In the morning, Arad returned with Mira to the castle. They instantly teleported inside upon getting close. "You can go back to sleep. I will check something out," Arad said, walking toward the door.
"The sun is about to rise. What do you have to do?" Mira asked with a worried face.
Arad smiled, "Nothing important. Zephyr wants to talk to me. I will check with her quickly,"
He opened the door and walked away and Left Mira to rest till the morning.
When Arad went into the garden he saw Zephyr flying around the flowers and roses, staring at them with a smile. "You never once called me to talk , is something the matter?"
"It's a long story," Zephyr turned around and stared at Arad with a passive face, "Want the long or short story?"
"Long, can't miss details," Arad replied.
Zephyr flew toward him and told him what happened last night, explaining everything relating to her, the dark elves and the invading humans. She even showed him the contract, a binding vow to the first pope.
After sitting for a while, Arad stared at the sky, "What should I do?"
"[Can I say something as a fellow patron? We who reached a level of power high enough to grant people magic, yet not enough to leave the mortal planes or ascend.]" Doma said, a mouth appearing on Arad's hand.
"What do you suggest?" Zephyr stared at Arad, waiting for Doma to reply.
"[This land should stay in the human's hand. There is no need to restart the old war. But I suggest you renew the contract to better terms. And not with the pope.]"
Arad could feel a weird excitement coming from Doma. She had a nasty plan brewing inside her head.
"[Arad is slowly taking a role similar to Alcott as a dragon Mediator. How about we add humans and dark elves? Heck, even the gods.]" The face appearing on Arad smiled, "[When gods try to make a deal with each other through their servants, let's put Arad in the middle. As a first job, he will oversee the negotiation between the humans, you, the dark elves, and the respective gods.]"
"Wait? I can't do that." Arad gasped, shaking his face, "You know how many paladins are there? Four hits, and I'm going to the grave faster than I can throw punches."
"What she is saying is that you have potential. And don't worry about them. They can't smite you anyway." Zephyr smiled, flying toward Arad's face, "Harming you mean starting a war against Elis, the goddess of the dark elves, and me. Paladis serve the gods, not fight against them."
"I thought each one served one god," Arad looked at Zephyr, confused.
"Those are clerics. Paladins serve the greater good. To make it simpler, gods usually band together and form what we call pantheons. There are many like the elvish pantheon which has gods like Sylph and Elis, and the human pantheon which has others like Jemima, Amaterasu, and Evandor." Zephyr explained.
"Alina's church is dedicated to the earth Mother? Who is that?" Arad remembered Lydia calling her like that.
"The earth mother, an over deity named Chauntea. But that church is dedicated to the human pantheon. It's those three I said before." Zephyr flew and sat on Arad's shoulder.
"They will kill me when they know I'm a vampire," Arad sighed, but Zephyr stared at him, pulling on his hair.
"They won't, and no one said I would allow them to check you." She giggled.
Arad nodded and smiled, "So then, where should we meet?"
"They usually pray in the church right after dawn. That is how followers of Amaterasu, Evandor, and Jemima do it most of the time. We can wait for them to call us or catch them first." Zephyr smiled.
Arad turned and looked into the castle, "I know where the inner church is. Heard they call it the inner sanctum. Let's give them a surprise visit,"
The head pope walked inside the castle's halls, heading toward the inner sanctum guarded by the general of the Paladin army and several other men. To this country, his importance is almost equal to the king since most people follow the same religion.
Thud! Upon reaching the golden door of the inner sanctum, the pope stopped and stared at the handle. "Strange, I sense the divine magic of the dark elves goddess, Elis." He looked at the paladin general, "No one has the key other than me and you,"
The general approached the door, his eyes glowing golden as he grabbed the handle in his hand. "It's locked tight. He must have slipped in without going through the door."
The pope sighed, fixing his gold-laced clothes and large onion hat, "First the great spirits show up, and now this messenger of Elis is challenging us. What could we do?"
The general looked back at his men, "Protect the pope, but don't attack the messenger first, and even if he did, they to convince him to speak instead of fight. We must solve this in a peaceful way,"
The pope nodded, "Good judgment, we mortals have no right to start a fight between the gods. Also, that spirit is a disaster if angered. We must tread carefully."
The general pulled a silver key from his pocket and unlocked the sanctum's door. He looked back and slowly pushed the door open, keeping an eye forward for any surprise attack.
Looking inside, the inner sanctum looked like any regular church with the statues of the gods in the front. The only difference is the quality of the building and materials. Everything was made of rare marble, gold, silver, and gems.
On the front row of seats, a large black-haired man sat with one leg on the other and one arm resting on the seat's backrest.
It only took the general one stare but he could sense it in his bones, this man was a real problem.
"Elis's messenger I presume, may I ask how did you get inside?" The general walked in the front, keeping his eyes fixed on Arad's head.
Without turning, Arad replied in a passive tone.
"Through the front door."
The general blinked, Arad wasn't lying but the door was locked tight. It doesn't make sense. "You opened it?"
"Arad pointed at the statues of the gods, and asked them," He turned his head, glaring at the paladin general with glowing purple eyes, "Wait, statues don't speak,"
A vein bulged in the general's head, he wanted to strike, but sighed instead, "Fine, shall we talk now? Or did you only come to pray?"
"Do I look like I'm praying?" Arad sighed, imitating the general, "You seem, a bit angry, aren't you?"