10:30 AM, The Chester Architectural, Archaeological, and Historic Society

The sign above the half-glazed door read, the Chester Architectural, Archaeological and Historical Society, but the society had only one member, Mr. John Evans. So, it wasn't much of a society and it wasn't actually historical, as it had only recently been formed by its sole member. Rose entered the tiny shop and a bell jangled above her.

Evans had always been a history enthusiast and after retiring from his role as a local land agent he had made his hobby official by renting space to show his collection of artifacts and to build interest in protecting the antiquity of the area.

“Welcome Sister, what brings you here?” The old man asked with a smile on his face. He wore his thin grey hair unfashionably long and his thick grey beard still had some strands of red running through it. The self-proclaimed historian was dressed conservatively in a tweed jacket and hounds tooth vest as befitted his previous occupation, where he had daily mixed with the local gentry. His one concession to vanity was a polka dot bowtie.

“I was told by Mr. Cooper that you are my best source for reliable historical knowledge and know more than most about the local lore.” Rose returned the smile as she approached the older man and shook his hand.

“Ah yes, you must be Sister Rose, he speaks of you often.” He gestured to a corner where to comfy high-backed armchairs flanked a small table. “Come and sit down”

Once they were settled he began, “I assume that you want to know about the old chapel?” He said with a gleam in his eye.

"Ah, well actually no it was the Roman temple of Minerva I really wanted to ask you about," Rose corrected.

"Oh, looking to hear some tawdry pagan tales, eh?" He winked at her.

"Something like that.” She returned his smile.” Something to tell the other Sisters over breakfast!” She couldn’t help giggling at his expression as he realised what he had just said to a nun.

She waved off his stuttered apologies. “I was hoping you might know about the origin and reason for the construction of the temple and could tell me more about Minerva."

“How much time do you have?”

“The temple was constructed at the same time that the shrine was carved into the stone of the quarry. You are aware that much of the walls and buildings including the temple can be dated quite closely by the existence of the shrine?” He cocked his head to one side as he spoke to her. Rose nodded in reply.

Our best guess for the temple and the shrine is 140 AD, when the walls and other buildings had been completed. Later excavation in the quarry was kept away from the shrine which has been preserved in a remarkable state considering its age. At the time of its construction, Chester was the largest roman settlement in Britain the local clans had either been conquered or had retreated into the marches.

Rose could tell she needed to direct the conversation or she would be listening to a day by day history of Chester from the Romans to now.

“So, the temple was built at the same time as the shrine, but why two points of worship for the same goddess? Wasn’t Mithras the usual deity for the legionnaires?” she tried to steer the conversation.

“Well yes, he was, and I believe near the baths is a shrine to him, but much of it has collapsed.”

“So, the temple is unusual?”

“Not as such, there are many temples to her throughout Europe, but this one is probably unique in that it was not built within the walls of the town or fort as it was then. We know from the artifacts that have been recovered that the temple was not for Minerva alone. It’s called Minerva’s temple because of the shrine but in fact it was dedicated to a number of gods and goddesses. Minerva was predominant, she was the goddess of knowledge and wisdom as well of war, but she shared the temple with Nemesis and Invidia.”

Rose interrupted him, her thoughts swirling with the images from her dreams. “Three goddesses? Three women of power?”

“Indeed, although there were certainly other gods and goddesses, we have statues of Apollo and Jupiter in the museum that were found at the site but those three were in my opinion the reason for the temple. The Romans took many of these gods and goddesses from the Greeks. Minerva was Athena, the second was Nemesis or as the Romans called her Invidia. The third was Artemis or Diana.

“Was there any significant event around the time the temple was near completion?” Rose posed the question that was foremost in her mind.

“There is a poorly documented history, about a high ranking Roman, his name was Praefectus Castrorum Septimius. He was a Centurion and Engineer. Chester wasn’t a town but a military base for the Roman Legio XX. Its purpose was to defend against the Brigantes to the north and Ordovices in Wales. Internal bickering and fighting back in Rome left the Centurion Septimius on his own with no support from Rome.”

“The history tells that he betrayed the Empire and established himself as a king with the support of his closest lieutenants, the legions he commanded and Brigante mercenaries.” Evans shared, as he straightened his bow tie.”

“Gnaeus Julius Agricola returned to Briton from Gaul with his army and quickly asserted Emperor Vespasian’s control over the region. Agricola, the Legatus of Legio XX, found this rebellious company under garrisoned. Agricola was a great strategist and besieged the garrison but was then surrounded by the Celtic allies of Septimius.”

“To make matters worse, his men became ill with a pox. The myth was that Septimius was counseled by local witches and they conjured a beast to spread disease and crush the twentieth Legion sent by the Emperor to quell the rebellion.”

“They didn’t account for the genius of Agricola however, while he had surrounded and besieged the fort and was in turn surrounded by the clans that had allied with Septimius, he had foreseen this possibility and had sent two cohorts of the twentieth into the forests to the east. He waited for a month before he ordered them to attack the eastern flank. They drove the clans onto the waiting shield wall of the legion and routed them.”

“With his support from the clans gone and food growing short in the fort the men inside knew they had little time left. Those who had supported him in his rebellion now arrested Septimius and sued for peace and the hope of clemency.”

Rose was impressed, “Where did you learn all of this Mr. Evans?”

“I have read a great deal, and in my youth, I spent time in Rome studying history. The irony is, the Romans were better historians of this place than the residents. The Romans managed a massive empire and paid great attention to organization and record keeping, they have more accurate records of that time in history than we have,” explained Evans.

“What became of Septimius and his witches?”

“I suspect those supposed witches were just local women who were brought to the gallows along with Septimius. He was hung on the walls of the city for being a traitor. Hanging was seen as a method of execution only fit for slaves.”

“The Romans were as savage as they were smart; knowing that if you left no survivors, there was no chance of further rebellion. They crucified all of the rebel legions officers and many of the town’s leaders.”

“They decimated the legions in the traditional meaning of the word, one man in ten was beheaded, impaled or crucified in front of the others and the rest sold into slavery. The women of the town were also tried by Agricola and many were accused of witchcraft and executed. It was a bloody period in our town’s history.”

“The temple of Minerva was built in honor of the goddess who had protected the Romans from the witch’s curse and given them victory. Minerva had showered fortune on them and those taken ill recovered quickly with the defeat of Septimus.” The historian paused.

Rose thought of her dream of when the temple was built. “Mr. Evans has there ever been an amphitheater here in the town?”

"Sister, this whole city is littered with remnants of the past”.

“That is the purpose of my society, to protect and preserve our history, so we can learn from our ancestors. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were an amphitheater."

He continued as he got up and walked over and looked out of the window,

“Well, that would be interesting, wouldn’t it? I suppose, there could have been a structure that large located here, an amphitheater would help to keep your troops entertained. Quite intriguing! What made you think of that?” He turned to face Rose.

“I found a small fragment of an old record of those times, that mentioned the games held in the fort and thought that there might have been a structure to hold them.” Rose lied adroitly.

“You know many of the old Roman structures were pulled down as the locals scavenged the stone. Why cut more from the quarry when there were all those perfectly cut stones there already. I can point to a quite few of the larger homes in the area where Roman stone has ended up in the walls,”

Rose got up to leave.

“This has been most interesting Mr. Evans, thank you so much for your time, if you can think of any more places where I might get information about the temple and its purpose, I would appreciate it,” Rose requested, taking his hand in farewell.

“I will indeed think on the matter, although I think, without wanting to invoke Nemesis,” he chuckled, and Rose smiled “that there is unlikely to be anyone with more details than I have, but maybe, hmm yes, maybe in one or two of the libraries of the larger houses hmm? Yes, I will definitely think on it. Please do drop in when you're around, it has been a pleasure,” said Evans.

Rose made her way from the little shop and through the streets to the old Dee Bridge deep in thought. As she walked across the ancient stone bridge, she could see upstream the passenger express train from Liverpool was crossing the newly built railroad bridge, clouds of dark smoke billowing from the locomotive stack. Beyond that were the remains of the iron Dee Bridge which had collapsed just over Four years ago with a number of deaths and injuries. She wondered what it would be like to ride on something going so fast and to travel somewhere away from Chester.

She turned to the right at the foot of the bridge and made her way across the field to the ruins of the temple. Mr. Evans had confirmed through his account, that her dreams were based on actuality.

Her mind was spinning, how was it that she could see the temple being built and the amphitheater that had disappeared. Was she having true visions, or was it just imagination? Or unlikely as it seemed was it memories from past lives? Could these images be messages from Saint Ostric?

She had planned to come back to the temple after visiting Evans. She wanted to see if her scrying mirror would reveal what happened at the temple with the children. On her way back, if she had the time, she would try to call on the families to see if the children were faring any better.

Stopping outside the temple she looked around to see if anyone was watching. It might look silly to have a nun squeezing into the undergrowth surrounding the temple. Seeing no one she removed the bag she carried from over her shoulder. It was rough woven barely more than a sack containing several candles, and the newly crafted mirror she had used at the cathedral then removed her wimple and tabard. She felt the breeze blow through her short hair and could not but enjoy the sensation.

Holding the bag to her chest she squirmed her way between the small trees and crawled under brambles and fallen columns to reach the interior of the temple. She arrived in the open area beyond the columns short of breath and paused to recover herself before opening the bag and withdrawing its contents.

She made her way round the open space carefully, placing and lighting a dozen candles, though to call them candles was perhaps being generous. Save for two, one the remains of the candle from her previous visit and the other that she had borrowed from Mr. Cooper, the rest were stubs left from her room and work in the Reliquary. She hoped they would provide enough light for her purpose as candles were strictly controlled in the convent. She was lucky that she could smuggle out these small remnants, usually they were melted down and reworked into new candles.

When all the candles were lit casting a flickering yellow-orange hue around the temple, she withdrew the mirror.

She gazed at her reflection in the mirror and it seemed to calm her, her pulse slowed and her breathing quieted, she noted she had a smudge of dirt on the side of her nose.

Moving over to the hole she had found last time, she had placed the larger candles around it. She mouthed the words of the incantation found in Kelly’s journal.

Turning the mirror this way and that to catch the light from the candles and the hole without seeing herself reflected in the mirror led to strange movements that would have looked like a badly performed dance to any observer. As the thought crossed her mind she turned to check that no one was there. It was as she turned back her body still slightly twisted away from the hole that she saw it and froze.

Slowly moving from left to right, watching the mirror intently, she saw the figure in the mirror grow sharper, a small grey figure, diminutive but stocky, its movements not of a child, more animal-like.

Now that Rose new the mirror was working for her she tried another experiment. She placed the mirror on the ground supported by her bag and moved the candles into a semicircle in front of her, opposite the mirror. She sat on the ground and waited patiently to see if she could again observe the creature.

The light reflected and distorted the imperfections in surface of the polished copper disk and formed images deep below the surface. Rose relaxed and concentrated on the mirror as the flickering flames danced across its surface. She felt herself drawn forward into the mirror, her sense of the world outside the temple fading as the images hovering below the surface of the mirror coalesced.

The three creatures were a mottled grey, like stones; they were small, but muscular, stocky with thick necks and as they moved she saw they had a short tail. The trio were scraping and digging at the ground around a stone. It looked like the one she had seen in her dream but was unsure not having a clear recollection of what it looked like.

This stone was about two feet long, a similar size to the creatures. With sharp claws hooked underneath it the three muscled the oddly marked stone out of the ground, then between them carried it towards the front of the temple past where Rose sat. The image of the tiny monsters carrying the stone rock faded as her mind’s eye followed them toward the exit.

As the images faded, Rose felt tears spring in her eyes; she cried, not sure exactly why, other than her general feeling of overwhelming relief. She was now more than certain that she was sane, but with the confirmation of her sanity came an acceptance that there were foul creatures at work here in the temple and at the cathedral.

These creatures were clearly collecting the strange stones, and at the locations where they had uncovered them, illness or accidents had resulted. The cathedral, where the scaffolding had collapsed was the first place she had glimpsed these… she struggled for the right word, then it came to her, imps! Yes imps, maybe not as described in the texts she had read but the word seemed to fit. With the scrying she had just completed, she could now connect them to the infected children. She said a short prayer asking Saint Ostric and the angel Ariel to guide her, to aid her to do the next thing right. The only problem was, it didn’t seem a task which was in agreement with her vows as a nun.