Sethlzaar sat uncomfortably in the seat. The cushion was plush, a very delicate touch to his butt, unlike what the seminary was prone to offering. Its size was massive enough to accommodate a second person. It was decorated with embroidery of such beauty only the best in the art could have done it, and the wood was carved beautifully with intricate designs of its own. It was a throne in itself.
However, what he sat on was not the source of his discomfort. It was where he sat: The sanctuary of the Arslagh head church of Truth, the
Sethlzaar walked the compound grounds of the parish house. The ground was muddied, the signs of the rainfall from the last night could be noticed from the puddles of water around the compound. The noon air was cold. And though the sun was out, its heat was absent.It was Sethlzaar's last week in the parish, and he had finally succumbed to Sister Elorha's pleas to indulge her in a stroll around the compound.
Darkness threatened to engulf Sethlzaar as his fears welled up from within him. He knew it very well. It was a companion he took solace in, and a companion he had grown to fear. Soon the eyes watched, and the hilts beckoned, and he dreamed in the day. However, his watchers made no entrance, only the blades. Taunting. Teasing. Beckoning. He knew where he was. Out with Father Kazaril, he told himself, capturing a touched.This dream was different from the ones he knew. Not only did his watchers prove absent, the h
The next morning, they came for Jazabil, blades drawn as they stood guard. Today Commander Olann was not among them. The soldiers of the King's blade pulled her by the chain that held her to the wall, dragging her out of the church, Father Kezaril following behind them, scorn marring his face while she spat curses at him in a language Sethlzaar didn't understand. He didn't need to understand her words to know, though.He watched it all from the window of his room. It was surreal knowing she was to be burned at high noon. The woman he had spoken with last night would cease to exist before the
The feel of the seminary was a welcomed one. Sethlzaar and his brothers had given up their cloaks for white cassocks, ones, unlike those of the official cassocks of the priests, was without capes, and now they resided in a tower west of the compound, beyond the smithy. Despite the heights of the towers they now lived in, the ones they had lived in for so long dwarfed them considerably.There was a new addition to their training. It encompasse
By their fourth month they had learned what Father Munidu sought to teach them. Even Sethlzaar showed a mastery of the technique, seeming capable of putting the dog to silence without having to look at it. Learning it before his remaining brothers, it seemed to solicit a suspicious look from Father Munidu.“How effective is it against humans, Father?” Sethlzaar asked as they practiced the Abeet, a commandment that had their horses stand in place for as long as was required.
“In the next six months,” Monsignor Shrowl told them, “you will be prepared for the test of the hunt.”It was late in the month of Martis and the snow from the winter had thawed, giving way for the green grass and the warm way. They stood in front of the dining hall, clad in their white cassocks as the Monsignor addressed them.
The months that followed had the brothers of the seminary supervised but not taught. The priests stayed their hands, keeping their reactions to any mistakes made to a frown or a twitch of the jaw. Father Ordan watched them as they sparred with each other, teaching themselves and developing an understanding of each other's weaknesses.Narvi was looked to for corrections on the way of the sword, and he proved a patient teacher at best. He taught them the more intricate moves Father Ordan had taught them with a deftness. Sethlzaar, however, found it more difficult than the others, afforded to th
Sethlzaar held back his ire at the sound of whistling. It was an odd strategy as far as strategies went, and only served to reveal the whistler’s location. Obviously, that was the intent.The time of day was difficult to discern considering the kooliga forest was always dark. But the seminary had released them sometime towards dusk, so it was safe to assume night was drawing nigh. Sethlzaar held back a sigh. A month ago the seminary had started them on a new training, a mock test of sorts. It was a battle test where each tower was pitted against the other in the vast expanse of the Kooliga forest. The time of day was not fixed, and Sethlzaar had a