A Few Days Ago

Receiving a summons from a Champion of the Holy Church meant one of two things; trouble or opportunity. In my case, it was an opportunity.

“Lord Lore Seymour of Silra, have you heard of him?” Champion Olere asked. Rays of sun beat against the stained glass window situated perfectly behind him, illuminating his strong silhouette that I have always been incredibly envious of.

I sat in front of his desk stiffer than a week old vampire corpse. Nerves had eaten away at me since yesterday when I received a request to meet with Olere the following morning. Although we have always spoken fairly regularly ever since I was a child, and even saw battle together, I’ve never quite gotten over the anxiety from being around him. One cannot easily calm themselves in the face of their savior and idol. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Olere was the only reason I was alive. I owed him everything and more.

“No, Champion, I have not. Is he a new noble who converted to the Holy Church?” I asked hopefully.

Too many nobles have hid themselves from the light for too long. Most continued to do so purely out of spite, frustrated that the public had seen the errors of the monarchy and turned their hopes rightfully to the church.

Olere scoffed immediately. “Certainly not. Lore is a dhampir.”

Disgust rose in my gut. My skin crawled. Then came the confusion. “I’ve never heard of a dhampir having a lordship.”

“Lore Seymour was adopted by Monroe Seymour about two centuries ago. He, along with his wife and two children, all died by the time Lore was twenty-five. Everything they owned was left to him, regardless of the futile attempts of their extended family to choose otherwise. He has held his position as Lord of Silra ever since.”

There have been stories of mortal lords adopting dhampir children as a sort of charity case. Something among the nobility that made them feel more powerful than they actually were. A way to show their kindness towards the most unfortunate of the world when, behind closed doors, they were anything but and everyone knew it. However, none ever left everything they owned to a dhampir. Most peculiar. Olere didn’t give me the time to ask about it either.

“I’ll cut right to the chase, Seren.” He leaned forward to speak sternly, “The Holy Church fears they’ve stumbled across proof of the most prolific serial killer our world has ever known and Lore is on the list of possible suspects. His family may have been the first of many kills, but there was never any proof nor do we have proof now that he’s involved in the mysterious deaths we’ve uncovered. He is, however, one of the few capable and with enough hatred towards both the nobility and the church to attempt such atrocities.”

That was quite a lot of information to take in. Olere gave me the time to process it all and still my mind only came up with one question; “What kind of atrocities?”

Olere scratched his beard. His furrowed brow deepened when he retrieved one folder after the next from the bottom drawer of his desk. My eyes widened after he set at least a dozen folders filled to the brim with papers in front of me.

“At first, local law enforcement thought nothing of these deaths. They were robberies gone horribly wrong or everyday crimes, albeit gruesome, because nothing truly connected them. But we accidentally stumbled across two patterns after an unfortunate young seraphic got himself into trouble and was forced to go through old records.” Olere snickered, though the joyous sound was short lived.

He sat his hand atop a folder and added, “The first pattern is that these murders are all against the elite and powerful; those of high status in the aristocracy and the church. The second pattern is the crime scenes, which are eerily immaculate. There’s never any trace of another being in the room even when the scenes are horrendous.”

Olere opened a folder to offer me a thin stack of papers on one of the cases. He was right, there was little information concerning the murder. The local police couldn’t find evidence, only the body of a man strung over his bed with his skin flayed. The crime scene showed that he was alive when the killer started the gruesome torture.

“This is sick,” I said, swiftly returning the folder to the pile. I’ve been in countless battles, but never seen anything quite like that. I hoped to never see it again, although based on what Olere spoke of, I may be walking directly into the path of similar murders.

“Yes, it is. Unfortunately, we do not know if these two things are actually patterns or not, especially because the murders are spread throughout the kingdom and over an extended period of time. Even still, it has left a sour taste in the mouths of many at the church. There are too many of these unsolved murders, so the Prophet held a meeting with the Champions. We’ve decided to send Paladins to investigate a few of the suspects, see if our fears are true or we’re just being very paranoid.”

Olere grabbed a letter near the edge of the desk. He held it up and declared, “This here is a letter addressed to Lord Seymour requesting that he allow a paladin to stay at his estate as the Holy Church investigates movements of the Red Moon. We’ll send the letter out this evening, then you will leave in two days to live at Seymour Manor while you pretend to search for a terrorist group.”

“If Lord Seymour is this serial killer, he must be very clever. Do you think he will agree or believe this farce?” I asked, although I would follow the orders of the church regardless. Everything they do has a purpose and that purpose serves the greater good. It is an honor to be among them. Here, I’ve found belonging and purpose. And for that I am grateful and in their debt.

Olere chuckled. He rounded his desk to stand beside me, placing a heavy hand on my shoulder. “You know as well as I that the power of nobility is barely anything more than their names. No aristocrat can say no to the Holy Church. He’ll let you in because he has to and, if he is the killer, he doesn’t want to seem like he’s hiding something. Be careful though, Seren. There’s more than him to worry about at the estate.”

“Does he harbor more dhampir as his workers?”

“A dhampir, a vampire, and one of our own.”

“A seraphic working for a dhampir,” I whispered, incapable of fathoming the idea. Olere knew that without my having to say so. He patted my shoulder.

“A few years back, after you had gone out into the field, Lore visited the Prophet, although I was not privy to why. There was a young boy that he managed to coerce into leaving the church. We do not know what he was promised, but he has served Lore ever since. Such a pity too.” Olere leaned against the desk, crossing his arms and shaking his head. “I recall the child. His aptitude for divinity was on par with your own. He would have made an impressive paladin, perhaps even a champion one day.”

I sat taller at the notion. Even if Olere didn’t mean to imply that one day I could be a champion, his words meant the world to me. And maybe, if I did well on this mission, I would make him proud and join him at the champion’s table. My dream finally coming to fruition…

“In other words, I’ll be surrounded by very powerful enemies who all hate me,” I said. A frightful thought, but also a bit exciting. I couldn’t deny that I enjoyed a challenge, it was what drove me to the position I am in today. And should things go wrong, I would rid the world of a few more monsters.

Olere smirked. “Yes, but I’m sure they’ll underestimate you. Evil always does.”

Olere grabbed a few folders to hand to me. I held them hesitantly, not hiding my disgusted scowl. He laughed and said, “I know you may not wish to see the others, but I think it’s best if you use the next few days to read over a few cases. You may see something we didn’t and we can’t have you taking these to Seymour Manor. If Lore discovers them, he’ll know your true intentions. I doubt he’d kick you out or do you harm, but his defenses will rise. We may not get the answers we seek.”

“I will do as the Holy Church commands, Sir. It’s an honor to be trusted with such an important task.”

“And it’s an honor for us to have one as kind, courageous, and loyal as you in our family.” Olere ruffled my hair like he had when I was a child. My chest warmed. “Keep us informed of your progress. The other paladins will be reporting to us as well. Should they find anything, we will extract you as soon as possible.”

“Yes, Sir.”

I rose up easily enough, which apparently made Olere think that meant I needed a few more folders because he stacked another five on the pile. Grinning, he smacked my shoulder and sent me on my way to read horror stories that gave me nightmares, which said a lot about the content.