Chapter 25: The Seven Paladin Quests
Full daylight shone over the ruined glen. Despite being awake for well over twenty-four hours, Chastity did not feel tired. Seated beside her on a log at the edge of the treeline, Yr ?rsmíe took the Paladin Codex in hand and gently thumbed its gilt edges before opening the thick cover.
“To understand the Prophecy of the Three Paladins,” the wood elf began, “you must also know more about our history. I will not take it for granted that you are familiar with the great songs of Sk?rselden.”
He turned the pages, pausing to delicately trace the runic writing with his fingertips. Soon he came to an image of swirling darkness, with a single piercing light breaking through like a bright lode star.
“In ancient times, before the memory of mortal races, the Celestial King tamed the Chaos Giants and planted the first garden-forests of Sk?rselden. We elves were the first to walk among this new creation, caretakers and stewards of Paradise. Later, the Great Divine fashioned the other races, including Dwarves, Halflings, and last of all Man. This ushered in what was known as the First Age.
“It was in this First Age that a Celestial of great strength and beauty rebelled, drawing away other Celestials after him. Of course, his treachery was not immediately known. Before evil was discovered within him he created the corrupted races of the world–Orcs, Trolls, Goblins, and their ilk.
Chastity fidgeted uncomfortably.
“Are you saying these orcs, trolls, and goblins are… evil by nature? Born evil?” she questioned.
“What are orcs, trolls, and goblins, but elves, dwarves, and halflings twisted by hatred and transformed by the cruel arts of the Dark One? And now this propensity for evil runs in their blood–for they cannot even find comfort and rest unless they first commit some wicked act.”
Chastity protested silently.
“But what about humans?” she asked.
“Humans are neither inherently good nor evil. They have the capacity for both, often at the same time in my experience.”
Yr continued his explanation, flipping forward to a scene of a heavenly clash between winged armies.
“And so there was a Divine War. Svarturdrake, the Dark One, whose original name has been forgotten, was defeated and cast down from the Celestial Kingdom. His fall was so great that it created the Infernal Valley in the lands far to the south. And beneath that rift he was imprisoned in the Realm of Black Fire, over which was placed a great seal.”
Yr turned more pages and stopped on a striking image. It depicted a tall, strong figure with a broad leonid head, clad in shining silver armor and holding a greatsword aloft. Despite the abstraction, the image reminded Chastity of the headless statue outside the chantry.
“This was the First Paladin,” Yr said, tapping the picture. “The Celestial Prince himself–Júda Dandelion. He was also a Realmwalker, like you. His triumphant banishing of the Black Dragon ushered in the Second Age. However, the shining bridge, connecting the Celestial Kingdom to Sk?rselden, was withdrawn so that neither the Dark One nor any of his Infernals could ever again set wing or claw upon that sacred firmament.
“In this Second Age, Júda established the Holy Order of Paladins and the Holy Order of Clerics, along with the other disciplines, to ensure ongoing peace, justice, and instruction in the Righteous Way while he left to walk the Realms. And so life continued for generations, season after season.”
Yr turned further in the Codex, revealing an illustration of an uncountable army of warlike men. Their martial uniforms did not match any fashion Chastity had yet seen worn in this world. The bannered hordes had the look of hardened conquerors led by warlords.
“After much time passed, men rebelled–the Eastern Kings and their Gnashing Legions rose up to throw off the shackles of the venerable Way and lay siege to the world. All the noble races, with the mighty Paladins at their head, joined forces to oppose them. It was a hard won peace with many, many casualties.”
Yr looked up from the book, a faraway gleam in his brown eyes.
“I served in that conflict. I am no Ranger, like many of my kin, but rather a fletcher. However, I too shed blood with my own hands in those days…”
After a moment’s contemplation, Yr turned the page to reveal an illustration of a well-built armored man holding a greatshield adorned with the same iconography that graced the cover of the Codex–a winged crest.
“The champion of that terrible war was the Second Paladin, Exemplar Titus Epiphanes. And so dawned the Third Age. An age of rebuilding, of licking our wounds, of tenuous peace. Or so we thought for nearly a hundred years…
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“The last act of the Gnashing Legions in that conflict was to weaken the seal holding the Black Dragon imprisoned. Little did we know, the Black Dragon’s dark influence began trickling out, like poison seeping into the groundwater, reaching into the hearts and minds of the weak and greedy. Through years of manipulation, he used his malign influence to empower and guide his occulted servants to finally break the seal.
“And so, after thousands of years of captivity, the Black Dragon escaped from that bottomless prison, his Infernal minions following in his wake, declaring war upon all creation. And now through his dark power he has placed the whole world under a curse these past six years, an endless winter, wherein the lifegiving rejuvenation of spring shall never again be enjoyed. So soon after the Third Age began, I fear we have instead entered into… the Dark Age.”
Through the recitation, Chastity listened with rapt attention, weighing all the words of the elf. (Proper Noun overload!) Charlie Cucumber also listened, but may have dozed off for a bit somewhere in the middle of the elven exposition.
“But how exactly does the prophecy tie into all this?” Chastity asked. She knew that somehow, someway, this prophecy held the key to her return home. It had to.
“I was getting to that. Before Júda departed from this Realm, he taught the Prophecy of the Three Paladins to each of the Holy Orders he established. It is indeed recorded in this very book. In three times of dire need, three heroic Paladins would arise. The first had been himself, the Celestial Prince. Following the clues of the prophecy, it was widely believed that Titus fulfilled the role of the Second Paladin, delivering us from the Eastern Kings and restoring peace to the land. But there was always meant to be one more Paladin to come in history–a Golden Paladin from a far off Realm who would arise in Sk?rselden’s hour of greatest need and purge the land of evil once and for all.”
Yr turned a page and there was an illustration of another Paladin, distinct from the other two, in full plate armor and ablaze with radiant light, shining so brightly that the figure’s face was obscured. But was that a headful of long golden hair in the artistic rendering… or just a halo? This Paladin had a sword pressed against the throat of a cringing black dragon that lay beneath the Paladin’s boot.
“With heart of gold and sword of light…” Yr recited. “As you see, each Age of our world has been marked by a mighty victory. The Celestial King subduing the Chaos Giants. The Celestial Prince casting out the Black Dragon. The Champion of Man defeating the Gnashing Legions. And… well… what does not make sense to me is why would the Third Paladin arise while the Second yet lives? Do not look so surprised. Exemplar Titus is by now ancient in human years, but still possesses the strength of a much younger man. Or so he did.
“When the Black Dragon was unleashed, what remained of the unified armies were defeated and scattered. The Holy Order of Paladins was stamped out. If you are ever caught in possession of this Codex by the Dark One’s followers, beware! It will mark you as an enemy. The tale we heard in Everglen is that Titus traveled north to Crown City, the Capital of the Western Men, hoping to rebuild the Order, recruiting every able-bodied and brave soul he could to make a stand.
“But he began that journey years ago, and we wood elves never knew what became of him. The fellowship of the noble races is not what it once was, when we stood shoulder to shoulder and fought as one in the Second Age. And now, I am afraid that the love of many has grown cold. This Exemplar, I know not what has become of him. If you journey to Crown City you may yet discover that he is mounting a resistance. Yet… against such power that could do this in a single night?”
Yr gestured to the charred ruins beyond the treeline.
“You ask about the Prophecy of the Three Paladins, and you carry with you the mark of a Realmwalker. Is this truly our hour of greatest need? It may be. Whether you could be this Golden Paladin or not is not for me to say,” Yr said. “There have been many Paladins that have lived and died over the years. But the one thing I know for sure about Realmwalkers is this: contrary to an earlier statement you made, a Realmwalker would never come here by accident. You must be guided by destiny, summoned by the hand of fate.”
, Chastity mused.
“Prophecy or not, you were brought here for a purpose. And if you want to return home, you must discover and fulfill that purpose. I think you will find much guidance within this Codex.”
Yr flipped to the latter half of the book where the more practical sections lay, explaining the duties, responsibilities, and ceremonies of the Holy Order. He began to translate a section enumerating the Seven Paladin Quests as Charlie once again grew heavy-lidded nearby.
As the elf spoke, urgent notifications flashed in Chastity’s vision.
thought Chastity. But the notifications weren’t finished.
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