The crows swarmed the "Purity" day and night. Some were attuned to the hunters, eyes in the sky when they deployed. Others were simple messenger birds.

Serafin stepped into the communications room and put her report on the top of outgoing letters. The pile was a modest little thing compared to the veritable mountain of messages they had received.

The paladin looked around. The aspirant in charge was nowhere to be found. Her eyelid began to twitch, for what reason had they abandoned their post? Sighing she took their place, sat down and picked the first letter from the pile.

A local community asking for aid, suspecting their preacher to not conform to the truth immaculate by preaching about the gods while not praising the Imperator in equal manner.

A complaint over merchants breaching orthodoxy and purity by traveling past the empire´s borders to trade with both exiles and inhumans, and silencing the local authorities with bribes.

A marriage between a misbreed and a citizen, done behind the daughter´s parents backs, and the local authorities were not heeding purity by allowing it to continue.

And it went on and on. Serafin read the complaints, checked over the map on her side to see how far away they were from the area of offence. Then she gave the letter a small instruction and signature.

"Send an aspirant in idolatry and gardists to lecture and detain said preacher."

"Send an aspirant of orthodoxy to the local garrison and detain those merchants deemed suspicious. Await further instruction."

"A clear breech of purity. By imperial high law, enforce the annulation and arrest the authorities in question."

Lastly she organised the letters into smaller piles by their region. Throughout all of her work she had a smile on her face. Yes, what she was reading was reprehensible and upsetting. How much had she cursed and fumed during her aspirancy in orthodoxy while doing these tasks.

But now she saw them not as setbacks, but as success. The amount of weeds only showed how great their beautiful garden had become.

"My, my lord, I am so sorry!"

Serafin had not even heard the door opening. She looked at a young man, dressed in the grey cloak of an aspirant, his silver badge on his chest identifying him as currently being tasked with the truth of orthodoxy.

His cloak was much too large for the poor boy, it hung over his shoulders and he had to use two belts to keep it in place. He stared at her both in fear, and amazement. "I, I went to have a short break to eat with a comrade, I did not mean to be a whole hour but."

Serafin stood up from his seat. Where there had been a single tremendous pile, there were now six neatly organised smaller ones, already in their envelopes and only needing to be sealed.

"Make sure to finish and send them out, these good people have stepped up to inform us of the plights of our empire, they deserve a swift response."

"That, that was a week of letters, I-"

Serafin had just passed him. Now she stopped in the doorway and looked back.

"Why have they been piling up for a week, aspirant?"

He began to shake, unable to look her in the eyes.

"It is just so hard to decide, my lord. I often have to take half an hour to think over the information, and still I tend to have to forward it to my aspirant senior, and even he does not know what to do at times."

The paladin took off her cap and sighed. "I do not understand. Have you already forgotten your lectures? These tasks are not difficult, it is why we let you aspirants handle matters of low importance. Tell me, what is the Truth Immaculate. Recite it in full."

His back straightened, and sweat began to run down his face as the silence began to press down on him. Finally he spoke in a shaky voice.

"The imperator Aeterna, blessed be her name, is the saviour of man. She created our laws, our rule and our gods.

The imperator is manifest in the empire. To ignore, bend or break it´s laws and structures is to breach orthodoxy.

The inhuman is the eternal enemy of man. To deal with it, to speak to it unarmed or to suffer it to exist in holy imperial space is to breach purity.

The gods are the allies of man, not their masters. To treat them as such, to make deals with the idols of the inhuman, or to submit to the ancient gods and their demonic servants is to breach idolatry. "

Serafin nodded her head and her gaze softened. "Exactly right, aspirant. If you know the Truth, then do you struggle? You identify which Truth is under attack, and call for an appropriate aspirant to investigate."

She laid a hand on his shoulder, her smile returning. "These are the rookie letters, you're not dealing with the imminent crises of our age. Just confused, lost or worried ordinary people who look to us to set things right. It is good that you have this care for them, but you do need to work on your swiftness. They all matter, and that is why we need to make sure to reach them all."

He rose his hand to his head in salute, his shoulders having relaxed. "Y-yes my lord, I will do my best! Thank you for instructing me!"

With a last nod Serafin left the aviary, and the young aspirant to his duty. The ship had been coming back to life as the action down on the ground was finishing up. More and more gardists were strolling about, free of their heavy armour they walked about in small crowds, to their quarters, the kitchen, or to the top deck.

How different they all were. Men and woman from all four greater provinces, the outer provinces and even some heartlanders. Here they lived, trained and fought together, rather than being at each other´s throats.

It filled her with pride. No place in the empire bred stronger camaraderie than a Guardian sky ship. She did of course see more than relaxed soldiers after long and arduous hours of duty.

She saw the small groups, sitting in the back with long and empty faces. The ones who did not stop and salute or even acknowledge her presence when she walked past them. They bore the single stripe of fresh recruits, badges of bravery in the sign of duty, and about everything in between.

Serafin stopped by the gardist overseers´ office, headed by paladin-aspirant Junia. The young woman was brooding over records and did not get up from her seat when Serafin stepped in.

"So, mood is so bad to ignore protocol?"

Junia sighed and stood up, took off her cap and saluted.

"Yes, my lord. They keep piling on in." She nodded to the large stacks of papers on her desk. "A hundred letters asking for resignation. And not just the new rookies either, lot of old blood we picked up from the wars in the south. They'll be missed."

Serafin gripped the doorframe. "A hundred? How long will we get to keep them around?"

Junia sifted through her papers and kept on shaking her head. "You know the rules, my lord. Service is voluntary, once we reach holy imperial ground they may leave. I would advise we head to Zana instead of Atal because of that, finding recruits there should be a lot easier."

"And, my lord."

Serafin leaned her head to the side. "Yes?"

Junia went quiet. Her eyes remained glued to the papers on her table, yet she didn't seem to be reading them.

"Thank you. If I were in your position, I am not sure I'd have been able to decide like you did. I know most can't appreciate it but, for what it's worth I do."

The paladin could not show it, the bright smile that threatened to crop up on her lips, the rush of satisfaction. So she merely bowed her head.

"I merely did my duty, paladin-aspirant. I have faith that when you earn the title, you will do as well."

Her path finally lead her up to the main deck. The last of the gardists had returned to their posts after they had carried out the last step of their action. She could smell the overpowering scent of burning wood, cloth and flesh.

Serafin stepped to the railing, the wind running through her short red hair as she looked down. The corpse pits were burning, as was the castrum.

It would take long for the settlement to be filled with a new population of settlers, and during their absense the empty city would be a welcome home for any roving Inhumans, a pest that would be exhausting to eradicate.

The "Purity" turned, facing westward. They sailed above the burning city, and the cannons on board took the larger stone buildings under fire. Temple, citadel and house of government crumbled under the volleys.

When the new pioneers would come to this place, they would find only rubble, and holes full charred bone. Maybe the sight would teach them the value of Truth, more than preaching and gentle knocks.

"It does have some beauty to it, no?"

Helder had walked up behind her, the paladin jumped only a little.

"I just hope that I wont have to call for something like this again." It was still only early in the evening, but it suddenly felt cold enough for Serafin to wrap her cloak around herself more tightly.

"We always hope for that. And usually we are disappointed. Serafin, we have a problem."

Serafin turned around and her muscles tensed at the look of concern in Helder´s eyes.

"The castrum was many things. Our new bridgehead into new territory, an anchor for what we conquered, but most importantly it held a prisoner of great importance. I checked the records before we torched the place, and there was no mention of them being moved."

"Could it be that we executed them by chance?"

Helder shook his head, his hands sinking into the pockets of his cloak. "No, children are taken out last, and every one of our own would think she was one. It's why I decided to oversee the action. No, she either was taken by whoever orchestrated the attack, which would be a disaster. But I think someone else got to her."

Serafin froze. With every moment she wanted more to jump off the railing. "El? I mean, it is possible but, would it not be more likely for it to have been the enemy? We saw a wyvern leave the castrum, perhaps they did because they had gotten a hold of her?"

Helder shaking his head again made Serafin take a step back toward the railing.

"According to the sparse medical records we found, the captain of the Sky knights was healed from a wound even that old Geezer would struggle to close. And doing that fits very neatly into what our girl is capable of. Have a crow sent to Atal, the prisoner must be detained and put back behind bars. This is a matter of vital importance to the empire."

"As you wish my lord." Serafin gripped her cap, turning toward the stairs. "But, if I may ask. Why is a girl of this grave importance?"

Helder closed his eyes and turned his back to her.

"That information is above your stature, Serafin. I must ask you not to question, but to obey."