The Path of Order

It was a bright and cheery morning that met Jeshua and Beth, with a gentle breeze blowing through the trees. The warmth of summer still lingered in the air while the breeze hinted the barest chill of the coming autumn. It was this beautiful weather that beckoned Jeshua and Beth out of their home, to take a walk through the nearby woods. There they walked, as they had many times before, hand in hand, speaking of big things and small things and sometimes nothing at all, just enjoying the closeness to each other. As they walked and talked they stole glances at each other, such as Jeshua admiring the way the sunlight dancing on Beth’s golden hair, or how Beth would watch the shadows play on Jeshua’s face. Someone observing them might mistake them for a new couple, rather than having been married for several decades. But there were no observers, in fact their walk was completely uninterrupted until the early afternoon.

It was in the early afternoon, not long after they started heading home, that they heard a rather human sounding cry coming from nearby and went to investigate, to ensure that nobody was injured or in need of help. There, in a small clearing in the middle of the woods, much to their surprise, they found a young girl, roughly two years old adorned in simple peasant’s clothes. She let out a short, enthusiastic cry and toddled over to them, embracing Beth’s leg.

Beth picked the child up. “Well hello, little one, where did you come from?”

“Her parents are almost certainly nearby” Jeshua mused aloud. “The nearest village is almost six miles away, and I don’t see her making that trip by herself.”

“Only six miles as the crow flies” Beth reminded him. “You can’t forget to factor in the cliff. What do locals call it? Lover’s Leap?”

Jeshua rolled his eyes. “That’s right. I’ve traveled through several hundred small towns and each of them has something they call Lover’s Leap. I prefer to go by the non-local name for this one. Merchants and travelers have taken to calling it The Maze of Skulls, because it’s a series of drops that are hard to spot if you don’t know where they are exactly”

Beth raised her eyebrows at that. “Is that so? I knew Lover’s Leap added a few miles to the journey, but I never—” Beth was cut off as the child started squirming and fussing in her arms. “What’s wrong there? You want something?” The child slid out of Beth’s arms and ducked behind her, holding onto the back of her leg, just as a rustling came from the underbrush in front of them. Beth maneuvered so that she was half hidden behind a tree and the child was fully hidden behind the tree and her, while Jeshua crept forward and to the left, ensuring that his sword was easily accessible, but not yet drawing it.

No sooner had they gotten into their chosen positions than five lightly armed figures in hooded robes with varying adornment, each wearing a matching amulet, stepped out of the treeline into the clearing. The lead man in the most heavily adorned robe, presumably marking him as the leader, lowered his hood, revealing a young, well groomed, elven man, roughly their equivalent of mid-twenties, which would put him at around three to four hundred years old, although depending on the specific subspecies and tribe of elf he may have been almost eight hundred years old. I do admit that his specific age is rather irrelevant, but I do at times enjoy a captive audience and what are you going to do, leave mid-story just because the omniscient narrator is digressing too much? If that was a problem then Tolkein would have been largely forgotten long ago. Anyhow, where were we?

Ah yes...young, well groomed, elven man, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. He raised his right hand in salute, and called out to Beth and Jeshua. “Hail, son of clay and stone, hail, daughter of air and fire!”

Jeshua returned the gesture with his left hand, and to answer anyone who is wondering why they used different hands to gesture, this is because the gesture is a diplomatic gesture meant to show whoever you are greeting that your sword hand is empty. Jeshua accompanied this gesture by calling out to the elf “Hail, son of the woods and of...damn, was it son of the woods and of the North?” The elf fought to hide a smile, but not very well. “Really? You’re not of the North? Fine, hail son of the Lastidels.”

At this the elf raised his eyebrows in obvious surprise. “You can tell that I am a Lastidel at a glance but cannot recall that the greeting is child of the woods and the East for the Lastidels?”

Jeshua let out a snort. “East? Half a dozen different types of elves live in the eastern woods and you have claim to the northern border of those woods. What of the Ocanta or the Rashten? I’d expect either of them to have more claim to the East than you?” The elf made to respond, but Jeshua just waved the questions away. “Disregard. Anyhow, what brings a Lastidel so far south and west? And south?” The elf let out a cough that may or may not have been covering a laugh.

“I have been traveling the continent, accumulating knowledge and friends, and that is what brings me so far west. Earlier today some friends and I were out enjoying nature and we lost a young girl that was with us, just a couple of years old. We have been searching for several hours and her parents are almost frantic.” To emphasize this point two of the other figures came forward and put their hoods down as well, the woman was human and the man was a dwarf. Both looked rather disheveled, especially when compared to their elven companion, but something seemed a little bit off.

Beth opened her mouth to let the group know that there was in fact a child she found right behind her, still clutching at her leg, but I only know what she was going to say because I am an omniscient narrator. In fact, before she could say anything, Jeshua took a step forward and cut her off saying “I was unaware that the Cult of Baldoun did the whole family outing thing.” Upon hearing the term Cult of Baldoun a flash of anger passed over the elf’s face, so quickly it might have been imagined, but Jeshua wasn’t done. “Frankly, if you’re going to lie to my face, try to make it something a little more believable.

The elf scowled while the human and dwarf took a slightly more aggressive stance, along with the figures still in their hoods. “Fine, the truth then. That child is a harbinger of doom. Wherever she goes, she will bring death and destruction, and any to whom she delivers death shall be counted among the fortunate. The unfortunate shall be delivered pain and pestilence, disease and famine.”

There were about three seconds of silence as Jeshua and Beth processed this information. Then Jeshua let out a quick snort before covering his mouth, which caused Beth to let out a single laugh, which she managed to stifle fairly well, but that was enough for both her and Jeshua to break out into fits of laughter, which understandably irritated the elf and his companions. Beth took a breath to calm down. “Ah yes, how terribly dangerous this toddler must be! I am curious though, how did all five of you manage to lose a toddler?”

The elf fidgeted uncomfortably. “This particular toddler was…well anyway, that information is unimportant. But your husband seems well traveled, and he could likely tell you just how dangerous a harbinger of doom can be, and how it is not unprecedented for toddlers and children to be marked as such.” He turned to face Jeshua. “True?”

Jeshua nodded. “True, true. I’ve even seen a couple toddlers marked as harbingers of doom personally. That’s why I know the standard operating procedure for dealing with them. If you were dealing with a true harbinger here, you’d be much better equipped, and accompanied by at least a few members of the Order of Meltak, or, depending on what you were dealing with, you wouldn’t be armed at all. But I don’t think you’ve gone through the proper steps of investigating this toddler, no, I think you just did a basic aura check and called it a day.”

The elf sneered at Jeshua, and to a lesser extent at Beth. “There is nothing wrong with a simple aura check, now enough of this charade. I know the harbinger is here, and that one you are hiding her” he said, unsheathing his sword and pointing it as Beth. “Now, are we going to do this the easy way, or will you also insist on doing this the hard way?” Beth fixed him with her gaze as her eyes and the air around her began glowing gold. In response to this one of the figures in the rear of the group, still wearing a hood, pulled out a crossbow, filling the area with a distinct, bitter, acrid scent. “I would not recommend that, Godsbane can be a rather potent poison, and I doubt you can transform back into your draconic form before the crossbow bolt pierces your flesh, Betal-Miran.”

The golden glow around Beth dispersed, and in response the figure holding the crossbow lowered it slightly, as Beth looked equal parts confused and impressed. “You must have damn good sources.” She looked at Jeshua, “They didn’t just figure out that I’m one of the Grand Dragons, they knew my name and everything! Been a while since anyone figured out my name. They’re right, of course, I can’t even manifest my scales in time to block their crossbow bolt. Soooo…”

Jeshua nodded and drew his sword, revealing its gleaming white blade. “So you’re going to let me deal with this particular group?” Beth nodded and the elf let out a single harsh laugh.

“You truly believe that you alone can best all of us?” Jeshua shrugged and nodded, prompting a cruel sneer from the elf. “A single member of the Knights After the Manner of the First Holy Order may be a powerful force, and you, being a Full Knight, may in fact defeat all five of us, but not before we slay your wife and the child she is trying to hide from us.”

Jeshua opened and closed his mouth several times before looking deflated. “I...mean…you aren’t...necessarily...wrong…” Jeshua tapered off, distracted and glanced over to Beth. “I knew I was a little out of practice, but Full Knight? Am I really slipping that much?”

At his question, Beth looked him over, truly examining him for several seconds before nodding a little and cracking an uncomfortable little smile. “Little bit” she admitted.

The elf looked between Jeshua and Beth several times before settling his gaze on Beth. “Are you implying that this man is an Arch-Knight?”

“No. No no no, let me stop you right there” interjected Jeshua, straightening up, looking decidedly insulted. “I have always held myself with the bearing of a Lesser Knight, which has historically allowed me to try a diplomatic approach with creatures that would otherwise have attacked me on sight, granting me the honorary name The Brother of Dragons.”

At this revelation fear crossed the elf’s face and he reflexively took a step back. Upon seeing their usually fearless leader’s reaction, the rest of the robed figures drew their swords, with the exception of the crossbow weilder, who readjusted his grip on the crossbow. The elf took a breath and asked “You are the one known as The Brother of Dragons?” Jeshua nodded. “The bodyguard of the previous Emperor Consort, Mordak?”

Jeshua smirked and raised one eyebrow, gesturing vaguely with his right hand, as his left hand was occupied holding his sword. “I suppose that’s one way to describe Mordak the Conqueror, the man who single-handedly ended the siege of Terranoth; the man who brought about the surrender of the Kingdom of O’Shandrel without killing a single person; the man who turned an entire section of mountain range into a desert now named The Desert of Taelmet’s Compromise, after the man so foolhardy as to think him bluffing; are you referring to that Emperor Consort Mordak? Because yes, he did marry the Empress Ysbet, making him the Emperor by means of consortation, but that’s really one of his less impressive achievements.”

The elf looked at Jeshua with poorly hidden fear in his eyes. “If that is in fact who you are, that would make you one of…” the elf trailed off as the fear left his eyes and a smile slowly spread across his face “...no.” The elf broke out into rolling peals of harsh laughter, which he broke off suddenly. “In your own words, if you’re going to lie to my face, try to make it something a little more believable.” He made a quick gesture to the figure holding the crossbow “Kill Betal-Miran.” Addressing Jeshua as the crossbowman adjusted his aim, the elf stated “You see, there is no plausible reason for any of the Knights Deus, even Jeshua Trocair, to lower themselves to living in the middle of nowhere and consorting with a common—”

There was a flash of white light across the clearing, screams of pain started sounding out, and Jeshua, who had been a good thirty feet away from the elf, now had his bloody sword blade pressed against the elf’s throat. The blood and the screams of pain all came from the same place, the figure who had until recently held crossbow, and now only had one hand left. For anyone who cares about scale, the figure formerly known as crossbowman was around ten feet past the elf, putting him at around forty feet from Jeshua.

Now, the power of the Knights After the Manner of the First Holy Order comes from the fact that they have taken oaths of Justice or Honor or Mercy or something else of that nature, with these oaths being taught to them by a group of fallen angels who still held their oaths sacred, the angels specifically being The Knights of the First Holy Order; hence the obnoxiously long and pretentious name. A Knight in good standing can move with incredible speed, strength, and grace, with a Full Knight being capable of repositioning their blade or adjusting their stance but not moving a significant distance, while an Arch-Knight would likely have been able to close the distance between either the elf or the crossbowman but not both and probably without cleanly disarming the crossbowman. The Knights Deus, on the other hand, are almost as powerful as some of the elder angels, and can turn into what is described by many records as a ‘flash of holy light wielding a blade’. Many of the Knights Deus have been able to maintain this form, and the impossible speeds that come with it, for almost three hundred feet, although Jeshua specifically is best known for his diplomacy and incredible will and honor, rather than magical or physical feats, and can only maintain the form of pure light for around one hundred and fifty feet. That being said, he can only be claimed to be magically and physically lacking when compared to angels, demons, and other member of the Knights Deus, and not against mere mortals.

As Jeshua pressed his blade against the throat of the elf, no longer smiling, he raised one eyebrow. “Lower myself to consorting with a common...what? No, please, finish your thought.” The elf dropped his sword, speechless, and opened and closed his mouth, accidentally doing a very good impression of a fish out of water. “I am truly fascinated in finding out how you were going to end that sentence, so—Oh, would you shut up?” snapped Jeshua, glancing at the now one-handed ex-crossbowman, who was now writhing on the ground as he cried and whimpered in pain. “I cauterized the wound with a sacred flame as I removed your hand, so you won’t bleed out. Hell, a skilled healer could probably reattach that hand cleanly. The only reason that you’re in this much pain is that the gods hate you.”

That revelation was enough to shock him into shutting up, at least momentarily. It even shocked the elf enough that he was able to speak words again. Well, a word. “Wh-what?” he asked, obviously confused.

Jeshua turned his attention back to the elf. “Yeah, I mean if he was in good standing with all of the gods, or even if they were all indifferent towards him, he’d be in no pain from that specific wound. Based on how well his wound is healed, I’d guess he’s angered fewer than seven of the gods, but more than three of them. Based on the fact that he’s on the ground I’d have to put the number at five. Or he has no pain tolerance.”

The elf let out a humorless laugh. “So this is how it ends. You’re going to kill me over some child? A harbinger of doom?”

“Will you stop?” asked Jeshua, exasperated. “The only reason you have to believe that child is a harbinger of doom is a basic aura check, and going by basic aura checks, the only person in this clearing who isn’t a harbinger of doom is, oddly enough, the dragon.”

“Wait, really?” asked Beth, surprised. “How am I not a harbinger of doom? I want to get in on some of that action!”

Jeshua waved dismissively. “Nobody actually knows. Aura checks are notoriously unreliable. That’s why no competent person relies on them alone.” The elf looked irritated, and like he wanted to say something at being called incompetent, but Jeshua still had his blade pressed against the elf’s throat. “Anyhow, more to the point, if you actually knew anything about the Knights After the Manner of the First Holy Order in general, or about me specifically” he said, lowering his sword, “you would know that I will not kill a man held at yield.” Jeshua raised an eyebrow for emphasis.

The elf nodded as a look of utter defeat came over him. “Fair enough. All right, Ser Trocair, I yield.” Jeshua nodded in acknowledgement, took a step back, then, in a single, swift, well practiced motion, he produced a simple cloth, wiped the blood from the blade of his sword, and returned his sword to its sheath. The elf made a quick gesture and called out “Acolytes of Baldoun, we are yielding to this member of the Knights Deus. It is clear that we cannot win against you.” All the members of the Cult of Baldoun retrieved and sheathed their weapons, except the crossbowman, who made to move toward the discarded crossbow and received a very pointed glare from Jeshua which stopped him in his tracks. Jeshua was, however, kind enough to retrieve the crossbowman’s severed hand from next to the crossbow and toss it back to the crossbowman.

“One last thing before I let you leave” stated Jeshua. “What village did that child call home before you stole her? And did you approach the village like the Order of Meltax would have, or did you approach it with all the grace of the Cult of Baldoun?”

The elf let out a knowing little smirk. “The harbinger came from the village of Caldwaithe, and, as in all things, we approached the village in the manner of Acolytes of Baldoun. Now, at your leave, we shall be on our way. But bear in mind, this is not over. As long as the harbinger lives, the Acolytes will be after her, you know this as well as I.” With that, the elf and his companions turned and began to leave.

“I know” stated Jeshua, almost inaudibly. “Beth, I’m going to...head to the village of Caldwaithe, let them know that the child is fine. Why don’t you take her back to our home, she’s probably hungry and tired by now. That sound good?”

Beth smiled at Jeshua. “I could do that, but wouldn’t it be easier for me to transform back into my draconic form and fly the two of you to Caldwaithe? Probably be quicker too.”

“I feel that…” stated Jeshua, stretching the pause out to choose his words carefully. “It is possible that a dragon randomly showing up may cause a panic. I believe that I can alleviate much of that if I go in an official capacity and explain the situation” he explained as he untucked a necklace from below his shirt. The necklace held the symbol of the Knights After the Manner of the First Holy Order, and marked him as a high ranking member among them.

“That’s all very logical” responded Beth. “Also you’re a terrible liar, you know that, right?” Jeshua nodded in response. “Always have been.” Jeshua nodded again. “You want to clue me in on what’s really going on?”

“Nope.”

“Didn’t think so.” Beth turned around and picked up the child. “Let’s get you home and something to eat!”

“Wait” interrupted Jeshua. Beth turned to face him, as did all five members of the Cult of Baldoun. “I can hold the child for you if you’d like a snack before heading home.”

“A snack?” asked Beth, confused.

Jeshua nodded slowly, no smile, no expression at all on his face. “I am honor bound, by my word, and I would never kill an opponent who has yielded, but I would never begrudge my wife a quick snack before a journey.”

“Ah” replied Beth. She handed the child to Jeshua as her eyes started glowing gold again. The Cult members comprehended Jeshua’s meaning as Beth took a step towards them, glowing gold. At this, they all took off running in a roughly similar direction, not intentionally, just the basic direction of ‘away from the dragon’. They hadn’t made it fifteen feet before she had transformed. The form she took was significantly smaller than her full size, as she opted for speed and maneuverability over strength and size. Her scales were gold, as always, she couldn’t actually change her scale color, her head was eight to ten feet in width, and her body was roughly eighty feet long with twelve legs. Her current body had no wings and was akin to a Chinese Dragon, quicker and more lithe, better equipped to weaving through the woods. Her original form was similar to that of a traditional European Dragon, with four legs and wings and so on, but that didn’t seem like a prudent choice for a footchase through the woods, so she modified it. Europe and China don’t actually exist in this world, so she would unfamiliar with these terms, but the terms aren’t there for her assistance so I suppose that’s largely irrelevant.

As Beth darted into the woods, Jeshua bounced the child in his arms, singing to her in the celestial language, generally used by gods and angels. As he sang, his necklace began glowing softly and music emanated from it. It wasn’t enough to drown out the sounds of trees cracking, or of bones crunching, and it did nothing for the blood-curdling screams and begging, but it entranced the child enough that she didn’t seem to notice, or, if she did, she didn’t seem to mind.

Beth returned to the clearing in less than three minutes, back in human form save for a large pair of golden wings sprouting from her shoulder blades. As she strode into the clearing, golden sparks surrounded her, reforming her clothing and readjusting them for her newly sprouted wings. She took the child from Jeshua and gave him a quick kiss. “I got all of them. Is that all you wanted from me before you head to Caldwaithe?”

“I hope so. With them gone the Cult of Baldoun shouldn’t know that their tiny harbinger is still alive, so she should be able to grow up unharassed.”

Beth smiled a sad little smile. “I wasn’t going to ask, but I’m glad you told me why you wanted them dead. Be safe, don’t push yourself too hard. Take whatever time you need to get there and home safely.”

And so they both went on their own ways, Jeshua to Caldwaithe, Beth back to their home. Beth got the child to their home in around half an hour, as she was flying and not walking leisurely. Their home was her home first, and was a cave on a mountain. It had soft, plush carpeting, and comfortable furniture, and the mouth had been filled with a wall with a picture window and door. These touches, along with many other accessories, made it feel like a spacious house rather than a drafty cave.

Beth tried, with mixed success, to feed the child milk, and meat, and bread, and cheese, and vegetables, because what do human children even eat? Honestly, it is to her credit that she thought to cook the meat before giving it to the child, because baby dragons thrive on raw meat.

Dawn was just beginning to break as Jeshua returned home. “Sorry it took me so long, I had to make a quick detour that took longer than expected. Long story short, her family’s in no condition to care for her and that’s how the Cult ended up with her. I also learned that her name is Elanye.” It was apparent that wasn’t the whole story, but Beth knew better than to press him for information, he was usually very open, and, if it was important, once it was less painful, he would tell her.

“Well, I guess we’ll need to find someone to take her in” replied Beth. “There are probably—“

“No!” came a small voice from behind her. Jeshua and Beth looked and saw Elanye toddling up to Beth. Once Elanye reached her, she clutched to Beth’s leg, looking up at her.

Beth looked down at Elanye with affection in her eyes. Jeshua looked at this display and thought a moment. “Well…” he began hesitantly. “I suppose that we could take care of her. At least for the time being. She seems to have bonded to you.”

“Are you sure?” responded Beth, now holding Elanye. “You don’t know much about children, and I know nothing about human children. I mean, how much blood should I mix into their milk if I’m not giving them mother’s milk?”

“Uh, none. Humans don’t need that. But there’s a learning curve for most new parents, and we have friends who can help us raise her. We can at least try this out.”

And so, after some more discussion, they decided to take in Elanye. I won’t bore you with the details of how they spent the next seventeen years, partly because to do so would take more time than I am willing to spend and partly because everyone deserves some privacy in their lives. Suffice it to say that those years were, by and large, happy ones. Beth taught Elanye of magic, and strength, and self-control, while Jeshua taught her of honor, mercy, justice, peace, and the finer points of swordsmanship, and how one must find balance in all of those tenets. They also taught her the normal stuff that children learn, but that’s boring and therfore I shan’t be covering it here. For our purposes, let us skip ahead seventeen years to a crisp autumn morning.

On this particular morning, Beth and Jeshua woke to find Elanye already awake, and sitting at the dining table, staring at nothing in particular. “Good morning sweetie, how did you sleep?” asked Beth.

“I’ve been having dreams” responded Elanye distractedly. She turned her attention to Jeshua. “Who’s Sooth? You said something about him, or you will.”

Beth and Jeshua both froze and turned to Elanye. Jeshua kneeled down right in front of Elanye and inspected her eyes, looking for something. “Sooth is a god that grants sight of the future, or did until he became one of the mad gods. Your dreams, they come true?”

She nodded. “The ones that aren’t true already. I saw what met you in Caldwaithe.” Jeshua closed his eyes and nodded. “I saw the charred ruins, smelled the smoke and the blood. I heard your prayers that there would be no survivors, and…”

“Five of them. I couldn’t do anything for them but put them out of their misery. It seems that you are one of the Seers of Sooth” admitted Jeshua, defeated. Beth let out a cry, ran over, and embraced Elanye. “Those touched by a mad god will generally go slowly and painfully insane. There isn’t anything I or your mother can do. I’m sorry, but you already knew all this information already, didn’t you.” Elanye nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. “That’s probably why you come across as a harbinger of doom. What you may not know is that there are members of my Order who may be able to help, who know how to deal with psychic abilities and can train you to use them. There are even some who may be able to alleviate the suffering caused by being touched by a mad god.”

“But to do this I’d need to join your Order?” verified Elanye. Jeshua nodded. “And if I join your Order, I’ll never see either of you again.” It wasn’t a question.

“Visiting family isn’t prohibited” said Jeshua, knowing he was arguing with someone who could see the future. “But even if we never see each other again, it will improve the quality of your life, and that’s all your mother and I have ever wanted for you.” Beth nodded in agreement.

And so Elanye, accompanied by her parents, went to join the Order. They could have arrived several hours sooner had Beth flown them, but they decided to walk and spend one last afternoon together. And here we leave this family, the same as we joined them, on a leisurely walk through the woods, speaking of nothing and everything. Let us give them their privacy on this, their final afternoon together.