Chương 177: 168. In flame

I felt a deep connection to the creature standing before me. Its movements, its actions—all were part of me in a way I'd never experienced before.

'Buy time.' It was one command I managed to get through. We needed maybe another forty-five seconds before the seal gave way and we could run. My creature lowered itself onto its legs and swiped its tentacles in an arc, throwing two more aberrations away. The remaining two charged, only to be nailed to the ground by the pope's spell. So far, so good. I caught sight of another aberration holding an ember, approaching from the line of buildings to our left.

Without hesitation, I used Death's Grasp to hold it in place. Another roar caught my attention as the biggest creature got up and charged again. Sally was doing well against the opponents. She rose onto her hind legs and swiped at one of the enemies. I saw the claws shine with light as the pope muttered a spell, and seeing what he was going for, I jumped forward toward my familiar.

The attack tore through the fiery monster, and as it exploded, I used an upcast Shield at an angle to protect against it, redirecting the blast onto the remaining enemies. The fire finally broke my spell, but it lessened the impact enough. The force of the explosion was enough to buy more time, as the aberrations were pushed back, leaving the biggest one in front. Thirty seconds.

It closed the distance and threw itself onto my familiar, but was stopped by tentacles wrapping themselves around its chest before it could do anything. I felt the flame covering its body burn my creature's flesh, but its hide was strong. I knew it could hold. I used the time I'd bought to begin casting Bone Spear, but my tired mind wasn't quick enough, and one of the aberrations thrown by the blast managed to get to me. I used a stored spell to block its path and went for the hook.

The blade shone in golden light, and I could feel new strength flood in, washing away the tiredness. In the corner of my eye, I could see Clementus finish his cast. His spell was strong, and under its effect I easily dodged the attack. Then, casting a Shield above myself to buy space, I tore at the creature with the hook, wincing at the fire as it singed my flesh. The hook didn't find the usual purchase—but there was something akin to a soul inside, a construct made of mana, and I felt it rip under the weapon.

I tore through its leg and jumped away. The creature went down, only for the remaining two to charge at me from behind it. I prepared to jump again, but before I could, the body of the biggest enemy slammed into the two in front of me. Looking to the side, I realized Sally had finally managed to pick up the biggest fire aberration and used it as a projectile. Fifteen seconds. I called my familiar back to me, ready to run. Clementus was behind me, also retreating.

"Sam," I heard him shout. Looking to the side, I realized that more creatures approached from the line of buildings. There were those holding embers, as well as massive balls of fire and bone—amalgamations of claws, paws, and tails, rolling from between the buildings. Other smaller creatures also crawled forward, slowly encircling us.

"Move!" I shouted, preparing to make a last stand at the gate. We moved a few meters, now with our backs against the metal door leading out of the city. The procession in the background walked on slowly as the burning residents of the city got closer, screaming and wailing. The heat coming off them was unbearable, and I could feel my skin slowly start to redden as the more delicate flesh began to blister. I raised my hand to try to protect my eyes before they boiled out of my skull. I looked at the pope.

He seemed exhausted. His crosier didn't shine anymore. Sally was in front, her tentacles wide and ready to swipe enemies aside, but I could feel her severe burns. Once the bigger aberrations charged at us, it would be over—and they were clearly preparing to do just that.

"Close your eyes," I shouted, and without checking if he did, called upon the Squirming Void —but not to attack. I didn't have the strength for a deep connection. Even what I just did brought considerable pain. I commanded the tentacles to simply twist themselves into a wall before us. Five appendages appeared to do just that. That was a gamble, and as the magic materialized, I saw that I might have made a mistake. The moment I used the family magic, new enemies showed themselves.

Their bodies—or presence—were strange. It was like they were always there, but only now did my eyes focus on them. The figures of the creatures didn't have flesh. Instead, they were made of the negative spaces between the flames, as if made of glass and set in the fire, the tongues of flame licking their invisible contours. Most of them accompanied the procession in front, which was getting closer and closer with each second, bringing the temperature up.

Then the tentacles twisted themselves around us, and I lost sight of the ghostly apparitions among the crowd. And then the attacks came. I felt them through magic. The spell wasn't made to protect, and it became clear when a jolt of pain split my head as something slammed itself into it. I could barely hold the magic. I felt a delicate, calming sensation wash over me and noticed the pope had his hands on the back of my head. Using the newfound strength, I kept up the spell.

Then two invisible hands tore through the tentacles, slowly starting to pry them apart. The small break between the appendages was like cracking an oven door open. The creatures surrounded us, and the heat that entered through the crack was unbearable. The tentacles were slowly giving way as the heat began blistering my skin. Before me, I could see… something. The shape of a head with two hateful eyes, made entirely out of outlines and items in the background, like a composite portrait of a demon.

Sally's tentacles slammed into the opening, attempting to hit the creatures. But they found only empty air. Yet I knew something was there. Reaching toward us. Unstoppable. I fired Pierce, but to no avail. Our backs were pressed against the gate. We were trapped. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Then the spell gave out. And so did the seal. We fell backward through the gate, as a wave of heat washed over us.

While still on his back, Clementus hit the crosier against the gate, and the metal door closed back up. My familiar turned itself into its tar form and slipped back through the crack at the last second. The last thing I saw was the empty, hateful eyes of the creature as the shapes that made it shifted out of alignment, and all I could see was the burning city before the metal slammed together and the seal began stitching itself shut.

I turned to the side, looking at Clementus, who was still on his back, his breath heavy, coming in gulps.

"Did you see that?" I asked.

"What?" he replied, confusion and tiredness on his face.

"The burning creatures, your strange spell… your dog? There was a lot to see."

"The thing. The thing prying open my spell," I said, confused. He frowned, then shook his head.

"Never mind," I grunted and let my head fall backward onto the paved road. We spent a few seconds lying in silence, enjoying the cold sensation of the stone under our backs.

"We need to move," the pope finally said, picking himself back up.

"Yep," I agreed with a groan, joining him.

"Oh, and since you obviously asked way more than a simple favor, I have something you can repay me with."

"Way more? Who said that?"

"I did. Just now." I adjusted the fabric of my robe so it wouldn't irritate the burns.

"And what would that favor be?"

"Not a word to anyone about my dog," I said as we slowly made our way toward a tunnel in the cavern wall, still looking over our shoulders from time to time.

"That's not a dog."

"What do you mean?" I asked and summoned the creature in its dog form to watch our backs, remembering I had a helper now.

"See? A dog." Clementus pointed at Sally, and following his finger, I noticed another set of eyes popped out from under the first ones.

"I'll have to work on that," I said, but left it as is. The sensations coming from the familiar were strange. It was like I was taking a dog for a walk more than anything else. It was just happy to finally exist. The battle was fun. The cavern was fun. Being around was fun, according to it. What was strange was that its high battle IQ wasn't exactly present in the simple thought stream.

I looked at her or him, not sure yet, for a few seconds before putting that to the back of my mind as the dog trotted on behind us. We climbed a set of stairs toward the opening of the corridor, and I turned around to take a last look at the city. It was still on fire, but now a cloud of smoke was filling up the cavern, obscuring more and more of it.

"It's like a death trap," Clementus said from beside me.

"Yep." I nodded before turning around.

"So what now?" I asked as we walked.

"We have a lot to do."

"I was asking about Leo. He still had his paladin… and his life." Clementus shrugged.

"I couldn't have continued that charade for too long. There had to be a point where the arcane part of the church would need a leader—a true leader, not one handing command off to his subordinates. Leo lost much of his support, and I don't think he's a traitor. As they say, better the devil you know."

"So no more charade, eh?"

"The church will need a strong hand if we are to rebuild the authority of the Sabbath. I doubt many will trust us after this."

"True," I nodded.

"But any tragedy can be turned around. You have good reason to do some cleansing."

"That I do." He smiled lightly.

"And blood for the altars to ensure loyalty."

"I wouldn't trust those that much. Magic can be broken and bent."

"Best we have for now." He turned to me.

"You think the skinwalker was all of it?" he asked, clearly not believing his own words. I shook my head.

"For a play like that, I doubt it. Too much was at stake for one plan. I'd observe those gates if I were you." Clementus nodded. We finally made our way to the tunnel, and I recalled my familiar. It didn't take us long to hear a conversation—or rather, an argument—coming from down the corridor. The talking was chaotic, but the gist was that some people wanted to wait for us outside the gate, while others wanted to go back to the city to see if something could be done now that they were somewhat rested.

The argument was so severe, they didn't even notice we were getting closer.

"Watch out!" Finally, someone sensed us.

"They have risen," I shouted as we walked out from behind a corner, earning a disapproving look from the pope. We were greeted by the group ready for battle. Luna was still unconscious but looked better. The rest also seemed to be doing relatively well. We stood there for a good second, all looking at each other as relief washed over everyone present. It was time to go back.

Q'Shar looked at the massive room, scorched and cracked by the heat. The church architects deemed it safe to traverse, and he and a few others chosen to act as a temporary leading body were slowly walking through the rooms. The shelves were burned, as were all the books and scriptures in them, leaving behind only ash. A sharp smell of smoke still bit at the noses of anyone nearby, making the walk unpleasant. Q'Shar turned left to see the other adjacent room—the one they managed to save barely in time.

"Why?" Arcadius, the acting head of the church in the pope's absence, said, looking at it.

"What would be the point?" Q'Shar stood in silence with all the others. The enemy was gone, but before they retreated and disappeared into the city, they did this—the church archive almost burned in its entirety. Although tragic, there was one strange detail that bothered the cat.

"Didn't you have fire protection?"

"We did. But for the arcane part. This was just old history. No one really cared that much." The cat frowned. What was the point of burning down the historical archive of the church?

"Terror for the sake of terror," said one of the nobles. Q'Shar didn't like that. The Miracle-Bringers rarely did things just for the sake of inconvenience. When they turned to terror, it would be something grand, not a small burning.

"Can you tell what was here?" Q'Shar asked.

"It's possible. We managed to save the office wing. We could recreate the list based on logs of what was carried here and out over the years, but that will take ages."

"Do that," the cat commanded, and the cardinal frowned.

"Do you fancy yourself the new pope?" he barked.

"Not a time for that," another cat from the Cat Council said.

"You couldn't hold your own Sabbath secure. Don't act high and mighty." The cardinal clicked his tongue, but didn't retort as the bald sphinx cat looked to Q'Shar.

"How did you know to even check the archive?" he asked.

"Just a hunch," Q'Shar answered. Fighting the alchemical fire took hours, not to mention getting the tunnels under control. What was happening outside was even worse. The media picked up on the explosions as smoke spread outside.

The cats used all their contacts and were currently running full throttle, pushing a mixture of stories about renovations gone wrong while riling up the conspiracy theorists about a terrorist attack under the Vatican, surely connected to shadow governors waging war, making sure any such information could be painted as a conspiracy. But it felt like everything was falling apart. The organizations were leaderless. Some tried to accuse the church. Others went to mourn their lost ones.

Others left the city out of fear of follow-up attacks. They managed to catch a few of the spies who made it out, but they killed themselves the moment they were caught. It was a shitshow. One the church and everyone else had lost. Not to mention Sam. Q'Shar felt like there was a weight on his back, a weight heavy enough to crush him as he went through the motions on instinct, telling himself that once Sam was out, he would need things under control.

But the weight kept crushing him until the mushroom man himself—Myhur—burst into the room to lift it.

"They're out!" he shouted.