Fable - Ask The Path of Purity

[Heike Eisen]

Down the stairs they went.

And Alaric spoke. Made his request that was rather more of a declarative statement than a request. Heike was at least as surprised as Alexandria, if not more so. Surprised, and then flattered. This was exactly the sort of fortune that she needed, the slow rolling momentum that could build and build until a suitable force was assembled to reclaim Reikhurst.

"Why yes. Absolutely. I would welcome the lending of your sword arm, and as well consider your company an honor."

Alexandria's response was more sober. Blunt, as was her nature. But within it a certain encapsulation of what Heike intended to do. As a human, she could rally the dispersed survivors of Reikhurst. As a human, she could lead the strongest force she could muster into battle. As a human, she could do what the Order of the Golden Blade and even the Reikhurstan Guard failed to do nearly six years ago: eradicate Jürgen's Vampiric Host. In that, redemption. In that, fulfillment of her duty. In that, less work for the rest of the righteous warriors of Arethil, indeed.

* * * * *​

At last the downward spiral of stairs ceased.

And before them all, a long room, perhaps fifty meters in length. The central feature was a long tubular construction, solid like stone on the outside and shimmering like glass on the inside; a thin and narrow path went through this tunnel, black like obsidian. An alcove walkway was to the left of the tunnel, where Initiated Watchmen could go without having to walk through the tunnel. The lighting of the room was soft, dim, provided by magical etchings upon the walls, the ceiling, and the pillars of the alcove walkway.

"Step down before the Trial of Body," Ian said succinctly to Heike, before stepping off himself onto the beginning of the alcove walkway.

Heike nodded, then descended the three short steps down to the smooth floor before the tunnel's entrance. Then, as if awakened by the presence of Heike's feet upon the tiles, faint lights sparked to life within the glassy inner surface of the tunnel. Small at first, these lights, like the stars of the night sky. Small and gentle and silent. Then came a WHOOSH like the sudden catching of a fierce flame, and a loud and constant roar, like the drilling of hundreds and hundreds of chisels into hard rock amidst a storm's gale, erupted from inside. And the whole interior of the tunnel was aglow with brilliant light, as if the entire inner surface was borne of that which gave the sun itself its radiance.

Heike, by instinct at this point in her affliction, turned away and shielded her face. Slowly she dared to lower her arm and gaze with her eyes and thus expose the naked flesh of her face to the searing light within the tunnel.

"You must proceed through the Trial of Body, such that it can be made ready for the binding," said Ian. "Keep your will to endure strong, no matter the pain, and if it is to be...I will see you on the other side."

Heike glanced over to Alaric and Alexandria, a certain trepidation in her eyes. The light. She had not expected the light. And there before she had been worried that her magic dampening might interfere with and weaken the Path's magic, now it might be made too potent.

But she faced the radiant tunnel again, eyes squinted in its overpowering glow. By the Reik crown, she had to do this. Hell's fury, she was going to do this. Today. Today. Her affliction could be cast off today. No more searching. No more hoping. No more suffering and lamenting and being a slave to that abhorrent thirst. She could do this. She had to do this. She was the proud daughter of Albrecht and Sieglinde Eisen, a proud daughter of Reikhurst, a Knight of the Golden Blade, and this challenge she could overcome!

Heike strode forward, adamant in her purpose.

And immediately and violently recoiled as she tried to step through the precipice into the radiant tunnel. She clutched at her body, doubled over, and cried out in sheer agony, "AHHHHHHhhhhh...!"

She breathed--a reflex of life. Breathed. Looked back at the entrance of the radiant tunnel. No...oh gods, please, no...that, that light...as soon as she stepped into that tunnel it felt like sunlight. She knew that feeling, and knew it well. Sunlight: that intense stinging and stabbing, like the driving of a thousand daggers into every inch of her flesh. But unlike the natural light of the sun, this light within the tunnel seemed to pierce through her clothing as if she wore none at all, as if all of her vulnerable skin was exposed to it.

Heike, shivering, righted herself.

Ian called again from the alcove walkway, "You must proceed through the Trial of Body."

She looked back over to him. "I'll be paralyzed. I...I physically cannot make it one step within."

"You must proceed." His words stoic. And resolute.

Heike thought for a moment, her eyes downcast and rapidly flicking left to right and right to left as her mind raced for a solution. Then a possible one struck her.

She snapped her entreating gaze over to Alaric and Alexandria, a kindling of desperation in her tone. "Carry me! One of you could carry me."

Ian's eyebrows perked just slightly. But he said nothing.

Alaric Lexi Quinzell

 

[Alaric]

Alaric glanced over at Lexi.

He had only been a Templar for a short time, less than a year, yet the training he'd endured had been more than enough education to let him guess what this was. He supposed whatever was in this tunnel was of magical origin.

Lexi would likely face some other sort of challenge within, something that would give her nightmares or perhaps present some daunting weakness.

Alaric?

He knew that no such thing would touch his flesh, that he would find himself walking through it with no effect. The surgery that made him what he was would see to it, his forebearers having assured him of challenges just like this.

It felt...cheap. Yet the challenge was perhaps not his to bare. Alaric was not here to fulfill the effects of this. He was not here to right himself or face some sort of Crusade. He was here to help the Vampire, and if that meant carrying her?

He looked towards Ian for a brief moment. "I will guide you."

Alaric said plainly.

"And carry you when you cannot walk." He stopped for a second, and then slowly continued. "But you must try."

Alaric knew that she would, knew that she would push herself beyond that she could do. Slowly he stepped forward, his hand reaching towards her.

 

[Heike Eisen]

Alaric volunteered, and relief came over Heike as he approached. Both Alaric and Alexandria had done quite their level best to shrug off her gratitude, but truly, Heike found herself feeling further and further indebted to each of them despite their humble receptions. Captain Bronmarch, should she be fortunate enough to see him again, was going to have a hard time believing her tale.

But you must try.

Heike nodded. Said, "I will. But when I fall--though it may appear so--know that I will not be dead." Considerations for the unknown factor of the Path's particular light magic made her visibly rethink that. "I hope. If I am not roused within an hour upon leaving the light, then..."

Perhaps it was better to leave that sentence unfinished, and let the Templar make their own decision should there be any doubt.

Heike turned back to face the radiant tunnel and its glaring light. Ian, up on the alcove walkway with Lexi, made a motion for her to follow, and silently walked with his hands folded behind his back. He walked along the side of the radiant tunnel's enclosure, and would wait patiently on the other side for Heike and Alaric to emerge.

Heike, with a last thought before she took any steps back toward the radiant tunnel, glanced to Alaric and spoke what might well be her final words, "For Reikhurst." It was good, at least, that there was someone present to hear them. Someone who could, if asked, say that Herr Heike Eisen had stayed true to the very end.

She stepped forward. Into the radiant tunnel.

Held in her cries of agony as the light seared into her vampiric flesh.

Three paces in, her body had completely seized up and she was collapsing forward.

Alaric Lexi Quinzell

 

[Alaric]

As soon as Heike began to fall forward Alaric caught up to her. His arms wrapped around the Vampire, the light cascading over him as though it were dawn.

For a few seconds the Templar looked down at The Vampire, his expression blank.

He wondered what his brothers would have thought of him in that moment. Would other Pariah have slipped their blades into her heart? Cut off her head? Let her stand in the sun and suddenly burn away? He did not know. He was not sure if this was the right thing to do.

All he could remember were the stories.

Stories of Knights, of honor, of conduct that would befell the legends and nothing less. Alaric clutched Heike for a moment, and then slowly they began to move forward. Alaric forced Heike another step, moving her stuff muscles until they seemed to completely freeze.

Then in one swooping grasp the Pariah pulled Heike up into his arms. The weight of her was nothing to him, and he carried her forward through the tunnel without hesitation.

He stepped forward until the light began to fade, and they both found the other side.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

Alexandria's fingers itched for a quill and ink to record what it was she was witnessing right now.

The Watchmen had always spoken about the Path of Purity - it was all over their mantra from the days of old - but nobody had known what it meant. Was it a motto? A ritual? A way of life? Many other Chapters had speculated but she didn't think, from what she had read on them anyway, that any of their guesses had come close. She was morbidly curious of how this was going to affect not only the vampire but the pariah too. He was, basically, completing the path too in an odd way. Would that mean he too had only nine years to live on this earth?

Her eye flickered to Ian who was watching the proceedings like any true Master would. She doubted he would answer her questions if she did air them and out of respect she wouldn't have anyway. Every Chapter deserved their secret and he did her enough credit by letting her witness it.

Instead, she quietly followed after the Watchmen to see the rest of the Path.

 

[Heike Eisen]

Heike was catatonic from the sunlight. Her eyes were open--as frozen as the half-formed gasp that parted open her mouth. In Alaric's arms she was limp, and she did not move.

Ian stood outside the far end of the radiant tunnel's enclosure and watched the Pariah emerge with the vampire. The light within the tunnel and the constant roar that came along with it both began to die down. He saw the state Heike was in and betrayed no personal thoughts of the matter in his expression. He gave a small glance to Lexi.

"An hour, so she said. If it is in truth not longer than three days, then it will suffice." The magic which permeated through her body would fall away by then, Ian knew. It was present now, fittingly like the warmth of the sun on the body of a woman who had only just left its brilliant yellow gaze. But the magic would ultimately do nothing without the binding together at the end.

Ian looked then to Alaric. He'd no doubt that the Pariah had some means by which to shield themselves from the weapons of their foes--magic, and the within the Trial of Body being no exception. Still, his actions here were remarkable, and highlighted the strange and extraordinary situation that all three of them, each representatives of their own Chapters, were engaged in this day.

"Alaric...Commander Quinzell," Ian said. "I apologize for the slights I have uttered regarding your Chapters and your service. We have all sacrificed much to do what we do, despite the misgivings that have come from a schism ages past."

He bowed his head, and spoke of the coming fulfillment of the sacrifice he himself had made. "Within a vanishingly small number of days, my own will come to fruition, and my Watch will come to a close. And I...will always wonder what it is like to be a father."

And then he glanced to Heike's paralyzed form. "But, I think, this is as good a way to spend my final days as I could have hoped. With my sword in its sheath, my battles done, and trying to save a soul who wishes earnestly for it."

He looked to Alaric. To Lexi. An inviting gaze. If they had words to speak of their own sacrifices, then he would hear them.

Alaric Lexi Quinzell