Sara
After the lightning bolt struck, Sara found herself in a long and painful daze, unsure of whether or not she was still alive. She was blind and she felt uncomfortably hot, despite her numbness. Desperate to escape these torturous feelings, she tried to imagine herself somewhere else, doing anything else. She pictured herself lazing under her favorite tree at the monastery, an open book cradled on her lap. She couldn’t make out any words in the pages, but that didn’t matter. In this moment, when she should have been suffering or dead, she felt an intoxicating calm.
Just as she had settled into her relaxation, someone caught her eye by running across the edge of her periphery. The girl who had electrocuted her was there, sprinting through the gardens and up the hill toward her. Fear froze Sara’s veins like a splash of cold water. With painstaking dread, she watched as Amelia ran with a look of feral rage on her face. Just before the assassin came face-to-face with her quarry, she and the entire monastery faded away.
Now, Sara was sitting near the outskirts of Palon once more The same calm that she had felt in that moment of meditation that began her quest had replaced the uneasiness that she had been feeling. The windmill that towered over the village turned slowly. Watching the merry rotation of the windmill began to lull her into a dreary daze. Just before she could fall asleep, however, Amelia was there again, looking up at her from the village gate with that same wild look in her eyes. Once again, she made a beeline for Sara, but this time she was stopped short by a sudden piercing strike to her gut. A muscular demon with a spiked tail. That can only be a maulan.
The other girl looked shocked to see the creature, but then she ran past it, undeterred. That was when the monster struck. When the spiked tail found its place in the girl’s right shoulder, the maulan vanished and she dropped to her knees, then fell on her face. I should help her, Sara told herself. But as she pushed herself to her feet, her body felt heavy. By the time she was fully standing, she already felt exhausted. That lightning has really taken its toll, hasn’t it?
Urgency began to flood Sara’s mind as the maulan’s corrosive venom began to eat into the other woman’s shoulder, then her arm. Despite this, she remained still. Why help her? A strange, but somehow familiar voice hissed within her. Instinctively, she knew this was her own thought, but it didn’t sound like her. Immediately, she felt disgusted with herself, but the voice was insistent. She’s a killer, who only wants to hurt you.
The better part of Sara wanted to argue, to remind herself that it was her duty to ease suffering. She was not meant to discriminate between friend or foe, only to heal and protect. But as she wore away at this bit of resistance, the voice progressed to reminding her, It’s no use. No one can heal her anyway. It was certainly tough to argue with this logic—maulan venom was certainly not known to have any cure—so much so that she nearly sat back down. As she thought to do so, however, another voice tugged at her, this one also hers, but different still. I mustn’t give up! I must hold onto hope, even if it is against hope!
Hope against hope sounded like a good idea, but it wasn’t exactly motivating her to ignore her urge to do nothing. The girl was writhing in pain now, and her sense of urgency was rapidly deflating. What was the point? Even if there was some way to stop what was coming, she would just try to hurt her again. She knew that had to do something. Was the fact that she didn’t want to really stopping her? What am I doing? She couldn’t even muster the willpower to be frustrated with herself. As the venom began to consume Amelia’s arm, all Sara could manage was to watch with an expression of mild concern.
She was sure that Amelia would soon struggle to breath as the poison spread to her neck, but as she weighed this image in her mind, the voice of Serenity shook her mind from its numbness. “Get up!”
Sara blinked wearily. She was too tired to move, but the goddess’ voice was insistent. “You must open your eyes! Do not give in to death!”
Death? But Sara felt fine, comfortable even. “I can’t help her.”
“You must!” Serenity retorted desperately. “I need you to continue your work! Please!”
The young acolyte looked down at Amelia, the poison crawling slowly toward her neck. Her arm was already fully dissolved and Sara’s listlessness suddenly turned to horror with that realization. With the greatest effort she had ever expended, she slowly began to descend from her hilltop toward the dying girl. Her ankles were filled with lead. Her arms swung heavily to her sides, threatening to pull her to the ground with every step. But as she reached Amelia, a wave of relief swept through Sara. She put her hand on the poisoned shoulder and, with a deep breath, began to pray. As she did so, her lips moved with the words, but they were heard in the voice of someone familiar.
“Mother of Tranquility, I pray that you take mercy on this girl, and give her relief from her suffering. Free her from the bonds of infirmity so that she may toil in the Gods’ name. In your hands, we are at peace.”
Sara gasped as she finished the prayer and her pain began to dissipate. Her eyes--which she hadn’t realized were shut--sprang open and she found herself lying in a bed, staring into the lined face of a woman of about 50, adorned with the golden-trimmed, forest green robes of a Matron. Sara looked blearily into her face, prompting her to speak.
“How are you feeling, my child?” She asked soothingly.
“Thirsty,” Sara croaked weakly.
The matron reached for a bucket beside the bed and dipped out some water in a ladle. Carefully, she tipped some of the water into Sara’s mouth to save her the effort of moving. When Sara had finished her drink, she asked, “Where am I?”
“You are in the Royal Temple of Serenity,” the Matron answered patiently. “You were brought here from the Salican quarter of the city because you were identified as a member of our church. I am Matron Selena. ”
So, I’m still in the capitol. “Honored to make your acquaintance,” Sara labored to say, her voice still raspy.
The Matron frowned at the girl and said, “I had a talk with the Royal Inquisitor about you. It was his people who brought you here. Might I ask what you were doing before losing consciousness?”
Sara rolled her head back and sighed. She wasn’t looking forward to having this conversation, but it was indeed the reason she had planned to come to Resta in the first place. With a grunt, she attempted to push herself into a sitting position, but the Matron held her down firmly. Sara saw no point in struggling now; it would be a bad idea to get on the Matron’s bad side. Taking another moment to compose herself, she finally began to tell the Selena everything she knew. She was sure to include every detail that she could remember, anything that would lend credibility to her words. When she was finally done speaking, the Matron stood up and stared appraisingly at the her.
“To be perfectly honest, I had heard that you would be coming shortly after you left the monastery,” Selena said with a grim look on her face. “I wasn’t prepared to believe you, but what you are saying makes a lot of sense. I too have noticed that many of our flock have lost their way to complacency.”
Sara could not believe her ears. As stubborn as the other clerics at the monastery had been, she had never expected that anyone would believe her. Now that she lie in front of one of the most powerful clerics in the land, however, she found that she had expended no effort in convincing her. This change of pace was enough to overwhelm her. Tears began to flow as she felt days of pressure unload. She was not yet in the clear, but she had finally gotten the break she needed from her own cohorts.
Selena was taken aback by the sudden outburst. “Oh my! What is the matter?”
“I’m just…” Sara struggled to reply through trembling lips. “I don’t think it’s been going so well. It was great when I met Clint, but until just now, that was the only thing that has gone right since Serenity began speaking to me!”
Selena sat patiently beside Sara as the champion struggled to regain her composure. When her crying finally ceased, the Matron replied, “You have been very brave to challenge something you know to be wrong when your opinions aren’t popular. I promise you that the Church of Tranquility will not sit idly while you journey to save it! Just tell us what we can do.”
Sara sat there for a moment, trying to consider what she could do herself. She hadn’t really thought ahead beyond finding the next champion, but she wasn’t going to attempt that again without help. Aside from that, she considered, she would need to find the relic of Serenity’s champion. She was sure she was supposed to work some of this out on her own, but she still lacked the energy to move, despite her pain being gone. Well, if she truly intends to help, who am I to turn her away?
“I need to get a message to the other Champions. And I need to know about any relics Helen may have left behind,” Sara said, sounding a little unlike herself with authority. So, she added “Please?”
“I will have an initiate bring you something to write your message with and we shall deliver it whenever you are ready,” The Matron replied with an encouraging smile. “As for the relic you seek, you could only be referring to the prized spear she used to help end the War of the Gods.”
***
Two days later, Sara would be awoken by a squeaky-voiced initiate who had come to inform her that a guest had come to see her. This is it! Sara thanked the messenger and hastily got dressed. She struggled for a moment with her thick hair, but managed to settle on a lock that she felt was presentable. She then swept through the dormitory, up the stairs, through the hall, and out into the temple yard. There, she found Clint waiting patiently, an unfolded map in his hand. When he spotted her, he shoved the map roughly into his pocket and chuckled awkwardly. “I’ve never been to the big city before.”
Sara grinned at Clint, having found this unusual introduction amusing. “You should be nicer to your map then. You wouldn’t want to tear it.”
Clint nodded and said, “Right. I’ll straighten that out later. So, I got your message.”
Sara nodded, casting glances around the yard for any potential eavesdroppers. “Where are the others?”
“Checking in downtown,” Clint said with a roll of his eyes. “The fate of the world hangs in the balance and Seth is actually talking about the Festival of Chaos. It was the only thing that would calm him down!”
Sara giggled and was immediately surprised at herself for doing so. “Oh, there may be time to stop by. There’s no telling how long we could be here.”
Clint frowned as he took that in. Sara could sense the wheels turning in his head as he asked, “So, what’s the situation?”
“Well, the girl who is to be Salica’s champion is still believed to be in the city,” Sara began, her smile giving way to a businesslike expression. “Thankfully, the Matron of this temple has been more accommodating than the people back at the Monastery. She has been collaborating with the Royal Inquisitor to find Amelia, and they’re pretty sure she hasn’t turned up at any of the gates.”
Clint seemed to take that in as he replied, “One of Seth’s friends might be able to help you find her. She’s pretty talented with magic, so it couldn’t hurt to see what she can do.”
Sara nodded and continued, “I can’t wait to meet her. Anyway, I also managed to find out where we can find the next relic we need.”
Clint’s eyes definitely perked with this information, but Sara saved him the breath of replying by explaining, “Helen’s spear is one of many treasures possessed by the Royal Family. If we are to continue in this quest, we need to find some way to convince Doctor Clark to hand it over.”
Clint sighed and let out an impatient shrug. “That’s going to be hard. We tried to visit him when we got into town, but he wasn’t seeing anybody. Between what happened to his siblings and… Albert, he can’t be in the best of moods right now.”
“We have to convince him!” Sara said insistently. “There is nothing more important than getting that spear!”
Clint seemed to mull over those words for a few moments until, suddenly, his eyes lit up. “The Champion’s Boon!”
Sara raised her eyebrows confusedly. “What is that?”
“You’ve never been to the Chaotic Festival before, have you?”
Sara shook her head.
“Every summer, Resta celebrates the Festival of Chaos with a combat tournament,” Clint explained with a smirk. “And the winner is granted one wish by the monarch, as long as its within their power. If we can win the tournament, they HAVE to give us the spear.”
Sara raised her eyebrows. “Can’t we just ask for the spear? Surely, our mission is too important for anyone to deny it to us!”
Clint shrugged. “I don’t know. Not if we can’t even get close to the Doc. It’s worth a shot, but it couldn’t hurt to have that plan in reserve. I’m pretty sure Seth and I could win it.”
Sara sighed and nodded reluctantly. She wasn’t sure she liked the thought of sending the others into danger unless it was absolutely necessary. However, she couldn’t deny the possibility that they might need to do so. She also couldn’t imagine claiming the relic they seek would be a breeze with the capitol in such disarray over the assassinations. Her assassinations. She couldn’t think about the relic now. Amelia was a danger to herself and others and getting to her would be a much higher priority. That being said, what harm was there in letting the others work out the other problem?
I wish you the best, then,” Sara said as she placed her hand gently on Clint’s shoulder. “I’ll focus on finding the other champion for now, but please be careful. I need you and Seth as well as her.”
“About her,” Clint muttered uncertainly. “Are you sure you want to be the one to go after her? The more I keep hearing about her, the more I worry about trusting her. She’s good at what she does.”
Sara’s face fell as she considered his words, but she would then respond with, “She is a killer. Of that, I have no doubt. But I don’t think she’ll be a danger to me.”
Clint looked at Sara incredulously. “She nearly killed you.”
“She didn’t mean to! She was just upset because I was overzealous in my handling of her. I won’t make that mistake again.”
“She might not let you get close to her again,” Clint said pointedly.
“I have to try!” Sara insisted with a tinge of impatience. Why isn’t he getting this? “I believe it has to be me who reaches her.”
“Well, you won’t be going alone this time,” Clint said firmly. “You should come meet the others with me, first of all. “
Sara let out a breath of air and nodded, privately glad to have the subject changed so abruptly. “Well, I have been eager to finally meet this other champion! Let’s go!”
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