Chapter 21, Apology

(Trisha, The Capitol Of Laurentia.)

Trisha saunter confidently out of the messengers guild hall, smiling kindly to all the red suited messengers in the entrance. Trisha even forced herself to smile at the receptionist. She let her forced smile fade as she pushed open the outer door, waving back to the group of messengers.

She shut the door and exhaled. Trisha didn't like the angry stares. She forced herself to look happy and sincere. She knew that if she was respectful and kind, they would change their minds. Trisha trudged down the road, hardly noticing the crowd until she arrived back at the church gate. She recognised the guard at the front gate, and the man seemed to recognise her.

" Welcome back, was your mission successful, Apprentice?.." drawled the guard.

" My name is Trisha, if you must know." replied Trisha.

" Well, call me Harry." said the Guard.

" It is because he has a hairy back that could put a bear to shame." said one guard. All the guards burst into laughter. Harry chuckled, scratching the side of his short dirty blond hair.

" Please pass, don't let these scoundrels hold you up." said Harry cracking a smirk of his own.

" Oh, don't be like that sergeant, not all of us are scoundrels." Replied one guard, grinning, showing two broken teeth.

Trisha grinned at the comradery of the front guards, lightening her mood. At least someone wasn't a pain in her behind today. The front courtyard was bustling with dozens of people. There were five groups that were all focused around one person each. Each group was separated and doing different things. Trisha looked for a familiar face, but could not catch sight of her friends.

She entered the main doors to the cathedral, passing the guards standing perfectly still. Trisha could feel their eyes on her, but whenever she looked they stayed ram rod strait. Trisha wandered down the unfamiliar corridors towards her quarters. She got lost wandering for several minutes. Where was that damned door to the stairs? She tried another door, her key not working.

Trisha grumbled to herself, trying yet another door. "Ahem!" Trisha whirled around, looking for the cause of the sound. There was only a guard standing ramrod straight, his only movement was his eyes tracking her. Trisha walked towards the guard, the man's slight smirk reminding her of earlier.

Trisha smiled, nice wasn't this guard near the stairs earlier? Surely she could find her way back from here. Trisha confidently strode down the hall. She reached where the door should be, only to find a blank wall. She scratched her head, backtracking to the guard. Trisha eyed the guard's face, once again confirming it was the same guard. She retraced her steps in a reverse of earlier. Upon reaching the wall Trisha stare in confusing at the blank stone.

" What in the name of Lytheria is going on?" asked Trisha. Trisha halted in her tracks. Maybe the bishop was playing tricks on her? Trisha drew in a trickle of mana looking for the glow. She searched the wall, running her hand over the stone. Trisha was sure this was the spot. The door couldn't have just disappeared?

She furrowed her brows, glancing from side to side, making sure no one was watching her. Trisha carefully channeled a sliver of mind mana. Her heart raced as her eyes frantically roved over the empty corridor. Trisha examined the wall until her eyes passed over the spot directly in front of her. No need to look closely, she hurried to move on. Her eyes roving the wall until she reached the other side.

Trisha sighed. She glanced back over the wall. Once again, her eyes refused to focus on the section directly in front of her. It was unimportant. The rest of the wall was much more interesting than she thought. As Trisha admired the completely bland stone wall. Trisha stopped channeling her mana, not wanting to risk anyone noticing what mana she was using. Trisha turned around, taking a step. Wait! What was she doing? Trisha turned and marched directly towards the uninteresting point on the stone wall.

As she approached to touch the wall, she noticed her body turning slightly. She turned just far enough so her hand pressed on the flat cold stone. Trisha gritted her teeth and forced her hand and body towards the door. Her hand rested on the uninteresting spot, and immediately the door snapped into focus as though it had been there all along. Trisha cheered internally. She wasn't going crazy; it was just the Bishop playing tricks on her.

Trisha used her key to unlock the door, entering the torch lit stairway. She crept up the stairs, calming her racing heart. Her head throbbed for some reason. Maybe breaking the image on the door had hurt her? Trisha stopped in front of the bishops dinning room. She breathed deeply, smoothing her blouse and pants, calming her nerves.

The door slid open silently, Trisha entered the well lit room. The Bishop was at the table, a pile of books and scrolls covering the surface. The woman glanced up at Trisha, peering over the table.

" How did your mission go?" asked the Bishop closing a thick tomb.

" They accepted my apology." replied Trisha with bated breath.

" Thats good, I thought they would." said the Bishop. Trisha clenched and unclenched her fists nervously. The Bishop assessed her.

" What are you so nervous about? Did you cause a problem for us?" asked the Bishop.

" No! Of course not. I may have offered my help to the messengers guild as recompense." replied Trisha nervously. The bishop sat back in her chair, clasping her hands together and crossing her legs.

" What did you offer them help with?" asked the Bishop.

" Someone killed one of their messengers and injured another. I offered to help them find the attacker." replied Trisha. Trisha hoped the Bishop couldn't hear her heart racing wildly.

" I suppose that is not a complete waste of time. If you perform well, then our dealings with the guild will improve immensely." said the Bishop cracking a small smile.

" That was my plan, milady. I want to curry favor for the church." replied Trisha truthfully.

" Thats good, two of the students will accompany you on this mission." order the Bishop.

" Can I take Greg and Eliya with me? We work well together." asked Trisha.

" They are doing there tests. But I can pull them out of training for a few days. However, they will need to catch up on what they miss." cautioned the Bishop.

Trisha pondered. Maybe she didn't know enough about the demon? If she met a demon with no idea how to fight them, she might die. Maybe she should come clean with the Bishop, she thought? She braced herself. It was better to come clean on this she decided.

" I think it may be a demon we are hunting." said Trisha, the words slipping past her lips. The Bishop straightened up, eying her sternly.

" And you were just going to go after the demon without consulting me first?" asked the Bishop.

" Yes, I decided that was foolish to go in with no knowledge on how to fight them." said Trisha bracing for whatever she might say.

" Smart, and don't look so worried. I will not punish you when you did not even commit an offence." said the Bishop waving one hand dismissively.

" So you 're not angry?" asked Trisha.

"No, what do you think your duties are going to be as my apprentice? You will earn your place, by hunting and killing the dark creatures known as demons." said the Bishop smirking.

" Oh, I think I remember you saying something like that before." replied Trisha.

" We must keep the population in the dark about demons. It is our biggest secret. They can suspect something dark but you can never show them proof." said the Bishop.

" That makes sense. There might be panic if people knew there were demons living amongst them." said Trisha.

" There are many that do, we just choose to keep most of the public ignorant." said the Bishop. Trisha drew in a shaky breath, steadying herself.

" Can I hunt this demon, with my team?" asked Trisha, staring the Bishop in the eyes.

" Yes." replied the Bishop.

" Thank you, we won't disappoint you, Milady." replied Trisha.

" Your friends may not thank you. I have known demons to kill many unexperienced students." said the Bishop.

" I will offer your friends a choice. Stay and take the test. Or they can accompany you. If you and your team kill this demon, I will allow them to pass the initiate exam." said the Bishop.

Trisha's heart stomach felt like it was tying itself in knots. She knew Eliya would say yes, no telling what Greg might say? But at least she would have her friend along. The Bishop rose to her feet smoothing her straight black hair.

" Demons are not the monsters you think they are. They are parasites that latch on to an intelligent host and slowly worm their way in. The demon takes control of the human's emotions, making even the most moral of humans like a psychotic. Its why we use the amulets at the gates. We are lucky they exude a slight aura or there would be no way to detect them once they have a human victim." Lectured the Bishop.

" Wouldn't someone know a demon was trying to take them over?" asked Trisha.

" That is unlikely. Demons are cunning and will slowly influence you until they have complete control. Most people don't even suspect a thing. If we catch it early, we can safely remove the demon. But if the human has been fully taken over its too late for us to help." said the Bishop.

" How can I find out who the demon has latched onto?" asked Trisha.

"I created the amulet you have on your neck with the ability to detect slight demonic essence. If it comes in physical contact with with a possessed human, your amulet will shimmer red." replied the Bishop.

" I will do it. If you can get them out of training, we will find and kill this demon." said Trisha, the haze on her mind fading in all the excitement. The Bishop smiled a stiff smile, like she knew something Trisha didn't. Trisha left the room feeling both vindicated and chilled. Her every encounter left her wondering at the Bishop's next move.