9. Ignatius #2
“Having now uncovered the full truth, the man realized what must have happened—the same Infernal had orchestrated the entire thing in order to claim both their souls. Enraged, he called out to the Infernal, screaming demands for answers until the Infernal finally appeared. But the Infernal was unrepentant. ‘Why are you angry at me?’ it asked. ‘You both got exactly what you wanted—a full life together, spent happily in bliss. Was that not worth any price?’ And with that, the Infernal departed, leaving the man alone with his beloved to cherish what precious time remained to them.”
Iggie fell silent, letting the story’s ending wash over him anew. He’d read it so many times that he’d memorized the Infernal’s response and held it close to his own heart.
After a moment, Alistair cleared his throat.
“Well, that’s certainly sadder than I remember.
And not terribly well-suited for children, either.
But I stand by my earlier point. At its core, it’s a simple parable of good versus evil.
The Infernal was evil, and therefore, couldn’t be trusted.
By putting their faith in it, the man and his beloved doomed themselves.
Instead, they should’ve mourned their losses and moved on. ”
Something tightened in Iggie’s chest. “You’re still missing the entire point! It has nothing to do with the dangers of consorting with Infernals! At the very least, it’s more nuanced than your shallow interpretation.”
“How so?” Alistair demanded, crossing his arms.
“Think of what the Infernal told them there at the end. It was right. To the man and his beloved, a life spent together was worth any price. The Infernal used them for its own ends, sure, but it only got away with it because of the purity of their love. Faced with pain and death, they each independently chose the other over their own wellbeing.”
“But their divine souls—”
“That’s the beauty of it—they cared more about each other than they did their own souls.
As a paladin, I’d think you understood the value of self-sacrifice.
No matter what happens to them after they die, they got to spend their mortal lives with the person they loved.
I don’t know about you, but I would give anything to… ”
To bring my parents back to me.
Iggie trailed off, choking back a near-sob that caught him by surprise.
To his dismay, he felt wetness swelling in his eyes.
The last thing he wanted was to show weakness before a member of the Order.
Alistair might not be the merciless killer he’d expected, but he was still a paladin, no matter their temporary truce while the storm ran its course.
Sniffling, he covertly swiped at his eyes, avoiding glancing toward Alistair or Marlon and Cynthia in case seeing any of them made it worse. “I think that’s enough stories for one night. I’m going to head to bed.”
Pushing himself up from his chair, he froze when a hesitant hand pressed over his own. He looked up sharply to find Alistair standing there, his uncertain face soft with worry and his amber eyes filled with compassion that almost set Iggie off all over again.
“Perhaps you’re right,” Alistair said gently. “Perhaps I’m too quick to judge them for what they did. It’s easy from the outside to declare that they took the easy way out or made a grave mistake. But while I haven’t lost a lover, I think I can understand that kind of hurt.”
Iggie’s heart tried to claw its way out of his chest with how hard it was beating. The warmth from Alistair’s fingers resting on his burned like a furnace. “What do you mean?”
Alistair swallowed. “When I lost my father, it was like my whole world had ended. I cried for weeks, refused to complete my training or even eat. My uncle had to come to our estate and drag me out of bed.” Alistair gave a grim smile.
“Had an Infernal approached me then and offered to bring my father back, I might’ve considered making a deal of my own.
But I wasn’t afforded that luxury. Instead, I was left with upholding my father’s legacy. ”
Hesitantly, Iggie stroked his fingers over the paladin’s palm.
The skin was rough with callouses from countless hours spent wielding a blade.
These hands have probably killed other necromancers like me.
Yet, instead of making him afraid, he drew strength from the paladin’s grip.
He raised his head and met Alistair’s sorrowful gaze.
“Sometimes surviving isn’t enough,” Iggie whispered. “Sometimes…sometimes there needs to be something more.”
They gazed into each other’s eyes for a long, breathless moment.
Tension buzzed in the air between them. Shadow and shade, what the Dark is happening right now?
Iggie felt powerless to look away. Had the paladin wanted to, he could’ve easily ambushed Iggie right then and there before his undead guards had a chance to react.
Yet, Iggie felt no fear at Alistair’s proximity.
If anything, he felt safer than he had in a long, long time.
The room shuddered around them, and Alistair tore his gaze away, looking around the chamber with a frown. “What was that?”
Iggie opened his mouth, but no words came out. He’d thought the shaking might have been his own throbbing heart until Alistair had spoken. “I don’t know. The wind, perhaps?”
Yet, he could hear the wind howling outside, and though the storm continued in earnest, it didn’t sound nearly fierce enough to shake the entire tower.
Another shudder rocked the chamber, and a spiderweb of cracks spread along the far wall. Iggie stared at them, his eyes widening. If the tower collapsed with them in it…
“Are there any windows in this Light-blinded place?” Alistair demanded.
The paladin searched the room before his eyes landed on a thick shutter sealed tight against the storm.
Rushing over to it, he wrenched the wood aside with a burst of strength from his dawnflame.
Iggie didn’t protest, moving in what felt like slow motion to stand beside him.
A rush of wind and snow buffeted them as Alistair shielded his eyes to peer outside.
“I can’t see anything. Not with the darkness and snow. Merciful Light, if only there were…”
Alistair trailed off as light suddenly flickered outside.
Not the comfortable glow of a fire, however, nor the blazing golden brilliance of dawnflame.
This light shimmered in shifting waves of ethereal blues.
And unless Iggie was very much mistaken, the glow enveloped something massive and lumbering that was pressed right up against the side of the tower.