Chapter 57: Door
Where did I hear that name? Just a moment ago, a giant eye-beast screamed that into my mind. Does that count?
Valens kept his face straight against Captain Edric’s reaction. He didn’t expect a single name would make a Templar like him shocked and angry, but then, names could hold deep meanings.
The mere mention of the Inquisition back in the Empire would send shivers down all Magi on active duty, for it represented the centuries-long suppression they endured under the Usurper’s tight laws. It wasn’t a mere construct tasked with protecting peace. It was a torch, a warning, and at times, a gun pointed directly at people who defied the norms that the Inquisition had laid for everyone other than itself to heed.
Why am I thinking such things? Is it because I’m afraid? Fearful that there are things that I can’t understand in this world? Or is it because I was reminded of my weakness in the most blatant way possible?
That creature seeped into his core and made him feel small. He hadn’t felt so small since he was taken to the Rootmetal cells of the Inquisition. Not after he embraced the depths of Warmagic and began exploring them. But now, it seemed that hadn’t been enough.
He needed more.
And for that, he had to learn every little thing to overcome this trial.
“I’m not sure,” Valens said as Captain Edric and the other Templars waited in silence around him, the Fiend’s corpse under their toes. The truth of the matter demanded discretion, and that, he could do. “I don’t exactly remember where I heard it.”
“That’s a lie,” Garran grinned at him. “And not a good one.”
Captain Edric took a step toward him, one hand over the handle of his sheathed sword, golden armor shining in the dark of the passage. “Garran’s right,” he said, voice low. “You’re lying.”
“Well, you weren’t exactly stating truths along the way either, were you, Captain?” Valens answered, eyes narrowing down. “You know something about this mountain, and the sea we saw in those murals. You have an idea of where we could be, or to whom this crypt belonged, yet you kept your silence.”
“I have no obligation to inform a stray Healer about the origins of this Cursed Rift,” Captain Edric said. “If I didn’t say anything, it was because it’s none of your concern. This matter is about the Damned, and dealing with the Damned is our job, not yours. Now speak. What do you know about the Evercrest Family?”