“Which horse will I be riding?” I blurted anxiously, looking over the nearby temporary stables. I hoped for one that didn’t remind me of Cinder, the horse I had to leave behind with Captain Armand. I had tried apologizing to her for all the trouble I caused, but it seemed she had associated me with her injury. I always had a knack for getting others to pay for my stupid choices. Here’s hoping you retire to a lovely farm where you only have to pretend to work…

“Captain Lightbringer…” Captain Corwin’s voice was slightly defensive. “It was my sincere intention to allow you to pick the war mount of your choice, however—”

“We forgave you, but we’re not stupid,” Tetora interrupted with a growling undertone. “No horse for you right now!” Denied a horse?!

I glanced at the others with the most melancholy face I could conjure, but they weren’t buying it. “Well, how am I supposed to keep up then?” I grumbled in defeat. He’s not going to make me run all the way to Chairo, is he? That would be impossible! But I don’t think he knows the meaning of that word.

“We’ve outfitted one of our supply wagons so you may travel comfortably,” Captain Corwin explained lamely, pointing to… another war wagon. It was larger than the last, with higher sides that appeared more defensible.

“Is it… a convertible?” I asked incredulously, looking at how the roof was fastened. At least we could take the top down…

“If we need to protect the horses, the panels can be used to defend their outer flanks,” he pointed to the team of eight horses that pulled it. “In emergencies, of course.”

“Oh…” Even if it could transform, it still sounded like a mobile detention center just for me.

“Don’t worry. Relias and I will ride with you!” Nora advised. “This isn’t meant to be a punishment.” Just saying that makes it sound more like one!

“We’ll also keep you company,” Aleph promised. “This is about protection as a priority, given that now that so many know of your return.”

Vernie, however, holding the reigns of a roan, refused to even look at the wagon, let alone Relias.

“Alright…” I sighed loudly, seeing the benefits but still feeling the sting. “Let’s get going then— oh. If that’s okay with you, Captain.”

Captain Corwin was gracious enough to nod before giving orders to make ready and move out.

After boarding, our wagon rolled into line with the others as several mounted knights surrounded the sides. Anyone with half a brain would see they favored our particular supply wagon over the others. “Shouldn’t they spread out a little? You know, make it a little less obvious something of interest is in here?” I complained after pulling away from the window cutout.

“In time, they will,” Aleph replied. “Some of them just want the opportunity to say they traveled with you. Someday, it will be the highlight of conversation for them.”

“I see…”

A few hours into our journey, Tetora and Aleph abandoned us, having enough of riding in the wagon. The afternoon air was a terrible tease, carrying the smells of a warm, golden summer. I sighed yet again out the window, watching the green landscape pass us by.

“I believe now is a good time to commence our first educational lesson,” Relias announced to Nora and me as he sat up straight on his floor cushion. "Though it will require your undivided attention."

I tore myself away from the window, seizing the opportunity. “Yes! Alright! So… Raelynn Lightbringer,” I replied excitedly, leaning forward. “What was she like, you know, really? Wait. No, I need to know both. How was she with the church authority? Oh, but not you. Well…” I paused then, knowing I was making little sense. “What I mean is, how would she talk to the council?”

Relias tilted his head slowly as if trying to decipher my words. “She would talk to the council with the words in her heart,” he answered cryptically.

“That’s not really what I asked,” I objected. “They’re causing trouble, and someone needs to rein them in, right?”

“I believe that to be most astute.” Relias nodded.

“So… she’d confront them… yes? But in a professional way. You know, keep her emotions under control…”

“That sounds most reasonable,” he agreed calmly.

“But probably no name-calling right away.” Save that for when they declare their false innocence.

Relias smiled slightly. “She was rarely vulgar, yes.” Rarely? How rare is rare?

“But I want to get their attention, so… give me an example of how she might address—”

“I do not think this is a worthy path of study,” Relias suddenly announced. “You are you. Act like you. That’s all that is necessary.” Wait. He's not reneging on his offer to coach, right?

“Earlier, you said I wasn’t fooling anyone!” I flared defensively. “How am I—”

“It’s not Raelynn you don’t know, it’s demons,” he shrugged, seemingly unaffected by my irritation. “This is where we need to devote focus to.”

Nora immediately pulled out her journal and turned to an empty page, pen poised to the ready. At least I wouldn’t have to take notes!

“Okay, so let’s talk about… uh… Oliver.” Finally, I’d get some accurate, useful information. Maybe how to avoid him, even.

“I believe…” Relias covered his face, though not before I saw the animalistic anger he tried to mask. “To fully comprehend the nature of all demons, we must first examine the intrinsic nature of Epiales before diving into the loathsome legacies he left behind.”

Nora’s eyes sparkled in excitement even as I suppressed a multitude of objections. Epiales is dead. I’m not worried about him at the moment. Let’s talk about the very real, very alive one that I keep finding myself dreaming about!

“Fine…” I practically hissed.

Relias took a deep breath, twisting and turning in his makeshift seat. “Epiales. Epiales.. he…” he paused again, clenching his fists. “I…”

Nora and I exchanged a long, questioning glance, all while trying to pretend not to notice his internal struggle. Wasn't it his suggestion to start with him in the first place?

“He killed Raela,” Nora offered as a starting flashpoint. What happened to tact?!

“He committed atrocities far beyond mere murder!” Relias jumped from his seat, his face crimson with rage. “He sundered her soul! He obliterated all that was sacred – Paradise, our communion with the Goddess! He stripped us of our sanctity, corrupted our essence!” His shrill shouts caused the knights to peer into the wagon with faces full of concern. Nothing to see here…!

“Relias..!” I started to stand, but he waved me off.

“I confess,” he hissed through clenched teeth, turning away from the both of us. “I am not the most adept at elucidating such personal matters... Yet, there are essential truths that you must be acquainted with. I beg your pardon, but it may be more beneficial for you to peruse the written accounts rather than for me to attempt to articulate them.” With that, he frantically dug into his pack, pulling out an ornate gold and silver bible that depicted Euphridia’s star on the front cover.

I tried my best to give Nora a chastising look, but she skillfully avoided eye contact.

“A copy for each…” he mumbled, still trembling, as he turned to a page near the front. Two small parchments appeared abruptly before Nora and I, summoned by a golden light.

“If you would graciously pardon me…” he apologized, gathering his belongings in a rush. “I am confident that I can address any inquiries you may have at a later juncture once I have regained my composure.”

I glanced at my now mandatory homework. “Why don’t you find Aleph?” I suggested hopefully, figuring he would be the best source of comfort. “We can catch up later, for sure.”

“Yes, I should check on the others…” he mumbled absently as he exited the moving wagon carefully.

"Did you really have to start there?" I admonished once I was sure he was far enough away.

Nora nodded. "It cut through a lot of nonsense."

"So you did it on purpose!"

"Of course," Nora said with a shrug. "He might be mad at me for a while, but at least we got his perception of past events and not some crafted sermon."

"We should be trying to get along!" I retorted. "We need him!"

Nora locked eyes with me for a few moments. "If that's all it takes for him to write me off, then it's best for us to know that now."

"You're... testing him?" I felt a scowl cross my face. "I was clear earlier that we needed to work together as a team!"

"He wasn't in the party then," Nora folded her arms. "And I haven't given my consent yet for him to join. Right now, he's a guest. However..." she tilted her head as a thoughtful look crossed her face. "I'll admit, he's passing so far."

While I wanted to yell more about the whole idea of practically hazing him, my curiosity got the better of me. "What criteria do you base that on?"

"Well, he told you to be you. I was afraid he was going to start directing you on how to act. Also, just now, I think that was the real Relias. He showed his ugly side, and it was refreshing, to be honest. I was worried he was just flowery speeches and good looks. But he's messy, just like everyone else!"

"Don't... don't do that again," I concluded lamely, vacillating between relief he passed and the fact she did it in the first place. "It's not nice!"

"Alright. I won't," she agreed too quickly, grabbing the parchment in front of her. "Let's finish this before he comes back."

"I'm holding you to that," I grumpily reminded her as I prepared myself for some heavy reading.

---

The Accursed One

In the days of humanity’s innocence, Euphridia walked among us, with Raela almost always by her side. Our community lived as one in Paradise, where nature’s endless bounty freely sustained us. Euphridia and Raela would often venture into the wilderness, yet never for more than a few hours at a time. As evening descended, Euphridia would retire to her temple with Raela, remaining there until the sun once again graced the land. On rare occasions, Raela found moments of respite, visiting my tower to discuss Euphridia’s teachings and the progress of creation.

With each passing season, this routine endured, but I noticed a growing anxiety in Raela’s countenance during her visits. My inquiries, whether gentle or direct, proved futile as she guarded the burden that weighed upon her heart.

Then, a tempestuous Spring arrived, with thunderstorms of great fury sweeping across the horizons, flooding rivers and carving deep furrows into the surrounding lands.

One night, during such a tumultuous storm, Raela ascended my tower, soaked and shivering from the cold gusts that resisted the onset of summer. I offered her shelter, which she declined, asserting that her visit was of utmost urgency.

“Euphridia has descended into a deep slumber,” she revealed with a bowed head.

“Holy Euphridia... slumbers?” I exclaimed, startled by this revelation.

“She has forbidden me to speak of such matters before, but yes, now she rests.”

“For how long?” I inquired, my concern for the well-being of all growing.

“I know not, but her rest is essential. She has deferred it for too long, and I can only hope it shall restore her.”

“Do you suspect her to be in distress?”

“Her thoughts... are troubled.” Raela’s gaze remained averted. “She does not share the details with me, but they fill her with dread. Perhaps the burden of creation has overwhelmed her. It was not my place to ask for so much.”

“Raela... Without you, none of us would exist. Do not blame yourself for failing to grasp the ways of the Holy Goddess.”

“I shall bear responsibility and watch over her, just as she has watched over us since time immemorial. I know not when our paths will converge again, Relias.”

“Surely, you cannot embark on this task alone!” I implored her to allow me to select trusted humans from our society to aid her. Initially resistant, she eventually yielded to my counsel and finally accepted my assistance. I pledged to send four companions to join Raela at the temple, sharing the duty that lay ahead.

“I must depart,” she spoke with a mournful tone before turning away. “I do not wish to leave her alone.”

“I shall send them to you on the morrow, Raela,” I vowed as she silently ventured back into the storm. Little did I know that those would be the last words I would ever speak to her; had I known, I would have revealed my true sentiments to her without reservation.

I sought out the four companions I had in mind the next morning. Boukolos was a farmer whose strength was tantamount only to his gentility. Hojin was more challenging to find, as he preferred to hunt deep in the forests where dangerous game posed a particular challenge he delighted in. Leya was an entertainer, skilled in music, dance, and tall tales. Last was Magus, a sorcerer of great skill who sought to unlock the world’s secrets through unbound experimentation.

Just as I had dispatched them to aid Raela with all their essence, a sentry made himself known at the foot of my tower. He informed me that an unknown entity had appeared in Paradise. It was a cloud of darkness, yet its shape was ever-changing, propelling itself forward even as it terrorized all it encountered. Fearing for the safety of those at the temple, I alone confronted the interloper.

“Advance no further in this sacred place!” I commanded the shadowy presence.

“You fear me,” the cloud suddenly swirled, taking on my appearance. “You seek to control me. Such an endeavor on your part will be quite futile. I have no need of something so weak and frail to be my master.”

“State your name and your purpose!” I demanded.

“Are such things necessary in this space?” my doppelganger inquired with a sneer.

“You are not welcome here! Your dark visage disturbs our peace! Begone, I say!”

He paused, shifting into a formless haze of darkness. “A most disappointing welcome. I’ll be sure to repay your hostilities at a later time, Relias-sage. However, you are not the one I seek. I’ll call upon her again once she adequately prepares to receive me.” With these words, he drifted away on an ill-omened breeze, leaving me filled with dread.

Had this dark entity’s arrival afflicted our great Goddess? Was he the cause of her troubled thoughts? I briefly contemplated informing Raela of this encounter, but I did not wish to burden her further. Instead, I gathered those gifted with the power of amity, as I was, and devised a plan to monitor and respond should the dark cloud return.

Over a year passed before I received word from a temple servant that Euphridia had awoken. As I rushed to share in the joyful celebration, I was informed that Raela, upon hearing of the unknown entity, had already left Paradise in search of it. Her four companions threw themselves at my feet, begging for my forgiveness for losing sight over her. I forgave them, knowing no force could stop Raela once she had decided to act. Holy Euphridia, alert but distraught, commanded us to search for her in the wilderness.

“Relias-sage! You must return immediately!” a temple servant implored through the use of his sacred skill after a week of tireless searching. I mounted our party’s fastest steed, but I was fated to arrive too late. The others advised me that Raela had located the Accursed One and brought him before the Goddess, only to meet her demise, torn asunder before Euphridia herself. While Raela and I had been granted agelessness as part of our Purpose, we were not bestowed with immortality. The remnants of her public execution had burned themselves into the very garden of Paradise where we had first crossed paths, forever scarring my heart.

“Where is Holy Euphridia?” I demanded once I could find my voice again, but none among us possessed the answer. We waited in mournful silence outside the garden as three days passed before Euphridia appeared again.

“If only I had been there,” I lamented between sobs before her. “I could have protected her from that…” I still did not know what it truly was.

“A demon born of nightmare,” Euphridia whispered in a tone so dispassionate I felt my hair stand on end. “Its only Purpose is to destroy the things I treasure the most. He will not rest until all is laid waste.”

“Demon?” The word had no meaning to me.

“Even I cannot contain him forever,” she continued with eyes unblinking.

“He is… still of this world?”

“Yes, though I wish it were otherwise,” she admitted. “I shall reveal his true name to you, but utter it not, for it is a name that beckons the void.”

She spoke of him as Epiales, Origin of Sin, an entity opposed to all she embodied. I learned that his power would only flourish the longer he remained in this world, drawing strength from the concealed malevolence harbored within the hearts of all mortal beings. Holy Euphridia had ensnared him within a grotesque physical form so that all might recognize his vileness at a single glance. She then imprisoned him within a desolate enclave deep within the wastelands, isolating him from the rest of our realm.

“Holy Euphridia,” I proclaimed. “Please tell me how I may truly rid this world of the Accursed One!”

“That is not your Purpose, at least… alone. You will need to prepare for Raela’s return.”

“She… will come back?”

“In time, yes. She will not remember her past life. Therefore, you must guide her so she may fulfill her new Purpose to destroy him and his kin.”

“Kin?”

“As his power grows, he will spawn others like him. It is inevitable.”

“Holy Euphridia…”

“Go, Relias. Take your people and lead them across the lands of Speranza. Paradise can no longer sustain them. Strengthen your numbers and tame the edges of this world even as you prepare to defend from his evil onslaught. When Raela’s return is nigh, I will contact you once more.”

With a single divine gesture, all of us found ourselves standing at the forsaken outskirts of Paradise, its gate sealed in celestial crystal, forever barring our reentry.

Nora was a faster reader than I was, so I didn’t quite understand why she had started cursing loudly. Although it was a tragedy, to be sure, we already had the backbone in mind from the original story. When I hit the last line of the passage, though, I couldn’t help but join in, adding some vulgar words of my own. He did say Raelynn only cursed rarely, but the occasion seemed quite appropriate.