Part Nine: The Dark Transformation
When he came to, Saifir was surprised to find that he was strapped to a large piece of wood and had been moved quite a distance away from where he had been captured. He was also surprised to see that he was naked.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" He shouted.
"We had to take your special armor just in case we had to use magic against you." Said the one Saifir took to be the leader.
You could have at least left me undergarments!"
"We had to take all precautions. We cannot let you escape." Replied the leader calmly.
Saifir surged against his shackles, and sent Ronoh into his arms. Although the wood did start creaking, he did not free himself.
"It appears we do have you at last." Said the leader.
"Does the confident one have a name?" Asked Saifir.
"You may call me Akhmed." Said the paladin.
"You are from Shapier?"
"Rasier. It is Shapier's sister city, and a beautiful place. Not that it matters to you, who lives on destruction and violence." Akhmed answered bitterly.
"No. You don't understand me at all." Said Saifir quietly. I love beauty. But I have no choice but to destroy it. That's how I get my power. And without my power, you HONORABLE beings would strike me down with no cause."
"We would strike you down because you are evil!"
"Why? Because I take life? You take life yourself."
"I take the lives of those that cause harm!"
"But by doing so YOU cause harm. What of the families of those you harm? Do you seek them out and provide for them? I didn't think so."
"Enough. I won't argue with the damned."
"The damned? Am I to be executed?"
"If that is what the judges decide. There are doubts, but me, I think yes, you will be."
Akhmed fell behind the group, and Saifir was quiet for a long time. He was thinking on a way to free himself. He thought he might try to take all of their honor simultaneously, but he didn't know if he could take it at distance when he was not forced to. But he had to try. From the way his captors were behaving, they were nearing their destination. He concentrated with all his will, and started the process of draining honor, but he focused on the whole group. He saw the guards in front of him drop, then he felt himself falling to the ground. He used his extra power to break his chains, but even so it took him quite a long time. He obtained his armor and weapons from the guards, and was preparing to leave when Akhmed rounded a corner in the path with a group of soldiers.
"They should be just a little farther up. I though we might need reinforce...what is this?" He said confused.
Saifir dove into the woods, and started to run as fast as he could. He could hear Akhmed and the soldiers behind him. He pulled everything he could into the path behind him, but it didn't matter. They didn't slow. Saifir pumped all the Ronoh energy he could into his legs until they were both covered in a black glow. Suddenly, he burst into an open field, and there was a huge building in front of him. He heard a trumpet blow, and a gate opened and guards poured out of the building. He turned, but Akhmed was right behind him. He drew his sword and turned. He charged into their ranks, and started swinging his sword in wide arcs, but his blows barely had any effect. He sensed that this place was a great stronghold of honor. Indeed, he found himself barely able to use his power. He did manage to vanquish a number of paladins, but he was soon overtaken, then he was knocked unconscious again.
When he awoke, he was tied to another platform, but it was on a stand. He was relieved to find that he was not naked. He looked around and saw a semi-circle table, and there were many people sitting around it. Paladins. There were many different people, but one stood out. The only one that wasn't human. He was a liontaur, and he looked upon Saifir with a certain softness that none of the others had when they looked upon him. It took Saifir a while to recognize the paladin, but when he did he was overcome with a mixture of joy and dread.
"Rakeesh!" He cried. He recognized the noble liontaur from his childhood with Trizan. At remembering Trizan, he looked around the table again, and he saw an empty chair. He knew who would have sat there.
"Hello, young one." Said Rakeesh in a sorrowful tone.
"What am I doing here?" Asked Saifir.
"You will address only the Council Judge." Said an elderly paladin in a harsh tone. It seemed directed at both Saifir and Rakeesh.
"I do not have to obey your rules!" Said Saifir boldly.
"It would be best to do as they say. It will make the judging easier on both you and us." Said Rakeesh comfortingly.
"Fine. Who is this judge?" Asked Saifir.
You may address him as Piter the Judge. He is newly appointed you understand? You took the life of the last Judge, who foolishly thought you had not turned away."
"You will not talk about Trizan that way!" Saifir hissed, his eyes flickering black flame.
"Why do you have this attachment to the one you killed so remorselessly? Did you know this foolish man?"
Saifir surged against his chains with all his might, but no matter how much he focused, his ronoh would not give him strength.
"You will not be able to use your blasphemous powers against those chains! They are protected against such evil!" The judge spat.
"I will escape. And then you will die!" Saifir threatened. "Anyone who insults my father so will die!"
"I mean him no disrespect. But it was foolish to believe his heart rather than his mind. And you took advantage of this and stole his honor! What little respect you have for your "father" when you look at it like that."
"I did not take his honor!" Saifir shouted.
"Enough. The judging will begin. You have been charged with treason to your honor, your brothers, and your fellow man. This is grounds for death. You have also been charged with the death of over 1000 paladins and humans. Do you have anything to say before you are judged?"
Saifir spat on the table in front of Piter, and the black fluid sizzled.
Piter ignored this action. "Then this judge finds you guilty. You will be executed tomorrow at dawn. You have until then to try and restore your honor."
"Restore my honor? I thought it could not be done."
"It can't. Or rather, it has never been done. But your own Black Prophecy states that one day a Black will be restored. We respect that prophecy, and allow you this time to try and restore. If it is restored, which I am sure it will not be to one so entrenched in the darkness as you, then you shall be set free, a Paladin once again. But if you do revert to your Black ways, you will be destroyed. That is the only way to escape the execution."
Saifir remained silent, and the platform was lifted and he was carried to a cell where the platform was placed on a stand, and he was left facing up. He drifted off to sleep.
He was awoken several hours later by a fuzzy hand. He jumped, but he was jerked back by his chains. His eyes focused, and he saw Rakeesh standing over him.
"What are you doing here, old one?" He asked.
"I have come to help you." Rakeesh answered.
"You will set me free?"
"No. I cannot do that. I could not live if I did take such actions. No, I am going to restore your honor to you." Rakeesh stated.
"But how is it to be done?" Asked Saifir. "It has never been done before!"
"Well, one night while I was asleep, my fallen comrade Trizan appeared to me, and he said that you could be restored. I asked how, and he said that you had to use your honor. That was all."
"What honor? I am the exact opposite of honor!" Saifir said exasperated.
Rakeesh quieted him and hid in the corner of the room as the night watch passed. When it was safe, he continued talking.
I am not certain. But I believe it has to do with all of the honor you have stolen. You have, after all, taken more honor than any other Black Paladin ever. More than most of them combined. I think you need to reject ronoh in the way you rejected honor, but there is more. I believe you must also force it out of your body. Whatever you do to steal honor, you must do the opposite to release ronoh."
"I will try." Said Saifir.
"God help you." Said Rakeesh as he backed away to give Saifir room.
Saifir gathered up all the power of ronoh that he had in him. His body started glowing black, and he felt lightheaded, but he continued. He used all of that energy to force it out of his body.
"I reject ronoh." He whispered. With all of the ronoh force called up, and this said, he started the process of reverse-absorption. He felt a stirring inside of him, and he opened his mouth and let out a bellow. Black energy streamed out of his mouth and eyes. Slowly, it began to turn white. His pupils also started to recede, and white was soon visible. The night watch burst into the room, and Rakeesh grabbed him and held him back so that he would not interfere or be hurt. The light stopped. Then Saifir's armor crumbled to dust, and his sword, which was in the corner of the room, did the same. The energy streamed out of the room in separate beams. All over the world, the honorless husks of men he had left were restored. And the ones that had died, the energy streamed into the heavens, taking the fallen ones souls with it as well. When all was finished, all the Paladin's in the building poured into the room.
"WHAT HAS HAPPENED?" Bellowed Piter.
"Saifir has done it! He has had his honor restored!" Said Rakeesh gleefully as he unshackled Saifir. Saifir stood, then dropped to his knees and wept.
"What is wrong?" Asked Piter, who was even overtaken by what the experience symbolized.
"What...I...did. So...many...people!" Saifir whispered.
"You are forgiven!" Said Piter, confused.
"How can I be forgiven by others when I cannot forgive myself?" Asked Saifir.
"What are you saying?" Asked Rakeesh worriedly.
"I must pay for my crimes. It is not right. I must be punished." He looked out the window.
"What exactly do you mean?!" Asked Piter.
"Is that the sun coming up?" Asked Saifir. "The time for my execution is here."