He Who Slays Demons: Chapter 2

As the three most recent graduates, Aron, Sasha, and Darik formed a team. Eventually, most paladins worked alone or found partners with other branches of the temple, but for their first few missions, they would work together.

“Do I really have work with him?” Darik asked, jabbing his thumb in Aron’s direction.

“Yes, you must learn to put faith in your fellow paladins.” The attendant said, brows tightening as it became apparent that his next words would make trouble. “But if it’s any consolation, you’re being given leadership for this assignment.”

Darik’s eyes brightened, and he turned to Sasha, who looked at the attendant with wide eyes. “Attendant, you can’t! Aron outscored us both on every practical exam. Shouldn’t he be the leader?”

“Darik’s father insisted.” The attendant shrugged. “And he is one of the temple’s biggest patrons. So we will give his son this chance to shine.”

The pleased expression on Darik’s face faded as he realized he hadn’t earned this position, merely been granted it by the sake of his father’s connections. That Sasha didn’t seem happy about it made the situation even worse.

Aron stood by placidly. He clasped hands and gave Darik a shallow bow. “May the wisdom of the Lord of Light guide you so that you can guide us.”

“I don’t need the Lord of Light or anyone else to tell me what to do.” Darik huffed as he turned back to the attendant. “What is our mission?”

“There is a grove near the town of Yellowgrove, just south of the temple. Their graveyard has become corrupted, and undead are clawing their way out each night. There are too many of them for the townsfolk to subdue, and they cannot reach the graveyard with zombies and skeletons guarding it.” The attendant explained. “You must defeat the undead who have risen, then reconsecrate the graveyard. Then you will work with the wounded in town with the priestesses while a more experienced team from the temple works to find the cause of the corruption.”

“We’re more than capable of doing all that and finding the culprit behind the corruption as well.” Darik protested.

“You are new Paladin Adepts, and this is your first mission. I will not ask too much of you.” The attendant held up her hand.

Darik grumbled, but made no further protests.

“Good. Depart now with the blessings of the Lord of Light.” The paladin.

And so the three newly minted paladins left the temple. For Aron, it was the first time he’d left since his arrival as a young boy all those years ago.

“Ah, it’s good to be free of that stuffy place.” Darik waved his hand once the temple walls were out of sight. “So many rules. You musn’t drink. You musn’t make bawdy jokes. Blah blah.”

Sasha giggled softly. But Aron stayed silent, looking around them and taking in the packed earth beneath his feet and the trees looming over the road.

“We are no longer within the Lord of Light’s embrace.” Aron said. “We must be wary. The forces of the Lady of Darkness lurk around every corner, hoping to corrupt our hearts and minds.”

“...Right.” Darik rolled his eyes at Sasha, but their female companion wrapped her arms around Aron’s side.

“But we have you to protect us, don’t we Aron?” Sasha asked, batting her eyes playfully up at Aron.

“We are all protected by the Lord of Light’s embrace.” Aron said. He sensed his companion needed comforting. Paladins frequently dealt with nervous townsfolk, and some of the paladins who came before Aron had left many tomes describing the careful words needed to sooth the tumultuous emotions of young women. So Aron did as those who came before him suggested and put his hand around Sasha’s shoulder, pulling her close. “I will not let any harm befall you. I swear it.”

Sasha’s cheeks colored red, and a smile broke out across her face.

Darik made a gagging sound, and the fall of his footsteps became louder as he stomped across the ground. “Pick up the pace! I want to make it to Yellowgrove before nightfall so I can grab a few drinks at the tavern before we survey these undead.”

They were nearly upon Yellowgrove when they were attacked.

“Something’s coming.” Aron said. He sensed the silence around them. A stick broke somewhere in the forest, and Aron heard the faint creek of two fleshless bones grinding against each other.

Darik waved his hand. “We’re nearly at Yellowgrove. Save your paranoia for when we’re fighting the monsters there.”

But Aron drew his sword, and Sasha followed his lead. They bared their weapons not a moment too soon, because something lunged out of the darkness with pale, boney fingers. They wrapped one hand around Sasha’s legs, and would have dragged her to the ground had Aron not struck it dead with his own blade.

His sword glowed with golden light, and he ran his blade through the skeleton the moment it appeared. Aron’s blade shattered its skull in an instant. Sasha pulled her leg free from the skeleton’s grip as soon as it died, swinging her sword through its boney forearms.

She turned, covering Aron’s back as he engaged another skeleton.

Darik gaped at the undead that had just launched itself out of the woods. Then he too drew his sword. “Back to back! Form a circle!” Darik commanded. Then he seemed to realize Aron and Sasha had already done just that, and he scurried over to join them.

More skeletons emerged from the nearby woods. Most were bleached, fleshless things. That marked them as corpses at least a year or so old. Others still had bits of flesh clinging to them, and they wore the crude wooden helmets and armor these skeletons had worn in life.

“That’s the equipment of the Yellowgrove militia!” Darik said as he recognized what the undead were wearing.

“Thrust through the neck.” Aron said. “Their armor leaves their spine exposed.” Then he did just that, stepping forward in a smooth and graceful lunge that sent the tip of his glowing blade through the vertebrae of one undead skeleton. He twisted and drove his weapon up through the empty jaw, impaling the hollow cavity that had once housed a brain. That was where the demonic spirits that puppeted the remains of these unfortunates would dwell.

The holy energy on Aron’s blade dispersed the weak demon instantly, and the skeleton collapsed into a lifeless pile of bones.

Aron surveyed the skeletons that surrounded his party. There were fourteen and at least six of them were armed with swords, spears and cudgels. Between that and their armor, these would be far more deadly.

“What do we do?” Sasha asked with nervous eyes. She ignored Darik, the party leader, and directed her question towards Aron instead.

“You and Darik hold position, back to back.” Aron said. “I will break out of this encirclement and flank them.”

“You’ll die.” Darik warned.

“Aron! You can’t!” Sasha pleaded.

“I must do this.” Aron said. “But do not worry, Sasha. I will not die.”

Like a flash of light, Aron broke out of their circle. Six undead skeletons lunged for him, but they might as well have been trying to catch fistfuls of air. Aron moved in ways he’d had few times before. His body felt swift, and each motion came without thinking. He was light on his feet, and he sensed each blow as it was born in the skeletal bodies of his enemies.

He knew what this was. The Lord of Light’s grace had touched him once again. Perhaps the Lord of Light would only aid Aron in times of great need like this. Or perhaps the Lord of Light saw fit to ensure he would keep his promise to Sasha.

Whatever the reason, the Lord of Light had given Aron this boon, and Aron would return the favor by doing his will and expunging these undead from the land.

He swung his sacred blade low, cleaving the ankle of one skeleton. Then he twisted and grabbed another by the leg bone. With a tear, the leg came free, and the skeleton whose ankle he cut through collapsed to the ground, hobbled by the loss.

Aron twisted, blocking a sword of one of the militia-turned zombie with the leg bone in one hand. With his sword arm, he sent the tip of his blade through the zombie’s visor, expelling the demon spirit from inside the dead man’s skull.

He turned so the collapsing zombie shielded him from its own comrades, then he swing his weapon in a wide arc, driving the rest of his foes back.

Two lunged at him with long spears, but Aron wove between them with the grace of a leaf blown by the wind. He dropped the bone in his off hand and he grabbed the end of one spear with his hand, prying it from the skeleton’s grip even as his sword cut its head from its body. Completing the motion, he ran that long spear through the ribs of three skeletons lined up to attack him, pinning them together like a nail through wood.

The remaining spear-wielder tried to run Aron through a second time, but he jumped. Few mortal men could leap over the head of a skeleton the size of a full grown man, but Aron had been trained well. He soared gracefully overhead, reaching down just enough to grab the rim of the skeleton’s helmet with his free hand. It came free, and Aron twisted to shatter the exposed skull before his feet even touched the ground.

When he did finally land, the undead creature behind him was collapsing into a pile of bones. Aron grabbed an arm and tossed it in the direction of his six intact foes. He raised his sword and said a blessing.

“May the presence of the Lord of Light help you find peace.” Aron’s sword glowed with golden light, and the skeletons turned unnaturally pale under its glow. They shielded the empty sockets of their eyes, and the demon spirits dwelling within them shuddered as they felt the power of the Lord of Light.

“Don’t be daft, Aron!” Darik warned. “A lesser purification will never work against demon spirits... possessing... bodies.”

But Darik’s words were soon proved wrong. The burning glow emanating from Aron’s blade grew brighter and brighter. The light pierced the bones and the tattered clothes the skeletons were wearing, illuminating them entirely. The dark, devilish creatures inside shunned the light, and as its caress penetrated and corrupted these corpses it forced them to flee.

The spirits abandoned the skeletons, but doing so left them even more exposed to the light shining from Aron’s blade. Like mist evaporating in the morning sun, the demonic spirits vanished in a puff of smoke, one after another.

The five skeletons that remained were those that Aron had already disabled, one way or another. Darik and Sasha each dealt with an armless skeleton and one missing a foot, while Aron took care of the three stuck with a spear sticking through them. Soon, the road was clear.

“Well done, everyone.” Aron congratulated his companions.

“We did nothing.” Sasha blushed.

“Nonsense. You were a threat.” Aron said comfortingly. “If the skeletons had turned their back on you fully to face me, you would have been able to disable them yourselves. Because you took their attention, I was able to dispatch them easily.”

Those words weren’t entirely true, and all three of them knew it. Aron had cut through those monsters like a farmer scything wheat, and everyone present knew that Aron’s skill with a sword was unmatched in the temple, even among the older paladins.

“Now, we bury the bones and consecrate the ground to repel any more demon spirits.” Aron said.

“Why bother?” Darik scoffed. “We already shattered the skulls. No demon spirit can posses them again. Shoveling is no work for a paladin.”

“Darik!” Sasha protested. “It’s the right thing to do.” She glanced at Aron for support.

Aron nodded his head. “I see you worry for Yellowgrove as well. If these skeletons truly wear the armor of their militia, then their defense against the armies of darkness must have faltered. You’re right, we should rush to their aid with all haste.”

Darik had meant no such thing, and Sasha sent a glare Darik’s way. But Aron had said they were heading towards Yellowgrove, so Sasha followed him.

Despite being the leader, they left Darik trailing behind his companions.

***

As Aron feared, Yellowgrove had indeed suffered. The town could be called a town no longer. What had once been a bustling settlement of over a thousand inhabitants was now a fortified enclave of four hundred. The survivors had cannibalized most of the buildings nearby to build a palisade wall meant to keep out any undead who might come their way.

Members of the town militia patrolled those walls with shaky hands and sweaty brows. Aron recognized the armor of the militia as identical to what the skeletons he’d just slain were.

There was a boy on the lookout tower overseeing the road. He looked down at Aron and his party.

“Halt! Who goes there!”

Aron turned to Darik. as leader, it was his duty to answer.

“We are paladins of the Golden Temple!” Darik shouted in reply. “We’ve come to exterminate the undead who plague your lands!”
The boy scurried down the ladder of the lookout tower to fetch someone else, and soon enough man popped up over the walls.

“My boy here says you’re paladins.” The man on the walls looked different from the militia. His armor was made of metal and leather. Though it had scuffs all over, it seemed well maintained and of fine make. This was a career soldier, and likely the man leading the militia as well.

“We are.” Darik said proudly. “Paladin Adept Darik Silvercrest, at your service.”

The man on the walls spat. “Paladin adepts, you say?” He snorted. “We’re going to need more that adepts to defeat the undead horde roaming this broken town.”

“I assure you, we’re capable warriors!” Darik protested. He crossed his arms and tilted his jaw up at the man on the walls.

“That’s what the last paladin said.” The man replied. “We’re lucky his blessings held out long enough for us to burn his body. Otherwise we might have had to deal with an undead wearing full plate armor.”

“A paladin died here?” Aron interrupted.

The man scratched his neck and nodded. “That’s right. Paladin Warrior Restalavin, I think his name was.”

“He will be missed.” Aron said. Restalavin had come to the temple several times during Aron’s training. He never struck Aron as the most capable swordsman, but he was competent and wouldn’t have died over nothing. “I’m sure he’s in the Lord of Light’s embrace now.” Aron would have to say a blessing on the fallen paladin’s behalf once this trial was through.

“What’ll be missed more is his sword arm on our wall.” The man said.

“Well, now the temple has sent you three more.” Darik pointed to himself, Aron, and Sasha.

The man on the wall shrugged. “What we need more is healers. Your temple only sent one priestess with their paladin, and she can’t keep up with the number of wounded. We wouldn’t have lost as many villagers if we weren’t taxing her so. Would any of you happen to know a healing spell?”

Sasha raised her hand, and Aron nodded. “Sasha and I both know Lesser Healing Word.”

“Good!” The man on the walls said. “Come on in then. Helping the priestess get some of my men in fighting shape will do more for us than adding you to our ranks. As for you...” The man shot a glance at Darik. “I suppose we could use one more in our advanced parties. There’s still a lot of food to be collected from the granary, and the workers need as many guards as they can get.”

“I’m here to fight undead.” Darik protested. “Not stand for guard duty.”

“We’re here to help in any way we can.” Sasha said, casting a glare in Darik’s direction.

Darik glowered as the man opened the crude gate.

“I’m the militia commander.” The man who’d been speaking to them explained. “If you have questions about the fortifications or defense effort, you come to me.”

“The Lord of Light will look kindly upon your service protecting these people today.” Aron said.

The militia commander accepted the praise awkwardly. He shrugged and pointed Aron and Sasha in the direction of the priestess while he walked Darik off to meet with the others.

The priestess was of the temple of Allataria, one of the Lord of Light’s many concubine goddesses. Upon seeing two paladins of the Lord of Light, she immediately fell to her knees and bowed her head low.

“Stand, priestess.” Aron commanded. “Do not stand on duty when you have so much to do.”

“Thank you, paladin.” The priestess said as she rose to her feet. She was young, and Aron would have guessed she was his own age. Long blonde hair cascaded down her neck, though she wore a priestess’s hood over the back of her head. Her face had a smattering of grime on it, but despite the dirt she looked healthy and beautiful, as priestesses who specialized in the healing arts tended to be.

She held a staff in one hand, adorned with a hook surrounding a sapphire shaped into a water droplet. Just as the sword was the tool of a paladin’s trade, this was the tool of a priestess of Allataria.

“There are many wounded to see to, and keeping the most wounded from dying is taking most of my power.” The priestess said sadly. “I fear some of my patents will die tonight if more militia are wounded defending the walls.”

“That’s what we’re here for.” Sasha said. “We are no priestesses of Allataria, but we know the Lesser Healing Word. Aron and I can aid you.”

“I would be most grateful for that.” The priestess of Allataria said. “I am Lauriel, of the temple of Allataria. Please call out to me if you need my service.”

“May the blessings of the Lord of Light go with you.” Aron said.

“And may Allataria’s kind caress bring you joy and passion.” Priestess Lauriel said in reply. She shot a glance at Sasha, and a small smile touched her lips.

Sasha blushed again in reply, and Aron was worrying that the stress of their first mission was getting to her. Sasha seemed to blush often these days. He would have to have her join him in his daily prayers and meditations.

And so Sasha and Aron went to work. Sasha cast Healing World six times before she needed to rest. Aron managed eight, which was just enough to take the harshest wounds off the militia. They wouldn’t be fit for battle, but if Aron and Sasha said their prayers and meditated, they’d regenerate enough of their faith to cast a second round of spells on each of them before the sun set.

“Be healed.” Aron said softly and comfortingly to the last patient lying on the ground before him. She was an older woman, but strong enough to fight with the men. One of the skeletons had gotten the better of her the previous night and latched its teeth into her arm, taking out a chunk of flesh. Regrowing so much flesh took a lot of magic, along with quite a bit of the right kinds of food.

The villagers only had grain, which was affecting the recovery of some patients. Aron reached into his own bag of supplies to extract a few pieces of dried jerky and fed them to the woman he was treating. Bit by bit, the wound in her arm closed up.

“Thank you, sir paladin.” The older woman thanked him. “I feel strong enough to shoot a bow again.”

“See that you don’t strain that arm too much.” Aron warned. “Healing Word merely accelerates the body’s natural healing, and there’s still scar tissue in there to worry about.”

Later, Sasha joined Aron in meditation and prayer, and they ate from their rations to avoid burdening the villager’s already thinning rations. After, Aron and Sasha managed a second round of healing, and after another round of prayers and meditation, Aron even managed to squeeze in a third, though Sasha was too depleted to join him.

When the sun was finally reaching the horizon, Priestess Lauriel came to Sasha and Aron again.

“Thank you both for your help.” She said with her head bowed low. “I didn’t expect to be able to get those militia in shape to fight again for at least a week. And you two did it in a day.”

“Nonsense, our healing powers are nothing compared to what you priestesses of Allataria can do.” Sasha said. “After all, the Healing World comes to us as the gift your goddess gave to the Lord of Light when she became his.”

“She offered tribute to her champion, and her offered her a home in his halls. I’d like to do the same for the two of you. The villagers gave me a small shrine to my goddess, and there is an alter for the Lord of Light as well. It also serves as somewhere to sleep. I doubt Sasha wants to sleep with the militia, and I’m sure Aron would prefer a bed as well. I can make room for both of you.”

“I wouldn’t wish to trouble you.” Aron said. “However, I would like to see this shrine to the Lord of Light you’ve made.”

“Then follow me.” Priestess Lauriel led both Sasha and Aron around the corner from the small shop that the militia had turned into an infirmary and entered the shrine. Allataria’s alter was in the center, as this shrine belonged to her.

Allataria’s alter was a large basin filled with crystal clear water. A small marble carving of a woman stood in the center of the statue. She had a calm and placid smile on her face, and she knelt with her palms up and her head lowered. Water poured over her body, though it seemed to have no source. It cascaded over her hair and naked breasts, pooling in the basin around her. Behind her, the glowing golden pillars of the Lord of Light hovered as images etched in stained glass. When the light was up, Allataria probably looked shrouded in the Lord of Light’s embrace.

“There is only a small basin of holy water.” Priestess Lauriel said. “It doesn’t accumulate fast enough to use in battle, but there’s just enough to help me purify wounds from any undead that might try to corrupt the living.”

“Perhaps I can offer a few prayers to help generate more.” Aron offered. Without another word, Aron knelt upon the pad before the shrine and clasp his hands. Moments passed and the flow of water bubbling over the marble carving doubled in strength, cascading in pooling wet rivulets over the body of the naked goddess.

“Incredible.” Priestesss Lauriel said. “That’s more than even I can generate when I pray. Your faith must be very strong indeed.”

“He’s always been like that.” Sasha explained. “The Lord of Light loves Aron like a son, though I only wish those higher in the temple could see that.”

Priestess Lauriel nodded. “I understand. The temples are old institutions. There is as much politics and internal strife within their holy walls as there is in the palace of any great nation. I’ve seen far too much conflict under Allataria’s name. i can only imagine what you paladins face working for the Lord of Light.”

“We do as the Lord of Light bids us.” Aron said as he finished his prayer and got to his feet. “But sometimes the words of the Lord of Light are cloudy to some. It is our duty to make them see clearly.”

“Well spoken, Paladin Aron.” Priestess Lauriel said. “As a paladin of the Lord of Light, it is your duty to cleanse evil from the land. As a Priestess of Allataria, it is my duty to heal and serve. Especially of those I am to heal and serve are those who follow my goddesses master, the Lord of Light.”

Priestess Lauriel undid the latch holding her long robes on and cast them aside. “Please know, paladins, that I am prepared to serve you however you require of me to complete your mission.”

“We understand!” Sasha said hastily, holding up a hand and taking a step between Lauriel and Aron. “Please! We’ll sleep over on this corner of the shrine.”

Priestess Lauriel shrugged. “Very well. But please, let me know if there’s anything we can do to help you.”

Aron glanced at Sasha curiously. She seemed hesitant to accept Lauriel’s kind offer of help. In the end, Aron clasped his hands and thanked Lauriel politely for her offer. “Your assistance will be most appreciated healing the wounded tomorrow. Or either of us, should the forces of darkness get the better of our blades.”

Sasha grabbed Aron by the arm and pulled him over to the far side of the shrine. Narrow as the small chamber was, that distance was only three paces. Still, it put a fair bit of distance between Aron and Priestess Lauriel.

“You sleep there.” Sasha said firmly as she reached into her pack and put her own sheets down in the center of the shrine, between Lauriel and Aron.

“If the two of you need more room, I can ask to sleep with the militia.” Aron offered.

“You’re not going anywhere!” Sasha shouted a bit too loudly that seemed natural. Another blush filled her cheeks. “T-that is... well... what if undead attack us in the middle of the night? I wouldn’t want to be caught by surprise, and if the villagers lose Priestess Lauriel, they’re as good as dead.”

“I agree.” Aron said after a moment of thought. “We cannot be too careful. Even though there are guards on the walls, we should keep our own watch.”

Aron volunteered to go first, and so Aron meditated quietly while the two women he was with drifted off to sleep.

After meditating and saying his nightly prayers a second time, Aron stood to look around the shrine. Allataria was not the goddess of wisdom or knowledge, but there were a fair number of books in her shrine. Aron flipped through them, reading by the dim light of the torches outside.

There were several books available to him, including The Soothing Art of Speaking to the Dying, the Feminine Caress of the Goddess, The Way Women Serve, and The Secret Faith of Healing.

The last of these tomes was the most interesting to Aron, so that was the one he read from. His own paladin training only included small bits and pieces of human anatomy and inner workings. There was a lot more towards keeping a person alive than he ever realized. Using Healing Word only required rousing the body’s own powers into action, but the healing Priestess Lauriel did required a lot more knowledge.

Aron wondered how knowing more might affect his own ability to cast Healing Word. Surely, if he knew which organs and tissues were damaged, he could focus his efforts to specific regions of the body, thus conserving his faith energy for the parts that needed it most? After all, there was no reason to waste power ensuring the skin regained its normal coloration after a sword slash or the thousands of other ways power went to waste.

He put the book down when the moon was high in the sky, and he waited for a few minutes more before waking Sasha again to take his place. He put the book down reluctantly, new theories forming in his mind. Only the thought of putting some of these new concepts into practice the next day soothed his restless spirit into sleep.

Note:

I'm getting a much better feel for this story and the world is fleshing out nicely. I'm going to keep moving fast while I'm still discovery writing, but right now I'm thinking for the next draft I'll lengthen the early bit where Aron is training from one chapter into three, then I'll have Aron go on a solo mission before joining up with Sasha and Darik and starting the main plot. If that happens, this stuff will be more like the tenth chapter than the second.

I'm not quite satisfied with how I've set Aron up yet, but I'm brainstorming ways to rework his training to justify his superior skill through more than just working hard. I don't quite like the favor of ex-harem protagonist the deity as the only explanation for his skill, but adding something else will definitely require lengthening the beginning. I'd like to add a bit more mystery to him, and that's impossible while having him go through the same training as Darik and Sasha. Maybe in the next draft he'll be some sort of secret paladin project joining up with another group of paladin trainees, which will explain the skill difference.

Alternatively, I could send him to a different temple. Maybe the Lord of Light's personal temple and have Aron trained by heavenly messengers, only to join up with the corrupt mortal version of the temple after he's completed his training. That would separate him from the temple's internal politics early on.

I've got mixed feelings about keeping him clueless to women. On the one hand, I could use it to set up some humor. On the other hand, I think the Japanese anime harems have beaten the clueless protagonist trope to death. We'll see what happens.

As usual, I'm going to keep discovery writing until I have answers to all these things. At that point, I'll go back and rewrite this like a novel that could see Amazon at some point.