Less than a lua from the door a staircase started down; it was there the light was coming from. There was no sound or movement that told him something was happening in the room below so he dared enter fully into the building and start down the stairs.

Eigil found himself in a room with another five staircases going down; two at each side and one dead centre opposite to this entrance. Both the voices and the light came from whatever lied down the staircase at the opposite side of the room.

He wanted to go back, scout the area, measure distances and times for him to be in total control; to create a decent plan that gave him an advantage, but the time for that had passed.

Taking a deep breath to get himself into a killing calm he started to walk towards the light. There could be useful information or guards in the other rooms but the three men had priority at the moment.

From the outside it looked like a small structure with two or three subterranean floors, that would be normal for a noble family that lasted centuries. These stairs, however, went down at least five stories.

Like the ones at the entrance these stairs were made fully of stone, this time a lighter tone. Half way down, the walls changed from the dark stone to an older grey stone. Some chunks in the walls and steps had been damaged by time and use leaving bear cave stone on its wake.

The deeper he went the cave looked more and more like a crypt instead of a mausoleum. When he got to the bottom of the stairs, he found seven stone coffins arranged around the room in a square leaving in the centre an open space where three men stood in front of a table.

Using the coffins as cover he moved closer. There were signs of dried blood on the floor and in the corners of the room, not ancient, just a few hours old. No evidence of a struggle, a body or any kind or injuries in sight.

In the centre of the room were three clerics, they all used the garments of the church each with a wooden staff at their side; all identical in height and build. Two of them had the characteristics of local Rian with a light tan and black hair, their faces clean shaven. The one on the left however looked Brimish with pale skin, light crimson brown hair and full beard.

On the table in front of them were three vials, some tools, a knife and an open book. The Brimish man signal to his right and called in a low voice. A woman entered the room pulling a chain; She was wearing a full set of leather armour with reinforcements of steel plates.

Behind her a strange creature that looked like a cross between a lizard and a dog followed. It was around sixty Kel tall while in all four legs and close to meter and a half long from head to tail. It was not a big animal by any stretch, most northern dogs were bigger, but it looked menacing.

Eigils eyes focused on its maw, similar to one of an alligator’s but rounder as a wolf’s snout; Eigil was sure it could tear apart his arm or leg if he ever got caught. Its scales covered most of its body and ranged from emerald green to almost black in colour. This could be an incredibly effective predator if let loose.

The creature looked dazed and moved slow; it was not uncooperative to the woman, it felt more like if it was struggling to stay awake. These men had probably given it some kind of drug to ensure it was manageable.

The man to the right put on a couple of pated leather gloves, grabbed one of the vials on the table and approached the creature. The Brimish man gave a laugh and accompanied him while the third man wrote something on the book.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“How has subject seventeen performed in the last two days?” The Brimish cleric asked the creature’s handler.

“Sir” her voice was higher than he expected, she sounded young. “He has…”

“Oh, hello everyone” The voice of an old man came from Eigils left side. “It seems I have just interrupted your work, my apologies”

The bishop had come out of a door Eigil had not seen when he entered the room. No one spoke but the three clerics gave him a low bow.

The old man approached the creature and pated it before he continued.

“How is my boy Barker doing today” He spoke to the creature in a friendly manner, Barker did nothing to acknowledge his presence.

“Sir, as the one in charge of the reproduction of the species I ask you not to name the subjects so casually. It could cause confusion. They have a designated number tagged to their rear scales; you can call them by said number. Besides, they don’t bark sir, they growl” The Brimish man spoke as he approached the bishop guiding the old man’s hand away from the creature in concern.

The bishop laughed before he continued.

“How has…” He looked at the rising scales on the back of Barker’s tail until he found the number. “Seventeen been doing lately?”

The cleric looked at the young handler for a response and nudged her with the staff when she did not respond.

“Sorry sir, sir, I will, sir, I just… uhm you know… I never expected to… uhm well to report to sir himself” Her response sounded more nervous than apologetic.

“He has performed as expected; the aphrodisiac and hormones are working perfectly; by our counts he will have between hundred twenty to hundred fifty offspring in the next year” You could hear a smile on her voice even with most of her face obscured.

The number gave Eigil a sudden chill. This was a predator, a dangerous animal. Assuming there were only seventeen of them and half of them were female the church would have at least a thousand beasts in a years’ time. That could decimate a city like this one where people are not allowed to carry weapons in a matter of hours.

“That is amazing, take good care of him my child” He sounded grandfatherly as he spoke to her.

The girl stood straight, gave an ever so slight bow to him and made a sign using her hands, Eigil had never seen this salute before. She placed her thumbs together the nails touching while the rest of the finger tips touched directly.

“Hadan?” The bishop’s tone changed, it was cold and brutal. “Can I expect to hear everything is going smoothly with your work or had there been another incident like the one on Tempee?”

“Sir… we have not encountered any trouble worth reporting. Sir” Hadan was the oldest of the clerics, the man who had been managing the ledger.

He spoke as he was addressing a military leader more than a bishop. He was nervous and gulped during his response.

Had something happened at Tempee? The city was a thousand kiloluas to the east, had they tried to take control there too? Eigil had no intel on any event of note on the city or the presence of a new religion.

“Good, that is good. After all, finding you a replacement would be expensive and tiresome. Please be careful with the specimens this time.” He rubbed his temple as he spoke.

A deep laugh covered the area. It startled everyone including Eigil who had been concentrating to catch every word.

“Old man, too rough” The voice continued with broken Zibish. “Hadan, good plant guy. Many plants grow with Hadan help”

Rowan came out of the side room to the left. He had taken his weapon off his back; probably because it would not fit through the doors otherwise. It looked more imposing when carried in his hands.

The bishop’s face changed from one of surprise from the loud sound to the grandfatherly he used with the girl.

“Biologist, Rowan, the word you are looking for is biologist.” He gave a small laughed a childish laugh.

“Biologist” Rowan repeated to ensure he got it right.

“Thanks you, sir.”

The last word rounded up making it a question.

“Yeas my friend?” The bishop asked.

“We companana” He blurted the last word with confidence, when there was no response he repeated, slower this time. “Sir, We companana”

“Rowan, I know you want to take advantage of our time here and practice as much of the language as you can. And I love your enthusiasm, I really do my friend, but you still need more time learning the words. Speak Brimish so we can all understand you”

He spoke this in Brimish himself to make sure Rowan understood. Two of the clerics nodded but the other one and the girl just stood motionless.

Rowan sounded more serious, clear and menacing speaking his native tongue.

“Mister Zirl; we seem to have an uninvited guest”