"Are you allright?"
This question came from a concerned father , and those concerns were well founded. His son was not replying after pointing something out that didn't make sense.
Caelus was just staring directly at his dad's chest. The young man's face was as stiff as it could be, the only movement that Jonathan could witness were the drops of sweat that rolled down his forehead.
'What is happening to me'
Caelus was fully aware what was happening around him, he saw everything clearly, the after taste of the mediocre dish still lingering on his tongue, a cold draft caressed his legs and he could hear his dad very clearly.
But being aware doesn't mean that a reply would follow, because Caelus at this moment wasn't able to move at al.
'Why can't I move, did I eat anything bad? Ahhhh what is that pain.'
"Caelus, Hey Caelus stop joking around. Your making your poor dad concerned."
Jonathan was now next to his son, his hand resting on the paralysed Caelus. His plead was of no avail, only silence followed. The older man than stood up and put on his shoes.
"I am getting the doctor, dont move. Everything will be allright". He said while hurrying towards the door.
Bang
Caelus wasn't able to see the door close, his head was stuck in the same position. He did most definitely hear it close though, normally it would have hurt his ears but that was being muffled by another more prevalent pain.
It had started with his eyes but than it slowely crept down to the skin on his face than to the muscles in his neck, his arms, the organs in his abdomen and at last his legs.
More and more sweat was flowing down his face.
'This can't be from food poisoning. Is it my gift?'.
And with that last thought Caelus mind slowely faded in a dream like state. His body slowely relaxed and his head came down, right towards his half empty plate.
While this young man was resting his face in some lukewarm food, another man of similar age was finishing his last task of the day.
"Sir Zonnig, I havent been able to translate your gift completely, but I am very certain that it is related to weaving."
The man who was standing in a circle, surrounded by rows and rows of candles wanted to ask a few questions. Sadly enough for him a sudden noice interrupted the conversation.
Bang
A door had opend with enough force to make a few candles fall.
" LOID, WE ARE ALREADY THREE HOURS PAST OUR SHEDULE. FINISH WHAT YOU ARE DOING RIGHT NOW AND HEAD TO YOUR CARRIAGE".
Loid Hellum was completely stunned by the sudden situation.
"I uhh just finished the ritual of Sir Zonnig Alan, I'll head your way after gathering my stuff". The priest turned his head back towards the man standing in the circle and gave a smile that begged for forgiveness.
"Please excuse my companion, he might sound like a horrible person and he looks way out of his prime but he really is one of the kindest and most honourable holy knights we have. I did advise him to do some more exercise or even just mind his temper a bit more to show his more positive side, but to no real result. Ahh I remember when I met him for the first time, he was such a model knight. He did change so much the last few years, I have no clue how...."
"LOID, RIGHT NOW."
Alan von Bortel now entered the church fully. He took two suitcases that were stationd next to a altar and walked back to the door he just came through. His burning eyes that would make every kid in town cry, now directed to the priest that still had not taken any steps yet.
" Sorry Neil Zonnig, may we be fated to meet again." Loid took some candles and put them in a bag.
Mister Zonnig shudderd. He still had some questions, but he felt a thick and threatening pressure coming from the Knight. It was like his head would drop clean of his shoulders if he delayed the duo even more. So he bowed and left as fast as possible.
Loid had now collected 4 bags filled with candles. He almost stumbled over his own foot while trying to move forward.
"Alan, could you get the last few candles. My hands are a bit full right now"
Alan's stern face didn't change. He turned towards the door and replied before heading outside.
"Leave those candles, we can buy more in the next town. We lost to much damn time in this town."
Loid sighed. "You know that father Ilias will scold us for waisting so much of our fund. We just got these candles to."
"You should stop with all the small talk you do, we would have had enough time if you didn't make conversation with every bumb in town."
The priest didn't want to reply to this remark. He knew that his social behaviour was the reason for their late departure, but still people deserved to be treated as people.
Loid was now standing in the doorway, he than tried to close the door behind him.
"Are there still burning candles inside?"
Loid stopped right than and there, he tried to suppress his guilty and devious smile but to no avail.
"Blow the candles out you careless idiot, we have enough funds to buy more candles, we don't have enough for a fully burned down church that needs renovations"
Loid than dropped his bags, his eyes suddenly turned red and a gust of wind was circling around him. The few candles that were still lit inside dwindled a bit until it was completely stolen. The little droplets of fire that used to be stationd on the candle wick, were now flying towards the priest. They gathered toghether to form a fire ball that looked similar to a heart, that fire bal than disappeared inside Loids chest. The church that was filled with the warm light of fire was now eerily dark. The only light that remained were the rays that came from the windows. But those last rays of sunshine were also slowely dying out, the sun was going to take its slumber soon.
"Okay lights are out, we can go." Loid said while moving towards his companion.
Alan was already sitting on the riders seat of a small but fancy looking carriage.
"Good, we will reach Reumik in about two hours if everything is going well. Its to late for you to introduce yourself to the mayor so we will do that tomorrow morning. As soon as we arive we have to find a tavern to...."
"Alan, we will worry about those things when we get there okay. I am going to write my report of today now." Loid said while holding onto the carriage door. He than saw a man running towards a building at the end of the street.
"What building is at the end of this street?" He asked.
"No clue, and we don't have any time to look into it. Get inside before I throw you in". Alan said. His voice made it clear that he wasn't joking.
Loid sighed "Alright let's go than".
He might have complied, but during the trip towards Reumik he couldn't stop worrying about the man he saw. Writing the report became difficult because of it. After the atrocious amount of paperwork was finished the young priest yawned.
"We got 6 high rankers from today's visit, they were all suitable for the rank of grand officer. The one truly blessed Brennen."
The carriage was now passing a small pond, frogs were croaking while moonlight reflected on the calm and peaceful water surface.
The silence was very nice, Loid had listend to many people, anwserd a lot of questions and apologised for his lack of knowledge when he couldnt fully translate a gift. The silence refreshed him a bit, but he did want to hear a reply from Alan. So he slammed on his desk.
Bonk
"What?" The somewhat fat knight yelled.
"Were you listening to me?" Loid replied.
"I did. And what, 6 grand officers isn't that big of a boon. They still need to be trained, most of them are probably going to be demoted to Knight anyway. People with good combat gifts are great and all, but that doesn't mean that they can lead a battalion."
The Knight looked up and continued.
"And you think that Brennen is truly blessed, dont kid yourself. This and every other town and village close to the border are going to be destroyed when the war starts. No army is going to prevent that. A true blessing is peace. That's the only way to save those poor souls."
Loid looked at the table infront of him. The Knight was right, the only way to win this war was to fight in their own territory. Their army was small compared to their enemies. Sending manpower past enemy lines would be a big disadvantage, and they really needed every advantage they could get. So the king would probably focus defense around big cities, busy and necessary infrastructure and natural borders. Everything else had to be sacrificed for the greater good.
"I am glad that your positive qualities still linger inside you my friend. We still have some hope left with people like you."
Alan looked behind him, his expression filled with annoyance.
"Did you hear what I just said?" He replied.
Loid laughed. "Ofcourse I did, I just think that you are wrong. The king will protect our people, no even better, the people wil protect our people. The one has blessed all his creations, I am sure that everything works out perfectly fine. The war might not even happen."
Alan stayed silent, and that silence stayed till the end of their trip.
The Knight always saw loid as an honest man, but honest man lie and they lie mostly to themselves. So he left it at that.
Listening to the peaceful winds, the cracking of the little stones underneath the hooves of the horse and the croaking of the frogs. Tomorrow was going to be busy, so tonight they took their well deserved rest.