Before I reached the entrance of the Church, which was guarded by two Watchmen, I pulled out the Truth Stone of Order and Chaos from under my tunic. As I approached the front door, they immediately opened the door for me.

The guards saw the holy relic around my neck and recognized me as a VIP member of the Church. Thus, they did not dare to deny me entry. As I passed by, the two saluted.

Once inside the building, I approached a young lad and said, "I need to report to the Bishop immediately."

The boy saw the relic around my neck, bowed deeply to me and turned around. He led me down the hallway, up the staircase, and then straight down another hallway until we reached the dining hall.

Standing in front of the doorway and blocking entry was Enab, the human avatar of Lord Bane. His official title was assistant to the Bishop. "Bishop Canterbury is expecting you. You may enter," the young man said and stepped aside for me to walk through the doorway. His superior preferred a quiet morning to break his fast and Enab's task was to ensure the bishop was undisturbed unless the old man wanted to see someone specific, like me.

Only the Bishop and I knew Enab's true identity as the Demigod of Chaos, and neither of us was inclined to reveal this secret to anyone else. After all, for members of an organization, which was dedicated to the Law and Order, to cavort with the divinity of the opposite faction was tantamount to heresy. Thus, it behooved us to avoid letting other Brothers of the Church learn of our respective relationship with Lord Bane.

But then again, Bane was an enigma. Who would suspect that his avatar was working in the Church? For the Bishop of a town, no less. That being said, I had to admit that his warning of Hleandros' return to the dojo was timely. Furthermore, our return to Tregome had provided the school with just enough highly skilled defenders to defeat the red dragon. However, I was still confused about the god's relationship with the late Hleandros and I doubted that Bane would ever tell me the full truth regarding this matter. I nodded politely to Enab and entered the dining room.

Just like the last time I visited the bishop in the dining hall, he was the only person inside. I picked up my pace to cross the room. He was sitting at a table next to the window. "Good morning, Your Eminence," I said while smoothly kneeling down, taking his hand, and kissing his ring.

Bishop Canterbury gave me a polite smile. "Please have a seat. Have you broke your fast yet?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered as I took my seat across the table from him.

"Then please wait a moment while I finish my oatmeal. I won't be long," he promised.

I waited patiently for the priest to finish his simple meal. I did not miss the unhappy vibe emanating from his tight smile. There was no joy in it and the reason was simple: I was inadvertently making life difficult for the man again. In his eyes, I was as much of a troublemaker as Lord Bane.

Bishop Canterbury was the de facto mayor of Tregome and burdened with the responsibility for the well-being of this frontier town. It was bad enough for a red dragon to attack Tregome. My participation in defeating the dragon made matters worse because of my personal membership in the Church.

If the dragon had fought solely with the cat people at the dojo, the bishop could take a hands-off approach and disregard the incident, to some degree. But with my personal involvement in the dragon's subjugation, he was forced to acknowledge this feat, reward it in some way, and implicitly suggest that I had prior approval from the bishop himself before I fought the dragon. Because even if the truth came out that I had acted on my own initiative, the leadership of the Church wouldn't see it that way. Bishop Canterbury was an early supporter of me and he had personally persuaded (or coerced) me to join the Church. He could not withdraw support from me now without losing his standing within the Church itself.

Thus, I was sympathetic to the bishop's dilemma and curious as to how he intended to resolve this incident. Of course, Van's actions this morning made it worse but I was confident that the incident hadn't reached the bishop's ear yet.

When the old man was finished with his bowl of oatmeal, he took a sip of the honey tea. Bishop Canterbury looked directly into my eyes and said, "Go ahead."

I nodded. He was ready to hear my report. "My party had finished exploring some ruins near Chilworth and we camped in front of the village last night."

The bishop held up his hand and interrupted me. "I'm not familiar with Chilworth. Where is it located? What's the nearest city?" he asked.

"Chilworth is a small village of hunters to the north of Southampton," I answered.

"And you were camping near Southampton last night?" he pressed.

I nodded. "To answer your unasked question of how I arrived here so quickly in one night, it was due to divine magic. While I was asleep, I was pulled into the Dream World by Lord Morpheus. Lady Luck, one of my patron deities, was present and she introduced me to Leonus, the patron deity of the animal people. He, in turn, presented our mutual friend Lord Bane. The demon lord explained that Hleandros the red dragon was coming to Tregome to exact revenge on the dojo for a humiliating defeat at the hands of Kallimon, the founder of the school. Kalistra, the heir of the dojo, asked Leonus to transport us directly to the dojo. He agreed and we arrived last night. However, Hleandros was already waiting for us in his human form. In an attempt to minimize casualties, the late headmaster bravely challenged Hleandros to a duel. Still in human form, Hleandros obliged and fought one-on-one against Kalistro. Eventually, the dragon became tired of it and returned to his true form to attack all of us. The headmaster was killed by dragon fire while his daughter delivered the killing blow to the dragon."

My companion took another sip of his tea. "Enab has not said a word of this," he said quietly.

"Understandable," I replied. Basically, Lord Bane had to pull quite a few strings to bring us to the dojo immediately. He knew that Hleandros was already lurking inside the dojo. He arranged for me and Kalistra to return to give Tregome more capable reinforcement against Hleandros. Bane had his own reasons for wanting to keep this frontier town alive even at the cost of the dragon's life.

That being said, the demigod could not transport us himself because of some divine rule forbidding this. However, Leonus had a closer connection to the animal people and thus, he was allowed to intervene directly in this manner. It just so happened that the two gods from opposing factions shared a mutual goal of protecting Tregome and its residents. And they were able to work hand-in-hand to ensure that Kalistra and I arrived in time to fight Hleandros.

Bishop Canterbury noticed the look in my eyes and he was very relieved that I understood why the human avatar of Bane had kept his silence. With that out of the way, the cleric broached another difficult matter: my reward. "Traditionally, for defeating a great evil like a red dragon, the Church holds a celebration at the Public Square. Would you be willing to participate in such an event?" he asked.

I waved my hand immediately. "Holy One, I need to resume with my ruins exploration quest. Once the late grandmaster's funeral is over, I plan to leave Tregome right away. If you are inclined to reward me for defeating the dragon, then I humbly ask for a teleportation spell to return my party to Southampton." I bowed my head deeply after making this request.

I had originally bargained with Delkon of the Magic Guild for a Gate spell to the guild branch in London. If the bishop could cast Recall on me and my companions, I should be able to return to Southampton immediately and thereby, skip the long and dangerous travel on the road from Tregome to Southampton altogether. I didn't know why but my gut instinct told me that completion of the Ph'laen Ruins quest was critical. Bishop Canterbury should be able to cast this high-level spell to bring me to Southampton. And this spell was worth more to me than a promotion within the Church ranks or a reward of gold or trinkets.

The old cleric looked at me with a blank expression and realized which travel spell I wanted from him. "You want me to cast Recall. However, you're missing a critical piece of information regarding this spell. For the divine version of this spell, the recipient can only be transported to a previously visited church or shrine. And if my recollection is accurate, Southampton is a god-less place where the Church has been cast out. Am I correct?"

A faint smile appeared on my face.

Bishop Canterbury frowned at my expression. "Tell me," he insisted.

"Pardon me for saying this, Your Grace, but you WERE correct. But that has changed now. During my visit to Southampton, the port was raided by slavers. I had to request divine intervention from Lord Bane and Lady Musa in order to defend the city. Afterward, the Leadership Council of the Magic Guild, which governed the city, was visited by the two gods during a meeting discussing this incident. The council was forced to offer a major concession in exchange for their divine intervention: a holy shrine to be built in the city. If the shrine is placed in a public area such as the pier dock, then I should be able to return there," I explained.

The bishop stood up and held his hands in the air. "Praise Lady Musa for her mercy! This is wonderful news!" He was giddy with delight because he suspected that the other Church leaders hadn't heard this news yet. After all, the Magic Guild in Southampton had hunted down all the spies of the Church and politely but forcefully expelled their agents. Thus, news from the seaport spread only via merchants, which traveled on the road and spread the word very slowly. Canterbury planned to send a letter via carrier pigeon to the Church leaders in London some time today.

The cleric took his seat again. "Yes, if the shrine has been built and you had visited the location previously, then Recall should send you back to Southampton," he agreed. "In that case, I will send you there as a reward for defeating the red dragon," he promised. "Now, before you leave there is one final matter to resolve: the body of the dragon. On behalf of the Church, I would like to purchase the remains from the dojo. Can you facilitate this sale?" he requested.

I took a moment to answer my superior. Given the bitterness that Kalistra harbored against the Church, I felt that she would not sell the remains of Hleandros to the Church. However, I had a duty, as a member of the Church assigned to this task, to ask her, anyway. "I will talk to the new headmaster and inquire about selling the dragon's remains to the Church. But she may decline to do so," I warned him.

Bishop Canterbury frowned at this reply. He understood that the Church policies discriminating against demi-humans were the reason for my warning. He personally tried to convince the Church leadership to change this policy and welcome demi-humans to holy grounds but his pleas fell on deaf ears. Now, this policy was coming back to bite the Church! "Make the inquiry," he commanded.

"Yes, Your Eminence," I bowed deeply.

The bishop hesitated for a moment and then opened his mouth again. "Now, speaking not as a church official but rather in the capacity of the mayor of this town, I urge you to remove this carcass and take it out of Tregome as soon as possible."

"Why?"

He stared at me blankly as I was a moron. Bishop Canterbury slowly shook his head. "The body of a dragon is extremely valuable. Necromancers may seek to revive it as a dracolich under their control. Cultists may seek to control and resurrect the dragon as their demigod. Mages may use various parts of the dragon for spells components or magic item creation. My priority is to prevent an invasion of Tregome to steal the remains of the red dragon. The fight over it may destroy the town itself. That is an outcome neither of us desires. If you can convince your headmaster to sell the carcass to me, I can arrange for the Church to take it out of Tregome immediately. Frankly, the Church will drop everything else and prioritize taking possession of the body first," he explained.

"I didn't realize it is highly sought after," I said meekly.

"Do you have any more questions?"

I shook my head.

"Then, you may leave."

Accepting the dismissal, I rose from my seat and quickly walked out of the dining hall. As I expected, Enab was waiting for me.

The human avatar of Bane escorted me down the hallway. He nodded politely whenever we encountered other clergymen. As soon as we were alone, he stopped walking and turned around. "I thank you for your role in subjugating Hleandros," he said.

I nodded politely. I was deeply worried about where this was headed. "I don't need any reward from you," I said.

"Nonsense! I won't allow the other gods to say that I'm a cheapskate. You have done a tremendous service for me and I insist on giving you a proper reward," Enab replied.

I held up my hand. "Fine. I seek knowledge. I want to know the location of the Ph'laen Ruins near London," I replied. Alsaj, the human avatar of Jasla, Bane's daughter, had taken me directly to the first set of ruins. It took much longer to locate the second set of ruins near Southampton, despite the hiring of a guide knowledgeable of the surrounding area. But even that wasn't much help because my companions found villagers who knew where the ruins were located. Thus, knowledge of the exact location of the third set of ruins would be extremely helpful in the completion of my current mission.

Enab tilted his head slightly to consider my request. Frankly, it was more modest than the demon lord had expected. "I will get you a map with the location. But I will need some time to obtain this information on your behalf. When you arrive in London, please rent a room at The Demon's Lair. I will leave the map with the innkeeper," he promised.

I was perplexed by this answer. "Why can't you tell me right now?" I asked innocently.

The young man rolled his eyes. "The gods don't know everything. There are limits even for the divine. I WILL get you the information. I just need some time to obtain it," he explained. He was extremely unhappy to admit that the gods weren't all-powerful and all-knowing, as much as they would like the mortals in this world to believe otherwise.

I bowed deeply for offending him. "I apologize for my ignorance."

Enab graciously waved it away. "You're only mortal," he grinned. "Okay, you need to leave now. You don't want Captain Maisel to drag you over to Watch Headquarters," he reminded me.

Oops! I totally forgot about her request to give testimony at the Watch HQ for the incident involving Van this morning.

The assistant smirked at me and resumed walking down the hallway.

We took a set of stairs, walked through another hallway and finally reached the exit.

"See you soon," Enab smiled and waved his hand.