"I will not ask how you managed to defeat an army all by yourself," The Advocate said after he walked over, his eyebrows knitted, visibly confused. "I saw you fight, and yet I still don't understand how you won."
The Advocate had his robe soaked with the blood of the enemy, so for him to compliment Clayton in that condition, was unique. It wrapped up the different scales of power between them quite effectively.
"Believe me, Advocate, I may be sure of myself, but the skeletons around me are reminding me that I wasn't supposed to win." Clayton said, "We were all supposed to die today, and I was prepared for it as soon as our door was kicked in, but yet, here we are. I'm alive, and so are you."
"Indeed," The Advocate said, "Perhaps the Goddess Thaleena chose to protect us today? There would be no way of knowing until we meet her ourselves one day."
"Yes," He nodded, "I don't relish telling you this, but I've renounced my faith, Advocate. I'm done forgiving, and it's time for me to set things right, and end the men who had my family killed. The City of Fik shall fall by my hand soon, so I suggest you avoid it for a few years, or for good, because there won't be much to come back to."
"We never intended to go back to the city," The Advocate said, "You saved our lives, you saved as many of us as you could, but the fact remains that common folk are repelled of us, most of us, so even after we survived this disgraceful bloodbath, we will not be left alone down there. Why would we go to the city, only to be chased away sooner or later? No, we're heading up the mountain."
"Further up?" He tilted his head, "Father, we're miles away from the City already, high up in the mountain, where could you possibly be going? There's nothing up there."
"That's where you're wrong, Foll… former Follower." The Advocate managed to stretch a faint smile. "The world doesn't know this, as they're not supposed to, but there is a temple up there, hidden from the rest of the world with the aid of a mere illusion. We're heading up there to seek refuge in the Temple of Zik, the God of Seclusion."
"Never heard of him before," He said, and then placed a small leather bag full of gold on the Advocate's hand. "I don't know if you'll be safe up there, but if you choose to climb back down and settle amongst the village folk, if not the city, this gold should help you settle in. I'd advise you to leave the Kingdom all together, though."
The Advocate took the leather bag, nodded, and said, "Thank you, Follower."
Afterwards, he stuffed the bag within the wide sleeve of his dirty robe, and said, "I understand your concern, but my guess is that we'll be safe. The Followers of Zik don't take kindly to strangers, especially towards people that do not follow their religion, but we should be safe up there for a few weeks, because as their faith cites it, their seclusion from the world makes them too tame, too un-bothered to even ponder if they should kill us or not. They won't hurt us, and if any of our Followers choose to embrace their way of life, I won't stand in their way. Practicing seclusion might be better for them than forgiveness."
"Alright then," He said, "I wish you the best of luck, Advocate. You and the Followers have been my family for all these years, you're aware of that, and the fact will remain that you'll be my only friends up until my last breath."
Afterwards, as he looked at the group behind the Advocate, he added, "I'm not looking to make any new friends, so if any of the Followers wish to join me, they can. I can help them take revenge on behalf of their families, or themselves."
"We're not fighters," The Advocate said, then turned around, and looked at the tip of the mountain. "Or, if I can describe it better, we don't want to be fighters."
"Advocate…" He walked over, stretching his words, his armor clanking, "I saw the Followers fight today, I saw the bloodlust in their eyes! A lot of them do want to fight, perhaps they even thrive in it, but much like me, they never took part in a fair fight before. The King's Guard, or mere Guards themselves have wronged so many of our people, and the Followers could never fight back without putting their own life at risk. Today they fought, because much like us, they had no other choice."
Feeling tense, he then sighed to relieve his nerves, and added, "They are fighters, they just never had what it took to fight the entire Kingdom, or the darn Empire, at this point. An army attacked us today, so you should understand that those fiends never aimed to leave us alone. Even in seclusion, they bother us, and they will keep bothering us unless we cut their heads off, and roll them across the street of the city."
The Advocate did not speak for a moment. The offer that Clayton made was tempting, and he was sure that it would be tempting for a lot of the Followers as well, but the Advocate was aware that if he was involved in their decision in any way, he may get blood on his hands, on his conscience, even if he was aiming to do the right thing.
He did not know for sure if the Followers of Zik were going to accept him, and his people in the temple. They shouldn't, typically, so he felt that he was leading his people to a dead end, and then towards a potentially hostile way of life, where the Followers would be targeted, or even attacked by the common folk, if not some random Guards.
Either decision had a high risk of leading him to a pool of blood. He could not predict the future, not for sure, and at this point he felt that it was a fool's gambit to even try and predict it.
He had a tough decision to make, but at last, the Advocate sighed, and said, "If any of the Followers wish to join you, I won't stand in their way. But be warned, you're treading down a path of blood that will far outcompete whatever the Kingdom did to all of us all together. You appear to be a powerful man, but remember, if you drag people along to your path that reeks of doom, you will be responsible for the blood on their hands, as well as your own."