And his blackened wings did spread, and his shadow was cast over the world he sought to live in. On the air a sent bore through him. Fear mixed with doubt and a hint of disparity. It was his own sent, twisted, changed, and unclean. He wondered if any one could smell his fear, or was it too slight for the rest of the world to detect.
A bead of sweat crossed his brow. He was nervous and impatient, tired of waiting so long without reassurance. He repeated the words that have steadied his nerves so many times before. "She will fall to you. She will be yours." His heart slowed and his resolve strengthened. His lips cracked and curled.
"Yes she will be mine." He spoke softly to himself.
From the other side of light tears fell from the Paladins eyes, and cut swaths across his cheeks before dripping off into the abyss of the unknown. His own wings tattered and broken. Scared from the lies and injustice beset upon him, but still strong enough to carry two. He looks forward without seeing, blinded by his own tears and the betrayal of the once good.
"I have failed her." He whispered. "How can this be?"
His shadow spread across her as she lay naked at his feet. Exposed and unprotected oblivious to the danger, seduced by the fantasy and the lie of him. She no longer cared to believe in the truth. What good would it bring her? Better to believe the lie and let what is to be come latter. She can not see his leathery wings, only the light of his shadow holds her gaze.
"Take me from this place." She urged. "Take me and make me whole..."
"How did you fall Dark Paladin?" Spoke truth. "What is it that consumed you, and left you ruined here?"
"I was honest… I spoke your words. You failed me, and I failed her!" The Paladin screamed. "She has abandoned me, and I can’t protect her! WHY? Tell me why!"
"Are you sure it was my words that failed you?" Questioned truth. "How can you know this to be me? What of his words? Did they not play a part in this? You don’t need to ask me why, do you? You already know why."
And the Paladin broke. Rivers of tears streamed from his face and fell at his feet flooding the earth. They pooled and collected spilling over into the abyss.
"Yeesssss. I know." He sobbed. "But she’s been through so much already."
Truth smiled. "Tough Love Dark Paladin. Tough Love… It’s the only way she will learn."
