The Scourge Of Osborne

"Walter is...I..." Walter's words came to a crawl as his mind slowed down and he stared up at the human's face—a man who wouldn't live forever. Limited. His body would rot, age and then be gone.

Compared to Walter, this human was... envying? NO. Pathetic. This human and his offspring, his mate did not know what Walter had obtained, what he was given and what he will be.

He was dependent on his Master's blood—but look at him. This was his life, this was everything that he wanted—

"Are you alright?" William's voice took a far more concerned note.

Walter's nails dug into his head as he felt his brain squeeze—his mind was melting, everything, his entire being—

"Hey, hey don't force yourself!" William grabbed his shoulder and shook it hard. Hard enough that it took Walter away from his thoughts, his words, and it also took him away from the pain and the confounding emptiness that struck him.

Walter looked up to the man desperately, and said. "Golden Order. Golden Order—"

"Okay, okay. I actually know something since I asked around." William said in order to hush him. "They used to be here in the continent of—well, let's just start simpler first. What do you know of the Golden Order?"

He looked up at the human—William and felt a sense of meaning return to his mind. Golden Order, that made sense. That was what he was here for and so, Walter looked down at the scrap of paper with the sketch of men and women with swords.

"Paladins," he said.

"Right, that's what I know too." William laughed a little. "You know, like Paladins. Does it mean that they all wear gold armor so that's why they're called the Golden Order?"

He didn't laugh and simply waited for the human to have his fill.

William cleared his throat and said. "But you're right, they are a Paladin Order. Although they're not an all-exclusive Paladin group, other similar Classes are welcome there and their function is to rid the world of scourge as given to them by the Sun God—the gold is where that stems from by the way. They serve the golden sun god."

"Yes. The evil sun god." Walter felt himself say, and then saw the look on William's face. "Bad sun, hot—burns. Burning. Heat. Drought."

"Oh." William's expression relaxed a little, despite the fact that Walter talked in such a way that nearly betrayed the fact of who his Master was. "Yeah, there's some issues when the sun burns brightly, but it's because the Water Goddess isn't working with him, they have their arguments that lead to disasters. The sun hasn't done anything wrong, it just shines."

"..." He slowly nodded in agreement. "Where are they?"

"Yeah. The Golden Order used to be here, their humble beginnings started in this continent—but after they had saved this place from the scourge, they traveled to where they're needed."

"So where?" he asked impatiently.

"The Eriss Continent." William explained. "The Witch Coven is there, and they're assisting the Witch Hunters in dealing with the issue. The Grand Witch has grown too powerful and so they've left there."

"Grand Witch...?"

"A bad woman. She was said to have visited here in the past, but they're taking land for themselves—destroying kingdoms or making them give up their rulers and indoctrinating more to join their cause. They seduce people to sin, cast a magnitude of curses and well—you just know and can see that they're bad people, so the Golden Order took their headquarters there to prevent the spread."

"Who leads?" He asked.

"I don't know, everyone? They try to have equal standing, even the lowest ranked member can supposedly approach those their senior without hesitation. But yeah—the leader is a Chosen one of the Sun God himself, Paladin Ophelia herself leads the group."

"Chosen one?"

"She's lived for such a long time. The Sun God himself provides her with the vitality of the sun so she can serve the people and rid the world of Scourge."

Scourge, that was what they were referred to. Witches were Scourge. His Master was a Scourge—and that meant Walter was one as well. It shouldn't have been a surprise and yet the way that William spoke bothered Walter.

"Scourge why?" He wasn't supposed to ask, it was irrelevant and it took every part of him to ask.

"Why?" William blinked. "I didn't expect that, but you know that they inflict harm on other people, their presence lets people like us lose ourselves in the process. It's a curse to be lured by whatever they promise you—you give up a part of yourself in that process. They take something away from you, and even though Witches say it's a trade, that there's a price and exchange... they still twist those words and you end up getting less than what you bargained for. Monsters like them—"

"Monsters?"

"Well, you can't call them humans, you know?" William said.

"Right."

"But yeah, that's why the Golden Order has moved on to Eriss to handle the situation after they've dealt here."

"Dealt here?"

"...those Night Creatures." William said. "I don't think the Moon Goddess ever intended for them to be created during the start of Creation, but they must have just come to existence. But luckily, they were all wiped out."

"Oh."

"Well, not all of them—but yeah, I know it's probably a lot to take in." William looked at him with what appeared to be pity and then an uncomfortable look.

Walter's gaze remained unbothered.

Soon, the man scratched his head. "I don't know what happened to you or how you came here—and my wife worries about your presence. Do you know where you come from? I can't exactly leave the village, but I could ask for some assistance—Merchant Huck will be leaving tomorrow and he could get you a ride. Even though the Golden Order's headquarters is now in Eriss, there's actually a lot of foundations that can help people like you."

"Like me?"

"Yeah..." William clutched his hands. "My grandfather was an orphan ever since the plague and so he was taken in by the Monastery of Solisia, they're affiliated with the Golden Order. They can take care of you, help you find a place and get the help that you need."

"You want me gone."

"What? Nonono—it's not like that." William waved his hands. "It's just that, I'm just a Guard here, and I can't help you as well as them."

"It's fine. My job here is done."