Of Gods And Monsters Trials of Destiny

Praetors

"Why is a church the way to Sanctuary?" Silver asked, staying close behind Crux as they walked through the lit up neighbourhood of Boyle Street. So many of the houses were dark by now, many of the residents sleeping. Every so often though they would wander past a house that still had a few lights on. Not something out of the ordinary for Edmonton, especially for the start of summer break.

Never before in her life did she step inside a church, never feeling the need to, and now she was going to. Under a very different circumstance than what people usually went inside churches for. Silver only had an idea of what they looked like from the ones she saw in movies and shows, but a couple of people that she talked to at school that she knew went to church told her that's not how they all looked. Not all of them had wooden pews with a massive organ in the corner.

But she couldn't lie, traditional looking churches were very beautiful.

Slamming his back against the building of a coffee shop, Crux raised his hand to stop her from walking. Sticking his head out from the side, he relaxed his head back against the brick wall and sneered. "We've got company just around the corner. But to answer your question, we have portals all over the world in many different locations, not just churches. But we favour churches because of the connection we have with Heaven."

Blinking a few times at what he just said, her mind was having a hard time comprehending how calmly he said it. "I'm sorry wh−"

And he whipped around, pushing her close against the wall with his hand over his mouth. Holding his free hand against his mouth, he whispered, "Be quiet. We've got a few dogs just around the corner. Speak too loudly, and they will hear you and come running. If you weren't here, I'd go and kill them. But I've gotta get you to safety."

Hand falling from her mouth, she glared at him, "Do you always think about killing stuff?"

Left corner of his mouth lifted in a devilish grin, he stared right in her eyes, and they gleamed a bit from the streetlight above. How could such a skilled killer be so attractive? Personality could use a bit of work though, but she appreciated that he had a genuine care about him. So that was nice.

"It's why I was born. That's why all of us in Sanctuary were born. We're born warriors, protectors of the world." He said.

The matter of fact in his voice struck her. How could there be a group of people that no one knew about in the world that were born and bred to fight monsters? She understood that in history that different cultures would do that to create strong armies, but were Crux and his comrades offshoots of these different cultures? Or were the different cultures offshoots of what Crux was? What were they even and how long had they been around?

But no one could be born for just fighting and killing when there was so much more to do in life. Like graduating from college and getting a great job. Or finding that special someone and starting a family. Even be famous for some.

Shaking her head, her ponytail wagged back and forth, "You've gotta have dreams and wants in life. It can't just be all about killing."

"Revenge and clearing the world of monsters and gods is my only dream. Nothing much else interests me." Crux said. And he peeked back around the corner. "All that Hollywood bs means nothing when you know what I know. If people knew the truth then they wouldn't care either."

Why didn't the world know about this? Secret soldiers fighting large and dangerous monsters and gods wouldn't be something easy to hide. Maybe they were just ignorant and didn't want to know.

"Maybe. Or maybe we just wouldn't succumb to fear."

"You'd be stupid if you didn't feel fear facing what is truly in this world." Starting past the building and crossing the street, he glanced back at her, "Come on. We're good to go."