AN: I'm so sorry that I didn't update for so long. I was planning for
this chapter to be a whole lot longer than it turned out to be, but so much
time has gone by since I first posted that I figured I might as well post
what I have. So enjoy, if you can. Oh, and by the way, whoever reviewed
asking me not to contaminate this fandom with slash, that honor isn't mine.
I seem to remember reading a Cain/Wanderer fic a while back; I don't know
if it's still up.
Disclaimer/Warning: See part one.
*************
Clang. clang. clang.
Indo floated back to consciousness. For a long moment he lay with his eyes closed, attempting to ward off a splitting pain in his head.
Clang. clang. clang.
The surface beneath him felt cushioned, but prickly. *A straw-stuffed mattress, then.* he thought. That meant that he was somewhere out of the wilderness, and from what sounded like a blacksmith at work, somewhere with people.
A rustle of cloth sounded from a few feet away, and a man's voice spoke.
"How is he?"
When a woman's voice answered the man from not more than a foot away from Indo's head, he couldn't help but jump slightly.
"Is he alright?" The man again, sounding anxious.
"I think he's regaining consciousness- can you hear us?" The woman's voice was closer now. Indo forced his eyes open with an effort and found himself staring at an old, wizened, papery-thin shell of a Sorceress, judging by the aura of mana that hung about her and the odd golden glint in her eye (peculiar to the Zann Esu clan of the East).
"Can you hear me? Do you understand me?" Her words were accompanied by a soft shake of the shoulder that set the tent space spinning.
"Uhh." Indo closed his eyes briefly against the waves of nausea roiling in his stomach and settled for a quick nod in response. This turned out to be a bad idea upon opening his eyes, as the room was now spinning faster, whirling into a jumbled blur of color that faded only when the Sorceress placed her hand on his forehead and muttered some words under her breath. The room actually held its stationary position when Indo moved his head again and he mumbled his thanks.
"Wh- where am I?"
"You are in the temporary home of the Rogues; I am Akara, High Priestess of the Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye and leader of this encampment. You are welcome here for as long as you need."
Indo closed his eyes and lay motionless for a few moments longer. Eyes still closed he began to speak. "The last thing I remember is some. animal thing running me over. How-"
At that moment the tent flaps burst open, revealing a woman clad in metal plates and a red cloth sun-shield draped over her head.
"Akara, my scouts have just returned- only two of them, the rest are. gone- and they have found a matter of. some importance; if you could come outside.? They are both conscious, but one is rather poorly, in the way of several deep arrow wounds. They also wish to report their findings to you directly."
Akara was on her feet in an instant, moving with a quickness surprising for one of such seeming old age. "Forgive me, gentlemen, but this matter requires my immediate attention." She swept outside. Voices drifted in, mixing together into a confusing swirl of sound. Indo's attention floated over to the man still standing in a corner.
"What do you do here?"
The man started, eyes flashing for a brief instant, then moved forward to claim Akara's former chair. "Me? I am but a traveling warrior, here to seek out the evil in this land and destroy it. Am I wrong to assume that you are here for the same purpose?"
"No, that is the reason for my being here." A pause. "Forgive me, I do not know your name."
"I am known as Demor. Former Holy Knight of the First Order of the Zakarum and Protector of the Word."
This last was spoken in a low tone, almost as an afterthought, and subsequently took a few moments to sink into Indo's muddled brain. "So you're a." The full implications of the words hit him.
"Paladin!" he hissed through clenched teeth, and wrenched himself as far away from the other man as he could get. "I'll thank you to keep your holy filth away from me!"
The knight looked vaguely hurt. "What harm have I done you?"
"Do not pretend you know nothing of your kind's hatred of those not followers of your faith. If you knew what I am, I doubt highly that I would still be lying here unharmed." Indo allowed himself the luxury of glaring for a few more moments. "Now, leave me in peace."
The other man closed his eyes and bit his lip before exhaling loudly through his teeth, which stood out sharply against the dark of his skin as the air hissed through them.
"How many times must I say it? Or are you waiting for me to get down on my knees and worship you, Your Holy Righteousness?" A venom-tinged voice turned the title into a curse.
More seconds passed, until finally, a response. "Akara. does not want you to be left alone in your condition. As she is the closest thing to a true healer this camp has-"
"And what is your definition of a 'true healer'? One who has studied under your finest preachers and no other? One who is 'truly bathed in the glory of the Light'?" Indo had been feeling steadily stronger since Akara had laid her hand on his head, and he took his heated tone of voice as an opportunity to swing his legs over the side of the small cot and rise to his feet. He noted, with an abstract sort of pleasure, that he felt nearly as well in body as he had been before that blasted animal demon had barreled him over.
The Paladin regarded him with detached worry. "You're in no state to be up and about; now lie back down before I have to call Akara back in."
"Or what, Paladin? You'll preach to me about how my actions will send me straight into the arms of the Three? You'll get out your holy water and toss it at me in hopes that it will burn? You'll call upon your 'True Light' and smite me from the heavens?" Indo noted with grim satisfaction that the knight's face was beginning to darken and went in for the kill. "I know, you'll call on your army of holy brethren and begin a holy crusade to wipe out the evil in my soul. Oh, wait, you can't do that because there's not so much unity in the Holy Order now, is there? What's the matter? Religion and chivalry not working out the way they're supposed to?"
The Paladin snapped. "You can insult me, you can insult my ancestors, you can curse my entire existence, but you will not make light of the problems of the Zakarum. If next we meet and you should be in danger, may the Light forbid that I help you again!"
Indo laughed, a high, piercing sound that rang oddly in the confines of the tent. "And just what help do you think you have given me, O Mighty One?"
"And just who do you think brought you here to this camp? I have saved your life, stranger. Next time, I will leave you to die in the wilderness." The knight stood fuming for a time before regaining marginal control over his emotions. "Now excuse me, I must look into this matter of Kashya's." And with a swish of tent flaps, the knight was gone, leaving an outraged Indo in his wake.
*************** AN: Yes, if you noticed, I skipped the Den of Evil quest. I figured that Demor has been at the encampment long enough to have completed that portion of the game.
Disclaimer/Warning: See part one.
*************
Clang. clang. clang.
Indo floated back to consciousness. For a long moment he lay with his eyes closed, attempting to ward off a splitting pain in his head.
Clang. clang. clang.
The surface beneath him felt cushioned, but prickly. *A straw-stuffed mattress, then.* he thought. That meant that he was somewhere out of the wilderness, and from what sounded like a blacksmith at work, somewhere with people.
A rustle of cloth sounded from a few feet away, and a man's voice spoke.
"How is he?"
When a woman's voice answered the man from not more than a foot away from Indo's head, he couldn't help but jump slightly.
"Is he alright?" The man again, sounding anxious.
"I think he's regaining consciousness- can you hear us?" The woman's voice was closer now. Indo forced his eyes open with an effort and found himself staring at an old, wizened, papery-thin shell of a Sorceress, judging by the aura of mana that hung about her and the odd golden glint in her eye (peculiar to the Zann Esu clan of the East).
"Can you hear me? Do you understand me?" Her words were accompanied by a soft shake of the shoulder that set the tent space spinning.
"Uhh." Indo closed his eyes briefly against the waves of nausea roiling in his stomach and settled for a quick nod in response. This turned out to be a bad idea upon opening his eyes, as the room was now spinning faster, whirling into a jumbled blur of color that faded only when the Sorceress placed her hand on his forehead and muttered some words under her breath. The room actually held its stationary position when Indo moved his head again and he mumbled his thanks.
"Wh- where am I?"
"You are in the temporary home of the Rogues; I am Akara, High Priestess of the Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye and leader of this encampment. You are welcome here for as long as you need."
Indo closed his eyes and lay motionless for a few moments longer. Eyes still closed he began to speak. "The last thing I remember is some. animal thing running me over. How-"
At that moment the tent flaps burst open, revealing a woman clad in metal plates and a red cloth sun-shield draped over her head.
"Akara, my scouts have just returned- only two of them, the rest are. gone- and they have found a matter of. some importance; if you could come outside.? They are both conscious, but one is rather poorly, in the way of several deep arrow wounds. They also wish to report their findings to you directly."
Akara was on her feet in an instant, moving with a quickness surprising for one of such seeming old age. "Forgive me, gentlemen, but this matter requires my immediate attention." She swept outside. Voices drifted in, mixing together into a confusing swirl of sound. Indo's attention floated over to the man still standing in a corner.
"What do you do here?"
The man started, eyes flashing for a brief instant, then moved forward to claim Akara's former chair. "Me? I am but a traveling warrior, here to seek out the evil in this land and destroy it. Am I wrong to assume that you are here for the same purpose?"
"No, that is the reason for my being here." A pause. "Forgive me, I do not know your name."
"I am known as Demor. Former Holy Knight of the First Order of the Zakarum and Protector of the Word."
This last was spoken in a low tone, almost as an afterthought, and subsequently took a few moments to sink into Indo's muddled brain. "So you're a." The full implications of the words hit him.
"Paladin!" he hissed through clenched teeth, and wrenched himself as far away from the other man as he could get. "I'll thank you to keep your holy filth away from me!"
The knight looked vaguely hurt. "What harm have I done you?"
"Do not pretend you know nothing of your kind's hatred of those not followers of your faith. If you knew what I am, I doubt highly that I would still be lying here unharmed." Indo allowed himself the luxury of glaring for a few more moments. "Now, leave me in peace."
The other man closed his eyes and bit his lip before exhaling loudly through his teeth, which stood out sharply against the dark of his skin as the air hissed through them.
"How many times must I say it? Or are you waiting for me to get down on my knees and worship you, Your Holy Righteousness?" A venom-tinged voice turned the title into a curse.
More seconds passed, until finally, a response. "Akara. does not want you to be left alone in your condition. As she is the closest thing to a true healer this camp has-"
"And what is your definition of a 'true healer'? One who has studied under your finest preachers and no other? One who is 'truly bathed in the glory of the Light'?" Indo had been feeling steadily stronger since Akara had laid her hand on his head, and he took his heated tone of voice as an opportunity to swing his legs over the side of the small cot and rise to his feet. He noted, with an abstract sort of pleasure, that he felt nearly as well in body as he had been before that blasted animal demon had barreled him over.
The Paladin regarded him with detached worry. "You're in no state to be up and about; now lie back down before I have to call Akara back in."
"Or what, Paladin? You'll preach to me about how my actions will send me straight into the arms of the Three? You'll get out your holy water and toss it at me in hopes that it will burn? You'll call upon your 'True Light' and smite me from the heavens?" Indo noted with grim satisfaction that the knight's face was beginning to darken and went in for the kill. "I know, you'll call on your army of holy brethren and begin a holy crusade to wipe out the evil in my soul. Oh, wait, you can't do that because there's not so much unity in the Holy Order now, is there? What's the matter? Religion and chivalry not working out the way they're supposed to?"
The Paladin snapped. "You can insult me, you can insult my ancestors, you can curse my entire existence, but you will not make light of the problems of the Zakarum. If next we meet and you should be in danger, may the Light forbid that I help you again!"
Indo laughed, a high, piercing sound that rang oddly in the confines of the tent. "And just what help do you think you have given me, O Mighty One?"
"And just who do you think brought you here to this camp? I have saved your life, stranger. Next time, I will leave you to die in the wilderness." The knight stood fuming for a time before regaining marginal control over his emotions. "Now excuse me, I must look into this matter of Kashya's." And with a swish of tent flaps, the knight was gone, leaving an outraged Indo in his wake.
*************** AN: Yes, if you noticed, I skipped the Den of Evil quest. I figured that Demor has been at the encampment long enough to have completed that portion of the game.