A Tale of Magic and Iron

The Order of Theran

     A dirty child runs down the grimy cobblestone roads of Theran passing many grim buildings. The child runs past Alarias into one of the numerous buildings lined along the cluttered street. Alarias leans against the outside of a dark wooden building looking at the smog filled sky, which was a normal sight in the city. He can hear the child shouting from inside the building.

    "Mommy, Mommy! Hey, Mommy, guess what!"

    "What is it, my little sunray?"

   "The order has arrived with their neat gadgets!"

   "Silence yourself. We don't desire attention do we?"

   "No we don't." The child's dejected voice is just barely a whisper.

   "Now listen closely. If the order finds us they are going to hurt us. I need you to be my big protector, can you do that, Seran?"

   "Yep! I got powers now, like you."

   "That's my little ray of sunshine. I love you."

   "Love you t--" The child's sentence is interrupted by Alarias breaking through the building's wooden door. Alarias has his two pistols drawn, both of which are a mess of gears, gunpowder, and iron.

   "Surrender, the order condemns you of sedition, heresy, and treason." He points his weapons at the woman and her child. She tearfully looks at the child.

   "Run!" With a shout she throws her hands toward Alarias. Gouts of flame erupt from her palms and ignite the front wall of the building. The flames seem to wrap around Alarias cocooning him in fire. After a minute of continuous flame the fire subsides and to the woman's dismay, she finds Alarias still standing unscathed. A wave of exhaustion suddenly overcomes the woman and she falls to the charred ground unconscious.

   Alarias looks around for the grimy child, but Seran is nowhere to be found inside the burning building. Alarias picks up the unconscious woman and carries her body outside to a waiting carriage. The carriage is full of disembarking guards wearing plate armor colored either in red or silver highlights. Alarias carries the woman to two of the silver armored guards.

   "Nullifiers, take her, and for the love of Haesteus make sure she stays unconscious." Alarias leaves the woman and turns looking for something. He stops a nearby guard and asks, "Where is Larence?"

   "The captain is already taking care of the press uh, sir." He points to a crowd down the street.

   "Fine, let the others know that a child is still on the loose and that it may have committed heresy already."

   "Yes, sir." The guard starts to salute, but Alarias has already moved down the street.

    As Alarias gets closer to the throng, he catches wind of the tail end of a speech well rehearsed.

    "...once again our illustrious order has tracked down a heretic which had planned to spread terror throughout our beautiful Theran. Unfortunately even though our wisdom was freely given to us by Haesteus, this treasonous heretic tried to burn the entire block in ignorance. Such are the dangers of cavorting with dark powers. Even now our brave guards are currently working tirelessly to extinguish the inferno risking their own lives to the peril of the flames. A trial shall be held in the grand plaza later this day. Let this serve as a warning, and as a testimony to our power." Larence steps away from the crowd and towards Alarias.

   "Good work, Alarias. This heretic shall be punished for her usage of the sin of magic."

   "There was a child which I lost track of. The child may be a threat to society. I've got guards looking, but they are no match for a heretic, even a child."

   "That's a shame. This poor child has been so corrupted by heretical ideas, and yet the child had no real choice in the matter. If only we had a way to cleanse this poor child of magic."

   "Theorizing about the child should come after we find the child."

   "The child shall be found in due time. Let's mete out justice towards the heretic we do have."

   The two get in the wagon alongside the nullifiers. Larence pounds against the inside wall of the carriage. The carriage rolls down the street passing through the slums. It eventually stops beside a well fortified barracks. The two nullifiers take the woman inside the building. Larence gets up and begins to follow the two guards. He stops after stepping outside and looks at Alarias.

   "Alarias, something has been bothering me ever since you left the burning building. It bothers me that you escaped a heretic unscathed, and this is not the first time you have been inexcusably lucky. I'm sorry, my friend, but you are going to be taken into questioning. Will you come willingly? I'm sure that this can all be chalked up to luck."

   "Sure, I've got nothing to hide. Shame you don't trust me."

   "I agree." Dozens of soldiers step around the exit of the carriage, all holding guns. Larence speaks up,  "Alarias witch hunter of the order of Theran. Surrender, the order condemns you of sedition, heresy, and treason."