The shayen bird of paradise left as soon as the Orb had been safely removed, the First Crewman being anxious to return to his own land where the warship was urgently needed in the neverending conflict with the evil denizens of the Red Mountains. Drake saw little of the others after that, spending almost every waking hour being ruthlessly and thoroughly debriefed by his superiors. Every tiniest detail of the quest was gone over again and again by his interrogators, with special attention being spent on the behaviour and tactics of the Shadowsoldiers, and occasionally one or another of his former travelling companions was brought in to corroborate a point or clarify a detail about which the priest was uncertain. By the time it was over, he was classing it as one of the most unpleasant experiences of his life, rivaling even his time spent as a prisoner of the arachnaurs, and it was with great relief that his superiors finally told him that they'd heard all they wanted to.

The very next day, though, an acolyte came to his room, telling him that his presence was urgently required in the tower's temple of Samnos. Damnation, he thought. They've found some obscure little detail they want me to go over again, probably something I've already told them at least twenty times. Is there no end to it? Groaning in anticipation of the renewed grilling to come, therefore, he hurried down the corridor, his helmet tucked under his arm, knowing that his interrogators wouldn't want to be kept waiting. As he arrived at the temple doors, though, he paused to wonder why the debriefing was to continue here, and not in the conference room where he'd spent the best part of the previous three days. No time to worry about that now, he told himself. Best to just get it over with as soon as possible. So thinking, he pushed the door open and entered.

Inside, he was astonished to find twelve priests of Samnos. Every priest in the city plus a Samnian priest who'd somehow made it through the Overgreen Forest. They were all wearing dress uniforms, worn only on holy days and special ceremonial occasions. Three of them wore helmets with gold stripes around them, marking their owners as having earned the highest honour a priest of Samnos could earn, the title Defender of the Faith, and many of the others wore badges and medals signifying their having earned lesser honours including the Badge of Devotion, the Ribbon of Piety, the Blade of Valour and the Medal of Faith.

He was so confused that he just stood there, not knowing what to do, until Resalintas spoke. "Come in, Drake. Put your helmet on the altar there."

Drake did so, bringing him close to Resalintas, and the other priests closed in to form a circle around them. Resalintas removed his own helmet, then turned to face the statue that stood behind him; a ten foot high statue of Samnos wearing a Beltharan uniform. He got down on one knee before it and began speaking to the deity it represented in a loud, clear voice as if it had to carry all the way to the heavens by itself. He didn't waste any time with preliminaries, since priests of Samnos didn't believe in useless pomp and ceremony, but simply got right down to the reason for their all being there.

"Mighty Lord Samnos, I present Corporal Robert Drake, who has done Thy work with great faith and piety these past few months. He has travelled with me into the land of Thy enemy and helped me to gather information that will help us to defeat him. He has converted a community of lizard men to Thy worship, turning them away from the idolisation of false gods and defeating an army of evil pakin-kho. He has fought against the followers of Thy enemy Molrot, sending two of them to righteous judgement and saving many from their awful curse. He has defeated many of the followers of Thy enemy, the Shadowlord, including a wizard and a dragon, and he has brought a powerful artifact to the city which will help us to stand against the onslaught that is soon to come. Have we Thy permission to bestow upon him the honours which we judge him to have earned by these acts?"

Drake's jaw dropped in astonishment. They were honouring him! Him, Robert Drake! No, that was wrong! He wanted to cry out that his part of the events Resalintas had listed had been no greater than that of any of the others he'd been with, and that they deserved at least equal credit. He actually opened his mouth to say this, but closed it again, afraid to interrupt the ceremony. Who knew what Resalintas's reaction would be if he spoke up at the wrong time, perhaps disturbing his communion with their Lord? Better to keep quiet for the time being, he decided. There would come a proper time to voice his protests, he was sure. He'd never been present during a ceremony like this before, and so had no idea what was to come, but surely he would be required to speak sooner or later. Better to be patient and wait for the right moment than risk incurring the older priest's wrath.

After a minute or two, Resalintas stood again and turned to face the other priests. "Our Lord had given His approval. The ceremony will continue."

"Praise His name!" chanted the others, leaving poor Drake lost and bewildered. Should he have joined in when the others spoke, or would that have been immodest, considering that it was he who was being honoured? He wished he knew what was going to happen.

Resalintas opened a small door in the base of the altar and took out a small patch of cloth, similar to those some of the others had sewn onto their blood red robes. He couldn't see the design it carried as the older priest held it up over his head and began a long chant in praise of courage and fearless resolve, but from the back it looked like a Badge of Devotion and Drake felt relief wash over him. The Badge of Devotion was one of the lesser honours a priest of Samnos could earn, and he felt that maybe, perhaps, he had earned it over the past few months. After all, almost all priests of Samnos earned it at some point during their lives and it was almost as much a part of their uniform as the crimson robes and the spiked helmets. It also looked like the badges worn by the Defenders of the Faith on their left shoulders, but he knew it couldn't possibly be one of those. Not for him.

Eventually, Resalintas finished his chant and lowered his arms again. "Corporal Drake," he said solemnly, "Do you accept this honour that we have chosen to bestow upon you?"

"I do," said Drake, still feeling relieved that he was getting no more than he deserved. "And I Pray that I prove worthy of it."

Resalintas nodded, and touched it to Drake's robes, to which it stuck like a magnet. Later, Drake would sew it in place properly. Then Resalintas picked up Drake's helmet. "Then it is with great pleasure that I bestow upon you the title 'Defender of the Faith.' May you..."

"What!" exclaimed Drake, his astonishment now so great that he could no longer contain it. Seeing the expression on Resalintas's face, though, he gave a start of fear and jerked himself stiffly erect. "Forgive me, Sir," he said. "I thought..."

"Be silent, Corporal," said the older priest coldly. "Your outburst brings shame and dishonour upon us all. I was about to say that I hope you are able to live up to the high standards it represents. I am not reassured."

Drake felt about six inches tall. "I will try to be worthy of it, Sir," he managed to say.

"Good. Now, have you anything to say?"

"Yes, Sir. I don't deserve this, I haven't earned it. My travelling companions deserve at least as much credit for the success of our mission, maybe more. I made so many mistakes..."

"Those who came in with you are also being honoured, at this very moment in fact. As for you, are you questioning my judgement, or that of Lord Samnos Himself?"

"No, Sir," replied Drake, his head lowered.

"Good. Now take your helmet and go about your duties."

Drake took the helmet, which had somehow acquired a gold stripe around it, and marched out of the temple, his head still spinning with disbelief.

     When he had gone, the Samnian priest laughed "By all the Gods! I thought he was going to faint!"

"I did faint, when I was made a Defender," said another. "They had to carry me back to my room."

"He's not the fainting kind," said Resalintas. "One day, he'll be one of the best there's ever been. Better even than me, if he lives that long."

"That's a big if," said another priest. "Now that he's a Defender, he'll have his work cut out for him, especially with the war due to start any second."

"I may as well tell you all now, while we're all here together," said Resalintas. "It's already started. We've just had word from Callinia that the enemy has crossed the river Chissem in great strength, and that all its eastern fortress cities are already cut off and under siege. They therefore must be moving on us already, and will very probably be here within the next few days. I've already instructed the aerial cavalry to triple their patrols over the forest and the country between. We'll know the moment they break out of cover. The Orb got here just in time."

"The Gods preserve us," said Vasta, and all eyes turned to the statue of Samnos in silent prayer.