Valerian, The Legendary

Valerian still had a few dishes to clean and did not join them, but Altamash sat down on the table with Solaria and asked hushedly, “Will you not call him?”

Solaria shook her head. She had no such intention of showing this child any mercy. In her eyes, everyone was the same, but this child had blood on his hands, so he needed to work harder. Altamash had explained to her why Valerian did what he did. However, the lady did not buy it. She could not believe that a young man would be so cruel.

After Valerian finished washing the dishes, he found that the followers were also done eating. He wanted to sit at the table and serve himself food when the high priestess said, “This food is set aside for other members. I apologize, but can I ask you to show them compassion?”

Valerian nodded and walked away to the side. He sat down on an empty table silently. He did not care about the pangs of hunger he was suffering from. On the contrary, all this bought a smile to his lips. He practiced his skills to control mana inside his body as he waited.

After a few minutes, Solaria was done eating, and she stood up from the table. Then she went to clean her dishes. Valerian did not offer any help because the followers of mercy did not like to be helped with such menial tasks.

Solaria returned to the table and said, “You all may return to your duties when you eat. Okay? I have something to do.”

The rest of the followers nodded, and the lady said, “Your Eminence Altamash, please come along.”

She did not even address Valerian to follow her. She was deliberately trying to see this young man’s tolerance. Valerian did not mind, and he stood up to follow Altamash.

.....

The guardian of the dragon temple did not remove his hood even when eating his food. Valerian found it amusing and wanted to question the person and how he managed to do it. Finally, after another set of corridors, the three people arrived in front of an altar hall. A few people were sitting in front of the altar.

Valerian observed this place and said, “Vita can sense the heartbeats of everyone willing to put down everything. Their clothes, money, status, ego, and origin. The one with a heart full of mercy will be able to become one with the goddess upon reaching the end of their lives.”

Solaria nodded and said, “The goal of the followers is to reach the selfless dedication to the goddess. You do know your gospel.”

Valerian shook his head and said, “I have never read the gospel. However, I have heard it many times from my mother.”

Solaria put a thoughtful look on her face and asked, “Where is your mother now?”

Valerian replied, “Beside Vita.”

Solaria remarked, “Dead, I see. How did she die?”

Valerian gazed at the lady and said calmly, “An excommunicated priest from the mercy temple killed her.”

Solaria acted surprised, even if the guardian had already mentioned it. But she did not care. On the contrary, she wanted to know more as she understood this was a sensitive topic and the young man would show some uncanny fluctuations.

Solaria asked, “Why would an excommunicated priest do that? Can you please tell me?”

Valerian was not a fool, he could tell that this lady was fishing to get a reaction from him, but he did not mind. He was not going to play to her tunes. He kept his cool and said, “The person was excommunicated because of his cruel methods against dealing with the wrong-doers. He burned them slowly in the name of vita.

So, this is not about my mother but me. I was unable to speak and cry ever since I was born. I was treated as a curse. Only my mother cared for and helped me in need for ten years. In the orphanage I lived, children above ten years of age were asked to go out and join society.

The day I left the orphanage, a lady from the staff conspired against my mother and sent her to the forest. The excommunicated priest ambushed my mother to find out my whereabouts. He tortured her, but my mother did not say anything.”

Solaria nodded and asked, “So, what did you do? Did you not try to save her?”

Valerian nodded and said, “I tried to save her, but she was burnt to the point where a minor healing spell could not help her much. Finally, with her dying breath, she told me not to give up and be happy. Then I killed the lady who conspired against her, and I also found that priest and killed him even brutally.”

Solaria did not expect him to come out and say this so openly. She was surprised, but calming down, she asked, “Do you not feel any remorse? How can you kill someone so easily and still come here to join the order of mercy?”

Valerian smiled and said, “I killed those people because if not, someone else would have suffered the same way I did. I do not feel remorse because I did not take the initiative to attack them. It was their fault to try and kill me. I acted in self-defense. Or do you think I should have let them kill myself because I was a cursed being in their eyes?”

Solaria was tongue-tied. She did not expect this young man to be so sharp. Finally, he got her to jump into a pit she was digging for him. She shook her head and said, “If you were acting in self-defense, you could have just injured them and left the place.”

Valerian shook his head and said, “Your grace, you might have been lucky not to deal with those who seek the destruction of anything they cannot claim. But not everyone in the world is like that. People suffer, and in the face of death, they try to save themselves.”

Solaria had no reply to his questions. She was old enough to understand that the world of magic was not precisely rainbows and pegasus. It was filled with bizarre people and creatures too. She sighed and asked, “The guardian told me you wish to have an audience with the Saintess?”

Valerian nodded, and Solaria asked, “Why?”

The young man did not shy away and said, “It is because I have a few questions that only she can answer. A few things that will decide the path of my future.”

Solaria was surprised, she did not get anything substantial from this answer, but she could tell from the expression in the eyes of the young man he was serious. She thought of something and asked, “What if I do not allow you to join the order?”

Valerian raised his head to look at the mural of the goddess and walked toward it. He said, “If you do not allow my request, I will leave the decision to Vita. Mother used to say that if someone seeks something selflessly, Vita will help them.”

Solaria had a bad feeling, and just as she thought, Valerian’s body was covered in flames. These flames were not created by any of the people on the altar. Altamash stood up, and with a gasp, he said, “What is happening to him? Solaria, tell me.”

Solaria said, “Valerian come back. You still have time. The flames of Vita are not someone who had not yet joined the order can bear.”

Valerian replied, “It is all up to fate now, Your Grace. If the goddess of mercy wishes me to vanish into ashes, let it be. However, if I clear the path, I can join the order without your opinion.”

Solaria could not believe this young man chose this path because she whimsically asked something. Altamash was going crazy and asked, “What is happening here?”

The high priestess said, “He is walking the path of Vita. If he can reach the mural before the flames turn him to ashes, he will be eligible to join the order.”

Altamash was shocked and asked, “How did it become like this? How can it be?”

Solaria lowered her head and whispered, “This...”

The guardian of the dragon temple said, “It is all because of you. Your insensitive questions pushed him into this.”

Solaria raised her head and said, “It is not my questions but the impatience in his heart. His anger, his rage, made him do this. He has been unable to cry, and that is why all the grief pent up inside him makes him do such impulsive things. This is his biggest flaw. Do you get it? Stop blaming me and pray that he makes it through.”