The inside of the Cathedral of Myratel made the place feel more massive than it looked outside. The priests took Quora into the main hall, a colossal room lined with hundreds of wood pews leading up to a stone dais with an altar, upon which a hefty tome sat flanked by candles. Quora could smell its worn pages from the other side of the hall; definitely well-thumbed ancient scripture. The walls and floor were wrought with black marble and accented with white stone pillars, making the candlelight illuminating the hall pleasing to the eye. The place was cold, and Quora found herself shivering. She could see the acolytes in robes similar to the priests rushing about the cathedral, fearfully whispering about the chimera attack or what purpose this little girl had in the cathedral.
"I heard the monster was chasing a child. Could she..?"
"It must be her."
"What should we do?"
"She looks tired.."
Damn it all, there are too many eyes on me.
The priests led Quora to the rearmost pews and sat her down. They ordered an acolyte to fetch a hooded blanket for her and wrapped Quora in it. She soon felt very comfortable being so bundled in warm wool.
"We'll get you something to eat, okay?" one of the priests said in an assuring voice. Quora nodded and figured it would be some time before she was left to her own devices. She looked around the cathedral's hall and saw the stained-glass windows depicting the same Myratel from the statue adorning the cathedral in various parts of scripture. The first depicted her revealing her light before a crowd of people. The second depicted the people building with stone bricks around Myratel. The third depicted Myratel choosing one person beyond a line of the golden knights that had come to be called the Papal Soldiers. The fourth depicted the Papal Soldiers battling against warriors wearing iron armour with blue tabards.
"Dreamford's men..."
The fifth and last one depicted Myrellia's pope standing tall with his staff in one hand and offering his hand to a king in blue finery who had laid his sword down in defeat, the scene being watched by Myratel herself above. All of this led to the great painting on the cathedral ceiling, a magnificently detailed painting of Myratel herself, flying through the air upon her six wings with a spear of radiant sunlight in her hand, piercing through the heavy rain and grey storm clouds around her as she faced a terrible multi-headed dragon that spewed fire and sorcery. This piece was undeniably beautiful, but it disgusted Quora. Suddenly, she felt a presence from above and heard a woman's whisper inside her mind.
Why have you come here?
Quora, amused, focused her mind and made her reply, "You have something of mine. I am here to take it."
Do you believe I cannot stop you?
"You can do nothing. You've never been real."
The voice laughed.
Your new skills are of no consequence. You will find I am capable of greater trickery yet, beast.
Quora felt the presence disappear. For some reason, she felt content. Or perhaps that was the wool blanket making her feel secure. Thinking about the time she could have when she finally got into the cathedral archive made her smile. She yawned and let her little body slump over on the pew. Quora curled up in the blanket, drifted off to sleep.
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Hours passed, and Quora's eyes fluttered open. The hall's candles had dimmed, and the motifs on the stained-glass windows were dark and barely legible. Night had fallen, and there wasn't a soul in sight - but there was one that could be heard. Next to Quora sat an elderly priest with a white beard, himself sound asleep and softly snoring. Quora quietly (and reluctantly) left the confines of the wool blanket. She thought better of changing to her adult shape - she was plenty quiet as a child and could plausibly deny her intentions should she be spotted.
She crept through the cathedral halls, the marble floor's chill making her feet ache. She poked her head into several rooms and found little but storage rooms, darkness, or sleeping acolytes. When she tried a door in the main hall near the altar, she saw a promising set of dimly lit stairs. She checked for anyone watching; the old priest was still asleep at the rearmost pews and had taken the wool blanket and wrapped himself in it. She slipped through the door and made her descent. Quora shape-shifted as she went. She watched her shadow on the wall and saw her child form grow into adulthood in the span of seconds.
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The vaunted archives beneath the Cathedral of Myratel. Quora had entered this stinking city only to find her path blocked by the Papal Soldiers, who, as of late, were wary of creatures attacking the city walls. Luring a chimera to Myrellia and engineering the spectacle of the beast chasing a young girl would turn out to be the perfect ploy - distracting the Papal Soldiers and being ushered into the cathedral by sympathetic priests. For any normal human, this would appear a herculean effort for something so small as a piece of lost writing, not to mention it being the first step of this journey. Quora had to admit she was enjoying herself.
"For you, my sister."
The musty air and cloying dust of the archives betrayed the minimal maintenance this place received. It was silent as a grave, the only noise being the echoes of Quora's clicking heels. Quora had to conjure a mote of light to help her see in the pitch darkness. The place was divided by massive lattice shelves holding heaps of scrolls, no doubt containing staggering amounts of scripture and lore. Quora was disgusted to think of the Church of Myratel as the most well-documented entity in all of Aveldan. As well as the scripture, plinths holding strange artifacts could be seen further into the archives. Quora thought little of the artifacts. She breathed deep through her nose and took in all the scents within the archives: old papers, mildew, rodent leavings, insects, until there was one scent she recognized. She followed it, passing shelf after shelf as she got closer.
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A man's voice barked, "Who's there?"
Quora gasped and dispelled her light. She cursed and saw that a guard carrying a torch had followed her into the archives. He did not bear the trappings of a Papal Soldier but rather a simple suit of iron armour with a sword at his hip and a shield on his back. His youthful face scanned what his torch would allow him to see, every darted glance disturbing his flowing blonde hair as he made his way to where he had spotted Quora. She quickly took off her shoes and continued following the scent, how having to focus past the new smells from the guard and the smoke from his torch.
She was getting closer to her prize, but so was the guard. Her hosed feet dragged on the floor slightly and made the guard's attention snap to her direction. He drew his sword and slowly approached. Quora slipped between one of the shelves of scrolls and kneeled. The source of the familiar scent was within arm's reach, and she nearly pressed her face into a stack of scrolls to ensure she took the correct one.
She found it.
As she reached a hand to take the scroll, she saw the guard round into the aisle she was in. He was looking right at her. He looked up at the shelves and then to his torch. A look of uncertainty was plain on his face. He turned back and went to the stairwell leading out of the archives. Quora slipped the scroll out of its stack and stowed it on her person before she crept through the aisle, keeping her eyes on the guard. She saw him place his torch on a holster on the wall next to the doorway and unsling his shield.
"I know you're in here!" he shouted, "On my honour, the only way out of the archives is through me!"
What a joke. Quora's lips drew into a smile - if he was so persistent, she would be happy to oblige him. She slipped her shoes back on her feet and allowed her clicking heels to announce her presence. The guard slowly turned to face Quora, and she started to smell fear. Still, he held fast as Quora stepped into the torchlight.
"...Witch!" uttered the guard as he raised his sword, "I care not what business you had here, but it ends now. I, Thedus, will not allow you to harm this holy place!"
Quora slowly and deliberately approached. She laughed darkly and let her human shape slip. Her eyes glittered and flashed like embers. Patches of dark green scales appeared on her skin. Her body became powerfully muscled and grew larger until she dwarfed Thedus. Her fists became gnarled and massive, her once-delicate nails turning into wicked claws. Her mouth drew wide, and she snapped her teeth at Thedus, now rows of terrible fangs.
"Are you afraid yet?" a draconic rumble came from Quora's mocking voice.
Thedus stood wide-eyed, staring up at the creature he thought to battle against, "What are you?!"
Quora bellowed a laugh, her dragon's fire flashing at the back of her throat - a sadistic show often reserved for her prey.
She growled, "How about I show you?"
She raised a gnarled hand and magically projected an image into Thedus' mind - that of the great painting on the cathedral ceiling. The realization came quickly.
"It cannot be..."
"I AM the Beast of your scripture!" Quora roared, her voice shaking the scroll shelves, "I fought the woman called Myratel. I devoured her!"
"Blasphemous demon!" Thedus shouted as he brought his sword in both hands and charged Quora. She smashed into him with a gnarled fist and sent him reeling back. She grappled him by the arms and effortlessly lifted him off the ground.
"I felt her scream as she slithered down one of my five throats!" Quora mocked as she slammed Thedus into the stone wall and let him crumple onto the floor. She took him by the torso and lifted him again.
"Within my belly, she struggled until she became a part of me like the rest of her warriors," said Quora. The beaten Thedus looked into her eyes with defiance.
"You'd like to join her, wouldn't you? Very well..." Quora opened her jaw and brought Thedus' head toward her waiting mouth.
Crack!
Quora felt a brutal hit across her face and dropped Thedus as her head went awry. She heard the pattering of teeth on the floor and felt blood leak into her mouth; Thedus had smashed his shield into her face. He quickly rose to his feet, and with a shout, he charged to drive his sword into Quora's chest. She grunted and twisted her body to place a patch of scales into the blade's path. The sword was turned aside harmlessly. Quora raked her claws into Thedus, tearing a gash through his armour and sending him spinning to the floor.
"Petulant fool!" thundered Quora, "You will die horribly for this!"
She grabbed Thedus' leg and dragged him towards her. She raised a fist and hammered down to his face. He rolled out of the way and raised his shield when she struck again. He grunted in pain as she came down again and again. She could hear his body breaking under her assault until his shield was turned aside. He watched with a look of acceptance as her fist came down one last time.
Quora felt an impact, but it was not that of bone buckling beneath flesh.
A mote of golden light was all that was holding Quora's fist from crushing Thedus' head. Both looked at the light with confusion moments before it erupted into a bright flash that threw Quora off of Thedus and sent her tumbling across the stone floor.
This torment ends, beast!
Quora went wide-eyed - it was the voice from the cathedral's hall. She scrabbled to her feet and noticed she had been forced back to her fully human form. The golden light covered Thedus, and Quora could hear his body mending itself as he rose to his feet. Thedus' eyes were motes of gold pulled wide. He advanced on Quora, tossing his shield aside and taking his sword into both hands.
He spoke with the voice of Myratel herself.
"You brought your vileness into my house and threatened my chosen!" declared Myratel, "Now, he shall avenge the terrible death you gave me ages ago!"
Quora spat, "I'll burn your entire faith to the ground!"
She called upon her magic to enact a terrible spell to consume the archives in fire, but something was wrong - the magic would not respond to her. She felt a pit in her stomach. She backed away from the approaching Thedus, trying to shape-shift her body to become beastly again, to no avail. Quora tried conjuring a blade to fight with. She could feel the goddess laughing at her.
Did I not warn of my trickery?
Quora grit her teeth, "What have you done to me?!"
It is my blessing, monster. Wherever it touches, mana dies. This vessel shall spread my light throughout the land!
"The world can't-!"
Thedus closed in on Quora, nearly taking her head off with his first swing. His balance seemed to slip with his strike, his head hanging awry on his shoulders - Thedus was clearly not in control of his body. Fighting like a puppet, he shuffled forward and made another wide swing of his sword. Quora nearly lost her balance as she leapt away from Thedus' blade. He raised his blade and shambled to Quora, looking to run her through. She stumbled past him and watched Thedus clumsily fall. She didn't wait for him to pick himself up awkwardly. She sprinted to the stairwell out of the archives and made her escape.
Quora was filled with malaise at the idea that a god's arrogance may have saved her life.