Black Crystal Part 1 - The Origin

Chapter Nine ~ The Journey's Beginning

 "Whoa, hold on a second," said Garen. "There's an armory here in the temple? How did we not know about this!? That would've been very useful information on some of our previous tasks."

"We can't exactly let the public know their religious leaders are demon hunters," the Bishop chuckled. "There could be riots, people freaking out, things such as that. So, we keep a lot of things secret. Though considering the circumstances, we can't afford to keep this all secret from you two." Peter and Garen were stunned and silent, exchanging glances between themselves, Lucius, and the Bishop.

"This sounds much larger than an escort job," Peter scoffed. "So, where is this armory?"

"I'll show you when the Princess wakes up," said Lucius. "And yes, this is much larger than an escort job. It's a matter of protecting not only the Princess from these things, but anyone these things can get near."

"Well, perfect." Peter stood up and began to pace around the chapel nervously. "This is all because the Princess is here, isn't it?"

"Hey!" Garen exclaimed, standing up as he shot an angry glare at Peter. "Don't blame her, okay? It's not like she summoned them."

"Even if she did, you wouldn't even bother to let the thought cross your mind," Peter retorted, advancing on Garen. "You're so in love with her that you'd let her get away with murder and not even have a second thought about it." Quickly, the Bishop stood in between the two boys and pushed them aside.

"Boys, please!" The Bishop looked at both of them with an angered expression. "This is no time to be arguing amongst each other, okay? Especially not in the chapel." He went silent and looked at the two, making sure they were both quiet before he gently lowered them down to seats opposite of each other. "Alright... now, onto business." The Bishop held his hands behind his back and he turned towards the wooden cross on the altar at the front of the chapel as he spoke. "I still have yet to hear back from the King and Queen, but understandably so, as it's only been about two days since I sent the letter to them. That doesn't mean we can't start making our way north to the Capitol. In fact, the sooner we leave, the better. Lord knows when more of those things will pop up."

The door to the chapel slowly creaked open. Garen, Peter, Lucius, and the Bishop all turned around and saw Lenora poke her head in. "Mind if I join the conversation?" she asked.

"Come on in!" the Bishop said with a kind smile. "We've actually been waiting for you, your highness."

"Please," Lenora chuckled, "just 'Lenora' is fine." She walked into the chapel and closed the door behind her as the Bishop continued to speak.

"Lenora," he began, "I don't think you were made aware of this last night since you were asleep at the time, but Garen and Peter were attacked by the demons you saw the night you arrived here."

"What!?" Lenora looked at Garen and Peter with a concerned expression. "It didn't hurt you, did it?"

"The official 'demon-slayers' managed to get there in time before that thing could do anything to us," Peter scoffed, tilting his head at Lucius and the Bishop. "I don't know how they knew to be there, but they came with a sword and two daggers, and they got rid of it." He turned towards Lucius and the Bishop with a curious expression. "Speaking of which, how did you two know we were in trouble?"

"Call it divine intervention," the Bishop chuckled.

"Anyways, let's get back on track," said Lucius, turning towards Lenora. "We were talking about the fact that we need to get you home as soon as possible. Clearly, these beasts are after you, and they could potentially cause more chaos than is necessary to get to you. So, we are arming the three of you with silver weapons, purified for this specific reason—to combat demonic forces."