Cassius’ heart thumped hard against her ribs. “What do you mean?”
Sugrid stared at Nepherel for several seconds, his flask hanging beside his leg. “No way you just said that. Kinda makes it seem like this was alllll pointless.” He brought the flask toward his mouth out of habit, then stopped before taking a drink. After everything he had heard tonight, even alcohol seemed incapable of making this easier to process.
So, he lowered it again and rubbed his face with his free hand. “Bah. I can’t even get a swig outta my stuff.”
Balan’s lionlike face remained unusually serious. “I’m still trying to get over the fact that Alpam, a god, is sick with a disease by some parasite.”
“Me too,” Chariot replied, his four arms hanging at his sides. “Crazy as hell, right?”
King Solomon leaned forward, his hands gripping the edge of the table. “Nepherel, please explain what you mean. Are you telling us the recruits will die uselessly during these trials?”
“Those who are weak, yes. But even those who are strong but not strong enough will die.” Nepherel’s voice remained calm, though the sadness in it had not left. “The trial starts off in the Yoslan village, a place where King Solomon and his court created for refugees to reside. It is one of many villages housing refugees throughout Kalhalla. These villages are usually overseen by the Paladins of Faith and their duties are carried out alongside the Paladins of Law. The Faith Paladins provide spiritual guidance, comfort, food distribution, shelter coordination, and protection for the people who arrive after losing their homes. They keep records of families, care for the wounded, and help refugees retain some sense that their lives have not been discarded. The Paladins of Law handle disputes, property claims, criminal matters, contracts, and the organization required to keep thousands of frightened people from turning on one another. They also advise the king when decisions involving refugees have to be made. It is a system designed to give those people somewhere to live while the crown determines how they can eventually rebuild their lives.”
A woman near the end of the table raised her hand. “That is true.”
Her name was Asphodel, the Paladin Daughter of Faith. Long light brown hair hung straight down her back, framing a face marked by black veins beneath a black blindfold that covered both eyes.
Her voice had an almost soothing quality, smooth enough to make even an unpleasant statement sound like an invitation. She sat comfortably, one hand placed near her chin like she was listening to a sermon she had already heard several times.
“Faith has always been the first thing frightened people seek,” Asphodel continued. “They ask whether their children will be safe. They ask whether their homes can be restored. They ask whether Alpam has abandoned them. We answer those questions as best we can. Sometimes the answer is ugly. Sometimes it is comforting. Either way, they deserve the truth.”
The black blindfold concealed the eyes she had surrendered during her initiation into the Oath of Faith; Every Paladin who took that Oath underwent the same ritual.
Their own eyes were gouged from their faces as an offering of faith, a physical declaration that their devotion to Alpam would not depend upon witnessing miracles, seeing his form, or possessing proof that could satisfy mortal senses.
They chose blindness because Faith, to them, meant continuing to stand beside their god when sight offered nothing.
The wounds were treated by the Order afterward, but the loss remained permanent. Some regarded the ritual as sacred, others considered it horrifying. Asphodel considered it both, which was perhaps the most honest answer.
“We do not need our eyes to recognize our god,” she said quietly. “And if our god asks us to walk through darkness, then darkness is where we shall walk.”
Across from her sat Talos, the Paladin Son of Law. His slick grey hair was combed neatly across his head, contrasting with the wrinkles that covered his sophisticated face.
He wore the formal attire of a Paladin judge, with dark fabric, silver trim, a high collar, and insignia marking his authority beneath Alpam’s Law.
“Asphodel speaks accurately,” Talos said, his voice holding the cadence of a nobleman addressing a royal court. “The refugee settlements are governed according to statutes established by the crown and interpreted through the authority granted to the Paladins of Law. We settle disputes, preserve records, administer punishments, safeguard property, and ensure that the king’s decrees reach those settlements without corruption or interference. Faith gives the people something to hold onto. Law gives them a structure within which they may live, neither can replace the other.”
Talos placed two fingers against the table. “Yoslan is therefore an entirely ordinary settlement by our standards. There is no deception in that particular fact.”
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Cassius gave Asphodel a dirty look from across the table. It was obvious she did not like the woman, and judging by the way her jaw had tensed up, she did not particularly enjoy being in the same vicinity with her either.
Asphodel looked ahead at nothing beneath her blindfold.
“I can feel your eyes on me, Cassius. It contains wrongness…a feel of malice, even.”
“Don’t mind me.”
Sugrid, Balan, Chariot, and Talos looked at one another, they all knew about the rivalry between those two—maybe even hatred.
Nepherel began walking around the table, his glowing golden robe brushing across the stone floor as he passed the gathered Paladins and rulers. He moved past several Archangels standing guard along the courtyard walls, each one silent and watchful.
“On the surface, the first trial is a normal babysitting task,” Nepherel said. “That is intentional. We wanted the recruits to experience something that resembles heroism. They enter a village, take care of children, and believe they are performing the kind of work expected from heroes. They learn responsibility, they learn patience, and they learn what it means to protect people who cannot protect themselves.”
He passed another Archangel. “But danger lurks throughout that region. Fallen angels.”
Several members of the table stiffened.
Nepherel kept going, “Archangels and lesser angels who have abandoned the embrace of their god. Everyone who is deeply in tune with the divine knows what happens when an angel leaves that embrace. They begin to rot. Literally. Their skin turns grey and develops mold, their halos flicker and become darker, and their wings decay; Their divine presence becomes distorted as the connection to their deity weakens. And that brings us back to the coalition.”
Nepherel resumed walking. “The kingdoms gathering against Alpam are not doing so because they suddenly developed a hatred for him. Their rulers know about the disease, their gods know about it, their angels know about it. Somehow, our enemies have learned something we have not. They know that the parasite can cause a god to rage.”
Solomon’s face hardened up with intensity, “Rage?”
“Incomprehensible rage,” Nepherel said. “A god infected by this disease can lose control of himself. The mind becomes consumed by something far beyond mortal anger. The deity can become mad. That is another reason Alpam constantly changes form, making his power work overtime to fight against it.”
Chariot said, “Shit…if Alpam goes mad…”
“The consequences could mean the end of everyone,” Nepherel finished. “Since he is one of the Highest Ones directly from XXI, the Creator.”
The table blew up into startled voices as expected:
“They want him dead before that happens?” Balan asked.
“Then the coalition is not merely political,” Talos said, trying to keep his cool in a sophisticated fashion. “Theological is what it is.”
Sugrid stared at Nepherel. “Gods, angels, and armies working together to take down Alpam…fuck me.”
Solomon leaned back, looking sickened by the implications, but he didn't say anything, he definitely wanted to hear more.
Nepherel continued. “The angels belonging to these other gods have also been creating warriors through sex with mortal men and women. Some mortals die during the process, as it is brutally painful, but some survive and produce children possessing divine traits far beyond ordinary humans. Their interbreeding has created Giants, Demi-angels, Demi-angel Giants, and other beings whose strength varies depending upon the gods and angels involved.”
The entire table fell silent, and Cassius stared at the floor.
‘This is madness…but what does this have to do with recruits? Don’t tell me those beings are there with Lennox and the others…?’
Queen Icaris turned toward King Solomon, finally speaking again saying to him, “It means our enemy has more knowledge than us regarding the parasite.”
“Right.”
Nepherel heard that but continued anyway. “Many Archangels who abandoned Alpam’s embrace reside where the recruits are.”
“Why would Archangels abandon Alpam?” Chariot asked.
“I believe the disease frightened them,” Nepherel said. “Some may have seen what it’s doing to him. Some may have realized that their connection to him could expose them to something they cannot understand. Others may have begun believing that Alpam’s eventual madness would destroy them as well. Whatever the reason, they fled. They sought protection elsewhere, and many of them found it.”
Nepherel turned toward the distant sanctuary gates. “That region holds a realm dedicated to Totuna, the goddess of Beauty. She is also the sister of Ifreiti, goddess of nature and fertility. The fallen angels sought refuge beneath the influence of both goddesses. They are desperate to restore what the abandonment of Alpam took from them.”
Asphodel’s lips curved a little. “Beauty can be quite persuasive.”
Nepherel nodded. “Totuna’s Divine Authority is Beauty. Her authority governs the ideal form, divine appearance, allure, and the preservation of beauty itself. To those fallen angels, her power represents a possible means of restoring their ruined bodies and reclaiming the appearance they lost when they abandoned Alpam. Their bodies may rot, their wings may decay, and their halos may darken, yet they still cling to the hope that Totuna can make them beautiful again. And because of that, they have developed a hatred for Alpam’s Paladins.”
Nobody spoke, they all began connecting the dots on how this relates to the recruits. Every time it seemed like Nepherel got off track, the way he spoke connected everything back together again.
“Anyone carrying Alpam’s power will be considered a divine hunter. Anyone who has been touched by his authority, anyone who carries its scent, anyone who resembles his servants in the slightest, may be attacked. They do not care whether that Paladin is a veteran or a recruit. They see us as hunters sent by Alpam to drag them back into his embrace.”
Cassius suddenly stood. “Wait! I have to go down there! I need to get Lennox out of there! This is madness! You knew about this, and yet you….you…and the children!”
Sugrid grabbed Cassius and pulled her back into her seat. “Cassius! Don’t do anything you’ll regret. I know how your anger is!”
‘She’ll try to fight anyone who ever tries to stop her from doing anything!’
Steam escaped Cassius’ nose and mouth as she clenched her fists, and every person around the table stared at her.
Nepherel remained composed despite all that. “The Archangels do not kill children. Besides that, do you know this Lennox boy? The one with the burn mark on his face?”
“I….no….I…”
Sugrid sighed, Asphodel chuckled, and Chariot shook his head.
Nepherel said with certainty now, “There is no need to lie, Cassius. I know who he is to you. Did you forget I partially share my father’s Divine Authority?”