Dragon Knight
This is something that came to mind after seeing a piece of artwork containing a dragon crusader dragon knight.
I don't intend for this to start a religious debate (it is hard to leave out religion when telling a story about a crusader dragon). I meant to stick more to the morality aspect.
Hope you enjoy
It was dark and raining and I was feeling the cold. I had an oil skin cloak draped across my shoulders with slits for my wings. I had the hood up but that was ungainly in itself, my draconic horns making it near impossible for the fabric to shield me from the rain. I kept my wings tucked close to my sides, using them as shields against the pouring rain. Even though, water was seeping down to my scales and quickly chilling me.
I was feeling old in the night. My body wasn't aching nor my bones grinding from age. Dragon kind doesn't age as other races do. In fact, we don't age at all. I was feeling old of mind and soul. Much had changed around me in the near millennium of my existence.
The land had been all but empty when I was young. My kind roamed free, hunting and thriving in the forest and mountains of this land. We were not civilized then, living both in tribes and alone. Little threatened us and food had been easy to find. Company was there when I had wanted it as well as solitude. That life had some of the best memories of my existence.
Things can change quickly as I learned when I was just over one hundred. Humans had crossed the deserts to the north. They were clearly inferior. They had no wings and were bound to the ground. They lived short live no more than a century. They had no scales to protect their soft skin and yet they prevailed against us. We did not understand war well enough at the time to prevail.
We knew battles, fights and conflicts. A dragon that doesn't isn't a dragon. What we hadn't known was how to organize the vast war machines of a nation. The larges battle I had ever seen before then involved less than fifty individuals but what swept across our nation was armies of thousands.
Dragon kind had never worked together on such a vast scale before and it took us too long to learn. It was true that one of us could easily kill ten or twenty of them by ourselves but we were unable to organize into large enough groups to properly defend our land. By the time that we had learned the logistics of war we had been pushed far south, well away from our home lands.
Now we build cities and farm in the southern planes just like the humans. We smelt iron and fight with swords and armor as they do. We even ride horses from time to time like them. If I didn't know better I would say that we had turned into them and sometimes wasn't sure that I did. The vast change in our lifestyle did allow us to fight them off and defend our lands in the end.
Even so, it was hard on us. The humans always outnumbered us and we had lost a great many in the early years before we learned to make war as a people. For a long time afterward we only had the strength to defend ourselves. The war kept us from replenishing our numbers. We were persistent though. We built walls and castles to make it easier to defend against the humans. We learned to herd animals to supply the meat we all needed. We learned to work metal and build ships taking away what advantages the humans had against us. Now we were beginning to thrive once again. It took nearly seven hundred years for us to regain our glory but we were finally growing strong.
The humans sensed this and requested peace only a year ago. I had been present at the peace talks. The humans no longer remembered why we were fighting. Scores of generations had passed for them while we still had some among us that remembered, I remembered. We accepted but not to end the war but so that we could finally gather our strength and reconquer what was rightfully ours.
As a part of the peace terms, traders and travelers were allowed to cross the boarders to "strength our new friendship," as the humans had put it. I took full advantage. I wanted to see my home once again. I took what gold I had and started my trek north.
I knew I was close to where I had grew up so many years ago. The land had changed, rivers and streams flowing in new places but the terrain was still the same. Once in a while I would spot something that I remembered: a boulder split in half as if a giant had cracked it open like a chicken egg, an overhang a creek use to run up against and even one tree, now tremendously large, that bore a skewed scar that I had made when I was young.
I continued to press on in the rain. I was close to the cave I had hatched in. I wanted to find it tonight and pressed on in the rain instead of making camp. True, I could have waited until sunrise and simply took to the sky and found it but as things became familiar I found myself becoming inpatient.
Suddenly the trees parted and a fortress came into view It was atop a rise in the middle of the valley, dividing two rivers that met not too far away. I had already crossed one of them earlier in the night.
Nearly the entire hill had been cleared of trees and my keen eyes could easily pick out the detail of the stone structure. It was large but not large enough to contain a city. Its size indicated that it was strictly for military use. It had two ring walls and a keep at its heart. Great round towers were at every corner with lesser towers placed between them. Lights shown in many arrow slits and atop several towers. As I looked it over there was a couple things missing: a road up the hillside and a gate house. I decided that they must be on the other side. I had been traveling across the country rather than beaten paths after all.
I stood and regarded the structure for several moments trying to decide if I wanted to spend the night there and find my old home in the morning or continue searching in the dark. As I stood there, the wind began to blow. That quickly made up my mind as the rushing air seemed to penetrate straight through my cloak. I began my climb up to the fortress and hopefully a warm nights sleep.
It didn't take me long to make it up the rise and to the base of the wall. No one seemed to notice inside. Apparently they weren't keeping too keen a watch. I began to walk around to the other side, keeping to the wall for what shelter it offered.
I rounded one of the corner great towers and was surprised at what I saw. There was a dragon there. A black drake, a contrast to my red and blue, stood out from one of the lesser square towers along the side of the fortress. He wore armor, partial plate and chain mail. He wore a white surcoat with cape that bore the red cross of the human god upon the front. He wielded a sword and shield, the shield was also white with the red cross. He was practicing, thrusting his spear at invisible opponents and using his shield to block their unseen blows.
I stayed along the wall as I approached. The drake was intent in his mock battle and never noticed my approach. I stopped maybe twenty feet away and watched a moment. I was well experienced in fighting and was assessing his style. It was apparent that he had never seen real battle. His practice was a series of repeated strikes and blows of someone drilled with a weapon but not experienced in its true use.
After a few moments he turned to his left, away from me, and began drilling again. I walked a wide arc around him and stopped at his side, directly out from the square tower, and watched.
After a few moments he turned to his original position and nearly jumped form his scales when he saw me. He did drop his spear and scrambled to pick it up before addressing me. Once he regained his composure he kept the spear pointed at me.
"I would like a warm place to sleep and a pleasant meal," I said in my native tongue, the language of dragons. He only continued to stare at me, confusion in his eyes. I sighed and repeated it in the human language. I had leaned it long ago and had only the slightest accent despite its unnatural rhythm. There was silence for several moments before he raised his spear and set the butt of it on the ground.
"You're armed and armored," he stated. There was no accent to it and now that I had a proper look at him he was very young, most likely having just reached his full adulthood. It was apparent that he had not seen more than twenty seasons. It was also apparent that he had been raised by humans.
"As are you," I answered back.
"If you are a trader from the south why would you need it?" he asked. I wondered if he had ever done any traveling.
"I've already had need of it. Bandits seem to common in these lands and I understand that I'm allowed to defend myself from attack. The village I came into after I killed them seemed rather happy that I had done so," I answered, hoping that my elaboration would keep him from misunderstanding.
"Then where is you cart and goods?" he asked still suspicious.
"Left behind. I wanted to know what was here and what would trade well before I spent months walking them up here. Flying is much faster after all. Will I be allowed to take shelter here?" I asked.
"There is an inn at the village that way," he said and pointed in the direction I had been traveling and beyond the rise.
"In the swamps?" I asked surprised.
"Swamps? There are no swaps in that direction. The swaps are downstream, where the rivers meet," he replied confused.
I sighed again and looked in the direction he pointed. I was not yet far enough across the rise to see the village. I looked back at the drake and noticed he was looking me over as if he had never seen another of his kind. Then I realized that he probable hadn't. I found myself suddenly wanting to set down and talk to him, learn his story but that wasn't going to happen if he turned me away to the village. It was obvious the he was trying to become one of the knights of the human's order and I knew their ways well enough to manipulate them if need be.
"You are going to make an elder walk that far in the rain? I thought that knights were suppose to help the weak and old," I said.
"You don't look old," he said.
"Have you ever seen an elder of your kind?" I asked.
"I'm not one of you kind," he snarled. I wasn't overly surprised at the remark.
"Pity, you could have fooled me," I said which put an end to his hissing and softened his expression.
"I've never seen another of my kind before," he said very low, confirming my suspensions.
"How about we get out of this rain, find a good warm fire and talk," I offered. He looked back at the fortress.
"They would throw me out of the order if I brought you inside. I'll take you down to the village and get you a room then we can talk there," he said and I agreed.
"Your name?" I asked him.
"Gabriel and yours?" he asked.
"Razezzin," I replied.
The walk down was easier than the walk up as there was a well used road down to the village. There was still some lights here and there but the majority came from the inn. He led me inside. The main entrance led into the tavern and I quickly determined that the rooms were all upstairs. The tavern was dimly lit with lanterns and there were tables scattered across the room, a few still needing to be cleaned.
The tavern was all but empty except for the bar tender and a waitress working to clean up. Gabriel walked up to the man.
"Not often I see you here Gabriel," the bartender said without looking up.
"I just want a room Peter," he said.
"Should I send Samantha up? She still wants to know what it would be like to be with a dragon," he said.
"Humans can be foul creatures sometime," I said stepping forward. The bartender's head jerked up to look at me.
"For my friend and I," Gabriel told Peter.
"And I would like to have something nice sent up for dinner. Meat, my kind isn't much for plants," I said.
"Are you going to pay for this?" Peter asked Gabriel. Before Gabriel could reply I produced a gold coin and tossed it on the bar. Peter's eyes grew wide as he picked it up.
"I think that should cover any requests I might have while I'm here," I said and Peter nodded.
"No one is staying here tonight so you can have your pick of the rooms. Martha there will be up in a minute to bring you fire wood and start it for you," Peter said still looking the coin over.
I started up the stairs to the left of the bar, Gabriel following behind me. Once upstairs I simply went in the first door to the left. The room was a simple one. To the right was a basin full of water and a coat rack. To the left was a simple straw bed. About the middle of the room was a small table and a few chairs. Along the back wall was a fireplace with a few cooking implements hanging from the mantel. To one side of it was a shuttered window. There were a few lamps on the walls but none were lit at the moment and the majority of the light was filtering in from the door.
"A gold shekel!" Gabriel hissed at me.
"What about it?" I asked. He was quite for several moments.
Before he could respond Martha came up the stairs with a lantern and an arm full of kindling. "This one then?" she asked when she had ascended the stairs. I nodded and she quickly set to work filling and lighting the lanterns in the room as well as building a fire. It only took her about ten minutes.
"Just call down if you need anything," Martha said before leaving.
I went in, depositing my cloak on the rack and went to stand by the building fire. I started removing my armor and setting it were it could dry. I removed the majority of my clothing and set it to dry as well. I then took one of the chairs, turned it backwards and sat down. Human chairs were not built with a tail or wings in mind. Gabriel did the same.
"So you're an elder," he said referring to the easily definable muscle on my frame.
"You realize we don't age right?" I asked. He looked at me doubtfully. "I'm old enough to remember what this land was like before the humans arrived," I said.
"Humans have always lived here," he said.
"Humans have short lives and forget easily. We were here long before they crossed the desert," I said. He was quite but he seemed to believe me at least somewhat. "How is it that you came to be here?" I asked.
He shrugged his wings before answering, "I have no idea. All I know is a priest found my egg and raised me when I hatched. He died about five years ago just after I joined the order like he wished. He thought that I would change dragons to follow God instead of being demons."
"Humans do like to think that of us," I said. We were quite a while.
"If you are that old what are you doing here?" he asked me.
"I grew up here. Where this village sets use to be nothing but swamps and good hunting at that. The river ran almost up against that hill. A tribe use to claim the other side as their hunting grounds. Under that hill is a set of caves and the room that I hatched in. I wanted to see these things again after so long," I said and paused a moment before continuing. "There use to be a set of caves under that hill and I would like to go inside once again. There use to an entrance on the downstream side of the hill. Is it still there?"
"It is," Gabriel answered.
"Good, that will be my destination in the morning," I said.
Gabriel started to say something but was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Enter!" I called and the door was opened by Martha. She brought in some plates and silverware for us before bringing us in a covered dish. She sat it down on the table between us and revealed a dish of roasted beef and lamb seasoned with basil and rosemary.
I began filling my plate even before Martha had left the room. I was gnawing meat off a lamb bone before I even realized that Gabriel wasn't eating.
"Help yourself," I offered but he didn't move.
"I had meat yesterday. I can't have more until tomorrow," he answered.
"Eating meat only three times a week may work out well for a human but we can't live off of leaves and carrots like they can. You shouldn't starve yourself. It will make you weak," I said.
"I've managed well so far," he replied.
I continued eating. It had been several days since I had a well cooked meal. After a while I leaned back, full. Gabriel hadn't said anything the entire time.
"What is it like were we come from?" he asked me eventually, seeming to have gathered the courage to do so.
"Not so different from here anymore. We have castles and cities as you do and our worriers armor themselves as your knights do. We farm for our food just our food doesn't consist of crops and greens. We ensure that everyone is fed and have a place to sleep at night. Humans seem to be a bit more harsh about that," I explained.
"How can there be such charity their? Does no one go unfed?" he asked suddenly curious.
"Not if it can be helped. We only have issues if there is a shortage. There isn't so many of us that we can simply let the unfortunate starve," I explained.
"How is all that paid for? Are dragons that generous?"
"What? No, our king uses the taxes for that. Taxes tend to be higher but no one has to be worried about being ruined over it. If someone does happen to loose everything then we put them to work in the fields or something similar until they can get back on their feet. I've done it a time or two. Things are bound to happen in six hundred years," I explained.
"You're six hundred years old?" he asked astonished.
"Actually I'm eight but it was six hundred years ago when things were established in such a manor," I said and he was quite a while.
"I could live to be eight hundred years old," he stated somewhat astonished.
"As long as you don't do something stupid," I answered and silence resumed. "I do believe that I'm going to get some sleep. It has been a rather long day," I answered and moved towards the bed.
"I need to return to the fortress. I'm to be at liberty tomorrow. I'll show you to the cave," he said and started towards the door.
"That would be appreciated," I answered as he was leaving. It wasn't long until I was asleep.
The next morning I I worked myself back into my armor. I was still unwilling to trust humans and even though my scales would protect me from just about anything a blade could be worked underneath them and still put an end to me.
I went down to the tavern to wait on Gabriel. I was offered something for breakfast but I was still thoroughly satisfied from the previous nights meal. The tavern was empty except for the staff so I tried to speak with the bartender that was working that morning but he was too frightened of me to hold a decent conversation. With nothing better to do, I passed the time in silence.
Gabriel showed up about mid morning. He didn't offer to talk or explain, he simple said, "Come." I obliged him and stepped out into the morning sun.
"Flying to it would raise too much suspicion. We will have to walk," he said and we began our way down the valley.
We stayed along the river. The village sat up against its bank. There was a road that made it easy enough to travel. The rise that the fortress sat upon came lower to the valley floor the further we traveled. Towards its end, forest resumed and obscured our view of the fortress. Gabriel stopped at this point and waited for other travelers to disappear into the distance.
"This way," he said suddenly and started into the forest towards the hill. After a few minutes of travel through the underbrush he stopped again. "The cave is a secret entrance to the fortress. I didn't lead you to it, understand?"
"Of course," I replied and we continued.
After about twenty minutes of walking we arrived. I knew we were in the spot where the cave came out, the very slope of the hill familiar to me, but the actual entrance was no where to be seen. Gabriel walked up to a nondescript place and began pushing back leaves with his foot. After a few moments he reached down and grasped something. When he pulled, the entire ground began to rise, raveling a hidden door and the entrance to the cave. Gabriel entered and promptly came back out with a couple of torches.
"Here," he said, handing me one and set to work with flint and steal to light his. I simply breathed out a small fire ball to light mine.
"Right," Gabriel said looking up at me with an embarrassed expression.
"I understand. You didn't want others to know that you could do that out of fear that they really would think you a demon," I said and he nodded. I touched my torch to his as he stood up. "Lets go in."
We walked only a short distance in before I stopped to look at something that was scratched in the cave wall. It was of the sun, moon and stars.
"These carving are what made me believe you. I knew someone had to be here before the fortress was built and these don't seem to be the work of humans," he said.
"My favorite is over there," I said pointing off into the dark, still looking at the carving on the wall. I didn't remember the one of moon and stars.
I heard Gabriel walk to where I had pointed before he said, "There isn't anything here."
This caught my attention and I walked over to where he was. The wall was covered in lichen for some reason that I couldn't understand. I stared at the wall a moment trying to remember where it was before moving a little to the right. I began gently relieving an area of the unwanted material. A very detailed carving of mountains with a dragon flying just below the sun was revealed.
"My mother carved this after my first flight. She was so very good at this kind of thing. She said that it was so that the world would for ever remember my transition into the sky," I said and Gabriel looked it over for several minutes.
"You really are telling the truth," he said astonished.
"This way," I said and stated walking further back into the cavern. At the far end just before it narrowed into a tunnel sat a large rock against the wall. It was oblong and was positioned vertically. It looked as if it should have fallen over years ago. I stopped just in front of it and Gabriel stood beside me. "I've often wondered who ever figured it out," I stated.
"Figured what out?" Gabriel asked curious.
I stepped forward and pushed against one side of the boulder. Without too much effort it shifted to one side to reveal a small passageway behind. I slipped passed the boulder and through the passage. It quickly opened up into another room, not as large as the first but still large. Everywhere torch light fell shelves could be seen carved into the walls. What I knew to be eggshell sat on each shelf with a carving of the corresponding dragon just below. I walked to one side that was familiar to me.
"Wow," was all Gabriel had to say as he entered.
"We prefer to preserve our egg shell rather than out bones. It represents to us all the potential and glory the dragon had before him rather than the tragedy of their demise. This one is mine," I said picking up a piece of it and storing it in my small pack. Gabriel came to stand beside me. "This one is my father's," I said picking up another piece of shell. "He died trying to defend us from the human invasion. He made me swear not to fight but to protect my mother and my newly hatched sister. I was just over one hundred when he died," I explained and placed it in my pack as well.
"My mother," I said holding up a piece of hers, "made it safely south but was killed about three hundred years ago in a surprise raid. She was trying to organize an evacuation of those not fit to fight when a ballista bolt took her on full to the chest," I said before also placing it in my pack.
"And my sister's," I said holding it up, "she still lives thankfully. I was at least able to keep my father's promise with her. She is mated with the king's son. She has quite a few sons and daughters of her own now," I said and placed hers in my pouch. "She'll be glad to have this."
"What about all the others?" Gabriel asked. I looked around.
"Other dragons going back thousands of years before me. I'm not sure that there is anyone left that would remember all of them. There is precious few that are older than me. Most of us anymore are under two hundred. It is such a shame when most of our elders back then had been over two thousand. Things can change so quickly," I answered.
"What are you going to do now? Gabriel asked.
"Return home. I've gotten what I came for. I think that you should come with me," I said.
"I'm not sure," he said.
"That is up to you but I think that it would be a good thing for you. Maybe even find someone and start a family of you own," I said.
"I can't be with a women," he said.
"Creating life and raising children was the most amazing thing that I've ever done. I can't possibly imagine it to be unholy," I said.
"It's not that it's unholy but it distracts us from our true purpose, to uphold God's laws and protect those in need," he answered sounding offended.
"I've always found that my mate and children gave me a reason to fight and press on. Without them I would be inclined to pursue more corrupt things like power and outrageous wealth. If anything they give me focus to do what I should, instead of distraction," I answered. This time he was quite seeming not to know what to say.
"Our torches are almost out. We should start heading back," I said and he nodded.
We made our way back out of the cave. I made sure to push the boulder back into place and Gabriel covered the door over with leaves again to make it look as if nothing was awry.
We traveled quickly through the forest and stopped just before the road. We waited once again until there was no one visible before going out on it. We then took up a normal pace back to the village.
"I had no idea," Gabriel said after a few minutes of walking.
"I know," I said just as we stepped out of the forest again.
"You must hate humans," he said. I stopped.
"I hate what they've done. I hate that they drove me from my home and killed my parents but I don't blame everyone of them for it and I know most are innocent of those crime. They only do what they know. I'm old enough to understand such things.
"I still think that we should retake out homelands though. I would like to be able to share with my children things that were shared to me about this place. I think we should be kinder to them than they were to us when they took it but I still think we should take it back."
Gabriel didn't have any comment. He only stood there in silence. After a few moments he started looking at the sky. Without warning he started running and jumped into the sky, just barely making it off the ground, the weight of his armor making it difficult.
I followed, finding it easier to get into the air. I was use to carrying the weight of my armor on the wing. I stayed above and behind him sensing the he needed some time alone to think. I observed his flying. It was obvious that he didn't fly often. He fought against the wind far more than necessary and all but ignored thermals.
After a solid hour of flying Gabriel landed just outside of the village. I landed beside him. He was completely out of breath. I waited on him to catch it.
"I'm going to get me something to eat," he said suddenly and started off towards the inn. I followed once again. He walked quickly, obviously still in turmoil. I followed him through the door and into the tavern. I nearly ran into him when he dead stopped. I looked around and saw other knights setting at the bar and obviously drinking mead. Their behavior alone indicated that alcohol was involved despite being able to smell it.
"Gabriel!" one of the knights called, "Since when do you come here?"
"How many vows are you breaking?" Gabriel asked clearly mad.
"Calm your scaly hide. It's our day off. Why don't you have some?" the knight asked.
"Because it is sinful."
"You need something to confess to the priest every once in while," the knight said.
"Come on, join us Gabriel," another said.
A women screamed outside before Gabriel could answer. Gabriel turned around to look as did I. The knights didn't even seem to notice the scream or me for that matter. There was another scream and we both went outside.
A couple of knights were pulling a women to the town square. They were being led by the priest who carried a censor in his left hand and a cross in his right. I could hear him chanting in a language that I was unfamiliar with as he led the procession. There was also a younger women following behind the knights.
The priest led the knights caring the women onto a platform at the center of the square. People began to gather around, including Gabriel and I, as one of the knights began to prepare a noose.
"This women stands accused of witchcraft," the priest called to gathering crowd. The knights were just now coming out of the tavern.
"No, please John," I heard the supposed witch say.
"Quite witch!" the priest said before backhanding her. Blood flew from her mouth. "Susan here has witnessed her black arts. There is no doubt to her corruption. You all know the punishment. She will be hung."
"What did she do?" I called up to the priest. Suddenly all eyes were on me. "If there is no doubt then the black magic that she used must have been something truly terrible. Did she summon the devil from the depths of hell itself?"
The priest looked me over several moments before replying. It seemed as if no one had ever dared question his judgment before.
"She used her dark powers to transform a simple rock into an agent of the devil. Now she will be hung for her crimes," the priest said as he put the rope around her neck. I heard the girl ask him to stop again.
"What did she turn the rock into?" I asked. He turned back to me. I could tell he was getting frustrated.
"It doesn't matter what she turned it into just that she practiced witchcraft. For that she must be hung," the priest answered, effective dodging the question. I knew well how to play such games.
"Very true but if she released a terrible beast upon the land and if it is an agent of the devil, whatever it is, it will need to be killed and I would be willing to hunt it down but I would need to know what I was looking for," I said knowing now that he couldn't refuse an answer without his audience panicking. I noticed that Gabriel was looking at me in shear terror at what I was doing. I ignored him and began making my way towards the platform.
"A frog," the priest said flatly.
"A frog! To disguise its deadly purpose no doubt and to make it harder to find. Susan, this is vital. I need you to tell me exactly how this frog came to be if there is any hope of us tracking it down and putting an end to its terrible ways," I said.
"Um..." the girl said completely caught off guard but I could see in her eyes that she did believe me and was concerned about threat it might pose. The entire crowd was silent. A pin drop could have been heard. "She threw a rock in the water and a frog jumped out."
I was quite a few moments so that it could sink in.
The wind shifted slightly and I caught the sent of the accused witch.
"Everybody, everything is alright. The poor girl simple scared a frog out of the water with a rock. Susan, I certainly understand your concern and it's a good thing that you brought this to our attention..."
"She's a witch!" the priest yelled from the platform. "You're just using your forked tongue to turn everyone against me and God. You have no place here," the priest said.
"You are willing to put a girl with eg... I mean with child to death over a frog jumping out of the water?" I asked him. Terror suddenly spread across his face as several gasps came from the crowd.
"I am pregnant? That explains why I haven't bled this month. John, please, it would be yours," the girl said. The priest suddenly grabbed the girl and threw her off the platform. There was a grisly snap as her neck broke and her body went limp.
"Lies, all lies put in her mouth by the devil! She was casting a spell to turn you against me and God. You better be glad I killed her dragon as her hold was strong on you!" the priest declared.
No one moved after the priest. The knights didn't try and restrain him. Everyone simply accepted it. People were even talking about how strong the witch had been to cast such a spell over everyone and that they were glad that they had such a good priest. No one seemed to understand that he had just murdered an innocent girl because he had gotten her pregnant.
I turned to look for Gabriel. He was gone. 'At least he understood,' I found myself thinking as I went back to the inn. I sat down in the tavern and tried to clear my mind of what had just occurred. It wasn't but a few moment before the priest was beside me with all the knights from before.
"Don't you worry, I'll shall be leaving on the morrow," I said.
"You won't be going anywhere. You have to be cleansed from the witches spell," the priest said. It was just a ploy so that he could lock me up and kill me.
I sighed before continuing his game, "I will need to be cleansed by my own kind. That is why I'm leaving tomorrow. Things work different on us," I said.
"It can't be risked. You have to be cleansed now. Restrain him." I drew my sword and laid it on the table. This stopped the knights.
"I have been fighting with this since before your grandfather's grandfather was born. If you try to take me I will not come quietly. Many will die and I will start with you priest. Not only that but it will reignite the war between our people and many thousands will die. All that can be avoided by simple letting me leave tomorrow. From what I understand, your order of knights are suppose to do whatever they can to prevent blood shed. Is that true?" I asked.
"It is," one of the knights said. "Come on John, leave him alone. He is going to leave peacefully and we aren't going to disturb that."
"Your commander is going to hear about this!" the priest said before storming out.
"If you cause the slightest bit of trouble..."
"You don't have to worry... what is your opinion of what just happened?" I asked and looked him in the eye.
He hesitated before answering, "We hung a witch and a powerful one at that." I could see the doubt in his eyes before he walked out.
I stayed in the tavern waiting on Gabriel. I knew that he would show up when he was ready and if I went looking for him it would only make things worse.
Night fell without any sign of Gabriel so I went up to my room and waited. The hours passed slowly and I contemplated sleep. Just as I was about to lay down I heard the whoosh of wings. Gabriel suddenly appeared at my open window. His white surcoat was now splattered with blood.
"I take it that the priest is no longer with us?" I asked as he stepped inside.
"He killed an innocent girl," he said.
"That he did." I said and he sat down at the table.
"Is everything that I've been taught wrong?" he asked me.
"I've read their religious works and there isn't anything 'wrong' with them. They teach mostly to be good and do the right thing. I can't say that I disagree with any of the moral aspects that they teach and there are even those among us that follow them. What happened today was something that was driven by greed. That man is the priest because it gives him power. He is willing to do anything to keep that. That girl's pregnancy threatened that so he got rid of her. If I stay he will do anything that he can to do the same to me because I threatened the same thing.
"What I find truly appalling is that most everyone believed him without question. No one is willing to question him because he is the priest. I can understand to an extent blind faith on a religious belief but not blind faith towards a leader. Leaders need to be questioned to ensure that they do what needs to be done not what ever they want to. Otherwise this kind of thing happens. Even those that know something is wrong isn't willing to do something about it," I explained.
Gabriel was quite several moments before asking, "Can I come with you?"
"I would much prefer it that way. Lets leave now before they notice that their priest is dead," I said and so we started winging our way south.