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 could.
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?"