Secrets from the Templar's Confession - Piety origin story

Secrets from the Templar's Confessional


"To forgetting,"

"Aye, to forgetting," the two pewter mugs clinked as the Templars sat in the refectory and sipped at the strong amber liquid, hoping to numb some of the horrors they had just heard in confession earlier. Neither could share of course, but the fact that someone else knew of their burdens helped a little.

"What do you suppose is the most powerful weapon," the older Templar named Salvius asked.

"The Sign of Purity," the younger Templar, Rinieri replied without hesitation.

"None stronger?" Salvius suggested.

"If you're raising the question, then obviously you know of one," Rinieri tipped his mug back and waited.

"The Truth," Salvius took a deep breath.

"Let me grab some bread and cheese for us before you start the tale, Rinieri got up, went to the cupboard and returned with the food under one arm, and the bottle of amber liquid under the other.

"I can't vouch for its authenticity of the story, but I may have taken the confession of a Harbinger" Salvius said.

Rinieri almost choked on his drink. "You heard a Harbinger speak? Where?"

Salvius nodded, then shook his head, "Not so much speak as sear the story into my mind as he died there atop the Beachhead." He took a drink, and set his mug down. "Now that we have temporarily driven them back, and the college has pooled its intellects, we now know that the harbingers aimed to change worlds to suit their whims. They had a spectacular array of powers to do this with, but the most powerful is perhaps the unvarnished truth."

Rinieri looked at him for a moment, "I supposed after telling me the tale, I won't be allowed to share it with anyone else?"

Salvius, "I'll let you be the judge of that after you hear the tale." Salvius looked off into the distance and what the Harbinger had seared into his brain was as fresh as if it had happened a minute ago....



.........................

Crimson and rust flecks spattered the white lab coat of the gangly man leading her through the bustling district. "This way if you please, your grace," Dr Kadavrus indicated a large stone building to their left.

"This hardly seems discrete, doctor," Shavronne craned her neck to glimpse the tile roof. Warehouse number thirty four looked no different than all the others that stretched as far as her eye could see.

"Night and day they are busy, and the constant stream of workers and merchants' guards keep the thieves and the curious out of the area," he replied.

As they approached the building, she noted two blue sigils on either side of the archway that seemed to glow with a light from within. "You're certain Malachai has no knowledge of these mysterious marks?" Shavronne asked.

"None, your grace. That they hold power of some kind is obvious, but of who or what we are unsure," Dr Kadavrus motioned for the guards inside the archway to stand outside. "Some speculate that there is a war going on..."

"A war, really?" Shavronne interrupted as she glided through the archway and followed the doctor.

"Yes, your grace, a war not just for our souls or our land, but for the very threads that the world is woven of," the doctor sidestepped over what was left of a gnawed leg.

"And just who is it these speculators presume is conducting this war," Shavronne asked as she lifted the hem of her houppelande to avoid tainting it with the various human detritus scattered about.

"That is unknown. The two sigils are always found in opposition, the one scribed on the left is shaped with symbols of a unifying balance, while those found on the right are archaic indeed. What elder civilization they arose from is long lost to history," the doctor weaved around a stack of barrels and headed towards the back.

She nodded her head, "I could make out symbols for fertility, sun, water, crops, death, - it does suggest something primitive and primeval."

"Your eyes are more astute than most, your grace," Dr Kadavrus replied, "Ah, here we are."

A table rose from the floor and a man like thing with a heavily bandaged face was strapped to it.

"Remarkable, I would have expected it to be more noisesome," she glided by the table, careful to keep her distance from the bright yellow, red and blue blade like claws that adorned the hands and feet.

"Those talons are exceptionally sharp, we had to paint them to make sure we didn't accidentally brush against them," the doctor moved to a cabinet where he pulled out a green vial and a long syringe. "At first we tried to control them with shock treatment, but something in the gems made them resistant, so we had to cut the vocal cords," the doctor pushed the needle into the neck of the creature and slowly pushed the plunger in.

"Them?" Shavronne felt something squish beneath her foot. "Is it really necessary to work in such decrepit conditions, Doctor?"

"Yes, to both your grace," the doctor replied, "our first experiments ended up more feral than human and howled incessantly, and as Malachai has indicated, we have little time. We must put aside our squeamishness for efficiency"

"You ran out of orphans for the experiments?" Shavronne asked

"A long time ago, your grace," the doctor pulled a large lantern from the shelf, lit the wicks, and moved it towards the creatures' face. It hissed and writhed on the table until the doctor dialed the metal shroud on the light down. "Even amongst those living in Sarn's slums there are outcasts. No one will miss them."

"That one on the floor," Shavronne pointed to another body on the floor with a bandaged head, "The markings resemble a crimson cross, while the one on the table has an almost turquoise hue saturating the bandages, why the difference"

Dr Kadavrus pointed to the one on the floor, "The same essences that cause the beasts to be undying cause them to slowly bleed from every orifice. The eyes, the mouth, the nose and of course where we lobotomized them to insert the essence.

"And the one on the table?" Shavronne asked.

"This one is special," the doctor set the lamp down. "We placed two of the Highgate crystals in his skull. One causes a fear so great that it paralyzes you with its grip. The other radiates outward and pierces the victim's mind with fear. The color is the blood seep tainted by the gems. How they will affect or be used by the creature is not yet known."

"But it can be controlled?"

"They are terrified by bright light, it burns their skin," The doctor opened the dial on the lamp's shroud so that thin beam emerged. "Now that the drug has had a chance to work, let's see what this thing can do." .

Shavronne gathered the heavy brocade of her dress and glided back away from the table. "I hope something remains of his intellect, our supply of both prisoners and gem fragments is scant."

Dr Kadavrus nodded. Careful to avoid the huge tripartite claws that had been grafted onto the wrist stumps, he unstrapped the arms and stepped back from the table. "Raise your right hand if you understand me."

They waited a minute, but nothing happened. Kadavrus shook his head, "It's no use, the brute is a dumb animal now."

"No, no," Shavronne moved closer. "Let's try something different. "Swaddle his right wrist in blue bandages and the left in red."

Kadavrus hurried to the cabinets, found some cobalt and ochre tinctures and soon had the wrists wrapped. He stepped back. "Anything else, my grace?"

Shavronne shook her head. She stood in front of the thing, "Raise the red hand if you understand me."

He raised the red hand.

"Now raise the blue hand," she said, and he did. "Unstrap its legs," she said to Kadavrus.

Dr Kadavrus complied and hastened backwards when the heavy straps were released.

"Walk towards me," Shavronne commanded.

The thing scrambled down from the table and then moved toward her with an awkward monkey like scrambling motion. Shavronne sighed. "So near and yet so far."

"The Highgate gems seem to affect far more than we can predict, your grace," Kadavrus apologized.

"If only there were a less permanent way of accessing their power," Shavronne remarked.

Dr Kadavrus replied, "There is the heredity project and the Gemling project going on near the grain gate.

Shavronne shook her head. "They will amount to nothing. Form precedes function doctor. "

"As you say, my grace," Kadavrus said, "Shall we see continue our assessment of the project in front of us, or do you wish to retire for the afternoon?"

"We have just begun, let's see what tricks he can perform," Shavronne replied.

Over the next hour they had him performing all sorts of tricks, as they tried various tests to determine what level of intellect remained.

"He's a perpetual source of amusement," Shavronne remarked.

"That would be a good name, your grace Perpetus," Kadavrus suggested.

"He's trying to say something with his talons," Shavronne watched as Perpetus gestured frantically.

"Perhaps I shouldn't have cut his vocal cords," Kadavrus remarked.

Perpetus suddenly stopped moving for a moment as it all became clear to him. He leapt through the air with a twisting motion and his claws slashed at Kadavrus as he passed in the air. When the creature turned for a second attack, the doctor had already cast a blazing orange gateway and stepped through the temporary portal.

Shavronne glided toward the fiery glyphs of the gateway when pain seared through her leg as something clamped down. She tried to ignore the pain and pull away, but she was losing too much blood. She barely managed to quaff a small flask before she fell over unconscious.

.........................

Shavronne woke with her dress torn to shreds and a soreness that indicated she had been violated. She would report this disaster to Malachai and ... No. She couldn't report anything. They might put her down, or lock her up with the other experiments in the warehouse near the grain gate. But what if she was carrying a mutant seed? Who would she claim as the father? She looked through the cabinets and found another potion and drank it down greedily.

In between bouts of self pity, Shavronne gathered enough of what remained of her dress to cover herself. During that time she came to a conclusion of what to do if she was with child. Kadavrus was unlikely to say anything, lest Malachai remove him for incompetence. If the child thing was a boy, she would name him Pious, and claim divine providence gifted her with child- it was not unheard of. On the other hand, if it was a girl, Shavronne would claim to have no knowledge of what she had done in drunken revelry. She would name the child Vinia, a gift of the vine, to be enjoyed by all. She would be given to the Theopolis Templars as a vestal virgin. They would educate and care for her until she was old enough to be rented out to fill the sacred coffers. There were worse fates, Shavronne knew.


.........................

The huge south facing window of the temple high above the above the intricate stone patterns of the city square was both a blessing and a curse to the young woman who looked down upon the people far below as they went about their daily business. As the people moved about the square she thought they weren't all that different from the fall leaves that swirled around them. Just slower. "They don't even seem real," she remarked.

"Are you daft? Of course they're real," Virtue replied, swinging her long honey colored hair out of the way as she grabbed another plum before leaning back into the triclinium.

Vinia looked back at Virtue. Such a study in contrasts. With her fair hair and milk like skin, Virtue could have been mistaken for an angelic alabaster statue, at least until she opened her mouth and the poison poured forth.
Vinia turned back to the window, "I can only vouch for the blazing heat of the window in summer and its bitter cold in the winter."

Prudence, the tall young Karui woman, took a plum from the bowel and stood next to Vinia as she looked out the window, "Someday they may let us go outside and know what it is like to feel the sun and the wind upon our faces."

"The brightly colored dresses of the nobles remind me of fall leaves," Vinia said.

"I do not envy them in their heavy dresses, trudging to and fro," Prudence replied, and turned her head as she heard the door creak open.

Virtue looked up. "Hello Sister Aurelia, will the diners be here soon?"

Aurelia nodded, "They will be here soon enough, to your couches please."

"But their hands are far too eager," Prudence complained as she took her place.

"I don't mind them at all," Virtue laughed.

Aurelia moved towards Vinia who remained by the window, "It's time dear, and you really need to choose your temple name soon, or one will be chosen for you."

Vinia reluctantly moved, wishing she could be one of the ravens that could fly wherever they pleased and answer to no one.

Aurelia went to the door and ushered the diners in, whispering something. Two of the diners were clearly angry, but about what Vinia could not tell. All she could know was that Aurelia did not let the three of them in until they had nodded their heads. Vinia knew she was safe for another day.

.........................

Marius looked up from the papers on his desk, "Come in Sister Aurelia and please close the door."

"Yes, Seneschal," Aurelia replied, closing the door behind her.

"You may sit," Marius interlaced his fingers and leaned back in his chair. "I hope you are going to tell me your current crop will be ready for auction soon."

Aurelia stammered, "But they have so much yet to learn, and I fear two of them will fare badly when the time comes."

"Be that as it may," Marius leaned forward and placed his palms on the table, "The bidding for first rights is a large part of filling our coffers. They are of age, and they have lived a life of comfort. You will see to it that they are ready by the harvest festival,"

"Yes, Seneschal," Aurelia replied, keeping her eyes downcast.

"One more thing," Marius lifted Aurelia's chin so he could look her in the eyes, "Harvest is not far off, and I want the trouble maker to have learned a skill by then. I don't care if it is singing, dancing, or the harp."

"You mean Vinia, don't you?" Aurelia asked.

"Yes, and see to it that she has a suitable name. That peasant name would bring dishonor to our vestal virgins," Marius released her chin. "That will be all."

.........................

Vinia awoke to a slight touch upon her leg. As Lunaris was still new, it was pitch black in the room. A finger lightly tapped her lips and the distinctive tang of perfume told her it was Prudence.

"Sssh," Prudence whispered.

Slow heavy footsteps outside, with pauses in between. Like a cat stalking, Vinia thought. She panicked as she tried to think of a place to hide. Behind the urns? The harp? Under the wide open Triclinium? There was nowhere!

Prudence took her hand and tugged gently.

Vinia let her guide her, then suddenly resisted as she sensed they were getting closer to the door.

Prudence's lips were next to Vinia's ear, yet she could barely hear it. She had to whisper it twice, "We will stand just to the side. After they have taken a few steps into the room, we will dart outside, jump over the rail and into the Grand Bath, then swim for the grotto.

Vinia nodded. It was a good plan. Aurelia had taught them to swim in the Grand Bath, which was more like an indoor pond. She had shown them the hole beneath the fountain's bubbles, and how to hold their breath as they swam through it. A few seconds beyond was the grotto. Aurelia had explained there would be times when they wanted to be alone, and if they kept this secret, the solitude would be there for them when they needed it.

The footsteps stopped for a few seconds just outside the doorway. The door began to creak for a moment, and then there was a pause.

Vinia could scarcely think over the pounding of her heart. The door creaked again, then another pause.

Sister Aurelia's voice called out, "Who goes there?"

The door slammed shut and they heard Aurelia's muffled voice and the sounds of scuffling. They heard a heavy thud, and then heard gurgling sounds. The heavy footsteps moved away from the door.

"We have to help her," Vinia whispered.

"The door is locked!" Prudence replied.

"We should go back, then," Vinia whispered, "The guards will arrive and if they find us up, we will be suspect."

Prudence hugged her for a moment, and Vinia could feel the Karui woman's hot tears. Why don't I feel the same way? What's wrong with me, Vinia wondered as they separated and moved back towards the triclinium.

.........................

Vinia wasn't sure when she finally fell asleep, but she awoke to Virtue complaining.

"The tierce bells rang hours ago!" Virtue threw the empty bowel on the floor.

"Did you really sleep through everything?" Prudence asked.

"Sleep through what?" Virtue looked at both of them.

Before Vinia could think of a reply the door was suddenly open, and a new woman they had never seen before walked through. Her golden hair nearly reached her knees, and her leather clothes were tight to her skin like armor. She looked the three of them over carefully. "Get dressed," she said. "Not in those rags, I'll have something more suitable sent up. She looked down at the bowel on the floor. "I'll send up a basket, but don't stuff yourself. I want you hungry for your surprise. Be ready by the nonce bells."

She closed the door behind her and they heard the lock click.

"I wonder what Sister golden hair has in store for us?" Vinia mused.

"If it's more dancing, I swear I'm going to break my leg," Virtue mumbled.

Vinia shook and looked down at misshapen thumbs.

Prudence took her shoulder, "I'm sure it won't be the harp."

"I'll throw myself off the balcony before I ever let them put those screws on me again!" Vinia shouted and moved to the window. She watched the people far below. The butcher's stall had closed early today, which meant the fish monger was more busy than usual. Something was missing though. "What happened to all the cats?" she asked.

Virtue and Prudence both looked now.

"No cats at all," Virtue's face was scrunched up as if thinking were difficult for her. "What does it mean?"

The door lock clicked and the aroma of freshly baked bread interrupted their thoughts. The basket was set just inside the door, which closed and clicked again.

.........................

The nonce bells rang and the three looked at each other.

"You got your wish," Prudence did a quick spin in her cornflower blue dress. "We're like three flowers now," Prudence said but she wasn't smiling.

Vinia smoothed the bright green silk gown that fit her remarkably well. She was not foolish, and she had heard the rumors from the cook.

Virtue's eyes were shut as she pulled a string of beads out from under the cushions. "Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum," she began.

"You fool, that won't save us now!" Prudence looked away.

"Ahem! Ladies?" The woman they had seen earlier was standing in the doorway.

How long had she been watching them? Vinia wondered.

"Follow me," The sister said and turned away without looking to see if they followed.

Vinia immediately understood that this wasn't a person to disobey and hurried after.

They went down the staircase and through a hallway they had never noticed before. Each door was of a different color. They stopped at a blue door. The golden haired sister rapped on the door twice. A tall man with a long grey beard opened the door. "Ah Felicity, so good to see you." he said.

"Never mind the pleasantries. You have the offering for the Temple?" Felicity asked as she held her hand out.

The man disappeared for a moment, then produced a heavy pouch which he gave to Felicity. She nodded and then motioned for Prudence to go into the room.

Vinia couldn't help but notice that the pink of the next door down the hallway matched the pink of Virtue's dress. They stopped again, and the procedure was repeated, except this time it was a strange woman whose head was shaved and tattooed with strange glowing blue symbols. She handed Felicity a heavy pouch.
"Thank you for your donation, Kaylene. I'm sure you two will get along famously," Felicity smiled as Kaylene took Virtue's hand, drew her in, and closed the door.

Had she heard the click of a lock, or only imagined it? Vinia wasn't sure. She looked down the hallway. There was a red door, an orange door and then the one that matched her dress. Her legs felt leaden, but somehow she kept walking. As Felicity rapped on the door, Vinia searched inside herself for a refuge. She thought furiously, and then smiled.

She remembered the countess. At least that's what Vinia had thought the woman was as she watched her shop the stalls below the window. A retinue of servants bustled about the woman like a swarm of bees, carrying things, fetching things and shading her with a bright red parasol. Today, she would be the countess, obliging her wealthy husband. I am the countess now, Vinia thought and then looked upon the man who stood in the doorway beckoning her.

He was half her height, and judging by the sheer amount of gold thread in his clothes, her 'benefactor' could very well be the husband of the countess. The freckled face and fiery red beard were not what she had imagined though. She tried to find her focus again. I am the countess now. I am the countess. He took her hand gently and led her into the room. Why are his hands gloved? Vinia looked down at her dress. The color had gone and the dress was now grey. Why was everything turning grey and spinning around her?


.........................



The snores woke her, but Vinia didn't want to open her eyes. The bed was far softer than anything she had known. She tried to remember, but there was a blank in her mind. His name was Balrosh, but that was all she could recall. It was as if she had been someone else, and whatever had happened wasn't to her. Finally she opened her eyes, and noted with some shock that her dress was still on - rumpled from sleeping, but still on. What had happened? Vinia's head pounded, and she let out a groan.

The snoring stopped and Balrosh's freckled face suddenly looked down on her. "Don't move too quickly now, else you'll be sick. I take it ye have never tasted wine before?"

Vinia shook her head and instantly regretted it. She tried to cover her mouth but wasn't fast enough to stop it. Balrosh dabbed a cool cloth against her face after she finished heaving. The coolness of it on her forehead was like magic. Carefully, she laid back down on the bed.

"Rest a bit longer," Balrosh said softly. "You're a fierce one, but too much drink will bring down even the mightiest."

Vinia looked at him questioningly, but was afraid to ask.

"You remind me of a barmaid I once knew," Balrosh stood and began putting on his jacket. "Kicked me out of the tavern nearly every night, but I still kept coming back." He looked down on her and squeezed her shoulder. "You'll be alright then, just rest until you feel steady. I'll tell the servants to be quiet as they clean things up."

Vinia squeezed his hand and then fell back asleep.

She awoke with Felicity leaning over the bed, "The first time is always rough," Felicity said with a voice that wasn't meant to sooth.

"If you only knew," Vinia smiled at her.

Felicity's jaw dropped.

"You can go," Vinia said as she rose to her feet, and indicated the door. "Now!"

Felicity covered her mouth as she whispered something like a curse and hurriedly left the room.



.........................



Vinia looked out the great window, but there wasn't much to see. The birds had gone like all the tree's leaves. The snow sprinkled about made the square a monochromatic white. The few people that braved the bitter cold looked all alike, bundled in heavy grey and brown coats. The room around her was as still and quiet and the scene below. Prudence and Virtue had their own quarters now, somewhere. She occasionally saw them at the Grand Bath, but it seemed like there was nothing much worth talking about anymore and eventually they just smiled and kept to themselves.

Vinia had other friends now. She watched the window fog under her breath. She breathed over a greater portion and then began running her finger across making elaborate patterns. If the Templars knew, they would skin me alive, Vinia thought as she traced the sigil for fire, that Balrosh had taught her. She silently mouthed the strange syllables that felt harsh in her throat when voiced aloud. Then she quickly wiped the glass and shut her eyes to focus on the symbols again. Balrosh had told her that the fire would not come without the rings of power. It wasn't the ring that gave such power, but the gem inside the ring. Vinia knew somehow that she was destined for something greater, and because she was destined, she took risks, like prying the gem from Balrosh's ring while he was sleeping and testing it out. There was so much to learn here!

Vinia learned that what they thought was the temple was merely a Lupanarium, operated by the temple to keep the coffers full. That first night with Balrosh hadn't been an aberration, but became her modus operandi. Her harsh words and brutal honesty kept the benefactors from having their way with her. For her troubles, Vinia was repaid with the sharp clamp of a scold's bridle on her tongue more than once. The benefactors didn't stop coming to see her. If anything, the demand for her time increased. She mocked them mercilessly, and denied everything they asked for, even after they begged and pleaded for it. There was a captain of the blackguards, named Arterie who was especially rude. Vinia made him lick her boots. The word must have gotten out, because benefactors were lined up in the office below bidding on her time.

That was when she Vinia began to understand what real power was. Not the power to kill or imprison, but the power to deceive and control. She was a goddess to these men and some women and her wrongs against them were right merely because she willed it. They existed to serve her. She had an insight into what religion was for the templars who lived easy lives because of her work. She knew she could not mock the templars openly, so she found another way. She became very reverent and assumed the temple name of Piety. That reverence was directed towards her own self assumed divinity.

Strangely enough, she was the temple's only real vestal virgin. Outwardly, she was modeled perfect behavior, and the templars thought her flawless other than what she might do behind closed doors. Inwardly, she was building a small army of soldiers and powerful citizens who would give their financial resources and their very lives for her when the time came for Piety to ascend her rightful throne.

Balrosh wasn't the only one who taught her the dark arts. Kaylene with her shaved head and glowing blue tattoos also knew things best forgotten by sane men. Piety's real education began with them. The power here was something that could not be taken away like weapons so easily could. By the time a year passed since that fateful first night, the templars must have sensed some of her power as they began showing her deference. They couldn't know that with a flick of her fingers and a few clicks of her tongue her hate could fly outward like darts of hate ripping through the air and physically tear an opponent to shreds. Kaylene wasn't sure how she managed that ability without gems, but she taught Vinia how to transform those shards of hate into even more deadly arrows of ice. Kaylene had also taught her about the dead who yearned to breathe again, but said there was no way to discreetly teach her that spell craft within the temple's confines.

Balrosh had shown her that a fiery sword is sharper than any scalpel, and he freely gifted her that gem along with an assortment of others saying "You have learned of fire and of ice, you may as well practice with lightning, though I have not the skills to teach you. The one who finally taught her, Markham seemed as more thief or cutthroat than he did a thaumaturge, yet he did more than just teach her the rudiments of controlling lightning. He showed her how to pace her spells, regain her mind force quicker, and how to understand what it was the gems were doing. Markham always kept his face masked, and he was never at her bedside for favors or mistreatment. One time while he was talking about Highgate as a rumored source for the gems, she bluntly asked him what he expected in return for all his efforts on her behalf.

"Someday, m' lady," Markham replied with that voice that sent shivers down her spine. "Someday, I shall ask for a very big favor. One good contract is all it takes sometimes."



.........................



Piety looked out the great window, watching the first flecks of winter snow lazily drifting down. Was snow as soft as it looked, or was it dusty like fireplace soot? Piety yearned to know, to finally step outside this place. She didn't think of it as a prison, but like her egg. One day she would hatch and leave, and like the ravens, she would travel wherever she pleased. There was a knock on the door, and then servants brought in two fresh chamber pots and a basin of water. When they left Piety barred the door, and began the one ritual she detested most. Lest she be deprived of the gems of power she swallowed them. That also meant that periodically, she had to excrete them, clean them and swallow them again. The one upside to this ritual was the accidental discovery some gems had a certain synergy when ingested together. Here was a secret she doubted any thaumaturge knew. It wasn't likely that they would submit their mouths to anything other than food.

Last night Markham had given her a new gem. This one was orange and metallic, more like an orb of currency than a gem. After carefully cleaning the other gems, she swallowed the new one along with the ones that allowed her to cast lightning warp, ball lightning and chain. Piety knew immediately she had made a terrible mistake. She could feel something twist inside her like a worm burrowing into her mind. Whatever malformation it was, Piety could tell from Kaylene's teachings that it wanted to be alive. It couldn't though, until it fed. Piety knew what it hungered for but feared to feed it.

The memory of something Markham's said came to mind, "Corruption is a fate few willingly choose. Sometimes it seems that corruption chooses you. Thus are many lives made complex and shortened."

That's what this truly was- it had awakened something inside her. Something that she sensed now been a part of her before she was even born. She also sensed that like a floating ember that briefly flared with glory, corruption was an ephemeral path. Piety shivered, and knew it wasn't the cold outside. She would always be cold now, perpetually hungering for the brief splash of heat that could only be granted by a freshly beating heart. It wasn't the blood she craved, it was the life in that blood. Life and fear. That fear of immediate and unavoidable impending death was like a chocolate that promised to soothe and sate her in ways nothing else could.

Am I growing truly mad? Will this madness pass when the gems are outside of me again? A polite knock on the door brought Piety back to reality.

"Will you be joining the banquet tonight, or shall I tell them not tonight?" The voice beyond the door asked.

Piety flung the door open and the servant cowered backwards. "I will attend in one hour"

"Yes, M'lady" the servant bowed and hurried down the hallway.

Piety knew it would not be much of a banquet. The hunters had found no game in weeks, and like last winter, the cats were missing as well. She had to decide on an outfit though. Scarlet and gold or the emerald and silver? Why did she even bother to ask. She always wore the scarlet and gold to public functions. If only she had a hat that properly matched the armor like shoulder pauldrons. She would kill for a such a hat with the proper flair.


.........................


Piety sat just below the high table and drained another goblet of the wine. It was terrible stuff, but she needed something to drown out the incessant drivel of the seneschal Marius. Elder templar he might be, but his words were almost as meaningless as the buzzing sounds of the musicians on their klammerhorns and zyntha. At least that racket had finally stopped. She looked up at the high dais were Marius was speaking, then immediately looked back down as his eye caught hers and he smiled.

"If the people of Theopolis had prayed harder, divine providence would have provided us with meat this winter. If the people of Theopolis are not virtuous enough, then the temple can pray more for them if we have enough gold," Marius glanced back down and caught her looking again.

Piety knew if she didn't find a patron soon, Marius would be thrashing atop her tonight, and that was a fate worse than death.

"To show the faithless, miserly people of Theopolis that the templars still have favor we will be providing meat for tonight's banquet!" Marius looked around the crowd, as gasps went up. "How indeed?, you might ask, but I say to you, never doubt the power and will of the Templars. Tonight is a lesson in faith that you will never forget." Marius pointed to great doors at the far end of the banquet hall as they began to open. Murmurs ran quickly through the crowd as eight blackguards marched in carrying poles between each pair. Prudence was stripped and trussed to one pole, the other woman was one Piety did not recognize. The second set of poles held no other than Balrosh and Kaylene. As they passed close by her, Piety saw no fear in Balrosh's eyes only resolve. She also saw his hands for the first time without gloves. She looked at his misshapen thumbs and quickly down at her own. Balrosh must have grown up in the East Temple which catered to a different clientele.

"Balrosh!" Piety yelled out to him. He nodded with a sad look on his face and then was hoisted up and his arms and legs tied to a large wooden table just as they had done with Prudence and the other. Piety was so shaken that she almost didn't notice the fourth person brought in on a pole. Piety could not bear to look. They had painted Kaylene's entire head blue to hide the sigils of power. Piety knew most of the spells they represented, but would never know the others now.

As Kaylene was lifted up to the table she turned her head toward Piety, made a kissing motion and mouthed the word Thunder silently.

Piety was still in a kind of semi shock when the crowd went wild. With their steely knives and rusted forks the crowd surged toward the tables and began stabbing and eating the four victims alive.

Marius was smiling as he made his way toward Piety. All her mental armor washed away in that moment. She could barely hear the crowd now, the world around her seemed to be growing silent. She would never get to enact her plans. She would probably not live to see the moon set. She would be feast item number seven Marius was finished with her.

The screaming of the crowd broke through her panic. The crowd shrieked creamed and even Marius looked back in fear. The table that had held Kylene was a fountain of blood and entrails. A colossal skeleton towered over the table, and the feasters heads exploded like bloody dandelion puffs as the huge sword swept through them. There were dozens of skeletons roaming the crowd and administering violent revenge.

A skeleton with Kaylene's skull and one eye stood up for a moment. "You can't kill the beast!" Then the Kaylene thing looked at Piety and screamed "THUNDER!" before it collapsed into a heap.

Piety scrambled in the pouch she kept tucked away. A few blue and red gems fell to the ground. One of them had the Heraldric marking or Thunder, and Piety scooped it up and ate it before Marius could the astonished Marius could grab ahold of her. A blackguard planted a knee in her back and the two quickly had her hands immobilized. Piety saw the hordes of skeletons mysteriously collapsing as if it were suddenly past their bedtime.

"Take her to your quarters your worship?," the blackguard asked.

Marius shook his head. "I'm certain it would be amusing to see the river of tears when she finally breaks, but her taint is too great for even my love to purify. Only fire can heal her now."

"You heard the Seneschal!," the blackguard yelled, "Start building a pyre!"

Piety watched as the gathered wood and begun to stack it. She should have felt distraught, angry or even hollow, but what she really felt was hunger. Her stomach was churning, and as the gem of thunder came into proximity of the other gems, she felt something stirring inside. The hunger was quickening and it would wait no longer.

"I need you," Piety said in her best seductive voice to Marius.

He backed away a step and motioned for a blackguard to take hold of her.

"I hunger for you, Marius" Piety crooned.

"Your false lust and mockery do not fool me Vinia," Marius stepped backwards again. "You forget that I watched you from the time you were a child and I know all your trickery."

"I remember exactly how you watched me," Piety said.

"Be that as it may, you have changed from a fledgling swan to an ugly two head raven whose lies contradict each other," Marius drew a glowing scepter from his belt. "As a man, I can separate the desires of the flesh from the purity of the soul, and I no longer have any desire for you." Marius looked at her again, with resolve in his eyes now that he held the scepter. "I mean that not out of spite, you have served us well, but like any beast of burden who has become infected you must be put down."

"And all these years of proclaiming to save our souls?", Piety sneered.

"You are a woman, only men have souls," Marius raised the scepter which began to give off the purple hue of corruption.

"I AM WOMAN!" Piety roared, "I WANT YOUR SOUL!" Piety grew three times as tall and her arms became flaming swords.

"Dear God!" Marius trembled and began soiling himself.

"DEAR GODDESS!" Piety's thundering voice caused the fleeing crowd to grasp their heads as their ears began to bleed. Her flaming arms converted Marius and blackguards to ashes instantly.

The thing inside her fed. More, we need. More! it pleaded.

Piety surged forward with insane speed and began mowing down the crowd with her flaming sword arms. She felt the forces shifting insider her and she shrank back down to her normal size. The remaining blackguards saw this change and they shouted, drew their swords and charged at her. "More, you shall have," Piety promised the thing inside her.

A giant ball of thunder appeared from her chest and rolled out toward her enemies. Thunderbolts surged and chained across the landscape. A moment later and the ground was nothing but charred corpses and sizzling bones.

Piety relaxed for a second. Then she felt a presence behind her, and she spun to see who it was.

"Very good. You have discovered Vaal Ball Lightning, which even the ancients knew nothing about,"

Piety saw a corpulent blue robed man with a gold chain as presumptuous as his girth. The lightning flickering from his spiked gauntlets told her that this man was anything but a fool. She said nothing.

"Even better, your insight is sharper than any I have known," the blue man said. "I am Dominus, and I have need for someone whose mind is faster than their anger. Someone who will one day rule with me over a vast domain."

"I am no one's mistress," Piety replied.

"You may do as you please with whom you please. I seek not a lover, but an assistant," Dominus explained. "Your powers may someday exceed mine, but today is not that day. I hope to ascend before then with your help, and this world and everything in it will be left to you to rule as you see fit."

Piety would have sworn that she felt the thing inside her purr. It was as if it and Dominus were siblings. Piety nodded assent to Dominus. Unless her instincts were wrong, she didn't really have much of a choice. At least not yet, she thought. And the thing inside her purred even louder with that thought.

edited a few typos.