The White Cloaks eyed the escaped prisoners warily. Among them were the masked faces of the Inquisition, who looked at them with unnervingly expressionless faces. Sarah took stock of their situation; she couldn’t use her magic, Udoriol and Hicham were still manacled to the wall, and the only weapon any of them had was the dagger in John’s hand. She saw his eyes flick to the corridor and knew what he was thinking, but she didn’t think much of their chances of escaping.

“Explain yourselves!” demanded the man in the gold edged cloak. He looked like he was a ferocious fighter, though he kept his sword sheathed at his side.

“Wait!” Hicham called weakly from the hidden chamber, “no one do anything rash! Is that you, Brother Nicholas?”

“Eminence?” A confused look crossed their leader’s face, and he glared at a masked man who was standing nearby.

“Why is Treto’s Chosen locked up down here in the Inquisitor’s dungeon, Brother Francis?” his voice was low and dangerous.

The white masked man looked back. His expression was indiscernible from behind his mask. “We fear that he has been corrupted by outside influences.”

“Then why wasn’t I or Cardinal Benedict informed?” Nicholas demanded.

“Discipline among the faithful is the domain of the Inquisition, Brother Nicholas,” Brother Francis replied. His voice was emotionless, which Sarah found unsettling when combined with the expressionless mask.

“We found him working in concert with Udoriol the Excommunicated without the knowledge of the Church, and naturally suspected that the seeds of corruption had been planted,” Brother Francis continued.

“Udoriol is here too?” Nicholas breathed.

“That I am,” Udoriol said weakly as Grimald helped him out of the secret room and into the main chamber.

Brother Nicholas narrowed his eyes. “And is he why Brother Silas is on his way here?”

Brother Francis made the slightest motion of a nod.

“The Cardinal will hear of this, and so will the High Priest,” Nicholas warned, “the Inquisition has gone too far this time.”

One of the masked men bristled but was stayed by Brother Francis’ raised hand. “We will see, brother.”

“Brothers of the Inquisition, we are retiring to our chambers,” Brother Francis ordered. He paused before turning his head to look at Brother Nicholas. “Is that acceptable to the Captain of the Knights of Corrington Cathedral?”

Brother Nicholas’ eyes smouldered as he glowered at the shorter, masked man. At length, he nodded, “You are to confine yourselves there until you hear from me.”

Brother Francis led his men silently out of the room.

“See to it that they do not leave their chambers until I order otherwise,” he barked to one of his men.

As some of the White Cloaks went to comply, Brother Nicholas turned his attention to Udoriol. “You have some explaining to do.”

“Perhaps we could do it somewhere more comfortable,” Udoriol managed with a weak smile.

Brother Nicholas nodded and barked, “Someone summon the Cardinal to my office.”

“Hello?” Hicham called weakly from the hidden room as they began filtering out of the dungeon, “Please don’t forget about me.”

Brother Nicholas’ office was on the upper floor of the cathedral’s annexe. It was a small, spartan room that was barely large enough to accommodate everyone. It contained only a simple desk and three chairs. The captain sat in one, while Hicham and Udoriol sat in the remaining two. Also present was a middle aged man in white robes that were lined with crimson. He was Cardinal Benedict, the leader of the Treton Church in Corrington.

“Leave us for a moment,” Brother Nicholas ordered.

“But Brother…” one of his guards began.

“They are unarmed, and you will be right outside,” Brother Nicholas pointed out. “Besides, do you doubt Treto’s Chosen?”

The guard bit his lip.

“Close the door.”

Once the white cloaked guard did as he was ordered, Nicholas levelled his gaze on Udoriol and a shimmering circle appeared around the whole room.

“What are your intentions here in Corrington?” he asked bluntly.

Brother Nicholas listened intently while Udoriol quickly told him about their encounters with Ratri’s worshippers and their intentions. When he was done, Brother Nicholas looked at Sarah and each of her companions.

“It sounds as though you have been through a lot,” he remarked.

“To put it mildly,” Udoriol agreed.

Brother Nicholas paused to rub his temples and took a deep breath. “Do you think the Inquisition is involved with them?”

“I don’t think they’ve been acting out of character,” Udoriol remarked.

Brother Nicholas glared at the elf, who shrugged. “It’s true, they’ve always been ones to pursue their own agendas, but I do not believe they have turned away from Treto’s teachings.”

“I would very much like for that to be true,” Brother Nicholas sighed, “Despite their reputation and their practices, I still very much consider them to be our brothers in faith.”

“Will the Church help us, though?” Grimald asked.

“I have long been concerned with the activities of these heretics right at our doorstep,” Cardinal Benedict said. He was a slight, quiet man who had thus far been content to let Brother Nicholas take charge of the conversation.

He ran a hand through his thick, dark hair and shook his head. “The first sign they were trouble was the massacre at Shediac.”

“Are you saying we should help them?” Brother Nicholas ventured when the Cardinal fell silent again.

The Cardinal closed his eyes, and Sarah thought he had fallen asleep, but at length, he nodded. “Yes, you can count on the Church’s aid.”

He then turned to Udoriol, “And I will have the Church overlook your past transgressions for now.”

“Do you have a plan?” Brother Nicholas asked.

“We,” Sarah began.

“Come to the Citadel.”

The voice came from the Cardinal, but it wasn’t his. The man’s eyes had become pure black pits and he looked around with a sinister smile on his face. Around them, the Circle of Truth had disappeared in a puff of foul looking black smoke.

“Good, everyone is here,” he said.

Sarah turned pale. The voice was the same one that appeared in her head after the orcs suddenly withdrew.

“Yes, come to the Citadel,” he continued, “I am dying to meet all of you.”

The Cardinal looked at each of them in turn, lingering on Hicham and Sarah. The Cardinal smirked and then swayed before collapsing.

“Your Eminence!” Brother Nicholas cried as he ran to check on the Cardinal.

The door burst open and armed guards stood at the doorway with their weapons drawn.

“Stand down, men!” Brother Nicholas ordered as Cardinal Benedict groaned.

“He must have been possessed,” Udoriol breathed. “But how?”

“I don’t know,” Hicham said, “but it’s clear that whatever they’re up to is going on in the Citadel.”

“And that there will definitely be a trap waiting for us there,” Girmald added.

Sarah opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated, fearful of offering her opinion to such distinguished company.

“If you have something to say, speak up,” Udoriol said gently, “We could use any idea we have.”

“I think we should return to the Grand Library and discuss these new revelations with Lucy,” Sarah opined.

“Have you spoken with her since we were there?” Udoriol asked.

Sarah nodded. “She has her people hard at work researching….”

Sarah let her voice trail off when she realized what she was about to say in front of the leaders of the Church in Corrington.

“But they haven’t been at it for long, so I wouldn’t get my hopes up,” John added.

Udoriol smiled crookedly, “Oh I don’t think you’re giving Lucy enough credit.”

“Yes, go back to her,” Cardinal Benedict said as Brother Nicholas helped him to his feet. “And get back to us if you learned anything.”

He paused to catch his breath before adding, “Or even if you don’t.”

“How are you feeling, Eminence?” Brother Nicholas asked, looking concerned.

“Just a little shaken,” the Cardinal said as he leaned on the desk for support, “We cannot waste time. Our enemy is powerful.”

“We need to gather allies,” Kurt said, “I will reach out to the other temples and any of the City Guard who are not in the Citadel.”

He turned to the Cardinal. “But I have learned that there are worshippers of Ratri scattered throughout the city. Might I suggest they be gathered here to be questioned in a Circle of Truth?”

“Our enemy can possess our minds,” Brother Nicholas pointed out, “What can we do to shield ourselves from that?”

“Nothing, for now,” Kurt replied after a moment’s thought, “However, that is no reason for inaction.”

“Well said,” Cardinal Benedict agreed. “The worst thing we can do now is to cower in fear and do nothing.”

“I will send the summons out,” Kurt declared.

“But what if word of it reaches our Enemy?” Grimald asked.

“Our Enemy has already declared war on us,” Kurt replied, “It is time for us to fight back.”

Sarah and her companions returned to the Grand Library under the watchful eyes of a squad of White Cloaks dispatched by Brother Nicholas to guard against any further interference by the Inquisition, or their Enemy’s agents. At the Grand Library, one of the acolytes brought them to the secret meeting room where Lucy and Cheval were waiting for them.

“I see you’ve made some encouraging progress,” Lucy remarked once they brought her up to date on what happened in the cathedral.

“As for that possession spell, it does worry me,” she continued, “we’ve not uncovered anything concerning that topic yet…”

“But you have uncovered something,” Udoriol said.

Lucy looked at him balefully over the top of her spectacles.

“Oh come now, we elves have excellent memories, and I remember that tone,” Udoriol said.

“Well as a matter of fact, yes,” Lucy said at length, “It seems that the Citadel was built on top of an old temple.”

“What kind of temple?” Sarah blurted.

Now it was her turn to be on the receiving end of one of Lucy’s looks.

“I was just getting to that,” the old halfling snapped and shook her head. “The youth these days, no patience!”

Sarah waited patiently while the Head Librarian continued muttering to herself for a few minutes. At length, Udoriol cleared his throat. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but time is pressing,” the elf pointed out.

“Right,” Lucy said, “The Citadel is built on the remains of an old temple, but it is unclear who built it. Since it’s in the middle of the river, and these lands did use to be part of the old Elven Kingdom of Vastudis, it had always been assumed to be a temple to Varuna.”

“Are you telling us that it was in fact a temple to Ratri?” Udoriol ventured.

Lucy was about to glare at him but instead, let off an exasperated sigh. “Yes. I thought your kind appreciated drama.”

Udoriol shrugged. “As you well know, I’m a black sheep amongst my people.”

“At any rate,” Lucy said, “This was no ordinary temple. It looks like it was the very first temple to the Night Goddess and was built by the Drow.”

“So the Drow are real,” Udoriol mused, “Do they exist today?”

“If they do, they have kept their existence remarkably well hidden,” Lucy remarked, “But to the point at hand; It appears that they are using the Citadel as their base for whatever they are plotting.”

“The question now is how do we go about dealing with them?” Udoriol observed. He then looked at Sarah, John and Grimald in turn. “And who stands with us?”

Sarah glanced at John, who nodded. “We will see this through to the end,” she announced.

“As will I,” Grimald added. “Even though I just got word from Cheval that as far as Roldo is concerned, our part in this is over. The sly fox has already fled from Woodhop.”

“Then why?” John blurted.

Grimald shrugged. “Even if my nose screams danger, this just doesn’t seem like the thing we can walk away from in good conscience, does it?”

John nodded.

“Besides,” Grimald continued with a wry grin, “I’m sure the Marquis will make this worth our while when all this is over.”

“Money. Is that all you dwarves think about?” Lucy huffed.

Grimald gave John a knowing wink and smiled serenely back at the halfling.

“I don’t suppose your research has found any weaknesses in the Citadel?” Udoriol asked as he looked at Lucy hopefully.

The old halfling lifted her spectacles and pinched the bridge of her nose. “The Citadel is a cornerstone to the defence of the Four Kingdoms. Any weaknesses would not be located in this library.”

“But you have all that,” John pointed out, gesturing at the hidden library.

“This library is under the purview of the Marquis, not the Church,” Lucy stated flatly. John looked to her for an explanation, but none came.

“The Citadel is open for now,” Cheval remarked, “I’m not saying we could just stroll in unasked, but forcing our way in should be fairly straightforward, so long as we’re discrete.”

“And what would we do once we get inside?” Grimald ventured.

“The books did suggest that the temple to the Night Goddess was underground,” Lucy mused.

“There’s a large cavern under the Citadel,” Cheval remarked, “I believe they use it as a storage area for supplies and as a sanctuary for the people in case the city were to ever come under siege.”

“What is it?” Grimald asked when the taller dwarf fell silent.

“How could I have been so stupid?” Cheval croaked.

“What is it?” Lucy snapped, “Spit it out already.”

Sarah suppressed a smile while Udoriol laughed openly at the old halfling’s hypocrisy.

“It’s not so nice when the shoe is on the other foot, is it?” the elf said with tears in his eyes.

“The sewers… they’re connected to the Citadel,” Cheval replied, “they have that same collapsing mechanism, but it should be untouched…”

Sarah had a sinking feeling she knew where the plan was heading and did not like it one bit. They were then interrupted by a sharp knock at the door.

“Enter,” Lucy said sharply.

The door opened to reveal a white faced halfling.

“This had better be good, Nadia,” Lucy warned.

“It’s… it’s the Bell of Darnin,” she stammered, “It’s ringing.”

“What’s the Bell of Darnin?” John asked.

“It means the city’s under attack, laddie,” Cheval replied.