Part Ten: The Final Chapter
It had been decided during a secret meeting of only the Judge, Piter, and the Head of Ceremony, an elderly Paladin named Geoff, that it would not be made known that Saifir had regained his honor. They decided that the Paladins and heroes, and their families, would not gladly give him an Honorable Execution ceremony. When word of this spread through the people that had seen the transformation, many were angered. They believed that Saifir had requested an execution, and that it should be done with Honor. Eventually, word got back to Rakeesh, and Rakeesh went to tell Saifir.
"What? Why have they done this?" Asked Saifir, shocked.
"They feel it would upset those that you have harmed, to see you accepted back into the ranks of us. Those that did not see the transformation would not understand. I'm sorry."
"Well, then, I will not be executed." Saifir said flatly. Rakeesh cleared his throat, and continued in a grave voice.
"Once the decision has been made, there is no going back young one."
"But it is my choice!" Saifir cried.
"It WAS your choice. Now it is in the hands of the council.
"But all those I betrayed! They'll never know!" He suddenly remembered something. "Trizan's son! He has not been told! I cannot die unless I tell him!" Saifir said with such emotion that Rakeesh nearly shed tears.
"Young one, I will tell..."
"No! I must! It is MY honor!"
"I am sorry young one. Nothing can be done."
"There is no way to stop the ceremony?" Saifir asked desperately.
Rakeesh's only answer was to stare at the floor. Before either of them could say anything else, the door opened, and Piter stepped in, followed by four guards. They tied his hands and put a black hood over his head.
"What's this?" Saifir cried.
"You are being taken to the executioner's block."
"I will not be treated so un-honorab..."
"As of now, you have no honor. I am sorry, but this is how it must be done."
"I must redeem myself..."
"Do not speak." Piter said firmly. They began to take him away.
"Rakeesh!" Screamed Saifir. "RAKEEEEEEESH!!!!"
Rakeesh turned away, weeping.
They dressed Saifir in black clothes, painted an upside down "U" on his chest that stood for "Un-honorable", and took him to a giant platform in the center of the Courtyard of Honor Keep, the meeting hall of the High Council of Paladins. There was a wooden stand there, with two pieces sticking out of the sides. They tied Saifir down on the stand, and his arms on the pieces that were sticking out. As they did all this, Saifir looked out through the two eyeholes in the hood, and he saw faces that were filled with hate. Many spit at him, and others threw rocks. He noticed that there were many that had burns on their faces and arms, no doubt heroes that were caught in the fire from the Dark War. When he was completely tied down, drums started pounding, and the Executioner slowly marched forward. The crowd was completely silent. Piter stepped up to a podium at the corner of the stage, and began to read from a scroll:
"Saifir the Dark, you have been deemed un-honorable in the eyes of the High Council. You are now to be executed. Have you any last words?" As he said this, Saifir's hood was removed.
"Not for you!" Saifir spat out, glaring at Piter.
No one spoke another word, and the drums pounded again. When they suddenly stopped, the Executioner slowly raised his axe above his head, and held it there, gleaming in the sunlight. As he was about to drop it, a single voice screamed out:
"STOP!!!!!" Everyone turned to look, and they saw a lone figure, a Liontaur, fighting through the crowd.
"Has Rakeesh come to save me?" Though Saifir. "Will I live after all?"
Rakeesh climbed onto the stage, and he moved to Saifir.
"What is the meaning of this?" Piter asked. Rakeesh didn't answer. He reached behind him and pulled a sword out of it's sheathe. As he showed it to Saifir, a tear rolled down Saifir's cheek. It was the sword Trizan had given him when he had first become a Paladin, the sword he had embedded into the rock that served as the tombstone to Trizan's grave. Rakeesh set it on the stand next to Saifir's hand. Saifir grasped it.
"How..." Saifir started dumbly.
"Don't worry, Saifir. All has been forgiven." Was Rakeesh's answer. As guards moved to take him away, he looked warmly into Saifir's eyes and said,
"Die with honor, young one."
Saifir closed his eyes and remembered how those were Trizans last words. He didn't ask any more questions. He merely waited, strangely at peace with himself. But still he wondered if he would be saved. Surely he would. He did not think it his destiny to die here.
The Executioner raised his axe once more on a command from Piter. As he did so, Saifir remembered his childhood with Trizan, and was filled with happiness. But in the back of his head, there was still the question "When?"
And as the axe blade swung down, glinting in the sun, he heard a voice in his head whisper, "Be calm young one."
Then, as the axe struck wood, Saifir was re-united with everyone he had ever loved and lost, everyone one he had loved and hurt. The first to greet him was Trizan.
THE END