Arcanous the Great #3

“Who goes there?”

Arcanous pulled back his hood and removed the cloth from his face, revealing his eyes. The elderly man paled instantly. “Oh, you may enter. I know a priest when I see one. Sorry if I seemed rude. I’m not used to lone travelers is all.”

Arcanous simply laughed as he shook the man’s hand. “It’s understandable. I would have been surprised if you hadn’t been suspicious.” After putting the cloth back on his face, Arcanous looked around the small village. It was simple. Wooden buildings made up the perimeter of the circle town, mainly houses, but Arcanous recognized and headed straight for the inn.

Out of habit, Arcanous turned on his Meditation Sight. Looking around, he saw most of the people gain a whitish hue. Satisfied, he turned it off and walked over toward the bar. As a priest, he wasn’t really supposed to drink more than water, but he still rebelled and drank his fill of juice or milk whenever he was free of the High Guard or others who would recognize him.

Arcanous chuckled to himself. He was the High Priest. When it came to some of the usual traditions, some would expect at least the High Priest to follow them. However, Arcanous rebelled against most of those more than almost any other priest. While some scoffed and thought him unfaithful, he laughed and drank his milk. He wasn’t chosen to be the High Priest due to submission. His predecessor had made that clear. He was the best, and as the best, he was entrusted with the responsibilities only the best should hold.

Finished with his milk, Arcanous went to the Innkeeper, paid him for a room, and headed to one shortly after. After entering his room, Arcanous removed his cloak and uncovered his face. There was a small mirror by his bed. Not bothering to light a candle, Arcanous walked to the mirror.

Arcanous wasn’t the most attractive man, but that didn’t change how marveled he was whenever he saw his reflection. Even he knew he wasn’t much to look at, but his eyes were. There was only one way for an unspecialized person to identify a priest or warlock. That was their eyes. As a warlock tampered with dark energies, their eyes became darker. However, as a priest continued to experiment with the light and its influence, their eyes would begin to glow.

A change in someone’s eyes increased in severity depending on the amount of time and energy was spent with the chosen alignment. While the average priest had a simple glow to their eyes, Arcanous was in no way simple. Through the mirror, Arcanous saw a glorious, yet nearly frightening sight. While every other feature on his face was normal, his eyes were lit up as if on fire. They gave off a burning light as though he had two blue torches for eyes.

When he finally grew tired of staring at himself, Arcanous climbed into bed. While burning eyes made seeing in the dark quite easy, Arcanous could never sleep well with the light. So, following one of the few rituals he actually obeyed, Arcanous closed his eyes, turned on Meditation Sight, and simply said in Heronian, “Light, rest my soul, for my body must sleep.” When he opened his eyes, the room was filled with the sun’s rays.

*          *          *

Arcanous was only an hour out of the village when he heard the sound of hooves pounding the ground a ways behind him. Looking back he saw a man, clad in armor, quickly catching up to the puzzled priest. Following his instincts, Arcanous decided it would be best to hide. So, without hesitation, he jumped off his horse, sent it running up the path, and hid a good twenty yards off, crouching low in the tall grass.

Once safely hidden, Arcanous turned on his Meditation Sight and waited. The rider only took a minute before he rode back into view. To Arcanous’s relief, he found the rider to be a pure white, a faithful Valdarian no doubt.

Arcanous stood from his hiding place, revealing his presence to the man. “Halt! Stay right there,” the rider commanded.

Arcanous looked around smiling, “Halt what? I’m simply standing here. You halt.”

The young man didn’t seem to be in a very good mood, considering his response was silence.

“Why were you following me?”

“I am Korlon. I was told by the watchman in the village that a powerful priest had taken refuge there for the night. I was going to speak with you this morning, only to find you’d already left.”

“I see. So you wanted to speak with me? Well, it was nice speaking with you. Farewell, kind sir.” Arcanous began to walk for his horse now grazing in the grass a ways off.

The young rider watched Arcanous walk for a second, then called out. “That wasn’t all I wanted to say!”

The priest simply smiled. “Well, then come with me, I will listen as I walk.”

Korlon hesitated a moment, but it wasn’t long before he was back. “Before I ask any favors, I must know; what is your name?”

Arcanous looked Korlon over. “Before I tell you, what is your authority?”

Korlon seemed surprised by the question and hesitated. “Authority? I have no more than your average citizen, really. I’m just a farmer. This was my father’s armor. He was a very skilled knight before he married my mother. He taught me how to hold my own in a fight before he died, but until now, I’ve never even left home.”

“Well then, my name is Arcanous. I’m sorry to hear of your father.”

“It was a long time ago. That’s not the problem though, I was wondering if you’d be willing to help me with something.”

Arcanous paused. He needed to reach the king sooner than later. One small distraction could possibly allow the High Guard to have time to catch him. That alone would both slow him and most likely make him regret whatever he’d done. Nonetheless, he couldn’t flat out refuse a plea for help. “What is it you need?”

“I have a younger brother. Three days ago, he was attacked by a group of Borlasians. I wasn’t there, but as he recounted, they had surprised him, beat him, and one man had apparently cast a spell on him or something. They were already gone by the time I saw him.”

Arcanous had finally reached and remounted his horse by this point. Korlon’s story wasn’t new to him. He’d heard and helped take care of many similar experiences back in Silsun. “What’s his condition now?”

“He seems fine, in fact, he’s better than ever. My problem is, once they come, they are bound to come again. It would be easy for me to take care of it myself, but he makes it sound like they have a warlock. That requires a priest. Could you accompany me?”

Arcanous shook his head. “I’ll help, but you’re going to have to trust me in my actions. Understood?”

Korlon raised an eyebrow, but decided to nod.

“Good. Now, where’s your home?”

A big smile filled the young man’s face. “Follow me. It’s actually in the direction you were headed.” With that, he drove his horse down the path, obviously expecting the priest to follow. Arcanous let out a sigh and drove his horse down the path after him.