The Blade Witch: Songs of Eldrin, Book 0.5

Chapter Eleven - Sins of a Saint

The bard's explanation was long winded and overly detailed. It had taken him hours to explain, long enough for rain to start falling on the city streets outside, but Estra got the gist of it.

"So, you're suggesting that the best course of action is to go straight to the heart of the issue?" Estra said, standing to stretch her limbs, a smile managed to break its way through her dull expression as she caught sight of a small figure walking through the nighttime drizzle with a lantern raised in front of her hood.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm advising we do," the bard said, making sure to drag out the word to make his meaning clear. "For that, we're going to need a few more allies."

"Who exactly? Maybe the mayor or the high judge?" Estra suggested.

Brennan responded to her proposals with a cruel laugh. "All the aristocrats of this city were in the Defiler's pockets long ago," he said, moving his hand as if to wipe the thought from her mind. "If we're going to have any hope of succeeding, you need to broaden your sentiments on who you associate yourself with."

Estra had expected as much. "So, you're suggesting criminals then? We're going to be finding our associates in the same place that our enemy makes its bed?" she said, without making an effort to hide her contempt. "You might not be entirely bad, but I don't work with scum Brennan. As far as I'm concerned, they can all fall into the dark voids of hell."

"Ha," the bard scoffed at her, souring his cheeks. "You know, I thought you might be a little different from the rest of the Faith's dogs, but it turns out you're not the almighty chosen one everyone makes you out to be. You really believe so wholeheartedly in the Faith's pig arsed bigotry, do you? The same shit that brought racism and prejudice to this very city for hundreds of years when they unjustly persecuted anyone that didn't conform to their beliefs."

A surge of heat flowed through Estra's body. She could feel her face redden at the bard's words as he exposed what plagued her constantly. Her mouth opened, but words didn't find their way out. Only the familiar feelings of shame and self-loathing roiled from within her.

"That was a long time ago bard," Estra said, a surge of angry heat flowing through her body. "A lot has changed about the Faith since then."

"I may not have your eyes, but even a simple man like myself can see that the institution you serve is just as twisted as its always been," Brennan said without any trace of his usual mirth. "You'd think that someone with Asruelian blood running through their veins would understand that."

Estra stared at the man, unable to present any counterargument to his statements. She was one of Asruelian decent. In The Exaid it was written that the Asruelian people had forsaken both their enlightenment and ascendency to paradise in favor of a godless life, something that the Faith had long decreed as the ultimate act of profanity. Yet here she was fervently serving the Faith, based on ideals that had been thrust upon her from childhood. As unsure as ever whether she truly believed in them or not.

A chilling air found its way into the private room, like the ghost of a memory coming to haunt. It swirled around the bard darkening, his mood and found its way into Estra's bones, causing a slight shiver that she was too distracted to hide.

"I know for you, we've only just met, but there is much that you need to know Estra," Brennan said. "Things that the Faith has kept hidden from you, what Goffried trained you to do, the Defiler's true motives here, about the past, about yourself. Things Jennah intended to tell you before she died." The bard's words were cryptic and the way he spoke them was knowing and unusual.

"You speak of my mother?" Estra asked mystified, clutching at the only portion of the man's statement that had any real meaning to her. "And you speak of Goffried as well. As if you knew them."

"I did," Brennan said, his face a deadpan mask. "It is no mistake that you returned to this city. Call it fate, destiny, or whatever else you like, but you have a purpose here."

"I suppose it's a good thing you showed up when you did Lency. You should be here for this too. Let's begin with the reason all this started," the Bard suggested. "The chasm of souls."

"What in dark hell is that?" Estra asked.

"The chasm is the whole reason Wulfdonria was built here in the first place," Brennan said. "The real reason I mean. Beneath this city is a remnant of ancient times, a gateway of sorts. When the Faith discovered it was here, they believed they could use it to open a path to paradise and commune with your Enlightened. Turns out what was on the other side wasn't what they thought. You've seen Helena's followers, how they change with each passing day. That's the corruption the Faith unleashed, and it's spreading quicker with each passing day. Helena once spoke of closing the gate, preventing the Faith from using it again. She proved her intent when she began her return to Wulfdonria by destroying your convent. That's how she got people to follow her in the beginning, but inevitably the corruption caught up with her as well. Now her mind isn't her own. Now she wants it opened. She wants to use whatever is on the other side to turn the people of this city into an army of the damned and take her revenge for the suffering she's endured."

"That's where you come in," Brennan said. "I know you may not understand this right now, but once you hear my story, you'll know why. You're the only person that can destroy the chasm Estra."

It felt like a book had just been crammed into her head in the space of a few seconds. There was a lot to ponder over, but what question begged to be asked more than any other. "How exactly do you know all this?" Estra asked. She looked over at Lency, who looked just as confused as she did before turning back to Brennan. "I'm done listening to your veiled explanations. Tell your story bard."

"So be it," Brennan nodded, lettingout a ragged sigh. "The time has come for you to learn the truth."    

It seems that Estra has more connections than she's realized. Find out how her dealings in the dark turn out during the next chapter.

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