Luke was a priest, just a normal priest of the light goddess, his life had existed of training to use the holy light and to read the holy scripture of their faith. Luke had been an Orphan adopted by the temple, in fact he had never been outside of the temple before until a week ago when he suddenly had been assigned a task.

Luke had wondered why he, a priest of light in training would be sent of on a mission, okay his talents with light magic were unmistakable but to send him on a mission? First he had thought it would be a simple task, serving as a missionary or as an assistant to a priest in some remote city, but as it turned out he had been chosen for an inquisitorial mission!

The moment he heard it he knew what had happened, every priest or novice knew how inquisitors of the temple of judgement selected people for their “missions”. An inquisitor chose the people he wanted from the temple and then went out to complete his mission, anyone could be chosen and although it was a honour Luke wondered just why he had been chosen for this task?

Now after travelling together with the inquisitors group to Frienia and having gotten to know their mission he felt sick. Not only was he now part of the hunt on a litteral WARLOCK but a few hours ago he had also learned what his task would be whilst working under inquisitor Siegfried. Luke had always felt proud of his gift, his ability to heal the most serious injuries with holy magic, now he felt disgusted about it, as if that talent had been a curse in disguise.

Siegfried had taken him to a dungeon where prisoners were being held, the inquisitor had taken one out of containement and dragged him away. The prisoner was an elderly man who had been a member of one of the cults summoning demons in Frienia, one of the warlocks accomplices as the inquisitor called him.

The inquisitor had introduced himself to luke as a professional who had rooted out cults, found hideouts of heretics and burned witches and practitioners of the dark arts at the stake during his long carier. Luke should have known that this man was a psychopath the moment he met him, yet he had presumed that Siegfried was just a fanatical zealot of the temple, it only dawned upon him when he followed the inquisitor into the dungeon that Siegfried was not like that.

While Luke had been wondering why he was there it soon became clear when the inquisitor chained the man to all matter of torture devices and began to “question” the man as he called it. Siegfried had yelled at the man, “what his cults connection with the warlock was, why they did not even accept the holy judgement temple after being dissatisfied with his former “Frienian” religion, why he served the demons…”

The man had screamed, coughed up blood but had not spoken a word, the torture had went on and on for hours and that was all thanks to Luke, he shivered. Siegfried had commanded him to “use his gift of healing” on the “heretic”, Luke had been scared and afraid of the inquisitor and had followed his orders.

For hours the inquisitor had broken bones, pulled out fingernails, cut out pieces of meat and even flayed the man alive and Luke he had healed the man, he had healed the man only for the inquisitor to cause him even more pain!

But that had not been the worst, the inquisitor had thanked Luke, thanked him for furthering the goddess goals! Luke did not know what he had to think about that, he had been thought the goddess healed and gave hope, smiting evil where it appeared and yet this was what the inquisitor called her “goals”? He did not believe it, he had heard from other priests that inquisitors enforced the judgement of their temple upon the servants of evil gods and foul fiends.

He understood that this man was a cultist worshipping false gods but was one of the judgement temples creeds not forgiveness? Luke was sitting in the dungeon, the inquisitor had asked him to sit there and guard the prisoner should the cultist try to commit suicide or fall ill because of the caused damage Luke would have to heal him.

As he was sitting there thinking about what happened he heard something, a low groaning sound, Luke recognized the voice, he had heard that voice screaming for hours and would not forget it easily. Luke stood up from his chair and took his staff in his shaking hands as he began to enter the room. The other prisoners had been placed elsewhere hence the old cultist was the only one who was here, Luke could hear his voice as he groaned in pain. Suddenly it stopped.

“Boy is that you, Luke almost got a heart attack when he heard the mans voice. He let his staff shine with holy light and now saw the man still chained to the wall, “what is going on?” Luke asked while he shivered seeing the malformed bones of the man that had been caused when the inquisitor commanded him to heal the broken bones.

“I want to speak to you, the old man said, I won’t tell that inquisitor anything but you, you are not yet completely brainwashed.”

Luke was taken aback for a moment, “w-what do you mean?” The cultist smiled, his long beard covered in his own blood made it look horrifying, “I mean that you can still think about thins and that I wish to tell you about the warlock.”

Luke stepped back for a moment, that first part were obviously heretical ramblings right? But information on the warlock, should he get the inquisitor? No, luke shook his head, he knew that man by now, he would torture this poor man even more, one of the goddesses virtues was mercy and this man was in dire need of mercy.

“I’ll talk with you, Luke said, but first I want to know why you turned away from the goddess light after leaving the frienian religions?” Suddenly the cultist laughed, not loudly but still he laughed, not a joyfull laugh but a hopeless laugh filled with suffering. “I-I thought that when I would no longer follow the other deities and turn to the judgement temple that I finaly would get justice for what was done to me.”

The man cried, tears flowed from his eyes like a river, “I turned my back on the god of craftsmanship and joined that temple, but did I get justice no!”

Luke was taken aback for a moment, this man had been part of his faith, why had he turned away from the goddess light if he had know their faith?! Luke did not know what to think about it, why, how was this possible….?

“I am not going to talk about it anymore, the man said, before they call you a heretic, believe me they will if they know I said this to you.” Luke managed to put his thoughts aside and looked at the man in front of him, an old pale and scarred man with a beard covered in the blood he coughed up during the torture, bones malformed by Lukes magic. He did not know what to do anymore.

The man looked at Luke, “let me tell you what I know about the warlock ………”