He had only been to Bishop Ironside’s office a few times while attending the academy, and never for good reason.
It was like entering a kiln. The roaring fireplace on the opposite wall, with a statue of an Almighty Sun atop its mantel, cast dancing orange lights and shadows against the surrounding stone walls. Despite being underground, the smoke was auto-magically routed out through the chimney, Sophie had once told Alex.
Bookshelves and wooden cabinets lined the left and right walls, filled with books no doubt published before Alex’s time. A sturdy wooden desk the size of a small table took up the center of the room. A large book lay open on one side of the desk. The leather executive chair had been pushed to one side of the room with cloak-like vestments laid carefully over the back. Standing behind the desk, facing away from the crackling flames with his arms crossed, was the silhouette of the man himself—Bishop Saul Ironside.
The man looked more sturdy than the brick mantelpiece of the fireplace. He was slightly taller than Sophie and almost twice as wide, with the muscular yet stocky build of a powerlifter. The buttons of his double-breasted medal-decorated jacket strained against his beefy chest, with an Almighty Sun badge showing a red bishop’s crozier in the center, and his completely shaved head glistened with a slight layer of sweat from the heat of the fireplace. The shiny mirrored surface of his paladin armor reflected the orange flames, giving the bishop the appearance of a being made entirely of fire—a fitting image for a loyal servant of the Sun God, although it struck Alex as strange that his office was underground, which meant no windows to let in the Lord’s light from the surface.
Paladins, especially high-ranking officers, were just as much military personnel as they were religious and moral authorities. Bishop Ironside definitely leaned more heavily into the ‘military’ side of his position. Even underneath his armor and clothing, Alex could tell the bishop had a powerful body forged in toil and determination, a practical kind of rugged yet restrained veteran strength that showed with every flex of his limbs and every deliberate movement.
His tailoring bills must be astronomical.
As soon as Alex and Sophie entered the room, they saluted and stood at attention.
“At ease,” the bishop said, waving one hand dismissively in their direction and crossing his arms again. Sophie and Alex relaxed and laid their hands back at their sides. With his eyebrows furrowed, the bishop stared first at Sophie, then at Alex, who couldn’t help but sweat under his gaze. Or was that from the heat of the fire?
Maintaining eye contact with Alex, Bishop Ironside said, “This discussion does not leave this office. Do you both understand?”
“Yes, Bishop,” Alex and Sophie said in unison.
“Good. As I mentioned to you briefly yesterday, Cadet Carpenter, the Church has acquired enough recent intelligence to warrant assigning a new mission—and upon recommendation from Templar Ryder, it seems that after four years of your attendance at Abraxas Paladin Academy, we have finally found a mission that you may be able to handle on your own.”
He uncrossed his arms and placed both hands on the desk, which creaked slightly as he leaned forward.
“The Church has just gotten an advance tip by one of our informants about an upcoming pagan fight tomorrow evening at Club Demiurge, a nightclub in the factory district,” the bishop said. “Templar Ryder has told me, Cadet, that you have been … extensively studying the ways of pagans, particularly the beastesses. Is that correct?”
“Yes, Bishop,” Alex replied, nodding.
“So surely you of all people know that usually we have no idea where these fights are held. You would probably infer that intelligence such as this would prompt the Church to send paladins there at once, to close the nightclub and arrest all the criminals involved in this illegal pagan enterprise.”
Alex almost stammered out an affirmative response, but Bishop Ironside continued.
“However, there was more to the tip than just the location of the fight. Something, or rather someone, that gave us … pause. We have been informed that a person of interest, whom the Church has been attempting to capture for some time now, has been hired by the nightclub to help run security this evening.”
He walked over to one of the wooden cabinets, unlocked the door with a key from his pocket, and pulled on one of the filing drawers within. He rifled through the numerous folders until he found the one he needed and withdrew it, closing the drawer and cabinet door. He took a stack of a few papers secured with a paper clip from the folder and laid it on the desk, facing Sophie and Alex so they could read it.
“This is the dossier of our target: Sydney Beaumont. She’s a known beastess and a suspected enforcer for one of the most notorious crime syndicates in all of Abraxas. Study her well, Cadet. She’s a wily one.”
The dossier was small, Alex noted, barely three or four pages. From his studies of beastesses, Alex knew that there were four separate autonomous yet allied underground organizations of beastesses in Abraxas, collectively referred to as the Four Packs of Abraxas—one each to the north, south, east, and west. It stated that the target was a suspected enforcer for the most local syndicate to the academy called the Pack of Abraxas West, otherwise known as PAW.
Alex always thought that name was a bit too on the nose to be just a coincidence.
The form on the top page contained basic biographical information—her height, suspected age, occupation, classification as a beastess, and so on—as well as a summary of her arrest record and a rather blurry photograph, but otherwise there was nothing that stood out to him.
Well, that wasn’t entirely true. No information stood out to Alex as being unusual for a pagan criminal. What did stand out as soon as he read them was two brief sentences in her description, which stated: Beaumont is one of the strongest beastesses in Abraxas. Approach with extreme caution.
Alex’s heart skipped a beat.
“P-permission to speak freely, Bishop, sir?” Alex asked. Sophie briefly glanced over at Alex.
“Granted, Cadet. What is it?” Bishop Ironside said tersely.
“Why is Sydn—I mean, why is the target a person of interest?”
“We have kept our watchful eye on her for years now, and that filthy heathen she-beast has evaded our grasp every time. Despite the Church’s best investigative efforts and multiple arrests, we have been unable to mount enough evidence to warrant bringing the inquisition against Beaumont. We know she’s involved in criminal activities and illegal enterprises, but we can’t prove it.”
That would explain why the dossier was so small, Alex thought.
“Now, we have it on good authority from our tip that the target and her beastess associates have told her security team quite explicitly to do everything in their power to prevent paladins from entering the venue—no doubt to allow their sinful recreations to remain uninterrupted, certainly.”
Bishop Ironside turned his back to Alex and Sophie, arms clasped behind his back, as he gazed deeply into the embers of the roaring flames.
“More importantly, I suspect those pagans are trying to conceal something from the Lord’s divine light. They have transformed and fought paladins before, obviously, but they make an effort to keep their pagan rituals and … wild magic … as hidden from paladins as possible. Our theory is that they don’t want the Church reverse-engineering any magitech to use against them from observing their ceremonies. Hence, the heathens will try to stop us from entering, fighting tooth and nail if necessary. However …”
He placed one hand on the mantel shelf, shifting his focus to the Almighty Sun statue.
“They can’t stop what they can’t find.”
The bishop took his hand down and turned around to face them once again.
“That’s where you come in, Cadet. As we discussed yesterday, you will be attending the beastess fight tomorrow evening, undercover. Your mission is to gather as much evidence as you can about the target, her so-called ‘pack’, and—if possible—figure out what, if anything, those heathens are trying to hide from us. We will provide you with a concealed weapon to defend yourself if necessary, but if you are careful enough, no harm should come to you.”
“Permission to speak freely, Bishop Ironside?” Sophie said.
Alex looked at Sophie. She looked like she had been thinking about something ever since reading the top page of the dossier.
“Granted, Templar Ryder.”
“Why not raid the nightclub anyway? You said the paladins usually would, so why not? We’re more than a match for some lowly heathens and a few of their security goons.”
The bishop raised an eyebrow.
“It is not that simple, Templar,” he replied.
“You know as well as I do that the templars have dealt with our fair share of pagans many times over.”
“Things are different now. They have become more powerful—”
“Or just send me in! Alex deserves all the backup he can get. If I had been informed of the dangerous nature of this mission from the beginning, I would never have recommended him for it, let alone any cadet in the academy!”
So she had noticed that warning about the target too, Alex thought.
“Information regarding this mission was classified, and still is,” said the bishop. “As I stated earlier, this discussion does not leave my office.”
“I recommended him for an undercover mission, not a suicide mission!” Sophie said.
“Cadet Carpenter will be more than prepared—”
“This is insanity if you think he can take on one of the strongest beastesses in Abraxas alone.”
“Watch your tone, Templar—”
“Has the Church lost faith in its own forces?”
“Listen to me, young lady—”
“This is absurd, Bishop! I think it’s absolutely cowardly to just—”
SLAM.
Bishop Ironside had nearly cracked the top of the desk with one meaty fist, the tendons of his huge forearms flexing under his jacket sleeves.
“Templar Ryder, I order you to hold your tongue at once!” the bishop yelled.
He glared at Sophie with utmost fury, seeing red, his eyes almost as fiery as the fireplace behind him. A vein bulged and pulsed on his shaved head.
“You know as well as I do,” he hissed, spitting her own words back at her, “that there are only so many times you can provoke a beast before it lashes out. When you mess with the bull, you get the horns. Need I remind you of what we discussed at our last meeting, or is your memory that poor? Answer me, Sophia.”
Her eyes widening, Sophie slowly looked down at the floor, crestfallen.
“M-my apologies, Bishop, sir.”
Alex was confused as he glanced over at Sophie. He was not at liberty to inquire about what was discussed in private between superior officers. However, Sophie was clearly upset by whatever Bishop Ironside was referring to. In the time he has known her, Alex only knew Sophie to be steadfast and stoic when dealing with other paladins, especially superior officers, no matter how much they yelled at her. He had never seen anyone rattle Sophie this much. He wished he was allowed to ask her about it.
Alex turned his attention back to Bishop Ironside, who slowly exhaled through his nostrils and closed his eyes.
“Understand that I do not say this lightly,” the bishop said quietly. “The Church cannot afford to incur the wrath of these pagans. Their demonic strength and devilish trickery know no bounds, and have only grown stronger with time. They have severely weakened us before, and His Holiness Patriarch Ozias has specifically instructed the Church to be cautious when dealing with beastesses.”
Bishop Ironside opened his eyes and looked at Alex. Having found his voice again and calmed his anger, his superior officer stood taller and puffed his chest, his entire demeanor demanding respect. The bishop’s sheer aura of masculinity was intimidating, which, Alex thought, was probably exactly the effect he was going for after having his ego challenged like that.
“Now, Cadet: I’m trusting you with this mission solely because Templar Ryder here has specifically recommended you. I will be honest—just as Templar Ryder here has quite forcefully voiced her reservations just now,” the bishop said, shooting a glare at Sophie, “I also have my doubts about your capacity to carry out this mission. Your combat training has been lacking, you are behind in your classes, and to be quite honest, Alexander, you have been teetering on the edge of dismissal for your entire time attending this academy. I am convinced that it is only with Templar Ryder’s personal assistance that you have managed to make it to your final year by the skin of your teeth.”
He strode around his desk to the front, closing the distance between him and Alex.
“But … I do, ultimately, trust Templar Ryder’s judgment. Even God’s most wretched creatures are deserving of his glory. I will take a chance on you, just this once.”
Alex could feel the heated breath from the bishop’s nostrils as he stared up at the massive man coated in metallic reflections of dancing fire. Being this close to Bishop Ironside always seemed to be akin to staring down the barrel of a loaded cannon.
“Do not make me regret this, Cadet Alexander Carpenter.”
The bishop leaned down until his face was barely an inch away from Alex’s own. Each syllable was a threat of damnation, slowly enunciated with acidic perfection.
“Are. We. Clear?”
The wrath of God behind every word.
“Y-yes, Bishop,” Alex stammered.
“Good. Report back to my office at 1400, Cadet, and I will provide you with all of the mission documents you will need for tomorrow night. Oh, and Templar Ryder?”
Sophie stood at attention. Bishop Ironside smiled, which somehow made him look even more terrifying to Alex.
“I look forward to our meeting later this week with … great anticipation.”
Sophie wavered for a split second.
Then, she saluted.
“… Thank you, Bishop. Sir.”
“May the light of the Lord be with you both. Dismissed.”