Kaspar tightened his gloves, settling his back against the trunk of a large oak. His senses picked out his pursuers as he took a moment to reorient himself.

Aside from the fact that he was rather enjoying the chase, they were good at tracking. His lips twitched in suppressed amusement as one of them cried off on a false trail he laid less than ten paces away. He chuckled quietly as the Hunter's companions converged and followed him.

"A fool's errand, isn't it?"

Kaspar smiled in the darkness. The dark violet gaze immediately located the speaker. Of course, there was always one who didn't follow the pack.

He took a moment to regret his lack of a hood. His silver-blonde hair did stand out, after all. "Not all of you are fools, I see," he replied, his eyes training upon the speaker.

The Hunter's white cloak shimmered in the weak moonlight, his blade drawn and held at a defensive level.

"Not fools, no. Perhaps they are overeager. We are all sworn to rid the world of the scourge of your evil."

Kaspar grinned. He was a young one, he could see. Wisps of his auburn hair fell around his face. The rest was pulled back into a tail and lay in the cradle of his thrown-back hood, but his clear gray eyes pierced the gloom between them with a cool intent that Kaspar could not help but admire.

"You are so certain of evil?"

"I know you for the Darkling you are. And you know me as the instrument of your deliverance."

The young Hunter advanced a pace, holding his blade with an ease that spoke of skill and experience. Kaspar held his ground, knowing he could move faster than any human eye could follow. He was intrigued by this one.

"You must understand. I didn't ask to be what I am. It was forced upon me, and I have lived with it as I can. We can all of us only play the hand dealt us, no?" The young Hunter's brow creased for a moment, and Kaspar smiled at him. "You see. Your people have taught you to seek my kind and kill us. Have they bothered to truly tell you the why of it?"

"You are a mockery of God's will," the Hunter intoned. "You are evil given form and must be purged for the good of mankind."

"Their words, not yours," Kaspar replied quietly. "Why do you hunt my kind?"

The Hunter stood silent, and Kaspar could see the wheels of his mind racing, yet he held his pose, blade at the ready.

Kaspar shifted away from the oak, moving toward the young man. "You don't have that answer, do you? It is not presented to you. You believe all they teach you, yet how is it you know them to be teaching you the truth, as it is. Perhaps it is truth as they would have you know it."

The Hunter held Kaspar's eyes. "There is only One Truth."

"No, my dear Hunter," Kaspar answered, his voice laced with silk. "Each of us, Hunter, hunted, peasant, or King, must seek our Own Truth."

"Your existence is an offense to God," the Hunter pronounced, holding on to his tenets.

"And when were you privileged to converse with God," Kaspar challenged," to know this to be so?"

There was no reply, as the Hunter sought the words he needed. Kaspar reached out and ran a finger down his cheek. He started, and danced back, raising his blade to strike. But when the razor edge fell, it cut only air. Kaspar paused several paces away, watching the young Hunter turn this way and that, seeking. With a smile he fled the area, knowing this night's Hunt was over.

***

"Gabriel! Gabriel, are you there?"

"I am," he answered. He sighed, sheathing his blade in the sheath slung low at his hip. He paced to the oak before him, searching for any small clues. He traced the almost unreadable steps of the Darkling as he advanced. He was settled on one knee peering beyond when his Brothers found him.

"Are you well, Brother?"

"I'm fine, Jeremiah," Gabriel replied. "He was here, the trail you followed false. I had him within my reach."

"Spread out," Jeremiah ordered. "And have care."

"Don't bother," Gabriel sighed again, getting to his feet. "He is long gone. We'll not come upon him nor any others tonight. Dawn is too close. You should Call the Hunt, Commander."

Jeremiah considered him a moment then lifted the pale horn to his lips, blowing the single note to call in the rest of their team together. Jeremiah moved to his side, to study his face.

"Did it touch you, Gabriel?"

Pale gray eyes shifted to meet the question. "Only to frighten me, Brother. He was unwilling to battle."

Jeremiah frowned, laying gauntleted hands on Gabriel's shoulders. "Did it attempt to Turn you?"

"He only tried distracting me so he could escape, Brother," Gabriel smiled, giving a reassuring squeeze to Jeremiah's wrists. "I will submit to Questioning as required."

Jeremiah nodded, releasing him as the rest of their number arrived with their horses. "Mount up, Brothers. We ride to Homestead."

Gabriel swung into his saddle and pulled up his hood. He knew he would be subject to Questioning. Any of them who encountered the Darkling and lived were Questioned. He fell into line with the rest, riding just behind Jeremiah and to his left. They wound their way through the wood, conversations were kept low, all of them keeping watch on the trees around them. As false dawn paled the sky, they crossed the guarded drawbridge into Homestead. When he dismounted, stroking his mount's neck, Jeremiah appeared at his side. Without protest, he went with him.

"I sent word ahead," Jeremiah told him quietly. "You will be Questioned by Father Daniel."

Gabriel nodded. Father Daniel was fierce, but Gabriel never quavered before him as some did. He was, after all, only human. "You will stand Witness?"

"If you will have me?"

Gabriel nodded again, accepting. He had no fear of being found Tainted. "God's Will be done," he murmured.

"So, it shall be done," Jeremiah replied, stopping before a set of polished double doors.

They swung wide at his knock, stepping back to allow Gabriel to precede him. He moved into the chamber with his head bowed, the small silver cross at his throat catching the torchlight and reflecting it throughout the mirrors lining the pure white carpet under his feet. He reached the end of the carpet and knelt before the elder seated behind a table there.

"I come as Called to be Questioned, Father," Gabriel murmured, heard easily in the quiet of the room.

"Rise and be welcomed, Gabriel," Daniel replied.

Gabriel gained his feet, meeting the cool blue gaze of his Questioner without flinching. "You have brought a Witness?"

"My Commander, Jeremiah, will stand as Witness, Father."

Daniel nodded, making his way around the table between them to stand before Gabriel. A more ornate silver cross hung at his throat, this one crusted with jewels. "You faced one of the Darklings alone tonight," he said quietly.

"I did, Father."

"You stand before me alive, despite that?"

"I do, Father."

"Remove your cloak, Brother Gabriel."

With smooth movements, Gabriel unfastened the frog at his throat, allowing the white cloak to pool at his feet. The sheathed blade landed with a quiet thump, cushioned by the folds of the cloak under it. He gave no resistance as Father Daniel tilted his head back with two fingers under his chin.

"Come, Jeremiah, bear Witness."

Gabriel stood patiently while both men examined his throat. Satisfied, Father Daniel released him. "Remove your tunic, Brother Gabriel."

Again, wasting no motion, Gabriel shrugged and allowed the white tunic to fall at his feet with the cloak. The ties of his blouse were loosened and pushed back to bare his shoulders and chest. He stood quietly as both men examined his skin for any marks that would brand him Tainted. The thin silver chain that held his cross was pressed into his skin, both men watching him for a reaction, and noting when there was none. The blouse was stripped down to his waist, baring his arms to their eyes. Presently, Jeremiah dropped his wrist and smiled, nodding to Father Daniel.

"I find you Unmarked, Brother Gabriel," Daniel announced, moving back to his chair. Jeremiah gathered Gabriel's clothing and stood back to the side between two of the mirrors.

"As I should be, Father. He made no move to attack."

Daniel gave him a sharp look as he retook his seat. He considered the young man a moment before beginning the Questioning. "Did it speak?"

"He did, Father."

"Saying what?"

Gabriel cast his thoughts back to the peculiar conversation.

"He asked how I knew him to be evil, Father."

Daniel arched a brow in surprise. "And you answered?"

"All of the Dark Brood are evil, Father," Gabriel replied. "God decrees it so."

"And you told it this?"

"I told him he was a mockery of God's will."

"And still it made no move to attack?"

"He attempted to beguile me, Father. He challenged my faith and the righteousness of our mission."

"Go on, Brother."

"He asked me why I Hunted his kind. I told him his existence was an offense to God."

Daniel smiled. "We trained you well, indeed, Gabriel."

Gabriel bowed his head, acknowledging the praise with grace and not a touch of pride, Daniel realized. "And how did you escape this Darkling, Brother?"

"I did not, Father. He drew near enough to strike but avoided my blade. I saw no more of him then. My Brothers found me almost immediately after."

Daniel nodded, the silence in the room broken only by the scratching of a hidden scribe recording all that was spoken. "Is there anything else to report?"

Gabriel hesitated, frowning. "He...touched me..."

Daniel sat forward in his chair. "Where?"

Unconsciously, Gabriel's gauntleted fingers brushed his cheek where the Darkling traced a gossamer path. "His touch was light, Father, and...warm. I do not believe he meant me harm. I...believe he was...curious."

Daniel glanced at Jeremiah, who shook his head, shrugging.

"Anything more?"

"He claimed he had not chosen to be what he was. And that the One Truth was not One truth but many, different for each man."

Daniel drummed his fingers on the table. "And you took these words to be so?"

"How can I trust the words of the Dark Brood, Father?" Gabriel countered the very idea so foreign to him he was genuinely surprised to be asked.

"How, indeed." Daniel smiled, rising and coming to embrace him. "I find you Untainted in mind and body, Brother Gabriel. Go in peace and take your ease."

"Thank you, Father."

Gabriel stepped back, and Jeremiah followed as he left the room, carrying his clothes. It was common to leave Questioning uncovered, to show all who saw that he was Pure.

He climbed the winding stair to his small room, having earned the right to private lodging within a month of gaining his white cloak and the status of Hunter.

Jeremiah laid his cloak and tunic on the narrow bed as he pulled off his gauntlets and laid them carefully atop a chest against a far wall.

"You did not tell me it spoke to you," Jeremiah said quietly, watching him.

"You didn't ask me if he spoke, Brother," Gabriel pointed out, taking his tunic and hanging it on a peg. He smoothed the cloak carefully and hung it beside the tunic. The blade joined his gauntlets atop the chest.

"They are great Beguilers, these creatures we Hunt."

"He failed." Gabriel stood before a faded mirror and straightened his blouse, pulling the cords tight. The small silver cross lay in the hollow of his throat, cool against his skin.

"I am pleased you came through it unaffected. There are many of us who could not."

Gabriel turned to him then, catching a watchful light in his eyes. "Do you doubt I am Untainted, Jeremiah?" he asked quietly.

Jeremiah looked away, unable to hold that steady gaze. He always marveled at Gabriel's poise. Nothing disturbed him. Nothing unsettled him, even facing the Darkling alone. Not even the doubt such could cast upon his Purity could cut through his Brother's steel.

"I only aspire to be so cool-headed should I ever be faced with one of Them," Jeremiah answered softly.

Gabriel smiled, coming to lay his hands on Jeremiah's shoulders. "I have no reason to fear Them, Brother. We are White Hunters. Our cause is just. It is God's will to bring us back to Homestead or not. I can only use the skills taught me by the Fathers to thin the numbers of the Darkling while God allows me to do so, yes?"

Jeremiah nodded, squeezing Gabriel's wrists as the bell tolled for morning meals. Gabriel turned away, taking a seat on his bed. "Will you not be joining us to break the fast?"

"I will, Brother. I want to make a note of the night's Hunt while it lies fresh on my mind."

Jeremiah bowed his head, slipping out while Gabriel pulled a small leather-bound book from under his pillow. Moving to his small writing table, he sharpened a quill and dipped the tip into the inkwell.

Taking a breath, he ordered his thoughts and began to write. Presently, he laid down the quill and stood to stretch, the night's ride catching up to him. He decided to rest for a moment before taking a meal. It would not do to nod off before the entire Order. He laid on his back, booted feet crossed at the ankles, his fingers laced on his chest as he closed his eyes.