Chapter 114
In sharp contrast to the awe-inspiring public face, the back section of the cathedral was beyond boring.
"Can I help you, Ranger?" An older gentleman in a copper torc intoned nasally.
He was seated behind a desk, just inside a cleverly hidden door to the back area of the cathedral. It was a first for Riley, having been accustomed to the fortress-like cathedrals of the towns, but there, just before the altar, far and to the left, hidden by two columns, was a small door leading to an L-shaped hallway that opened, only to be guarded by this desk, set at the center of it.
"I have business with the Death Abbot. Is she available?" Tobias asked, straightening up with all the power of his office.
"Third door on your right, do mind the stairs. They will take you to the undercroft. Is she expecting you, Sir?" He asked as Riley wondered if the man was capable of talking anywhere but through his nose.
"My commander sent word we were en route, but nothing is fixed," Tobias answered.
"Very well, I do know she is currently on-site, so make your way. Do you wish for me to precede you and announce you...Sir?" The man's eyes gleamed with regulation politeness.
"Thank you, no," Tobias said, moving quickly past the desk as the man set back to his tasks, which seemed, at that moment, to be not much at all.
"Are we sure he wasn't dead?" Riley joked.
A hallway full of doors waited just behind the servant. The third door on the right sat perfectly in the middle, the third of six on that side.
Tobias heaved as the heavy metal ring caught, and the unusually thick and heavy door pulled away, breaking a near-hermetic seal.
A gush of wind washed over Riley, bringing with it the potent smell of death, causing her stomach to tighten and her fur to stand on end.
Roughhewn stone stairs led down into the earth, lit by blue crystal lamps set into the wall.
"That's not spooky at all! Do you have your regulation candelabra handy?" Riley pressed closer to Tobias.
"Come on, fearless one. There is nothing to fear from the dead," he rolled his eyes and began to descend. The staircase spiraled, remaining narrow, before opening to a large, well-lit area that looked like a modern morgue had been established inside the Paris catacombs.
Arched openings gave way to small slots in the wall, holding stone slabs. The ones occupied had a thick form-fitting curtain drawn across. Incense braziers burned constantly, perfuming the air, adding powerful sweet accents to the faint undertones of decay.
Sat in the rearmost part of the room, dominating that wall, was a massive furnace with a heavy iron door.
In the center of the room was a stone table. A body was upon it, wrapped in a sheet.
Just behind it was a grinning woman who looked to be part skeleton in her own right. It was clear, at first sight, that she was ancient. Milky blue eyes stared out, unfocused. Bony hands were folded and held under her chest, protruding like sticks out of a heavy and worn grey robe.
A crystalline torc was around her neck. Her silver hair was drawn back into a bun.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Riley cast analyze
Morrigan, Abbot of Linnan Ealdre, Deific Servant of the God of Death
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More fun at parties than you'd think.
Her ancient head craned toward the hare as Riley's spell washed over her.
"Oh, Riley, the one that got away. Celestial, with a taste of something more. Light and dark in balance, the life confluence, and like all life, you have found your way here..." Her rough, gravelly voice trailed off, fading like a specter, all as her mouth turned to grin.
"Feeling really freaked out right now!" Riley exclaimed, taking refuge beside Tobias.
"There is no need to fear, child. I meant nothing by it, and if that's Riley, you must be Ranger Tobias. I have been expecting you both. You have arrived at exactly the right time," Her piercing yet far-off gaze turned towards him.
Tobias gripped the hilt of his sword in reflex.
"My, My, what untrusting children." She tsked, shaking her head.
"Be at peace. I mean you no harm." She craned her head in interest, the grin plastered across her face never changing.
"Apologies. I meant no offense," Tobias forced himself to relax, all as Riley remained on guard.
"I know. Habits are the way of all living things, and yours have been ingrained by the trials you have endured. You follow the path of duty and are here about the murders, at least some of them. There is a path and pattern to your coming, as it is for all things. You are in luck. This one has just arrived in the last half-hour. Your commander should be aware of this by the time you return." She spoke as if speaking were a memory, a far-off recollection of near-forgotten days.
"Screw the murders, how can she hear me? I wasn't even talking to her!" Riley exclaimed.
"Respect, Riley!" Tobias projected.
"I am the servant of a living God. It has its advantages, and you are known to him. Quite known, in fact. I hear and see and am not of the second tier. You need not fear me, though many do, as they fear my master." She replied.
"I didn't mean or intend any offense. You just are kinda spooky, Ma'am." Riley replied awkwardly.
"Riley!" Tobias' voice echoed off the walls.
The hare flattened her ears against her back, head dipping in shame.
"No offense was taken. Your actions are natural, child, though you have seen more of the road than many have the privilege to know," Morrigan said, her voice soft as an autumn wind.
"Some, but it's all kinda jumbled. The first thing I remember is a forest and meeting my guardian. I never saw your master," Riley's voice softened, reflective.
"Death wears many guises and dwells amidst the shadows. Yet if you think on it, even your end was nothing to fear, for it led you here. There is a path to life. My master is a God of the far horizon. There is no ending, only change. That is a lesson you embody," She smiled fondly.
"Huh, that's... that's something to think about," Riley marveled.
Tobias cleared his throat, drawing the Abbot's attention back to business, "This is the most recent murder?
"Indeed, desiccated and drained like all the others, I have done no ritual in anticipation of your coming." She raised her skeletal hand and pointed with a bony finger.
"Is there anything I should do before unwrapping them? A ritual I should undergo? I am not versed in these areas and would prefer to not run afoul of your master," Tobias replied, his voice deeply reverent.
"He is more forgiving than you realize. Feel free to explore. You are brave in wanting to act on your own," she praised.
"Death is inevitable, so why fear it? If unwrapping a body gives me a hint as to where to go, then it's an angle worth pursuing," Tobias, at that, stepped up to the table, took a deep breath, and began unrolling the shroud.
Morrigan, meanwhile, closed the distance and assisted as the desiccated and dried husk of a once-living human being slowly came into view.
It was impossible to tell anything about them, save that they had been female. Age or identifying features were all obscured as there appeared to be no fluid left in the body.
The skin had hardened, drawn tight over bone, wrinkling into strange peaks and valleys, taking on a jerky-like consistency.
Dead, dry eyes stared forward, appearing like sunken raisins. The eyelids pulled so tight over the skull that there were places where they were tearing.
"That poor lady," Riley exclaimed, straining on the toes of her hindpaws to see, less out of curiosity than being another pair of eyes for Tobias.
"My first impression is that it's congruent with what we've seen before, but..." Tobias drew close, scrutinizing the corpse.
"What's this? Do you know, Ma'am?" Tobias asked, looking to the Morrigan.
There on the neck of the victim was what seemed like a lamprey bite; tiny pinpricks formed six circular rows, drawing tight to the center, where a crater remained.
"That is how most of the desiccated victims have died, but not all." She replied.
"Do you have locations on the ones that were desiccated but didn't have this marking?" Tobias asked as Riley felt the intrigue in him bubble forward.
"That information can be provided." The Abbot replied.