A Solar Priest

Since the incident in his room, about 3 weeks had passed. Azrael had begun his penance at a certain point in time. Healing came so much easier to him when compared to his mage skills. He would spend evenings at the hospitals or barracks performing his priestly duties. To his dismay though, he and Zahra rarely crossed paths.

It was only when he had finally received Noor's approval and got to see the reality of the people of Truham's living conditions, did he realise he had vastly underestimated the reaches of war. He stayed inside the walled city with his master but many had no such comfort, those living in the outskirts suffered at the hands of the Corville Empire's guerilla attacks.

Right now in the cathedral he was in, he was gazing at a young girl, barely ten years old. Her body told the tale of how far their 'oppressors ' would go to make a point. From the local priest's description, she was from a village further south along the river. They had been attacked and pilaged by a group of bandits but everyone knew very well who these bandits were. The patrolling soldiers that found her were beyond grief but even they had grown numb to such events. Save for her, everyone else had been killed, with the women and children having it worse. The men had met a quick and fortunate demise but the children and women had no such reprieve, they were assaulted severally over the course of the night and following day. 

The village itself depicted this inhumane act ; a putrid smell - a mixture of urine, faeces and blood hang in the air. Women lay with their innards scattered around in a vile show of superiority. The men's heads were lodged on pikes scattered around the village. It was clear the soldiers wanted to intimidate and get into the heads of the members of the Muscat Empire. The little girl was the lone survivor, she had been hidden in the mangled wreck of her house that was blazed down. Burn scars etched into her body, a constant remainder of the event, that she may never forget.

Yet in spite of all this, Truham was one of the better places, according to what Noor said. She talked about the cities of Asra and Shantu and how those were fortresses, a place where the war bared its fangs out completely. Astonishingly, even when events like these happened in Truham, apostles rarely intervened, they were used as a reserve force and at times they would be sent out past the border into Corville territory to exact revenge. Their most useful purpose however was their power as a cautionary force. If war completely broke out and they were all deployed, it assured mutual destruction. 

' For one of the largest populations of apostles and respective blessed, Truham still wasn't safe from the far reaches of conflict...I know...I know their strength doesn't mean that these people would protect the weak. Humans are selfish creatures, they wage war, they avenge but not for other's sake, it is for their own ambitions...plus most apostles here are part of the Void Sea school, they encourage fighting and war...to them, the weak and collateral do not matter, they are just justification to fight....' Azrael thought sadly as he called upon his flames.

All he had to do was call upon his taqa, willfully lower it's temperature to a certain level, imbue it with his will of healing and there he had the healing powers of the sun. It came relatively easy to him, he could recall how he used to do it instinctively and skip the whole mental calculation.

His flames leaped onto the struggling and feverish child, danced on her skin and sank into her body. Almost immediately, her condition improved, her breathing became calmer and her temperature returned to normal. Azrael's heart winced, he wished he could heal her scars but that was far beyond him currently, he was only an apostle, not quite adept at healing. 

When the girl was lucid enough, he gathered other similar children and performed tricks for them; he'd set himself on fire or even the children. At first the kids were not impressed by his antics but they soon warmed up to the benevolent man that treated them. He was a ray of sunshine in their crumbling dark world.

Soon his rounds came to and end and he was bade farewell by the members of the cathedral. Azrael had no need to do so much as far as he was aware. Penance could be done every now and then and have the same effect as one of a pious and fervent believer. The Lord of Justice or rather all Lords were hard to understand. He also had no need to stay around and have conversations with the injured or sick. It was just that he was born with a soft spot for the weak, he was raised to be the leader and savior of his people, taking care of those who could not cater to their own needs was his calling. But he could not help as much as he wanted.

' I need to get far stronger if I want to free the duchy from Imperial rule, I need to get so much stronger to help these people. This hell cannot be allowed to continue. I need to save them, I need to heal them, I need to...' Azrael obsessively thought. 

By the time he got back home, it was nearing dusk. He had a quick meal with his friends who had been at home. Now all three of them were relatively adept: Luene could call upon her flames and unlike Azrael, she mostly focused on the ranged attacks the other book Noor gave, detailed. As for Orion and Bilach, the two were superhumans in terms of their physical capability. Azrael remembered the first time he had witnessed them leap ten feet into the air, it was somehow the most shocking thing he had seen. Only second to seeing Bilach lift a boulder the size of her body. In fact, the young scrawny girl was no more, she was still boorish but paired with her incredible physical strength she was now an unimaginable bully. 

Azrael was in the middle of washing dishes when he was hoisted up into the air. He turned to look and was not surprised to see it was the work of Bilach. Azrael did not know what siblings were like but from the books he read he could equate his frustration and annoyance to what was described in the books. Luene and Orion giggled in the background. None of them ever felt scared or hesitant even though Azrael was already a monster in combat at the time. 

In the middle of the squabbling between Azrael and Bilach, the door opened and a very excited Noor strolled in. All four of them bowed in greeting. 

" Where's Zahra? " Noor asked.

Suddenly everyone in the room turned to Azrael, in their eyes hid a hint of mischief. 

" Why are you looking at me? How would I know..." Azrael said as he laughed nervously.

" Heh...you want to act like you don't know..." Bilach chimed.

"Leave Azrael alone....he's just embarrassed he has a crush..." Luene said mockingly.

Everyone chimed in, even Master Noor. Azrael could not stop sheepishly smiling, he found it equally embarrassing and funny. 

"Haha...so funny and very mature guys...she's in her room master"

"See that wasn't so hard now, was it?" Noor laughed as she chided," anyway Luene, go call her, I'm about to wipe the floor with Azrael" 

Luene rushed up the stairs with excitement. It had become one of their most entertaining moments to see Master Noor and Azrael spar. Noor obviously wasn't going all out and Azrael never won but the sheer colour display of their flames in the dusk paired with the elegant dance the two seemed to dedicate to each other made it a spectacle to behold.

Azrael smiled nervously, he was looking to test more of his ideas and use his flames. It was a euphoric feeling that he could not quite put into words. 

"You're on !"