Cries of agreement went up among the men.
Gersius nodded his head; he had expected as much. These men had been indoctrinated to hate him for his so-called crimes. To them, he was a betrayer marching to finish the betrayal and wipe the face of Astikar from the land.
“The woman you see here and I are the Dragon Knights!” He called out loudly, still using the dual voice. “I march on the city Calathen to fulfill the prophecy. I only fight because the Father Abbot has denied me the right to enter the city.”
“Lies!” a man in the back called out and was quickly followed by others who agreed.
“And how do you know I am lying?” Gersius demanded.
“The dragon knight is already in the city of Calathen,” another said.
Gersius looked over at Thayle as she shrugged, not knowing what it meant.
“We are the dragon knights,” Gersius corrected them.
“Dellain is the dragon knight!” a man near the side called out.
“You there, stand up!” Gersius barked, pointing to the man in mixed plate and mail. He was young and had short blond hair and piercing gray eyes. “What did you just say?” Gersius asked once he stood.
“Brother Dellain and his dragon are already in the city of Calathen. He has claimed the title of dragon knight and has the full support of the order of Astikar.”
Gersius felt sick to his stomach as the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. Was this what Whiteford was all about? Did they seek Lilly to be Dellains dragon so he could claim the title of dragon knight? The thought twisted his mind in knots until he remembered the man had said Dellain already had a dragon.
“What dragon?” Gersius asked.
“The great red beast of the black spires,” the man replied.
Now he felt deeply shocked. The dragon from the black spires, the one he decided not to pursue because it was behind the Doan's lines. The very dragon they all suspected left Lilly broken in the valley, and stole away her hoard.
“What is it?” Thayle asked over the bind when he went silent for too long.
“Lilly, and I suspect this is the dragon that attacked her,” Gersius replied.
“But you can’t be sure?” Thayle asked.
He nodded and replied silently. “There may be a way to be sure, Lilly knew his name.” He turned back to the captives and asked the question he was dreading. “Does anybody know this dragon's name?”
Mumbles filled the air as men whispered to one another. Finally, somebody called out a name. “Malizon.”
Gersius turned away from them, not willing to let them see the reaction that crossed over his face. Thayle was at his side in a moment and took her arm, holding it to her chest.
“Gersius?” she pleaded.
“It is him, the red that attacked Lilly. That was Malizon,” Gersius replied.
Thayle went pale as the weight of the situation sank in. “So this dragon is working with the Father Abbot to...”
“To steal the prophecy!” Gersius barked a little louder than he intended. “If he has already walked through the golden gate with Dellain, then Dellain is the dragon knight!”
Thayle shook her head no. “That isn't true! Balisha herself ordained us; she told us we were the ones chosen to be the dragon knights.”
“I know it can't be, but this will be a powerful lie in the hands of the Father Abbot. Even if we win, the kingdoms may not come to accept us. As far as the land is concerned, the Dragon Knight has already returned and we, are nothing more than pretenders trying to steal his crown.”
“They are all going to fight to stop us then,” Thayle said, understanding the impact. “We will be at war with half the land.”
“Exactly, we have been defeated even before we got around the mountains,” Gersius replied.
Thayle felt his sorrow at knowing the path before them was going to be much bloodier than they initially imagined.
“I wish Lilly was here. I want to look into her blue eyes for comfort.”
Gersius understood her need. Lilly was often the one they both turned to for comfort. Somehow the dragon was the emotional heart of their family. He looked to the north as if he would see her. The empty sky taunted him and filled his heart with regret. What he felt in her heart as she looked over the fallen men made his skin crawl. He wanted to cry but decided to be strong and echo Thayle’s words.
“She will be back when she has settled her heart a little,” Gersius reassured her.
“Can we win this fight?” Thayle asked him.
“The Father Abbot has used his lies to win the hearts of the people. We can win this, but we will have to cut through them all now.”
“We need a miracle,” Thayle said, looking up into his eyes.
Gersius looked over the blood-soaked fields in front of them and saw the priests of Vellis cleaning up the dead. “We already have one.” He turned to face the men sitting on the ground, now was no time for weakness. “You men came out here to stop me because you have been told I am traitor and a false Dragon Knight. You have been told I march on the city of Calathen to kill the Father Abbot and destroy the order of Astikar. Ask yourselves this then, why do so many priests of Astikar follow me? Why, if the Father Abbot is so holy and righteous, is he attacking the order of Ulustrah? Why has the gray legion, the military arm of the order of Vellis, come to my banner and not his?
“They are traitors as well!” a man called out.
“Yes, the most peaceful and caring orders in the land have turned on the Father Abbot, but none of you can tell me why,” he answered back.
Mumbles were heard among the men as his words sank in.
“You are a liar!” a man called out and was echoed by several others.
“And who told you that?” Gersius asked.
“The Father Abbot!” was the reply he got.
“Everything you know about me comes from one man. Tell me, what did this one man say was going to happen to you in this battle?” Gersius challenged them.
The men whispered one to another, but none of them dared reply.
“Did he tell you victory was assured? Did he tell you that I would butcher everyone in my way if you didn’t stop me? What did he tell you?”
One man stood up in the front row. He was a tall and proud-looking man with a blue coat over his armor. He had three golden loops on his right shoulder plate, a clear mark of rank.
“He told us you were murdering the priests of Astikar to feed them to your dragon. And that the priests that served you were now known as the banished because Astikar had forsaken them.” The man stood resolute against Gersius and started into his eyes. His face was dressed with a sandy brown beard and long flowing mustache. His eyes were sunken with weariness and age but held a firm gaze.
“Did you see my priests in battle? Did it look like Astikar has forsaken them?” Gersius asked.
The man scowled and shook his head. “The Father Abbot says you have found a way to pervert his power.”
“Do you really believe that? Or were you told to say that?”
The man lowered his head in defeat and slumped his shoulders. “I never believed any of it.”
“Sit down, Lorric!” a man called from in the back.
The tall man turned and shot a gaze over the assembled men. “I will not sit down! I want to know why Gersius the bloody-handed healed and spared us. I want to know why we have not yet been fed to his dragons.”
Gersius nodded at the man. “Your name is Lorric, a good strong Thanic name,” Gersius said. “I have spared you because I do not wish to see you die for a horrible lie.”
People in the crowd scoffed and cursed at Gersius's words, and Shadros had to growl to bring them back in order.
“I could have left you all to rot on this battlefield. I chose to save you, and I am going to give you a choice. Go home, go back to your families and your loved ones. Tell them I spared your life because I don’t like to kill innocent men. Or stay and join me and help me put an end to the lies of the Father Abbot.”
More men cursed out loud, and somebody even threw a small stone that landed harmlessly to the side.
Lorric waited for the calls to die down and spoke again. “I will join your cause.”
People called out to him, calling him a traitor and cursing his name. One man vowed to kill him, and he was accused of treason against the Father Abbot.
Shadros growled even louder and looked to Gersius. “Let me kill one to remind them where they stand!”
Gersius shook his head. “No, let them believe what they want to believe. If they choose the lie, it will get them killed soon enough. I will not commit an act of barbarism because of the lies of the Father Abbot.” A few more people grumbled, but Shadros's desire to kill one of them kept them mostly quite.
“Why did you so quickly offer to join me?” Gersius asked the man standing in the front.
“Because I have no family to go home to and tell of your mercy. My beautiful wife, Ginel, was a silent priestess of Ulustrah and was arrested and taken away by the Father Abbot!”
Thayle and Gersius saw the pain in the man's aura as he told them of his suffering.
“She was arrested?” Thayle asked.
Lorric nodded. “All across the lands teams of men are sweeping every town rounding up all the women of Ulustrah.
“Shut up, you fool!” a man cried from behind him.
“How many of you have lost a wife, a daughter, or a sister to this mad decree!” Lorric yelled, turning to face the crowd behind him. “How many of you knew the gentle priest or priestess of your local temple before they were beaten and dragged away like mad dogs? Did none of you stop to wonder why the order of Ulustrah was under attack?”
“They sided with Gersius the bloody-handed!” a man yelled out.
Lorric stood tall before them and glared at the man who had spoken. “Tell me, fool. Why would the only divine order that can see the truth be the first one to side with Gersius?”
The man went white to be singled out, and he stumbled on his words. “They betrayed the order of Astikar,” he said again.
“Have you never sought the aid of the temple of Ulustrah?” Lorric asked. “How many of you here have gone to Ulustrah for help with love or harvest? How many of you owe the love waiting for you at home to a priestess of Ulustrah?”
Thayle was shocked to hear the man's careful use of her order as a weapon. It was true her temples served communities blessing them with good harvests and loving families. Ulustrah would have blessed many here with a happy home.
Lorric let the silence hang a moment and then asked them another question. “Which one of you owes his happiness to Astikar? Which one of you has been blessed by a priest of Astikar or can say that he owes Astikar a debt for his kindness?” There was absolute silence.
Gersius felt shame from hearing that. He wasn't a priest of Astikar any longer but still felt pity for them. The order had become so engrossed in fighting wars and keeping the peace they had become more a police force than priests. He hoped Lengwin was close enough to hear that.
“Why then are we killing the people we know and love for the sake of the people who arrest our wives, our sisters, and our daughters? Why are we attacking the man the order of Ulustrah has blessed instead of coming to his aid? Fools, look around you. The moment this battle turned, the priests of Astikar with us fled. They held back their cavalry and sent us in to die in their stead. Is even one of their number here?”
The people in the crowd looked around, not a single priest of Astikar had been captured.
“They have taken your loved ones, demanded your service, marched you from your homes, and then abandoned you to die. This man who has the blessing of the order of Ulustrah has chosen to set you free instead of killing you. Why do you persist in believing the lie that is so plain to see?”
“But he is a false dragon knight?” A man said half-heartedly.
Lorric turned to the crowd and scowled at them. “I want every man who has a grudge against this brother Dellain or the men he commands to stand up!”
One by one, men began to stand until nearly half their number were on their feet. Gersius felt sick to see that so many were suffering because of the mad man of Calathen.
“Now, praise the glory of Dellain and call him the dragon knight.”
Not a man said a word and pained looks graced every face of everyone standing.
Lorric turned to face Gersius and Thayle. “They are arresting every woman who has served in a temple of Ulustrah, even if she has been gone for many years. They use them as leverage to push their husbands and sons into fighting you or guarding the camps where they have been herded.”
“I am so sorry, Lorric,” Thayle said in a soothing tone.
“These men have been lead to believe that they are being held to keep them out of harm's way. We have been told that if we can kill you, all of them will be returned.”
Gersius nodded. It wasn’t likely. He wasn’t particularly sure he wanted to know what the Father Abbot was doing with thousands of women, and his blood boiled to think about it.
“There is a chance to save some of them,” a man said, standing up from the pack.
Gersius gestured at the man to come forward. “Tell me what you mean,” Gersius demanded.
“I and a few others come from Milford, my lord. When we came out, we saw a camp at a farm about three miles from the town. There must have been a hundred women with their hands tied and gags in their mouths.”
Gersius looked at Thayle as he felt her anger burn.
“Some that looked as old as my gramma, and some looked too young to be out of the house. They are arresting every woman who might have any affiliation to the temple of Ulustrah.”
Lorric groaned at the reminder, and Gersius wanted to strangle the Father Abbot there and now.
“Where is this, Milford?” Gersius asked.
The man was tall and lanky and wore simple armor of layered cloth. He scratched his head and pointed southeast. “About two days travel that way, bit further east from Ivisguard.”
Gersius knew where Ivisguard was, and it was indeed about two days hard march away. “We are going to liberate that camp, and every camp we can find along the way,” he said sternly. He turned to look at the men gathered in the field and glared down at them. “Make your choice here and now. Leave, or stay and fight for lieutenant Lorric under my banner!”
Lorric turned to look at Gersius with a questioning gaze.
“Congratulations, commander, you will lead these men and the militia I already have. Split them up how you see fit and appoint captains.”
“You trust me just like that?” Lorric asked.
Gersius nodded to Thayle at his side. “May I introduce you to my wife, Thayle Governess commander and high priestess of Ulustrah.”
“A priestess of Ulustrah, then you saw my aura?” he said.
“I did, Commander Lorric,” Thayle nodded. “Gersius can see it too. He shares my gifts as a dragon knight.”
“So it is true then, you are both Dragon Knights?”
“We are. We have been appointed by the Goddess Balisha herself to lead her armies and act on her behalf,” Gersius replied.
“I am honored to meet you and beg you to forgive me for raising a sword against you,” Lorric said, bowing his head.
Gersius nodded and stepped forward to face him. “It is already forgiven, Commander Lorric. I can see your aura, and I know the truth of your heart, but I question the others. Thayle, I would like you to arrange for every man who remains to be questioned by a priestess. Make sure they are genuine in their hearts. I want no hidden assassins slipping into our ranks.”
“Of course, I will have Mingfe appoint people to test them,” she replied.
They turned to watch the men standing up. A little more than a dozen of them left heading down the road away from the battle. Gersius looked out across the men that remained nearly two hundred strong. With his skirmishers, they would be a force of five hundred committed soldiers. Every man had angry eyes, and dour faces, as they considered that they fought and died for a lie. He hoped that fire would carry them forward in the days to come.
Thayle took over the men and sent for Mingfe, who arrived with a dozen women to begin the process of testing the hearts of those that remained.
Gersius left Lorric and joined Lengwin, who was addressing a man in gray armor, his unsettling mask still over his face.
“Who is in command of the forces of Vellis?” Gersius asked as he arrived.
The man turned to face him and, with a slow, deliberate motion, reached up and pulled the helm off his head. He was as tall as Gersius with a shaven head and deep green eyes ringed with wrinkles and strained with pain.
“I am Endril of Vellis, the elected captain of our unit.”
Gersius bowed to the man and took up a relaxed pose. “I thank you for your assistance. I have never seen the Gray legion in action before.”
“We in the order of Vellis abhor violence. We are here to heal, not wound, but when the suffering can't be cured by prayer or praise, we few take up the sword and wear the mask of tears. This has not happened in a great many years.”
“They wear the masks to cover their shame in causing harm to another,” Lengwin informed him.
“I am sorry you had to make such a sacrifice,” Gersius said.
“You, noble Gersius, are not the cause of our pain. This Father Abbot has begun to attack the temples of Ulustrah. We share many temples with the lady of nature and harmony. We find her gentle ways pleasing and compatible with our own. We could not stand by and let the priests of Astikar defile her holy places.”
Gersius nodded. It was true that many temples of Ulustrah were also temples of Vellis; the two orders were almost like brother and sister. Many called the orders the earth and sky, the harmony of nature.
The men spoke at length of what had happened, and when Gersius shared his desire to begin rescuing the women of Ulustrah Endril was nothing but agreeable.
Gersius pushed Lengwin to break down the camp and be ready to march within the hour, and Endril ordered his men to assist. Gersius was relieved as well when several wagons belonging to the order of Vellis crawled down the road with a few additional men left as guards and plenty of supplies for the unit.
As the camp came down, Gersius searched the skies for Lilly, hoping she would be back. He could feel her off in the distance, but could not tell what she was thinking. Still, the empty sky taunted him and defied him to find solace or comfort in the love he missed. He focused on what Thayle said and tried to believe that Lilly was wounded and angry. Soon her anger would burn away, and she would come back. However, one worry lingered in his mind. Would she return as his wife, Lilly? Or, would she return as the dragon Azurastra?