Chapter 20: Chapter 18 – Anger And Drive

The first thing I heard as I awoke was thunder. My entire body burned in pain, and the nauseating smell of blood overpowered the faint scent of the ocean. I felt the waves crashing against my lower body, the salty water seeping into my still open wounds. The cold rain that hit the unarmored parts of my body felt like daggers, and the taste of iron and sand filled my mouth. From one moment to the next, I went from feeling nothing to having every one of my senses overwhelmed.

I tried to get up, only for my body to falter. My arms were not strong enough to push my entire body weight, and I struggled to even crawl through the sand. I tried my best to channel what healing magic I could, anything that would help even slightly. The glow was faint, nowhere near as bright as Carver's spells, but it was enough to get me back on my feet.

I tried to get a sense of my bearings. I was on the beach at the bottom of the cliffs, the tower standing far above me. Next to where I woke up was a trail of blood in the sand, already being washed away by the waves and the rain. I looked down at my wounds, finally noticing that the one that should have been fatal had closed. No doubt thanks to my missing companion. I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself down. Her mark was complete, she would be fine. She had to be.

Trying to think practically, I looked around for a back up to the tower. There was a collapsed passage that entered into the cliffside, and seemed to go up to the tower. The rocks and wooden beams were blocking the way, but the inside seemed to be free enough. I wasn't strong enough to pull the heavy stones loose, but without my armor maybe I could slip through. I removed all of my armor apart from my gauntlets.

I stretched as well as I could with all the pain, kept my tail close to my legs and started to squeeze in. Some of the rocks poked into my back, and for a second I wondered if I had always been that reckless. It certainly would explain the countless forms I had had. I finally managed to fall through the other side, a new surface level cut on my back was all I had to pay for my rash behavior.

From above I could hear chanting, and knew I had to pick up my pace. Whatever "being a vessel" meant I did not want Fate to find out first hand. The wooden stairs were rotten, and I had to be careful where I stepped. If not for the stakes at hand it would be almost fun to jump from step to step, support beam to support beam. One of the steps broke under my weight, and I felt the wood stab into my right thigh. I held back a scream and continued my climb, slightly slower than before.

The chanting intensified, and I could see the hatch leading upstairs. The rest of the staircase was completely gone, however, and I would have to find a way to make it across. The wooden beams were too far apart, and the walls were too smooth to climb. My only option was a precariously hanging lamp. Before I could allow my better judgement to take over, I took a leap of faith; the unstable wooden beam I was standing on broke as soon as I left it, but I made it.

My heart sank as the lamp broke off from the ceiling, leaving me just barely enough time to hold onto the latch. Before I could wonder how I was going to open it, it swung down, almost knocking me off. With much effort I managed to pull myself up before it broke off its hinges. After all the noise I had made I figured I'd throw caution to the wind and prioritize speed, so when I found myself in a small, cramped room I threw myself at the door, breaking the rotten wood apart.

The door led to the basement, which was full of empty crates and barrels. The chanting was coming from just above me, a small and narrow staircase went back upstairs, most likely near the entrance. I had no time to waste, so I rushed through. I hadn't thought of a plan yet, at least nothing I could do by myself. With Carver by my side we would have much more leverage, but on my own my options were limited.

I rushed back into the room we were brought before, and found guards already waiting for me, blocking my entrance. Behind them I could see some strange, red lights around Fate, who was floating a few inches above a ritual desk. The previous queen stood before her, weaving whatever spells were responsible for the ritual. I knew I couldn't handle a direct fight in my condition, so I had to be creative. As the guards made their way toward me, I steeled myself for yet another good effort.

Naomi - Paladin In Training

STR - 17

WIS - 7

CHA - 10

DEX - 14

MAGIC PROWESS - 50

Current Perks - Intimidating, Silent, Feline Agility, Melee Adept, Holy Start,

Level - 5

Holy Start - Your drive to protect your allies has granted you access to simple holy magics.

I closed my eyes for a second and concentrated, enveloping my arms in holy light. The guards were almost on me, and I had to act. I jumped at them, hitting both with my elbows at the same time. Their skin sizzled and burned on contact, and their hesitation allowed me get inside the room. More of them ran at me, swarming from every dark corner of the room. I just kept going, hitting any demon that got in my way. For every one I managed to dodge, another got a swing on me. With each hit I felt more weary, as if whatever second wind that had gotten me that far was ending. Still, it didn't matter. I had to get to Fate.

I kept running until I finally reached the table, and threw myself at Fate, grabbing her from the air and hurtling the both of us into the hooded witch. She dodged with ease, but had no chance to do anything else before we ungraciously rolled off the same cliff I had been thrown out of earlier. I tried to grab a hold of anything along the wall and managed to hold onto a small crevasse in the stone. I couldn't hang on with both of our weights. Looking up I realized how far down we already were.

"Like I said." The hooded woman shouted from above, staring us down in rage. "One. Annoying. Bitch."

"Yeah? Well..." I tried to think of something Carver would say in this situation. "Fuck you."

"N-Nay?" Fate finally came to, panicking when she saw her surroundings. "What?! Oh, gods!"

"Stay calm, we're far enough down that we can-"

"Watch out!" She interrupted me, looking up past me.

I looked back to the witch, who was now falling directly toward us.

"Shit! Fate, hold on!"

Fate tried to grab a hold of the wall as well, but didn't have enough time before she struck us. I did all I could to slow down our tumble but still hit the ground hard, followed by the previous queen herself falling right on top of me, nearly knocking me out in the process. I could not get up, once again hanging on by a thread.

"By Hazel's beard, Naomi." Fate rushed to my side, surpisingly unhurt. "Stand still, I don't have any of my supplies here."

"They should be nearby." I said while she made a tourniquet for my leg and tried to stop the bleeding of some of my wounds. "Is she..."

"She's unconscious. We should find some rope to tie her up. Or maybe a rock to... You know."

"The horse ran back the way we came, but the caravan is still here. We should-"

"W-what?" The previous queen said, waking up at the most inopportune time. "Where am I?"

"Get away!" Fate jumped at her, ready to start punching.

"Wait!" I shouted, noticing something strange about the woman. Her entire demeanor had changed, and it was as if a white noise had left my mind. "Remember what she said about... The physical form and the vessel. I don't think that's actually her."

"What's going on?" The stranger asked, genuine fear in her eyes. 

"How can we be sure?" Fate asked, still at the ready.

"I don't know. But I am." I tried getting up again, barely getting myself back on my feet. "We have to keep moving, find the paladins."

"Where's Carver?" She finally let the woman go, both of them getting up too.

"She's... I don't know. She was gone when I woke up, but... I think she's well. Remember, her mark is complete."

"Okay. Gods, I hope you're right."

She helped me walk back up the cliff, taking a long detour since we could no longer take the stairs. I tried my best to explain the situation to the stranger accompanying us, and she told us she was from that town we passed on our way to the dead zone. The last thing she remembered was being attacked in the woods near her home by a strange, shadowy figure, before waking up on the beach, her body hurting all over. Thankfully for her, my ribcage had lessened her fall somewhat. As sorry, she offered to carry my armor for me. I was not in a state to refuse, and Fate had to help me move.

We got to our caravan, expecting to have to sneak around near the tower. Instead, all the demons appeared to be gone. Not wanting to take any chances, we still got what we could as quickly as possible and continued our way down the trail. On the way, Fate gave me a big bottle of pink liquid to drink.

"A magic healing potion. You should drink every last drop." The familiar sound of worry in her voice brought a small comfort for some reason. "In your state... It won't be enough. I hope the paladins can help."

"Hopefully it's enough to get me walking on my own again. I don't want to burden you."

"Shut up." She said in an annoyed tone. "Don't call yourself a burden, ever."

I could not find the right words to reply, so I simply didn't.

"Who's Hazel, by the way?"

"What, jealous?" She chuckled. "I just didn't have enough of a reason to mention her before. She's the goddess of alchemy. Real buff lady, rockin' beard. I'm surprised I didn't mention her before."

"You should tell me a bit about the gods of this place later." I said, walking with a little more ease.

"Absolutely! Carver too. And Robin could be there to help me out."

"I'm sorry to interrupt-" The woman said, helping us carry a few things still. "Are you sure this is the right way?"

"I am." I answered with as much confidence as I could muster. "We should get to the paladins in just a few hours. They'll help you get back home."

"Thank you."

"Hopefully it stops raining soon." Fate said with worry in her voice.

The rain was only making our trip that much more uncomfortable, and keeping our supplies mostly dry became a challenge. The cold only deepened the pain I felt from my wounds, and I could tell Fate could notice. We did not have a choice, however, and simply kept walking in the same direction we were going before.

Finally, after all those days of walking, I saw lights in the distance. I could see a structure among the trees, one that was not in ruins. I picked up my pace, eager to finally meet with the people who were supposed to save our kingdom. Getting closer we saw what looked like a small church, well maintained and simple in design, in clearing of the forest. I approached the front door and slammed my fists as hard as I could.

"Hey! Is someone in there?!" I shouted, but we received no reply. "Come on, the lamps outside are lit, I know you are in there! Open up!"

"Please!" The stranger pleaded. "It's cold outside!"

"Hey!" Fate chimed in, kicking at the door. "We're from Lumalight! We need help! The royal knight is here!"

A small window in a narrow tower opened, and a crossbow appeared from the shadows.

"The royal knight is dead." A voice from within said. "Leave."

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"Look, the mark isn't complete yet, but..." I removed my gauntlets expecting to see the usual unfinished lines, only to find it in full. A sword, circled and surrounded by runes. "Or... Well, there you have it, I guess. I thought it'd hurt more."

The window closed and we heard footsteps from inside, and not long after the front doors swung open. In front of us were several paladins, fully armored and with weapons drawn. Their armor was made of silver, adorned with laurel and spiked vine engravings. Their capes were light blue, almost reaching the floor. The banners presented a single red rose.

"Seize the impersonator, take the others to the back." One of them said.

"Don't hurt them." I stepped in front of Fate, and the woman accompanying us stepped behind her. "Or I swear... I'll come back to kill you."

One of the knights approached me, the same man that pointed the crossbow at us just before. I could not see through the small holes for his eyes, but I felt him glare into my soul.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Naomi." I answered.

"Last name?"

"Don't have one."

He removed his helmet, revealing the face of an old man that had seen way too much. His hair was completely white, his nose was crooked and there were scars all over. His green eyes stared me down, judging and angry.

"If it were really you, why didn't you come until now?" His anger slowly started to turn into rage. "Why would you let us walk, only to show right back up and demand our help?"

"Because I was dead." I took a step toward him, tired of the pain each movement brought. "And maybe I can explain it to you if you get us out of the fucking rain already."

---

Around an hour had passed, and I was finally done explaining everything after several interruptions from the paladins. Every time I told them anything, they asked a million different clarifying questions. I would have run out of patience had the clerics not been healing me the entire time. They seemed to wind down somewhat after our conversation, even if the anger did turn into melancholy.

"So you don't remember... Any of us?" The man asked me, dejected.

"I'm sorry." I said, once again feeling dragged down by my memory.

"I have to admit, you know too much you shouldn't if you were a pretender. But I just... I don't want to accept that she's gone. The woman I knew."

"We need your help." Fate sprung up from her chair, more anxious than ever. "Please!"

"What do we have to lose?" Another knight said, removing her helmet. She was younger than the man we first met, but her hair was already graying. Both of them were humans. "If you really are her, then our duty is to follow you. If you are not, then she really isn't coming back."

"Your duty is to follow me?" I asked, feeling the weight on my shoulders grow heavier. "What about the kingdom?"

"You do sound like her, anyway." The man got up and pointed to a door on the back of the church. "We must prepare ourselves. Go get your old armor, we'll leave as soon as possible. Oh, and of course we'll leave your stranger friend here at her village on our way."

"Thank you." She said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Fate, can you help me with the armor?"

Fate nodded and we walked together to the room that was pointed out. The church itself was very simple, mostly made out of stone and wood. The few paintings on the wall depicted different knights from the order, one of them mostly shrouded in darkness apart from her armor; the wall behind her featuring my mark. 

We walked inside and closed the door behind us. Within was a small room with a bench against each side wall. A stand with silver plate armor and light blue scarf was the centerpiece, completely unprotected.

"You'd think they put this thing behind some glass at the very least." I said, trying not to think too much about the coming battle.

"I think the church being so deep into a dead zone is protection enough." Fate replied. "Though I expected to find a lot more danger than demons and bandits on the way."

"Yeah, it is... strange to say the least." I sighed, slowly starting to let anxiety take over.

"Nay, are you okay?" She placed her hand on my shoulder and got closer. "You've been going through a lot lately."

"I'm not the only one. I have no idea where Carver is and you almost got... Whatever was going to happen back there."

"At the very least we have these guys to help us out now, right?"

"I suppose so. Even more people whose lives are in danger because of me."

"Naomi, it's not your fault that the kingdom is under attack. She wants it back, with or without you."

"It's just... There's so many people counting on us now. I'm supposed to act like a leader, like a knight. There's people who follow me, apparently, and I know I can't hold a candle to the one that came before me."

"It was you, though. If you were really that good before, then you can become that again."

"It's just... All too much. I'll do whatever I have to protect these people, but how can I live up to their expectations?"

"By not going in alone. We help each other, whatever happens." She got in front of me and softly held my face with both hands. She went in for a kiss and I responded in kind, closing my eyes and letting myself be in the moment. I breathed a little easier, and Fate smiled at me. "Now let's go save the day!"

She helped me put the armor on, and it adjusted itself to my form much like the clothes back in the kingdom. A few metal scales made their own down my tail once the greaves were on, and the helmet reshaped itself to include small spaces for my ears on top. Although the armor was heavy, it felt incredibly light once I had it on, not hindering my movement. Fate's eyes glistened when looking at me, and no doubt Carver would curse not having an armor of her own if she was here. I once again worried for her, and hoped with all my heart she was safe.

"That looks incredible!" Fate circled me, looking at the armor from every angle imaginable.

"Hopefully it works incredibly well, too."

"It sure looks protective. Now come on, they should know we're ready."

I was surprised when walking out of the room by the knights in formation. They were gathered close to the front door as if awaiting a command. The old man stood in front of them, waiting for me. I walked down the aisle with Fate at my side, and the old knight unsheathed a greatsword. For a few seconds, I wondered if we would have to fight.

"Kneel." He spoke, his voice echoing through the church. "And I shall knight you once more."

I looked to fate, who took a couple of steps to the side. She nodded, being as fascinated as she was concerned. I kneeled.

"Naomi." He continued. "Given the mark of the undying, it is your duty to protect the people of Lumalight. It is your duty to protect your queen. Your training, long life and immortality give you a unique power among the living, and should you choose to utilize it to destroy, oppress and otherwise bring suffering to the life of innocents... The order will fight you to the death, as you yourself wished long ago. Are you prepared to accept this responsibility?"

"I am ready." My mouth moved before I could be sure of what I was going to say. I was nowhere near ready.

"Then rise... Lady Naomi. And reclaim the sword you lost in death."

He presented the sword to me, glistening in the light of the chandeliers above. The silver blade and gold engravings looked as though they hadn't seen a day of battle. The grip was wrapped in leather, and a small, cartoonish-looking rabbit charm was tied to the silver pommel. I reached for it and held it tight, hoping it would bring back a feeling at the very least. Other than a vague sense of familiarity with the weight, the sword looked new to me.

"If your heart is true, then prove it in the coming battle." He put on a helmet and grabbed his crossbow. "We await your orders, my lady."

The paladins placed their open hands in front of their chests and waited in that position. There was no time to waste, the kingdom needed us. I sheathed my blade and put aside my fears, at least for the time being.

"We will go back to Lumalight and protect it from the danger it faces. We must be quick, every second longer we take might mean another life lost."

"I will prepare the horses." The woman I had met earlier said with determination, and left the church. The rest of the knights followed her outside, along with the stranger that was travelling with us.

"Naomi, before you go." The old knight rummaged through a bag sitting on one of the benches. "I have been holding onto this since the day you died. It was with your armor, but because it was unlabeled I had no idea who to deliver it to. To respect your privacy, and in hopes you returned one day, I did not read it."

He produced a letter from the bag, the paper envelope yellowed, ripped, stained and folded in several places. I picked it up carefully, afraid it might crumble to dust in my hands. There was no label as the man had said, and the simple wax seal was already broken. I opened it and looked inside. The very first words read:

To my dearest knight and lucky rabbit, Robin.

I stopped reading and placed the letter back, as I felt the contents were not meant for my eyes.

"Fate, can you keep this for me until we get back?" I handed the letter over to her, hoping her thick backpack would serve as a better shelter from the rain than any random bag I might get.

"Of course." She stashed it away with care within one of her backpack's pockets.

"Come on now, the rain doesn't seem to be stopping any time soon." The old man turned around and started to walk out to the storm. "Oh, and the name's Hector, by the by. Hector Trueshot." He left the church into The Nothing.

"I guess it's finally time to head back." I started to walk out as well, and Fate followed. "Took us five days to get here, should be faster without the caravan weighing us down, but probably not by much."

"Hopefully we make it in time..."

"Yeah. Hopefully." 

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