Holier Than Thou

[Emora Deen]

Talon eyed Vlad suspiciously. He sat down across the table from him, looking at all the books. "What exactly are we researching, Vlad?" Did it have something to do with his training?

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad jumped up from the chair and strode to the catalog at the center of the room, thumbing through the small information plates for something useful. "I'm going to kick Verin's ass."

[Emora Deen]

Talon stayed where he was sitting, watching Vlad thumb through the catalogue. "Okay," he muttered. "I'm just going to assume he's the source of your anger from earlier... But, he's a God, Vlad. He's not some low life Arken demon. Its going to take a lot to hurt him."

Talon moved to the other side of Vlad. "This might not be a good idea," he began. "When you were taken by Verin and you sent Tenele back here, she did some research of her own. She came across several theories that the source of a Gods power is in their temples, and the prayers they receive. That's when she started burning his temples... Each one she burned hurt him."

Talon leaned against a bookcase. "I told her to stop, that she was digging a bigger grave than she could climb out of. I think I know where that section is, if you are interested."

[Soran Nightblade]

"Let's take a look," Vlad agreed. He was grateful for Talon's calm acceptance, and for his knowledge of when to stop talking. It occurred to him, as it had to Talon earlier, that the mood between them was actually quite pleasant. Even comforting. It actually came as a bit of a shock to him to think that he needed any kind of company aside from Tenele's, but this moment reminded him there were other types of comfort in the world. The last time he'd invested himself in this kind of companionship was in the outerlands, with Atul.

The thought made his pulse jump. Atul. "Let's find what we can on demigods as well," he muttered. "I may have an accomplice."

[Emora Deen]

Talon nodded, leading Vlad up the staircase to the next floor. They weaved through several tall shelves until they came to a narrow section in a dimmer part of the library. Talon ran his fingertips over the books until he found the one he was seeking. "This one," he muttered, setting the book on the table.

Talon opened it and flipped through the frail parchment pages until he came to the an illustration with some heavy script below it. "This is what she found. After this she went to the edges of town where there were rumors of a temple. She went in with your hound, and when she came out it was burning. She later told me that when she set it on fire Verin screamed, so with her theory proven she started hunting down more of his temples. I'm not sure there is a single one left in Lowight, unless his followers have built them back. Verin learned quickly I think, that he should have never come between the two of you." Talon smiled at Vlad. "She didn't fear him then... I think when she thought he was after you it gave her strength. When he started targeting her it made her feel helpless. Tenele, as you've noticed, hates being helpless."

Talon left the book and went to the shelves again. "We'll have to do digging on demi-gods," he added.

[Soran Nightblade]

"Thanks," Vlad said as he took the books Talon passed down to him and piled them on a table. Before long, it was becoming a sizable pile. Vlad found that reassuring. It meant they had somewhere to start. "You know, Sinead won't see you as a monster forever," he commented as he began turning through pages on one of the larger tomes. "She's always been slow to accept new things, and extremely cautious about who she lets into her inner circle. She's worked up because I've taken someone from her inner circle, and I've turned him into a new thing. You're different, and she doesn't know how yet. She doesn't know if she should be judging, or mourning, or punishing, or helping. It's got her upside down. She needs time."

[Emora Deen]

Talon listened as he took a book from the pile. He nodded slowly. "Well, I'm a vampire now," he chuckled. "I guess I have all the time in the world to wait for her to come around." He thumbed through the books. "Okay, let's start reading. This could take a while."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad sat down opposite him and opened a book. He looked at it thoughtfully. "You never questioned it when I said I wanted to kill Verin. You didn't say anything about it being impossible, or dangerous."

[Emora Deen]

Talon smirked, turning a page in the book. "Anything can be killed," he muttered, glancing up from the book. "If you want it dead bad enough, I think it can be killed. Even a god. And, if we can't kill him, then we can lock him away somewhere. He cursed my mother into a mortal form, maybe we can find a way to do the same? I believe that there are contingencies for every situation." He turned another page, glancing back down at the book. "I guess it matters whether you believe you can kill him?"

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad's expression tightened at the other man's words. Talon's reaction was the one he would have wished from Tenele. Confident, proactive, determined. He had the sense that his ward truly believed him capable of this. And as much as he might not admit it, the man's confidence was a relief.

"The person who matters is Tenele," he said openly. "It is difficult to protect someone who is terrified of letting anyone protect her."

[Emora Deen]

Talon nodded. "Tenele has lost a lot of people in her life. She lost her parents, her hand-maidens to Adrian, her fellow Queen's Maidens to the war. She's afraid of losing other people that care about her," Talon explained, skimming through the book. "But, when you think about it his tactics are sound. In the end, if he makes her fear for the people she loves more than she fears for her own life, maybe he thinks she'll run to him. Maybe he's hoping she gives herself up?"

Talon's fingers curled a little tighter around the book. "Did he hurt her? Is that why you were so angry in the dungeon?"

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad's eyes jerked up at Talon's words. Give herself up? Would Tenele do that? Could she really do something like that? Her words from earlier echoed in his mind, her pleading for him to let her be taken, to not resist. The idea of her sacrificing herself spread shock through his system.

"He threatened her. And she asked me to stand down," he said, slowly, as if the words had just taken on a whole new kind of horrible meaning for him.

[Emora Deen]

Talon nodded, turning another page. He was keeping his anger in check rather well, and feeling slightly proud of himself. That meditating for the last two days had done some good. "She's scared," Talon told him. "He's scared her and Tenele doesn't scare easily. So we should try and do something to make her feel less afraid. We need to come up with a plan, I think. It doesn't have to be real, it doesn't even have to be functioning, but I think if we make her feel like we have some idea, some hope, she'll be less frightened. Everytime he comes he wears her down a little more. He can't hurt her unless she's in his realm, or he is in a volunteers physical body. She's human, and somewhat out of his reach. The only power he has over Tenele right now is psychological. We need to take that away from him. We need to make her believe more in us, than in him. Maybe you're demi-god friend can help."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad nodded. For someone who scoffed at the idea of having friends, he was finding Talon's company rather reassuring right now. Perhaps the literal weakness he'd experienced over the past few days had caused some psychological weakness in him as well.

"Atul is the only other person I've meet foolish enough to challenge Verin. But we're both equally weak against him, even as a team. If there was some way we could unite our strengths instead of fighting individually, we might get somewhere."

[Emora Deen]

Talon thought for a moment. "Well, there are spells and such for things like that, but they are risky and have... interesting side affects. Most of them involve binding yourself to them, which means a relationship rather like the one we have now. Some are even more intense than that. I'm not sure how far you're wanting to go with that Vlad, or if you're willing to accept what it could mean. I'm not even sure exactly what sort of spells there are. I have heard of them, but I have not seen one in action. I'm sure there are other means of going about it too. We can research that along with everything else."

Talon looked around at the library. "We are going to be here a while."