With the first week of winter upon the world everything around Norlov reflected the solemnity of the season. Gone were the bright sunny days, here were long skies of gray with overcast clouds. The last of the warmth seemed to have been drained from the very air itself with chilly fog and icy gusts scattering about the whatever floated. Even the frost was beginning to become more serious and formations of ice were common in the places water gathered.

Jagger walked down the streets of the great capital, his armor heavily padded with wool in order to keep out the cold air. He had only a day before visited the royal family alongside the goddess herself. Just having the memory of the events made him wonder what was real or false in this day and age. Truly these were wild times that he would dine with the king himself and speak with an actual goddess of yore.

The painful memory of his near death due to poison was also heavy on his mind. If a literal goddess hadn't been there and saved him he would have died that very night. What troubled his thoughts more however was the fact someone had been foolish enough to attempt poisoning a goddess in the first place. To be honest he had no idea the true capabilities of a goddess but it seemed only logical that poison, at least of the mundane verities, would be useless against them.

These thoughts and worries would have to wait for another time as he now had a true mission to accomplish, one that had been given to him by Goddess Jenna herself. It was entrusted to him, the champion of the goddess, to go out into the western provinces and discover where these undead were coming from. As a former errant knight such journeys were easy for him, though the use of magic was not. That is why he was going to visit the only other user of divine magic: the high priest Timothy Ukell.

Thus Jagger found himself walking across the square and up to The Grand Temple of the Sisterhood, a marvelous masterwork of masonry if ever there had been one. It was within this epic building that the high priest spent most of his days performing the worldly works of the goddess's will. Soup kitchens for the poor, educational seminars, and even martial training were among the things offered to the public. All of it being paid for with donations from both the common folk and some rich benefactors as well.

Jagger understood the reasoning of Goddess Jenna to have all of this performed by human hands. Indeed as she had told him before if she solved all the problems all the time no one would know how to care for themselves. Personally he felt that such an outlook was somewhat self-defeating, as the less the people needed a goddess the less they would worship her. Goddess Jenna seemed unconvinced however and while she said she didn't care one way or another it was clear she did.

With such thoughts forefront in his mind he walked up the steps of the temple and through the main doors. According to what he had heard the main doors were always open in order to welcome everyone at all times. He found that quite like his goddess as he approached the main desk in the entrance hall. There was a young woman with long dark orange hair standing there and answering questions. Hopefully she could help him find Timothy.

“Excuse me young miss.” Jagger asked approaching her. “I was hoping you could help me find the high priest.” He then bowed. “My name is Jagger Nalark, the champion of Goddess Jenna.”

The young woman smiled and gave a half bow in return. She looked quite impressed and even slightly nervous.

“Hello Sir Nalark!” She replied. “It's a pleasure to meet you! Anyone who Goddess Jenna has chosen as her martial champion surely must be impressive! My name is Maisy and I'm just a clerk here at the temple. Though I do know Timothy and can send from him right away!”

Jagger nodded. “Thank you Miss Maisy. I've met the high priest once before so he should remember me I hope.”

“Not a problem!” Maisy replied with a smile. “Just one moment.”

The young woman reached into one of her pockets and removed a small silver bell. It was quite plain and seemed to sparkle in the light of the torches and scant daylight that made it into the hall. With a quick shake of the hand she rung the bell and the most delicate sound imaginable came from it.

No sooner had the bell been rung than the most unexpected thing happened. There was a sudden poof of white smoke in the air beside Maisy and the sound of a tiny giggle. Once the smoke had cleared there in the air fluttered the purple haired fairy Salferia. Her pigtails bobbed about as she struck a pouty pose with her hands on her waist.

“What do you want stinky girl?” Salferia said with puffed cheeks. “I don't know why I gave you one of those bells! You're only trying to steal me away from my time with Timtim!”

Maisy put her right hand on her hip and frowned at the fairy.

“You know that's not how it is little lady.” She replied pouting a bit herself. Then she gained a more serious expression and gestured to Jagger. “This man Jagger is here to speak to Timothy. Would you kindly take him there please?”

Salferia shrugged and shook her hips. “I suppose stinky girl. But only because it gets me away from you!”

Maisy turned back to the knight and smiled with an apologetic tone.

“I'm sorry about her Sir Jagger. Don't mind her behavior she's like this with everyone.”

Jagger had met the fairy only once in passing before and while she was considered safe on account of the Goddess's rules it was still difficult to feel completely safe around her. The reputation of the fairies was well established like that of the goddesses. Fey were pranksters at the best of times and monsters at the worst. Just meeting one usually ended in misfortune and the tales he had heard about them were hard to completely forget.

Salferia turned to face the armored man and crossed her arms over her chest, a disappointed look on her face as she clicked her tongue.

“Tsk. You humans and your metal armor. Makes a fairy feel unwelcome it does!” She then dropped her arms to her side and sighed. “Very well smelly man. Follow me.”

The fairy began fluttering away down the hallway without another look back at her new charge so Jagger quickly started following after her. He still felt quite nervous being this close to a fairy as she had made it quite clear she didn't like him that much. He'd trust Maisy however in that this was just how the fairy was and it wasn't anything personal.

He turned and waved in farewell to Maisy as he shuffled away.

“Thank you Miss Maisy!”

Despite how small the fairy was Jagger found it somewhat difficult to keep up with her, mainly for the fact she could fly and therefore go over the heads of people he had to walk around. It was not too much of an ordeal to keep up with her however and together they traveled through the halls of the temple. Following his better judgment he made no attempts at conversation with the fairy as they went.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

For how little actual use the temple had seen in hundreds of years he found its interior quite well kept. This could have been a recent phenomenon however as it would make sense that when Goddess Jenna had taken over she had restarted conservation efforts. According to what he had known about the place it had been a museum for a very long time and there were still plenty of old looking items around.

Eventually and after several near misses with blind corners almost causing interpersonal collisions the fairy and knight had reached one of the large rooms at the back of the temple. The door was open and within it could be seen a collection of weapons of various types. They were all placed upon the walls and inside sturdy glass cases on tables about the room. Jagger found them quite impressive as even in his travels he had never seen some of these weapon archetypes.

Standing near a glass case containing a rather large and dangerous looking battle-axe stood Timothy, his priestly garb making him appear quite official indeed. Beside him was a young man who looked in his early twenties with long butter colored hair and strangely yellow eyes. The two of them seemed to be conversing about the weapon in the case.

Jagger stopped at the door in order to be polite and wait for a pause in the conversation to make his approach. This could be very important business as far as was aware and he'd hate to interrupt.

Salferia on the other hand had no such reservations about politeness and flew with great haste back to Timothy. The small fairy flittered right up into the high priest's face and shouted loudly to give him a sudden start.

“Hey Timtim!” She cried.

Timothy jumped in surprise and took a step back, his right hand lifting to his heart.

“Goodness!” He said almost with a yelp. “What is it Salferia?”

A devious grin spread across Salferia's face as she took in the shocked reactions of both the young men. Once they had calmed themselves and given her their full attention she simply pointed towards the door without looking.

“Some stinky man in metal is here to see you.” She said quickly.

With her mission complete she flew up and around the back of Timothy's head to land among his hair. There she made herself comfortable and in the best position to watch the proceedings.

Both humans turned to look at the door and Timothy smiled upon seeing who was standing there. The other young man tilted his head and simply looked on in curiosity. There was something odd about him that wasn't easily placed.

Timothy waved with his hand in a beckoning gesture.

“Oh Sir Jagger!” He said happily. “Goddess Jenna said you'd be visiting today! Come over please and join us!”

With permission Jagger now walked over to stand nearby the two younger men, his armor clanking as he crossed the stone floor. He stood a full head above the others and felt somewhat awkward knowing how important the priest was. Dealing with important people was always a shortcoming of his and part of why he never had entered formal service as a knight.

“Very good Sir Timothy.” Jagger said with a nod. “And who might your companion be? I've not met him to my memory.”

Timothy smiled again and gestured to the other man.

“Oh this is Remus Illice.” He replied. “He's here visiting from a village in Rellabellum called Nova Bellumis. Visiting a big city has always been one of his dreams and the goddess had helped him on his journey here.”

Remus lowered his head in embarrassment and he almost looked like a shamed dog in his mannerisms. He spoke softly and tried to avoid eye contact with the knight.

“Hello Sir.” He said quietly. “It wasn't much of a journey really. The goddess just pinched me between her fingers and picked me from one place to another.”

Timothy placed his left hand on Remus's shoulder and let out a weak chuckle. He was clearly a bit embarrassed himself.

“Don't worry about it Remus. We've all been there before. Having a goddess in your life lends itself to being handled in such a way when she wants things done and we're too slow for her liking.”

Salferia spoke up from her perch on top of Timothy's head.

“You know I could do the same thing to you guys if you wanted.” She remarked with a sly grin. “Changing someone else's size really isn't that difficult.”

Timothy looked up towards his head even though the fairy was out of sight in her current position.

“We're more than happy to remain our normal selves thank you.” He quipped back. “Please be on your best behavior in front of our guests little lady.”

The fairy pouted again and yanked on some of Timothy's hair to get a reaction out of him. She did and so smiled smugly.

“I just didn't want you to think goddesses had all the fun is all.” She said before going quiet once again.

With the small woman settling down once again both Jagger and Remus seemed to relax somewhat. It seemed that only the high priest was truly comfortable around the tiny terror. None of them doubted the fairy's capabilities in the magical realm and none wanted to see her do such a terrible thing as shrinking them in size to be closer to her level. Having a goddess that could tower over the forest in an instant was bad enough.

Timothy put his hands together in front of his stomach and looked up to Jagger once again.

“So what brings you here to the temple today Sir Jagger?” He asked. “Being the champion of a goddess like ours I figured she'd have you running halfway around the kingdom by now.”

Jagger crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head.

“You've not got it wrong lad.” He replied with a grunt. “I've to travel all the way to the Henjuk Mountains and surrounding territory in an attempts to figure out these undead creature's source. According to the goddess I was supposed to leave today, though I got permission to leave tomorrow instead for a very important reason.”

Remus was looking up at the towering man with great curiosity and couldn't seem to help but interject himself due to curiosity.

“Oh? What reason would that be Sir?” He asked.

Jagger looked down at the young man and then back over to Timothy.

“The goddess saw it fit to grant me the use of magic. Called me a 'paladin' she did.” He dropped his arms to his sides and shrugged. “Thing is while its a great honor to be gifted the use of spells I have no idea how to use them. You're the only other one she's granted this power to by her own words and so I sought you out in hopes of learning how this whole thing works. If you'll teach me that is.”

Remus's eyes went wide as he looked between the two of them. He was clearly in awe of this news. The ability to use magic was something that had always been taught as an innate talent you had to be born with or else never be able to use in one's entire life. Even the use of magical items was extremely difficult for someone not born with the ability to cast spells.

Timothy put his right hand to his chin in thought.

“Yes its true I suppose.” He said thinking. “There was one other in the past apparently though the goddess is loathe to speak about her.” He then lowered his hand and looked up at Jagger with a nod. “I'd be more than happy to teach you about using this magic you've been gifted.” Then he turned to Remus. “That is if you'll be alright with me leaving you for a while.”

Remus shook his head and waved his hands in front of him.

“Oh no no!” He exclaimed. “It's no problem at all!” Then lowered his face with a slight blush. “Though I'd love to watch you two if its possible.”

Timothy smiled. “That's no problem with me! What about you Sir Jagger?”

Jagger lifted his right hand and then lowered it again in agreement.

“I'll have no problems with it personally.” He replied. “Honestly I've spent so much time alone in my life before meeting Goddess Jenna I'm unaccustomed to having training partners like this.” He then smiled. “It will be a reminder of my youth.”

“Very well then!” Timothy said with a clap of his hands. “Lets all go outside for a spell and practice some of our gifted magic. Pray follow me.”

Salferia had been being quiet this entire time and continued to remain silent. The fairy seemed content to nestle in Timothy's hair for the moment, though she was giving the three of them very judgmental looks. This was something Jagger only happened to notice as he was tall enough to see the top of high priest's head. He decided to refrain from mentioning it lest he draw the fairy's ire.

Jagger nodded to Timothy and stepped to the side.

“Lead the way young man. And thank you again for assisting me.”

“Tis no problem at all!” Timothy replied quite happily. “Come along!”

With the young priest leading the way out of the room Jagger followed behind at a short distance. He allowed the other visitor Remus to walk in front of him as well, his innate manners seeing it proper that the tallest walk at the back of the group. Being able to actually train in the use of magic was something that Jagger truly never could have imagined before in all his life. It was an honor to not only be able to but also to learn from another one of the goddess's chosen. This would be a day he would not soon forget.