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Chapter 14

It felt like thousands of years had passed and the reality they once knew and were familiar with was changed beyond recognition. It did not matter that in truth it was only a span of days since the horrors of the Taint having its rule over Warfang, to her that horrible moment rendered the world in completely different colors. Even the water in the fountain she sat on tinkled differently, in between each splash resonated tones of echoing cries of desperate loss.

Loss that won't itself be so easily forgotten, in her case it was Brill who made certain of that. Nothing will be, or rather is, the same anymore. The atmosphere alone was more thicker, more tiring than ever before, like a noose hanging behind a sentient creature who has second thoughts about killing itself that keeps slipping onto the head for that reminding tug.

And she wasn't the only one who noticed the difference.

Sitting on the fountain, in the middle of the street, joined by a statue of a dragon on her side on top of which a bird was happily chirping, she observed the city she was a citizen, focusing mostly on the rest of the inhabitants than the relaxing scenery.

She wouldn't be able to enjoy the sights and peace with the turmoil going inside her head anyway, too many thoughts wanted to voice their opinion at the same time. There was no place for beauty in all this chaos.

The first thing she noticed as she observed the populace was the fact that majority of these people looked the same, didn't matter if they had fur or scales, if they walked on four legs or only two, the burden of loss was taxing each shoulder in the same way.

It may be not visible to many, but as a cleric she spent much time around serenity and troubled souls to tell which of them carried a heavy weight on its shoulders. The natural desire of each heart in this world is to establish its own comfort zone, only then you feel peace and peace sharpens your senses, increases your defensive will, after all nobody likes losing something he got acquainted with a long time ago.

There was no peace in Warfang.

She could see it even in such a trivial thing as a step, the way the people walked, slowly and with difficulty as if powering through a swamp, this taxing pace showing her that there was an invisible weight attached to the ankle. Sparx would probably say that she is delusional, that she needs rest and is simply thinking too much about everything.

He would be wrong only about that being delusional part. What Sparx wouldn't know in this case was the fact that many of the passing people threw glances in her direction and as a caretaker of the soul as her learned profession the first thing they teach you in the temple when it comes to dealing with people is to remember about cleaning the windows.

After all eyes are the windows of the soul.

She had experienced many sides of frustration coming from the people, none of them however was a lost cause, even in the most of desperate of cases she could see a spark of a plea for comfort and understanding buried deep behind all those layers of hate. The inclination alone to appear in the temple and voice your worries in a confrontation was enough of a sign to her that in the end people sought unity and all that aggression needed only to be vented.

It was different this time.

She could recognize the anger, far more than she was used to in fact, but this was not the thing that scared her the most.

The most terrifying thing in all of this was the lack of any desire in the people to approach her. In those glances she could see blame and hurt, some even personally directed at her in their chaotic will for a vendetta.

It was understandable, as animals sometimes it was easy to vent up frustrations in the most primitive of ways.

She could feel however that even though some of those eyes blamed her for the catastrophe, the guilt wasn't aimed at her personally, it reached deeper, towards the ideas she represented.

Hate for Faith, temple and the Ancestors and absolutely no will to remedy it.

All of it topped with confusion.

Something snapped in the populace, the recent events thrust a wedge so deep that she could see the impact rippling in the eyes and faces of the people. They had enough of loss and bad things happening to them, they had enough of putting their fates in the paws of Fate and Ancestors.

These people wanted payback.

She wasn't a fighter, but she saw enough of soldiers and warriors in her life to recognize that specific twitch of muscles, so quick as an blink of an eye. These people were itching for a fight.

She wanted to explain and calm everyone down but without the temple walls surrounding her she felt powerless, sensing that if she would gather up enough courage to approach the people in the open she would only provoke them further, especially with the eyepatch worthy of a brutal mercenary.

Of course if she had any bravery in her this wouldn't stop her, especially if she sought peace for this world. Still, being in the center things during the Taints rule over Warfang didn't rise her self-esteem at all, if not for Danox and Ancestors guidance she would perish in that room, if she would get there in the first place that is, the dark crystal would turn her into another of its rattling corpses.

She wasn't Brill.

Her uncovered eye widened at the thought of the Seeker's name, remembering his role in all of this and despite some of the opinions he wasn't the one responsible for it all. He held his ground, as confusing as it was and whether it was intended or not, his true, strong faith managed to convince people to his side. This charm lasting even though that Brill no longer was in shape to properly breathe, the people that watched over him in the temple were there out of dedication and respect.

You cannot get the two without honesty.

Some may have forgotten it already, but Brill's speeches weren't about aggression, despite some of his monologues sounded different even to her. With the knowledge of today and the idea of what the mole had gone through it was hard to tell what of those fiery speeches belonged truly to him and what to the Taint.

In the end however it is not words, but actions that matter and Brill throughout his cadency never declared an order to attack. In fact he was the one that assured Cynder of her safety as long as he lives and she was an incarnation of Darkness to him.

Brill still had a hold on this city, one might question why after everything that has happened, but then you have to remember that Brill traveled in time, the wonders he created and the reputation he flourished, all of it occurred before her time.

This loyalty, this influence that Brill had on Warfang, this is what is keeping people at bay, ironically the one many would see responsible is the one that keeps it all from falling apart. The chaotic mind of a mob was like a rabid animal trapped in a cage, all it needed to be free was for its owner to release the bolt.

It was worrying to see that the stability hangs on such a thin thread, as much as she prayed to the Ancestors for the Seeker to recover her logical thinking demanded to see things through glasses of rationality. The mole was in an advanced age, facing a force that would shatter the bones and sanity of many healthy citizens, the Taint's power was absolutely beyond any sensible level of tolerance, chances that Brill recovers are very slim.

As cruel as it may sound she hoped that if his times passes he will do it with dignity, remaining true to his words and do not start an unnecessary conflict. It is easy to vent blame and anger, to not think about the consequences is a privilege of a sentient mind, accusations a craving treat.

This is not how peace worked, not how the Ancestors wished for it to be seen.

It takes a lot of self control to remember that, Fate constantly throws things at you that may force you to question your motives, many times testing you by pitting against the one thing you were scared the most. This was the ultimate test of Faith, an unending demand to see things in a different light.

Her blue paw rose to the eyepatch, toe grazing over the soft material gently, tip of a claw hiking it up, revealing the glowing beige eye underneath to the world.

She had to blink several times, whenever the protected eye got hit by the rays of sunlight her vision blurred, brain quickly readjusting, remembering that there are actually two windows it had to polish to appreciate the surroundings in the fullest. Whenever that happened, after a brief pressure of discomfort she felt a strong dose of relief as if her entire brain would shift inside the skull, filling it up completely instead of pressing against one side only.

The cracking with light pupil undulated like shifting sands, shrinking and growing as it adjusted itself to the world, blurry, chaotic colors taking shape. This was not a slow process everything happened in a nauseating second, first there were bars of pressed together colors and then with one jerk each of it was connected with a specific object and person, as if her head would be a ship powering through restless waves just to suddenly hit a calm bank.

Not everything returned to normal though and it never will again in fact. In moments like those there was nothing left but to accept the fact that with time she needs to redefine what is normal to her.

The way she sees people would be the first step.

Coriza observed the passing by population of Warfang peacefully, even though her heart raced and the claw that held the patch aloft shook as if cold. Each shift of her pupils distorted the colors of the world, breaking them apart just to put them together again, usually, because whenever her pupils flew over a silhouette it felt like she would be taking part in a lottery.

Sometimes people materialized like normal, sometimes there was this colorful twinkle inside them like a burning match, distorting the image of a single body part, some other times the entire silhouette was a swiveling mass, almost as chaotic as Danox was.

Sometimes the flickering was stirred by movement, when people stood idle they were ordinary, the moment they moved however that normality in some cases changed, the twinkle distorting the a part of the silhouette.

She absolutely had no idea what was happening, what did the Taint infect her with, all she could understand for now was the fact that whenever she uncovered her wounded eye the world was thrown into a spinning whirl of a drunk who can't maintain focus.

She wasn't much of a drinker herself, but she had a period in her life like probably any other young creature out there where she tried out different things, it wasn't pleasant but at least it managed to define what was going on with a sense of familiarity.

It didn't help her head though.

Watching the people and the world swirl in between colors was unbelievably taxing to the point that she could feel her own brain crunching and pulsing restlessly as it was unable to catch a breath of respite, desperately trying to put everything together into a shape that could be recognizable.

She sensed however that despite the urge to cover the eye and spare herself the pain she couldn't do it, this eye was staying with her for the rest of her life and it's only natural to get used to it. It had to happen for a reason.

She could only pray that the reason is dictated by the forces of Good and Brill's panic when he wanted to scratch it out was only a consequence of a traumatized, senile mind. Logic demanded to look at the things coldly, out of the two of them the Seeker was the one who was put under more strenuous influence of Darkness, she left the temple when she began feeling uncomfortable there almost instantly. Out of the two of them what are the chances that she is being a Taint's toy, even with the crystal's shard lodged inside her eye?

She didn't know the answer, probably never will, but it still was better to think about being Corrupted.

"Priestess? Excuse me?"

Coriza gasped startled by the shy feminine voice, she immediately turned towards the sound, her eyes wide in shock.

It was a mole who immediately jumped back, almost loosing her helmet, even if mole's eyesight wasn't the most ideal of ones the dragoness could still see that she was burying her gaze into her special eye.

Hands clutching the chest told her that what the mole saw wasn't comforting at all.

"Yes?" Coriza asked, her voice wavering, she immediately plastered the patch over her glowing eye, dragging her hair to cover it as Amela requested

"It's nothing" the mole shook her head, backing away

"I'm listening, you can"

"It's really nothing!" the mole squealed in fear, running away, in the distance swooping a male mole under the arm and dragging him away in panic

Coriza's paw followed the mole, rising in the air pleadingly, yet no words came from her mouth, she knew it was pointless. Her toes started to curl one after the other, like an alarm clock of depression.

"She has it!"

The muffled squeak of the female mole was hearable even from here, immediately the male's head popped up in the air, shooting her a strong, full of pity and disdain glare.

Coriza winced, her extended in plea paw immediately pushing back at the heart she felt exploding from the inside. The ray of negativity that wafted from the mole stabbed her like a dagger, people disliked her, didn't trust her, something she so desperately wanted to avoid in her life, all this struggle led her to feel like an outcast.

And there was nothing worse for a cleric that strives to achieve peace to be treated as a sickening flaw. All she wanted to was to unite people, was a world where there will be no more war and aggression really too much to ask for?

She whimpered, dragging more and more hair onto the eye, absolutely indifferent to the perspective how she will present herself, all she wanted to do now was to hide that accursed eye. Part of her soul blaming her cowardice, wishing that she would allow Brill to poke her eye out.

"People's approval is overrated"

Coriza titled her head up, coming snout to snout with an adult red dragon, his red eyes were burning, full of fatherly warmth. His massive frame intimidating her for a second, making her blush, clearly the drake served in the military once, you do not become so intimidating by giving sermons alone. Her healthy eye, scared eye gave the dragon a quick once over as it usually does to everything she considers a threat to her well being.

It goes without saying that there were plenty of things like that in this world.

Her examination slowed down on his legs where tendrils of yellow curled around the paws from the very top to the bottom, spreading also over the tail where a tip burned like a torch. The yellow swirls clenching the red scales tightly, her shocked brain imagining them to be snakes, clenching over the legs tighter and tighter.

She shivered, losing interest immediately, sight instantly moving back up to the welcoming, red eyes.

Ignus smiled, feeling a pinch in his chest when the gold, wide eye gazed upon him, so innocent and pure. Corners of his mouth twitched, his head began to echo painfully, yet he maintained his posture nevertheless, not giving to discomfort.

One glance alone was enough to understand it all, he instantly knew why Danox got infatuated by the girl. There was a day when he also knew a girl with eyes like that, nothing remained of her now but a broken shell.

Despite the years and all that dedication he put into everything it still did not stop to hurt.

If you only knew what you did boy.

"You can try as hard as you want but there will be always someone out there who will think that it was wrong. To accomplish a mission you need to listen to only one guide" he tapped against his heart meaningfully "The rest is just a bird's song, if the pleasant chirps are louder than the sad ones then you are on the right path"

Coriza remained speechless, her mouth merely jammed open with no trace of sound coming from it.

Ignus laughed.

"I'm sorry! You were so engrossed in your thoughts and I simply barged in uninvited, my apologies" the red dragon bowed respectfully "Forgive my old habits, I've grown in a court where many young ladies such as yourself ran around, it was the duty of the old ones like myself to raise them into a proper representative of loyalty. Seeing you so sad simply awakened by fatherly instincts, one word miss and I'm gone"

"What's a court?" Coriza finally stammered, the unknown word triggering her youthful curiosity, she too had habits, as a dedicated cleric she spent countless hours reading and learning about the Ancestors, coming in contact with many mysterious words she ever heard of before

It was a professional fetish to learn about everything, a rich knowledge and vocabulary is what makes a perfect sermon after all, only such wisdom will allow you to connect with all sorts of people.

It was the creed of the temple, Brill's creed no less, a motto to which clerics dedicate their lives to. No matter what happened, it seemed that the lesson learned at youth remained with her still.

She hoped it would never change.

"Ah yes" Ignus chuckled, knocking at his head "I forgot about the time travel, forgive me, it's the result of old age" he smiled warmly "In my time there was no unity like here, while you have obvious leaders like the Guardians they are still chosen by the people, below them though there is nothing more, only people, doesn't matter from where they come from or what race they are. From the time I come from there were many Guardians if you will present in the city and this Guardians formed the royalty and that royalty formed the court under the command of one ruler. The most influential of us belonged to the court, forming a society of its own, locked from the rest, the lesser born could only aspire to reach our class, most of them however only ended up dreaming about joining the royalty"

She realized instantly who the dragon was the moment he finished his explanation, besides the rather egotistical ice dragons Warfang wasn't known to have anyone of royal blood who acted all high and mighty, in the end everyone was equal and aware that without the support of the people you become insignificant.

There was only one dragoness with blue scales that didn't share this vision, the court definition fit her perfectly.

"You're Iris' uncle"

"I see my reputation precedes me" there was no tone of pride in the dragon's voice, all replaced by dose of sadness even the fatherly flames in the red eyes were gone, extinguished by shame "Let me begin by saying I'm sorry, if there was ever a moment that my niece crossed you please accept my sincere apologies, she's a turbulent spirt and my failure as a father figure. I wasn't good enough to replace her tragically lost parents. I'm sincerely sorry if Iris caused you any harm, rest assured I will speak with my niece about it"

"I appreciate the concern, but such intervention won't be necessary"

The dragon smiled gratefully.

"I thank you for your generosity" he bowed respectfully "My name is Ignus, may this old dragon ask in return the name of someone as merciful as you?"

Coriza twirled her hair strand around the claw nervously, Ignus wasn't lying about being royalty, in the mentioned court they seemed to also put great focus into proper social etiquette. While she was no stranger to respect, people showed it towards her plenty of times but she always felt that it was not about her personally, but the professional stature she dedicated her life to, clerics where held in high regard in the Realms.

It was quite different with Ignus, his regard for her was personal, he was valuing her as a dragon, not as a priestess.

She didn't get much of that, being hatched as a cripple made things difficult even for her to respect herself properly. It was a very pleasant change to face appreciation from the direction she not expected it to come.

"C-Coriza"

Coriza.

So this is the name that won't you rest now you black motherfucker?

You are not prepared for the renunciation.

"May I join you Coriza?" the fatherly warmth returned to the red eyes, the fiery tail making small swings even, showing delicate signs of excitement "Observation and pensiveness are two new favorite hobbies of mine in my age. And truth be told priestess you look like you need company"

She nodded sadly.

"It's that obvious?"

"For a failed father figure like me? Sadly yes" he sat down on the fountain next to the young dragoness, giving her a quick look over while she had her head aimed at her paws

So innocent and pure.

She reminded him of a young child he once knew that supposed to be just a thought swift to discard at will. But the memory stayed with him even after all these years and instead of going away it only cried out to him, pulling him into a loop of longing only a bottle could silence.

His head already began to throb, pain building up inside in steady thuds, lips drying, thirsty already, he did not plan on leaving though, not now, not after getting so close to Iris.

It's been a while when he heard a heart beating in the chest of this cold family.

He blinked, gold eye of the dragoness gazed upon him, his hear skipping a beat.

Coriza.

After getting so close to Coriza naturally.

You are too old to fall into the same trap old fool.

"Hardships strengthen the spirit" he smiled comfortingly "It takes a while but we eventually adjust, the recent events took toll on all of us"

"How hard was it for you during the time of the crisis?" she tugged at her strand, blushing slightly after her rather private question "If you don't mind me asking"

Ignus gazed to the sky, seemingly, his pupils however twitched towards the mountain stretching above Warfang and to the place where he spends most of his time now, guard duty or not.

He could still hear the rattling of bottles he emptied up there.

It made him feel sick.

"I was suffering" he licked his lips, tongue peeling a piece of flesh from the dry lips as it slid across them "Like many others did that day"

"I'm sorry"

"Don't be, as I said, difficulties only make us stronger, dragons are especially known for developing on struggle. The world worked like that on span of several eras from the looks of it so one bad crisis won't make any difference"

Coriza looked down upon her paws in defeat, she heard that excuse many times already, it seems like the theory that pain and suffering are dragon's lifeblood did not change throughout the shifts of a timeline itself. She could only wonder if Nature is so cruel that it evolved dragons to be warmongers in soul or her race is a part of some circle of punishment dictated by Fate. The answers to those questions will elude her most likely to the end of her days, nevertheless hearing someone as advanced in experiences of life like Ignus, from another world no less, sharing the same thoughts like most of the world today made her feel like a joke, a very unfunny one.

Her desire for peace might actually be an anomaly, an impossible to reach anomaly no less.

Ignus bit his lip at the sight of the defeated girl, a sharp bolt of pain piercing his skull made him growl quietly. He could see his sister in the young cleric, a trait Iris shared too, they both looked utterly miserable when sad, bringing back memories of childhood when he simply couldn't bare the sight of his sister's cries.

After some time Iris stopped resembling Athron in many ways, tears becoming alien to the girl like sound to a deaf person. One would think that together with the disappearance of sadness his own abhorrence for sibling hurt would be gone as well.

It was not.

And the funny thing was that he knew it was wrong, but simply did not want it to end.

Longing.

His paw automatically tapped the ground in front of it, blindly looking for the special shape of a bottle.

"You are not a supporter of "strength by pain" doctrine I presume?"

Coriza flinched, running a toe over the eye patch and her tightly sealed jaw which hid her uneven bite.

"I prefer the view of strength developing on the blossoming of peace"

"I see" he looked at the passing crowds, it did not take an expert to see that these people housed regret inside them, there was no innocence and no place anymore to find any room for development, not on the scale the cleric wishes to embrace

You can't change something that was inherited, the only way to prosper according to a plan is to lead another generation into the better future, the old one has to simply die out.

"You have an ambitious plan, I don't know if it's possible to achieve, but I know you are looking at it the wrong way"

Coriza frowned questioningly, her stiffening, frail muscles was all the evidence he needed to tell that he got her attention.

"You are very young Coriza, you have many years of life ahead of you, the change of the way of the living doesn't happen in a span of weeks, but generations. People that matured according to rules of the present world scarcely change their habits, you see, sentient creatures are lazy by heart, you don't switch from something that brings you comfort, creatures that like to feel struggle each and every day are a minority. It is perfectly normal"

He smiled at her.

"Do you want to hear my advice Coriza?"

The cleric gazed upon the walking crowds, her gold eye shrinking in focus.

"If you would be so kind. I appreciate all kinds of help"

"Don't focus on the present, focus on the future" his red, intelligent eyes joined the cleric's "You can see for yourself that the recent events only deepened the resistance that was already thriving inside, most of these people are too far gone for your words to reach them. Among them however there is that one soul who is yet untainted by the rules of today. Focus on it, grab it and everything else will happen by its own, if you win their loyalty you will receive support in their offspring as well. It's like building a city, you don't place it all at once, you start with a single brick at the beginning. Don't get discouraged when you can't see the effects immediately, planning is a subtle task, it pays off later"

Coriza gulped.

Maybe Ignus was right, she was approaching this from the wrong side, a side that will become so much more difficult now that the consequences of Darkness harvest hold a toll over the populace. There won't be returning to normal as she feared after everything that happened, but then again was there really a point going back there in the first place?

Perhaps for peace to thrive in the Realms she doesn't need normal, but new?

She shivered impulsively, just considering such a perspective felt wrong, looked almost like manipulation, brainwashing. Shouldn't a strive for peace and good feel...right?

"It sounds so malicious" she observed the people, yet this time whenever they looked her way she averted her gaze, she felt like a thief who didn't want to get caught planning a heist

"There is nothing wrong with pursuing a dream. If you want to build something you need workers, as talented as you might be you can't do everything alone. Besides if there will be anyone willing to listen to you, they will be doing it out of their own free will, you don't put a dagger to anyone's neck priestess"

Building, development, this no longer sounded bad, but improbable now, how is she supposed to be the one beginning a construction when there is hardly a day where she maintains balance for its whole period.

But then again, pursuing a dream is a matter of belief and not skills alone, even if it turned out bad in the end Brill held against the Taint for who knows how long. He was just a simple mole, with no magical energy housed within his soul.

All he had was faith.

"Thank you Ignus" she smiled at the red dragon gratefully "I don't know why you took pity on me, but if you won't mind, may I explain your presence as a sign from the Ancestors themselves?"

Ignus chuckled.

"It's been many years when someone considered me as a helpful gift"

"I'm sorry if it sounds so haughty, it was not my intention to make you feel discomfort. As a cleric I have a tendency of justifying things by naming them divine. Nevertheless I didn't know I needed company so much, it still feels like you were sent my way on purpose"

Fangs pushed from underneath the red lips when the mouth stretched into a grin.

"Does it really look like it?"

"Yes" Coriza's uncovered eye twinkled "Like it all would be a plan"

He grumbled, pleased. She actually did listen to what he had to say, it's been a while since he understood how willing obedience looked like.

Unfortunately for you, you black fuck, there are versions of Athron that are still innocently oblivious.

Red eyes flared up, burning tail tip wafting a scorching pulse.

"I always give everything a little bit more thought"