Moon Fall: Kingdom Come

Chapter VIII

  Tegan awoke to the smell of roasted venison and fresh fruit. She sat up quickly, and looked around in a panic, but calmed once she saw Faelyn standing next to a very strange looking woman with golden hair.

  "Oh, you are awake," Faelyn said spotting Tegan. She walked over and sat beside her, embracing her warmly. Tegan fell calm amidst the embrace; she really did care for Faelyn, and vice versa.

  "Fae, what the hell is going on?" she asked. "Who is that?" Faelyn looked at the woman.

  "She is awake," she called to the woman. The stranger placed the meat down onto the cast iron stove in the corner of the room and walked over to where they sat.

  "Dear Elf, I am very happy to see you well. A vampire wound would have killed a lesser person, but it seems your will to live is stronger," she said warmly. She smiled at Tegan, and Tegan felt a wave of anxiety wash away from her. Who was this woman?

  "Thank you for saving us. My name is Tegan, and this is Faelyn, if she has not already told you," she explained. The stranger reached out a gloved hand and Tegan grasped it, shaking it.

  "Zolki, former Third Order Paladin and Lieutenant of Augurea," she said, but without a sense of pride as once would expect from such a prestigious title. Faelyn jumped to her feet and stood between the two.

  "Augurea?" she asked slowly, feeling her wrath building slowly.

  "Relax, Faelyn," Zolkie replied, throwing her hands up. "I am not longer serving the demon Damrus." Faelyn relaxed once she heard this.

  "So, you know as well?" she asked.

  "Yes, I have known for two hundred years. I was once a proud and aspiring paladin of his holy order. But that identity has long been left behind," Zolki said sadly.

  "But, what are you? Your eyes, your hair, that armor," Tegan said slowly, inspecting the paladin's armor from where she sat.

  "My humanity has long since abandoned me, I am afraid. I am no longer what you would call a Human, but I am very much alive, as you see," Zolki said with a small grin. But Tegan wasn't buying it.

  "What does that mean? You are obviously a kind person, you saved us both."

  Zolki sighed and nodded. "I guess it's only fair I tell you the truth." She leaned against the wall and closed her soulless eyes. 

  "I was once a Human, but no longer. A goddess spirit saved my life two centuries ago, replacing my humanity with it's own divinity. Although I would forever be in debt to it, I no longer looked as I did before, and when I returned to Augurea, I was sentenced to death for being a heretic. But the goddess spirit did not allow me to die, and instead I was exiled into the wilds." Tegan was quiet, but Faelyn had a question.

  "So, you are a demigod?" asked Faelyn, but Zolki shook her head.

  "No. I no longer have the goddess within me. I made a terrible mistake six decades ago," she said slowly, her voice tinged with pain. "I made a pact with a demon to save someone I loved. In doing so, I forfeited the grace of divinity for the pain of darkness in my soul." Faelyn quickly moved in front of Tegan once more.

  "Fae?" she asked, but Faelyn spoke only to Zolki.

  "You are a demon!" she cried out angrily. Zolki opened her eyes and frowned.

  "No, dear Seer, I am not. My soul is split amongst the light and dark. A forbidden duality. I have lost the grace of my goddess, but I have not succumbed to the darkness of the demon. Please, be at peace," she begged. Faelyn softened and nodded.