God is an Idiot
The last drops of blessed water trickled from the skin. The sweat, soot and blood on the man's face repelled the fluid, as soon as Nigun had sprinkled it. It had been the same for most of the 137 corpses spread between the stone houses and occasional storage building, but they had no time to properly prepare a funeral and grave for every dead villager. A short blessing ritual would have to make do.
"...let your body become ash and dirt once more, so you may enter Surshana's halls purified of earthly longings. Let the god of death's judgement be harsh, but fair, for that it is all a mortal could as for. Let your soul find its eternal peace it was denied in life. Hail Surshana."
Finished Nigun satisfied the last consecration and nodded to the Theocracy's soldiers, that had slaughtered those men and women, old people and young children, everyone in the village. Its name used to be Carne and it had been the 5th and last settlement in Re-Estize, they had massacred to bait one of the Re-Estize Kingdoms's strongest warriors.
Although, in the end, it had not been by their hand, their target was now most likely dead. Therefore no more need to continue slaughtering the Kindom's citizens existed and the soldiers in their blue tabards began throwing the dead into the houses.
Offering their pawn sacrifices this last respect had been not an option before, as the Theocracy's men were supposed to act in the guise of soldiers of the Baharuth Empire, Re-estize's rival and enemy in a war of attrition the Kingdom had been slowly losing.
For the past seven years the blue clothed professional soldiers of Baharuth, the Empire's knights, would invade the Kingdom at the start of the harvest season to face the levy soldiers of the kingdom.
While every knight was a trained professional the levies were basically peasants called off from their full fields and handed a weapon to die in their lords name. Only great numerical superiority could compensate the skill gap between the combatants and ensure a stalemate in the annual battles, but that was enough to ensure the long term victory of Baharuth. The missing work forces during the harvest season left the corn and vegetables rotting on the fields and drove the Kingdom closer to economical collapse with each passing year.
Using their uniforms to hide the Theocracy's involvement had been only sensible, but it also meant they had to act like money soldiers. Paying the dead respect or refraining from pillaging would have raised unwanted attention.
Now that their mission was full-filled the need to continue that charade of barbarism ceased and they could begin their track back to Slane.
"Make sure you have all of your equipment and gear on you, before you light up the village!"
Reminded Nigun the soldiers and his brothers. He knew from personal experience that even small details could betray the true story. He himself had snuffed out several times demi-humans and monsters trying to cover their attacks as cases of banditry by observing the details.
Details like a cheap dagger with a simplified banner of Baharuth on the pommel he had lodged into the chest of a dead woman, the few copper coins he had 'lost' outside the village or the dead burly man they had clad in one of the blue uniforms and left under a wall they collapsed over him and more, his team had thought of and prepared.
Even if the village burned completely down there would be enough evidence left to point at Re-estize's hated rival to the east, fueling the conflict and diverting attention from the work of the Slane Theocracy.
One by one the houses lit up behind them, as the forces of the Theocracy moved out of the village toward the eastern edge of the Great Forest of Tob. They would travel a few miles eastwards through the forest, before turning south, hopefully dissuading any trackers from following them far enough to deduce their real destination.
It was a dangerous maneuver, as the forest was untamed and unclaimed by any of the three great nations, Re-estize, Baharuth and Slane, that encircled it. No one knew how many people had fallen prey to the monstrous inhabitants, but it happened often enough, that the people in all three nations considered it a death sentence to walk alone into the heart of Tob.
Nigun was well aware of the risk, had even suffered casualties under his command to the forest before, but by now he had gotten used to it. He may have felt excitement, as they neared the trees, but no longer the dread he had felt the first time his then superior ordered him to move through it. He had learned to regard it as a calculated risk.
He also learned, that procrastination was a mortal enemy of duty and moved ahead in the track till he found Detleev.
The old man had kept behaving oddly after the Strongoff incident. He had forgotten standard mission procedures, when they started to prepare the village, could not remember the names of many of his comrades and needed instruction in the use of standard equipment like the mask. He did not even recognize Hilje, a warrior priestess, that had fought at his side for over 15 years, when she had thrown a friendly banter his way, as had been their custom for as long as Nigun had known them.
He could no longer justify Detleev's place in the Scripture and had to finally tell him the bad news. A firm grip on the shoulder let Detleev turn around and grin at Nigun's stern face.
"Captain?"
"Lieutenant, on a word..."
Said Nigun and implied with a small head shake to walk with him a few meters apart from the track.
"Is there a problem, Sir?"
Asked Detleev as he followed. Nigun had to think for moment to find the right words. He had no intention of hurting his comrade's feelings, but doubted he possessed the rhetorical skills to avoid bruising Detleev's pride. He decided to not sugar-coat the issue and just come clean.
"There won't be. Detleev, this is not easy for me to say, so I'll be blunt. Once we have reported back in Humanitas I will discharge you from the Scripture."
Detleev fell back wide eyed for a moment, while his captain kept his pace, before sprinting back to his side and asking.
"You are cutting me lose, Captain? Why? I have served faithfully for almost two decades in the Scripture and done so, I believe, with skill and integrity. I may have gotten older, but I am sure my experience and knowledge outstrip the slight loss in physical prowess..."
"That is exactly the point."
Cut in Nigun, before the veteran could talk himself into a self-justified conviction.
"They do not. Not anymore. Detleev, I have been keeping tabs on your performance for quite some time and unfortunately you no longer meet the standards I require of a member of the Scripture."
The disappointment in Detleev's face was plain to see and Nigun felt, he owed him a more detailed explanation.
"I am doing this now, because I consider you friend."
"A friend does not fire a friend out of the blue!"
Accused Detleev and Nigun answered angrily in kind.
"A friend doesn't watch his friend walk into his death!"
"That arrogance is so typical of you, boy!"
"Watch your tone, Lieutenant! Back down! That's an order!"
Reminded Nigun Detleev, shocked at the audacity of the officer, who used to be exemplary in his service up to this point. He could hardly believe the change in character. Had he underestimated the decay? Did he really think too highly of his observational skills? Clearly Detleev must have thought so, as he ignored Nigun's warning and countered.
"Why? What are you gonna do? Fire me?"
Bind you in chains for insubordination? Kill you for abandoning your post and duty! Detleev, have you gone mad?
Thought Nigun, but said.
"Detleev, you are not thinking straight. Consider what you are provoking, what you will force me to do, if you don't change your attitude!"
Defying a superior officer in the field was a capital crime in Slane. Every member of the Scripture knew this, understood the underlying reason, was aware of the punishment waiting for those breaking this rule. In the fight for mankind's survival everyone had to hold back personal feelings and instincts in the interest of the greater good. All recruits were indoctrinated and educated about the necessity of following their superior's order, even if it meant certain death, or the strength found in their unity would break.
But the veteran before him appeared to have forgotten those lessons and just got started, while the rest of the men began to watch the arguing officers.
"Oh I'm thinking straight. I am thinking you are a fucking boot licker concerned only about his career! Admit you are afraid the cardinals will pick me, when the question of the Scriptures leadership comes up again! You wouldn't hesitate one second to sacrifice the whole Scripture to save your own skin!"
"Because that is what our training and protocol taught us! Detleev-"
"Shut it, welp!"
Cut Detleev him off. Nigun could already hear and see the Scripture's members draw their weapons. He wanted to avoid spilling his own teams blood and quickly commanded them with a hand sign to hold off for now.
"For the last time, Detleev, I order you to stand down!"
Nigun heard a sickening crunch, before he registered the pain in his nose and tasted the blood running down his pharynx. Detleev loomed over him with bloody fist and a ring of weapons and readied spells around his neck.
"[Cure lesser Wounds]"
Heard Nigun Jedos chant and the pain quickly stopped, but he did not thank him. His angry attention was reserved only for Detleev who stared back just as furious.
"Sir?"
Asked one of the Scripture members. Nigun knew that he, like the rest of them, was waiting for the killing command. Detleev had become more than a severe liability, he had turned into a mad rebel. Simply telling his men to do it would have satisfied his immediate need, but Nigun knew, that it was the anger in him speaking. If he went with it he would forever have the blood of a sick man on his hands without any gain for mankind. Instead he ordered with forcefully restrained emotion.
"Take his weapon and mask, also the potions."
Detleev did not flinch or hinder the men. He just kept glaring, as Nigun rose from the ground.
"Deetlev Placius Bulmor,..."
Spoke Nigun low and slowly.
"By my right as Captain I strip you of your command and exile you from the Scripture and the Slane Theocracy! Return and pay with the life I have just gifted you. Esuan, Michel!"
"Yes, Sir!"
Answered two of his men with a sharp salute and awaited Nigun's order:
"Fetch Detleev's other belongings from the cart and hand him some water and rations at your own discretion. Then see to it he leaves."
The captain hoped Detleev would get the wink he should behave, if he hoped to survive the coming days. Reaching the next settlement without provisions could often be an effective death sentence all on its own and the geezer should have been aware of at least that. For now the pariah stayed calm, as all but Esuan and Miguel's weapons dropped. Detleev's icy stare he pointed at him, while he was lead away, crawled down Nigun's spine like a glacier. Still he willed down the inhibition to bid him farewell.
"Go, fool! Maybe one day the gods will see fit for you to understand the great mercy I have granted you today!"
Detleev simply snorted.
That Reek! That terrible, bowel wrenching, bile-raising, eye-watering, lip curling Reek! This nauseating sweet perfume, that assaulted the pharynx, that crept down the throat, while the body tried in vain to dry gag it out again.
The acid burned with the first cough and already a lump relentlessly crawled up. With a wet splat he birthed the mass of vomit and moaned in suffering.
He could not see anything. The world was pitch black and he wallowed in a bed of steel, tatters and wet flesh.
He cringed, when he hit his head on something hard and landed face in another squishy bed, that burbled under the impact. And the stench just would not fade.
In what hell had he been reborn into? Had the gods found him wanting and sent him to a horrible pit? Or was it still a worldly pit?
Another retch left his lips dripping, but Nigun started to find focus.
He was alive, that was something at least in the dark mess, he had found himself in. A starting point to leave the maddening situation behind. He needed to accept the situation, if wanted to keep living, to escape the darkness.
Nigun vomited again. It would take some time.
A little spark could help, fool.
Of course, he might have been blind, but that could easily be changed, if he used the [Ball of Light]-spell to ban the darkness. Nigun rose from the ground into a kneeling position and pointed with raised hand into the blackness.
"[Ball of Light]."
On hearing and concentrating on the code word he felt the spell trigger. For the nick of a second a glimps of divine formulas and shapes in unfathomable sequence filled his brain. They were the memories of the years he spent staring on the divine scriptures and trying to interpret in meditation a sand corn of the god's might.
A small glowing sphere appeared and blinded him a moment with its fluorescent light. He wished it would have needed longer to adjust to it, when he stared dry mouthed at the Sunlight Scripture. Those, that still could, looked back in frozen horror at their captain and their mutilated comrades. Everyone must had died by extreme violence, judged by the squashed, ripped, dismembered or half-melted cadavers, they had become.
The scream that threatened to escape the Captains lips stayed unspoken, as Nigun remembered.
He recalled, how they had left his then-to second-in-command Detleev behind and followed the road east into the Great Forest of Tob. After after a few miles, they had turned south and made camp in a small clearing, they used every few years to avoid attention from the residents of the forest. Later he he had briefly awoken to the screams of alarm.
That was, were the memory ended and he instead found himself here in a piled circle and on a bed of his dead comrades and entrusted soldiers.
Concentrate! Nigun, concentrate!
Nigun ignored the mounting horror by looking up and focusing on his designated task: surviving. He could not stay here. Here he would die, body and soul, so he had to get out of the pit. Thankfully the edge wasn't far from the dead. Nigun allowed himself a last time to vomit mostly slime, before he stalked just shy of trembling over the mass grave.
Or maybe depository.
Jedos members lacking body gave away, as Nigun stepped on his shoulder to jump up the edge.
"Damn!"
Hissed Nigun as he failed and slid again down the steep slope, but he didn't curse, because his former scout fell over. He cursed at his realization, that he might be in the bowels of a demi-human camp, who knows where in the Great Forest of Tob. If so, calling his chances of survival slim would have been most generous.
Nigun took another try on Vicodamus' broad frame and successfully hauled his breast over the edge in an artificially expanded cave. He pulled himself completely out of the pit, before almost vomiting again. He was getting better.
And now?
In a hostile environment: use a hostile tool.
Nigun found his sword missing, just like his knifes. Yet as he searched and touched his body for any wounds, he found none to his astonishing´. Instead he discovered several blunt shapes beneath his robes. His arrogant captors must have thought him dead and left him for later to plunder. Like some of Slane's traditional chocolate sweetness filled with small toys, that had beeb inspired by a favored dish of the gods. I was a customary gift to very young children in spring and the Theocracy found it an effective first siphoning of the nations blood pool of the weak and slow ever since it introduction 520 years ago.
And now his captors, whoever they might have been, were about to to choke on him. Thinking him dead they truly had only robbed him of his obvious weapons, but not the gear under his uniform. He still had his potions, scrolls, intel items besides the mask, and most importantly of all, he still had the gift of the cardinals.
The 'Sealing Crystal', that held a wonder of the gods. As he had obediently knelt before the cardinals and received the order to kill Gazef Strongoff, they had entrusted him with the legendary item to ensure his success. They had given him a national treasure, because they valued his life too much to risk against Gazef. It was only right he would use it now to flee this hell.
He grinned in grim satisfaction at the fist sized clear crystal that he had pulled forth. Whoever the enemies were, they were a substantial threat, if they they managed to almost destroy the Sunlight Scripture in one blow and needed to be dealt with and he was here, in probably their very heart, poised to eradicate them in one blow with a weapon, even the demon gods had feared.
As the thrown Crystal shattered it birth a white, awe inspiring giant. A fancy Halo substituted its head, while its metal and feather made robs were held floating in the air by six pure wings. In its hands it wielded a heavy scepter.
Without a doubt 'Dominion Authority', the angel of the highest order, would put any enemy in his place, that dared to provoke the Theocracy.
As with all summons he felt the telepathic link to the angel establish and its cool and clear intentions, hardly tainted by any emotion, swap over to him and lent him more strength to resist the terrible stench and think clearly despite the loss.
In turn it received his wish for it to protect him and help in slaying the masters of this place. The angel acknowledge his command and led the way out by the only tunnel, that wormed from the room. Like the cave he had awoken in its dimension were huge. Even Dominion Authority could hover in it with minor inconvenience. It confirmed his fear, that it were not humans or human-like races that attacked them. Digging a tunnel was a lot of work, there would be no point in making an over-sized utilitarian one, so in turn his enemies had to be large. The most obvious suspect that came to Nigun's mind was the so called 'Giant of the East', the leader of a troll tribe in the forest the Theocracy had tolerated for now, because of their stabilizing influence on the forest creatures.
As long as they did not venture out of the forest they would keep their actions to the forest, which meant pointed against the other demi-humans and monsters. But If they had now started to organize and even managed to overwhelm the Sunlight-Scripture in one swoop, than this was dire news. Those trolls could turn into the seed of a new demi-human nation right in the middle of the three great human states. And if it was not them, but a new foe...
That could turn out to be even worse. An enemy of such power, who could evade the Theocracy's scrutiny, was a formidable foe. How many painful wounds could it inflict on Slane before brought low and what other enemy would seize the moment?
Going on unprotected would be unwise.
Nigun cast the standard protections of the scripture, [Limited Resistance] and [Divine Shield], and also cast a [Blessing] on them, but for now he refrained from more spells to conserve his magical strength for when he knew more about his enemies.
After just a few steps into the tunnel, the stench of death gave way to a new, just slightly less revolting aroma, but the spells and presence of Dominion Authority steadied him enough to suppress a new wave of nausea. It closely reminded him of a pigs stall mixed with a lot of bad cheese and cordled milk and made him almost sure of his suspicion and bafflement at how it could have come to be.
The angel and priest did not wander for long, before Nigun could hear a hectic rustle and chaotic grunting behind the wall of light the summoning in front of him emitted. The next second it rushed forward with breath-taking speed into the great hall, it had revealed and clobbered the first enemy into burning chunks of meat.
He was indeed facing trolls, 37 by his first quick counting, and even more ogres. Both were brutish creatures with low hanging arms and muscle coated bodies under their warty skins. The smaller Ogres, though this was still relative at standing upright just shy of three meters tall, had a thick carapace armor on their shoulder, while the larger Trolls could heal from nearly any damage source except for acid and fire and their long noses were among the most sensitive in the known world.
Unfortunately for them those fine olfactory organs, that put any dog nose to shame, were now filling with the smell of their brethrens cooking flesh, as Dominion Authority's scepter's swings crushed them not only easily with terrifying speed and stone splitting force, but also prevented the regeneration of the trolls with the fiery energy it was imbued with.
One. Two. Three
Movement behind!
Four, including the sneaky Ogre, that had tried to flank him. They fell in the time, it took to breath in and out once. The largest of the brutes, a troll with a tiger pelt for a loin cloth and a large beast skull on its shoulder, tried to reach for its iron club, but the angel was upon it befor even touching the metal. Six hits from its armored gauntlet hammered the trolls face into the roughly hewn stone throne, it sat upon, until only a crispy black stump remained of it. The troll quickly stopped twitching, while Dominion Authority was already upon its next victim
Nigun meanwhile evaded another Ogre, that lounged for him. The beast angrily started scrambling up again, when a tap on its shoulder made it look confused to its side. It found nothing, except the tunnel leading to the pit and flickering shadows telling the story of Dominion Authority stomping and burning its sibblings to death. It turned to the other side, where its tribe died and was hit by bursting glass with a foul smelling liquid.
Two eye-blinks, thirteen very quick heart beats and one very deep breath later the ogres yellow-milky eyes turned blood shot and foam began to drop from the corners of its mouth.
It had needed so much air to shout its newly discovered rage, as it charged its sibblings-turned-enemies, tearing down three other ogres and a confused troll, before the angel's wrath was upon them and committed them all to ash.
In only a few minutes all the giant-kin were smouldering in charcoaled pieces. Nigun watched the devastation wrought by his nations super weapon with a deep satisfaction. Not only had he brought down a sizable threat to man, it could also allow for forces of the Theocracy to enter this hole and retrieve his comrades. If brought back to Slane at least the relative intact bodies could be brought back to life. He was about to turn with some new found hope towards the only other tunnel exit he had seen so far, when he felt a slight tremble in the ground.
He deduced, a second group had to be nearing and sure enough, not even a minute later, another two dozen enemies, mostly ogres, came charging down the tunnel from somewhere above. They had barely set two steps in the hall, when Nigun shouted.
"[Searing Light]"
A tight beam of blinding light shot forth from the priest's hand and the third tier spell hit the leader of the charge right in the face. The troll's sensitive eyes, capable of seeing comfortably in even total darkness, were hit by light so intense, it burned the flesh from its skull. The beast stopped at once in its track, just before its comrades trampled and fell over it.
Nigun grinned wildly at the bellowing trolls and ogres, as the light dimmed from his outstretched arm. He was not concerned, that the already rising monsters would hurt him, for he felt his guardian angel move. Dominion Authority came down upon them with [Hammer of the Gods], like the instrument of divinity it was.
A blinding flash of golden light later the huge troll hall was silent again aside from the echos of dripping flesh, entrails and blood. While Dominion Authority had shielded Nigun with its body, most walls were now smeared with unrecognizable bits of meat and fluids producing an alltogether new stink. Nigun quickly order the angel the lead the way up.
All the way the stench stayed powerful enough, that Nigun could not have discovered a change in intensity to before, even if he had tried. They found no more enemies, but a few more side tunnels branching off from the apparent main artery. Dominion Authority's ability [Detect Evil] could find no more signs of life down them, so Nigun stuck to following the way up.
The angel floated silently in front and limited his vision to small bubble with the silvery light, it emitted. Nothing happened, no more screams, attacks or suprises, only the tedious tap of his boots getting lost in the darkness beyond his small sphere of satety.
He had no real feeling for how long they had been wandering. A few minute or a few hours would not have surprised him either, but finally the stink of demi-human and death became weaker.
Almost there.
Thought Nigun, when he f a slight movement of air and commanded the summon to float faster. Dominion Authority accelerated just enough to stay ahead of its running master. He felt the end of his Odissey close, the air current became stronger. He thought he heard the sound of crickets and rustling leaves just beyond the silver light in front of him, then Dominion Authority turned into a quickly fading cloud of pale sparks and death stood between him and the star shined forest.
Captain Nigun Grid Luin had always thought of himself as an example of iron resolve and unwavering duty, but how could the power of one man compare to skeletal spectre, that towered now over him. It had destroyed Dominion Authority, an angel of the highest order in one casual act and now the two red pinpricks in its dark eye-holes were seizing him up.
Terrible thoughts filled his heads as the creature steamed with pure darkness and came closer in a leisurely gait, while Nigun's limps locked up. He saw the bloodied faces of his fallen comrades and soldiers. He remembered the screams and curses of all the blissfully ignorant innocents he had killed in the name of the greater good. He smelled the blood on his hands, he could never wash off and listened to the terrible deep voice, that spoke from beyond his eyes' veil of tears.
"Hello, Nigun. I've been waiting for you."