Champions Vol. 02

As Gennadios continued to walk he suddenly grew calmer, and more tranquil. He decided that his garden stroll had been the right decision tonight as his inner turmoil eased.

"I always loved this garden," announced a voice from the darkness.

Gennadios paused, looking around for the speaker. The voice was familiar, but he could not think of who it was.

"I have been away for some time, and I am glad to see that it is still as beautiful as I remembered," the voice continued.

Gennadios paused in his walk, stunned. He recognized the voice now. The only reason he had not been able to identify it before was because he never expected to hear it again in this life.

"My Lord?" his tremulous voice called out into the night.

"Yes, Gennadios, it has been a long time has it not?" the God of Love replied, stepping out from around one of the statues in the garden.

Looking toward his god, the High Priest was amazed to see the return of his deity. He also noticed that the statue Eros had been standing behind was a life-sized representation of the God of Love. The artist had obviously done an excellent job with the statue, as it was nearly identical to the real thing, which was now casually standing beside it.

"Eros, you have returned!" Gennadios exclaimed joyously.

"Yes, High Priest," the deity explained with a smile. "I was away for quite a while, but it is now finally time for me to walk amongst my people again...past time for it, actually."

"Why did you leave?" Gennadios inquired of his returned deity.

"For a number of reasons," Eros explained. "Ophelia was my greatest Champion, and I felt her loss keenly. My grief kept me away at first. Then I began to look for my next Champion, only to discover that I had not cared for my faithful as I should have."

"My Lord!" the High Priest exclaimed. "You are the kindest most benevolent god we could imagine. Your love and compassion for us has brought peace and prosperity for millennia," he argued.

"Yes, it has, but what is the cost of that peace...that prosperity?" the God of Love responded sadly. "My people have become weak, inexperienced with struggle and hardship. In my love for them, I did everything in my power to make life easier for my faithful, and far less harsh that it could be. I succeeded, but in doing so I forgot that inner strength is the result of hardship and struggle. A person who has never faced challenges in their life is a person who has never needed to dig deep and find the courage to overcome those challenges. This was the lesson I forgot over the many winters since my people left the last world, and I was reminded in the harshest manner possible.

"So I have stayed away, and allowed my people to face adversity on their own. Some have risen to the occasion, and impressed me greatly with their inner strength. Most have not, and I fear that the time left for them to find that strength is quickly drawing to a close."

Gennadios could think of nothing to say in reply. His god had just admitted to failing his faithful, and now so many of the things he had looked upon with dissatisfaction in past few winters of his life began to make sense.

Seeing that no reply was forthcoming, Eros continued, "I apologize but my time here will be brief. I will need to travel my realm and prepare the other nations for what is coming.

"However, before I go I have a warning, a task, and a message of hope to deliver.

"The warning: The King of Amandure invited a rival goddess to my world, who seeks to challenge me for my dominion. It was his force that invaded and killed Ophelia so long ago. Now he seeks to finish what he started, and is marshalling his forces to make a second attempt on Erosius. Worse, travelling with him is the challenger's Champion. You do not have much time, at worst a single season, at best three.

"The task: because of this you must assemble an army and navy to stop him. I cannot be certain where he will begin his invasion, but it will most likely be somewhere in the west. Ready these forces as quickly as possible. The navy will not be strong enough to repel the invasion, but you must prepare it to defend the coasts from additional landings. The army must move westward before the season has ended. You can continue to recruit and train as you go, but your force must be in place to resist his when it arrives.

"The message of hope: I have found my next Champion, and she is on her way to the Tomb of Champions to deliver Ophelia and face The Trials. She should return before the enemy arrives, but if she does not it will fall to you to lead until then.

"It is a great and terrible responsibility that I have lain at your feet, but I know that of anyone, you are the most able to succeed," Eros finished solemnly.

It was nearly too much for the old priest to absorb. His god had returned, but he had brought with him horrifying news. The Champion of another god had come to challenge Eros for their world, and their own Champion was not ready yet! Worse, an army was coming with this Champion, and if the rumors were true it was the largest and most skilled army in the history of their world. Few had ever even heard of the Kingdom of Amandure, but the High Priest had spent many winters talking with ships' captains. He well remembered stories of distant conquerors, traveling across the seas and bringing death with them. And somehow, he was supposed to raise a force to fight them?

Gennadios began to wonder how he would do it. He would need to send word out across Erosius. Every single Inquisitor would have to be recalled, he would need them all. Every man and woman able to cast magic or bear arms would also need to be summoned. Some would be trained and returned, guardian forces in case the invaders did not arrive in the west as expected. The rest would have to travel westward in the next four months.

Training them would be difficult. The Inquisitors were the most combat proficient priests and priestesses in the land, trained in a combination of magical, armed, and un-armed combat. Unfortunately their job was mostly to keep the peace, not fight wars. They had no generals, or experience with battle strategy. Perhaps Astinus could help. He had traveled with the last Champion for many winters, and could be a great asset to them. They would have to do the best they could, and hope that Eros would grant them a miracle -- perhaps many -- along the way.

His mind whirling at everything he had heard, and everything he now had to do, he almost forgot the last portion of Eros' message. As his god nodded to him and turned to leave Gennadios looked past him and saw another statue in the distance...Ophelia.

"My Lord," Gennadios called out, the sight of the statue reminding him of something Eros had failed to mention. "Who is your new Champion?"

Turning back to face his High Priest with a slight smile, one that almost appeared apologetic to Gennadios in the darkness of the night, the God of Love replied, "A woman that I believe you are familiar with...Laurena."

*** Chapter 6: A Journey of Discovery ***

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South of the Field of Woe, Erosius

The next morning the trio resumed their travels refreshed, but not particularly well rested. Each time David yawned in the saddle Sapphire would flash a mischievous grin at Laurena, who would respond with one of her own. The pair had enjoyed his efforts of the previous evening, and they were already conspiring to do it again.

Once the women had finished thoroughly using him, Laurena had taken first watch. David had been extremely thankful for this, and had slept like the dead until being awakened for the last watch shift only a few hours before dawn, both ladies having taken pity on his exhausted form.

Despite their tiredness they rode all day, hoping to reach the Calavius road before nightfall. It was a challenging task, as Sapphire approximated their camp was nearly twelve miles north of the road, and with a difficult ride over open land ahead.

While they traveled David discussed magic with both of the women. Sapphire was far more skilled and experienced with it than Laurena, but the Erosian Champion had received many winters of formal training at the Great Temple during her education. She brought a more doctrinal understanding to their discussions than Sapphire's less formal knowledge.

According to Laurena, the magical knowledge taught at the temple was mostly utilitarian, intended to make the lives of Erosians easier and more comfortable. They taught simple spells of cleansing and telekinesis that would help Erosians in their daily lives, as well as the more complex spells of conjuration in order to meet the needs of craftsman and artisans. There was a small amount of defensive magic taught at the Great Temple, but this was only taught to the general populace at the discretion of their local priests/priestesses. Finally, there was a heavily guarded branch of combat magic, taught only to The Inquisitors. They were a group of specially selected clergy, identified early in life, who demonstrated both a high magical aptitude and a desire to protect others. The magic they practiced was highly secretive, and taught only within the ranks of The Inquisition. Both Eros and his clergy feared what abuses might occur if such knowledge were shared with those not possessing such a high moral imperative.

Alternatively, Sapphire's magical knowledge was based on need and experimentation. Because of her great natural aptitude and her upbringing in Dracian culture she learned a far greater variety of magic than was taught at the Great Temple, but little of it was based on theory. Her knowledge was practical, based on meeting a specific need that arose in her life. Whenever she discovered a situation that her magical knowledge could not resolve, she would experiment with her magic to try to arrive at a solution, as she had against the attackers three nights ago.

A major topic of their conversation was casting time. Spells took time to chant out, giving guidance to one's magic so that it knew the caster's intent. Sapphire and Laurena both agreed that magic could be trained to work faster, if it performed the same tasks repeatedly. With enough practice even highly complex spells and detailed conjurations could be accomplished with minimal effort. Laurena summoned her mirror as a demonstration. With her increased power the action only required a single Enochian word now because of how often her magic had performed this task in the past.

The second major topic was magical limits. Laurena remembered well the difficulty of having limits to her magic, both in power and in quantity. She explained that a person's magic was like a sponge soaking with water. Easier spells needed only a trickle of water (magic) to work, while larger spells needed a steady flow. If someone tried to cast a spell beyond their capacity, then either the spell would fail or it would cause permanent damage to their bodies, like a sponge so dry that it began to crumble. The damage would begin with exhaustion, then headaches, full body pains, and then possibly death -- although the spell would usually fail before that point. The extreme pain often caused the caster to pass out.

David worked his tired mind to try to absorb the lessons they were imparting to him, knowing that there were keys to unlocking his magic's potential hidden in their words. When they stopped for lunch he pulled his pen and notepad from his pocket, and jotted down the important points they had discussed. Then he started a list of experiments and enchantments that he wanted to try. They would have a few days until they reached Calavius, and there were a couple of ideas he wanted to test that were best done away from populated areas.

* * *

"High Inquisitor, what is the status of our preparations?" inquired High Priest Gennadios, as he stood in his office in the Great Temple pouring over a map of Erosius, two days after his god's visit.

"We have forty Inquisitors here in Sanctuary Port, High Priest," High Inquisitor Nikanor, leader of the Inquisition, replied. "Recall messages have been sent to another thirty, and most should return in the next two weeks. The exact whereabouts of the remaining thirty is unknown, but word is being left at every town and temple along the riders' paths, and I expect most will return within the next two months.

"Four hundred able bodies have already volunteered here in Sanctuary Port, and I am certain that even more will join once they have made arrangements to protect their livelihoods. I suspect a large number will assemble in Hiefesgaden, and march south within the month. They will likely collect a significant number of additional volunteers as they pass through the small towns and hamlets along the way," he explained, pointing out the populous route on the map. "I have received no word yet from Oasis, Parga, Elysium, or any of the towns to the east, but we can expect similar numbers from them to arrive within the next month.

"The riders to the west are relaying your instructions for the volunteers from the western cities and towns to rally under Astinus' command at Wolfsvale. The team of Inquisitors that will assist him with the training shall ride as soon as their numbers can be replaced by returning Inquisitors; or by the end of next week at the latest.

"We are at a loss for how to assemble a navy. We have brought in a handful of trustworthy ship captains and they are working together to assemble a plan. We hope to have some idea of what to do in the next few days."

Gennadios nodded, he was thankful that the new plan for the army was progressing well, and was unsurprised about the issues with the navy. The clergy had little experience on the water, and no Inquisitor had ever trained for ship combat.

Nikanor's original plan for the army had been a good one, but its one major flaw was the time lost in having the western volunteers travel through or around the Abatinus Mountains. That was nearly two weeks of training that would be lost, only to have them lose another two weeks traveling back with the rest of the army once it moved to the rally point near Wolfsvale. This was a month that the defenders could not afford.

Gennadios' solution was to have the entire western volunteer force rally under Astinus' command. The man had more combat experience -- gained alongside the last Champion of Eros no less -- than any other priest or priestess alive today. He would be more than capable of preparing those that arrived.

Nikanor protested this decision, feeling that splitting their force and placing nearly half under the command of someone without Inquisitor training would be a mistake. The High Inquisitor was a skilled and capable leader, but he was too young to remember the battles fought by Eros' last Champion, and those who followed her. Astinus' experience, while not enough to fully prepare them for the massive force sailing their way, was still more than any single Inquisitor could claim. As a compromise Gennadios agreed to send a twenty member team of Inquisitors -- half of the number currently residing in Sanctuary Port -- to assist Astinus in his task. The priest could certainly use the help, as long as the newcomers remembered that he was the one in charge.

The issue of the navy was more complex. There had not been any type of naval force in Erosius for nearly two millennia. According to clerical historians the former warships of the island nation had been converted to trading ships in the first few centuries of their nation's history. Their country had no close neighbors, and any trading that did occur required a few weeks of sailing at a minimum. The smaller and more agile combat vessels were quickly replaced by larger, slower vessels that could carry greater amounts of trade goods between the coastal ports, and navigate the vast stretches of ocean between them and their nearest neighbors.

Now they needed warships again, and the knowledge of how to build, sail, and fight with them had been lost to history. The High Priest had every historian in the Great Temple combing the most ancient texts looking for any information that they could find.

"What are your training plans?" Gennadios prompted, returning his attention to his High Inquisitor.

"Tomorrow our Inquisitors will begin general combat training. Those who show remarkable skill and ability in any given area will be separated and instructed in how to teach others," Nikanor briefed the High Priest. "They will become the foundation of the cadre responsible for teaching basic combat skills to the rest of the army.

"As the training progresses, those who continue to show exceptional ability, as well as an aptitude for leadership, will be taken aside and trained in small groups by the Inquisitorial Master Trainers. These men and women will become the core of our subordinate leadership. Unit leadership will fall to the most skilled and experienced inquisitors. With luck, this will not only keep the army organized, but will also allow it the flexibility to react to changing conditions once we engage the invading army."

This was the part of their strategy that made Gennadios the most nervous. Erosians had no experience with warfare, especially not of this scale. He had no idea if this plan was the right one, and he also knew that there was no time to come up with another one if it failed. He sighed, and said another prayer to Eros.

He knew their fledgling army would need all the help it could get.

*** Chapter 7: Calavius ***

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Calavius, Erosius

David, Sapphire, and Laurena rode their horses through Calavius, with both Champions surprised at the size of the city. Laurena, having lived in Sanctuary Port, had always heard of Calavius described as a small fishing community, which had begun rapidly growing into a fair sized city in recent winters. David, whose only experience with Erosian urbanity was Exitibus, was amazed that any place this size could be so clean and organized.

The city had wide, flagstone streets lined with beautiful marble buildings. The architectural style reminded David of pictures he had seen of Rome. Yet most of those pictures had contained crumbling ruins, aged with the passage of time. Calavius was a vibrant city, each building in it a unique beauty which also fit into the overall style of the metropolis. The structures at the edge of the town were obviously newer, built recently as the city grew outward from the ports, but even the older buildings near the center were clean and well maintained. The vibrancy of the city contrasted sharply with the squalor and disrepair of Exitibus.

Sapphire guided them towards a main thoroughfare traveling the inner radius of the town, pointing out the buildings of note as they passed. David felt like a tourist, turning his head back and forth to take in the grandeur of the port city. Laurena was nearly as bad as he, amazed at how different this city was from the descriptions she had heard in Sanctuary Port. If she did not know better she would have assumed she was actually in Sanctuary Port!

After nearly an hour of riding through the hustle and bustle of the busy city, Sapphire guided them to a massive building on a small hill, crafted from the most beautiful marble David had ever seen.

"It looks almost exactly like the Great Temple!" Laurena exclaimed in surprise.

"That it does young lady," interrupted a voice to the side, as Sapphire was about to explain the building to the other two.

"I always loved the look of the Great Temple, and I used to enjoy sketching and painting it when I had a few moments to myself there," the voice continued. "When it was time to build a larger temple here, I could think of no better structure to model it after."

Turning toward the source of the voice, they noticed an older gentleman in priest robes sitting on a marble bench nearby. He appeared to be between sixty and seventy winters of age, although that number could certainly vary quite a bit since he seemed to be in good shape. Before him a canvas rested on an easel, and a tray of different paints and brushes was organized neatly on the bench at his side. He was smiling happily at their awed reaction to the temple.