“What do you think Prisolyna is up to?” Gild asked Turwyn as they walked along the streets of the town. They were passing by a large building that Gild could only guess would be a library, with all the theory only style people pushing in and out. He would never deny a library had its usefulness, but he was much more interested in the practical applications of magic and ideas, not what some long dead scholar thought about hundreds of years ago. He shook his head, what a waste of time.

“Hopefully nothing too criminal,” the paladin said. He still seemed upset about the whole issue with Tiki, even if he was putting on an air of casual indifference.

“Well, what if she is doing something criminal for a good cause? Like how she said she steals from the rich and evil to give to the poor and neglected? What do your paladin morals say about that?”

Turwyn scowled for a moment, thinking over the question. “It would be entirely dependent on the circumstances surrounding the criminal act. Does she know they are evil? Does she have proof they are, in fact, evil?”

“How does one define what is evil? What might be considered evil to me might be entirely reasonable in another culture. Did you know there is a group of humans, to the south on the opposite edge of that giant desert, that will throw their babies off of a mountainside if they fear it has a defect of some sort? That seems evil to me, they are murdering babies!”

“Well, if they are living in a harsh environment that makes it a necessity to cull the weakest members of their population, it can be argued-”

“Maybe a thousand years ago that was the case, But I'm pretty sure it’s just tradition now. I am just trying to show that evil and good are fairly malleable concepts.”

“There are things in this world that are just plain evil or good.”

“To us, maybe.”

“What about demons?” the paladin demanded.

Gild hesitated. “To us, yes, demons are entirely evil. They serve no larger purpose than the sheer acquisition of power amongst themselves and the subjugation of other realms for their own purposes. But to themselves, they are entirely within their rights and doing the correct thing.”

Turwyn stopped, staring down at the gnome. “Are you seriously going to try to defend demons? Of course they wouldn't consider something evil the wrong thing to do. They’re demons!.”

“No, of course not,” Gild said. “I was just trying to play demon’s advocate and argue another side.”

“Hmm. Well, if something is done for the greater good, I can forgive it even if the act itself was a criminal one. Laws are not perfect and we must take into account the intent behind actions and the outcome of said actions.”

Gild nodded. “I’m glad to know you aren't a stick up your butt type of paladin. It makes me respect you more.”

They started walking again, turning off the main avenue onto a just as busy side road. Merchants called out to them from their shop fronts, trying to get them to spend money there.

“Speaking of paladins, I haven't really seen you do anything paladiny. You have that massive axe and did some formidable damage with it to those kobolds, but I didn't see you call down the light or something you always hear about in the stories. Can you?”

“It’s not actually a ‘light’ that gets called down. How familiar with how paladin and clerics actually work are you?”

“Not at all. Just what I’ve heard from second hand tales and stories.”

“We derive our power from angelic beings called the Seraphim.”

“Oh, I have heard of them! Weren't they part of some ancient struggle between themselves and demons tens of thousands of years ago, or is that just a myth?”

Turwyn shook his head. “It's true. That is exactly correct. They saved this realm from rule by the demons, at least until some people managed to get in contact with the Other Realm again and bring the demonic influence back into our world.”

“But that is a matter for another time,” the paladin continued. “We worship these beings, imploring them to grant us their favors, and in return they give us abilities to smite the evil in this world and enhance our own combat prowess.”

“So,” Gild said, grinning slyly. “What you are saying is you make a pact of sorts with these beings that have more power than you, that inhabit a realm other than our own, and in return they give you powers beyond what you could achieve yourself. This sounds so oddly familiar to another group of magic wielders.”

He tapped his chin thoughtfully as Turwyn glowered. “We are nothing like warlocks! We give ourselves willingly to a being of good and justice in return to make the world a better place in their image.”

“How do you even know they are good?”

Turwyn rolled his eyes, “Are we really back on this?”

“It's an honest question. How do you know they are good and not just operating on a level higher than we can think for their own purposes?”

“The Seraphim have set out tenets for us to follow and live our lives according to, that way we make sure we are doing good and helping those around us.”

“But doesn’t following those tenets seem awfully restrictive? Can’t someone be good without necessarily adhering to only what they deem as good? There isn't any room for leeway or making your own decision.”

“I leeway.”

Gild patted the man on his arm. “And for that, I appreciate you. You make it so paladin and cleric doesn't leave quite so bad a taste in my mouth when I say it.”

They kept walking in silence for a few moments, absorbed in their own thoughts. Gild was growing to like Turwyn a lot. Sure, he was a member of an order that would eradicate him without a second thought just because he had pacted with a demon, but something about this paladin was different. He didn't call down his divine sense of superiority every change he got and even listened to reason. It was a refreshing change of pace for a member of a holy order.

“You are a strange mage,” Turwyn said, breaking Gild's thoughts.

“What makes you say that?”

“You seem to be accepting of warlocks. No other mages I have met are as accepting as you. They always view them as taking shortcuts, and to be blunt, hate them for making a mockery of studying magic.”

Gild shrugged. “I try not to judge the path others take in life. You never know why they took that path or if they were forced to.”

“Except holy people,” Turwyn said with an eyebrow raised. “You are also pretty young for the level of magic you have exhibited. Those fireballs you threw at the kobolds and that spell that lit one on fire seemed to be very advanced.”

“I am just naturally gifted, I suppose,” Gild's stomach was starting to twist on itself. Had he been too cavalier in what he said about warlocks and the holy orders?

“And where is your familiar?”

“I tend to keep him away from myself in towns and places where there are more than a few people.”

“Why?”

“You saw him, he looks strange for a familiar and ends up bringing questions that slow me down in whatever goal I am heading towards. I don't want to spend time answering silly questions to fearful and superstitious peasants.”

“That's fair enough. Your goal is another strange matter. Why would a mage really be going after a soulstone of a demon? That is an incredibly dangerous object.”

Gild squirmed for a moment. “You want to know the truth? It’s a matter of revenge. A demon killed my wife, and now I want to use the stone to destroy the demon that did so.” It wasn't entirely a lie and had the seed of truth in it. Sometimes the best lies are ones born out of truth.

Turwyn seemed to accept this, though he kept walking with a thoughtful expression. Gild decided to change the subject before he started asking harder questions that Gild wouldn't be able to answer.

“Have you noticed that we are being followed?”

“What?” Turwyn spun around, looking at everyone near them wildly. His hand went to the hilt of his axe, strapped across his back.

“Don't do that,” Gild said. “Just act natural like we don't know we are being followed. There are two behind us, and one off to the side. They started following us shortly after we left the pawn shop.”

“Why didn't you tell me?” Turwyn hissed, taking his hand off the axe and stalking alongside Gild, though he still looked from side to side, trying to pinpoint one of their pursuers.

“I wasn't sure at first, it’s a large city with people all travelling in similar directions. Here,” he gestured toward a small opening between two buildings coming up. “Let's duck through here and see if we can lose them.”

They pretended to look at the store for a moment before dipping into the alleyway and right into three more men with swords strapped to their sides and bags in their arms.

“Don't struggle, and you’ll be fine,” the one in the middle said in a low voice. Crossbows peeked over the edges of the roofs flanking them, six more in all. Turwyn started to reach for the axe on his back and the soft click of the crossbows being locked into place sounded like lightning cracks to Gild's ears.

“Don't,” Gild whispered. He nodded towards the roofs on either side and the paladin looked up. Seeing the loaded weapons, he scowled and let his hand fall slowly from the axe.

“Let’s just see what they need,” Gild said softly. He let a tiny flame dance across his palm, holding it so the paladin would hopefully see as he raised his own hands. Turwyn nodded and raised his hands as well.

The three men moved quickly, shoving bags over their heads and tying their hands together. They worked well in unison, and soon had both the warlock and paladin immobilized and under their control. As far as kidnappings went, it was very professional and one of the best he had been a part of yet.