It had been two weeks since the mission, and morale was at an all time low. The team knew the cost could be their lives, but the fact that Gareth had enough control to spare their lives meant the gap between the range of their powers was very wide. Gareth had completely annihilated them
Theo, Bo and Matt were sitting in the park on a bench, it was midday and the sun was out. The weather was so nice, but they all felt a sense of horrible dread. "Tell me how you guys lost again." Matt signed.
"Honestly you are lucky you weren't there, you were doing that pointless errand." Bo replied. "Pointless, I was escorting the head paladin back from his mission abroad."
"Yeah about that, how is he, what's he like." Theo added.
"He's pretty cool, considering he's my uncle. But that's beside the point, tell me about the fight." Matt signed back.
"Hold up, the head paladin is your uncle?" Bo added.
A loud clap was heard, that made a few passer bys jump a bit. "Yes, he's my uncle, and yes he's pretty cool. Now would you please tell me what happened two weeks ago." Matt signed.
Bo sank back into the bench before sighing "Fine, I'll tell you what happened, but it wasn't pretty.
Back at headquarters, Arthur stood in front of a set of large double doors. The head paladin's office. He opened one of the doors and walked in.
Arthur walked into the large office to see a large man. The bear of a man was standing near the window, staring into the distance. The only thing Arthur could make out was his muscular silhouette and his long graying dreads.
He turned around a few seconds after Arthur walked in revealing his dark tattooed skin and the blindfold he wore. The only piece of clothing he had on was a pair of pants and a large coat he wore over his shoulders.
Arthur bent down on one knee and lowered his head in greetings to the head paladin. Probably the most powerful person in all of the KoA.
"Raise your head Arthur, there's no need for all the formalities here." The head paladin's deep voice echoed throughout the large room. Arthur nodded and stood up, "Update me on what's been going on when I was gone." the head paladin said.
"It's just been the usual, we held the inauguration for the new recruits. Oh, turns out one of them has antimagic, so that's new_ "Did you just say antimagic?" the head paladin cut in. "I thought that died with Lancelot. I'm sorry I interrupted, continue."
"A few weeks ago we fought Gareth." Arthur continued.
"The vampire king?"
"Yes sir."
"I told you guys he was off limits, you do know what he is right?"
"We're sorry for undermining your order, but we found a time when we thought he'd be incredibly weak, which he was but_
"He still managed to drop you all." the head paladin finished his sentence. The head paladin crossed his arms and underneath the blindfold you could tell he was frowning.
"By the way, I wear an eyepatch now." Arthur added with a slight grin,
"Gareth did that?"
"No, one of the Intruxh Ahrambe. The one with the antimagic."
"Let me see." the head paladin said stretching his hand forward. Arthur nodded and moved closer letting the head paladin feel his face and the eyepatch. A large smile played on his lips, "I'd love to meet this guy."
Arthur felt a sudden rush of warmth spread through him. The head paladin pulled his hands away, which snapped Arthur back from wonderland. "Umm, I can arrange a meeting with them if you want."
"That sounds good, call them in." the head paladin replied.
Theo walked the cathedral halls for the second time in his life, the grandeur and sterling beauty of the place will always stun him no matter how many times he sees it.
The white walls with gold trim, the marble floors with patterns that seem like flowing rivers of ash, and even the pious attendants that look cleaner than he does.
They, he and Bo, were led to a set of double doors, way smaller than the one he'd seen before. They were plain looking oak doors, not at all like the intricately designed doors used by the elders.
Behind the door was an office of sorts, it has a desk that was scanty with paperwork, two chairs facing said desk, and a bright red couch in the left side of the office. A very plain looking room.
Matt was already sitting on the couch, and another person was at the desk.
"Ahhh, you're here, please have a seat." The man at the desk gestured at the two chairs in front of him. He was large, with greying dreads and an equally silver beard, he had no shirt on, and was wearing very dark shades.
The most striking thing about him was the sheer volume of tattoos he had on his body.
"I would have asked my nephew to tell me a little bit about you two, but apparently, he can't speak." He gestures apologetically at Matt.
"I called you here because I wanted to meet you guys, rumor has it you have immense potential... I thought there were three of you?"
"Jazz is on a mission with Luna and Arthur, 'it's important' she said." Bo answered.
Theo threw a suspicious look at Bo, surprised by the fact that he had called her Jazz, a flipping nickname, already?!
You couldn't see the man's eyes but you could tell they were narrowed.
"I'm Richard by the way, I'm the head paladin, I should have been at your initiation, but I was caught up in Tokyo." That's when Richard looked around as if noticing for the first time that they were the only ones in the room.
"You weren't escorted by a paladin?" He asked.
"We were, but Hank said he wasn't gonna come inside." This time, Theo answered.
Matt threw a tiny piece of paper at Bo, catching his attention before signing, 'They hate each other's guts.'
Theo turned to the head paladin, a bit shocked, he and Bo shared a little giggle.
"What's the matter?" Richard asked.
"Nothing, just an inside joke." Bo replied.
"Oh please, do share. I quite like jokes." Richard wasn't smiling.
Bo stared at Richard, then Matt, then Theo, then Richard again.
"You know what, I don't want to know." Richard eased back, lifting both hands in the air in surrender.
"I called you here not just to talk, but to see your spirit, and trust me, they are strong. By the way, how are you after your run in with the vampire king?"
"Fine, it's crazy how fast my body heals nowadays" Theo replied.
"Good, how about a little tussle then, all three of you. Nothing too fancy, just a light spar."
Before Theo could probably think the request through, Bo had already answered. "Sure, why not. I've really wanted test my strength, especially after the Gareth thing."
Matt facepalmed.
"It's settled then, we'll all go to the dome and see what's up." Richard was beaming, Bo sported a grin, Matt was shaking his head in his hands and Theo... Theo was just confused.
At the dome, they had changed into more suitable attire, except for Richard who just stretched with that incessant smile on his face.
"Let's make a bet." Hank came up from behind Theo. It was the first time he had directly addressed him.
"All three of you put together would not be able to put a scratch on him."
"What's in it for us if we do." Bo chimed in.
"You become an automatic paladin." Hank said unblinkingly.
Silence.
Even more silence.
Then a deafening whoop from Bo.
He grinned, extra evil, and extra wide "Let's fucking do this!"