The First Trial

"What are you reading?" Julia asked as she invited herself into his room and saw him leaning back in a chair by the window. It was summer and the warm winds gently blew in through the open window, "Are you going to make me read over your shoulder?"

"You usually don't complain about it," He replied before turning the book and holding it up, "Thus, the Dawnbringers."

"Who is it by?"

"A certain Ternos something er, the last name is worn out."

"That is interesting, what is it about?"

"Danwbringers."

"Well, duh, what about them?" She asked as he looked at the page he was on and shrugged, "What is the shrug for?"

"Just who they are, how they conducted themselves and how they were the purest form of what the Dawn Legion is now."

"As in?" She looked perplexed by his comment about purest forms.

"We fight for good, but not every man and woman in our ranks does, we have those who fight for glory, for fame, for violence, to keep their families afloat, for all those things."

"People have needs, the king gives us a lot of importance for keeping his people alive, we are the real army of the kingdom of Evaonfell."

"I never said the contrary, but it is a reality that makes a lot of men unworthy of being Dawnbringers and simply makes them Dawn Legion legionnaires."

"You are one."

"I would like to think I am more than that."

"Oh, to me you certainly are," She leaned down slightly and kissed his lips, "But I assume you mean you hope you are worthy of such a title?"

"Yes."

"Then try, but don't forget," He looked up at her as she looked down over him, "Keep your feet on the ground, don't get caught in a dangerous fantasy," Reynold smiled and nodded to which Julia did the same, a smile and a nod of agreement, "Good," She moved to be standing next to him instead of leaned over him and looked out the window, "What a nice day."

"I agree."

"Would you like to do something?" She asked, turning back to face him, "A walk or something before your mind dives back into chasing the Dawnbringers?" He nodded and stood up, "Thank you," Her smile was contagious, making him smile as well once he laid eyes on it. His mind had three things it couldn't help but focus on, his role in the Legion, his love for Julia and his want to find out more about the past and more about those who preceded the Legion.

He sat alone in his room as the sun set and the light from the window was replaced with the light of a pair of candles on his desk. Reynold poured over the pages and read everything, trying to find out all of what the book could give him and tell him. Becoming a Dawnbringer was, in his mind, a brilliant goal and one that could give him more of a chance to return to the fight against evil instead of organizing it. How to even achieve that still eluded him however as he re-read everything. Purity was a strange term as the viciousness of their acts against evil was easily overlooked for the good those acts brought.

Soon his eyes found what he was looking for, the true test of the Dawnbringer to become a Dawnbringer. A symbol that he quickly recognized as the Dawn Legion's symbol indicated to him what was to be done but not in a written form. Words that seemed out of place before now fell into place in a sentence made up of different chunks of other sentences, "Brand of light, bound in honor, call upon them, crack of dawn," He looked at the setting sun and then back at the words shown to him in the sentence, "A brand of light, bound in honor, call upon them at the crack of dawn," He repeated as his mind began to piece together an idea of what was to come for his nocturnal, usually sleepless, escapade. He left his room, extinguishing the candles, to adventure into the dark of night to await the crack of dawn. Alone, out of the walls of Galewin and along the smaller mountain ridge path, his legs brought him to an isolated shrine. He visited the old shrine as a way to disappear for a busy and chaotic Galewin, the wilting flowers had been blown away and the name of the shrine's creator lost, somehow it seemed older than the city itself. It was built in such a way that sunlight would strike the sigil on the top of the shrine as it broke out from hiding and replaced the night sky. All that was left was to wait and Reynold sat down, facing the nighttime sights of the fields, valleys and smaller mountains around Galewin's mountain range.

"Hey Reynold," Julia barged into his room and saw it empty with the candles extinguished, "Oh? What's going on?" She looked into the hallway and caught sight of a guard, "Legionnaire, have you seen Advisor Iver?" The pair of guards looked at each other then at Julia before shaking their heads.

"No, Lady Holi, we just went on shift, maybe the previous guards had seen something," A guard replied, "Maybe Commander Heldson of 1st defense could help you if something was reported to him," Julia nodded and departed, closing the door behind them.

"Where are you, Reynold?" She asked herself as she roamed the hallways and all the people she met late at night told her nothing useful or the same as the two guards had before. It was like he disappeared.

After hours of waiting, silently staring into the darkness of the world around him, Reynold noticed a ray of blinding light break the monotony of darkness, and dawn had arrived. It was time to call forth a patron of light but how to do so he didn't know. He did whatever he could think of and moved to his knees, putting his arms out as light moved over him and he spoke, "Patron of light, hear me call for your blessing and guidance to fight against those who seek to commit crimes of evil upon the world," He said it once, nothing happened. He was being bathed in light as he repeated it before a bright flash made him turn away before he saw a glowing form in front of him in armor and with a strong resemblance to the image he had of a Dawnbringer.

"I have heard your call, young Dawnseeker, what is your name?"

"Reynold Iver," He replied, still kneeling as the figure moved to look out at the valley, "I have come to seek help to provide the world with hope and peace once more."

"Peace has never existed, but it can be improved."

"What do I do then?"

"I am Ternos Aver, the author of the book you read, 'Thus, the Dawnbringers'," He replied, "I died years ago, losing track of time as a lonely patron of light with no one to support."

"Am I the person that you want to support with my quest for good?"

"If you are to dedicate your life to this cause, you will be branded as a Dawnbringer and I will be your patron, young Iver," Ternos replied, "I will aid you in your quest for good."

"I have already thought of it, I already want that," He replied as the figure nodded, "Is this literally branding me with a symbol?" A nod made him exhale and nod.

"It will hurt, scream out in pain, you are not to be a Dawnbringer," He declared as his armor faded to leave him torso naked and a visible brand on his back despite his body being mostly light, "Some of us have use restraints to grip or hold as the light burned our bodies, some didn't."

"Just do it," He lifted his shirt and revealed a scarred and bruised back, "I am not waiting longer for this," His patron nodded and a brand formed in his hand and he moved it near the younger man.

"Once it is done, you will need to evacuate your pain, scream, shout, writhe in pain, I couldn't care less but during, you shall not make a sound," He explained, "As it has been years and years since the last Dawnbringer, there is little reason to turn away a man like you who has already put in the effort to dig through the thoughts of a dead man to get to this point," Reynold nodded and waited as the heat of the branding light approached his back. Ternos didn't give him a warning as the heat struck his back and Reynold's eyes went wide and his nails dug into his thighs. His jaw stayed shut, pressing against the opposite jaw as pain coursed through his body but his mind was being fueled with powers he couldn't yet understand but he had an inkling of understanding of already.