undead-agents. Alexia however, calmly stood in the centre of the path, and watched, as four more undead-agents lumbered their way towards her. She calmly removed and nocked one of her arrows, drew back her bow and waited. She remained motionless until the lead undead-agent came almost within touching distance, then one after another, in quick succession she sent an arrow at the head of each undead-agent, dropping them where they stood; each arrow glowing brightly just before impact, then returning to normal as the undead-agent fell.
Lusam released a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding. He thought Alexia had frozen through fear, or some other unknown reason.
“What were you doing? Why didn’t you just shoot them?” Lusam blurted out. Alexia was still searching the darkness further down the path for any more undead-agents, but Lusam knew there were no more nearby; all the weapons had lost their eerie blue glow. A moment later Alexia must have come to the same conclusion, as she inspected her now normal looking bow. Remembering Lusam had just spoken, she turned in his direction.
“I’m lazy. I didn’t want to walk a long way to get my arrows back,” she said grinning, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Neala burst out laughing, closely followed by Lusam, and then Alexia herself. Renn remained silent until they had all quietened down again, then he addressed them all.
“Now I know how Alexia managed to get through the magical shields of the Empire agents and kill them, and how she killed these undead-agents,” Renn said, pointing towards the remains of the undead-agents all around them.
“How?” asked Alexia curiously.
“You are wielding a blessed weapon, Alexia,” Renn stated simply.
“That’s impossible,” Alexia replied, “I’m not a paladin. You of all people should know that only paladins can use a blessed weapon, and this is a bow, not a sword or hammer. No paladin I have ever heard of has ever used a bow. When Hershel gave me this bow, he said it was only a low-quality hunting bow, used to kill game in the forest. You even heard him yourself.”
“It’s true that a paladin doesn’t use a bow, and I have never heard of any using one either, but I just witnessed it with my own eyes…” Renn trailed off in his statement, eyes widening with sudden realisation. “Aysha be blessed,” he whispered loudly. “When we were in The Sanctum of Light and Aysha visited us, she said she had blessed all the weapons in the temple. Your bow was inside the temple, as were your knives. They must have been blessed along with all the regular paladins’ weapons and shields. Aysha must have known you needed a bow, and as with everything else in life, she provided what you needed.”
“Wait…” Lusam said sceptically. “I thought you told me a blessed weapon only had power in the hands of a paladin, and even then its power was linked directly to the amount of faith the paladin had in Aysha?”
“That’s right, lad, but you heard Aysha tell the recruits that they didn’t need to be fully trained paladins to wield her weapons. If I remember her words correctly, she said:
Fear not, my young paladins, hold true to your faith and your weapons will become powerful allies upon the battlefield.
“I have seen and heard the evidence of Alexia’s faith in Aysha, and I can tell you that I believe it to be absolute. Nothing I have seen or heard would make me doubt her ability to wield a blessed weapon, paladin or not.”
Alexia somehow knew Renn’s words to be true. She immediately fell to her knees and thanked Aysha for the blessing she had bestowed upon her. She felt humbled beyond words that Aysha would allow her to wield such power in her name, and promised to use it for only good, and to help protect Lusam and the others on their journey, wherever it may lead.
“Come on, let’s go fully heal that leg of yours,” Lusam said, breaking the awkward silence a few moments later. Renn
Lusam released a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding. He thought Alexia had frozen through fear, or some other unknown reason.
“What were you doing? Why didn’t you just shoot them?” Lusam blurted out. Alexia was still searching the darkness further down the path for any more undead-agents, but Lusam knew there were no more nearby; all the weapons had lost their eerie blue glow. A moment later Alexia must have come to the same conclusion, as she inspected her now normal looking bow. Remembering Lusam had just spoken, she turned in his direction.
“I’m lazy. I didn’t want to walk a long way to get my arrows back,” she said grinning, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Neala burst out laughing, closely followed by Lusam, and then Alexia herself. Renn remained silent until they had all quietened down again, then he addressed them all.
“Now I know how Alexia managed to get through the magical shields of the Empire agents and kill them, and how she killed these undead-agents,” Renn said, pointing towards the remains of the undead-agents all around them.
“How?” asked Alexia curiously.
“You are wielding a blessed weapon, Alexia,” Renn stated simply.
“That’s impossible,” Alexia replied, “I’m not a paladin. You of all people should know that only paladins can use a blessed weapon, and this is a bow, not a sword or hammer. No paladin I have ever heard of has ever used a bow. When Hershel gave me this bow, he said it was only a low-quality hunting bow, used to kill game in the forest. You even heard him yourself.”
“It’s true that a paladin doesn’t use a bow, and I have never heard of any using one either, but I just witnessed it with my own eyes…” Renn trailed off in his statement, eyes widening with sudden realisation. “Aysha be blessed,” he whispered loudly. “When we were in The Sanctum of Light and Aysha visited us, she said she had blessed all the weapons in the temple. Your bow was inside the temple, as were your knives. They must have been blessed along with all the regular paladins’ weapons and shields. Aysha must have known you needed a bow, and as with everything else in life, she provided what you needed.”
“Wait…” Lusam said sceptically. “I thought you told me a blessed weapon only had power in the hands of a paladin, and even then its power was linked directly to the amount of faith the paladin had in Aysha?”
“That’s right, lad, but you heard Aysha tell the recruits that they didn’t need to be fully trained paladins to wield her weapons. If I remember her words correctly, she said:
Fear not, my young paladins, hold true to your faith and your weapons will become powerful allies upon the battlefield.
“I have seen and heard the evidence of Alexia’s faith in Aysha, and I can tell you that I believe it to be absolute. Nothing I have seen or heard would make me doubt her ability to wield a blessed weapon, paladin or not.”
Alexia somehow knew Renn’s words to be true. She immediately fell to her knees and thanked Aysha for the blessing she had bestowed upon her. She felt humbled beyond words that Aysha would allow her to wield such power in her name, and promised to use it for only good, and to help protect Lusam and the others on their journey, wherever it may lead.
“Come on, let’s go fully heal that leg of yours,” Lusam said, breaking the awkward silence a few moments later. Renn
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