Chapter 100

The five of us stared at the closed gate. Somehow I hadn't thought it would be closed right now. I looked around, there weren't many people in this part of town. The houses in the area were a bit more run down, implying this may have been a poor district. It seemed a bit odd because it didn't really feel that late yet, only a few bells after sunset. Many people would still be at bars and taverns around this time, it shouldn't be such a ghost town like this.

We got closer to the northern gate and found the portcullis pulley, the release was smashed. The guards who had been here earlier had closed it the quick way and left. We weren't going to be able to get out this way now. It seems like there might be more going on here than our attack in the tavern.

Silva's long ears perked up and she turned to look down one of the nearby streets. "I hear fighting."

I looked down the street she was facing. "More fighting? It's not just us then?"

She shook her head. "It sounds like a full-on battle. I thought they were looking for us at first but this explains how we got away so easily."

Bella looked worried. "Do you think they found Fae? Should we go see if we can do something to help?"

I paused. Ultimately they were looking for Fae, if there was a battle going on they could have found Tarklin after they went for us. I looked at each of my friends. "We vote. Everyone who wants to get involved and see if we can help Fae and Tarklin raise their hand."

Bella and Morrigan's hand went up instantly, Torien's hand hesitantly followed. I felt Mimi pulse indifference and Silva didn't raise her hand.

I raised my hand. "Let's go look. If we can help we'll get involved, if there's too many or they seem too strong we'll stay out of it." Everyone nodded, even Silva.

I looked at Torien. "You and Silva go first and help us avoid running into anyone before we get there."

"Sure, let's go." She glanced at Silva and started leading the way.

We traveled back through the city, this time a bit more confident in our course of action. Whatever had happened took the focus away from the six of us. Whether or not that was a good thing remained to be seen. We managed to avoid any more of the people in black brigandine on the way there but the sight that greeted us was not one I expected.

We had made it near the center of town where there was a full-scale battle going on between around sixty people. On one side of the conflict were the people in black brigandine, primarily a mix of demi-beastfolk and beastfolk with only a few humans in their mix. Several of the people had the miasma of demons hanging on their bodies, clearly visible now that I had the [Demon Hunter] title. On the other side were members of the Tamin church, their distinctive blue and white robes and paladin armor stood out in the open plaza. Naturally, every one of them was human.

The scene was madness. All of the surrounding buildings were destroyed, large holes were opened in the stone walls of the nearby shops. There were casualties on both sides at this point as well as the remains of civilians in the surrounding area. It felt weird being on the side of the Tamin church in this instance. We were watching them fight the people who attacked us not an hour before. But it was clear that they were not friends of the people here either, their magic tore just as many holes in the surrounding buildings as the people in black did. I doubted they had been any more discerning when using their magic based on where some of the civilians' remains lie.

I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder, it was Morrigan. "We need need to get out of here. This is too much for us and we don't know anything about what's happening here. Now that the people in the black armor are occupied we should look for Tarklin," she whispered to me.

I nodded. "Let's go back to the stable and see if we can find anyone."

As we made our way through the town we could tell the buildings were mostly deserted as the battle in the center plaza roared on. We hadn't been able to hear it from the edge of town but now that we were closer to the fight, the magic explosions and clashes of swords echoed off the walls. The only people we saw now were civilians hurrying to the eastern and western gates, after crossing paths with a few of them Mimi went back to hiding as a necklace on my neck. We passed the tavern we had been fighting in earlier, all of the bodies had been removed.

By the time we had made it to the stables the animals were gone, there was only a note nailed into one of the nearby beams.

"Anyone in the Silvergrove company that got left behind, head through the eastern gate.

-Tarklin."

"Looks like they evacuated this place. We should go catch up with them." I adjusted my cloak. Now that there were obvious sides in this conflict, I felt less confident wearing the enemy's armor around. The last thing I needed was to get into a fight with the Tamin church adherents too. At the same time I didn't want to get into another fight without it, one look at my shredded clothes revealed how valuable a little bit of armor would have been. If it hadn't been for Bella, I'd have been dead a few times over. I decided to leave it on.

We headed to the eastern gate, eventually catching up with a crowd of civilians. I hadn't noticed till now but I felt the difference in level between my group and most of the people here. Just as Silva described earlier I could feel the difference in our levels. The larger the gap, the more pronounced the feeling was. It wasn't until now, when I was more on guard than ever, that I noticed. Now that I had it was clear as day. I could tell not everyone sensitive to the difference though, a few people noticed and steered clear of our group, others didn't notice at all and walked right next to us.

Eventually we made it to the eastern gate in a crowd of others. The guards here were sorting people into small groups outside the walls. A guard around half my level went to stop us but froze and ran off. I had a bad feeling about that. Rather than dwell on it I tried to lead my group away from the area only to be surrounded by four Tamin paladins.

"You, animal. Did you think you would be able to sneak out this way? I didn't know we were the only ones that had to deal with deserters. Looks like you cultists do too!" The four of them drew their weapons and my group followed suit. Their levels rivaled mine. Meaning the only one of us other than myself that could stand up to them on even footing would be Silva.

I pulled off my cloak and let it drop to the ground. "I'm not one of those in the black brigandine. I stole this from one of their corpses after they tried to kill us." Most of the people surrounding us realized something was happening now and ran from the area. We were at a standoff with the priests.

The paladin who had spoken to us before grit his teeth. "Liar! Did you think bullshit like that would work on us?" He took a step toward us.

"Hold!" A feminine voice carried through the area causing the paladins to pause.

Only their leader, the one we had been talking to, took a moment to look towards the voice. I couldn't help but glance in the direction of the voice as well. A female priestess came to the edge of the clearing that had opened around us. She pulled off her hood and scarf, revealing herself to be Bella's mother.

"Corrine." I looked at the woman but held still, my sword was heavy in my hand.

She nodded. "You remember my name."

How could I forget.

She looked at the paladins. "Stand down. I recognize these people, let me talk to them."

The Tamin paladins paused before sheathed their swords as they eyed us. They were cautious of us turning on them. We followed suit, sheathing our weapons as well. The tension in the area relaxed, if only a bit.

Bella's mother scanned over our group. "Come with me for a moment. I want to discuss something with you lot. Afterward, I'll send you to the Elf you were with."

"Tarklin?" I asked.

She nodded. "He came through here a while ago."

I looked at my friends, stopping at Bella. Her ears were down but she looked otherwise okay. I really didn't want to talk with the priestess right now but considering the situation, it felt like the least we could do.

"Very well but let's keep it short. I don't want our group to leave without us."

"I wouldn't worry about that. The night is still young. Come." Corrine led us away from the crowd.

After I covered myself again with my cloak, we walked through the gate and into a tent that was set up out of the way of the crowd. Inside there wasn't much. Just a small table with stationary and a few chairs, there weren't enough of them to seat everyone here so we stood.

She turned and looked over each member of my group one by one, taking in each of our appearances before moving on to the next. "What do you know of the cult fighting in the center of the city," she finally asked.

I shook my head. "Very little. They wear black brigandine..." I shifted my weight. "And I heard they were involved with the murder of Baron Morrister."

She studied me for a moment. "Yes. The Elf- Tarklin Silvergrove has custody of his daughter. Sera Faelyn Morrister."

My breath caught. "Is she safe?"

"...yes." Her eyes scanned up and down Silva. "I had heard that the demi-rabbitkin here was her slave. Why is she with you?"

I turned to Silva who took that as an invitation to speak. "Lady Morrister couldn't handle being around me after what she had seen, so she sold me to Lilith."

Her eyes returned to me. "Lilith..." Suddenly I felt a large spell being cast around us, the feeling felt familiar, this turned from a simple conversation to an interrogation. "You are now in a [Zone of Truth]. No one will hear your answers except for the people here. I'm not going to hold you here but your answers will help me understand better which side you're on. If you would indulge me."

My hand curled into a fist. I didn't like how this was going but I didn't think it was quite time to leave just yet. Right now it's probably in my best interest to see this through.

"Lilith. I'll ask again, what do you know about this cult?"

My face hardened. "Nothing more than what I've told you. I didn't even know they were a cult before I heard it at the gate. All I know about them is they wear black brigandine and they attacked us tonight while looking for young-lady Morrister." I felt the [Zone of Truth] pulse, it agreed that I only spoke the truth.

The woman cupped her chin. "Strange. Then I'll ask this next. Have you ever heard of The Order of Lilith?"

My mouth went dry and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. What? "...No. I've never heard of The Order of Lilith ...though I think I might now understand why the church has been so interested in me." Truth once again pulsed through the room. "Is this the name of the cult fighting in the middle of town?"

She didn't answer immediately, she just studied my face, as if hoping to find some clue in my demeanor. Before my patience wore out she finally answered. "...No, this is an unrelated group at odds with the church." Corrine spoke the truth. "Curious, are you a demon?"

"No." Truth pulsed through the room once again. "Are you saying the Tamin church is fighting multiple cults right now?"

The priestess shifted in her seat, hesitating to answer. "Yes, there are multiple cults drawn to this area right now. We're unsure why. Next question. Have you ever summoned a demon?"

"No." Again, the [Zone of Truth] spoke of my innocence.

"A coincidence then? An odd beastkin, only barely resembling a male ram." Her eyes flicked to Bella for a quick moment before settling back on me. "A woman who lies with other women. You have multiple slaves but claim to abhor the practice. You have the miasma of demons hanging around you, yet you have slain enough of them to gain a title for it. Contradictions up and down."

I gritted my teeth. "How much do you know about me?"

"...Clearly not enough." The room pulsed with truth. "However, I don't think tonight is the night that I'll be able to find more answers, certainly not from you. I don't even have enough people here to hold you if I tried. You're free to go, the elf is about 300 paces east on the north side of the road. You won't miss it." The room pulsed with truth again, backing up her words and catching me off guard. I didn't expect this interrogation to suddenly end here but I wasn't going to complain.

Corrine sat down and immediately began drafting a letter, the dismissal evident. She didn't even bother dropping her spell yet as whatever missive she was penning seemed to take priority. I looked at my party then I held the flap of the tent open for everyone to leave. Before Bella stepped out she instead turned and looked at her mother. "Did you truly want to abandon your son? Did you hate him?"

Corrine looked up from her letter furious. "Yes! Now leave!" For the first time, I felt the spell pulse of falsehood and contradict her words. She snarled and collapsed the spell. "Leave animal!"

I took Bella's hand and pulled her through the flap of the tent. She had frozen in place, unprepared for the truth of her mother's words.

We walked in silence out of the camp and towards the east. I held Bella's hand, no longer worried that someone may see. The Tamin church already knew the people I loved, for better or worse. The six of us walked into the black night together.