Blood & Carrots - Celestial Ep. 11

The cobra-kin before me was fairly young-looking but I could feel his youthful appearance was unnatural, easily sensing he was over a century along. He had a folded hood behind his head, no hair to be seen but large runes and magical sigils spread throughout it along with various other portions of his body. He wore rather regal-looking robes and I could see the faint scale patterns where his wrists showed out of it.

"I'm excited to meet with you Paladin, Ryder. You understand this is quite a gesture of good faith on our part to have you here." The cobra hissed the words politely as he gave a bow before sitting at his desk.

I folded my hands in my lap, giving him a nod, trying to keep my wings pulled close so I didn't knock anything down while I sat before him. "I do, and I am thankful for your consideration, Kazemde. Know this is personal between you and I. Though, I will tell you we are not in the business of hunting mages down unless they are killing our flock."

The cobra nodded and folded his own hands on the desk, setting me with a business-like gaze. "So what can the circle do for you, celestial?"

"I need you to... find me a soul, or the fate of one as it were," I got right to the point as I met his dark eyes while speaking my request.

"Intriguing, is it not your kind that are shepherds of souls, Paladin?"

"And that is why I am reaching out to you..." I proceeded to explain as much as I could without exposing too much about the Seraph or what I had sworn to keep to myself.

"Fascinating, but such a long time ago, my father was still the Archmage at that time." Kazemde rubbed at his chin, his hood slightly popped out as he hissed the words.

"Beg your pardon, but just how long-lived are your kind, Kazemde?"

The cobra hissed out in a chuckle, "Well, Ryder. You know we do not make a habit of offering information without some sort of payment, but in a gesture of goodwill, I will tell you, my father was over four centuries old when he retired. When my time comes, barring any unfortunate accidents, I'm sure I'll be near the same age, then my son Kazemde will take over."

"So he's named after you?" I showed a grin.

"I do not have a son yet, but when I do, he will share the same name as I, and as I shared from my father from his father." Kazemde gave a nod as he hissed out, "To answer in short, three-hundred to five-hundred, barring dark or blood magicks."

"Dark or blood magick?" I tilted my head curiously.

The cobra waved my curiosity off. "You've had enough free tokens, celestial. Let us return to the business at hand."

I frowned but gave a nod. "Fair enough, you have the details, what do you want?"

"Let me study your sword for a year and we'll call it even," Kazemde set his terms plainly.

I frowned as I looked at the sword at my hip. The Seraph would know I was without it and offering up a relic of the gods for mortals to study would be a near heretical offense to them. I unbuckled it and tossed it right on the desk as I thought about the lost Paladin. "You swear no damage or tampering of it?"

The cobra grasped the scabbard as he hissed out in awe, "It will be returned with no alterations, I simply wish to study the orichalcum and mithril in it, as both substances have been long lost to our word."

"Fine, no samples though, I better not find any chips or anything in it. I've polished her every day for nearly seventy years, I'll notice anything amiss," I growled as I folded my arms.

"You've my word. No guild member shall touch it but me, and I will treat it with the utmost respect, it will never leave my study." The cobra collected the blade, setting it out of sight and I frowned, already feeling oddly underdressed without it at my side.

"So how long will this take?" I quirked an ear and brow.

"A simple question with a highly complicated answer given how little we've to go on. It could be years, decades, even centuries, but we will find the knowledge you seek somehow or another, we always do."

"Fair enough, I am thankful for you trusting me enough to come to the table to trade at all." I stood and gave a bow.

"Of course. The Bloodstone council has been a faithful ally to us over the years, if you are in Lorelai's good graces, I would be a fool not to hear you out. I pray I can gather the knowledge you seek in a timely manner, but I fear I'll need to contract with demons if the soul is lost in the underworld, that is always a lengthy process."

"The underworld? Do you truly think a Paladin's soul would be in one of the nine layers of hell?" My ears sprang up, my words sounding offended at the notion.

"Where else would it be that the very hands and eyes of the gods would not find it, Ryder? The Faemarch?" Kazemde scoffed with a sharp grin, showing he knew more than he let on, as I had never mentioned the Seraph in this exchange.

I simply gave a nod to the words. "Very well, thank you again Archmage, I'll return one year from today to collect my sword." I offered Kazemde a bow before opening a gate and stepping through.

♥

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