Title: Shadow of Evil
Author: Chocolatequeen
Genre: Historical Drama
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do not own The Pretender or any of the characters portrayed
therein. They are the property of some rich, smart people who are getting
money to do what I am shamelessly doing for free. There are a few
characters that are obviously mine, since you never saw them on the show.
Summary: I'm building on Jarod's question in The Island of the Haunted to
the monk about the monastery being founded by an offshoot of the Knights
Templar. The chapters will alternate between the writing and hiding and
finding of the scrolls and Jarod tracking them down, eventually discovering
what his own destiny is.
Prologue: Rouen, France; 1280
"What visions in the dark of night!" Samuel Beckett.
It was dark in the city of Rouen, and most of the Knights Templar were sleeping peacefully. However, it was at night that the visions came to Addecius, taunting him with the clarity of the world they showed. The young knight moaned as he tossed and turned, struggling against sleep and the images that came with it.
As the last scene faded away, he finally broke free. Sitting upright on his cot, he took in his surrounding as if to assure himself that he was still in his humble room in Rouen and not in that sterile, cold stone building he'd become so familiar with. Yes, he was back where he belonged. His chain mail and simple white tunic remained draped over the back of his chair and his shield leaned against the wall, the red cross on it glowing in the dim light provided by the dying fire.
Gazing at the symbol, the knight knew what he had to do. With a sigh, he rose from the bed and lit a candle. He'd been praying constantly for a sign of what to do with this view he had of the future, and tonight the Lord had given him a sign. Just as he should not hide his light under a bushel, so also should he openly share what he had been given. The visions had been coming to him every night for two weeks; visions of a far-off place, people consumed by an evil power, and the one man who could change it all. Taking a quill in hand, he began to set his prophecy to parchment, even as he prayed it would never come true.
But he knew that if it did, if this shadow of evil ever grew into reality, this man-this Jarod-would need to understand the role he would play, and only Addecius could explain it to him.
Prologue: Rouen, France; 1280
"What visions in the dark of night!" Samuel Beckett.
It was dark in the city of Rouen, and most of the Knights Templar were sleeping peacefully. However, it was at night that the visions came to Addecius, taunting him with the clarity of the world they showed. The young knight moaned as he tossed and turned, struggling against sleep and the images that came with it.
As the last scene faded away, he finally broke free. Sitting upright on his cot, he took in his surrounding as if to assure himself that he was still in his humble room in Rouen and not in that sterile, cold stone building he'd become so familiar with. Yes, he was back where he belonged. His chain mail and simple white tunic remained draped over the back of his chair and his shield leaned against the wall, the red cross on it glowing in the dim light provided by the dying fire.
Gazing at the symbol, the knight knew what he had to do. With a sigh, he rose from the bed and lit a candle. He'd been praying constantly for a sign of what to do with this view he had of the future, and tonight the Lord had given him a sign. Just as he should not hide his light under a bushel, so also should he openly share what he had been given. The visions had been coming to him every night for two weeks; visions of a far-off place, people consumed by an evil power, and the one man who could change it all. Taking a quill in hand, he began to set his prophecy to parchment, even as he prayed it would never come true.
But he knew that if it did, if this shadow of evil ever grew into reality, this man-this Jarod-would need to understand the role he would play, and only Addecius could explain it to him.