Golden Promises

Honeyfield

"I would shatter my faith before letting you fall from my arms."

The whispered words fell like a stone into a dark well. For a moment, they had only been met with silence.

They began to trickle back through a distant echo, growing louder and louder, like wind barreling through a tunnel until they were all encompassing. Buried beneath them was a low voice that growled a response.

"Then you both shall fall."

—

Hooves cupped against the cobble pavement as Aisu clutched the reins tightly. Her golden scales were dull in the clouded weather that hovered over the desolate village of Honeyfield.

Aisu's gaze was tossed over her shoulder towards the others in her charge: a well-groomed tabaxi who wore his suit of armor like a child in a costume, a half-orc who diligently kept himself focused on their surroundings, and a grizzled human that looked to be close to retiring from the paladin order.

"Check," Aisu commanded.

In response, each one of them lifted their amulets from beneath their armor and presented them. Engraved into the face of the amulets was a silhouetted dragon head surrounded by a shield. This symbol shined a little less proudly in a place like this.

"I have five javelins, and my halberd is mounted to the side of my steed." The grizzled human, Demur, spoke with the firmness of an old soldier who took pride in his work. He held his fist over his chest and bowed his head. "Honor and protection for the lesser races."

"'Lesser races'?" the tabaxi tisked, "that is an old oath for an old man."

"And what would you know, Velvet?" Demur responded, "It may be an old oath, but it is what I swore under. I'll be damned if I ever disregard it."

Velvet rolled his eyes. "You confuse loyalty with ignorance."

Aisu cleared her throat to call their attention. "I don't think we were done."

With a smile, Velvet brushed his hand against the hilt that was peeking over his shoulder. "Greatsword is within reach, and a dagger waiting to taste the blood of a vampire."

"And your oath?" Aisu coaxed.

Velvet lazily held his fist over his chest. "Honor and Respect for Righteous Innocence."

Aisu turned her gaze towards the half-orc who had been far away from this conversation.

"Moroz?" Aisu called.

Moroz turned slowly. "Oh, right. My longsword and light hammers are accounted for. Justice and Good above all."

Aisu nodded before turning her attention forward. "Keep your wits about you. Separate, and you may die a foolish death."

The four individuals kept a slow pace down the central road through the village. The steps echoed off hollow alleys, with only the cawing of crows responding to their arrival. Shattered windows and unhinged doors were common amongst the buildings here, while their interiors were hollow carcasses of a wonderful life.

The air was tinged with the blunt smell of sulfur.

"Do any of you smell that?" Moroz's nose twisted in disgust, while his green skin turned a shade lighter. "It smells like death."

"I smell it too." Aisu turned her nose to the wind, following the scent that seemed to guide them onward. With narrowed eyes, she nodded her head towards a distant building. It looked to be an abandoned tavern with boarded up windows, and an unreadable sign that hung at an angle. It was two stories tall, with a balcony that would have provided a wonderful view of the wheat fields during a sunny day.