At the same time that the battle had begun, Bishop Abaris was attending to affairs inside the cathedral. At the moment, he was addressing two cultists regarding tonight’s ritual. Calmly instructing them in how to handle the sacrifices as a very loud voice shouted at him from the entrance.

“ABARIS! WHERE ARE YOU?!”

Dismissing the two, Abaris walked out and welcomed the woman dressed in armor with two mauls across her back.

“Bishop Tae’Lyn. Good evening to you.”

She stomped forward, stopping just in front of him.

“Why have my Cogs been ordered to mobilize?! I gave no such order, and yet you have the gall to summon me as well?!”

Unlike the other cultists, Tae’Lyn didn’t wear any robes. Instead, she wore a mixed set of armor and a coat. Her hair was long and black, kept tucked behind her elven ears. As for her weapons, she carried them with surprising ease for how large the mauls were. Each one was solid stone and the size of a person’s torso. She’d likely be beautiful if not for being so gung-ho and hotheaded all the time.

Then, behind her, another person entered. Though his armor held no apparent connection to the cult.

Abaris welcomed him, “It is also good to see you, Bishop Korlos.”

Korlos was angry, but not to the same degree Tae’Lyn was.

“I was about to have our sewer rat problem dealt with when you summoned me.”

He wore a combination of a breastplate, asymmetrical pauldrons, and chainmail across the rest of his body. Over his left shoulder draped a thick, blue cape that covered half of his back. His hair was black and wavy, and his face had thin eyebrows and a slight goatee on his chin. If not for being a cultist, he’d easily be mistaken for a lost noble.

Abaris bowed, “My apologies for disturbing both of you, but it was in accordance with the Archbishop’s wishes. It was he who ordered that the Cogs ready themselves. As it was also his order to have you return, Bishop Korlos. It is my understanding that his Holiness wishes to have everyone ready to protect the cathedral. Even us.”

Korlos stood in silent confusion, digesting what he was just told.

“Okay… but why though?”

“My apologies, Bishop Korlos, but not even I fully understand. From what I understand, the Archbishop has ordered this because of one report brought before him by an Inquisitor. As per the report, a half-elf and his companions have entered Crimsonvale. And it is this individual who has caused the Archbishop to act as he did, even stating that he may know the half-elf.”

Tae’Lyn interjected, “Did he say who the half-elf is? Why is he taking such drastic measures against just three people?”

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“Unfortunately, he did not.”

Korlos crossed his arms, trying to make sense of the Archbishop’s actions.

“I think we can assume that he is at least trying to prevent anyone from interfering with tonight’s ritual. And if the Archbishop believes to know the aforementioned half-elf, we can also assume him to be a threat to it.”

Abaris agreed, “Yes. It is likely to be as you say. However, his Holiness stated that not even the Cogs may be enough. Hence your summoning.”

Tae’Lyn pridefully scoffed, “The old man must be going senile if he thinks my Cogs will fall so easily.”

Korlos snapped at her, “Bite your tongue, Tae’Lyn. It is heresy to speak ill of the Archbishop!”

She shrugged, “I’m merely joking, Korlos. But there shouldn’t be anyone noteworthy near Crimsonvale. Didn’t your scouts confirm this?”

Korlos relaxed, “Yes, but they ordered to watch from the walls before the start of this week. So whomever the half-elf is, it’s someone who must’ve appeared recently.”

Abaris asked, “Could it be a Hero? Or an Adventurer at the least?”

Korlos answered, “No, definitely not a Hero. Those come and go with walking processions whenever they appear. As for an Adventurer, possible but unlikely. Crimsonvale has minimal contact with other towns, so no one should know about what we’re up to.”

Abaris pondered, “Then who is this half-elf?”

Suddenly, a Watcher interrupted their meeting. Running towards them and short on breath.

“B-bishops! BISHOPS!”

He staggered towards them before falling to his knees and gasping for air just outside the cathedral. His face was pale from exhaustion and blood trailed down from where his left arm used to be.

“Bishops, I-I bear a report f-from our assault on the h-half-elf.”

Tae’Lyn addressed him, “Then speak! Do not waste our time!”

He nodded and spoke, “Th-the half-elf and his dwarven companion are currently engaging us in combat.”

Abaris interrupted the report.

“Was there not a human girl with them?”

“Th-there was, but she fled half-way through the battle. Unfortunately, the battle h-has not gone well. Our numbers slowly fell at the start, but our situation has grown dire since she ran. Alarmingly, the two I mentioned seem to have been holding back while she was present. But after she was gone, the battle shifted heavily against us.”

The man was bleeding out, and badly at this point.

“We assumed ourselves to be making slow progress, but our spells inflict negligible to no damage against either of them. The half-elf easily counters our magical attacks, and the dwarf out ranges all of us with his… weapon. Even when we try to flee, hoping to regroup, they pursue us and make it impossible to recover. I-I am one of the few lucky enough to escape.”

Tae’Lyn was furious at their ineptitude.

“You useless pieces of sh-!”

Abaris put his hand on her shoulder, intervening.

“What are our losses so far?”

The Watcher took in heavy breaths and about to collapse.

“I-it’s impossible to say for certain. The h-half-elf’s weapon turns our corpses to dust while the dwarf blows limbs off at range. M-my best guess is ‘many’. It is possible that, come dawn, our town’s faucets will pour blood if they aren’t… stopped…”

With his last words, he collapsed and died.

Tae’Lyn broke away from Abaris before turning away from the others, biting her nail while quietly cursing under her breath.

Korlos suggested, “It seems that the half-elf and dwarf are our biggest concern right now. Let’s focus on slowing them down first with how they’re the biggest threat to the ritual. May we entrust this to you, Tae’Lyn?”

Tae’Lyn scoffed, “I shall reduce them to nothing but red paste!”

With a task given to her, Tae’Lyn strutted out and left the others to their affairs. Abaris and Korlos looked at each other for a moment.

Korlos stated, “I shall go looking for the girl. It’s likely the rats will find her and bring her in. We may be able to use her as a bargaining chip, but hopefully Tae’Lyn can stop the half-elf and dwarf.”

Abaris agreed, “Hopefully…”