A/N: my beta was sick for a while, so this chapter is completely un beta'd so any errors are my own
"And the bringer of life and death shall emerge from the dark and the ice, and live in the realm of fire. His eyes shall see both good and evil and the stones, the earth, and the stars shall call out his name. Hara melanil!"
"Hara Melanil(1)! The bringer of life and destroyer of worlds!" a thousand voices chanted in unison.
The sound reverberated throughout the high ceilinged hall, magnifying it to almost monumental proportions. Over whelming enough to make one feel as small and insignificant as an ant in comparison with its grandeur.
The speaker stood on a small balcony overlooking the congregation, his steely gray, black flecked eyes, scanning the faces of his fellows.
All of the people present in the congregation, were dressed in the same uniform. Even the women wore the same black leggings and white shirts as their male companions, swords at their sides, other weapons undoubtedly hidden elsewhere on their bodies. The members of the order, were known for their cautiousness, although others simply called it paranoia.
The order had started out as a small group of individuals. Powerful sorcerers, gifted killers and learned scholars. All wanderers. Out casts living on the fringes of society, with noting in common but their talents. Then one by one they had received the message. A place, a date, and a time.
When they had arrived, each and everyone would walk into the room where the meeting was held, and each would walk out, knowing that they finally owed their allegiance to a someone. To a god of life and death, of happiness and anger, of fire and ice.
An out cast with the power to rip the world apart and create a new one in is place.
The book of truths (3) had come later, after the order had established themselves as a force to reckoned with. This status had not come easily, but with the deaths of thousands of faithful and the destruction of countless others. This is why, all members could defend themselves. Not out of nescecity, but habit and need for survival.
While they had different features, some fair, some harsh, they all possessed the same black flecked eyes, locked in concentration on the speaker above.
" Go forth, my brothers and sisters, and do his will."
Lorane walked briskly back towards the east wing of the fortress, stopping only once to fetch a small book from the monastery's immense library.
He had a meeting scheduled directly after the service which he could not afford to miss. Arawn's mission was the most important of all. One mistake and all of the careful planning which had spanned across centuries would be ruined.
Panting slightly, he reached the large oaken door of the mans office. The priest moved to knock on the door, but stopped his hand in mid air as the door swung open seemingly of its own accord. He felt his heart drop as he saw Arawn sitting contentedly at his desk, thin lips pulled into a smile, eyes glittering with some emotion, which was not happiness… but could only be described as..
predatory.
Lorane was a high priest of the order, respected by many and feared by all, but even he was unsettled by this man.
Everyone was.
It was something about the way moved.
The tone of his voice.
His lean muscular body, taught as if he was ready to pounce at the slightest provocation and at other times completely relaxed.
His handsome face, was stuck in a state of constant amusement, as if he knew something which the world was unaware of.
Something which made him dangerous.
And he was.
" I was begging to think you had forgotten father Lorane. Please sit down." Arawn pointed to a chair with one long white finger, all the while never breaking eye contact with him. It was unsettling to say the least.
The motion, shifted the mans white shirt, briefly exposing a black tattoo placed on the left side of his chest. It was some sort of knot. A snake coiled into interlocking triangles, its tail clasped firmly in its jaws. Lorane stared at the patch of skin, only realizing after a minute that Arawn had fallen silent and was regarding him with a look which could have turned a man to stone with its cold intensity. His heart rate picked up and his breathing grew faster, not dissimilar to a deer preparing to run for its life from some savage predator.
"I-I-I… I am so sorry. I didn't mean-" He stuttered, his voice quivering with fear as he felt those deep, dead eyes searching his face for… something.
Curiosity?
Fear?
The man's mouth widened into a grin that could only be described as feral.
"Have no fear father. I assure you… it is quite. All. Right."
Lorane walked the short distance to the chair slowly, making sure not to make any sudden movements, and carefully lowered himself into a sitting position. All the while feeling, the others gaze pierce through him.
" I… was told you had some…" damn, his hands were shaking almost violently. Hopefully the other wouldn't notice…
But of course he would.
He always would.
"Yes. I have found him father. I have found melanil." Arawn's voice was calm and level. He acted as if it was the most common place thing to say to anyone in a conversation, like "hello" or "how are you?".
Lorane was paralyzed.
"you have found him? "Lorane looked up from his hands, t regard the man sitting across from him.
"Yes father." The grin was still firmly in place, revealing a frightening amount of sharp looking white teeth.
"what…what is he like?"
A long, thoughtful pause followed. In the total silence Lorane could almost hear his heart, drumming away in his chest.
"Beautiful. Beautiful and cold… like death itself."
Arawn's voice had lowered into almost a reverent whisper, his eyes grew unfocused for a split second before they returned to their usual inscrutable expression.
" And when… when will you retrieve him?" Lorane inquired tentatively.
The pause which followed, seemed to stretch on for ages.
" all in good time. "
"But, I was informed that their was a complication in the plan, and that it might take loner than expected."
" As I have said, father Lorane, all in good time." The reverence which had previously been present in his voice had now gone.
Lorane was to preoccupied with his thoughts to notice. Why wouldn't he simply answer the question! This...man… had been given a set of orders. Their must have been a time frame! Even men like this… assassins and… magicians were capable of taking orders-
Lorane was sure that he had not spoken a word aloud, but Arawns face visibly darkened. His voice dropping to a low, threatening purr.
"I was tasked with his retrieval, and will do so when the time is right. If you feel, father Lorane, that I am incapable of the task, or you distrust me because of my.. occupations… Please feel free to state your reasons why? I'm sure you are a man with good. Judgment. Who is capable of making wise decisions"
Lorane shivered.
"I… I apologize. I didn't mean-" Oh god, he is going to kill you! How did he know? How did he know?!
"I will depart later tonight and I shall return with him when the time is ripe.
That is all father. You may leave" Arawns words were as sharp as knives and as cold as ice.
It was a blatant dismissal, and Lorane knew it, but all the same he rose quickly and almost ran out of the room, with out looking back.
Which is why he didn't see the bloodthirsty grin appear on the others face as the door swung closed.
"good bye father Lorene… may he have mercy on your soul."
"Alone we wandered, sword in hand
Until his name did reach our land
ice and fire, dark and light
and all the terrors of the night
we shall never fear
hara melanil"
- prayer taken form the book of truths
A/N: Ok! I am so sorry that this chapter took so long for me to post. I was in Seoul for a couple of days for M.U.N o I had literally no time to work on this fic. I am not overly pleased with the result, but I hope you guys like it. Ok, sooo, I have decided that I really want the order to seem as real as possible. So If you are confused by all of the random italicized words and random references to books which don't exist never fear! I have simply decided that the order should have some sort of scripture, to go along with the story…. Ok, I am going to start the next chapter right away! And I promise to write it as fast as I can. Please review and send me PM's. It really helps me write, if I have some idea of what you guys like or dislike. Thanks! Love you all keep reading
-wobuzhidao
(1) The language of the Order, as used in the first book of truths
Hara: praise or Hail depending on the context
i.e. Hara melanil
melanil: The god of life and death. Characterized in the religious scripture of the order as a tall man with black hair and white skin.
(2)The book of truths:
The book of truths is the name given to the collection of scripture of the Order. It contains the main prophecy mostly related to Melanil (see foot note 1) but also feature smaller myths and some poetry. It is commonly known as "the book of truths" but it is known as "tera" by the members of the order. "Tera " meaning truths or truth.