The Catholic Jedi

I wrote this prior to a Dungeons and Dragons campaign for my character, Varda. It is an origin story if you will, a way to explain why she was invested in joining the party and going on this adventure. Posted here, it falls under the category of fanfiction as I do not own Dungeons and Dragons.

Moonlight and Fire

Varda’s eyes tried to focus on the bright light in front of her. It stood out against the backdrop of falling stars like a torch in a dark room.  Was this the end?  She was dying.

The light took on the form of a woman; gorgeous and radiant, like moonlight and fire.  She approached Varda, and the light seared into her head.  She tried to turn away but couldn’t move. Varda couldn’t blink; couldn’t think.

“Aren’t you the bold one.” The woman extended an arm toward Varda and waves of gentle silver moonlight floated forward. “Trying to make good on your promise to slay your mother’s killer?”

Varda grunted. The streams of light cleared some of the fog in her mind, but suddenly everything hurt worse than it did before.  The cold stone beneath her, the warm blood pooling under her face, the searing pain in her side from the sickly green magic Abraxos had thrown at her.  All of it hurt, and now she could remember everything.

“That kind of oath isn’t binding, you know.  You were five.”  The arm dropped as the figure seemed to squat in front of Varda. 

The oath.  Varda had sworn to kill Abraxos.  She remembered it now, though it wasn’t on her mind when she left Blue Springs to track down the Dark Justiciar of Shar in the Starmetal Hills.  She’d sworn a new oath to herself when she’d heard Abraxos was nearby.  The only thing that had saved her from her own stupidity was the appearance of falling stars all across the sky, which unnerved the evil woman.  She vanished instead of finishing Varda.

The woman cocked her head, and blue hair fell forward over her shoulder.  “If you hadn’t been so stubborn this whole time, you might have stood a chance.”

Varda managed to swallow.  “What?”

Wings, which must have been pinned behind its back, now opened.  They were also bright against the black night.  “What are we going to do with you?”

An angel?  The bright light.  The wings.  The blue hair.  Varda had met her before, in dreams.  No wonder the thought her stubborn; she’d been ignoring her for years.

Varda finally blinked against the raging fire and light.  Not only had she failed to kill Abraxos, but she’d also probably angered Selune and her angel.  “Are you going to kill me?”

The woman smirked.  “If I wanted you dead, I wouldn’t have shown up.”

Confusion swept through Varda’s mind once more.  Why was this angel here?  Her angel and guide if she remembered the earlier dreams.  “Are you going to heal me?”

“I did a bit.”  The woman folded her arms across her chest.  “You do the rest.”

Varda struggled to move her arms or to roll to her side.  She couldn’t move, much less do anything about her wounds.  The woman must mean magic. “I don’t know how.”

“I’m aware. You never listened to me before.  Are you ready to now?”

Aggravation rose within Varda, even though she was exhausted and near death.  She hated to depend on a servant of Selune. 

But Varda was not ready to die.  Abraxos was so close, and Varda had been able to do nothing.  Her mother’s killer would continue to destroy the lives of others and murder anyone she found who served Selune.  Selune had not stopped her, but now Varda had failed.  And Varda wanted to see her sister again.  She needed more time.  “What do I need to do?”

“Look for the moonlight within.  Your blood has the same light mine does; your faith the same power as well.”

“I don’t have any faith.” She’d stopped attending any services in the Church of Selune when her father died.  Selune had done nothing for her family, ever.

“You have to believe in a god to be angry with them.” The angel did not appear bothered by Varda’s attitude.  “The light can be your ally against this Abraxos.  Against Shar.”

Shar.  Shar was the reason for her mother’s death.  Selune didn’t stop it, but Shar directly caused the murder of so many people, and she didn’t care. Varda’s anger swelled, and she felt her blood surge.  Something happened; she wasn’t sure what.  But she could draw herself up to her elbows and then her side, and the pain lessened.

Varda took a deep breath, which hurt terribly but had been impossible a moment earlier.  She lay on a rock protruding from the ground on the side of one of the massive hills in the area.  Trees stood black against the night sky, where the falling star storm started to slow.  There were no other noises; the brief battle with Abraxos and now this terrifying appearance of light scared off any animals lurking in the wood.

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?  You’ll be up and training in no time.”

The promise of taking on Abraxos again encouraged Varda, but there was an easier way.  She squinted up at the angel. “Why doesn’t Selune kill Abraxos?”

The woman raised an eyebrow. “Kill Abraxos?  What do you think I’m doing this for?  I know you don’t understand, but someday you may.  In the meantime, put your hand against your side.”

What this was for.  Varda did understand.  Selune used servants to help her in the battle against evil; Varda had learned all about it all her life.  It is how her mother had died; fighting evil while Selune didn’t.  But if it meant Varda had another chance to kill Abraxos, she didn’t really care who she was doing it for.  She put her hand against the wound on her side, and the same light which came from the angel surrounded her hand.  The sickly hole started to close.

“You should try talking to Selune, you know, pray.” The woman stood and held her hand out to Varda.

Varda took her hand and felt more healing magic seep into her body, like the woman emanated healing even when she didn’t intend it.  With the angel’s help, she rose slowly, trying not to cry out in pain.  “She never talked back anytime I tried.”

The woman rolled Varda’s hand over in her own and pointed at the light still present in Varda’s palm.  “What do you call that, then?”

Varda pulled her hand back, immediately regretting the loss of connection to the healing angelic power. “What is your name?  If you told me before, I don’t remember.”

“But you do remember meeting me before.  That’s good.  My name is Luna.”  Luna glanced back down at Varda’s side.  “You’re going to need to take it easy for a bit.  Get some more healing.”

Varda was exhausted and could barely stand.  She’d have to figure out how to heal herself again.

Luna’s wings extended to their full length, and she took a step back from Varda.  The angel’s wings beat once, throwing wind in every direction as she rose with barely any effort.  “Next time we meet in a dream, I hope you don’t ignore me.”

“You’re leaving?” Varda tried to restrain the fear in her voice.  The pain in her side remained and her head hurt as badly as the time she’d fallen out of a cart as a child.  She wasn’t sure her right leg would work right.  And she was miles away from the nearest town.

“A cleric is coming here, drawn by the stars.  She will help you.” Luna’s massive wings moved again, and her light darted into the sky as the stars ceased their storm. Then she was gone; vanished to who knew where.

Varda rubbed her eyes like she was waking from a dream.  It was dark, but she could see well enough to find a tree to lean against.  If this cleric showed up, maybe they could teach Varda some more about healing herself.  That would be very useful the next time she fought Abraxos. “I swear there will be a next time,” she said to the night.