The Dragon's Champion (25 page)

They entered the
chamber amidst gasps of horror and murmurs of defilement. “May I present Master
Lepkin, Keeper of Secrets,” the man said. Lepkin didn’t miss the fact that the man
refused to announce Lady Dimwater’s presence. He would tend to that insult
later. He took in the room quickly and noticed that Al and Erik were also
present, as well as another guard that he didn’t recognize who stood next to
Marlin.

The room was
circular, with the main floor, the space for the accused to stand, being the
lowest point in the room. The prelate sat upon a raised bench that overlooked
the entire room and ten other seats flanked him, also set up on a dais. These
seats were filled with higher ranking members of the order, but one seat
remained empty. The seat for the bishop, second only to the prelate, was empty.
It was Marlin’s seat, Lepkin knew. Behind the main floor was a slightly raised
dais, though not nearly so high as the prelate’s seat or even the other ten
seats for the tribunal members. This is where the common members of the order
were allowed to stand and watch the trial.

Lepkin pointed
to the floor. “We will go and stand there,” he said to Dimwater.

“As you wish,”
she said with a nod.

The murmuring
grew louder as the two of them pushed through the spectators and walked out
onto the floor. The members of the tribunal all glanced to each other worriedly
at the sight of Lepkin and Dimwater.

“How dare you
defile the temple?” the prelate shouted from his seat at Lepkin. “This is a
holy site. It is dedicated to the Ancients and those who serve them. You can
not simply walk in here with trash from the street. I don’t care if you have
feelings for her or not.”

Master Lepkin
took the prelate’s words silently. He looked to each of the others on the
floor, without even acknowledging that the prelate had spoken to him. He could
see that Marlin had been beaten. His face was puffy, and the rope that bound
his wrists made his forearms bulge. The guard next to him seemed in worse
shape. Erik had dried tears on his cheeks, and was also restrained, though
Lepkin could see that his wrists were not tied so tightly. Al stood next to
them, unbound, but apparently on the defense with the rest of them.

Lepkin drew his
sword, slowly. He wanted all eyes on him. The murmuring stopped. Lepkin stepped
toward Marlin and cut the man’s bindings. Marlin nodded his thanks and rubbed
his arms. Lepkin then cut Erik free and turned the boy around. “Is this other
guard a friend?” Lepkin asked, motioning with his chin to Tegeruk. Erik nodded.
Master Lepkin set him free as well.

“Who do you
think you are?” the prelate roared. “You have no right to defile the temple and
then set loose others who would have sealed our doom if left to their own
devices.”

“I am the Keeper
of Secrets,” Master Lepkin boomed. His strength buoyed by his anger. In
Lepkin’s mind there were no better men than Marlin and Al, and Erik had never
let him down before, no matter how hard he had pushed the boy. “I will ask the
questions, and you will answer me,” Lepkin said to the prelate and others
sitting around him.

“You forget,
Keeper,” the prelate replied, his words dripping with malice. “We are appointed
by the Ancients to appoint the Keepers. That makes you subordinate to us. I
will decide the fate of these men, your boy included.”

“You twist the
words of the Ancients, and their intentions,” Lepkin replied. “They appointed
this order to find and appoint the Keepers that much is true. But the Keeper is
set above this order. The Keeper is the agent of the Ancients themselves. My
word, though uttered from a human mouth, is to be heeded as the law of the
Father of the Ancients.”

The prelate
straightened in his chair, scowling all the while at Lepkin. “Your candidate
has tried to flee from this temple,” the prelate said. “He shirked his duty,
his obligation to take the Exalted Test of Arophim. He willingly doomed us all
to death. Marlin, ex-bishop of our order, and Tegeruk helped him escape. It
took many of my guards to bring them back.”

“How did you
discover they were missing?” Master Lepkin asked.

“Your dwarf
noticed that Erik was not in his bed, and he sounded the alarm.”

“Master Lepkin,
I only tried to-”

“Be silent!” the
prelate ordered. “You will not speak unless I authorize it.

Master Lepkin
turned to Al and nodded his head. “I will hear you speak, good dwarf,” Lepkin
said. He noticed that the prelate opened his mouth to speak, but Lepkin let his
sword ignite. The flames lent an eery quality to Lepkin’s angry face. The
display of power was enough to stay the prelate’s protests.

“To explain in
as few words as possible,” Al began. “I have been receiving messages from House
Lokton lately. The nature of the messages was grim. House Lokton and House
Cedreau have fallen into a blood feud. I have tried to keep the letters away
from Erik, but last night he found them. I worried only for his safety, and
that is why I sounded the alarm, I had nothing to do with the prelate’s order
to keep Erik here.”

“Thank you, Al,”
Master Lepkin said with a nod. He mulled the words over in his head. For a
moment he found it hard to concentrate. He felt a sweat break out on his
forehead, but he knew he had to press on. He could not show any sign of
weakness, or the prelate would control this trial. Lepkin turned to Marlin
next. “Tell me of the prelate’s order to keep Erik here,” Lepkin said.

“I have been
training Erik in preparation for the Exalted Test of Arophim,” Marlin began.
“He shows great promise. He is the best I have ever seen, or even heard of.
But, I am afraid that his power is too strong. Without the proper amount of
training, the test will kill him.”

“The test only
kills those who are evil,” the prelate interrupted.

Master Lepkin
turned and pointed his fiery blade at the prelate. “You will be silent.” The
prelate paled and sat back in his chair. Lepkin held his threatening gaze on
the prelate for a moment before letting Marlin continue.

“Normally, the
test punishes only those with evil in their hearts. Sometimes, however, the
test can kill without finding wickedness in the heart of the one tested. The
test awakens the full ability of the individual. It is something that has to be
done in order to search the individual’s heart. In Erik’s case, the gift is so
strong that awakening it fully will literally rip him apart. If I had a few
more years to train him, I think he could master it and take the test with
minimal risk, but there would still be a significant danger even then. I could
not, in good conscience, force him to undertake the test while he is still raw.
The time we have spent together has not been even a fraction of the time
required for him to be properly trained.” Marlin’s glossy eyes filled with
tears.

“Did you inform
the prelate of this?” Lepkin asked.

“I did, but he
said that should Erik refuse to take the test, he would be forced against his
will,” Marlin replied. “Even if I could go against the laws of the Ancients and
compel someone to take the test, I could not resign Erik to death.”

“I have heard
enough,” Master Lepkin said with a nod. The fire around his sword roared and
crackled, dripping liquid fire onto the floor, scorching the marble with a
hiss. “I am Dragon-born, as all Keepers have been. As such, I wield the power
to remove the head of the order when I see fit to do so. Now is such a time. I
command the prelate to step down from his bench.”

“This has never
been done before,” one of the high priests of the tribunal called out. “This is
not something that can be done out of spite, Keeper.”

“It is not spite
that I hold in my heart,” Master Lepkin said. “There is a war coming. The
armies of righteousness will need competent generals. Therefore, I am making a
change. You may also step down, high-priest. I have no need of you either.”
Murmuring rippled through the entire room. 

“I will remind
you that in order to win this war you speak of, we need the Champion of Truth,”
the prelate growled. “Even the Keeper will fall to the powers of the book. You
know this.”

Lepkin nodded
soberly. “No one can be forced to become the Champion, just as no one can be
forced to become the Keeper.” Lepkin looked to Erik and smiled faintly. “Many
years ago, I was stationed at Gelleirt monastery. My duty was to guard the trio
of elderly monks that lived there, and above all, a collection of books that
they had been translating for more than half a decade. It was a boring
assignment. Nothing like the missions I had been given before. Still, I
remained because of my sense of duty.
Because I chose to
stay.

“One day, I received
a written notice of challenge. Master Orres had challenged me for the right to
Lady Dimwater’s hand in marriage. If there was ever a reason to pull me away
from my duty, this was it. I gathered my belongings and rode away from Gelleirt
monastery. The monks pleaded with me to stay. They said their work was most
important. I did not listen to them. I was almost a mile away before I stopped
on a tall hill to ponder my actions. For some reason, I couldn’t shake the
guilt that nagged at me for leaving. As I looked back to the monastery, I saw a
horde of Tarthun horsemen galloping straight for it.

“I had two
choices. I could go on as though I had not seen the horde. After all, there
were far too many for me to defeat, and I was too far away to help the monks
escape. They would likely be slain before I could return to warn them.” Master
Lepkin turned to Lady Dimwater and saw the tears in her eyes. “I desperately
wanted to continue on my way to meet Master Orres. Lady Dimwater and I had
fallen in love previous to my assignment at Gelleirt monastery. We had
discussed marriage many times, but she had been promised to Orres by her
father.
 
I pleaded with Orres to call off
the engagement, but he would not.
 
He
claimed I had insulted his honor.
 
After
a heated argument, he accepted my offer to duel for her hand, but he said that
he would choose the time and place. Master Orres had no way of knowing that
Gelleirt monastery would be attacked when he issued the challenge.

“My decision to
return and fight the horde has been one that I have secretly regretted all of
my life. Yes, I saved the monks and the monastery. I slew all three hundred men
by my sword. My deeds at Gelleirt monastery earned me both fame, and ultimately
the invitation to become the next Keeper of Secrets after my predecessor had
grown old. Though these should be things to be proud of, I am not. My battle at
Gelleirt monastery robbed me of the right to fight for my love’s hand. Because
I failed to show for Orres’ challenge, I lost all right to court Lady Dimwater.

“As I trained to
become the next Keeper I learned all of the rights and responsibilities that
that office would entail. One of the things I found most interesting was that I
would become Dragon-born. I was to be imbued with the ability to shift into a
dragon, if need be. This granted me not only physical strength to fight the
forces of evil, but also the right to preside over all matters of this order.
The Keeper who trained me explained that I should never again shirk my duties,
as I almost had at the monastery. I would forever be in a position that
required the highest standards of honor. I wanted to say no, but because I had
already lost all claim to Lady Dimwater, and because my predecessor was near
unto death, I agreed to become the next Keeper.

“I forced the
grief of losing Dimwater out of my mind by devoting myself to my duties. My
life since then has been one of total dedication.” Lepkin turned to look at the
prelate. “Now that I am the Keeper, it is my responsibility to ensure that this
order is run properly. You claim that I defile the temple by bringing Lady
Dimwater inside, but it is you who have defiled the temple. You have twisted
the laws!

“I will not
allow Erik to undergo the Exalted Test of Arophim. The law of the Ancients is
clear on this matter. No candidate shall ever be forced into the test. To
compel someone would pervert the test. What you fail to understand is that even
if he succeeded, his heart would not be pure unless he chose to take the test
of his own free will. So, even if he lived through it, he would not pass, and
we would still be without a champion.” Master Lepkin’s eyes turned cold and he
leapt up to grab the prelate by the collar, pulling him over the front of the
bench and glaring into the man’s darkened eyes. He leaned in close so that only
the prelate would hear his next words. “And I will not let you take his family
from him, as my love was taken from me, by forcing duty upon him without regard
for his desires. You will step down.” Master Lepkin yanked the prelate over and
flung the man to the floor. The prelate landed hard, flailing about in his
robes like an overturned beetle.

“This is an
outrage!” the prelate roared. “You have gone mad!”

Lepkin pointed
to Marlin. “This is the new prelate of the order. Marlin is now the head of
Valtuu Temple. His wisdom and strict sense of morality is an example for all of
you to follow.” Lepkin turned to the guard next to Marlin. “You also helped
Erik and Marlin. That means that you also honor the laws of the Ancients. You
are the new bishop. Both of you take your places.”

“This cannot be
done!” the prelate shouted. He reached forward and grabbed the back of Master
Lepkin’s neck. Lepkin felt a rush of pain in his head, threatening to cripple
him. Then, as suddenly as it had come, it disappeared. The prelate wailed in
agony, grabbing his own head.

“I warned you,”
Lepkin said. “My word is supreme in this temple.” Lepkin turned to the others
watching. “Let this be a warning to any who would seek to pervert the ways of
the Ancients.” Lepkin pointed to the prelate. “I pray that the new prelate will
see to it that the laws are always honored.”