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After our public show of commitment to Chairo, Captain Corwin escorted us inside the High Temple.

“That should help to reduce the number of people trying to flee the city,” he said after the doors were shut behind us. “At least for now.”

“We’re going to keep them locked up here?” I asked. “Even I want to—”

“If we let them go, they’ll take precious resources with them. It may seem unnecessarily cruel, but we cannot afford for people to run in panic.”

“Is there any possibility of restoring the crystals within a month?” I asked hopefully. “I know it might be hard to keep progress a secret, but just maybe?”

“No,” Relias said from behind. “It takes three months to make a new one. We can have several teams of priests on it, but even then, they would not be finished before the deadline.”

“What about just putting the pieces back together?”

“Even longer, I’m afraid, and that’s assuming we can restore them to their original durability.” He bowed his head. “Better to use them as weapons, as Lady Nora has suggested.”

You can’t blame me for trying, can you?

“I want to see the shields that have surrendered to the temple,” Vernie declared, stepping forward. “Replicas, fakes, whatever we’re calling them.”

Vicar Thomas nodded. “They’re locked in my quarters. Come with me.”

“You should go too, Captain Lightbringer,” Relias advised. “The rest of us will stay here and update Captain Corwin with the more mundane version of today’s events.”

Well, at least he’s fully aware of his embellishments.

Nora looked around anxiously, hoping to catch someone’s eye.

Vernie sighed. “You want to come too, don’t you?”

“Magical shield. Of course I do!”

“Fake ones,” I clarified to temper any possible disappointment.

The vicar led us to his private quarters, which rivaled my own in terms of size. However, they were even more opulent, the walls covered in intricate tapestries and paintings. Many canvases depicted churches of varying complexities, with different date ranges underneath them.

“They are for me to remember where I have come from, where I have served, and those who have helped me along my journey,” he explained, catching my questioning look. “The other decorations are simply for my guests; I find the more I put on display, the more I am heeded.”

“Makes sense,” I murmured.

He pulled out a key from his pocket and went to what appeared to be a storage closet. However, the sound of scraping from the other side of the door made us all stop. Vernie narrowed her eyes and stalked to the door, silently turning the handle without needing the key. She opened the door and tumbled inside in one swift motion.

“It’s you!” I heard her yelp as we rushed in behind her.

“Well, it's about time,” Kiko said casually, holding a kite shield almost as large as her. Its wide surface narrowed elegantly to a sharp point at its base, catching the lip of the table she struggled to place it on. It was gold-rimmed, with blue enamel filling in its core. The center depicted the six-pointed star of Euphridia, with the longest ray reaching downward. The surface had been polished to a mirrored sheen, catching the glint of even the dimmest of light.

“How did you get in here?” the vicar demanded, his eyes wide.

“Ninja,” she responded with a shrug as if that answered everything. “Can you help me get this one up with all the others? I had a hard time bringing it all the way here. One of the priests was bringing it through the Forums, but I told him I’d take it from there for a price.”

“You… what?!” Vernie exploded. “Young lady, did it ever occur to you that we need to figure out where they're coming from?”

“Inutilis,” she said with a dangerous smile. “That was the price. I would deliver this shield if he told me who sold it to him. And, as I suspected, it looks like all the others. Right?”

I picked up the shield. While I could feel something to the shield, it wasn’t nearly as bright or powerful as what I had felt when holding Holy Celestia. Of course, Relias himself had blessed that, so… maybe the comparison was a little unfair.

It also matched the ones already on the table.

“What if he was lying to you?” I asked.

“No,” Kiko said dismissively. “He thought it was the real thing. Wanted to make sure to name the culprit, just in case he’s ever recognized.”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Father Thomas took the shield. “It is blessed,” he confirmed. “A high-level blessing, at that. Inutilis would be one of the few priests capable of such a blessing, but I would have never figured him to do such a thing…”

“What about Pravum or Procul?” Nora asked.

“With their passing, their blessings would have faded,” Father Thomas replied. “But Inutilis? I find it hard to believe he would have bothered with such a scheme… not that I can fathom why.”

I glanced at Vernie before turning back to the vicar. “This isn’t the first time we’ve been surprised by his actions. He’s the reason for all the deeds in my name. Maybe this was another way to make some money?”

“We’re going to have to find that boy who had the rings,” Vernie sighed. “Inutilis is probably long gone, so that boy is our only hope.”

“Brown hair, freckles? Has a whistling laugh because of his gap teeth?” Kiko chirped. “Mismatched socks and lanky arms?”

“What, you’ve seen him?!” Vernie exclaimed.

Kiko folded her arms. “Course I have. Runs a street gang on the east side of the Periphery, out of an orphanage, of all places! He told me that Inutilis regularly donated money to them. The Mother Superior there is quite old and can’t do much more than heal a few scrapes at this point, and I’m pretty sure she has no idea what he’s doing.” Kiko grinned. “She didn’t seem to mind me. She even gave me something called marzipan. It was too chewy and sweet for me, but I ate it anyway.”

Something hazy was forming in my mind. “Marzipan… With slivered almonds on top? In the shape of a flower? Five petals?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“The Mother Superior…” I mumbled, an icy prickle running up and down my neck. “What’s her name?”

“Mother Selima.”

A welter of images hit me at the sound of her name. Her face recoiling in horror as one of her kids was lifted by his throat in front of her. Her hands depositing a small pile of gold coins into a bag held by another. Her gray, soulless, unseeing eyes staring into the distance as she held a tiny, undernourished baby.

I exhaled slowly, sure of our intertwined past. “I know her, and Relias does, too. Sounds like we need to pay her a visit.”

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Although it appeared silent and dark from the street, the orphanage was filled with school-aged children doing their best to remain quiet. They didn’t seem surprised to see us, but they huddled up in front of Selima’s rocking chair to defend her.

“Why didn’t you evacuate?” Relias asked softly. “The Sanctum would welcome you.”

The boy we had met during our sojourn into the Periphery jumped up. “Oh really? Do you think us orphans would be treated the same as the others seeking shelter? That’d be a first! We’re better off here, waiting for you guys to come see us.”

No wonder he runs the gang; he’s probably the oldest. I stared at him, noting a dribble of sweat coursing down his cheek. “Is that the deal, then? My shield back for secure lodging?”

“Inside the High Temple. We won’t take anything less!”

“How many of you are there?”

“Twenty-five.”

“We’ll need to authenticate the shield first,” Vernie cautioned. “Don’t even think about swindling us.”

“Same to you,” he responded flatly. “Oh, and I want my pocketknife back!”

Vernie shrugged. “Don’t know what you’re talking about, kid.”

Mother Selima, who had barely even taken a breath, croaked quietly, saying, “It’s her. There’s no doubt about that.” She then bowed her head. “Forgive my deceit once again, Chosen One. At first, I simply wanted to see you once more… but now, I find myself falling back to my old habits…”

Although I couldn’t recall the specifics of our conversations, I felt I had made this woman’s life much more complicated by being a part of it. Paying for protection had probably been a necessary evil at the time, but I had exposed it during my childhood stay here, which had probably left her reputation irreparably damaged.

“Why did you want to see me?”

She rocked back and forth slowly in her seat, a sad chuckle escaping her lips. “To show you that I kept my promise. I kept caring for those whom no one else would. But I can no longer continue it alone and need someone else to take over. That is why I had the boy hold onto the shield until you came to see me. Someone needs to look after my little angels, and you’re the only one I could trust to see to it.”

Little angels…?

I looked at the group of kids at her feet. The oldest boy was sweating profusely now, his eyes lurching back and forth as his hands began to shake. A few others also looked quite guilty.

I won’t rat out your street gang, but only because we’re going to make sure you stay out of trouble.

“Understood.” I turned to Relias. “I think it’s an even exchange, don’t you? I’m sure there’s room for them in the High Temple.”

“I will need some help explaining this…” Relias sighed, shaking his head. “I do not wish to start another report with ‘another member of the church willfully disregarded their duty…’”

“I’m sure that Inutillis pressured Mother Selima into hiding the shield to keep it out of corrupt hands,” I said, folding my arms. “With all the priests trying to get it for their personal collections, I’m sure there wasn’t anyone she could safely turn to.”

“We did watch for the Chosen One’s return,” the boy appealed to Relias. “But there were so many fakes over the years…”

Relias eyed the boy speculatively. “You don’t seem to have been assigned a Purpose.”

He could just tell by looking?

The boy fidgeted. “I…”

“I don’t normally do this,” His Holiness murmured. “But I am in desperate need of a trustworthy archivist. Can you read?”

“Yes. Yes! Of course I can!” the boy shouted excitedly. “I love books!”

“Indeed… I surmised by the bookshelf over there,” Relias pointed. “It is truly an impressive collection.”

Vernie stifled a snicker as I looked at the books, their covers pristine. Some were still even in brown paper wrapping.

“Someone… someone just dropped them off. I don’t know who,” the boy concluded lamely.

“Ah yes, anonymous donation,” Relias said, nodding absently. “Truly a blessing.”

More like a recent acquisition now that the Periphery was pretty much free for the taking.

“Uh… why don’t I just go get that shield?” the boy said, already headed towards the back door.

Relias watched as the boy left, a rather sad smile on his face. “The others have received their Purpose but have not had the chance to attempt them,” he whispered. “Those who will help Mother Selima care for them in the High Temple shall see to that rectification.” He scratched his head. “I had hoped to find a glimmer of amity skill within at least one of them, but it seems what Father Irijah was saying is true…”

I patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry… We’ll fix it.”

I think.

A loud hum filled my ears as the boy returned, carrying a shield identical to all the other fakes, except it was covered in wet mud.

He offered it up to me, and the humming became louder. “Sorry… I had to hide it underground. It recently started glowing randomly… and uh…”

“I understand.” I extended my hand, gripping the shield’s straps. The soft humming swelled into a mighty choral cry, its epic melody overwhelming my mind. Startled, I almost dropped it, stumbling as I fought to keep both of us from crashing to the floor.

Nora’s eyes widened, as round as moons. "So, it's the real deal, huh?"

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