The Cainite Order

CHAPTER 3

דע הוא כמו השמש - זה מפיג את החושך

CHAPTER 3

"Knowledge is like the sun- it dispels the darkness."

Rocky terrain and sand flew past at roughly 300 mph as Beathen flew to his first training location. It had been three weeks since he decided to join what he now knew as The Cainite Order. He had been used to a crazy agenda having worked in food service for years, but the pace of the last few weeks had been almost too much for him. He had agreed to make genetic donations thinking that all he had to do was a few blood samples and maybe some semen. Somehow during the whirlwind they took a little over two pints of blood, bone marrow, platelets, two semen samples and some strange thing with a crystal that was supposed to give an imprint of his personality.

That alone would have made anyone exhausted, but he also had to wrap up his old life and learn about the new one at the same time. The wrap up was actually easier than he had expected it to be, especially when the plan was laid out in front of him. Beathen would tell his job and anyone he cared about that he had been accepted to a culinary school in France and would be leaving the country for at least a year or two. It would be a while before anyone would question where he went. The only family he had was Aunt C and even though he had some close friends he was always the one on the outside. Even among his best friends he had always been a little different. Even if they did search for him he was shown just how difficult it would be to track him for normal people.

It was nothing as grand as in the movies where they erase all traces of you from the world and its systems. No, they simply took him for a walk down the street. As they went Beathen began to notice that everyone they passed reacted to him with a glance or a nod, but not one person looked at the two people with him. When they passed near others on the sidewalk the new person would go out of their way to make room for someone they wouldn't acknowledge. Ruaraidh explained that one of the charms they are given is called "Hecate's concealment".

It allows anyone who possesses it to not only pass unseen by anyone, but they purposefully avoid going near a two-foot area around the charm itself. Only creatures of supernatural origin can see them when the charm is active. He went on to show Beathen all the different charms Chevalier's, or Soldier's, like him usually carried on them at all times. Only a few can be active at one time because they run off of the latent spiritual energy a person puts out. Similar to a battery, only so many things can run off of one at the same time. Some people can use more than others, but generally only a few are used at a time.

Later that same day he had gone through the Order's "placement process". Aunt Clara explained that there were four main positions in the Order as well as their functions: The Vanguard are the scouts and spies of the Order; completing a wide variety of tasks from general information gathering to "covert target elimination". The Chevalier are the main soldiers of the Order. They take on the threats that could cause major damage to the Balance.

His quizzical glance prompted her to explain a bit more. "The Balance is what the Order attempts to maintain on both sides of the Veil. It's not so much about good vs. evil but making sure supernatural beings stay on their side and don't disrupt the world we know and make sure the normal world doesn't find out about the supernatural. The third group are the Magus. They are what you would consider a wizard. Like Merlin from the Arthur legends you like so much. They don't need charms all that much because they use more traditional magik. It takes a little longer but the results are far more than any charm can muster." she smiled.

"I have to ask then were Merlin and King Arthur real?" Beathen blurted.

"Yes they are but that's a long story for another time. Reapers," she continued, "are the smallest branch of the Order. Though their size does not convey their importance properly, they are the ones that do anything necessary to protect the Order and both worlds. Even if that means doing the impossible. They are the last line of defense that we hope can't fail."