Harbingers Ch2: The Innocent
#2 of Harbingers
Relaih sat at her desk, pouring over the tome the High Priest had told her to read, turning her eyes from the tome only long enough to scratch notes down on her scroll. She had to make sure that she knew the information for her test, if she managed to show her understanding of the text, the High Priest had agreed to let her out of the temple for a day, a treat Relaih hadn't known for her entire fifteen years of life. So she was intent on learning the information by heart, most of it was just prayers and ideology of the Temple, though every once in a while she would come across a prayer of intervention in the book. Relaih found these prayers to be the most interesting, as they allowed priests to produce the effects they were famous for throughout Rondar, letting them heal wounds, protect others from harm, and when needed, to attack those who wished a priest ill will. Relaih had seen such exchanges in the practice chambers of the priests, once witnessing the High Priest calling down a pillar of burning fire in a demonstration of one of the prayers. Other acolytes in the temple, some younger than Relaih, had actually been taught the usage of such prayers, but Relaih had been strictly forbidden from using prayers by the High Priest.
A sharp knock at the door interrupted Relaih's studies, "Who is it?" Relaih called out, pulling the hood of her robes over her head to hide the little stubs of horns on her head.
"It's Lira, open up silly girl," came the reply through the door, Relaih jumping up excitedly and running to the door and throwing it open to reveal her visitor. Lira, who had visited Relaih since her early childhood, was an Archmage of the Rondis Mage Tower, and a half dragon, her body covered in blue scales and horns adorning her light blue haired head, "Hello there, how is my favorite little demon girl?"
Relaih ducked her head down looking from side to side, "Don't day that so loud, I'm still not allowed to uncover my head in public, and the priests aren't even certain that's what I am. So what brings you to the temple today?"
"News about who one of the Harbingers may be," Lira said, whincing as Relaih's expression changed to one of annoyance.
"Lira, that stupid prophecy has ruled my life, what do I care about an update on finding the Harbingers?" Relaih said, pulling Lira into her room and shutting the door. Even if Lira was going to be annoying, talking to her was better than studying.
"I know, I know Relaih, your tired of the updates, but Archmage Landris feels that you should be kept updated on what we know of the Harbingers, and I personally agree. Now, recently Archmage Landris set out a decree for all Rondarian mages to register themselves with the guild, hoping that any incidents involving the Soulless would be easier to track if we could track more mages."
"And?" Relaih asked, plopping down on her bed.
"We think we may have his identity already," Lira held up a hand to stop the torrent of questions that would be forth coming from Relaih, "First off, no, we cannot simply take you to him and see if you are able to stop him, your powers have not manifested as predicted yet, and he may kill you if they do not, or even if they do he may kill you. Second, we know his name, not his appearance or where he lives. Our suspect's name is Lyan Togrin, a wizard who registered himself openly as a Necromancer, though that may not seem too incriminating, sources of ours have informed us that Togrin is tied to undead attacks on dozens of villages around Rondar, possibly even the undead raid on Rondis twenty years ago."
"Okay so why don't just send some guys to arrest him and let me live a normal life?" Relaih asked, leaning on her knees.
Lira smiled, "Because we think we have his identity, the marker for the birth of the Soulless was a joint lunar and solar eclipse, the last one was over two hundred years ago. Togrin is human, and reportedly appears to be in his thirties, so either he's stumbled on a fountain of youth or lied about his humanity and has also mastered transmutation or illusion, seeing as every sighting of him places him as an averaged sized human with a full head of black hair. And lastly, even if we arrested him, it wouldn't do much good, if he is the Soulless then only killing him will stop him from triggering the apocalypse."
Relaih shifted uncomfortably on her bed, "You see, that's where I'm seeing a problem with me being this being of power destined to kill the Soulless, I just don't think I can kill a man. And I don't know, shouldn't that make me incapable of stopping him and being this weapon the High Priest won't be quiet about?"
Lira shook her head, "No dear girl, it doesn't, in fact it is your very inability to kill that sets you apart from the Harbingers, just as my devotion to a cause allows me to be your protector, and once we find the Champion, my dedication will keep him protected from the Harbingers. Don't resent what fate has done to you Relaih, embrace it, live your life the way you were meant to and enjoy it."
"I could do without the lecture Lira, can we stop talking about Harbingers and Guardians and the fate of the world and just do what we normally do when you come?" Relaih asked, laying back aginast her bed.
Lira smiled, "Of course, so, what would you like to know about the boy you saw at the last masse?"