The crowd around the high priestess begins to disperse, those present leaving alone or in small groups to attend to the destruction of the machinery. Anneleigh turns to leave as well when she is called back.
“Anneleigh,” Shyla calls, “We must begin severing Regulos's hold on this land. In Silverwood, we High Elves grew wooden walls to keep evil at bay. There is scant wood in these lands, but Borrin has forged an elven dagger from the sourcestone-imbued steel you recovered. If you can solicit Tavril, goddess of the land, to bless it, the spirits of the forest will empower you to cleanse this town.”
Once more, Anneleigh returns to the village streets. Shyla told her the grove she should seek would not be far past the village square, yet she feels certain she has confused the directions. She turns left and right for what seems like hours, trying her best to stay on a true course, but finding a straight path impossible. She passes the Ardenburgh Horrors, those beings who have free run of the streets in this area, on each and every path she chooses but is surprised to find they take little notice of her.
“Why?” she wonders as she walks. “They are steeling the Sanctified Spheres to power Aedraxis’ machines so clearly they can interact with the physical world. Why do they not attack me freely when they clearly have the ability to affect others? Perhaps it is because I am commanded by the Vigil, or simply not a threat to their directed tasks. Whatever the reason, it makes my journey here that much easier to accomplish.”
She perches on one of the nearby wooden benches to steady herself. “I was so reckless.” She chastises. “The vigil’s gift does not make me invincible. Is it cowardly to only fight when needed? Is it bravery to charge into battle whenever possible, or just stupidity?” Anneleigh buries her face in her hands. “Will I ever see you again, dear Silverwood? When this is over, will I live to return home?” Anneleigh cries in a whisper to Tavril.
A rustle in the trees surrounding her brings her back to her task. Not far from where she sits, down a winding earthy pathway sits the Shrine of Tavril. “Is everything in this wood so similar to Silverwood, or is this a trick of my mind?” She laughs. The sound is loud in the quiet of the grove.
Anneleigh approaches the Shrine, head bowed in respectful silence. She kneels at the sourcestone of the shrine and whispers. “Tavril, bless this blade. Deliver forest spirits to assist your devoted in cleansing this town.”
Head bowed and eyes closed, Anneleigh listens for a response. “Regulos will destroy you.” whispers a voice from the shrine.
A Deathbound Thrall, a human neither fully alive, nor fully dead, circles the shrine from behind with his blades poised to strike. Anneleigh sees he carries duel weapons; two bloody and rusted axes with a blade as long as her own daggers. Again without forethought, Anneleigh throws herself into battle, but this Thrall seems a greater challenge than the Knight of this morning. Her every strike is matched blow for blow and the battle seems certain to be a stalemate.
“You elves are all alike.” The Thrall spits. “Always coming here to pray to your god for guidance; but your little brain doesn’t realize that Regulos has already won. Don’t you get it, little elven maiden? Regulos can provide us all the calm and piece of death, why fight such a fate?”
Anneleigh is appalled. Even while attempting to kill her, this Cultist attempts to persuade her to the virtues and honor of Regulos and Death. It’s laughable; He attempts to turn her away from Tavril by preaching falsehoods and demonstrating his own lack of faith.
“If death is so admirable you would help your God spread it through all of Telara, why do you battle me for your life?” Anneleigh shouts at him while she ducks a blow that lands heavily on the shrine instead. “If death is prosperity ruled over by Regulos in a state of peace, why do you not go there willingly?” “Your King has seen the wisdom of Regulos, and yet you turn away from his superior law to kneel before a tree stump? “ The Thrall spits as he kicks the shrine. “You’re all the same. That’s why I am here in this unbearable stench instead of in the square. Let them fight hard and long. I will end the fight before it begins. You seek help from your gods, you fear fighting without them. “The Thrall laughs, “Do you know you will lose without their help? Is that why, one after another, elves flock to this wood?”
Anneleigh and the Thrall circle each other, the Shrine between them, temporarily halting the battle. The Thrall kicks the Shrine again.
“I alone of the cultists have found a way to prevent it from coming to pass. I have prevented the others before you from seeking the assistance of “the vigil”. I have ended them, just as I am going to end you now, and any who come after you.”
He lunges at Anneleigh with both blades high above his head. She drops to the ground and roles out of reach, slicing the flesh and bone of the Thrall while he attempts to wrench his axes from the soft earth. Before he can free his blades for another try at her life, he is dead.
Panting, Anneleigh rises from the ground and returns to the Shrine of Tavril. She examines the spot where the Thrall’s axe struck the monument, but she is unable to find even a scratch. Anneleigh drops to her knees in prayer and thanks. Again she prays, “Tavril, bless this blade. Deliver forest spirits to assist your devoted in cleansing this town.”
“Tavril blesses you, High Elf.” Comes in a whisper from the Shrine. This time, a messenger of the Vigil speaks to her, not an undead Thrall. “You have done well and proven your faith.”
“I killed again. A being of the undead, to be sure, but I took a life. Please forgive me.”The messenger smiles down at her. Her eyes are blinded but her smile shines instead. She is silent for a few moments.
“Anneleigh, it is not cowardly to fight only when needed.”
Anneleigh looks up in surprise.
“No, it is not cowardice.” The messenger says again. “It is respect and honor of your life and the lives of all others, regardless of their right to deserve your respect. Similarly, one does not display bravery when charging into battle whenever possible. Instead, they show lack of respect.”
The messenger paused for a moment.
“Ascended are given the tools to fight, but not the unchallenged right to take another life at whim. Today you have shown great strength and conviction. Though you needed to fight, you did so to protect your own life, not to prove your worth. The Thrall you killed sought to murder elves to prevent change, not to restore harmony. From this point further, believe in your own honorable nature and be not troubled by those lives you must dispatch in the name of the Vigil. Killing for the sake of violence alone is unnatural, but in order to restore Telara, those who battle against it must be stopped. Do you understand?”
Anneleigh looked up into the messenger’s face and nodded. “Yes.”
“Tavril blesses you, high elf Anneleigh. Use her power to cleanse this land!”
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