Elira got more and more steady with her healing as the purification went on, and by the end Calen’s speed was only slightly lower than when he worked with Sylara.
"It’s done." He announced, and stepped away from the now unconscious giant.
"He’s stable, but will need some time to recuperate and transform back to his original form." Elira informed Leon.
"How long will it take?"
"Considering that the altar is helping him, he should be fine by dawn."
*Too bad we don’t have any spare armour suits, we could finally let him talk if we did." Isara commented.
"No need for that." Leon shook his head. "The seal in the armour is active only when the whole set is in place, it’ll stop working if he removes the helmet."
"Have you ever seen him without a helmet? Like before he joined you?"
"I did. I was right there beside Nickolas when he came to us two hundred years ago, asking for asylum."
"And? What did he look like?"
"Like a demon from hell – but uglier."
"Aye, I can attest to that." Damien nodded. "He was one of the ugliest bastards I’ve ever seen, but also a pretty chill guy."
"Could you tell us his story?" Elira asked. "I’m extremely curious how a corrupted sapient creature came to seek salvation from the Blight on its own, especially when all the others we’ve seen relish in its vile power."
"I could, but wouldn’t you like to hear that story straight from the source? Once Greg wakes up he’ll be more than happy to tell you... probably."
"Wait, is Greg even his real name?" Isara frowned.
"It’s a short version, I couldn’t even pronounce the real thing." Leon admitted.
"How did you come up with the suppressing armour? That’s a pretty specific thing to create." Cassian asked.
"When Greg came to us for the first time he was wearing a strange talisman, he told us it’s a sacred relic of his people that allows him to partially cut off his mind from the influence of the Blight."
Leon gestured at the fierce looking plate armour.
"Henry, our previous blacksmith and Thomas’ master, came up with an idea to reverse-engineer the talisman and create an armour that could completely supress the corruption, although it came with some disadvantages."
"What was Henry like?" Alfred asked. "Thomas always avoids talking about him, and I’ve been wondering why."
"He was brave and stubborn, always wanted to help everyone no matter the cost. This mindset led him to sacrifice his life to protect a small settlement from an avatar of an ancient one."
"That’s why they didn’t allow him to take the battle trial?"
"Yes, most of the round table was scared to lose their only blacksmith who had just only finished his training." Leon sighed. "I’m ashamed to say it but we probably could’ve handled it better. We should’ve told him about our concerns, and tried to reach some sort of a compromise."
"He might be willing to reconcile once the round table is cleansed of all the traitors."
Somber silence descended on the group, but it was quickly broken by Calen:
"Leon, would you mind taking a look at something for me? I’m curious about your opinion."
"Sure, what do you want me to see?"
Five minutes later both of them stood in front of the unnamed statue behind the temple.
"It’s definitely Tharion." Leon nodded. "And you’re saying there’s an entire shared tomb beneath the temple where people are depicted this way?"
"Yes, could they be his followers or something?"
"If they are, then he certainly wasn’t the one to gather them." Leon chuckled. "The man lived under the same roof as us for several months, and I don’t think anyone exchanged more than three sentences with him. We didn’t even know his name until Lady Sylara pointed us in the right direction."
"Us? You were alive during the invasion...?"
"I was but a recruit back then, still wet behind the ears. The invasion occurred around a month after I joined the army – I was sixteen, I think – probably would’ve died if Tharion didn’t tell Nickolas to rescue the training camp I was at."
"You said you’re the second oldest in the Order right? How is that possible if Nickolas gathered so many people back then and supposedly no one died during the first few months."
"Ah." Leon grimaced. "It’s not something we like to talk about... I can only tell you that we tried to counterattack the Blightborn – if you want the details you’ll need to ask Nickolas."
"Alright then, let’s talk about something else – horses, or Striders, where are they? Alfred said you have a few at the Order, but I haven’t seen any animals, let alone something that could be used as a mount."
"I’m afraid you reached us at a bad time I’d you wanted to see them – around a month ago the Riders stopped by the castle, and asked us to lend them the Order’s Striders."
"We did. The Striders were domesticated by the Riders, and one of the conditions for sharing them with others was an unconditional access to them whenever the need arises." Leon explained. "Besides, we don’t need them as much anymore since the tunnel to Mountainfall was opened, and the Riders always give them back after some time."
"Do you know what did they need them for?"
Leon was interrupted by Cassian coming out from behind the building.
"Ellie says that something strange happened with Greg, and he’s bound to wake up any minute now."
"I think his original species had some sort of healing factor, like Cal, because the recovery rate gradually sped up." Elira stated.
Greg stirred as she finished her sentence.
"Are you awake buddy?" Leon asked.
The steel giant nodded.
"You can take off the helmet, the process worked and you’re no longer corrupted-"
Greg didn’t even wait for him to finish before he grabbed the horned helmet and pulled it off.
The face beneath the mask was far from the beast Leon described – it was handsome and symmetrical, with strongly defined features.
You could almost mistake him for a human, if not for the slightly pointed ears, blood-red hair... and the pair of large curved horns growin out of his forehead.