A Wolf's Faith

The duke's ranger stares icy daggers at me, fists raised. He shuffles in place, ready to counter any attack I throw. Probably a mistake on his part. I have deceptively long arms. Not to mention the sand hidden between my fingers.

I wind my fist back preparing for a powerful punch. He goes to counter it and is met with a blast of sand to the face. He backs off and I peruse, unleashing a flurry of attacks he only manages to partly block.
He clears the sand from his eyes and goes on the offensive. I dance around him, using my reach advantage to throw out jabs. He catches my arm and throws his elbow at me.

Our elbows crash into each other's faces as he tosses me over his shoulder. I slam into the dirt and in an instant, he's straddling me and driving his fist into my face. I block strike after strike, desperately throwing out what I can.

"Enough!"
With Andre's command, the ranger and I stopped wailing on each other. Andre slowly walks over to us and crouches down to talk to me. "Do you know how you ended up here?"

"My opponent is better fed, better trained, more experienced?"

"You didn't capitalize on your sand trick. You threw out punches, instead of driving him to the ground. You need to restrain him, not pummel each other! Again!"

Oh yeah. Forgot about that. My sparring partner shoves himself off me, and we square off again.

Andre decided the eclipse rangers needed to learn unarmed combat to apprehend unarmed criminals. Plus his men needed to touch up on their brawling skills. Naz, Maheed, and I have been sparring with some of the newer duke's rangers while Wal has been fighting off entire groups of them at once. Even when the duke's men are given clubs, Wal still wipes the floor with them. He may be an insufferable bastard, but he's a damn good fighter.

Naz has apparently gone through quite a few brawls in his day, so he ends up teaching the duke's men a few things. Maheed on the other hand... I don't think he has the strength necessary for unarmed combat. We'll just have to hope he never gets unarmed.

After quite a few matches, a face I'd hoped never to see again comes marching through our training grounds. All the duke's men, stop and bend a knee to Stoler as he makes his way to us.  Andre groans. "Ah, the chosen of Sol. What does the temple want with me now?"

Stoler only holds up a hand. "I only came to witness the eclipse's progress."
He turns to me. "Have you learned the prayers yet?"

Naz comes jogging by and answers for me. "Aye. Last night, we did. Not all of 'em mind you, just the ones you suggested."

Stoler's face contorts into a sad frown and he nods, almost disappointed. He spoke more slowly. "I assume this was after you had to take a life?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Naz and Maheed whip their heads around to face me, surprised by the news. Reluctantly, I answer, "Yes, it was."

He nods again, before addressing the others. "I heard the reports from the squad leaders. The public is pleased to have the eclipse rangers patrolling the streets. You all behaved in a way befitting the temple and her highness, so for that I must thank you."
His attention falls vaguely on Maheed. "Maheed. If you would, I'd like a word with you."

Surprised by the sudden request, Maheed looks to me for answers for some reason. I nod and gesture towards Stoler, giving him the go ahead. They walk off towards the other side of the yard just out of my earshot.
With a sigh, Andre orders the sparing to continue, although Maheed's partner ganged up on me. Andre allowed it, claiming I'd need to fight against uneven odds sooner or later. I suppose I can't argue with that.

After a long conversation, Stoler would return and ask for Naz. Then Wal. And finally me. I see I'm last again. Waking away from his conversation with Wal, Stoler wears a positive expression that immediately turns sour as he shouts, "Kar'Desh. You know the drill."

I sigh and groan as I break away from my fight to follow him. "Here to interrogate me again?"

"Would it work?"

"Maybe if you were really scary, I'd tell you what you want to hear."
He grunts, unimpressed with my sarcasm. What a boring reaction. I press on by asking, "What are you doing back? I had thought you were on a quest."

"I was. I'm confident my sister can overcome any surprises beasts might throw at her."

Sister? Oh right, the other blindfolded prick. I laugh and mock, "Leaving your sister to the wolves? That's cold."
He stares straight ahead and keeps marching. At least get annoyed. I follow him to the castle gates and stop as he continues out towards the city. "You didn't take the others this far. You're not going to kill me for wandering the city without my chain, are you?"

"Only if you run."

Ugh, fine. I jog to catch up to him and ask, "So where are we going?"

"The lesser temple near New Town."

Another terse answer. I guess he's on his period. The rest of the walk is spent in silence. We receive curious stares from any passerbys and plenty of hushed speculation as we make our way through the streets. Stoler pays it no mind, so neither do I.

Eventually, we reach the temple. It doesn't fall in the borders of New Town, but I could always see it from anywhere within the town thanks to the bell tower flying Sol's banners at all times. Despite it's small size, it remains the most impressive building until the noble's houses halfway across the city.
Stoler takes me through the side entrance which doubles as a barracks for the templars. Only the cook and the maid occupy any of the empty seats and offer friendly greetings to Stoler. The templars are likely out on errands right now. Stoler leads me through the main gathering hall, to behind the priest's speaking podium, and down a flight of stairs. 

We walk into a circular room with dead elves laid on tables. Their bodies are currently being cleaned by who I assume is the mortician. Stoler finally speaks. "This is where we take anyone killed by our templars."

"Why are we here Stoler?"

He walks slowly towards the bodies and studies each face. "Do you recognize the one you killed?"

Reluctantly, I join him in studying the faces. I stare uncomfortably at each elf, dreading the moment when I finally find him.

"Here. This is him."
Green eyes that have been torched into my memory hang open, forever contorted in fear. The fear that curses and begs me, boring deep into my soul.

I shake my head, washing the image away to reveal reality. Jaleer lays there like the others, with an almost peaceful expression. 

Stoler asks softly. "Do the elves have any prayers for the dead?"

I turn to him, confused. "Of course, why?"

His blindfold turn to face me. "Do you know them?"

"I do, but they're not supposed to be said without the accompanying ritual. If you're looking to give them an elevn burial, you should hand them over to New Town."

He nods like he understands before clasping his hands together in prayer. He then chants in what I assume is Swaylish.

He falls silent, but maintains the position. What's he doing? I suppose I should remain quiet for now. After a minute, Stoler finally lets his hands down and I ask, "What was that about? Did you figure it would be too much work to give the bodies back?"

He smiles slightly, while staring at the ground. "They would be happier receiving an elvish send off. I merely prayed for their safe passage to your lords."
His smile quickly fades as he turns to face me in earnest, his rosy armour adding superfluous bulk to his frame. "You once told me you're not loyal to absent gods. Does that mean you reject the lords?"

What does he mean? After a moment of contemplating his question, I answer. "Don't misunderstand, the lords are very real. They're simply no lords of mine."

He asks, "Then what about the human gods?"

I shrug. "What about them? They're merely renamed versions of the lords."

He puts a hand to his chin and says, "I haven't heard that argument before. Most scholars I've spoken too just assume humans and elves worship the same things. Some believe both exist, just for either species."

This is perfect. I can plant the seeds of doubt and I don't even have to lie. Stoler has played right into my hand. I wave my hand towards a bench on the wall. "Should we sit? This might take a while."
He nods, so I explain on our way over, "From what Naz read, Sol seems like a cross between the lords of Sun, War, and Justice. He favours violence, but asks you never seek it? He condemns any who oppose him and his temple, yet eagerly accepts them regardless?"

He leans in and asks, "How does that support your theory?"

It annoys me he's calling it a 'theory,' but at least he's engaging. "Individually, they're just contradictory coincidence. But when you combine that with the passage for, 'to obey my temple is to obey me,' things become more clear. It has been taken word for word from the Sluth'nell, the lord of Sun's prayer book."

The mortician joins in from across the room. "Chosen of Sol, why do you permit this blasphemy to continue?"

Stoler holds up a hand to quiet him. Good. "Did you tell that to the other rangers?"

"They refused to listen to it."

"I picked out those passages for Naz to read because those are a few I believe have been altered. I was hoping the other eclipse rangers would come to the same conclusion you did, but only Wal seemed to notice. Naz simply told me what he thinks I wanted to hear, and Maheed wasn't sure about anything."
Wait, altered? Though I can't see his eyes, I can tell he's staring at me intently. "Would you believe me if I told you that I've read texts from other religions? Before I lost my sight of course. After extensive studying, my father and I began to lose faith. 'What if everything we've ever known is a lie.' But father never lost his way. He dug deeper."
Stoler lowered his voice to appear more intense. "He found our holy book had been tampered with. Armed with that knowledge, he set out on a quest towards Suul, Sol's holy city."

The mortician asks the same questions I have. "Tampered? What's been changed? By who? When?"

Stoler kept his sightless gaze on me. "That's what he aimed to find out. I begged to go with him, but he needed me here to uphold his duties. I can't sit by and allow father to do all the work however. I aim to find out what I can from here. My faith my be restored, but it remains challenged."

That doesn't make any sense. "How did your book getting changed restore your faith?"

He smiles. "Because it means Sol isn't just an amalgamation of the lords. Because it means all the evil done in Sol's name isn't Sol's will."

"But you don't know what's changed. It could be, that all the 'evil' you're talking about is what remained unchanged."

He lightly laughs. "I doubt the whole world would worship an evil god. But on the off chance that is the case, then I will find a new cause to serve. My father and I will bring justice to the whole order if we have to."

"Whose justice, Stoler? Because this?"
I gesture towards the elves. "Could never be considered justice."

"I'm not as blind as you would believe. I can see cruelty when it's served and corruption lurking just about everywhere."
He taps his blindfold. "This is merely to fool the corruption."
Is that supposed to be a metaphor?

"Then why tell me all this? I thought, to you, I looked like the epitome of malice and evil."

"Because you are a product of the temple's corruption. Though, I'm not sure you can be cleansed and even now I have to resist the urge to slay you, I will try my damnest to save you. My father would do no less."
He fixes his posture and continues. "I just wanted to give you hope."

Surprised and pissed off at his declaration, I take a moment to respond. "Hope? Hope for what? That you might fix some of the temple's corruption? Whoopty fuckin' doo! The only thing I need 'saving' from is you, Stoler."
Calm down, I'm getting too angry. I stand from the bench to break the conversation off. "Her majesty has already saved me and given me all the hope I need. You're my jailer and interrogator. Don't try to be my 'saviour' too."

He almost looks sad staring at my previous spot on the bench. "Your resentment runs far deeper than just for me or the order doesn't it? I pity you Kar'Desh. Don't do anything stupid, forcing me to put you down, alright?"

I feel annoyance contort my face further before I say, "We've used up enough time haven't we? Allow me return to training."

He stands and chants, "One moment," before marching towards the mortician and covering his tracks. He asks the old man to keep this a secret and turns the whole ordeal into a lesson of trust from the book of Sol. After consoling the old man and replacing his trust for the temple into trust for Stoler, he asks the mortician to prepare the elves for transport. The old man offers his acknowledgment and Stoler turns to me.
"Let's go."

Finally. I can't help but fume as we make our way out of the cellar and into the chapel. This arrogant prick. He's acting like I'm some sort of lost lamb in need of a shepherd. Fuck, that annoys me. Not to mention because of his moronic idea, it's wasted my time. I won't let this conversion end with nothing to show for it.

Just as we exit the barracks, I shield my eyes from the blinding Sun and ask, "If I may Stoler. Her majesty must request absolution by combat for releasing us, yes? I wanted to ask when and what her trial will be."

Out of the corner of my eye, I see him glance at me skeptically. "What business of it is yours?"

"I thought that would be obvious. I would like to join her to ensure no harm comes to her. I'm asking you because I know you're the only person who'll oppose the idea."

He grunts in thought. A moment later he smirks. "How could I refuse a pack of loyal dogs serving their master? Today, the princess of Solaris and her rangers will overtake the duties of the chosen of Sol."

"Mhm... Wait. Are you just getting us to do your dirty work?"

"As much as the idea amuses me, I have actual reason for sending you on this task. Lucky you. You'll have a perfect chance to prove your loyalty. Who knows? You might even fool me if your acting is good enough."

Tsk. "I don't need to prove myself to you."