A Codex of Heresies

That night I was curious about how far S-rank strength could take me.

Since my first escape attempt had failed the moment I opened the door, I had to resort to one of two other exits: the chimney, or the window. I doubted they would have the same enchantment laid upon them, although, if Javier had warned them of my tricks he would render most of my subterfuge worthless. Still, I had to try.

By virtue of being hot and soot filled, I ruled out the chimney, and so I decided to try the window. Technically it was an arrow-slit, only a few inches wide and a couple feet tall, just enough to let an archer or crossbowman fire out of the window while minimizing return fire. I would need to make an exit. And so I tried tearing apart solid stone, and found to my surprise it yielded like styrofoam. The only problem I noticed was that the coarseness of the stone and brick was tearing away my skin and leaving cuts all over my hands, but otherwise I saw no other damage done. The HP on my status screen didn’t even register it as damage.It was quieter than I thought too, although it was probably helped by the powerful winds howling through my newly expanded window.

A little pulling later, and I had wretched a good deal of masonry free from their mortar, and made a hole just large enough to escape. The wind was somewhat strong that night, but I had the overwhelming strength to hang on no matter the gale. Truthfully my strength was so great that I didn't need to find a handhold, I could simply stab my fingers into stone and mortar like grasping at thick mud and cling to the wall. It caused some small debris and flakes to fall to the distant ground some seven or so stories below, but no one seemed to pay it any mind. Must have been the wind.

I crawled along the exterior, looking for a battlement or balcony to re-enter through. Once found, and determined to be free of any sentries, I made my way in and began my search. Escape was not my mission this time. Delivering this book was.

I still had no idea what it contained, I only remember that I was told that it held the completed heretical prophecies of the great sage of the Stone Solari. Paladin Taresa would find it an interesting document, and I hoped that I could parlay it into my freedom, and my revenge.

I found Taresa's room, only to find it unlocked and empty. Following her scent down to the third floor, I found her slinking into one of the offices. Confident that she had stepped in and closed the door, I approached and looked in through the keyhole. She had lifted her cloak to reveal the small lantern she had been carrying and began to rifle through whatever she could find- books, chests, scrolls, anything that could carry some information.

Wondering if the paladin had ever been a diplomat at all, or merely a spy seeking to gain access, I continued to watch as she carefully went through all the records she found and discovered nothing of value. She then meticulously returned everything she’d disturbed to where she’d found it, and went for the door. Sprinting into the shadows just around the corner, I watched as she hesitantly slipped the door open, and then moved on to the next office just down way.

My continued observations were interrupted by a nightwatchman doing their patrols through the hall, never aware that either Taresa or I were even there. It took me circling around the perimeter of the third floor and hanging off a balcony battlement to finally escape the sentry. From my observations, there were actually two of them on this floor, performing a clockwise, predictable patrol.

Considering the circumstances, I decided to pillage the armory once more, only this time fetching myself a broadsword and a girdle from which to fasten it over my back, for it was too long and unwieldy to hang at my waist. A satchel with some basic supplies, such as a climbing kit, lantern oil, a torch, a tinderbox and whatever other miscellaneous equipment I might want. In the best case scenario, I wouldn’t need it. In the worst, I would.

I returned to tracking Taresa to find that in the time since I’d last seen her, she had gone through another office. Watching through the keyhole of what I think was the office of the cupbearer, I watched her continue to search aimlessly. The satchel at her hip remained as empty as it was when she began, and her face betrayed a hint of worry. Despite all her digging, she had yet to find something, whatever it was she was looking for.

Considering the possibility of interrupting her to strike up a deal or some kind of partnership, I thought better of it. Just as I did not trust the Stone Solari, I had no knowledge of Princess Elvira, or the Kingdom of Hyraxia beyond what little Missol and Adelbardo had mentioned. None of which were good, if my memory served. Not that I needed much convincing- my memories of earth held a deep disdain and distrust of authority figures. For all the evil they had committed, Missol and Adelbardo struck me as sincere people, while it was not hard to assume that a literal princess or monarch wouldn’t be afraid to betray me for no reason at all.

Still, I did want to see what tricks this woman had up her sleeves. Assuming that she was meticulously checking every office, I found the next one in order and gently opened it. As gently as I could, anyway. I had no lockpicking abilities after all, only my brute strength and a will to destroy. The simple locking mechanism broke at my strength and allowed me entry, where I left the tome of heresies on the table.

Truthfully, I didn’t even know what the book even said, as I couldn’t read. All I could recall was the psychotic glee that Sister Helvyre expressed as she went over its details. It was like an insane bible study, where she’d point out a passage as proof of how everyone was going to die. I only hoped that it had what she said it had. The real point was to see how she reacted, as it wouldn’t be much trouble to steal it from her later if her having it was too troublesome.

Fleeing down the hall and around a corner, taking special care to avoid being noticed by the rotating sentries, I watched hidden in an alcove, just behind a statue of some saint or prophet or other holy man. Taresa emerged back into the hallway, silently creeping forward and towards the next room. I realized that she probably had night blindness from using a lamp, but she was still navigating smoothly and silently regardless. Eventually she found her way to the next office, and I could see the surprise on her face and opened the door without resistance. Softly closing it, I could hear the rasp of a latch shutting the room.

Taking my chance, I went back up to the door and continued to observe her through the keyhole. She had immediately went for the book on the desk, and it was something of a treat to see her face morph from panicked concern to shock, and then smiling certainty. Contrary to what the Stone Solari were implying to me, it looked like other people did know that something was amiss with their little monastery in the middle of nowhere, and were looking for proof of the matter.

Dutifully she continued to excavate every book, scroll, chest, basket, and drawer she could find. Predictably, she found nothing. It would be pointless and foolish for any sort of secret society to leave their manual out in the open and in their secular spaces. Her spycraft would be better served by looking on the fourth and fifth floors, but I had a feeling that they were too heavily guarded or warded for her inspection. Granted, I suppose that’s how desperate they were for some sort of evidence.

Finishing her investigation, Taresa once again made to leave, and I swiftly hid in the deepest shadows to continue stalking her. I watched as she made her way to one of the balcony battlements and drew a dagger polished to a mirror shine. Angling it against the moon, she cast a series of messages using moonlight into the depths of the dark forest, and I was surprised to see flashes of light answer back.

Watching that direction, I saw a dark blur appear on the wall when no one was looking, and with superhuman athleticism jumped down the five stories to the courtyard. Moving so fast that I thought him merely a shadow cast by a cloud passing by the moon, I saw the dark blur run to the keep wall and begin to scale it. In mere minutes a black clad man whose features were completely encased in dark cloth appeared.

“What’s gone wrong?” He asked, his voice rough like gravel. "We've already lost three men to that demon in the woods, we can’t afford mistakes.”

“I found something.” Taresa said to the mysterious rogue,

“You were supposed to ride out through the front gate with any evidence you found. I was only to be called in the case of an emergency-”

This was the perfect time to get caught. Speeding away, I found the closest sentry and began to tap on the stone to attract his attention. After the customary ‘what was that?’ all guards were obligated to ask when encountering something in the dark, he followed my signal all the way to the balcony, where Taresa and the shadow man were continuing to argue.

“It’s their sacred codex. It has all their heresies!“ Taresa was saying as she shoved the book into the man’s hands, and the guard revealed himself just in time.

“Halt, who goes there?“ The guard yelled as he brought his lantern to bear and drew his sword. It was a shame that was all he managed to say before a dagger went flying into his chest.

"We need to go, now!“ He yelled, latching a grapple hook to the battlement wall. He then took Taresa by the waist and began rappelling down, his passenger on the verge of screaming.

Figuring that this was as good a time as any to interfere, I ran to the grapple hook and threw it off, sending the two of them screaming below. Between their screams that the reverberations of their impact across the silent night, no one could have missed it. I peaked over the edge to find the man in black and Taresa writhing in pain on the ground. They must have easily fallen three or four stories, and somehow they still lived. Then again, this was a world of swords, sorcery and superhuman ability. Maybe surviving was not that huge of a deal.

The rush of footsteps reminded me that I was not alone, and so I leapt off the balcony side and scrambled underneath. I could hear one or two men above fussing and tending to their fallen, and certainly dead, comrade, before one blew a horn that ensured that no one in the castle would be sleeping tonight. From my vantage below the balcony, I could see more shadows emerging onto the wall and leaping rushing to aid the man in black and Taresa. Carrying the fallen in teams of three, they rushed back to the wall they had just scaled. As they fled, I saw Taresa’s eyes focus on my position, and I think we made eye contact. Could she believe what she was seeing, or was she just going into shock and just happened to be staring in this direction? Whatever the case, it didn’t matter. They were probably dead like this.

Unfortunately for them, the wall had flared to life with burning brazier and torches, as several guards rushed to intercept them. With superhuman athleticism, the black clad rogues leapt back onto the wall, a handful forcing open a path while those carrying the wounded leapt into the darkness.

“What’s the situation?” I heard Missol say above me.

“The visitor and a group of unknown assailants killed Ricardo and fled. I counted around fifteen, maybe more.” A guard said as he led her to the balcony edge, “It looks like they were rappelling down from here when something happened and they fell.”

“Any sign of Loiel here?”

“Who?”

“My squire, the one from earlier today?”

“No, none.”

“Strange. Javier said that he foresaw Loiel trying to make another escape, but nothing about this… Perhaps he is wrong this time.”

“Your orders, Senora?”

“Deploy search parties. We’ll track them in the forest. Move in groups. The demon is still out there. I’ll be down shortly.”

Grunts of affirmation and the noise of salutes, followed by fading footsteps led me to believe that they had left. Now was my time.