"Obviously I can't go any further, as you know. I've been told that a room has been prepared for you inside, just on the right. The door should be standing open. As I understand it, more paladins are arriving tonight and tomorrow, so you should have neighbors soon enough. Rest well, Sister."
Seona bowed in thanks, and Fandren nodded, turning to walk back the way they came. Seona sighed and pushed open the yellow door, and entered the ladies' dormitory. The long, low-ceilinged building was just one hallway with doors along each side, each leading to a small room, some had two beds, while others only had one. Seona was lucky that she got here when she did, as she was given a room to herself, and since all these rooms were built for a human, they seemed large to her. No one else was in the hall and most of the rooms doors were closed, though the second on the right was left open. No doubt this was her room.
She stood in the doorway, taking in the small room. There was nothing special about it, being square and very plain, with a simple bed across from her. To her right, along that wall, stood a very simple desk and chair, a quill and inkpot atop it's surface, and Seona guessed that there would be a few sheets of parchment in the small drawer. One small chest stood at the foot of the bed, though it had no lock. The walls were whitewashed and bare, though the window that looked into the courtyard above the bed gave a nice view and plenty of light. It was a room for a priest: open, minimal, and clean. She sighed and dropped her packs on the floor near the desk, closing the door behind her.
Collapsing onto the bed, she thought about the things Fandren had said, and how Brother Benjamin was dealing with his more outspoken and difficult student. She worried about the teacher's generally strict demeanor when it came to Fan, as she guessed that it was pushing him away from the Faith, rather than drawing him in. Try as she might, though, she could think of no way of convincing Brother Benjamin to let him learn on his own. She'd never tell him, never let him guess, but his strenuous teachings nearly turned her from the Faith as well. She simply found a better outlet, in the end. Perhaps after her training here, she'd speak to one of the paladins stationed here in the Cathedral. They might have some insight and advice for her friend, perhaps even a place for him among their ranks.
Seona didn't know when she fell asleep, but she suddenly realized she was dreaming. One moment she was staring at the ceiling, thinking of Fandren and his troubles, and the next he was there, standing next to her. He couldn't be there in truth, as the ladies' dormitory was entirely off limits to men, and even her rather mischevious friend wouldn't break that rule.
They were standing in what appeared to be a huge battlefield, the ground covered in snow, churned by the feet of hundereds of soldiers, their yelling and screams audible over the howling wind. Their armor was strange to the paladin, completely unlike anything she had ever seen before, though some of it held a strange familiarity to her, almost like it could have been designed by her people. Many of the designs were geometric, at any rate, and all of it looked ancient. She was glowing in the dim light, the snowy landscape cold and dark, though the Holy power of the Light pulsing through her and her large hammer illuminated those around her, but Fandren...
Fandren was like a cloud of dust, barely visible. He looked like a dark ghost, and his body pulsed with Shadow energies, absorbing the light. He was speaking words she couldn't hear, as if in a foreign tongue. Repulsed, Seona pulled back. Suddenly, she was grabbed from behind, a huge man, tattoos covering his chest, and long, dirty, matted hair waving in the chill wind, lifting her small form above his head. Fandren uttered strange words, dark energies lashed out at her attacker, and she fell again, and kept falling, down, further and further...
And landed on the floor. The howling wind continued, occasionally whistling through a crack in the window above her bed. A small rain storm had cropped up in the night, turning the already dark courtyard completely pitch black. Her heart pounding, she pushed herself back up and stood, smoothing out her shirt. She had fallen asleep hours ago, still in her traveling clothes. Shaking her head to clear it, she walked over and opened the door. Small torches along the walls illuminated the hallway in a comforting, flickering light.
It was empty and quiet, although a few of the other rooms had flickering light spilling through the crack under the door. Other travelers, perhaps even other paladins, had arrived while she slept. Seona took deep, calming breaths, and turned back into her room, quietly closing the door again behind her. She made her way over to the table, to the lantern there, picking it up. She found a striker and lit the wick, watching as the light from the lantern grew to fill the room.
The wind continued to howl and rain beat against the glass of the window. Slowly, her heartbeat slowed and she was able to think about what she had seen in her dream. Fandren had been frightening. She knew what she had saw. He was a Shadow Priest, a cleric dedicated to the darker arts, and one that inflicted pain and misery, rather than healing Light. Was that truly the path he was going to walk? Is that his future?
She sighed, a little sad. I cannot live his life for him. Neither can Brother Ben, for that matter. In the end, he must decide what he is, what he wants to be. She stooped to open her bag and change into a lighter shift for sleeping. Fandren is a friend. Even in my dream, even when he was... dark, he moved to protect me, to fight against that huge man. What was that man, anyway? He wasn't human. Perhaps the library can tell me. She blew out the lantern and worked her way under the covers and tried to settle in for sleep.
Tomorrow, she'd head over to the stables. Tomorrow, she'd choose a warhorse. The thought made her smile and she slept dreamlessly until dawn.
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