“If you hold it there, I can pick it up here and we can carry the thing outside without breaking the glass.” Oslando, still limping a bit from Simion’s nasty attack, stands ready to lift up the mirror, waiting for Bruq and Lyssa to aid him.
“I will lead the way”, Merodius says cheerfully, completely aware of the fact that he’s too small to provide any efficient kind of assistance.
“I will join this important task”, the priest speaks with an obvious sarcastic tone, “just in case we stumble upon more of these heretics. We can hold them off temporarily, while you brute forces lay down this artefact and head off into battle.” The half-elf doesn’t like to be called a brute, implying only power is an asset of his, wits and tactics aside. Bruq and Lyssa couldn’t care less.
As they leave the church, the air becomes more pleasant to breathe in again. Fresh air without the moldy smells and dusty tastes.
The ominous red light of the relic disappeared as soon as Simion died. Even though it is a rather large mirror, it takes little effort to pick up. It's almost as if some peculiar spell was cast on it to make their task a whole lot easier.
“What’s up with these five holes?”, the satyr asks. He lifts up his part with one hand and uses the other to caress the edge of the mirror. Unreadable symbols are carved into the frame only to be interrupted by five evenly distributed cavities. Having the mirror so close to them gives them the opportunity to observe more details. The most peculiar one is the glass itself. As they move the mirror around, it almost looks like the glass is liquid and not solid at all.
“I don’t think Hadriel’s masters would purposefully disrupt these glyphs if they didn’t have any purpose. They're probably magic.”
(Investigation 17)
The siren joins his observations in silence, only to interrupt it as soon as she finds the answer to his question. “You see the scratches at the edges of the holes? They are thin and have merely damaged the surface. It looks like gemstones or something like that are supposed to go in there.”
Merodius looks over his shoulder, but he’s unable to see what she means due to the current level of the mirror. “Do you think the angel has the stones?”, he asks with a childish squeak in his voice.
“Judging by the drape around his waist as his only piece of clothing, I don’t think he has any stones, at least not on him.” Bruq makes himself smirk due to his cleverness, while Lyssa just plainly bursts into laughter. “Don’t let him hear you. Who knows what the wrath of his divine rod may call upon you!”
Their journey back to the stone temple doesn’t feel as long as they anticipated. They can already see how the building starts to crawl onto the red horizon. “What do you guys think happens next?” Lyssa’s question breaks the silence. Tired of only hearing their heavy breathing and shuffling footsteps, she continues. “I can’t imagine our brief adventure stops here.”
Alexander, usually not participating in smalltalk, slows down his pace to walk beside the carrying allies. “It troubles me. This task seemed very simple. I mean, they could have hired ten mercenaries and be done with it. If we are the heroes of prophecies, this is a rather short prophecy. It feels like he isn’t telling us everything.”
Even though he doesn’t want to join in any paranoid ideas, Oslando agrees. “I think we will hear the sequel to our first quest as soon as we deliver Hadriel the mirror. Let’s just focus on the task at hand.”
The satyr lets out a short bleat, gently shaking his goatee as he does so. “Afraid I will drop the mirror if I get distracted?”
(Dexterity 13)
As he says so, he stubs his hoof against a stone, but catches himself from nearly falling. He looks at the siren. She tightens her lips. “Don’t you dare laugh. I swear I will kick you.”
They are met with divine warmth as they enter the Seraphim descendant’s hideout, almost blinded again by his radiant presence. He looks visibly pleased with their return. They wonder if his joy comes from seeing his mirror again or if he's pleased they returned mostly unharmed. They feel revitalized, as if all their pain is taken away. Strangely, it almost feels as if they have grown. Their bodies feel strong and their fatigue fades away. They can't really describe the exact feeling, but it's a pleasant one, for sure.
“Well done, heroes”, his many voices echo. His presence feels like it’s more than his current body shows, as if it reaches far beyond what this temple can hold. “I am pleased to see you have fulfilled the first part of this quest without dying.”
They carefully place the mirror against the wall, creating an almost unbearable sound of the scraping of metal versus stone.
Lyssa smiles. “Hopefully just as pleased as we will be when you give us our reward”. If you just listen to her voice, it seems like she is making a joke, but her face reveals her eagerness to start counting the coins of her deserved treasure.
“You will receive your rewards soon, after you help me complete the mirror. You may have noticed it’s missing its five seals. After you get me these, you are free to go and live with your greed in solitude.”
While some of them can temper their impatience, Alexander clearly isn’t one of them. “You speak of treasures, angel, promising us everything we want without showing us anything in return. You better not break your vow. I don't like being tricked into working for free.”
Hadriel grows angrier with every word the cleric speaks, right up to the point Alexander raises his finger at him. “Enough!” The deafening shout demands silence and the flames from his eyes grow larger, giving off an immense heat. “ I have grown tired of your blasphemous insults, deceiver. Prepare yourself for divine intervention.”
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