— Gregory —

There was no church to Chercella in the village, but I knew where I could find one. Beyond the village, nestled deep within the woods, sat an old abandoned church. It had fallen into disuse, but I could still feel Chercella’s presence here, so it would be the perfect place to ask for guidance. I briefly wondered where the officials had gone whose duty it was to maintain this temple? Had they fallen out of the faith, or had some terrible fate befallen them? I pushed the morbid thoughts aside, I had more important things to do.

I prayed heavily to my goddess that night. I worried whether leaving Lady Bridget in the care of that vampire was the right decision. It went against all of my principles. Since accidentally striking that girl though, I knew my judgment blade would no longer heed my command. I didn’t stand a chance without it. Against that vampire, or for my mission, the reason I was actually here.

“Chercella, please,” I pleaded, “Grant me a second chance.”

I knew she would not respond to me if I didn’t embody her values. I perused the church’s collection of holy books, and spent the night relearning her teachings.

There was one story in particular that stood out to me. As a man was walking through a field, he noticed a pair of eyes peering out at him from a hole in the ground. Upon closer inspection, he found that it was an owl. “How silly,” mused the man. “Owls are not creatures of the earth, they are creatures of the sky.” So he took the owl from its hole and placed it in a nearby tree.

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“Please return me,” spoke the owl. “I am a ground owl, and I belong in the earth.”

The man laughed at the idea. “You are home now, I have saved you from the confines of the earth. Rather than be trapped in dirt and soil, you may now fly and be free.”

With that the man left. The owl, being afraid of heights, remained in the tree until a roc flew down in the night and devoured it.

I contemplated the meaning behind the story and how it applied to my own situation. Clearly, I was the man. And Lady Bridget, the ground owl. And in trying to follow my own misguided sense of justice, I have done more harm than good.

But then was the vampire the roc? I couldn’t help but feel that I was more of a man who found the owl stuck in a tree, and attempted to return it to its hole. Was that not the case?

Either way, the story seems to tell a lesson about saving those who don’t need saving. I thought back to the way Lady Bridget responded to my attempts to save her, and the things she tried to tell me.

I returned to the alter, with thoughts of remorse and repentance, and the question. Could there really be such a thing as a good vampire? I had always been taught to strike down evil wherever it exists.

As the morning sun began to shine through golden stained windows, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and the voice of a woman whisper in my ear. “It’s time to return to your mission. The power of judgment is in your hands.”

I dared not turn to see her. My eyes were for discerning evil, not for gazing upon the divine. I whispered in response, “Thank you, my goddess.”