No Good Deed (17 page)

Obidaan was amazed at what was happening. He had heard about paladin charges but had never been in one. It fascinated him no end. The others acted like they had done this before, even Lucinda. Why did she know more than he did? He was getting anxious and hoped Gheriballi would answer these questions soon.

The contingent of guards attempted to engage the paladins. Arrows either missed or bounced harmlessly off an invisible shield that surround them. The infantry and cavalry that attempted to engage them were either speared by lances or trampled under foot. As the reached the gate, Gheriballi made his horse leap into the air, as if jumping a fence. All the other followed. They leaped over the burning moat and when his lance touched the drawbridge door, he smashed it and the portcullis, landing unharmed on the other side, along with the rest of them. He continued the charge into the castle and into the royal chamber.

“Hondo, it is time you paid for your crimes!” He put his lance away, drew his sword as he jumped off his horse.

More palace guards were here, about 50 more. Hondo was about to order them to attack. Gheriballi was incensed at the gall and arrogance of this king. “We have decimated your army, killed your contingent outside the castle, bested your defenses and still you think you can take us. You are truly a fool, Hondo.”

“I will not go with you! I am innocent! My men will protect me. Fight! Kill these outsiders, they wish to do me harm!” he was squeamish in his demands but his men followed his orders.

The other paladins were ready for a fight and Mystic had reverted back to her sword form. Obidaan got pings in his head as Hondo spoke lies.

The guards descended on the paladins. Fifty to seven against normal people would not be a fair fight. Against seven paladins, it was grossly unfair, for the guards. With a paladin of strife, war, and justice, as well as a soul weapon. It was a slaughter. Swipes by Lucinda and Kimoko took out 3 to 4 at a time. The others held their own quite easily. The paladin of knowledge used battle tactics, going back to back with the paladin of seekers, allowing them to take on several guards and remain fully protected. Mystic protected Obidaan, when she wasn’t plunging herself into flesh. At one point she asked to be thrown. Obidaan looked around and saw Lucinda’s back was exposed and a guard had a clear shot on her. He threw the sword, using his shield to hold of the guards on him. Mystic pierced him completely, instantly killing him. Lucinda looked back to see what had happened, and saw how Obidaan had probably saved her life. She didn’t know whether to be grateful or incensed. Obidaan recalled Mystic to his hand and continued the slaughter.

It was interesting to watch the paladins fight, because they fought as a well—honed unit, though they never fought together before. A dark side paladin just as easily saved the life of a light side one. When Brandon, was pierced and fell in combat, Kimoko went into a whirlwind strike, taking out five guards. She then ran to Brandon and laid hands on him, healing him and allowing him to continue the fight; Sahara covered her. To them all, the mission was more important than their ethos. None would fall to this worthless bastard. For him to take the life of a single paladin would be a disgrace to the paladin corp.

Minutes later the fight was over and 50 palace guards lay dead. The paladins, as an act of good will healed each other, dark healing light and vice versa. Gheriballi healed himself.

Now, with no more distractions, Gheriballi proceeded. “You are guilty of violating the treaty. Do you wish to convene a tribunal?”

“Yes, and I will be my own defense. I am innocent I tell you.”

Gheriballi interrupted, “You do realize that as you speak you are being judged, you may want to wait for the formalities.”

“No! It’s my brother’s fault, he started it.” He pointed to his brother on the horse, “He wanted it all to himself. He couldn’t share. He never could. He tried to poison me. He said he wanted it all and was going to do anything to get it. He…”

Obidaan interrupted this time. “Will you please shut up? Your lies are giving me a terrible headache!” The pinging that was going off in his head was like a bad migraine.

“What?” Hondo was flustered now.

“Well,” he knew he was going to have to lie to keep his secret, “I had a spell up. You know, paladin of The Seers, we can see through the lies.”

“Well then,” Gheriballi smiled and looked at Hondo, “is there anything you wish to add?”

Now that he couldn’t lie and attempt to weasel his way out of it, Hondo got very humble. “No. Umm, I throw myself on the mercy of the court.”

“Mercy. You force us to destroy your army, to send innocent men to their deaths in defense of your worthless hide and you want mercy. You will have mercy. I shall make your death quick and painless?”

“No!” Hondo began to run, but it was no use.

Gheriballi grabbed him, said, “Block” and a headman’s block appeared. He grabbed Hondo by his collar, “You make me sick. I can’t believe you lasted this long. I should have executed you,” he looked over at Horash, “both of you years ago. Well I’m about to correct part of that now.”

Holding him with one hand Gheriballi reached back and slapped the crown off Hondo’s head. It rolled around before coming to rest in the corner. He kicked Hondo in the back of the knee, forcing him to bend. He then forced his head onto the block, “Stay” he said and let go.

Hondo’s head was now locked onto the block and no matter how much he struggled, it did not move. They all looked on with contempt, even Obidaan.

Gheriballi drew his sword and held it over his head. “Execute” he said and the sword turned into a headman’s axe. Hondo began screaming. He brought it down swiftly on Hondo’s neck, separating it from his body in a single blow. Looking around, he found a spear, stuck Hondo’s head on it, hopped on his horse, and gave the order to move out. “Our work here is done,” looking over at Obidaan, “we have one more place to go.”

They rode to the disputed lands where a battle was waging. Using his symbol again, Gheriballi screamed, “Stop!” It echoed throughout the battlefield and caught everyone off guard. They stopped fighting.

They rode to the middle of the field. The combatants looked at them, seeing head of one king on a pike and the other one bound to the back of a horse. Gheriballi forced the spear into the ground, leaving Hondo’s head on the end.

“Continue to fight if you wish, I do not care. I have come here to serve justice because your kings broke the treaty, and their word, by starting this war. They have both been punished. What you do now is your own business,” he turned around and rode off the battlefield.

They didn’t need to look back but could hear the sounds of weapons hitting the ground and people shaking hands. A “Huzzah!” was heard.

The tribunal
soon began to break up as they left the country, each going their separate ways. There was no final farewell. They had a job to do, they did it, and now they were done. They knew there was nothing to celebrate; there never is when a tribunal is called. Plus, you had two sides that cooperated together but do not care much for each other, though you would not have thought that the way they fought. A grunt or informal goodbye was about all anyone said before breaking off. Obidaan was planning to leave when Gheriballi spoke to him, “Stick with me Obidaan. We have some things to discuss and you must learn about the Hall of Paladins.” A few snickers came from the back on both sides.

“That’s enough, people. Considering his circumstances, I’m sure he had no way of knowing.”

“About what, the Hall?” he was a bit confused.

“Yes, in general. Let’s just say it’s very unusual for a paladin to have gone as long as you have and not know about the hall. It’s only funny because you haven’t been there.”

Obidaan didn’t know how to respond, so he didn’t. They rode in silence as others broke off. Finally, it was just Gheriballi and Obidaan.

“I would guess you are somewhat confused about how things were handled back there.”

“I’m not really confused, just concerned. It seemed so, so, cruel and heartless. I thought we were supposed to uphold justice, mercy and the common good. Was it really necessary to decimate their army?”

“Unfortunately, yes, it was,” he was even in his voice. He stopped his horse for a moment and looked over at Obidaan. “I’m sure you’ve developed these high brow notions of how wonderful it is to be a paladin, how we are diplomats, rescuers of the distressed, hero to the downtrodden, and that is true. Still, we have to remain above all of it. I fear you have fallen into the trap as seeing yourself working for the people and the common good.”

“Don’t we? I mean, isn’t it our job to make sure people are safe? To help where we can, to do what we can, and know in our hearts we do it for our gods and our country?”

“There is where you are flawed, young one,” Gheriballi was pointing his finger at him, his tone was almost angry but he pulled back, “You don’t realize your sense of place. We DO NOT work for ANY country. Because of our divinity, we answer to our gods, period. I’m sure you like having the king as your friend and feel at home there, but you must realize that if push came to shove and we had to depose him, you can’t defend him. Your allegiance is to your gods and the corps; no others. I know all about your group, the Vanguard, and while that is nice, it’s backwards thinking.”

“Wait just a minute!” Obidaan was getting offended, “That’s my family you’re talking about, and I trust my life with them.”

“And that is noble and admirable but let me ask you a question. Who would win in a battle between The Vanguard and 5 paladins of equal skill?”

Obidaan, though he wanted to, did not hesitate, “The paladins.”

“Exactly! You participated in how 7 paladins decimated a kingdom. Think you could do that with your group?”

“I do, but I wouldn’t have left so much destruction in my wake,” Obidaan felt slightly superior with that answer.

“Maybe, but you still miss the point. It was
necessary
to leave the destruction. It
must
be clear that when you break a treaty and a paladin pays you a visit, it’s not to attend high tea. Even a casual visit can change the course of history. We live in countries compatible with our ethos. Some even hire themselves out as advisers. We must
never
forget,
they
answer to
us
!
Never
the other way around. Hondo forgot his place. Don’t you ever forget yours,” he began riding again.

Obidaan was silent for a while, taking in everything he just heard. Somehow it just didn’t sit right with him. The kindness and admiration that he felt back home contradicted what Gheriballi was saying. Finally, Obidaan tried to make one more point, “Well, they did cheer for me and throw me a grand party when I got my soul weapon.”

Gheriballi sighed heavily and shook his head. In his mind, he was talking to a child. Obidaan’s maturity was not where it needed to be, not to be a true paladin. “That’s great Obidaan, it really is,” he was slightly exasperated, “but you must understand that there is a caste system, the gods, us, rulers, then everyone else. It’s great that you can get along with all of them, it truly is. Sometimes I wish I had that ability. However, there will come a time when you will have to choose. And when that happens, you must always choose your gods and paladins. All others must fall under your will. It’s not fun, nor gratifying, but it is necessary.”

“Then I have a silly question. If we’re to stay above everything. If we are truly above kings and emperors, then how come we don’t rule the planet? Why don’t we just take over?”

“Because, it’s forbidden for us to rule kingdoms. Part of the charter for being a paladin; so your point is moot.”

“Oh,” Obidaan said, “well maybe the charter should be changed.”

“And you’re the one to do it?”

“Why not?”

Gheriballi laughed, “Good luck.”

Obidaan noticed the whole time, Gheriballi had not told him a single lie. Still, it was difficult. They continued in silence till dusk, when they came upon a huge keep literally located in the middle of nowhere. “Welcome to the Hall of Paladins, Obidaan.”

It was
a magnificent structure, built of white and black stone. It rose 200 feet into the sky at its highest point. The wall surrounding it had to encase 5 miles. It was almost like a mini city but all there was to it was the wall and the keep. The keep was huge, larger than any castle he had seen. As they entered, a list of all the gods and their paladins were displayed in the main foyer. Tapestries depicted battle scenes, anointments, the origin story – the first Paladin, hand pick at a conference of the gods but refusing the honor. He saw some with Gheriballi in them, him standing triumphantly over an elder green dragon, then one of him taking Hondo’s head.

Once they got past the foyer, they dismounted. Servants came and took their horses. The main room was huge, about 300 feet in diameter. About 20 feet up in letters large enough for a blind man to see, was the 1
st
directive: “No paladin shall ever strike down another paladin.” Various carvings and saying were strewn about the area, but that one caught your eyes first. Various doors went around about every 20 feet and in the middle was a desk with several people behind it, kind of like a hotel. Gheriballi walked up to it.

“Greeting Mr. Triton, Mr. Grailann.” they paused for a moment, “Mr. Grailann,” the manager said, “I do believe this is your first time here, welcome.”

“How do they know me?” Obidaan tried to whisper to Gheriballi, who was taking a set of keys and some papers from a clerk.

“We know all the paladins, sir,” the manager said. “It’s our job. We are intimately familiar with you, the Vanguard, who are also welcome here, and your gods.” He rang a bell and a clerk seemed to appear out of nowhere from behind the manager, “Since this is Mr. Grailann’s first time…”

”Please, call me Obidaan,”

“Thank you sir, but that is against the rules. We can give no paladin any special treatment; therefore we refer to all of them by their last name, except for Lucinda, who has no last name,” he cleared his throat after saying her name, implying they had gotten into an altercation in the past. “Anyway, here is a pamphlet explaining our rules and amenities. You will find we are a city that caters only to paladins. There is no charge for anything while you are here, tipping is strictly forbidden, and the rest you will find in the pamphlet. Here is the key to your room…”

“I have my own room?” Obidaan was excited at that prospect.

“Yes. All paladins have a room made for them the moment they are anointed. Though you have not been to yours ever, I can assure you it is cleaned and refreshed daily. A bottle of your favorite drink is already there, light snacks and fruits are on the table, and a hot bath has already been drawn.”

“And on that note,” Gheriballi had been listening to him brief Obidaan, “I’m off. It’s been a long day and I need a hot bath, a good woman, please send up Rebecka, and some sleep. I will see you in the morning. Meet me for brunch at the Gored Boar. There’s a map in the pamphlet,” he walked to the nearest door and was gone.

“You offer, um,” Obidaan was looking for a polite way of saying it, the manager, though, had no such moral qualms.

“Prostitutes? Yes, we do. Would you like us to send one to your room tonight?” He reached down and pulled out a book, “here’s the list.”

“No, no thanks.” Obidaan gave him the book back, “I’m happily married and want to remain that way.”

“We are 100% discrete.”

“Still, I’m married.”

“I understand,” he looked over at the clerk. “Take him to meet his scribe. Only then can he begin to understand what goes on around here.”

“Yes, sir,” the clerk said. She grabbed Obidaan by the hand and began to lead him to the back of the foyer, “This way please.” Her hand felt unusually warm and soft to the touch. He was put at ease by her as he looked around.

With the desk clear, the manager turned and disappeared into what seemed to be an invisible door.

By the time Obidaan looked back at the desk, it was empty. He knew there was no way they could have gone without him seeing where they went, unless, “Humans don’t work here do they?” Obidaan asked his clerk.

“You’re beginning to catch on, sir,” the clerk replied as she led him through a door. This door had a long corridor and doors on opposite sides about every 30 feet. She led him to the last door on the right and opened it. In this area were 4 desks, 2 on each side with someone writing. The ceiling was 50 up, and behind each desk, all the way to the top were bookshelves, lined with books.

“Cecelia,” the clerk called out, “Obidaan is here to meet you.”

From the last desk on the left, a lady got up out of her chair and ran toward them. Obidaan noted the pen was still scribing, she jumped into his arms, wrapped her legs around his waist, gave him a huge hug and planted an even bigger kiss on his lips. Not letting go of him, spoke. Her voice was soft and nearly angelic, “There you are! I have been waiting forever to meet you. Do you know how much flack I take from my coworkers because I was the only scribe who had not met their paladin?”

“I had no idea,” Obidaan said. He felt a bit awkward. He didn’t want to push her off, but at the same time, he just had no idea what to do.

“Well, young man, you and I have a lot to discuss,” she kissed him, harder, then jumped off him. “I’ll take care of him now, dear,” and she escorted him back to her desk. The other three scribes in the office acted oblivious to what had just happened.

“Come here, sweet cheeks, and plant it in this chair.” The pen had fallen down by the time they got there.

“Now, I’m sure you have a lot of questions, my job, along with chronicling your life, is to answer them. Since you’re here, I don’t have to scribe,” Cecelia closed the book in front of her, opened the drawer and put it away.

“Chronicling my life? I don’t understand?” Obidaan was very confused and felt again like the butt of a joke he didn’t know he was in.

“Of course you don’t, baby, you’ve never been here. But just relax and I’ll put everything into perspective for you. Excuse me, but damn, you are so cute,” she reached out and kissed him again.

“I don’t mean to offend, but could you please stop kissing me?”

“No, to be perfectly blunt. You see, my job is to spoil you while you’re here, and to spoil myself. You don’t realize it, but for Avatars, these are choice jobs. Most would go dark to get to scribe for a paladin. And
you
, my naïve little love, have deprived me of five years of perks. You have a lot of making up to do!”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know. Which brings me to my first question, why didn’t I know?”

“Ah, yes, I knew you’d ask that.” at that she reached her hand out and a book from the very top of her bookshelf floated down to her hands. “It all goes back to your anointment. You see, you actually weren’t supposed to be anointed yet. At least that’s the explanation I have in your book.”

“Huh?”

She opened to book to the first page, “Now this part predates your anointment by a day, but since it starts your story, it’s written down. A quick aside, all paladins have their life chronicled from the moment they are picked, not anointed. From that day on, anything you do, say, feel, or hear, is written down for all eternity. Also, you can read the story of any paladin, just as they can read yours. That’s how Gheriballi knew so much about you; he read some of your books. Now, not everything is written down. Some things, like what happened to you in the forest are written, but…”

“You mean you wrote down my ordeal in the forest? Can I read it?” He was excited, “I have to know what happened.”

“Well, here’s the kicker to that,” When I read it, I get the whole story. If anyone other than a celestial being were to read it, they would get it from your perspective, that you wandered through the woods and you know you passed.”

“Then, can you tell me what happened?” he was still trying anything.

“Sorry,” she said with a wry smile, “That would be cheating,” and she started laughing. He knew he was the butt of an unknown joke that time. She kissed him again in his confused state. “But anyway,” she gathered her breath, “to answer your first question, there was an unexpected death in the paladin corps, the Paladin of the Hunt, died in a hunting accident, yes I know how it sounds. Well, this left an imbalance, one that had to be filled quickly. The Seers were next on the list, so they chose you. Unfortunately, no one briefed the Seers, so they had no real guidance for you.” She leaned in close and whispered, “That’s the ‘official’ story. My guess is politics, but I can’t prove it. You see, and this is just between you and me, they Seers weren’t supposed to have the next pick, they ‘foresaw’ their way into it. That pissed off a lot of gods. What usually happens is when a paladin is to be picked, two actually, one from each side, the next in line are called. They are given a briefing by the last ones to pick. Told about this place, the duties, what to expect, etc. Their paladin then mentors the new one. Another twist here, the Paladin of the Hunt, was the last paladin picked for good. The gods were ‘distraught.’ No paladin had ever died that quick before, just under two years, and no one bothered to look back one more pick. You got anointed and basically, everyone ‘forgot’ about it. Technically, you had three years to go; they appoint a pair every five years. Now, when Gheriballi was reading, to decide whom to take on the tribunal, he noticed me here. He asked who I was and what paladin I represented. The fact that he had never heard of you troubled him, so he read up, realized you had not been trained, and the rest is history.”

“Um, don’t paladins die all the time, like normal people? Why would a death be unexpected? And why didn’t anyone, like you, ever remind them?” Obidaan was quite confused, but glad he had someone to answer his questions.

“Actually, no. Paladins, because of their abilities, are much stronger and heartier than the average human. In a one—on—one fight, you will always win. You’re divine abilities allow you to take on a 10—1 situation and have a reasonable chance for victory. Now that’s not to say you can’t die, obviously, but the odds are in your favor. That is intentional. As the keepers of the peace for the planet, you need an air of invincibility about you. If people believed they could easily defeat you, the world would go back to the chaos it once was and paladins would be pointless. As for your second question, I simply didn’t know. I’m a scribe. I write things down and do as I’m told. Even if I did know, there would be no way I could tell someone. Let’s just say the chain of command is a one—way street, down. Would you really want to tell a god they’re wrong? Trust me, they believe in punishing the messenger.”

He took in everything she was saying, and then looked up at the shelves behind her, “So, all these books represent my life story?”

“Your life as a paladin,” Cecelia corrected him.

“How much doe each book hold?”

“Depends on how busy you were anything from a day to a month; on average though they hold a fortnights worth of information.”

“So, you’re an avatar. What does that mean exactly, and how do you help me here?”

“I thought you’d never ask, baby cakes. Now, here’s the fun part. An avatar is just another servant of the gods.”

“Like angels?”

“Not quite as high on the food chain. We’re gophers, messengers. That’s why the scribe position is so cool for us. It let’s us interact with humans, unlike angels, who do it all the time. Here, we get to take on a corporal form. Also, each paladin gets an Avatar of the opposite sex. Sort of like a consort.”

“What about that prostitute list? Is that y’all?”

“My god no! Those are other generic avatars. You see, this place is run by nothing but avatars that come and go as paladins enter and exit. We, the scribes, get to stay.”

“So, could you and I have sex?” Obidaan was still trying to wrap his head around what he was hearing.

“We could, or you could use the prostitutes if you like variety. See, I’m here more of a ‘trophy’ for lack of a better word. When parties happen here, when you need someone to talk to, to eat with, to just listen to, that’s what I’m here for. I can eat, and feel, and we do like the feel of human flesh. That’s why I can’t stop kissing you,” she laughed, “See, the thing is, when our paladins are here, we don’t have to write. Nothing that happens in here is ever transcribed.”

“But you were writing when I came in.”

“I’ve been writing constantly for five years! I finally caught up.” She opened the draw and tossed him the book she was writing in, “Read the last sentence.”

“Obidaan and Gheriballi enter the Hall of Paladins.”

“And that is why you owe me. You better stick around here for a few days so I can show you everything you need,” she grabbed his hands.

“I wonder what my wife would think about all of this, about you.”

“Honey,” she looked at him seriously for a moment, “I’m a celestial being. I may look real, feel real, and even act real, but in the end, I am an illusion. I’m just a ball of light. So stop worrying so much about what you see, and just enjoy yourself while you are here. This is the ultimate sanctuary.” She eased up and smiled again. “So what do you want to do?”