Carmine

I went down the corridor. Its winding structure confused me even with one exit. Nothing was easy it only got harder. The one time I wished Valor was around.

He was a man driven to carry out his mission, but he protected me even if it was for selfish reasons. Without him, I was on my own with a nun that harbored no use to me if I was caught.

I was doing a poor job at keeping alive. We slipped our presence from a dismal dungeon-like aspect to a homely aesthetic.

Now well-lit, the halls were narrower again. The doors here looked more refined with walls layered in painted wood. Our shoes thudded against glossy tile floors where a beautiful ornate carpet captured the middle of it. Chandeliers sparkled in the sky.

Comfort should be my close friend, but my chest rocked with stronger, frightening vibrations as it got further away.

Sweat peppered my face. Hands clammed up as the distant voices went unabated. It was like I was surrounded.

The pain in my hand nagged at me. My arm fidgeted in agony and I was losing feeling in my fingers. It was harder to move them now.

The woman I was with had not spoken much and that suited me perfectly. All I knew about her was her role as a nun in training.

They vowed oaths of chastity to some Gods. Ashuor had no nuns, but monks were involved in charity work.

Nuns though were more reclusive and never left the church grounds.

I honestly knew nothing about their purpose. It seemed they were more than likely privileged servants to the priests, bishops, and other men of holy rank.

I supposed not just anybody could be allowed on those holy grounds. If they were holy that was. I was almost killed on those grounds myself.

The pain made it hard to think. My right shoulder tensed with pain and the pain in my side peeled my sanity. I rubbed it with my good hand twitching at the pain that prickled up with the touch. My face hurts. I flexed my jaw. My tooth was loose.

I sighed. Noting the woman looking back at me, I asked, “What is it?”

She got frightened and whipped her head back around. “Nothing, just—how—”

I cannot let her think I was weak. Even though I was, I barely kept my eyes open.

“You better not be hiding anything from me,” I said.

She did not look around. Her body shivered in fright with her hands cupped in front of her. “No, no, it is just—you killed a templar.”

I also robbed his corpse of gold. “What about it?”

“Are women trained in combat in Ascus?”

No. No one did that, so I lied, “No, I used to live among the commoners of your country. I learned a lot from them.”

“I too.”

“Oh,” I said, yet I heard distant voices.

“Yes, I-I was an orphan. Then I was chosen to be a nun. A great honor, so I gave myself to Erot. She has accepted me. I met many women. Never one who would challenge a man. Except for Corona. She is Arch Nun. Sometimes we fear for her safety, but she never seemed afraid. You and her have the same eyes.”

“What do my eyes look like?” I asked. Wary of the sounds close by, I focused on the surroundings.

“A person who has seen death.” She was looking at me now. Her brown eyes were dreamy.

A sea opened out at me as I stared within. Her delicate grizzly curls edged around her oval head. She was rather pretty. The nose ruined it though. It was a bit crooked.

She was leading me out of this place and said there was an exit on this side of the temple. I never told her of my plight. It was not like she would understand anyways.

She was about to speak again, but I stepped forward and placed my fingers on her mouth.

I did not decipher where exactly the voices were coming from. Still, I was not in the mood for another fight.

We kept walking. The fear shook me to the core. I stirred with doom and found solace in the fact that I was not caught yet. Dull whispers wrestled the empty silence into submission, but surprisingly we never ran into a soul.

I was always on edge with each turn of a corner. Each creek made me shake, for I was never safe in those halls.

We reached a large banquet hall. A rather thin table lined with bowls of fruits, apples, and vegetables was on one side of the room.

We stepped through a door on the other side and ended up on a platform leading into two thin bridges. Both of them connected the opposing platforms on either side.

The bridge was a glass floor, so I almost never saw it. It reflected nothing, for the glaze was transparent.

The outer side of each bridge was an open space and that led to a long drop. Water streamed down in arcs from pipes in the wall towards the bottom. The architects of this place loved the idea of transparent floors. I looked back at her. “What is your name?”

She nodded. Shifting, she rocked her body unsteadily. “Janilla. The door is across from here.”

I looked at the door. Brown and dirty looking, it probably led to the other side. I made my way to the edge. The glass heightened the stark frightening depth.

I motioned to her to start walking. She crossed the bridge with caution. I groaned at her lovely bravery.

My fear was shoved to the back of my mind as I crossed behind her. She grabbed the handle and froze.

I watched her. Her head rocked as sounds echoed through the walls.

I kept my lips from quivering. “What is that?”

She did not turn around, but her head shook. The door was opened a half step. I slipped in closer behind her. Janilla nodded and moved forward. We arrived in this room from the adjoining hall.

The metal door leading out was tall and mossy green, but the thing that caught my attention were the statues.

Naked men of defined muscular charm are shown in all their esthetic glory. They consisted of wide opened mouthed smiles. Each posed in various forms and postures, but they were so lifelike as if they were moving eerily slow.

Janilla shook in frustration. I paid her no mind as I pushed her forward. “Go, we have places to be.”

She faced me in a frustrated twirl of her body. “I can’t,” She said.

I squinted my eyes at her. “What do you mean you can’t?”

“The bolt, I ca…”

I noted this huge bar that was set across the door’s middle. Funny, it was on this side of the door. It was meant to keep something out. “Where does this door lead?”

“A stairs that go down, hm, the lower square haveth a tunnel leading out of the temple.”

Sounds good, but I needed to move the bar. That was what I said in my mind. It was harder than I thought.

Even with Janilla’s help, I struggled to move it. Lifting it did not work either. After a few tries, I got frustrated and kicked the bar. The bottom of my foot soared with pain as I drifted back.

Curse this infernal…

I looked up at Janilla. She fidgeted at my stare. I straightened and groaned. Entrapment and powerlessness consumed me when I looked around.

Those great figures of physique stood in mocking smugness at me. Their smiles now looked like laughs. They were laughing at me.

Like hell, I give up here!

I turned to Janilla. “You better not trick me.”

Janilla stepped back. “I can’t. It usually is not there. I cannot lie as a servant of Erot.”

“Alright, be honest with me. Is there another way out?”

“Hm, yes but it will take a while to reach there.”

She might as well say it carried me through many rooms where running into someone was a given.

Great.

We moved back into the last room. The voices sounded near. I stopped. Janilla and I looked at the opposing door.

Janilla said, “I-I-I t-think…”

I looked through the glass and saw layers, sections, and columns. Other floors were accessible from here.

My eyes went up to meet Janilla’s curious stare. I sighed and looked down the edge of the outer sides.

There was not much to grab onto from the initial edge, stone protrusions some feet below that, and lastly, the two circular pipes extended out from the wall.

The brick wall was rough. I used my hand to feel it. It would be hard to balance my weight on such meager bulges. There was a large opening some distance below the circular pole. That distance was large though.

I never seen the bottom, for it was pitch black, but was it underground?

My teeth grit in annoyance.

I was desperate, but not a fool. We made our way back to the dining hall.

I froze once I saw it. She looked back at me. I never noticed this small door in between the protruding columns.

It looked more like a cabinet door than an entrance door considering its narrowness.

“What is in there?” I asked.

Janilla shook her head. “Not sure, h-h-h-honestly I am not allowed around here. This is a restricted place to us most times. I o-only been through here a few times.”

I opened the door with a struggle. It was very heavy, but manageable. It solicited a loud screech. I stared ahead of me and noted the room was not normal. The door was narrow, but the room was big.

We went in. The table in the center made it a tight fit for both of us. There was a long pole above me, and on it were scarves. They boasted delicate, complex woven designs.

I perused the table in the center of the room and on it were rings and a spear. The assortments of books lined the half-circular countertop that surrounded the table.

I got glimmers of sparkle in my eyes from their glare. The rings all looked beautiful with wide round gemstones fitted within each.

I took one ring up and rubbed it in my hand. It was cold to the touch. From what my eye made out under the light; it was of fine quality.

The Inscriptions printed deep in the grove of the ring were not recognizable to me. This was not Eathen though.

The spear was the same problem. There was something inscribed there, but I did not know this language.

I looked back at Janilla. She fidgeted. I handed her the spear and asked. “What does this say?” Her eyes drifted towards the words inscribed.

She held it like it was cursed, but looked at it. “The language of the Gods. It is the language of the holy book of Erot.”

“And?”

She swallowed after meeting my gaze. Janilla sent her eyes down onto the spear. “The property of Corona Erot, Eastern Province Sister.”

“Arkonlia Erot, Corona Erot, were those women from the same family?” I asked aloud.

Janilla opened her mouth, “Ahhhhhhh...”

I did not wait for an answer. A ring was pushed into Janilla’s hand. She looked at the inscription. Her eyes widened. “Spe-Spa…Are is it…Spe-spe-spectral? Warb? Warp?” She blinked briefly. “I think it is Spectral Warp.”

It was the same for the books. All were written in an odd language.

Some were printed with elaborate drawings. Pretty well-drawn faces, body parts were drawn and those drawings showed the inside of a body, not only human ones, but animal ones as well.

I shuddered to notice Janilla staring at the book I had. Her face was rife with speechlessness.

I turned the page and saw the drawing of a human with wings. Words I did not recognize pointed with arrows toward certain sections.

What the hell was this? This was a chapel. The more I looked at this book the more I realized this book was not supposed to be in a chapel of any God.

“Can you read this?” I asked.

Janilla replied, “Y-ye-yes, but what is t-this? Th—such drawings—” I closed the book and placed it on the table.

A sigh escaped my frowning lips. Should I tell her? I checked the bottom cabinets for anything interesting.

A bunch of old dusty copper cups was what I saw first, the fabric came second.

Wait.

I turned it over.

Yes!

It was a surcoat. White with black trimmings, the Eathen emblem planted itself on the upper left.

A big yellow stain traveled along the bottom of it. Rather old, but it was perfect for me.

Along with that, I found some other articles of clothing. It was mostly male. I found an Amice. This vestment looked halfway decent. My dress was falling apart on me, so I needed these.

I changed right in front of her much to her shock. It felt better, but the draft was colder in this new attire.

I took up a small leather satchel. It had holes in it, but it sufficed.

Wearing improper clothing was a crime. If I got out of here, I wanted to look like I was not a mad woman.

I grabbed some rings and shoved them into the satchel with the book.

Almost did not fit, this book was big, but I got it in. I needed evidence, because I am sure they would deny that I was treated badly in God's house.

Taking a cautionary step outside we looked both ways. She led the way, while I followed her not knowing how I would fare in the future.