The Second Coming
Chapter 12

The two men ridedown until the summit of the mountain is too high to see. The older man pulls his mount to a halt andtakes a deep breath. “Areza; it has beentoo long since I was last here. Can youfeel how the air is different, William?”

William shrugs.“To be honest I cannot, Kiran.”

Kiran laughs, amuch more contented laugh than William has heard from his companion in sometime. “The air is clearer because thestench of Revan is further away. Soonyou will agree with me.”

“How far is ourdestination?” William strains his eyes ahead, but apart from hills and greenpasture there is nothing of note to see.

Kiran grunts.“No more than two days’ ride from here.”

“If there hasalways been tension and conflict between the Order and the church of Revan,why is the home of the Order so close to Suria?” William’s expression isthoughtful.

Kiran smiles. “Avery intelligent question, my friend; many years ago there was a greatbattle. Revan triumphed that day, butwhat remained of our order built our home on the site of Revan’s victory. That place will serve forever as a reminderof what we lost that day, and to steel us for The Second Coming.”

William strainshis eyes once more ahead of them. “Thesecond coming? That is not something youhave mentioned before.”

Kiran smiles.“It is not something that should be discussed outside of Areza, and even thenextreme caution must be taken. IfRevan’s Priestesses were to discover how close we were, they would doeverything in their power to stop us.”

“When you said‘we’, did you mean the Order?”

Kiran shakes hishead, his face deadly serious. “I meantus, my friend. You are The Second Coming.”

*

Carly had an uneventful journey back to Crossmoor, something she wasgrateful to Revan for. Despite the factshe was now a Priestess, the thought of the stressful and near-deadly journeyshe, Olbane and Michael had undertaken still made her shiver. She arrived at the temple during the eveningand was thankful that the majority of the Priestesses were otherwise occupied,which enabled her to prepare for the difficult questions she would have toanswer the following morning. Of course,she still had to walk past the front desk, where she encountered acolyteSophia, who looked upon her with wide-eyed amazement and a gaping mouth. Carly merely bowed with respect and carriedon walking. When she arrived at herroom, she was not surprised to see that it had been cleared of her belongingsand was waiting for a new occupier. Deciding it would not be appropriate for a Priestess, even a newlypromoted one, to sleep in an acolyte’s room, Carly spent the night in one ofthe rooms left aside for Priestesses based in other cities who were visiting,much like the room she slept in at the temple in Surian. She slept well and awoke as usual in goodtime to complete her morning prayers, then went to the dining room forbreakfast.

A number of Priestesses looked up when she entered, but there was noparticular attention paid to Carly. Shetook a seat at an empty table and waited for an acolyte to dutifully serve her,which of course did not take long. Carly was sipping a glass of water and about to bite into some breadwhen she heard a voice behind her.

“Revan does indeed work in mysterious ways, Priestess Carly.” Carlyturned to see Priestess Eliza, one of the more senior members of the church,standing behind her. She was about torespond when the other woman raised a hand. “Do not feel you need to explain yourself, my sister. I will arrange for your belongings to beplaced in a room more suited to your position, and I am sure we will talk soon.”Priestess Eliza smiled warmly. “Welcomeback. We are truly blessed this day.”

Carly almost glowed with pride, and she received some encouragingglances from other Priestesses. Priestess Eliza turned and left, the smile still on her face.

For the next two days Carly spent most of her time discussing herrecent experiences with a large number of other Priestesses, all of whom werefascinated that her Test had not involved any of the usualactivities. The one Priestess of noteshe did not meet was Thereza, whose business in the south clearly had notconcluded. For the remaining time shesettled into her new room, which was more than double the size of her previousone, with ornate furniture and a large bookcase which held the texts she hadacquired during her studies. She alsonoted that the bookcase had considerably more capacity, which indicated that aPriestesses’ studies did not stop just because she had passed her Test. On the third morning the thought of studiesmade Carly consider visiting the temple library, and with it Priestess Elspeth;she had made a mental note to discuss what she saw in the ancient text inSurian with the old woman. Deciding thatwas a more constructive use of her time, Carly finished her morning prayers,left her room, and walked briskly towards the library. She was about to push open one of the largedoors when a voice caught her attention. “Priestess Carly?” Carly turned around to see acolyte Susan.

“Yes, acolyte?”

Susan bowed. “I have been askedto pass on a message to you, Priestess. Priestess Eliza would like to speak with you.”

“Of course. Thank you forpassing on the message.”

Susan rose from her bow, smiled briefly, and turned and left.

Carly immediately left the library entrance and made the short walk toPriestess Eliza’s chambers. EveryPriestess knew that when a senior member of the clergy asked for you, youdidn’t need to ask if it was urgent.

Outside Priestess Eliza’s door, Carly paused before knocking. Until recently she had only spoken toPriestess Eliza once, and that was to take an order as an acolyte. Meeting her when she had returned as aPriestess had boosted Carly’s confidence, but being summoned to Eliza’s officewas a different matter entirely. Carlycomposed herself, and knocked. A fewseconds later she heard Eliza’s confident voice. “Enter.”

Carly opened the door to reveal an extensive office, which was at leastthree times bigger than her own room. The walls were lined with bookcases, which in turn were crammed withtexts. Carly silently wondered if therewere items there that were never returned to the library, those that were forthe eyes of only the most senior of the clergy. The desk in front of her was of the highest quality, as were thecurtains around the ornate window, and the other furniture. Eliza was sat behind the desk and brieflylooked up from the papers in front of her. “Please, Priestess Carly. Closethe door behind you and take a seat.” Eliza’s tone was business-like, and there was no smile that time.

Carly smiled meekly, closed the door, and sat down at one of the threechairs facing the desk. For five moreminutes Eliza read in silence, until there was a knock at the door; Eliza didnot look up. “Enter.” Moments later thedoor opened once more, and Carly turned to see another Priestess, one she didnot recognise.

“Ah, Priestess Catherine. Please, close the door behind you and take a seat.” The other Priestess dutifully did as she wasasked, while Eliza continued reading.

During the next few minutes the two other Priestesses exchanged theoccasional glance. Priestess Catherinescowled on more than one occasion, at what Carly hoped was the delay. Catherine was a tall, elegant looking woman,with long blonde hair that was neatly tied back, and a square frame. Her blue eyes had a challenging glint inthem, and she had a square jaw. Some menwould no doubt have considered her beautiful, although even if she was a tavernwench Carly suspected most would not dare cross her.

Eliza looked up from her desk and sat forward in her chair, thenaddressed Catherine. “PriestessCatherine, it is a pleasure to welcome you to Crossmoor.” Catherine inclined her head, before Elizacontinued. “I have read your report, andmust admit it makes me sad that our way of life has sunk to such appallingdepths. I am, however, glad you broughtit to my attention as it must be stopped.”

Catherine nodded in agreement. “I agree, Priestess Eliza. It must be stopped at all costs.” There was an edge to Catherine’s voice, andCarly suspected the other Priestesses’ involvement was more than justprofessional.

Eliza paused for a moment, studied Catherine, then addressedCarly. “Priestess Carly, I would likeyou to accompany Priestess Catherine and investigate this matter further. Priestess Catherine will brief you on thedetails.” Eliza put the report to one side and took another document from apile of papers on her desk. Catherine,who was clearly more versed in the ways of senior Priestesses, rose immediatelyand left the room, which triggered Carly to do the same.

Catherine was already striding towards the rear of the temple whenCarly left Eliza’s chambers and the smaller woman almost had to run to catchup. When Carly reached Catherine’sshoulder the other Priestess kept the conversation brief. “We haven’t much time if we are to interceptthem, so I suggest we gather our mounts and leave immediately. I will brief you as we ride.”

Carly tried to keep herself composed. “Of course.”

What felt like moments later the two women were in the temple stables,where Catherine released her grey mare and mounted immediately. Carly looked around for the horse she hadridden rather clumsily back to Crossmoor three days ago. Fortunately for her, a stable boy recognisedher and brought her horse with him. Carly found time to say a brief prayer of thanks for the boy, quickly mountedand reached the gate just as Catherine was outside the temple and gatheringspeed. While she prayed she would handlethe horse better than last time, Carly kicked her heels and spurred on hermount.

They rode north for nearly three hours without so much of a word inconversation, and Carly was at least ten horse lengths behind her fellowPriestess, who rode effortlessly. Carly did handle the horse better than the last time, but notby much. By the time Catherine slowedher mount down to allow Carly to catch up, the younger Priestess was exhaustedand very sore. Catherine, seeminglyoblivious to her companion’s discomfort, finally started to talk as they rodeat a more sedate pace. “By mycalculations the caravan will be arriving north of here shortly.”

Carly took the time to notice that the road they had been ridingappeared to join another road a few hundred yards ahead. “Priestess Catherine, what is this caravan carrying or doing?”

Catherine’s reaction was intense, and her attractive face grew fierce;it was the first time Carly had seen a Priestess behave in that manner. “Slavers. A contact of mine warned me about them when I was this side of Surian,and I rode immediately to intercept them. I didn’t have time to go back to the temple there to ask for help, so Icame via Crossmoor.”

Carly suddenly had an image of Catherine riding the entire distancebetween Surian and Crossmoor without rest, and despite her better judgementcouldn’t dismiss it. “If you do not mindme asking, how do you know they will be coming here?”

Catherine’s face changed immediately, and the angry expression wasreplaced with one of serenity. “He gives me guidance.” It was anenigmatic response, but not an uncommon one for those in the clergy.

Carly nodded, and recalled her own experience with the bandits whenthey were pursuing Lia’s abductors. Shenodded and smiled briefly. “That is good enough for me, Priestess. Do we wait here until they arrive?”

Catherine shook her head and her expression grew fierce again. “We ride out and meet them. He would expect nothing less. Arezans of this nature have no business inSuria, and we will first ask them to free any captives before escorting themback to where they came from.”

Carly resisted the urge to swallow, and Catherine appeared to noticeher apprehension. Her expressionsoftened and she placed a hand on Carly’s arm. “Revan guides our hands and minds this day, and we will achieve our goaland protect His lands and followers. Stay true to Him and we will turn these fiends back.” She looked aheadto the fork in the road. “Come, let usmove.”

After turning west at the fork they reached the top of a hill, wherethey could see for miles around. WhileCarly admired the view, Catherine almost immediately caught sight of theirquarry. “There!” She pointed directlywest to a relatively slow moving group of objects, approximately a mileaway. Without pausing, she kicked herhorse ahead to a gallop, which forced Carly to do the same. Inevitably the distance between the twoincreased, and Catherine arrived at the caravan and stopped to engage beforeCarly caught up.

A man was shaking his head in response to something Catherine hadsaid. “With respect, Priestess, mycompanions and I do not recognise Revan’s law.” Carly noticed that behind the man there were six men on horses, allarmed, followed by a number of reasonably tall wagons, which were covered withtarpaulins. At the side of each wagonwere further armed men.

Something had clearly irked Catherine. “But you are native to these lands! How can you not recognise His law?”

The man shrugged. “We are moreinterested in our own profits than any law. Times are changing.”

Catherine almost stood up in the saddle. “We were going to free any prisoners you haveand send you back to Areza, but as you are native to these lands we are forcedto take more severe action. By Revan’sorder, you are placed under arrest until we can escort you to the watch inCrossmoor. Lay down your arms.”

The man shook his head. “You areoutnumbered, Priestess.” He lookedbriefly at Carly. “I suggest you takeyour little friend and go back to Crossmoor yourselves. Tell the watch we don’t recognise their laweither.”

Carly nudged her mount forward; she was offended by his description anddetermined to justify her position. “Sir, the Priestess does not jest. Please, put down your arms; we do not wish to be forced to takeunnecessary action.”

The man’s expression hardened. “We will pass, Priestess. Words mean nothing to us.” Hedrew his sword, which prompted the other men to do the same.

Carly’s heart jumped, and her horse, which seemed to sense her anxiety,took a few steps back. Catherine,however, stood resolute. “You will notharm us, and I forbid you from taking any more innocents against theirwill.” She gestured towards the head ofthe caravan, who yelped in pain and dropped his sword to the ground. He then shook his hand in agony.

Catherine looked towards the six riders behind him. “Does anyone else want to challenge us, orwill you drop your weapons of your own accord?”

One of the men answered by throwing a knife in the Priestessesdirection, which made Carly gasp involuntarily; Catherine’s face remainedimpassive, however, and the blade hit an invisible shield and fell to the floor. Suddenly all of the armed men in the caravancalled out, as their blades suddenly became unbearably hot, and they wereforced to drop them. Some of the men atthe back of the caravan immediately turned their mounts around and fled, butthe leader and the entourage at the front did not. Carly suddenly saw two men to the east, nomore than thirty yards away. Both heldbows, and aimed them at Catherine. Theyboth loosened arrows, and Carly had a feeling that Catherine’s shield wasn’t formed at the sides.

“No!” Carly shouted instinctively, and held up her left hand at thesame time. The arrows were completelydestroyed before they reached Catherine. A moment later, both men were hurled through the air, and landed atleast ten horse lengths from where they were standing. Neither man rose. Carly exhaled and turned to Catherine, wholooked shocked for a brief moment, before she recovered and turned back to thecaravan leader. “Order your men, all of them, to show themselves and to drop their weapons. We do not wish to cause further injury, butwe cannot be held responsible for our actions should we be forced to defendourselves again.”

That time the leader dismounted, and threw his remaining weapons to theground. The men behind him did thesame. Catherine nodded, rode around tothe left of the caravan and pulled up one of the tarpaulins. The cage underneath was empty. Moments later the leader and all of hisremaining men were locked within, and Catherine held the key. She then rode the length of the caravan,which had six wagons in total and checked them. The three wagons to the rear were all crammed with people, who, whenuncovered, shouted for aid.

“Silence!” Catherine’s voice seemed to be amplified, and suddenly therewas complete quiet. She lowered hervoice and continued. “You will all befreed in time, and we will ensure your journey to Crossmoor, where you will becared for at the Temple of Revan, is ascomfortable as possible. We are lessthan a day’s travel from Crossmoor, so freedom will soon be yours.” Some people cheered, some wept.

Both Priestesses agreed that the captives needed to spend time out ofthe cages to recuperate, which allowed Catherine and Carly to tend to injuriesas best they could. They then utilisedthe two spare cages to provide more comfortable travelling conditions for thejourney back to Crossmoor. It was onlywhen the last of the cages were being filled that Carly noticed a young man, aboutsix feet tall, fairly slim, with sandy coloured hair. He had filthy clothes and was sporting anasty bruise on his face. “Olbane? Olbane!”

The young manlooked up and walked towards her, then threw his arms around her. “Carly! You don’t know how good it is to see you!”

Carly flushed,then gently pulled herself away and looked him up and down. “Are you wounded?”

Olbane grinnedand gingerly touched his face. “Only myego, Carly. I have no injuries that needspecial treatment.”

“What happened? How did you endup being captured, and where are Lia and Michael?”

Olbane’s expression grew dark and he looked uncomfortable. “My attempt to bring Black to justice did notturn out as I planned. I ran intotrouble, and events forced me to leave Surian.”

Carly frowned. “Whattrouble? Did the slavers have the nerveto go through Surian?” The expression on Carly’s face was incredulous.

“No. I headed north once I leftSurian, and came across the caravan there. I was still angry at my failure, and decided to take matters into my ownhands and free the prisoners.” Olbanelooked down to the ground. “I wascaptured.”

Carly reached out and touched him on the shoulder. “It was a noble thing you did, and withoutregard for your own safety. I am gladCatherine and I were able to help you and the others.”

A sad smile came across his face. “Not as much as I am. I have noidea where they were taking us, but I had all but given up hope.”

“They at least will not harm again, but I am disturbed to know that ourown countrymen have taken to slavery. This is something I will report to my superiors back in Crossmoor. I am sure they will deal with it.”

Olbane patted his jacket pocket. “Well, I still have the evidence, despite everything thathappened.” Olbane paused and lookedCarly up and down. “So you are aPriestess!”

Carly smiled briefly. “You wereright, as usual.” Her expression grew serious. “Olbane, I must know; where areLia and Michael?”

Olbane looked away. “I don’tknow.”

Carly sensed Olbane didn’t want to tell her what had happened, so shedecided to leave it for the time being. “We can talk more in Crossmoor.” She had the urge to touch Olbane, and raised a hand to his bruisedface. A moment later, the bruisedisappeared. When she saw it happening,Carly almost jumped, and took a step back.

Olbane rubbed his face and smiled, this time a more natural one. “Praise Revan; it appears He chose wiselywhen he guided you, Carly. May He alwaysbless you and keep you close.”

*

Lia awoke, and blinked at the sunlight shining through the window. She sat up quickly and realised she had noidea where she was or how she got there. The room was small, most likely in an inn. She slid out of the bed, and noticed she wasfully clothed, although in a light brown knee length dress. Lia looked towards the closed door, and wassuddenly frightened to open it. It wasat that moment she remembered: Michael was dead, murdered by the guards at thathouse Olbane had taken them to. She hadescaped, although all she could remember was one image: fire. She also had no idea what had happened to Olbane;was he also dead? Lia sat down again,and ran the events through her head. Michael, whose a love she had rejected, had died to save her. Everyone who had ever loved her wasdead. Lia lay down on the bed and criedlike she never had before, and where she was or how she had got there were nolonger important to her.

Some time later, Lia awoke again; from the lack of light from thewindow, dusk was fast approaching. Asshe sat up, there was a knock at the door. Suddenly very frightened, Lia brought her knees up to her body andhugged them. A few moments later, therewas another knock. “Lia? May I come in?” It was a voice that was somehow familiar.

“Who… who is it?” Lia silently cursed herself for sounding so weak.

“A friend; the person who found you two days ago and brought youhere. You must be hungry, and I havesomething to eat here. May I enter?”

“Where am I?” Lia wanted more information.

“In an inn, just on the north border of Surian. We didn’t travel far once I found you; youneeded rest.”

The voice sounded caring, but Lia still wasn’t sure who it was. “What is your name?”

“It is I, Rastlin.”

Rastlin. The man whoorchestrated her kidnap and the murder of her parents. The man who had destroyed her life. “Get away from me! You took away everything that was dear tome!”

The voice paused. “Lia, I meanyou no harm, I never have. We need totalk, but not through a door. I willleave the food outside the room; please, take it, and I will be waiting for youwhenever you are ready. Take as long asyou need.” Lia heard soft footsteps away from the door.

Later, hunger got the better of her and Lia took the meal, whichconsidering how famished she was tasted as if Revan Himself had preparedit. Once she had finished eating, shethought of Rastlin again. Considering hewas a murderer, there was something strangely comforting about his presence,and despite the situation they had been in he had usually treated her withrespect. Lia recalled the words he hadused when they last parted: Remember,follow your heart. She realised could not stay in the roomforever, and went to the window, where she was relieved to note she was only onthe first floor. If she could use thebedclothes as a rope, she could escape and be back within Surian quickly, whichwould have made it almost impossible for him to replace her again. She could even take refuge at the Temple of Revan; she hoped that Carly was stillthere.

Lia stripped the bed, tied the bedclothes together as best she could,and made a crude knot around the bedpost closest to the window. She threw the makeshift rope out of thewindow and delicately climbed out. Thesupport held, and within a minute Lia was down on the ground. She instinctively grabbed the arm of thefirst passerby, who turned to look at her angrily. Before he could speak, Lia blurted out herquestion breathlessly. “Which is thequickest way to the Temple of Revan?”

The man shook her arm off and grunted. “You are lucky I don’t report you to the watch, jumping out of a windowand assaulting me!”

Lia was close to tears. “Please. I need help.”

The man’s expression changed, and he gestured to the south. “That way, but you won’t make it there bynightfall on foot.”

As long as she was moving, that was good enough for Lia. She ran.

*

It was late evening when the caravan arrived at the Temple of Revanin Crossmoor. It had been a painfullyslow journey, but both Priestesses agreed that some of the hundred or so theprisoners were in no condition to be transported any faster. Once they arrived, Catherine immediatelysummoned the watch, who in a no-nonsense manner took the slavers intocustody. Carly was relieved to be freeof the evil men, and had found the journey back very stressful. Catherine, on the other hand, had rode at thehead of the caravan in a regal manner, with a contented smile on her face.

Once the men were dealt with, other Priestesses appeared and led theformer captives inside, and within minutes three makeshift infirmaries had beenconstructed in various places within the temple. Those that were uninjured were led to innswhere they could rest, and the remainder received treatment. Carly instinctively followed the otherPriestesses, but Catherine caught the sleeve of her robe. “Priestess Carly, we should report toPriestess Eliza immediately.”

Carly turned around and nodded. “Of course. Please, follow me.”Being the resident Priestess it was Carly’s responsibility to lead. She took a few moments to compose herself andrecall which way Priestess Eliza’s chambers were, then led Catherine along theshort walk.

Eliza’s door was open, which Carly believed was an unusualoccurrence. “Come in, Priestesses. I have been expecting you.”

Carly led the way, followed by Catherine. Eliza was sat at her desk, once again with ina pile of documents. “Please, take aseat, and tell me what you know.”

Catherine didn’t waste the opportunity. “It is as we expected, Priestess Eliza: slavers. They had over a hundred innocent soulscaptive, some of them wounded. All ofthe captives appear to be Surian, and Priestess Carly and I had little troubleliberating them.” Catherine paused, and her expression was anguished; Carlyknew why. “The slavers are from Suria,Priestess Eliza.” Catherine didn’t elaborate.

Eliza’s expression remained impassive. “That is most disturbing. Despitethe indiscretions of our neighbours to the east, Suria has always maintained alevel of ethical standards that has abhorred practices such as slavery, whichhas meant it hasn’t needed to be policed. It appears that situation has changed.” She looked back across the desk at Catherine. “Priestess Catherine, do you have any reasonto believe these men are part of a wider organisation?”

Catherine shook her head. “To behonest, no. Although when we were alertedto their presence in Surian, I didn’t have time to do any research. I think it is fair to say, however, that weweren’t aware of any activity in Suria that didn’t involve Arezans.”

Carly raised her hand and Eliza smiled at her. “Yes, Priestess Carly.”

The youngest Priestess cleared her throat. “Priestess Eliza, you are aware of thecircumstances of my Test?”

The other nodded. “Yes I am.”

“During my Test I met a young man, Olbane Jonson. He was carrying evidence of merchants inSusanon being involved in slavery. Whatis more, he happened to be a captive on this slave caravan. I believe he is still carrying that evidence.”

Catherine looked interested. “Ishe still here? His evidence, along withwhatever the imprisoned slavers may tell us, might hold the key to replaceing outwho is behind this evil practice.”

Eliza looked sceptical but nodded. “So be it. Priestess Carly,assuming Olbane Jonson is still here, please ensure we have his fullco-operation.”

Carly nodded. “That will not bea problem, Priestess. Olbane wantsnothing more than to see this stopped.”

*

It was late when the innkeeper heard the banging on the door, which wasincessant. “Alright, alright! Don’t you know what time it is?” He openedthe door to reveal a young woman, whose features were obscured in theshadows. The young woman walkedstraight inside, and didn’t stop until she was near to the fireplace, which wasstill lit. In a chair next to thefireplace sat a figure. It was the youngwoman who spoke first. “Despite wantingto run away, I couldn’t.”

The man stood up. “That isbecause it is your destiny to be with me, Lia. I no longer need to pursue you.” Lia started to speak but Rastlin held a hand up. “The hour is late; go and get some rest, andwe will talk on the way in the morning.”

“Where are we going?”

Rastlin smiled. “Home.”