"So what does 'our' Lord want from me?"
"If He has shown Himself to you, then you have been blessed with far more Grace than we have. There must be something He sees in you, something that He wants us to study and learn from you. Little Visionary, will you consider guiding our way?"
Eshent's face paled, a mixture of apprehension, confusion, and disgust emerging.
"Huh?"
Granos extended his hands, as if he were about to preach, but restrained himself and his saintly exuberance slightly. "Little Visionary, perhaps I am wrong in my assumption, but it is usually the case that the Lord guides us to the easiest choice we can make. It is usually that our 'gut-feeling' is really just His meticulous preparation. Trusting ourselves is equivalent to trusting in Him."
Granos reached out a hand towards Eshent, smiling, truly.
"Right now, I have the feeling that this is exactly what He has intended for us."
The other yellow-cloaked figures had gathered around them, extending their hands towards Eshent in the same manner.
To guide? To lead? Is this what he's offering me? But how can he trust in my motivations? Is it the case that he believes that his Lord will anticipate any plans I have that contradict His own, or that any action I make will be equivalent to His preparations?
Of course, I was truthful in my declaration. I will follow His commandments as he has prepared them, or dispenses them in the future. Granos stands amongst his fellow Priests as if a spokesperson to them, almost like a Prophet. If it's really the case that Granos can speak for this Lord, then this may just be a commandment I must follow in order to keep my word.
"Granos, do you really believe I can guide you? You said before that my visions may lie to me, a trick of the Spirit within my eye."
"I also said before that you are human, capable of distinguishing truth and falsehood. What I am saying now is that we are choosing to trust in your capabilities. The Lord has declared as much."
"In showing himself in one of my visions?"
"God does not show himself for no reason, little Visionary. You are special."
"if you think you can goad my decision by stroking my ego, you've misjudged me, Granos."
"Your decision is certain, little Visionary."
Eshent scoffed, looking off into the distance, where stained glass stretched up high beyond the golden throne at the end of the hall. It portrayed something, but nothing at all, as if someone had tried desperately to leave a portraiture behind, but had failed miserably. It was unrecognisable, but recognisably so.
"Perhaps my Fate has already been decided. If it is inalienable, then I will return to this point no matter what I pick, that is true. But I'm not one who knows much about the concepts of Fate, Destiny, and the like. I can still remain a fool, I could still try and deny it, and trouble all of you in the process. But I've already made a promise, I would accept and entitle myself to serving whatever commandment was dispensed."
He placed his hands in his pockets, turning towards the hundreds of Priests in Yellow that awaited his answer.
"Shall we go see what 'our' Lord has in store for us?"
[+++]
"When we go back, what will you do, Gwennaude?
"About what?"
"About Ellia. We joke far too much, you have forgotten her heart. She awaits an answer, and you toy with her. She is a woman, a tall, muscular woman... but still a woman. You can't hold her at the end of her leash this long, she will break, and it will have been your doing." Lysia tilted his head back, taking a large swig from a flask.
Gwennaude leaned back against a rock, placing his foot up atop the one in front of him, sighing. His sword remained drawn in his lap, ready at any moment, and his free hand massaged his thick, long black beard.
"In truth, I like her. She's a woman of my heart. But I fear the life that I might lead if I accept her."
"What life would that be?"
"Of fear."
Lysia's eyebrow raised, glancing over towards Gwennaude. "That you might lose her?"
Gwennaude shook his head. "If I am alive, I will not lose her. The fear is of the inverse, that she might lose me. That if we have a child, that child might grow tall without a father."
"That child would definitely grow tall." Lysia joked.
This seemed to lift Gwennaude's spirits slightly, shaking him out of his saddened stupor. "Most definitely."
"So do it anyway. Isn't the purpose of fear a limiter? Go beyond what you think you can achieve, and be certain in your action's outcome. This is what we've been taught all of our lives. Why go back on it now?"
"Those are lessons of war."
"Love is war, my friend."
"There are certainly battles fought between the women whose hearts you play with. Tell me why you offer this advice when you do the exact same each night you're allowed freedom by our Grace?"
Lysia shrugged. "I am an evil man, you are not. We must hold you to higher standards to ensure your morality does not decline."
A heavy, sharp intake of breath occurred beside them. Gwennaude and Lysia's gazes shot towards their side, watching as August arose from his slumber. He had killed off his Avatar, death being its only method of return before its lifespan had been given time to run dry. The illusory copy of his blade had slit his throat, and he had returned to his original form the moment his vision had gone dark.
"My Grace, you've returned!"
August's gaze trembled, speaking to Lysia without turning towards him. "There are far too many peculiarities about this place, it's starting to piss me off... nothing is straightforward, it almost seems like nothing is real..."
"Then why are we here? Have you determined it poses a threat? If we can leave it be, then we should. The seal has worked this long..."
August shook his head. "No, it's not like that. There's something more to this place... we need to find out what exactly that is."
"What about your prior engagements? Even now, we leave Lord Starke in waiting."
"He'll have to wait a bit longer." August replied. "This is a matter of Blackbaast's security."
"What exactly did you see, your Grace?"
"I'm still not quite sure. Let's talk as we walk."
For a time, August discussed what he had seen through his Avatar, including the wolf-like monster's return, whom he had left behind when he had killed himself. He spoke of the body he had found, a man a little younger than him who had died from blood loss inflicted by the severing of his arm, and the sight of the skewed cross on the hill that was ornamented with the dismemberment of a girl. The sole connection between the two...
"There was a boy?" Lysia inquired.
"And two bodies, people he seemed to know. We'll track and bury them later, but of urgent priority is finding the boy, he remains alive as far as we know. He might still yet be saved."
"But if he was carried off by those monsters, couldn't he have been killed? There may be no point to searching for him." Gwennaude spoke out.
August grew silent after hearing this, so Lysia pivoted the topic in order to try and raise his spirits. It was one of the only things he was good at.
"Why did you bring me instead of Helliel, your Grace?" Lysia asked in passing.
"I left Helliel in charge of the Looming Organ."
Gwennaude nearly spat out the water he had been drinking from a flask, unable to contain his bellowing laughter.
Lysia looked at him, exasperated surprise etched in his expression. "You made him plug that hole until it heals? Your Grace, forgive me for asking, but how much will you earn from this endeavour...?"
"Twenty... no, twenty-five Hause notes."
Lysia's eyebrow twitched. Of course, to any person living within the Blackbaast, this was an amount of money that would change their family's lives for several generations, perhaps even serving as a foothold to propel them to Noble status were they to act in confidence. But to August, this amount of money was nothing, he didn't even mind making his most powerful advisors and guardians do such a simple and mindless task in his place to achieve it!
"What will we do now?"
"We'll search for the boy. Even if he's dead, we should retrieve the body, along with the others. We'll find any surviving family members and ensure they're buried properly."
August stopped, looking out into the distance, where the haze that enveloped the whole of Shadowhaunt settled.
I still can't help but feel unnerved, like something approaches... what do they say, the 'calm before the storm'?