Warcraft Fan Fiction ❯ Bloodstained Shadows - Chronicles of a Lost Soul ❯ Scarlet Dawn - Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5:

 

 

A heavy knocking brings an end to my sleep. "Come on, get up new guy!"

What a strange dream, nothing depressing but just strange... I dreamed I was a murloc, for heavens sake! "Hurry up! If you want something to eat this morning you should get up and open the door, you're the last one missing!"

Now I realize what the voice from outside is trying to tell me. I hurry to get out of bed. I slept with my robes on, oh my, I didn't even manage to change yesterday. I unlock the door and open it.

"So you are the Fipps guy?"

My eyes are blinded by the light. I only see a dark shadow for the first moments, my eyes not adjusted to the sunlight yet. "Wha...what?", I stutter.

"I said: So you are the Fipps guy?" The person asking me is a bit smaller than myself, he has short brown curly hair and is wearing a robe just like the one that has been given to me. "You should hurry up or you will get us both in trouble." his tone is pressing, yet calm.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." He interrupts me, "You didn't mean to sleep this long? Oh my, oh my. Got a different story for me?" He tries to stress his authority. "I know you had a long journey yesterday, but you should know that being the son of a hero won't count as an excuse in the future. So you should know the way everything goes around here." There the story goes again. They are all seeing only my father, not me. No-one ever thinks about me possibly not wanting to be treated like this. I will never be able to surpass him, not even to be as great as he was.

He shrugs, "Why do I tell you anyway? Next time if you won't wake up, I'll just leave you here. First there, first served, so if you want something to eat, be sure to make it to the common room in time."

I nod quietly. He leaves the room. "Come on, now change and off we go. It's already a quarter past five."

I hurry up changing my robe and follow.

"May I..., May I ask you something, Sir?" I look to the floor while following. "What is it, apprentice?"

"You didn't tell me your name." He looks over his shoulder whilst walking. "It's Worth, Charles Worth. I used to be a tailor before I enlisted in the Scarlet Crusade. The robes you are wearing were made by me."

We reach the common room after a short while. "Oh we are lucky, there is still something left for us."

Basically the people here stand in line and wait till they get something to eat that is given to you. Charles gets his meal first, I go second. They guy behind the counter gives me two buns and a bowl of oatmeal gruel. This food looks disgusting.

I want to leave in order to search myself a place to eat. "Hey, you're Fipps, aren't you?" How did the counter guy know? "Ye-yes I am, but how did you...?" "You're the only person I've never seen around here. Therefore it was quite easy to find out. I have a letter for you. I don't know from whom it is, but the Inquisitor told me not to open it. Here ya go." He hands me the envelope. Wow, the first one in here who was at least a bit friendly except for the High Inquisitor.

I turn away from the counter and walk through the benches. Almost all of them are filled with students, clerics, monks, warriors. Most of them are staring at me. I guess that's normal if you're the new guy.

There is a small table at the end of the room that is still completely empty. I know no one here so I prefer to sit down back there, I don't want to bother anybody else around here.

I sit down and put my plate on the table. I decide to open the envelope later after eating. It takes me a while to get the gruel down my throat. This breakfast does not only look disgusting, it definitely is disgusting!

Hardly anybody is talking in here, they all eat in silence. I don't know whether this is the general fashion here or because of me. The bell of the monastery signalizes that its a quarter to six and everybody stands up in unity. They move along to the counter returning their wooden plates. I take my time queuing last. The guy who gave me the letter now tells me that I should head to the cathedral for the morning prayers, after that we have a bit of free time to study on our own or - if we've already finished our training - to prepare for assignments.

I am a bit surprised that everybody is fitting in this cathedral, it seems smaller from the outside. Everybody is kneeling down in front of the altar. A guard assigns me a place in the middle, I guess they sort people due to their heights.

The door behind the altar opens and out comes a man with long orange hair. He is tall grown and wears a full set of armour. A two-handed sword is tied to his back. This... this might be him! The sword glowing golden from behind. Yes, it must be him!

Alexandros Mograine!

The Ashbringer tied to his back, he stands there. My heart is beating fast, so he really was it yesterday.

I can't believe it, the Ashbringer himself is holding a preach. I will learn my first prayers of the Scarlet Crusade from him! I'm so exited.

As he begins to speak I hope that he would teach me prayers, but I soon notice that the things he is saying were more of a warning..., more of a call to arms.

As I listen to the words time flies by.

 

My brothers! I am glad to see you gathered here.

We all have to stand together.

These times are difficult, the dangers are numerous, and faith can grow thin even within the strongest of us.

YET, I CALL UPON YOU, MY BROTHERS!

Strengthen your mind! Strengthen your heart! Strengthen your souls!

HAVE FAITH! The Holy Light will protect us if we believe! Do not doubt the holy judgements! The Holy Light will lead us on a righteous way!

Our enemy in these days is treacherous! It kills without hesitation, not only rendering and abusing the bodies of our friends and loved ones.

NO!

The Scourge uses them to fool us, to fool our judgements!

To lead us to a point were we doubt! It tries to deceive us with the sight of our beloved!

Thus I call upon you, my brothers! Don't be misled by the appearance! Stand against it!

SEE THE ENEMY, NOT THE DISGUISE!

The Scourge has made them to mindless objects!

Do not doubt and clear your view, this is the key to redeem salvation for the pour souls of our beloved.

The Scourge is offering our greatest trial by taking them!

DO NOT HESITATE! Strike if you have the chance, for they will not halt! They will not pause, they will use any opening you leave them!

Be careful, my brothers! The Scourge will use the innocent! The people who are not involved!

THEY WILL ATTACK WITHOUT WARNING!

Watch out who you trust, my brothers! Everybody who is not wearing a scarlet robe might already be taken by the enemy! Friends! Even family!

You can't tell by age! Children! The elder! They don't make a difference when choosing their next victims!

My brothers, do not be misled by the sweet appearance of a child!

DO NOT DOUBT THE LIGHT, but doubt the appearance of others than the Scarlet Crusade!

I was present as one of my loyal companions was almost claimed by the Scourge as he did not trust my judgement!

The foul beast disguised itself as a close friend of him, my brothers! In the moment of relaxation, it tried to strike!

STRIKE WHEN HE WAS UNAWARE!

He was lucky, lucky that I was close to him in this moment. My blade fell the creature, offering the oppressed soul redemption as it burned the unholy flesh!

This is a difficult time, my brothers.

It is hard to trust, but do not have doubt in any of the Scarlet Crusade!

DO NOT HAVE DOUBT IN THE HOLY LIGHT!

I myself, THE ASHBRINGER, will attend to clear greater parts of the plagued lands in the next weeks!

With the end of the week I will travel to the ruins of Stratholme with my trusted companions, to the Scarlet Bastion inside the rotten heart of Stratholme, where our troops under the command of the Grand Crusader, Saidan Dathrohan rest, defending the holy walls from the Scourge!

MY BROTHERS! From the bastion we will journey deep into the city of Stratholme, cleaning every house, destroying everything the Scourge used to fortify themselves there!

After cleaning Stratholme I will venture to the former village of Northdale, from there to Corin's Crossing, Darrowshire, heading west to Andorhal, Brill and the ruins of the former Capital City of Lordaeron!

THIS WILL BE MY VENTURE!

We will cleanse the Scourge from this area! Once the City of Lordaeron will be again under our command we will address to the necromancer school in Caer Darrow! No minion of the Scourge shall be left in these lands!

MY BROTHERS! The light shines the way we will go, and this way will be full of success. A prosperous future lies ahead of us!

Now head on, my brothers, another day awaits us, a small step on a long way into a glorious future!

Do not doubt, but do not trust easily, these are my words for you!

May the Holy Light bless us all!

 

His voice is as clear as fresh water, it is strong, it gives faith. The sound of it fills the whole room, it fills every heart. His charisma is astonishing.

Mograines stands in front of us all, his arms crossed for a moment, from my point of view it looks as if he is smiling. He shortly waves with one hand and says "Farewell, my brothers" not as loud as the words before. He turns around and heads back into the chamber behind the altar. When he is not visible anymore and the door is closing the first few of the listeners stand up and make their way out of the cathedral. Mostly the heavy armed guards who where listening too.

I take my time. After all my first lesson starts in the afternoon and it's not even seven o'clock.

I use the time to get to know the monastery better.

The cathedral is a beautiful place. The architecture of the building itself, and of the surrounding ones. If you leave through the front door you come into a wide open space. I love it when nature is taken into account when constructing such buildings. The grass and trees that are standing here are mostly untouched. And even if they were arranged later it looks authentic. A giant fountain was implemented in the middle of it all with a little waterfall. The meadow is framed by two long hallways with twenty columns each.

To the west of the cathedral there is a cemetery. I want to have a look at the graves whether there are some of important members of the crusade, but I'm not allowed to enter. Two guards stand at the entrance and block my way. They say this area is off limits for me. I'm a bit astonished, but there is nothing I can do about that for the moment so I have a look at the eastern areas of the monastery.

Adjacent to the cathedral there is the armoury. At least it is called that way, it is more of a training ground for the warriors of the Crusade. Some of them give me a strange look as I walk pass them, but that is not of my concern. I guess somebody will tell me if I'm not allowed to trespass here.

I follow the staircase down at the end of the hallway, well now this looks more like an armoury. Except for all the weapons each room down here seems heavily guarded. I just walk a bit further.

“What are you doing down here, cleric? Want to borrow yourself a two-handed sword?” the guard asking this is sniggering. “N-no, I'm just having a look around here, Sir. I arrived here last evening.”, I answer. “It's... unusual... to see a priest down here, but well, go on. Be sure not to disturb Herod if he is in the Hall of Champions.” I nod and pass them. As I walk on, I think I hear something from the guards that sounded like `strange guy'.

This armoury seems to be huge, it takes me about fifteen minutes to get to the other end of it, from there another staircase leads back up and into another hallway. I see a giant door at the end of it.

I come closer and ask the guards directly at the door if it would be possible for me to enter.

“I'm sorry, mate, but Herod is training inside at the moment. You have to stay out, my lad.”

Well, I guess I'll have the chance to have a look at it sometimes later.

I return to the centre of the monastery, it takes me another fifteen minutes back through the armoury, but at least the guards and trainees there don't offer me such strange looks the second time I come through.

As I head on to the most eastern part of the monastery, for the first time it occurs to me that the armoury is the area where I would bump into Captain Theran most likely. Realizing this is a bit shocking, luckily I did not meet her, maybe she is on another assignment today.

The only area I haven't been to till now is the library in the eastern wing. I pass through another open space, considerably smaller than the other. The library is gigantic. Only the first hallway of it is incredibly long. But the most interesting things, magic and history, are located at the end of the library, it is said to be a circular room, the place where the famous arcanist Doan is studying. Maybe he is there today, I'm so exited.

Different to the armoury, nobody in here offers me strange looks, so everybody is expecting me to come here, oh well. I walk past shelves full of books containing mythology, common knowledge and earliest history. All the librams are written in various languages. I hope I don't have to learn all of them.

There is still a lot time left till the afternoon, so I decide to have a look at some of the books. I choose the myth section for a first look. Before I start looking, I go up to some of the other clerics who are sitting or standing near me to ask a few things.

“Well, take the books you want to read, you're of the Crusade so it's fine. But if you want to take some of the books to your quarters you'll have to tell the secretary and ask for permission, she'll make a note and you'll have a week's time to return it.” That's all I want to hear from him. I thank him for telling me and go back to the shelves to have a closer look. There are a lot of books about the elven gods, those are the ones I noticed first. I take one of them out of the shelf. Yet I put it back just as I opened it up.

It's not translated and I can't read Thalassian or Darnassian or whatever that language was called. I try another book, yet it's just the same. The third book was also in its native language. After searching for a few minutes I give up all hope to find a book about elven gods and mythology that isn't written in their language.

I go to another bookshelf.

Oh my! The title of the book reads `Neltharion, the Earth Warden, Delegate of Khaz'goroth'. That's exactly what I was looking for. I smile as I see some more of them. `Malygos, the Spell-Weaver, Delegate of Norgannon', `Ysera, Mistress of Dreams, Delegate of Eonar', `Nozdormu, the Lord of Time, Delegate of Aman'Thul' and finally `Alexstrasza, the Life-Binder, Delegate of Eonar', all five of them directly next to each other. I definitely want to read those! I take one of the five books out and have a first glance at the text. Thank goodness, the books all seem to be written in common language. As I look around I see some more books about the dragon aspects and something that looks like a awkward creation myth, `The Titans and the Construction of Azeroth'. Maybe I'll have a look at those later on.

I spend a lot of time in the library today, I even skip lunch so I have more time to stay here. I only read in one book today, something showing general aspects of the dragon flights. But I guess I should change my main topic for now, in only a few hours my first lesson will begin so I should forget about Alexstrasza for a moment and focus on other things, just as Corren told me to.

I discover a large amount of books about prayers and the Holy Light a bit further down the hall. I don't really want to read those..., but I have to as I promised Corren in a sort of way. I take one of the books from the shelf and sit down at a table near by.

I lose every little bit track of time as I am standing here in front of this huge mass of books. I've spent about four hours just looking until now. Just in time I realize that I am almost missing out on my first lesson and head strait out of the library into the central hall of the monastery in a hurry.

Goddamn, I've got no idea where I have to go!? Where are we taught? Oh no! I panic. I try to calm down, I only have to ask a guard. They will tell me for sure.

I run to the armoury, there should be a lot of them, hopefully. I stop in front of the first one I meet. He asks me if everything is alright, I nod. I tell him I only have a question, a very urgent question from my point of view. My breath is short, I pant.

"I'm sorry..." I want to apologize for holding him up.

"WHAT are YOU doing here, you blundering idiot?", somebody shouts just in the moment I want to ask. "You shouldn't wander around uselessly, but be studying, fool!" I know this voice, Captain Theran. Of all people on earth, why? Why is it her?

I slowly turn around. "S-s-sorry, nobody told me where the lesso...."

"Well, shut up and get going, I'll take you there." she looks at me angrily. "It's nothing but trouble with you, you no-good."

If it wouldn't be for her voice, I wouldn't have recognized her. She is wearing a long white robe with a crimson badge of the Scarlet Crusade on it. This outfit suits her well, highlighting her as a fair women. Her green eyes show a beautiful glow in the sunlight. Her skin is soft and clean. The long black hair is smoothly hanging down her back. Yet her loud and angry voice pushes all these facts aside in an instance.

She leads the way fast paced. “You're lucky again... you still got ten minutes, if it weren't for Fairbanks, I'd just let you stand back there.” I keep quiet, being sure that any word of myself would only provoke her. We hurry across the meadow in front of the cathedral. “Your lessons are held inside, right at the end of the left hallway in one of the larger rooms.” Her tone is pressing and her eyes narrowed as usual. She stops shortly after entering the building pointing with one arm to the hallway I have to take.

I head on without a word.

There are few minutes left, I hardly make it on time. I enter the room wheezing, the bell of the cathedral signalizing that time is up.

The others in the room are not much older than myself. I recognize somebody who lived in Brill before the assassination of King Menethil. He had then fled to Tyr's Hand, knowing that the heavily fortified city would offer safety even in case of a long-term siege. I don't know any of the others.

I take an empty seat at the side of the room. There is nobody here to teach us, I guess I am not the last one to arrive here.

About five minutes pass. We all listen whether we can hear if somebody is coming.

Then we finally hear steps. The shoes of him or her approaching are making loud noises on the floor of the cathedral.

We turn around to the door, awaiting the producer of the sounds. A young women enters, probably still in her mid-twenties. She is rather tall and a has hair as white as snow, the light through the window lets it almost seem silver. Her eyes are surrounded by a red lining. The top she is wearing looks a bit like a tabard. It is made of a crimson coloured leather with black strokes and a golden pattern on the front side. Her boots are also made of the same leather and reach to her thighs, they have high heels. She wears an old fashioned chapeau on her head also out of a crimson leather with golden strokes covering it. The whole outfit is rather tight, stressing her seductive beauty.

As she walks to the end of the room, all eyes lay on her and everybody is quiet. She turns around to face us.

"From now on, you are apprentices of the Scarlet Crusade." she starts of without any introduction of herself, her voice is like the one of Captain Theran rather dark toned. She speaks without hesitation, yet in a calm and slow way. "Here you will learn about the Holy Light and how you can use it to your purpose."

The words of her brand themselves directly into my memory. Something is up with the way she talks.

"I will teach you personally now and then, apart from that High Inquisitor Fairbanks will be your teacher for most of the time. Our clerics..." "AND I BELIEVE...", the words are said loudly and clearly by a strong, yet gentle voice, "I will start interfering with your teaching right away." the old man in the door smiles. Nobody has noticed him arriving.

"High Inquisitor? What is it? I was just about to start the first lesson. Would you mind?" her tone shifts to being annoyed.

"Well my dear, all I wanted to do is to wish good luck to all of our students and to introduce myself. High Inquisitor Fairbanks would be my name and title.", he sounds outmost friendly. Her face shows an angry look. Therefore he turns around and wants to leave already.

"As I was saying. Our cle...", her monologue comes to another sudden stop. "Ah, yes, I forgot." he says quietly, but loud enough to be heard by everyone, while looking over his shoulder.

"WHAT?", she almost shouts. "I'd like to see you in my office at the end of the other hallway, master Fipps." What? Why me? I offer a astonished look. "NOW!", he raises his voice in an instance. I jump to my feet and leave the room as ordered. Most of the people are looking at me right now. "Go forth, young Fipps, I will follow you in a moment." the High Inquisitor whispers to me. He turns back to the rest of the people. "And Sally?" "You still have something to say, old man?", she surely is mocking him. "Don't go to hard on them, please." he smiles again. She only makes a disapproving sound. "Have a nice day.", he speaks to everybody in the room, then he turns around and leaves.

I am already in midst of the great hall next to the altar. This is the place where Alexandros Mograine stands every morning, wow.

I didn't notice how I had come to a stop until a hand reaches for my shoulder. "I-I'm sorry." I look to the ground so I wouldn't have to face his sight.

"Silly boy. No need for excuses. Thanking me should be more appropriate." "Thanking y-you?", I stutter. "Well, I saved you from Whitemanes clutches the second time now, you know?" This is the moment when I first realize that the woman back there had been this mystic Whitemane the High Inquisitor has mentioned before. “Tha-that is Whitemane?” I ask without thinking of my words. “Sometimes Captain Theran seems to be a bit right, doesn't she?”, he is smiling at me, nevertheless these words are hard to hear. He opens the door to his office. “Please, enter.” his hand is pointing inside. I do as he wishes. He closes the door behind him. “Now have a seat, Marc.”, this is the first time he calls me that way. “I hope it's okay if I address to you like this.” He sits down, I nod quickly in response to his question. A fire is burning in the fire place next to the desk of Fairbanks.

“Fine. Now, before we start, are there any things you want to ask me?”

“S-start? Start with what?”, this is basically my first question. “With your lesson of course. You need somebody who teaches you. And I've told you already that I won't let Whitemane get anywhere near you.”, he talks quickly, stressing the importance of this fact.

“Why are you doing this?”, this question again came out of my mouth without thinking too much. “Well, Sally Whitemane may be talented, but I assure you, she will try to take you down the same way she went. AND I tell you, that is the WRONG way!”, I flinch as he says that. “But...” I want to respond, I want to tell him that this is not worth the effort. I will never be as great as my father.

“You fool! Stop complaining already!”, he sounds angry, “I see great potential in you. You have a strong soul. I wont let her claim it in the name of the shadows. Your destiny is to serve the Holy Light! Why don't you have faith for once?” I shiver as his words come to an end.

“Now, have you received any note during the course of the day?” The letter! I totally forgot about that during the time in the library! “Ye-yes, I was given an envelope this morning.”

“Did you open it?” he asks rapidly. “No, no I did not.” “Give it to me!”, this clearly was an order.

I hand him the unopened letter. He unseals it the moment he has it in his hands and starts to read it. He raises an eyebrow.

“This clearly is Whitemanes doing.” Without taking another look he throws the letter into the fire besides him.

I jump to my feet. “No boy, no, just sit down. It's better this way. She wanted to seduce you into following her blindly. Even IF she would be trustworthy, you should never trust someone blind folded, not in these times. This is my first advice for you, young Fipps..”

He stands up again and walks to the window. "I assume you have no further questions?", he asks me. I have a lot more of them, but none of them would be doing any good at this moment.

"Following the Holy Light is a difficult path." He gazes out of the window into the sky. "This is not because of demanding spells, an enormous amount of will power or the dangers of using this type of magic. No. This is because of its counterpart." He turns around facing me. "You see, every type of magic as we know it has some sort of counterpart you will get afflicted to if you use your magic. This kind of affliction can be of great benefit, yet it can be of great harm." His looks darken. "As fire magic aspire towards ice and water, just like this the holy arts strive for the shadows. Sally knows this, nevertheless she is close to darkness." This is far more complex than I had imagined.

"You see, being able to use the holy arts is a straining thing to do. You will always be close to the darkness. If you will not be able to keep your righteous heart, you will fall for the temptation."

I start having second thoughts about me becoming a cleric.

"Do not be in doubt! Doubting is the first step in the wrong direction. If you trust yourself, if you have faith in the Holy Light, you will ALWAYS be able to overcome the shadows residing in your heart."

The fire behind him crackles. I imagined this all being easier, but now after he tells me all this I'm starting to fear what might happen.

"Let me tell you a story." I listen up as he stands up. "Some years ago, directly after the end of the second great war, we discovered something at the foot of Blackrock Mountain. Alexandros Mograine kept this a secret until the first whispers about the Scourge had reached Lordaeron. It was an artefact of pure darkness. A crystal, small but endlessly dangerous!” The High Inquisitor tries to show an approximate size with his hands. “Upon touching the orb, Alexandros' flesh was rendered. This item had carved wounds into his flesh we were not able to heal. The scars remain until today.” He looks to the ground and turns around again. “The day he had shown this to us in Southshore, we decided to search for the opposite of it, a manifestation of light itself. But we had to dispose of the unholy crystal first.” He makes a short pause. “I was one of the first ones to strike at the crystal. I used one of the spells I learned from Isillien. He called it smite, it is one of the few attack spells using holy magic. I will teach it to you soon enough.”

He walks slowly across the room.

“To our amazement the crystal took no damage upon being attacked. On the contrary, it absorbed all our efforts. Everything was in vain. Despair was creeping up on us. Then it happened.” Fairbanks lowers his voice. “The orb emitted in a light glow. Every further attack made it glow stronger. Suddenly with a flash of light the crystal changed to its complete opposite! The manifestation of light!”

The High Inquisitor returns to the table, taking his seat. “Mograine touched it with his still wounded hand and he was healed completely in an instance. From this crystal the Ashbringer was forged. The mightiest weapon against the hordes of the Scourge that we have.” Fairbanks takes a deep breath.

“The thing I wanted to show you by telling this little anecdote is that light can always overcome darkness. The darkness may be reckless and strong, yet it is vulnerable to something as pure as light. If you stay on a righteous way, not driven by selfishness, you will be able to control the light as you wish without having to fear to lose your soul to the shadow. I believe you are capable of doing so, young master Fipps.”

This is all? This is the reason for him being my `private tutor'? I still don't get why all of them are making such efforts with me.

“So I have a question for you, Marc. I will be honest with you, if you answer in a way I am displeased with, you shall leave the monastery and the Scarlet Crusade now and without a minute's hesitation.”, he smiles at me. Saying such words and still keeping his friendly face. I swallow hard.

“After I told you this today, do you still want to become a cleric of the Scarlet Crusade?” Is that a trick question? I only have this opportunity to prove myself that I'm not completely worthless. Yet again he is right somehow. But, no, I have to, Corren and Keira would not want me to have doubt in this.

“Ye-yes...”

“I'm sorry, young master Fipps, I did not hear you, could you repeat that?” The tone of him is demanding.

“Yes, I want to become a cleric.” I hope this will end up the way I hope for.

“Good boy, with this your first lesson is at its end.”

“What?” I call out.

“Yes, you heard what I said, we are done for today. I will send Captain Theran to pick you up tomorrow, I guess she will find you in the library in the afternoon. Am I right?”

“Ye-yes, Sir.” I respond. “Fine, then of you go. Head to the library for an hour or two, then go to bed. You seem the type of guy who likes to read a lot.” he smiles at me. Likes to read a lot, how comes? I've never had many books at home, I've hardly ever read anything except for sometimes when my parents were teaching me.

The High Inquisitor opens the door and sends me out, “Good night, boy.” I just hate it being addressed to as a child.

I head directly to the library, but I do not plan on staying there. I get two books, one about the dragon flights and one about the Holy Light, as a kind of alibi. Then I'm on my way to my quarters. I had no problems with the secretary, she only told me that she needed them back by the end of next week. Sundown approaches, my thoughts wander of to Keira and Corren, I miss the two of them. Well now we finally are on our own paths, everybody for him or herself. I hope the next lesson with the High Inquisitor will teach me more things about making use of the light. I hope I will be able to control it. I'm afraid of failing. I want to be like my father, but I hate being only compared to him, I hate it how people only see him when looking at me. Corren and Keira accepted me as I was, as myself.

I reach my room and enter. Without doing anything else I lay down on my bed with the two books. I open the book about the Holy Light first, hoping anything in there will help me to understand everything a bit better.

I fall asleep after reading about twenty pages.