The First Assignment, Part 2
Duncaster Church
"See anything out there Gordon?" The Priest asked as he held his staff tightly in both hands. He was no fighter but he wasn't about to let the undead overrun his Church without a fight.
"Just more draugr." Watchman Gordon said, ducking down from the window.
Fortunately for everyone, there were no head height windows in the Church, and certainly none that were transparent. Lurking outside beyond the blessed walls of the Church were all manner of undead, and nobody was sure where they were coming from.
It had all started when they burned Natalie Godrick's body in the alleyway. Dead bodies kept popping up, but they didn't stay dead for long, rising up as wights and draugr, or sometimes even worse. Henry the Priest and Gordon the Watchman at great risk evacuated what townsfolk they could find into the Church, which the undead seemed to avoid, a fact Henry attributed to the fact that it was consecrated ground.
"You think the messenger got through?" The Mayor whispered to Henry. The Mayor had been trying his best to hold it together in the past 2 days, but this was far beyond him. He was just some regional nobleman's son in a do-nothing post, he wasn't expected to actually do anything.
"Unless he was followed, I think so. But help is still days away at best." Henry answered as gently as possible. He wondered if any of them would survive this. Out of a town of nearly a thousand, less than a hundred had made it to the safety of the Church. He hoped in his heart that some had fled the town, or that others survived hiding elsewhere. But he knew it to be unlikely.
"How much food and water is here, Henry? Be honest." The Mayor asked. He knew he was useless but he wanted to try to keep a handle on the situation.
Before Henry could answer, shouting could be heard from outside. Bolting to his feet, the thin Mayor had Gordon give him a leg up to peer outside through one of the high windows. He couldn't believe what he saw, and started shouting.
"Gordon! Henry! Get the damn front doors open now! There's soldiers out there!" The Mayor yelled, scrambling down from Gordon's shoulder.
"There's people alive out there?" Henry exclaimed, astonished. He knew the barrier of the Church still worked even with the doors opened as long as he stood there, so he ran over as fast as he could, and opened them before Gordon did.
In a brief couple seconds, he felt three figures rush past him, the last one slamming the door shut again, and throwing him to the ground.
"Jackson! Barriers!" The hooded one yelled. "Svetlana, confirm the barrier pierce you mentioned!"
"On it." An emotionless voice said, as the stench of stagnant water filled the Church.
As Henry picked himself up off his feet and looked up at who rushed in, he gasped. The Spiritual Garrison was already here! There was no mistaking their uniforms, but there was also no mistaking what the third one with the long black hair was, even in a uniform.
"A rusalki..." Henry whispered, and for a moment he was fearful.
"Relax. Not hungry." Svetlana said with a smirk as she looked around. "Here to fix problem. Ah. Where are manners? Name is Optio Svetlana, with Spiritual Garrison."
"Priest Henry Baldwin, Vordean Church." Henry answered, finding his courage. The other 2 soldiers didn't seem to regard her with any fear, so she was at least minimally trustworthy.
"Centurion Herydark." The hooded one replied, seemingly observing the interior for areas to hide. "How many?"
"How many what?" Gordon asked, as he watched Herydark walk around.
"Survivors, idiot." Elora answered in an annoyed tone.
"About fifty or so." The Mayor said.
While Elora and The Mayor spoke, Svetlana regarded the altar in the Church. While she was no stranger to Primal God worship, seeing how the mortals did it up close was intriguing despite the reason they were here. The shared motifs were clear between them and the Rus, and it did make Svetlana slightly uncomfortable, even more so than being around mortals normally did.
"Something on your mind, rusalki?" Henry asked, seeing her staring at the altar.
"Holy man. What protects this Church?" Svetlana asked, not removing her gaze. "Saw glowing black barrier around Church from outside, but was fading."
"Fading?" Henry asked, his voice shaking. That couldn't be right. It was a holy shield, it was consecrated.
"This entire town it is... how you say? Falling into abyss." Svetlana continued, emotionless. "Many wrong in town. The undead outside, they keep getting back up. Incinerated draugr, and he rise again. Very strange."
"They keep getting back up?" Henry asked, his eyes wide. "What are we supposed to do?"
"Patience, holy man." Svetlana advised, gesturing with her hands. "We do our best to fix, yes?"
Svetlana described the situation and her plan to Henry, whose eyes grew wider and wider with each new bit of information, while Svetlana explained it with all the interest one does when speaking of what the weather was like 3 weeks ago. When she got to the topic of the Gods though, Henry began to object.
"What do you mean they can fix it? If they can, why don't we summon them right away!" Henry countered, his anger growing.
"There is order to how we must do things, holy man." Svetlana said calmly, as Jackson listened in. "I try summon She Who Waits now, what will happen? Nothing. Is not time for her yet. She is not, how you say? Mother. We are her children, but not children. She expects us to reach conclusion first."
"I admit that's not a name I'm familiar with, but I think I can guess which Goddess you refer to." Henry said with a nod. "A fitting name for the Goddess of Death."
---
The afternoon sun gave way to darkness while Svetlana ventured out beyond the Church completely alone. Elora and Jackson were all too eager to let her walk among the undead masses alone, and the undead didn't seem to pay Svetlana any mind either. Moving silently like a ghost, Svetlana observed the undead, and also observed the ritual sites that were popping up. She didn't recognise any of them which was of course a problem. It meant whatever was causing this wasn't native to Karand. Neither were the Rus of course, but they knew everything that had been forgotten.
"Hmmm. Problem as big as feared." Svetlana said, watching the draugr kneel before a crudely constructed altar. "You there. Wight. Who you worship?"
"The one beyond the veil." The wight whispered, not taking its eyes off the altar. "We pray to stop his coming."
Svetlana didn't like the sound of this, but merely nodded.
"Understood. Will solve." She said, walking off.
The wight didn't reply.
Returning to the Church, Svetlana noticed the area deserted, but also that the barrier was nearly completely gone. She headed for the door, but suddenly stopped before grabbing the handle. She had the feeling she shouldn't open it, and ducked to the side. Looking around briefly, she climbed up the side of the building with ease, and into the bell tower. Silently slinking down the stair case she peered into the main room. She saw several of the townsfolk dead, and the Mayor cowering behind Elora.
Henry the Priest, or what was left of him, was viscera across the back of the room and Elora was holding up an automatic crossbow at Gordon.
"What's really going on here, human?" Elora demanded. "Why did you kill him?"
"Don't you get it?" Gordon shouted. "He's responsible for this! It's that damn God of his!"
"What do you think is going to happen when my Optio gets back and sees your gore covered sword, idiot?" Elora said icily. "You'll be lucky if she just eats you."
"I think your pet rusalki ran off. You think she wants anything to do with this cursed town?" Gordon shouted, his anger growing. "Thank all the Gods she did, in fact!"
Svetlana wasn't quite sure what was going on, but it was clear the situation was growing tense. She caught Jackson's eye and signalled to him that she was back. He nodded, and poked Elora in a specific spot on her back, a predetermined signal that hidden friendlies were nearby.
"You'll find that she's already back." Elora said, her finger on the trigger of the crossbow. "Optio! Report!"
"As you wish." Svetlana yelled out, emerging from the alcove. "What's going on here? Do I need to make Watchman... hush?"
"That's up to the Mayor." Jackson chimed in. "He's the local authority here."
"M-me?" The Mayor stammered.
"Yes you." Elora said, not taking her eyes off Gordon for a moment. "Svetlana, make sure none of the dead townsfolk can get back up."
Svetlana went over to the dead bodies and examined them, sniffing each one. None smelled wrong, at least compared to the town. But they were no longer alive so eating them was out of the question.
"Will not eat." Svetlana stated dispassionately.
"I didn't tell you to eat them!" Elora growled. "I told you to make sure they can't get back up!"
"Ah. Apology." Svetlana answered, nodding. She casually ripped off legs and broke bones in a few seconds, then nodded. "Accomplish."
The few remaining townsfolk were huddled in a corner now, fewer than thirty remained. Jackson walked over to them and decided to address them.
"I'm not going to lie to you." He said with a sigh. "This is grim. Probably the worst we've ever seen. But we'll do our best to make sure you survive."
"Will she hurt us?" A woman asked, pointing a shaky finger at Svetlana. Several others nodded.
"Optio Svetlana is here because the Praetor ordered her to be. She's not here to hurt anyone except those who did this." Jackson tried to be as positive as possible, but he knew they'd keep regarding her with fear.
"You fear me. Is natural." Svetlana approached them, but she had learned by now that staying at a distance seemed to put them at ease, even if she knew she could close the gap in only a second or two. "Prey always fears predator."
"Svetlana! Is the Priest's ghost present?" Elora called out, causing Svetlana to turn and move away from the townsfolk, much to their relief.
Svetlana went over to the altar, and leaned over it. Curled in a ball and weeping quietly was Henry's spirit. She walked over to his side and knelt down next to him. Staring at him with some compassion, she pondered the situation. He was attacked and killed by a man he had regarded as a friend. This alone would have been a summary execution under Rus law, but she had learned quickly that human law was much more lax than what she was used to.
"Father Henry." She said quietly. "What will you have us do?"
Henry looked up at Svetlana. The tears streaked down his cheeks, and his thin face looked haunted.
"His sword. It went right through me." Henry whispered. "I had no chance to react."
"Shall I... make hush?" Svetlana asked. "Could give him death in turn."
Meanwhile, Gordon and Elora continued to stare each other down. Elora's usual repertoire of tricks wasn't available as Svetlana had warned twice against any usage of the undead or necromancy, but she was still a former Royal Elven Ranger.
"I don't think you understand just what kind of danger you're in, human." Elora's words were cold as ice, and her unblinking gaze was starting to fray the panicked man's nerves even more.
"You don't even blink." He muttered, gripping his sword tightly. "What are you?"
"More dead than alive." Elora vaguely answered, giving a response that sounded threatening as long as you didn't think about it too much. The less regular people knew about the Garrison the better was always the motto of Praetor Zell. He didn't need to know what she was.
"Is that a threat?" He asked, taking a half step closer.
Elora fired a single crossbow bolt. It landed at the tip of his foot with a loud thud. Svetlana ignored the sound, but Jackson whirled around.
"The next one is between the eyes. Mayor, now would be an excellent time to decide his fate." Elora was getting fed up with all of them, and wondered if no witnesses was still possible. Good is not nice was another motto of Praetor Zell, come to think of it.
"Madam, I've just watched a man I considered a good friend get murdered by another man I also considered a good friend!" The Mayor shouted. "Please give me some time to think!"
"You don't have that luxury." Elora hated indecisive people. Svetlana was very refreshing that way, she had strong opinions and acted on them immediately. They weren't always right, but they were strong. "Make a decision for once in your spineless life."
"I want both of them to be alive, dammit!" The Mayor shouted.
Svetlana ignored the shouting of the mortals and continued her conversation with Henry. The revelations were downright disturbing, and she wondered if they could even escape at this point.
"You are sure?" Svetlana whispered to Henry.
"Positive. Even now I can see it." He whispered back. "I... I'm afraid, rusalki."
Svetlana nodded. This kind of fear was one she understood. A soul consumed is a horrifying fate.
"Centurion Herydark. We have problem." Svetlana stated with all the emotion of a dead tree to Elora as she walked up to her quite quickly and whispered in her ear for some time.
Elora knew that description, but she wished she didn't. The Harvester. This was beyond any of them. This was beyond even the Praetor. All they could do is seal the entire region and hope for the best.
"Svetlana. We need to leave." Elora whispered, but Svetlana shook her head.
"Escape no longer possible, Herydark." Svetlana sounded quite sure of herself. "You haven't seen it yet, but I felt it. The way is shut."
"So we're doomed." Elora said that a bit louder, enough that Gordon could hear.
"What do you lot mean we're doomed?" He demanded.
"The Harvester!" Elora's voice was starting to break. She thought it was a myth told by old necromancers to scare the newer students. But it was real and they were trapped in his void.
"Not doomed. Not yet." Svetlana stated. "Will call She Who Waits."