The city graveyard, located in the Northern ward with all the temples, was locked down even in the daylight hours. A pair of guards in black armor stood at the gates turning away anyone that so much as wanted to visit their deceased loved ones. It was definitely weird, as the guards would give no answers as to why the cemetery was off limits beyond saying that it was business of the Deathdealers and the Deathdealers alone, and that only people on business from the temples could enter or leave as they pleased.

Mau found that pretty damn suspicious.

It was well past noon by the time Mau and Suvdaa had reached the cemetery after sending the catboy home and leaving word with the Guild. Several other adventurers actually did volunteer to at least keep their ears to the ground if they came across any news of a missing kitten in the city, but Mau wasn't expecting too much help in that regard.

But then a stroke of luck happened.

A familiar face emerged from the doors of the Temple of Light. It was the young dogboy acolyte that Mau and Suvdaa had met on the road. If they couldn't get into the cemetery on their own, they suddenly had an in, now.

Mau and Suvdaa diverted from their course to the cemetery to the temple where the young acolyte had just exited and made they way on over to him.

"Oh!" He said, when he saw the girls, recognition dawning upon his fair faced features, giving them both a bright and friendly smile. "It's good to see you again, all is well, I hope?" He asked, tail beginning to wag furiously.

"Yeah, hey thanks for before." Mau said. She was genuinely thankful for the fact that he saved her from death by venom, even if she wasn't the biggest fan of the temples and their ilk. But then she exchanged a glance with her travel companion.

"We could use your help again." She said, opting to not mince words.

The youth blinked at first, but smiled even wider.

"Of course, anything!" He said. "If I can help in any way, please let me know."

Suvdaa, for the most part opted to let Mau do the talking. Her temperament was likely to just make the situation strained with her tendency to make demands rather than do something like ask politely. So Mau lunged right into what they needed.

"We need to get into the cemetery. The guards won't let us if we're not on temple business."

The boy blinked again.

"Uh. What do you need to get into the graveyard for?" He asked.

"A girl's gone missing. The last place she was seen was playing by the gates over here." Mau explained. In an instant the boy's expression grew grave and serious as he went still, brow knotting as his lips pursed into a thin line.

That seemed to be all he needed to hear.

"Okay." He said. "If it'll help find the girl I'll get you in."

Now it was Mau and Suvdaa's turn to blink. That was way easier than they thought it would go, he hardly needed any convincing, and his tail was back to wagging even harder in the next second. Without any further words exchanged between them, the boy pushed past the girls and started making a beeline for the cemetery gates. Mau and Suvdaa quickly fell into line with him.

"I'm Andy, by the way." He introduced himself brightly.

"Suvdaa." Suvdaa muttered.

"Hey. I'm Mau." Mau introduced herself as they approached the gates and were immediately stopped by the dark armored guardsmen.

"Halt." The first man said, holding his hand out to stop the trio. "By the orders of City Magistrate Thanatos no one is to enter the city cemetery unless it's official temple business."

Andy was all pleasant smiles and sweet words when he started speaking.

"We are on temple business!" The dogboy replied brightly. His answer made the guard pair pause.

"We weren't informed of this." The second guardsman in dark armor replied. "What is the nature of the temple's business in the graveyard, right now? ... Especially with the company you keep in tow, acolyte." The guard pressed.

Andy was still smiling as he replied.

"We're just going to tend to a few of the graves that need some tender love and care." He said. "We can't risk the tombstones getting overgrown. And with how you're keeping us out of the cemetery lately, more and more graves are going neglected."

The pair stole a look to one another as they considered the demi-human's answer. Mau and Suvdaa however had their attention elsewhere. Both were eyeing the ground for a good hard moment while Andy worked on talking their way past the guards.

"Honestly." He said. "This is very important work, if you don't let us past I'll have to tell the deacons, and they won't be very happy to hear that."

With a grumble, the guardsmen in black stepped back and into a brief huddle, conversing amongst themselves before they returned their attention to the trio.

"Fine, but be quick about it." One said before they both stepped aside.

"May the Light of Galatea bless you both~." Andy chirruped brightly as he led Mau and Suvdaa into the cemetery.

"... Not bad." Mau praised the acolyte's silvery tongue, once they were out of earshot, though she flinched as though stricken when he mentioned the name Galatea, she rallied quickly enough.

"Cat. Dog." Suvdaa interrupted them, though. "Did you see what I saw?"

Andy tilted his head, curious and clueless as Mau nodded.

"Yeah." The catgirl said.

"Wait, what did you both see?" Andy pressed, inquisitive and bewildered.

"Drag marks." Mau replied. "Fresh ones, on the ground by the gates. Someone small was pulled into the graveyard against their will."

Andy looked aghast, green eyes widening. "So the girl really is here, then? We should hurry and find her!"

Suvdaa took to a knee and traced her fingers along the ground, quickly picking up the trail of footprints and drag scuffs left in the dirt that were left for anyone to find as plain as day. Mau didn't even have to help her, the raider was already in hunting mode and leading the way.

It wasn't long before Suvdaa led the trio to an old mausoleum in the deeper part of the graveyard; though there were several times where they had to pause tracking and take cover, due to a guard or two patrolling the cemetery paths.

The mausoleum's door was open, a silent and yawning portal to the crypts below, and Andy frowned.

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"Should that be open?" Suvdaa asked blithely. And the dogboy shook his head.

"No- these should all be sealed shut." He said.

Mau and Suvdaa drew their weapons in unison. Suvdaa drew her knife from the sheathe at her hip while Mau unsheathed her short blade, ready to put it to use in the tight quarters they were soon to find themselves in.

"Stay behind us." Mau said to the acolyte. "Suvdaa, I'll take point and lead, you keep an eye on our acolyte."

Suvdaa nodded. "Right. You can see in the dark." She said, understanding before glancing over her shoulder to look at Andy.

"Keep quiet and stay close to me." She said.

"R-right." Andy said, nodding. "If either of you get hurt, I can probably heal you. Probably." He didn't sound too sure of himself, but then again, Galatea didn't really deign to listen to her acolytes when they needed her, so Mau wasn't willing to rely on the youth's divine healing skills unless she really had no choice in the matter.

Creeping down the stairs slowly, Mau descended into the darkness with Suvdaa and Andy in tow...

❧

The crypts beneath the mausoleum and cemetery were sprawling, and it would have been easy to get lost beneath them for hours, if not for the blatant trail that had been left on the ground that Mau was able to easily follow. Footprints and more drag marks dotted and lined the corridor floors. The walls were lined with tombs cut into the rock and stone, where the dead were laid to rest.

Though the party hadn't encountered anything yet aside from dust, echoes, and the dead, they proceeded with caution as Mau brushed aside ancient cobwebs with her blade and quietly crept through the catacombs.

"I don't like this..." Andy whined like a pup, voice kept hushed and quiet as his tail tucked between his legs. "Maybe we should go back."

"A little further." Suvdaa prodded him on with surprising gentleness that made Mau feel a slight pang. She wasn't quite jealous, but the thought that Suvdaa was more of a dog person than a cat person seemed to mildly irk Mau a bit as she led them through the nearly pitch black corridors. She could see just fine, in shades of black and white, in the dark, but Suvdaa and Andy were relying on her to guide them.

It had been almost an hour since they made their way into the catacombs, and it felt that, even with the trail to follow, that they were going in circles. That is, until Mau's ears perked.

"Hold it." She whispered, prompting Suvdaa to halt and Andy to bump right into the raider girl's back. Suvdaa grunted and cast a pointless but sharp look over her shoulder. Andy could barely make out her silhouette at best in the gloom, so he didn't see it.

"Hear that?" Mau muttered under her breath.

"No." Suvdaa answered.

"... Kinda." Andy replied, floppy canine ears pricking up. "Is that... Chanting?"

Being a demi-human, Andy's hearing was just as keen as Mau's, so he was able to hear the soft sound of humming and chanting that echoed distantly down the cavernous crypt halls.

"We're getting close." Mau whispered. "Stay on guard and don't split up, no matter what."

"... The last time you said not to split up, you ditched me with a wendigo." Suvdaa pointed out.

Mau grimaced. Andy tilted his head.

"What's a wendigo?" He asked.

"Nothing, let's just keep moving." Mau prodded the two verbally before she brushed aside another old cobweb and crept along the musty catacombs.

It wasn't much longer before the chanting grew louder and the trio eventually found themselves in a spacious chamber, several lit torches ensconced in the walls casting a flickering light upon the occupants in the room. Mau immediately ducked back into the dark shadows of the hall and held her arm across the path to prevent Suvdaa, or more worryingly, Andy, from passing her.

"Shh." She hissed softly, dropping into a crouch. Suvdaa joined her, Andy remained standing, clueless as they looked on.

There were at least forty members of the city guard in their dark armor standing around a raised platform and a single figure in dark robes wearing a skull for a mask. The guards chanted in unison, dark words in a dark language that Mau had heard so many times before.

The language was called Dommonian, and it was typically spoken by worshippers of the god of destruction and chaos, Dommon. Mau's palms tingled and she instinctively reached for her long sword as the men prayed to their dark overlord.

"Great." Mau muttered. "We just bumblefucked our way into a cult meeting. But who's the Emperor Palpatine looking bastard?"

"What is a Palpatine?" "What's a Palpatine?" Suvdaa and Andy whispered back in union. Mau waved them quiet as the chanting died down and the robed figure raised his hands indicating his followers to be silent.

Though he spoke in Dommonian to them, Mau understood the language easily. She had heard it before, so many times, in so many previous lives, she had picked it up well enough to understand it by now.

"Friends, companions, brothers in arms." He began to say, spreading his hands as this followers died down. "We have come so far, but there is still so much to do."

Mau half-listened to the cult leader as her eyes scanned the chamber. A tiny whimper caught her ear, and she peeked her head back into the chamber proper.

There, just off to the side of the entrance, barely illuminated by the torches, were a series of cages; several figures lay unmoving within them, and the rank stench of rot assaulted Mau's nose as she motioned for Andy and Suvdaa to stay hidden while she crept closer.

Most of the occupants in each cage were long dead, but a small whimpering bundle in the corner of the cage closest to the door trembled under a ragged blanket. Mau recognized the fuzzy little tail that stuck out from under the cloth and gently pulled he blanket away.

"Shhhhhh." She cooed at the catgirl. Meu's eyes were wide and wild with terror, red and puffy from crying for who knows how long, and she almost bit Mau on instinct, before she realized that this was the same adventurer whose tail she had been trying to catch just the night before.

In an instant the kitten was clinging to Mau tightly through the bars of the cage and Mau gently patted her atop the head as she mewled in fright.

"Shhhh shhh." Mau silenced her, kneeling to the child's level to wipe her eyes clean of tears.

"We've come to get you out of here." She said, and the girl's eyes lit right up. "Do you know where the key to this cage is?"

"Th-thank you." Meu huffed in a tiny whisper, biting her lip to keep as quiet as she could, giving Mau a pained look as though she knew that the adventurer wasn't going to like the answer she had for her. She was right.

Mau scowled when one tiny hand pointed a trembling finger at the Emperor Palpatine looking skullfaced man in the crowd, and Mau could see the ring of keys glinting in the light at his hip, tied to the sash of his robes.

He continued to speak to his dark congregation.

"Though we have waited for so long..." He began to say, "Our plans will finally come to fruition tonight!"

Mau frowned. She had figured the city guard to be corrupt, but not for a chunk of them to be actual members of some kind of cult. Especially one to Dommon.

"Tonight, I will unleash my power..." The robed figure gurgled, wheezing with amusement as he turned to the back wall of the chamber and raised his hands again. The torches flared, the new light shining menacingly upon the countless cages in the back of the room, illuminating a hundred or so demi-humans, humans, elves, dwarves, and dragonkin, in mixed confinement, each looking weak, emaciated, and on the verge of keeling over. Their eyes were filled with terror.

"All it takes to cause an outbreak is one loose zombie..." The robed figure said. "I will unleash a hundred zombies upon this stain of a city and the screams of the living will turn into the moans of the dead as they join the ranks of our army and spread across all of Dorn. In one night this city will belong to the dead and damned... And I, Thanatos, will give it all as a sacrifice to our leader, Vile Darque, to add to his armies, and he will praise me as one of his greatest members of his four generals!"

Mau's eyes widened.

Though it was the first time she had ever heard the name Vile Darque in all her lives, she instinctively knew the name of her most hated foe as soon as she heard it.

This bastard was a servant of the Demon Lord.

Mau gritted her teeth. She could feel her hands trembling with rage. Not only had they bumblefucked their way into a cult meeting, but she and her friends just completely stumbled upon one of the Demon Lord's four generals.

"Of course..." Mau spat under her breath as she looked back to the tiny occupant in the cage. "Figures." She huffed, irate, before managing to calm.

"We're gonna get the key and get you out of there."

Meu shook her head, gripping the bars of the cage.

"Big sis, you have to stop him!" She pleaded. "If he sets zombies on the city everyone will die..."

Mau hesitated. She had promised to rescue the kitten. But in working to fulfill that promise she had just completely tripped back onto the course of completing her life goal.

"Alright." The Hero whispered. "I'll kill this bastard and then get you out of here."

There was just one problem to this plan. There were a lot of men between Mau and Thanatos. Whatever she did was going to have to require a lot of finesse and likely holding Suvdaa back from lunging into action. There was also the issue of the acolyte. They had already asked a lot of him and probably should not involve him any more than they already were, instead of dragging him deeper into the mess of dealing with a cult.

"We'll be back tonight." Mau promised the girl as she slinked back into the shadows by the entrance to the chamber to return to Suvdaa and Andy.

"We have a problem." Mau whispered to her companions in the darkness. "Let's get out of here, I'll fill you both in on the way."

"What kind of problem?" Suvdaa hissed irritable that she couldn't understand a word of the cult speak.

"... Should I be worried they've been speaking that language this whole time?" Andy whined.

Mau nodded grimly to the two of them as she started to lead the way back down the corridors in the gloom of the crypts.

"Yeah. ... So do you have anyone you can trust in that church of yours?" She asked, scowling at the thought of relying on the aid of the temple.