Chapter Twenty-Five: Sunrise and Sunset

Chapter Twenty-Five: Sunrise and Sunset

“The Monastery of the Bloody Dawn welcomes Wayrest,” the Abbess said. “We have much to discuss.”

Her voice was deep and husky, but her tone was surprisingly light. She did not smile though, and fierce intelligence lit in her hooded eyes as she appraised them minutely.

She seemed young for someone in such a powerful position, though not a youth. Age could be difficult to discern for Idealists though, given the extensions to longevity they granted, and that was not accounting for the interactions that specific Ideals could have with health and age.

That is to say, the Abbess of Sunrise was a woman in her prime. She sat straight in her simple chair, her hands laid lightly on its armrests, the very picture of poise and attention. She was handsome, well-muscled, and clearly used to her authority.

The abbot was not much different, though he was clearly older. His hair was slightly greying, though he was also strong of posture and certain in his authority. His neatly trimmed black beard, peppered with just a little salt, accentuated his square jaw.

Both wore robes of deepest, darkest black. Both radiated power.

“Be at ease,” the Abbot said. His voice was clear and sharp. “We will be getting nothing done, I think, if you are this hesitant.”

Tom did not envy Tanya her position right now. The swarthy merchant gathered herself and stepped forward.

“Greetings, Abbot, Abbess,” she said, with a deep bow to each. The rest of their party mirrored her. “We have much to discuss indeed. I am Tanya Sender, Merchant, now of Wayrest. I am here to facilitate discussions between your venerable selves, and the Council of Wayrest. I am blessed with a skill for this purpose.”

The abbot and abbess assessed her for a moment. “Go on, then, Tanya Sender. We will hear what you have to say,” the Abbess purred.

Tanya took a moment to reorder her thoughts. “I will be as brief as I can. Wayrest has spent months fighting an infection of orcs. They grew in the Deep Green, and laid siege to our city.” There was a slight, general stirring from the monks arrayed around the walls. “We broke them, and scattered them back into the Deep.”

The stirring grew more pronounced. The Abbess held up a single hand. Tanya went quiet, and the monks, still.

“This is good news, yes?” she said. “We had word from the Raventos’ about the situation. We had been fearing the worst. Wayrest is not so …martial, as Horizon.”

Tanya ignored the byplay. “We are grateful for your concern. Our Hunters are pursuing the remnants of the orc army in the Deep, but it will be the work of many months, years even, to rid our land of them.”

Tanya paused. The abbot and abbess sat silently. The atmosphere in the room was stifling. After a moment, she gathered herself and continued.

“We have been made aware of the infection brewing in the Proving Grounds. Indeed, we have fought some of the orcs as we travelled through them. Two things are apparent: your orcs also have Ideals, and they are different somehow to the ones we fought in the Deep.”

At this declaration, a great, angry murmur rose among the monks. Tom could hear the heat in their voices, and even discern some of the mutterings. It seemed he had underestimated the piousness of the monks. They were not pleased to learn there were even more varieties of the unholy creatures than the ones in the Grounds.

The abbess held up a hand again.

“The worst has come to pass,” she began, slowly. “We had hoped our infection was an isolated one. It is not so, then. Tell me, what of the Ideals your orcs held? What were they like?”

Tanya grimaced. “They were many and varied, honoured Sunrise. As were the orcs themselves. Broadly, there were three types: the rank and file orcs, who held no Ideals, their Idealists, who were bigger, and stronger, and those we called chieftains, who were much fewer, but were clearly the strongest among them.”

She paused, seeming to weigh her next question. “If I can ask, the orcs we fought here, all of them had skills. Physically, they were all much bigger than the rank and file orcs at Wayrest. Is this true for all of your infection? Are there no “regular” orcs?”

The abbess’ gaze became sharp. She scrutinised Tanya with exactness. Eventually, Abbot Sunset leaned forward to address her.

“Why have you come here, Tanya Sender? What is it you want from us?” His voice was a cold wind in the hall.

Tanya did not shrink under it. Pride for her surged in Tom’s chest. “We seek merely to understand,” she said evenly. “For both our nation’s benefit. If you would be open to it, Wayrest would like to help with the extermination of the orcs here.”

Fire bloomed in the abbot’s eyes, but the Abbess took over once again. “We sent no aid to you,” she said bluntly. “Why would you offer it in return?”

Tanya met the Abbess’ gaze, a feat Tom would not have thought her capable of. Not in that hall. Not in that moment.

“We know that both our infections began at the same time. If you had sent us aid, it would have left the monastery vulnerable. You had problems closer to home to handle. For the same reason, we could not devote more than a single expedition to Horizon. Anything more and we risked being destroyed utterly.

“Goddess has seen fit to shepherd Wayrest through the worst of this tribulation. And now that we are in a position to help our neighbours, we wish to do so. Our ancestors paid dearly for the lessons they learned in the Extermination Wars. We were slow to remember them, but we have not forgotten them entirely.”

Tanya drew herself up, giving the abbess and abbot each a level stare. “Wayrest offers aid to crush the orc menace. Will you accept?”

The air in the room seemed very still. Tom held his breath. The abbot and abbess shared an inscrutable glance. The abbot leaned forwards once more.

“The Monastery of the Bloody Dawn is not as foolish as Wayrest. We have not had much news, no, but we have heard some things. You dithered, and your infection grew almost unmanageable. Here, as you can see, we have been preparing for war since the first half-dead traveller dragged themselves to our gates with news. We brook no weakness in Goddess’ name. We tolerate no profanity.”

The abbot continued to stare at them, his eyes burning like coals with their fervour. The abbess waved a hand in lazy circles.

“Abbot Sunset is indeed correct,” she said. “We are no fools here. And it would be foolish to turn down aid when it is offered. The Monastery of the Bloody Dawn accepts Wayrest’s offer. We welcome any help in smiting these beasts from Goddess’ sight.”

Tom read the confusion in Tanya’s posture. He felt it himself. There was some kind of miscommunication here. These monks were very hostile for people being offered aid with an orc army breathing down their necks.

Fortunately, Tanya had crammed as much training in on the Monastery, and Horizon culture, as she could before they left. She identified the problem.

“I apologise, we do not mean to imply that the monastery is incapable, nor that it is lacking in its duty to Goddess. If we can assure you of one thing, it is the sincerity of our offer. We here have seen firsthand the foolishness of Wayrest in how it handled the orc menace. We have no wish to repeat our mistakes. We make this offer in good faith.”

The abbot and abbess sat very still. Both appeared to be weighing Tanya’s words minutely. Then the abbess relaxed, very slightly, followed by the abbot, a moment later. Tom felt the change mirrored in the hundreds of monks arrayed around the room, and suddenly, the atmosphere was much less tense.

“It is good you understand this,” Sunset said. “Our preparation should not be confused with weakness. Our aim is to smash their army and exterminate them as closely as possible. Because Wayrest did not prepare, now you have years of chasing these orcs all through your Deep. We refuse to allow ours to escape into the Grounds.”

The abbess took over. “To that end, we need information. As you have said, our orcs appear to be different to yours. We need to scout them more closely. We have sent several forces, but all have returned with more questions than answers. We are sending a new force, soon, to get us what we will need to destroy them. Until that force returns, you can collaborate with us.”

“Any information you have about your orcs will help us,” the abbot said. “And you can begin to mobilise what forces you can spare to help us. If everything is going well, they should arrive in time to meet with our army.”

The abbess’ eyes flashed with steel. “And together, we will destroy them.”

Tanya bowed to the pair. “I will need to talk to the Council back home. To coordinate. Who will be my contact? I will need someone to pass information to freely.”

The abbess waved her concerns. “You will have lodgings here. This skill of yours will be useful. We will take care of this.”

Tom silently willed Tanya to asked if they had any equivalent of the Great Smith here, but he bit his tongue. She would find out in her negotiations.

The abbess’ eyes swivelled to Tom and fixed on him. “You.” she said flatly. “You have a question?”

Tom’s heart jumped. Was that a skill? Or was she simply good at reading people? He gulped as he stepped forwards and bowed.

“My apologies for the interruption, Abbess, Abbot,” Tom began. “I am a Hunter for Wayrest.”

The abbess sniffed sharply. “A barbaric practice.” She waved at him. “Go on.”

“Well, I did a lot of the scouting in the Deep. Of the orcs, I mean. There was one in particular, it called itself the Great Smith. Their leader. It was… particularly powerful. It had an Ideal with unheard of reach and power. And it could copy Ideals from captured humans and give them to its orcs.”

The room erupted with noise. “HERESY!” “This is profane!” “I cannot believe this! It is sick!” The monks shouted over each other, growing louder with every second. Many leapt to their feet.

Tom had not given much thought to how the Smith would be viewed by the Bloody Dawn religion, but he supposed, given what he knew of them, that a mana-beast using an Ideal to copy Ideals from a human and give them to other mana-beasts would be the highest order of sacrilege possible.

“Silence.” said the abbess sternly. Though she had not spoken loudly, every single sound in the room cut off abruptly. In a moment, silence reigned again. Disgruntled monks settled themselves to the marble floor once more.

“You speak truly?” the abbess asked him. “You would swear this on Goddess?”

“Yes,” Tom said without hesitation. “I heard the Smith speak. I fought him with my own hands. He killed many people I held dear, directly and indirectly. It is true.”

The abbess let out a long, low hiss. Sunset spoke. “If this is true, it changes everything. This is profanity on a level we have never seen. Tell us, did you kill it?”

“Yes,” he said. “With my own hands.”

Now Tom found himself weighed and measured by the leaders of the Bloody Dawn. Their scrutiny was intensely uncomfortable.

“Why do you tell us this, mister…?”

“Tom Cutter. I’m telling you because the Smith, it mentioned brothers and sisters as it was dying. I believe there are more like it out there. I believe there is one leading your infection.”

Once again, the hall began to erupt into chaos, but this time the abbot stood. “Be quiet,” he said, addressing the monks around the room. “If you cannot hold yourselves as Goddess requires you will take yourselves elsewhere.” The room settled once more.

“What makes you say this?” Sunrise asked when Sunset sat down again.

“Your orcs,” Tom said. He glanced at Tanya. “As we said, they are different to ours were. Are. I’m not sure, just… something tells me I am right. I know it.”

Rosa stepped forward, bowing. The abbess raised an eyebrow at her. “Yes?”

“If I may, honoured abbess, abbot. Tom Cutter undersells himself. He was the one to first uncover the infection in the Deep. He scouted it, with only one other, and brought back the proof that finally shook Wayrest into action. He has killed countless orcs, now, and he slayed the Great Smith. It is no exaggeration to say that he has the most experience of any living person with these beasts. If he says he believes one of the Smith’s brethren is here, I would believe him.”

The abbot and abbess shared another glance. “So be it,” Sunrise said. “We cannot let such evil fester in our lands. It is much worse than we thought.”

“I agree,” said Sunset. “We must move forward our schedule. We need to know if such a beast exists here. We must know immediately.”

“Excuse me,” Tom said. The attention of everyone in the room fell on him like a physical weight. “I would like to join your expedition. I believe I can help.”

“I would like to join also,” Rosa said, stepping forward. “You could benefit from our knowledge.”

Once more the measuring looks. Once again, the abbot and abbess shared a glance.

“Very well,” the abbess said. Something in her voice sounded feline.

“As you say,” said the abbot. “You could provide us insight from your experiences.”

Tom relaxed. He had not expected them to agree.

“But…” the abbess said. “The force we are gathering is special. You are aware of the …peculiarities of the orcs in our Proving Grounds, yes?”

“We are being absolutely certain that this force can gather the information we need, and disengage to then return to us with it. Do you understand?”

“I think so, honoured Sunset. I have a skill that turns debuffs into buffs. They do not affect me.”

“I have two escape skills, and a control skill under Speed. I can help mitigate their effects on others, even,” Rosa said.

The abbot nodded, satisfied. He raised an eyebrow at Sunrise.

The abbess tapped a slender finger against her jaw. “This is all well and good, but we cannot tolerate any weakness in this. None. There will be Idealists of every tier, but all will be able to pull their weight. Your words have been pretty, but they are also far from home.”

She gave them a predatory smile. The abbot laughed, a full throated, hearty sound.

“You must prove yourselves,” said Abbess Sunrise.