A few days later at the human capital the scout commander finally returned from his investigation. He rushed to the office of the Grand Pope to deliver his report. "Sir!" He said as he entered the room and kneeled. "I have returned from the village you sent us to."
"And what of the village?" The Grand Pope asked. "Were the reports true, has the demon lord destroyed it?"
"There is nothing left but ash my lord." The commander said with a grim look on his face. "There's more, on our way back to the capital we learned that the forest had an immense light emanating from it a few days ago. Also, all the demon activity around the kingdom has stopped, they seem to all be within the forest."
"That is troubling indeed." The Grand Pope said. "What could those foul creatures be planning, I wonder."
"My Lord we found this in the charred village as well." The commander pulled the wrapped item out of his satchel and handed it to the Grand Pope. "We found it on top of one of the guard's corpses."
The Grand Pope opened it slowly, wondering what on earth the item could be. When he saw it, he tossed it to the ground. "How vulgar! Just what are those demons up! What message are they trying to send with this?!" The Grand Pope was outraged. "I will speak to the holy council about this at once. You are dismissed, Thank you for your report. Please feel free to take one of the available women and have yourself a good time."
"Thank you, sir, for your kindness!" The commander then left.
When the room emptied the Grand Pope moved to his bookshelf and revealed a hidden passageway behind it. At the end of the passageway was a statue of the Goddess. The Grand Pope then kneeled in front of it and began to pray. "Oh, great Goddess who created all please hear my prayer. I know not want to do about this demon threat, we sent another hero as you commanded but he seems to have failed. Oh, great Goddess what shall we do?"
The torches that lined the room then extinguished and a whisper could be heard echoing the room. "Prepare for war, defeat the demons." The voice whispered.
"Yes Goddess!" The Grand Pope responded. "Your will as always is our command."
The voice spoke again. "Use an army, not just a hero. The time has come to slay them all." The voice commanded.
"Yes, my Goddess." The Grand Pope answered.
"Use the King's army, slay the king if you must. The demons must die." The voice commanded.
"Yes, my Goddess! If the King will not allow us use of his army, we shall take his army by force! As you command!" Answered the Grand Pope.
"Go now, do as I command." With that the torches lit back ablaze, and the Grand Pope stood up. He left the chamber with the Goddess statue and made his way to the Royal castle. He needed to have a meeting with the King. Since his status was higher than that of the King, he was allowed an audience right away.
"King Edward I must speak with you." The Grand Pope said as he entered the room.
With that request the King waived his hand and dismissed everyone else out of the room. "Yes, what troubles you old friend?" King Edward asked.
"I have just spoken with the Goddess; she has commanded that we use the Royal army and attack the demon forest." The Grand Pope explained. "Please hand the army over to the church immediately."
"I am sorry I cannot do that old friend." King Edward explained. "The church may have more influence in the kingdom than the nobles do, however the royal army only serves the King. I would never have our army leave our city to attack the forest. My duty is to protect my people, to allow them to flourish. If I sent away our only means of defense, how would I protect them old friend?"
"Please understand Edward, this is a command from the Goddess herself, you do not have a choice in this matter." The Grand Pope pleaded.
"No old friend. There is always a choice." The King was Steadfast in his determination. "I may not be able to rule the kingdom as I wish, due to my lack of influence, but I will do the one thing I am able. I will protect them, even if it means defying the Goddess herself."
"Edward please listen to reason!" The Grand Pope begged. "The church had to step in and be the body to create law. It is what the Goddess commanded. The laws we have made come straight from the Goddess herself."
"I wonder about that sometimes, Oliver." Edward responded to the Grand Pope.
"You show great disrespect by using my name Edward. Please do not dig your hole deeper." Oliver begged. "Also, what do you mean you wonder if our laws come from the Goddess. You know my family has heard the voice of the Goddess for generations. Since we are the only ones who can hear the Goddess, I understand that you would have trouble understanding her ways, but I assure you they are commands directly given by her."
"Her laws seem unjust." Edward explained. "Why must we treat half of our citizens like they are no more than property, simply because of their gender. Why do we force a lone hero to fight our battles for us? There are so many things wrong with her commands if you just stop and think about them for more than a second."
"It is thinking like this that made you lose all of your influence." Oliver answered. "My family never questions the Goddess. In fact, the last hero we sent was a member of my family. The Goddess commanded it and I made it happen. He was my grandson. My own daughter would not surrender him, so I had to kill her to serve the Goddess. I will do whatever it takes to serve the Goddess. Even killing my own children and condemning my grandchild to being no more than a number. So do not tell me you do not trust the words of the Goddess, I trust them more than anything and will do anything for her."
"I did not know the last hero was your grandson." Edward answered. "My condolences on your loss."
"My only solace is that I was able to watch him grow into a fine young man, even if he thought he was an orphan the whole time." Oliver explained. "I didn't let anyone know; I did not want him treated differently than any other hero before him."
"I didn't even know you had a daughter." Edward said questioningly. "I heard you only had sons."
"Yes, my daughter was not with my wife." Oliver explained. "It is the reason I was able to hide her existence. No one knew she had ties to me. It pained me so to order her death. So, I plead with you again Edward. Do not make the same mistake as my daughter. Allow the use of the royal army, or there will be consequences."
"My answer remains the same. I will never abandon my people willingly." Edward said as he turned his back to Oliver.
"So be it." Oliver said as he left the room. Slamming the door behind him.
"What am I to do." Edward sighed. "I believe the church means to kill me now."
Out of nowhere a woman appeared right in front of him with a bow. "Hello dear King." She said. "My name is Sabrina and I am to take you to meet my Queen."