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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DoctorB" data-source="post: 87889" data-attributes="member: 903">Interlude - AlexanderAlexanderNonus 21The low dry hills passed swiftly by as he ran.  As dawn approached, Alexander hurried now northeast toward a distant man-made shape.  He knew that his former comrades probably stood somewhere far to the north, near the Dwarvenrealm.  For his part, he had left Sazon and traveled south along the mountain range until it gave way to desert.  There he had turned east, sure of his destination: home.It was somewhere along the edge of the desert that he had first noticed his shadow.  So self-absorbed had he been as he left the Champions of the Lady and renounced his calling that it could have been with him from the beginning.  His eyes revealed nothing; just a feeling of something following him as he traveled.  That first night, he had slept little as he tried to see if the presence would enter his camp.  It did not.  After a time, he almost welcomed the company.The hills ahead of him showed his journey’s end.  These lands had known a younger and more idealistic Alexander.  He could see a shadow of himself, dancing and playing in the harsh landscape.  He had imagined service to the Lady would be heroics and inevitable victories for good.  As a third son of the Tilea family, he was free to choose the monastery, leaving his brothers to govern the family lands.  How naïve he had been, to think it was so simple.  How could he have known the bitterness of the path the Lady would set for him?He had first felt a twinge of doubt when Valeriu died.  How could the Lady allow one of her Champions to fall?  Why would she allow one of her chosen ones to die to someone not equally supported by the Triad?  It made no sense.Claudia caused a new suspicion in his mind.  First he had heard the disturbing news of his father’s illness and the death of his brothers.  He could be the heir of the Tilea lands if he returned home.  If not, their ancient rival, the Nistor, would hang their garish red scorpion over his family’s lands.  After some thought, he had decided to stay with the Champions.  If only he had abandoned the Lady then!When Claudia died fighting the chaos worms he became the last member of the Tilea family.  If anyone were to hoist the banner of the White Eagle, it would be him.  The thought nagged at him.  Did the Lady think to test his resolve by destroying his family?  If so, it was a cruel test.The last exam was more difficult still.  He had spent weary years learning to understand and control his body, so that he could be the perfect instrument of Her will.  The mutilation of that body left him without focus, without center in a chaotic world.  How could the Lady allow these things to happen?As the castle drew closer, Alexander squinted in the morning light for the eagle banner on the tower.  He could see something waving there but his mind refused to accept what it was until he drew closer.Soldiers moved along the battlements but the gates to the family keep were open.  Echoes of Claudia’s childhood laughter rang in his ears as he increased his speed.  Even now, the Lady hurt him.  The remains of a bonfire stood outside.  Many relics of his childhood no doubt smoldered there.  A terrible anger suffused him.One maimed man against the keep.  He laughed bitterly at the thought.  At least the Lady will be rid of me at last.  Let her find other champions more gullible to do her deeds while she watches them die!  This one would choose the hour and the manner of his passing.As the sentries on the walls challenged him, he felt his shadow coming alongside on his left.  He nodded at it in greeting as cold fury clouded his eyes.  Only the red scorpion remained in his view as he attacked.</blockquote>

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