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  EMPIRE PALADIN

  —Blood of the Unholy—

  Book Two of the Empire Paladin Series.

  by

  M. S. Valdez

  EMPIRE PALADIN: Blood of the Unholy is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and any such resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2019 by M. S. Valdez.

  Cover art copyright © 2019 by M. S. Valdez.

  Cover design copyright © 2019 by M. S. Valdez.

  Digital book(s) (epub and mobi) produced by Booknook.biz.

  Map by M. S. Valdez.

  All rights reserved.

  Excerpt quoted from the poem Paradise Lost by John Milton.

  John 6:54 quoted from the King James Bible.

  ISBN-13: 978-1-7339110-0-9 (Mobi)

  ISBN-13: 978-1-7339110-1-6 (ePub)

  Published in the United States of America.

  www.empirepaladin.net

  Twitter: @Empire_Paladin

  DEDICATION

  For those countless authors who opened my mind to power of fantasy.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  When I first started to write the Empire Paladin series, I began placing it in the setting of a fantasy world; sort of like Westoros in A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, or Middle-earth in The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien. However, I was running into a problem with incorporating an entirely made-up fantasy world with Christianity. I suppose if someone wanted to write a book about how Christianity came to be in another fantasy world (and perhaps such a story has already been written), well, I wish them the best. I, however, was not up to the task. So instead, I decided to place my story in a historical time period of our own world. This is hardly unique as the story of King Arthur is certainly well known with its aspects of Christianity and fantasy; and, of course, set in Britain. Additionally, I would be remiss if I did not mention Bram Stoker’s Dracula, with its fantastical creatures and Christian themes, as contributing some inspiration to the ensuing novel.

  I did some research on the various centuries during the medieval era. The 14th century with the Black Death certainly was a very intriguing time period. Interestingly, there’s a movie titled Black Death with Sean Bean set during that time and containing some fantastical elements. And I would recommend Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman; an excellent book set during the Black Plague and incorporating a battle between Heaven and Hell. Ultimately, I decided upon the mid-13th century as a lot of the events occurring during that time period meshed well with the kind of story I wanted to tell.

  There have been countless stories of fantastical creatures such as witches, werewolves, vampires, wizards, etc., set in our world, but I haven’t come across many about paladins.

  This is my story about paladins—rare holy knights—who are blessed with the power of the Holy Light; to ward off and destroy demons and evil spirits; and to bring about the healing power of the divinity. At least such are their good intentions. And we know what road is paved with good intentions…

  -M. S. Valdez

  EXCERPT FROM PARADISE LOST

  by John Milton.

  Before the Gates there sat

  On either side a formidable shape;

  The one seem'd Woman to the waste, and fair,

  But ended foul in many a scaly fould

  Voluminous and vast, a Serpent arm'd

  With mortal sting: about her middle round

  A cry of Hell Hounds never ceasing bark'd

  With wide CERBEREAN mouths full loud, and rung

  A hideous Peal: yet, when they list, would creep,

  If aught disturb'd thir noyse, into her woomb,

  And kennel there, yet there still bark'd and howl'd

  Within unseen. Farr less abhorrd then these

  Vex'd SCYLLA bathing in the Sea that parts

  CALABRIA from the hoarse TRINACRIAN shore:

  Nor uglier follow the Night-Had, when call'd

  In secret, riding through the Air she comes

  Lur'd with the smell of infant blood, to dance

  with LAPLAND Witches, while the labouring Moon

  Eclipses at thir charms. The other shape,

  If shape it might be call'd that shape had none

  Distinguishable in member, joynt, or limb,

  Or substance might be call'd that shadow seem'd,

  For each seem'd either; black it stood as Night,

  Fierce as ten Furies, terrible as Hell,

  And shook a dreadful Dart; what seem'd his head

  The likeness of a Kingly Crown had on.

  SATAN was now at hand, and from his seat

  The Monster moving onward came as fast,

  With horrid strides, Hell trembled as he strode.

  Th'undaunted Fiend what this might be admir'd,

  Admir'd, not fear'd; God and his Son except,

  Created thing naught vallu'd he nor shun'd;

  And with disdainful look thus first began.

  CONTENTS

  Author’s Note

  Excerpt from Paradise Lost

  PRELUDE TO THE INFERNO

  Chapter 1: SCRUTINY

  Chapter 2: COLD AS DEATH

  Chapter 3: DISCORD

  Chapter 4: REBORN INTO THE UNLIVING

  Chapter 5: TO KNOW THE TRUTH

  Chapter 6: LOVE’S FERVOR

  Chapter 7: A FATHER’S LOVE

  Chapter 8: BLOOD CRAVING

  Chapter 9: A FATHER’S RAGE

  Chapter 10: BLOOD LUST

  Chapter 11: A FAMILIAR FACE

  Chapter 12: FIREPOWER

  Chapter 13: TASKMASTER

  Chapter 14: SUFFERABLE SORCERERS

  Chapter 15: COVEN

  Chapter 16: THE COMPANIONS THREE

  Chapter 17: DISSONANCE

  Chapter 18: RETURN TO VIENNA

  Chapter 19: BLADE IN THE NIGHT

  Chapter 20: DUKE BE DAMNED

  Chapter 21: LOVE’S MEMORY

  Chapter 22: IRON WILL OF THE PRIESTESS

  Chapter 23: INNOCENCE TAKEN

  Chapter 24: COLD COMFORT

  Chapter 25: HARBINGER

  Chapter 26: UNINVITED GUESTS

  Chapter 27: UNWELCOME

  Chapter 28: FOUL BLOOD

  Chapter 29: FORTUNE FAVORS THE BRAVE

  Chapter 30: THE PRIESTESS AND THE PALADIN

  Chapter 31: FLAMES OF FURY

  Chapter 32: LOVE’S DESPAIR

  Chapter 33: RECKONING

  AFTERWORD

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  PRELUDE TO THE INFERNO

  — Holy Roman Empire: Month of December, Year of Our Lord 1241.

  “I knew you could do it,” said the man in the dark, hooded cloak. The Father of Lies, the Angel of the Bottomless Pit, and Lucifer were some of the names given to this man. He moved to stand next to the paladin, to voice his encouragement. “I always had faith in you. You will do what must be done. You will not fail me.”

  Lucifer and the paladin gazed upon the individual in the center of the room; a figure who struggled against the bonds that held fast their body to a wooden beam. The bound person screamed and cursed at the paladin.

  The paladin took out flint and steel from a pouch at her belt. She approached the screaming, struggling figure and then knelt to the kindling placed about the person’s feet; kindling that would set fire to the wooden boards and timbers piled about the restrained individual. It was time to mete out the Lord’s justice.

  CHAPTER 1

  SCRUTINY

  — One month earlier in the Patrimony o
f St. Peter: Month of November, Year of Our Lord 1241.

  “Is it true you didst express cowardice and abandon your fellow soldiers and fellow paladins at a time of great crisis?” demanded the Grand Inquisitor. He was seated, along with two other inquisitors (one to his left and one to his right), at a wide, raised dais positioned as the main focal point of the room.

  “No, I did not,” came the curt reply from the paladin who knelt on one knee in front of the dais. She had her head bowed as she leaned forward with both arms slightly crossed over her other knee. One of her hands held firm a rosary consisting of black prayer beads and a silver crucifix.

  “Is it true, when the army of the Holy Church was attacked by a greater demon of Lucifer, you didst flee into the night leaving your fellow comrades to be slain?” asked an inquisitor, the one on the left.

  “No, I did not,” answered the paladin.

  “Then please explain to this tribunal as to your whereabouts when this demon attacked the camp,” requested the Grand Inquisitor.

  Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor, was the thought that sprang to the forefront of the paladin’s mind. The ninth of the Ten Commandments. And I shall break it. “I was overcome with a sickness prior to the attack, a malady I have never experienced before, your Holiness,” replied the kneeling paladin. “I had left to return to the Holy City for remedy as I was of no use to my fellow warriors in my condition.”

  “But suddenly, as if by some miracle, you were fit again to return to fight at the Battle of Death’s Valley, were you not?” the Grand Inquisitor retorted.

  Death’s Valley was now the moniker given to the valley where all of the Undead had collapsed into lifeless bones and rotting flesh once that traitorous paladin, Vhaldrynn Malleus, had been slain. It was also where mass graves had been dug and filled with piles upon piles of corpses.

  Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, the paladin thought to herself. The third of the Ten Commandments. Another commandment to be broken. “Yes, your Holiness,” the paladin replied serenely. “God’s mercy provided me the strength of body, mind, and soul to return to battle.”

  “Yet you returned to the army of the Holy Church not from the direction of the Holy City, but rather from where Vhaldrynn’s host of undead were known to be advancing from,” the Grand Inquisitor continued. “How do you explain that? Did you get completely turned around?”

  The inquisitors, seated at his sides, chuckled.

  Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. “Yes, your Holiness. The sickness must have disoriented me so greatly that I departed the army and lost all sense of direction.”

  The Grand Inquisitor scoffed at the response. He was dressed in his finest silken vestments and an immaculate white miter encrusted with precious emeralds, rubies, and diamonds was carefully placed upon his brow. He pulled back the cuff of a sleeve from his right hand and picked up a goblet from the dais before him. Being ever so careful to not spill a drop of the wine on his unsullied fabrics, he carefully sipped from the chalice. Replacing the cup, he continued with the inquest.

  “What was the manner of the sickness?” he inquired.

  The paladin hesitated a moment before responding. “Hallucinations, night visions, terrible fatigue, delirium…”

  “And what do you believe brought about this…,” asked the inquisitor seated on the right as he waved his hand in a dismissive gesture, “…this malady?”

  The paladin paused considering, “Lack of proper nourishment mayhap. A pestilence. The toll of the battles we had been facing. I’m not sure. It could have been any number of things.”

  “No other paladins came down with such an affliction!” snapped the Grand Inquisitor scornfully.

  “I am without explanation, your Holiness. My fellow paladins can vouch for my illness.”

  “As they will do so soon enough!” snapped the Grand Inquisitor. His fingers shuffled and probed for a document from the stack of parchments in front of him. Finding it, he peered at the document closely as if only now familiarizing himself with its contents.

  “Are you, or have you ever been, possessed by a demon of Lucifer?” asked the Grand Inquisitor.

  Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. “Never,” came the paladin’s response.

  “Is it true that you were possessed by a demon at the Battle of Death’s Valley, the very same demon which did possess Lord Vhaldrynn Malleus?” continued the Grand Inquisitor.

  Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. “No, I was not possessed by a demon. I have never been possessed by a demon,” replied the paladin in a flat, wooden tone.

  “I hold here a report from several soldiers at that battle who have sworn that they saw you turn into a demon,” the Grand Inquisitor thumping the document on the dais. “How do you explain that?!”

  “The chaos of the battle must have confused them,” the paladin responded. “I and my fellow paladins were many hundreds of yards away from the main army when we fought and killed Lord Malleus. There were no soldiers anywhere near us. And it was night time. They must be mistaken as to their accounts.”

  “Was a demon present?” asked the inquisitor on the left.

  The paladin sighed as if the entire session of inquest had become tiresome. “Several demons came to the aid of Vhaldrynn. Likely summoned by the witches and warlocks who had joined Lord Malleus’s unholy legions.”

  “And you destroyed the demons?” asked the inquisitor on the right.

  “Most of them,” replied the paladin. “The sorceress, Fausta, also assisted in killing one.”

  The Grand Inquisitor growled and slammed his fist down on the table. “Sorcerers are heretics! How Lord Arkon allowed their kind to join with our forces, I’ll never know! It’s a wonder God did not strike us all down for allying with such heathens!”

  “Lord Arkon, God rest his soul, felt that we needed all the help would could get given the seriousness of the threat from Vhaldrynn,” the paladin commented. “The spellcasters certainly helped us.”

  “Perhaps this Fausta will need to be brought before this Inquisition to testify as to what occurred,” suggested the inquisitor on the left.

  “I don’t believe she would dare to set foot within Rome given how the Inquisition feels about those who practice magic,” the paladin said wryly.

  The sound of suppressed laughter rippled through the seated spectators—bishops, priests and other clergyman—at that comment. How the Inquisition dealt with sorcerers was quite well known throughout the Empire.

  The Grand Inquisitor glanced up from his parchments to gaze down upon the paladin kneeling in the center of the chamber. The paladin was not looking at him, but rather at some point on the floor before her. Grand Inquisitor Konrad Marburg tolerated no disrespect from anyone within the Holy Church. That this insolent paladin refused to look at him now was very close to intolerable.

  “Look at me when I am speaking to you!” demanded the Grand Inquisitor.

  The paladin looked up and met his eyes with her own. Sparkling blue with silver at the outer rims of the irises, they gazed back at him, unblinking.

  “Lady Chastaine,” stated the Grand Inquisitor. “This is an extremely serious matter. Should you be found of having been possessed by a demon, or currently possessed by a demon, you will be excommunicated and then put to death. The saving grace of our Lord Heavenly Father you will never know. However, confession…CONFESSION!” he thundered, “will bring you salvation.”

  “I understand,” replied Lady Camila Chastaine, a paladin of the Holy Roman Empire.

  “You do understand that this tribunal will also be hearing testimony from your fellow paladins, Lady Talitha Attias and Lord Atrael Hylas, as to the truth of this accusation of demonic possession?”

  “I do understand,” replied Camila. Her gaze swept from one side of the tribunal to the other; that row of Inquisitors of the Holy Church glowering down upon her with stern, unforgiving eyes.

>   “And you do understand that if but one of them attest to demonic possession upon your person, you will be excommunicated and put to death?”

  “I do understand,” replied Camila.

  Grand Inquisitor Konrad Marburg took in a deep breath as though this entire affair had required some enormous effort on his part. He shuffled the various parchments before him and then looked back into the unwavering eyes of the paladin.

  “Lady Chastaine, I will ask you a final time and know that God, Lord Our Father in Heaven, is witness to your testimony and is your final judgment. Are you, or have you ever been, possessed by a servant of Satan?”

  Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. “No, I have not,” replied Camila, her eyes and voice still steady, resolute, unwavering.

  “Are you a servant of Satan?”

  “No, I am not.”

  “Then let it be known that we have no further questions for you at this time, Lady Chastaine. You are free to go.”

  Camila stood up from her kneeling position, bowed to the tribunal, and turned to exit the chambers. She stopped abruptly as she saw a familiar figure seated at the rear of the room. That person was eyeing her intently. The High Priestess Savina Lourdes was easily recognizable with her raven-black hair, flawless olive complexion, and brilliant, cold, emerald eyes. She was garbed in a gleaming white silk gown and a simple gold circlet adorned her forehead.

  Camila allowed her gaze to linger a moment longer upon those penetrating emerald eyes. The High Priestess did not drop her gaze. Camila then exited the room without so much as a nod of acknowledgement.

  In the antechamber, Camila saw her dear friends, Talitha and Atrael, patiently awaiting their own summonses to testify. Camila nodded briefly at them. They returned the nod and then looked back down at their folded hands.

  Without saying a word to her friends, Camila departed to the confines of the paladin barracks. Whatever judgement would be passed based on her friends’ testimonies, she would meet that fate whence it came.