The cleric led Pitt to the temple. He was struck by the entirety of the Court being represented by the building. He didn't say anything.

He had thought he was about to have an audience with the King of the Gods, and the holder of knowledge. With the other gods being present, he might be meeting someone else instead.

“He's waiting in there,” said the cleric. He pointed to a door off the side of the main room for worship.

“Lead on,” said Pitt. He waved a hand for the man to proceed. “I'll protect you if things get rough.”

“I don't see how you're going to do that,” said the cleric. He led the way to the door and opened it. He stepped out of the way to let his guest pass.

“You have a point there,” said Pitt. He pushed the cleric into the room ahead of him. He stepped across the threshold.

“What did you do?,” said the cleric. “I'm not supposed to be here.”

He waved at the gold and silver courtroom that had surrounded them. A scale in a circle had been laid in the floor. Two bailiffs of winged white energy stood on either side of the bench area. They nodded at the visitors, but didn't step forward to indicate there was some violation going on.

“Be calm, Cleric Gumm,” said Pantalus, judge of the dead. He appeared in a flicker of silver and sat down to look down on the mortals in front of him. “You may witness what is transpiring here without fear.”

“How's it going?,” asked Pitt. “I would have called you, but I haven't made it home yet.”

“I'm aware,” said Pantalus. He leaned back in his chair. “This is about something else.”

“The monster in town?,” asked Pitt.

“Monster?,” said Gumm. “What monster?”

“What your town thinks is a plague is really some kind of monster,” said Pitt. “Probably something too vile for a normal cleric to deal with, much less one who has to serve every god except for Avrii Noll.”

“I have to serve them too when necessary,” said Gumm.

“Cleric Gumm has a dispensation from the Court to carry out his duties as much as he is able,” said Pantalus. “You are correct that he would be hardpressed to face this menace on his own, even with the grants he has access to through his training and ability.”

“Really?,” said Pitt. “Avrii Noll?”

He waved at the grim gray tunic and mark of Mogen Farn the cleric wore.

“I have to wear a mask and mufti when I act for them,” said the cleric. “That's the requirement of all of their clerics as I am sure you know.”

Pitt shrugged. The guy seemed too mild to fight for the embodiment of war.

“This is a vampire,” said Pantalus. “I would like for you to exterminate it and whomever else it infected.”

“Gumm can't do that?,” said Pitt.

“No,” said Pantalus. “I think the threat will overwhelm and turn this town into a nest to spread vampires across this region. Things could easily snowball into a situation like White Plains before the Knights and our representatives could stop the problem if they ever could.”

Pitt nodded. He had dealt with vampire nests in the past. When they got going, you were facing bloodbound thralls and masters capable of ripping an ordinary man's arm off. It had been a pleasure setting the things on fire.

“Do you know how many vampires we're talking about,” asked Pitt. He pulled out his tobacco pouch. He frowned at the scraps of leaves he found inside.

“Two,” said Pantalus. “They are trying to make more out of the town. Who knows how long that will take?”

“You have any tobacco?,” asked Pitt. On one level he was thinking about the problem, trying to figure what vectors he could use to hunt his quarry down before they tried to kill him first. On the other, he had been handed a big problem and he wanted a smoke.

“I thought you quit,” said Pantalus. He pulled out a pouch and tossed it down from the bench.

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“I did, but all this walking is giving me time to think about things I shouldn't think about which is making me want to smoke again,” said Pitt. He caught the pouch. He opened it up and handed it to Gumm. The cleric had the look of a man who could be killed at any moment and wanted to know why he wasn't.

Pitt transferred a portion of the tobacco from Pantalus's pouch to his. He rolled a cigarette with some more from the other pouch. He closed the pouch and walked over and placed it on the counter. His own pouch went back in his pocket.

He puffed on the cigarette with a nod.

“This is pretty good,” said Pitt.

“Anyone else would be dead,” said Pantalus. “I think you should get started.”

“You wouldn't happen to know where these two vampires are, do you?,” said Pitt.

“No,” said Pantalus.

“I guess I'll poke around until something comes to me,” said Pitt. “Thanks for the tobacco.”

“Don't forget to call when you get back home,” said Pantalus. “If you ever get back home at the rate you're going.”

“You could have provided a horse,” said Pitt. He shook his head. “Not for poor old Pitt. Walk home after saving the world.”

“I'm sure you will find a horse along the way,” said Pantalus. He had the air of someone who had heard the same complaint for generations. “Is there anything else?”

“I can't think of anything offhand,” said Pitt. “Do you have anything, Gummer?”

“I can't think of anything other than I don't want to die because I said something wrong to a god,” said Gumm. “I think my spine is trying to jump out of my back right now and run away without me.”

“You get used to that,” said Pitt. “Thanks for the leaves, Da. I'll fix your vampires up as fast as I can.”

“That would be good,” said Pantalus. He stepped away from the bench the same as he entered.

“Let's go, Gummer,” said Pitt. He looked around. “Outside door?”

One of the bailiffs raised a glowing arm and pointed the direction they should walk from the court.

“Thanks, Sparky,” said Pitt. He turned and walked away from the bench. He spotted a door and nodded. It seemed far away but growing closer faster than the steps he took allowed. He opened it and waved the cleric from the vast courtroom. He waved at the bailiffs before stepping back into the temple.

“I can't believe you asked the judge of the dead for tobacco,” said Gumm. “Are you crazy?”

“I know,” said Pitt. “I should have asked for a lift home. That would beat all this walking around.”

“How can you be so nonchalent?,” asked Gumm. “That was a literal god. We could have died.”

“Nah,” said Pitt. He inspected his cigarette and frowned at the fact that it was nearly gone. “This tobacco burns fast. I wonder if he did that on purpose.”

“What do you mean 'Nah'?,” asked Gumm.

“Pantalus doesn't kill anything unless he has to,” said Pitt. “We were completely safe unless we did something stupid like punch Sparky and his buddy. Then it would have been some fireworks.”

“I'll take your word for that,” said Gumm. He rubbed his face with his hands. “I hope I never have to do that again.”

“I think it's good to meet your god every once in a while,” said Pitt. “It reminds you what you signed up to serve.”

“I don't think I need that big a reminder,” said Gumm. He waved at the temple with the various sections for each member of the Court in residence. “How are we going to track down these vampires?”

“Let's start with these victims of the plague first,” said Pitt. “I think you are going to have to go around and bless all their houses. That should keep the vampires from getting to them, and that will let them recover.”

“I tried to heal them and that didn't work,” said Gumm.

“The vampire just came back and inflicted more damage,” said Pitt. “What you are going to have to do is make sure nothing bad can come across the threshold.”

“I can do that,” said Gumm. “Most of the victims are out away from town. That could be a problem with the sun going down in a few hours. There's no way I can reach them all in time.”

“Do you have a lot of riders here in town?,” asked Pitt.

“I think so,” said Gumm. “I would have to find them and get them together. Some of them won't like visiting anything that looks like a plague area.”

“We need to get the plague victims here to town so we can guard them when the sun goes down,” said Pitt. “Then we can think of some way to chase the vampires down and get rid of them.”

“All right,” said Gumm. “I don't know how many will help us, but I'll look for them.”

“Who died first from this plague?,” asked Pitt.

“Widow Mason,” said Gumm. “She lived just out of town. We cremated her as soon as she died.”

“So she's probably not the problem you have now,” said Pitt. “I would like to look at her house while you're getting the people together to help bring everyone in.”

“All right,” said Gumm. “It's about five miles down this road. A wooden dog marks the spot that leads up to her house. It's yellow and green.”

“Let's get to work,” said Pitt. “Once the sick start turning, the rest of the town will start going too.”

“That's a sobering thought,” said Gumm.

Pitt stamped out his used cigarette. He started walking down the road. He figured he might make the house before the sun went down. If he didn't, then maybe he wouldn't have to wait for the vampires to show themselves.

He hoped Gumm could get everyone in one place where they could be defended. Some of the vampires he had dealt with in the past had slave soldiers that could work in the daytime, or monsters they could control with their will.

It made wrecking a redoubt easy when a blessing would normally turn away monsters.

He hoped he didn't have to kill the town to stop the problem. That had happened in the past when things had got out of control. The Brotherhood couldn't be everywhere. Some things slid beneath notice until one of the fraternity took an interest.

By then, they were fighting a war to eradicate the problem before it became something capable of dooming humanity.