“That’s it?”, I asked, wondering why we had to make such a journey if she wasn’t looking to be rescued. 

“We got the last piece of what we needed to bring the priest to his knees”, a dark grin spread across Mother’s face, “Let’s quickly return”, she said as she pulled out a small stone from the rock face to look out and check for any movement.

With the coast clear, she pressed a stone that released the seal on the door and hopped out onto an icy rock ledge. 

“This isn’t where we came in”, I said confused.

“The seal on the cave changes the entrance to keep out unwanted visitors”, she said as she climbed down the rocks.

“We should get one of these for the house”, I mumbled.

“It’s ancient magic. The cost would be too high to do that now”, she shook her head at me.

I pouted as I followed in her footsteps. As we reached solid ground, we took off running, descending the mountain quicker than our ascent. Mother whistled for our horses as we neared the green woods halfway down the mountain. Lilith and Magmus came racing beside us, as did several mercenaries. 

“Shit”, I cursed as I leaped to catch hold of Lilith’s reins to hang off the side of her.

Mother did the same as I dug for a poison bomb and launched it behind us. A large boom and screams could be heard behind us. As I adjusted to properly climb on top of Lilith, I glanced behind us to see the sheer number of mercenaries chasing us despite the carnage I had just caused. 

“I don’t think the same tricks are going to work this time”

“Just keep riding”, Mother spat as daggers and arrows began to fly past us.

“Aim for the horses you fools!”, one shouted. 

I turned to fend off any incoming projectiles, then slapped a protective seal onto Lilith. She neighed in displeasure as the energy swept around her. 

“I know girl, just keep running, it’ll be alright”, I consoled her. 

We continued to race down the mountain, I sniped the archers and any that came close to closing the distance, but I was running out of ammunition and tricks.

“Why the hell did that priest send an army for one priestess”, I hissed as I shot off arrows wildly.

“Shut up and get to the base!”, Mother yelled. 

As she turned to back me up to take the lead, arrows came buzzing past our heads, precisely striking the ragtag army chasing us. They all seemed to fall at once. I turned to see what we were heading towards. I quickly pulled Lilith’s reins hard and she skidded to a stop. In front of us stood a battalion of the most beautiful knights I had ever seen.

“The Valsa”, I whispered in shock.

“Madame Aniceta”, the leader, a giant of a woman, stepped forward, “I am Anatisia, Captain of the Crescent Order of Valsa, here to offer you our assistance”, she bowed deeply.

“Ana, it’s about goddamn time”, Mother breathed heavily, catching her breath.

“Mom!”, I grumbled under my breath in embarrassment.

She sucked her teeth at me as a warning as she jumped from her horse to greet them.

“Still the same as ever, Yaya”, Anatisia teased mother.

Mother sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes at her as she took a swig of water and dried her face. 

“The priestess is further up, can you handle it?”, Mother asked coldly

“The Solar Order is coming up the mountain from the opposite side. They may be retrieving her already as we speak”, she smiled lovingly at Mother. 

Her size made Mother, who is only a few fingers shorter than me, look like a child. 

“Well, good. They’ll sweep the mountain and we can be on our way”

“Always in a rush, Yaya”, she laughed, “Now tell me, who is this?”, she pointed to me.

“It’s Jylan”, Mother said matter-of-factly.

“This-is Jiji?”, the woman ran up to tower over me, “I haven’t seen you in years! I didn’t even recognize you!”, she patted my head.

I looked at her confused, then glanced at mother.

“Oh, you probably don’t remember me, we met when you were itty bitty! You used to be so obsessed with being a Paladin one day, I got you all the story books and toys!”

My face turned red at her excitement over my childhood.

“That’s enough”, Mother said, “We’ll have plenty of time to catch up after we save the Church Order. If the main branch falls, the rest will soon after”, she barked.

“Ay, Yaya, that impatience of yours is still a mess!”

“I’m sorry if I take my duty seriously”, Mother spat, “Keeping this world livable should be top priority, especially for you, paladin”

She hopped back on her horse and began to trot away.

“I’d appreciate your assistance in escorting us back to the capital. I have business with that priest”, Mother hissed. 

“Certainly”, Anatisia bowed.

We mounted and continued our descent. Anatisia sent a messenger to the Solar knights, then followed us. 

“Mother, I didn’t know you were friends with the captain of the Valsa”

“We’re not friends”, Mother said coldly.

“More like friendly rivals”, Anatisia interrupted, “Your mother and I became acquainted when your grandmother sent her to our training camp as punishment for trouble she had caused”, she laughed.

Mother scoffed at her.

“You got to train with the Valsa!? But you never let me? Mother, that’s so unfair”, I whined.

“Trained? I hardly got the chance to train, no thanks to her”, she grumbled.

“Jiji, your mother and I were not as friendly as we are now. We got under each other’s skin on sight on the daily”, she bellowed at the memory.

Mother scowled, “You mean you bullied me relentlessly because of my stout height”

“Well, that was part of it”, Anatisia replied, scratching her cheek nervously, “You were such a cute little fairy compared to the rest of us, it was hard to resist. That and your noble house kind of made you a target”, she giggled nervously.

“What does that mean?”, I felt lost in this memory between them.

“The Valsa is mostly made up of self-made women, who have seen the worst of the world. A silver spoon in our ranks was a thorn in our sides”, she said nervously looking at mother.

Mother blew out air from her nose in anger

“The Aniceta are hardly silver spoons. I’ve only ever eaten from wood spoons at home”, I stated, perplexed.

“It was a status thing, Jiji, not the valuables one possessed”, Anatisia corrected.

“Either way, I still put you to shame and landed you on your back more times than not”, Mother pointed out, “I believe our score still stands at 101 to 112”

“Woah, mother beat a Valsa”, my eyes gleamed.

“I’ll be happy to even that score”, Anatisia threatened.

“After official business is done”, Mother smiled darkly. 

My heart skipped a beat at the thought of getting to see a fight against the Valsa. Brimming with excitement, I urged Lilith to move faster, so we could get this business over with and see such an extraordinary event. We sped down the mountain, past the village, and through the plains to the capital. The Valsa remained outside of the capital hidden, until it was the right time to purge the church. Mother raced through the house, gathering chests full of evidence against Maurice and took them to our cousins at the underground information guild. 

“Find these people, have them bring the items on this list. Post these to the bulletins”, Mother directed them, “Make sure it rallies the town. I will go request a formal motion from the court”

“Yes, Aunt”, they said.

In under a day, the capital was abuzz with news of the priest’s wrongdoings; words of rape, extortion, murder, mutiny, unauthorized and illegal businesses spread. The court had no choice, but to open an investigation as witnesses of these atrocities poured into the capital with their evidence and testimonies. Mother had been protecting them, some for years, as the priest threatened their lives and their families.

“Those poor girls”, a townsperson said.

“A demon in the church”

“I knew those nobles of the Piper faction were no good”

The priest and his associates were dragged before the court and the king to plead their case.

“I assure you, sire, most of these claims are false. I did nothing unholy and only did some business with full authorization of the church”, Father Maurice cooed.

“So you are claiming these documents with your seal are false?”

“I am simply being framed, your grace”

“And what of the high priestess? If you have authorization, the holy seal would accompany yours. Additionally, several bodies were found that belonged to priestesses registered to the Church Order”

“You see the priestesses had simply fallen ill, with that the high priestess was so busy trying to soothe their suffering and deal with their deaths, she had no time for the state affairs, so left me in charge”, he lied, “of course only the head of the council may touch the seal, so though it is in my possession, I could not and would never dare to use it, but everyone knew the priestess’s verbal authorization was received”

“Then where is the priestess?”

“In mourning in the Avale mountains, sire”

Mother smirked.

“Father Maurice, are you telling the truth?”, Mother asked, “As you may know, the death of a priestess, an embodiment of the deities, must be reported to the throne and mourned across the land. Why did you not do so?”

He made a disgustingly angry face at Mother, “The church was handling so many affairs, it had to be pushed back”, he excused. 

“Oh, Maurice. You dare lie in the face of the king and court?”

Gasps filled the room at this confrontation.

“I am a man of god, I cannot lie”, he spat.

Mother smiled, “Then what is this?”, she held up the holy seal.

“You-!”, he began to curse, “You stole the holy seal from the church, blasphemous witch!”

“Oh? If that is true then I should be dead by now”, Mother smiled, “The holy seal is protected by divine magic, it can only be held by those authorized by its previous owner, so if I’m lying, please come take it from me”, she held it out. 

He flinched at her invocation. 

The judges cut their eyes at Maurice in suspicion, “Father Maurice, before we move to witnesses and delve into the evidence against you, it is best to come clean. It may lessen your sentence”

His face grew redder as his anger built, “I swear I am being framed, most likely by none other than the Aniceta. They are witches, angry that I have exposed their true nature. My dear lords, please believe me. Don’t let their evil cloud your judgement”, he pleaded.

The crowd looked at each other and murmurs filled the room. The judges called for silence and coldly proceeded with the trial. Evidence upon evidence, witness upon witness stood before the court. The deputy priestess’s testimony made the evidence even more damning as she laid out the events that happened in the church up to her rescue. 

“My god, mercenaries in the church”, the people murmured in fear.

“I knew they were no ordinary priests, they shook us for so much alms money. Filthy thugs they are!”

“My liege please, I merely needed more protection in the church as we had several instances of theft. It was innocuous!”, he insisted.

“Then why were these thefts not reported to the guard and investigated?”

“I-it was church business, no need to bother with the guard”

“The church is still a part of the kingdom and must abide by the laws”, the head judge reminded.

Maurice grimaced. The trial continued to dig him a deeper grave. His testimony on rocky ground, he was sweating, looking for a way out.

“Such a weasel”, I thought, looking on at him. 

Suddenly, a sound rang out and the smell of fire spread through the court. Mercenaries rushed the courtroom, cutting down anyone in their way. Panic filled the crowd as they ran for the exits. A grin spread across his face as the assailants rushed to aid his escape. 

“Next time, Aniceta”, he yelled as he moved to escape in the chaos.

“Mother!”, I shouted, dispatching several mercenaries attempting to kill the judges as they ran to take cover.

She didn’t move from her spot, only looked onward as Maurice snaked his way through the crowd. A smile full of glee spread across her face just as silver arrows flew into the chaos, mowing down Maurice’s would-be saviors. 

“The Valsa!”, several in the bloodied crowd yelled as the knights flooded into the court.

As they finished clearing the court and recapturing the wayward priest and his accomplices. King Myavin jumped down next to mother.

“Looks like this has been quite the show”, he chuckled, “After you alright, daughter?”

“Of course”, Mother smiled wearily. 

Blood and bodies covered the floors. The shaken judges returned to the stands and looked around as several paladins held onto Maurice.

“Well, given the turn of these events, with the power of the court and his majesty the king, we hereby find Father Maurice guilty on all accounts, with an additional count of treason for the attempted murder of the high court”, the head judged grimaced, “he and his surviving associates shall be subjected to a slow hanging in the square for all to see”

“If I may inject”, a warm voice interrupted.

Those left turned to look at the figure from which it came from. The high priestess glided into the bloodsoaked courtroom guard by the Solar paladins. 

“Your holy graciousness, High Priestess Contance Deoma!”, the judge exclaimed in shock and bowed.

“As Maurice is a member of the church’s order. I would like to deal with him as our rules state for such sinners”, she calmly said. 

“Ah yes, the church is much harsher on such criminal actions for it goes against oath. So be it, his associates shall be hung. Father Maurice shall go through the holy trials of death as per the church’s rules. Court adjourned”, the judge concluded. 

The injured judges painfully stood and exited the room, as did the rest of the crowd. Mother was content with this result and returned the holy seal to Deoma.

“Thank you so, so much, Gaea”, she cried.

“It was nothing really, Deoma '', Mother smiled.

“We cleared out the church”, Anatisia interrupted, “But we’ll stick around to clean up this mess and make sure there aren't any stragglers”

“Thanks, Ana”, Mother patted her on the arm, then slowly made her way to the exit.

I followed her closely, “Mother, what exactly does the holy trials ensue?”

“Torture”, she spoke cautiously, “To sin against the church whilst under oath, is to offend the gods. He shall be subjected to the harshness of the deities elements until he dies”

Shaken, I let out a nervous chuckle and tried not to think about what Mother had just said. We returned home and sorted out any remaining matters.

Many came to thank the Aniceta, especially those whose children were affected by the priest’s whims. Soon after, life fell into a calming hum and restoration filled our days. I even got to see my mother's triumph over Anatisia with my own eyes.

“So, do you still want to join the Valsa?”, Mother jabbed at me.

“Hmm, if it means no more 36 hour, unpaid work days, then yes”, I jeered.

Mother sucked in air through her teeth at me as a warning and roughly poked me in the head, “Well, you’re not allowed to. Now shut up and get back to your duties”, she commanded as she stomped into the house.

I frowned and stuck out my tongue, then smiled and shook my head as I followed behind her to eat with the Paladins and Elves in celebration.