The Talagian War

Chapter 4 - The Isle of the Sun

"You train in this?" Galaric said, mopping his brow.

"Yes," T'sold said, amused. "But it is nothing compared to what I have heard the training at Talagai is like."

"Hurry up," Valin called from the head of the struggling column. "We haven't got all day." He pointed up at the sky, where the sun loomed large. As Galaric watched, it seemed to loom larger than usual.

Galaric lapsed into silence as he focused on saving his breath for the climb. Over the next few hours, the sun grew larger, a flaming disk, and turned the island into an oven. It deviated from its typical east-to-west course, moving a little north toward the Isle. Finally, the monastery came back into sight as the group emerged from the trees. It was built into the side of the volcano, carved from the living rock.

"Hold," Valin said, stopping in his tracks, a small grin playing at his lips, sweat pouring from his brow and flanks. "Watch the sunset. Just don't look directly at the sun."

With a chorus of relieved groans, the paladin trainees dropped their packs and turned to the sun. As they watched, the sun seemed to grow until it filled the sky, moving toward the volcano at an increasing speed. A nearly intolerable heat washed over them. What seemed like a lighting strike echoed through the sky, and Galaric could swear he heard the sound of horses whinnying as the sun hovered over the volcano. Galaric's hair stood on end as he looked, and his legs were suddenly weak. Finally, the sun turned orange and began to descend into the mouth of the volcano. Then, with one last glimmer, it was gone, and the stars came out.

Raleph's eyes sparkled as he turned to Galaric. "I've never..."

Galaric stared wordlessly at the sky, and T'sold grinned. "It never gets old."

"Into the monastery, quickly now." Valin called. "You don't want to be caught out here when the monsters of the night begin hunting."

Raleph glanced at Galaric and T'sold. "He's joking, right?"

Galaric shrugged and trudged forward. "You tell me."

T'sold just smiled silently.

As they approached the gates of the monastery, the massive but plain wooden doors slowly opened, each pushed by half a dozen people. Inside, the halls were lit by glowing orange crystals. It was warm, but not unpleasantly so. After the heat of the sun, it seemed downright chilly.

"The other acolytes will take your things to your chambers," T'sold called. Gratefully, the paladin trainees turned their things over to the acolytes. "Follow me to the dining hall."

She led them down the hallway and into a huge room lined with low tables. Small, round cushions served as chairs. About half the spots were filled with robed acolytes like T'sold, while the other half were empty. Ernst, Raleph, and Galaric stuck close together, whispering in low voices as they pointed out different details of the temple to each other.

Across the dining room, they saw Avala with her group, and Varren with his move to tables on opposite sides of the dining room, maximizing the distance between them. There were many empty places at the long wooden tables.

"We're expecting many more paladin trainees to arrive in the next few days," T'sold explained. "Here at the Isle, we strive to show hospitality to the others of the ancient order."

Raleph cleared his throat. "The ancient order?"

T'sold nodded and led them to a mostly-empty table and sat on a cushion, crossing her legs. "Yes. The monks here have always coordinated with what used to be called the Old Dowsers, or the paladin order. Before Talagai was claimed by any group, we helped maintain neutrality. Now, we leave the protection of the city to the paladins. We also count the lesser six paladin temples as members of our order. And," she looked at Raleph, "we of course recognize the wizarding guild."