by Jeff Inlo
#
The mood in the Church of Godson did not quite match that of the rest of the human population in Connel. Certainly, there was fear and anxiety over the encroaching goblin horde, but not to the same extent as from those that hid in dark basements or empty alleys. On the faces of the followers that sat in the unassuming church, there hung a simple acceptance, as if these people almost expected what was happening on this terrible day.
If this were any other place within the city limits when Edward Consprite walked through the large doors accompanied by two large shags and followed by a half dozen goblins, panic would have exploded throughout everyone present. In this church, however, the followers simply remained silent and began to pray silently.
The spiritual leader of the church, Reader Matthew made no attempt to calm the other followers of Godson. There was no need. Instead, he simply took a deep breath, and with the help of two canes, hopped up to the ex-mayor with grudging acceptance of who was before him. It didn’t take long for Matthew to recognize Consprite. Though the ex-mayor was thinner and older in appearance, Matthew could always recognize the deep seated hate that languished in the eyes of this man.
“Hello Matthew,” Consprite said with obvious contempt to the Church of Godson’s leader. “I can see by the look in your eyes you remember me, even though my appearance has changed somewhat. That’s good.”
Reader Matthew simply nodded as he eyed the ex-mayor and the two large shags that stood on either side of him. The stench of the two monsters began to fill the room and in order to keep from gagging, the reader was forced to take short shallow breaths through his mouth.
Consprite looked over Reader Matthew and regarded the stump that took the place of his left leg. “I’m going to guess that occurred during the dwarf attack. Am I correct?”
Reader Matthew bit down any anger and answered with an even tone.
“Yes, I lost my leg to a dwarf ax. I still manage to get around.”
“Yes, with two canes and a good deal of hopping. It must get rather tiring.”
“I manage. Now, if you don’t mind, the people here are very alarmed with what’s going on. The presence of these two shags is adding to that concern. May I ask what you want here?”
Consprite looked over the rows of benches that were half full with silent followers of Godson.
“They don’t look alarmed.”
“Would you prefer they ran screaming out any exit they could find?”
“All exits are blocked on the outside,” Consprite remarked with a smirk.
“How comforting.”
“Still I am curious,” Consprite admitted. “I would have expected much more concern among your followers considering what’s going on outside. You have heard of what’s going on, haven’t you?”
“We are well aware of the situation,” Matthew replied, but his calm demeanor made it seem as if nothing of any great importance was going on outside the walls of his church.
Consprite continued to find the reader’s reaction most perplexing, even slightly annoying.
“And here I am with two shags at my side and you walk right up to me as if I’m an invited guest. You don’t think that’s surprising?”
“As I said before, what would you have me do?”
“I would have you explain to me what’s going on here before I decide to have these shags start tearing your church apart.” Consprite warned.
Reader Matthew looked over his shoulders to those that remained seated but now appeared a bit more anxious over the shags in their midst. He nodded his head and turned his attention back to the ex-mayor.
“This is from the Book of Godson,” the reader offered, and he began to quote text from the book that represented his faith. “‘And the dark ring will come to the last plain city, diminished but not destroyed. In the whiteness of night, that which was silent shall be heard. Not an arrow shall fly, not a blade broken and still the city shall fall.’”
Reader Matthew paused as he raised his eyebrows toward the ex-mayor. Consprite did not reply, other than a shrug, and Mathew explained further.
“That may sound confusing to you, but we knew what those words meant before this serp of yours even came to this land. ‘The last plain city’ is Connel, the final city of the farmland plains before the Colad Mountains. ‘Diminished but not destroyed’—certainly the dwarves put great damage to the city, but we were not quite destroyed. ‘The whiteness of night’, I’m sure that sounds very confusing until you think of the snow that fell last night. And for the last part, the goblins were silent, but then they shrieked when they wanted us to see them. Connel has fallen into the serp’s hands and yet there was no true battle. This prophesy was explained clearly to us many seasons ago, by a special person who is no longer with us. He understood the prophesies clearly and he told us what they meant before the sphere ever broke free from Sanctum Mountain. You see, we knew this would all happen long before this day ever came.”
“So you think that because your book of fairy tales told you the goblins would take the city that this would somehow save you?” Consprite questioned with more than a hint of sarcasm.
“Save us? No, only Godson can save us, but that’s not what you asked. You wanted to know why we could appear so calm in the face of such danger. We are not happy about what is going on, but we realize it’s all part of Godson’s plan. Giving in to panic would not help us, only faith can help us.”
“I’m happy to hear that,” Consprite laughed. “I didn’t want to ruin any false hopes. The truth of the matter is that you are anything but saved. You wanted to know why I was here. I am here for a good long time, and no one is leaving this place until I send them away. You see, the serp that now rules Connel is in need of some humans. It seems he made a deal with a sorceress out in the desert. This sorceress wishes to practice her newfound craft, but there really isn’t anything out in the desert other than some scorpions. She needs something a bit bigger. Knowing you as well as I do, I felt you and your followers would be perfect for the task. The serp asked me to select ten of your followers and send them to the Lacobian so they might assist the sorceress in her practice. What do you think about that?”
Reader Matthew adjusted his stance so he could hold both canes in his left hand while he kept his weight balanced on his remaining leg. He pulled a worn book from his pocket and he began to read.
“‘A snake will walk out of the sand but to the hot wind he pays his mind. Those of faith must retrace the path to appease a witch’s bargain.’” Upon completing that passage, Matthew looked back to the former mayor. “Would you like to read that yourself? It’s right here.”
Matthew opened the book wider and held it out for Consprite to see. The ex-mayor slapped it out of his hand, but Matthew simply watched it fly to the floor and did nothing more.
“That’s not a problem,” Matthew revealed. “I have the book memorized by now. What’s important is that you understand that none of this will weaken our faith.”
“Is that so?” Consprite growled. “Well, since you’re so prepared for this, I will give you the honor of selecting the first ten. You will go back to your followers and pick out six men and four women, make one a child, I don’t care which, and these ten will be sent to the Lacobian.”
Matthew stiffened his back and looked defiantly into Consprite’s eyes. “I will not. You can order these beasts to rip my arms off, and then my remaining leg. You can throw me to the bloat spiders I’ve heard encase this city. I will not do what you ask. You can threaten me with anything, but I will not do your dirty work for you.”
In a moment of pure defiance, Reader Matthew held out his right arm to the largest of the two shags and waited for Consprite to give whatever order came to his depraved mind.
Consprite, however, showed his depravity went much further then Matthew would have considered. He turned to the large shag and gave his order.
“Take him,” Consprite then yelled to one of the goblins behind him, “but he is not one
of the ten. He will go to the Lacobian with the ten and all that follow. He is to watch as every member of his church is turned over to the will of the sorceress. You are to make sure that message is given to her. He is not to die until the last of this church’s followers are exhausted. Then hopefully she will test a particularly painful spell on him.”
Consprite then looked into the eyes of Matthew as he hung in the tight clutches of the shag. “I will pick the ten and then ten after that. I will review the logs of this church and make sure that every member of your church is located no matter where they are hiding. I will send them all and you will watch them die.”
Reader Matthew threw no curse at the ex-mayor. He simply asked a question.
“Don’t you want to hear how this is all going to turn out? Aren’t you interested in what’s going to happen to this city? Let me give you one last quote. ‘An enemy past, a friend in the future, a debt repaid in full. Cities linked, one below saved by the light of speed, one above rescued by what moves in shrouded passage.’ I know what that means, but I have no desire to tell you. May Godson have mercy on your soul.”
“No one is going to have mercy on yours,” Consprite retorted. “And I couldn't care less what’s in your book of fairy tales. Get him out of here.”