Ritual

Roman was walking back to the inn, rereading the duke's cryptic letter, when he stopped dead in his tracks.

A carriage stood beside him; it had the emblem of the Froste family. A middle-aged man with knight armor walked out and stood in front of Roman.

"Are you Sir Roman Summers?" His voice had a hint of respect.

Roman put the paper he was reading back in his pockets, then looked at the knight. "What's the matter?"

"I heard about your mission hunting Taro for vampires. How is it going?"

Roman didn't reply, "I asked you what the matter is, soldier."

The knight coughed, then started talking as if he had memorized the speech: "A formal meeting has been called at the abandoned cathedral on the sea. The official purpose is to declare 'Taro' an enemy of both humans and vampires. However, Lord Solfrid believes this is a pretext for the new Lord Conall to push his own agenda. He asked that you infiltrate the meeting and investigate."

"So you're saying both vampire and human families will gather there?"

The knight nodded. "Of course, some of them might not come at all. Lord Solfrid makes it clear: this is an unsanctioned operation. If you are caught, the family will disavow you. You will be on your own."

"..." Roman went silent for a bit. "Good work, I got the message." Roman turned around, walking towards the inn.

The Froste family carriage moved on, going on its way. Back at the inn, the three were at a table having dinner.

"How are you supposed to infiltrate the meeting?" I asked Roman, who explained the situation to us.

"I don't know. That's why they gave me the message before the meeting; if they tried to support me and I was discovered, it would show a history of them planning this." Roman explained.

Eden listened and then added, "There's also the issue of how to get on the island without them discovering you."

Roman nodded.

I looked at them both. "What is this gathering place?"

Eden was sipping from a glass of what looked like water but was, I knew, animal blood masked by a simple magic. She looked at me and spoke, "An abandoned cathedral on an isolated island in the eastern sea. It became a place for politicians to gather since it was called a neutral ground by the king himself.

"Also, since it's a neutral ground, all external magical compulsions are suppressed. This means the Reverse Death curse on you will be disabled there. However, getting there is not easy, since you know."

Roman grunted, "We can figure that out later; the hard part is how we can get inside without being noticed. Maybe I could just attack in the shadows, take out the ones that see me, and hope for the best."

I looked at Roman with open eyes. "Isn't that just suicide? With powerful families all around you, you will not go doing that easily."

Roman started running his hand through his hair in frustration. "It's just impossible. Who do they think I am, giving me such a mission?"

A heavy silence settled over the table before Eden finally spoke. "There is... one way I could think of. My father was gifted a Varnhame family grimoire once. He said the content it holds is a disgrace for a Winfield to use, so he ordered me to destroy it. But I kept it a secret.

"When I was reading it, I found a forbidden blood ritual. It doesn't create a disguise but temporarily binds the user's essence to the soul of a deceased loyal servant, allowing them to pass as one of that house."

I couldn't help but comment, "That sounds like the one the duke tried to use."

Eden shook her head. "The duke's one was grafting the soul; it's much more dangerous. But it doesn't mean that this one will be easy. What do you think, Roman?"

The young man tapped the table a few times. "I want to trust you, but you know if anything goes wrong, it's over for us, right?"

Eden didn't say anything. I looked at both of them, who were still thinking about it.

"That's true; however, we are already in big trouble here. We have no other option."

Roman let out a sigh. "I guess you are right. Okay, Eden, how do we do this ritual?"

Eden took a sip of the glass, then started explaining, "It requires one key component. The bone dust of a Varnhame servant who died with their loyalty to the house."

When Roman heard that, his face changed. "Bone dust? Eden, I am not doing that. It's a desecration of the dead. There has to be another way."

I looked down. "Yeah, we were just... We can't do that."

Eden replied, "Do you have a better way? To stop my brother, some lines have to be crossed."

Roman and I went silent, not knowing what to reply with. She is right after all; there is no other logical way.

Roman closed his eyes for a few seconds, then replied in a low voice, "I guess we have to go back to Carleone sooner than anticipated... And also go inside the catacombs."

Eden nodded.

That day, we got our baggage back and took a carriage to Carleone. The journey back to Carleone was a blur. That night, we found ourselves before an old, blocked-off entrance set into the ground.

Going inside, darkness ate all of us. Roman then used magic to light up the scenery of the catacombs.

His light reflected on us, on the eye sockets of the skulls around us. Shadows moved everywhere, which made it look like we were being watched all the time.

This is where most vampires, humans who had to be hidden from the outside world, were buried. Millions of names and bodies forgotten by time.

I looked at the walls and saw names engraved on them.

This is all wrong, but also necessary somehow.

We walked in silence, the empty eye sockets of countless skulls seeming to follow our every move. The guards were little more than ghosts themselves, old men with pale skin and eyes long accustomed to the darkness.

We continued going inside until we found a section written with blood, 'Undead.'

Eden nodded back at us. Then Roman went inside, after making sure it was safe. He gestured for us to follow. Getting inside, the stench of jasmine was immense.

It felt like being in a field full of flowers, but that wasn't the case; it was just the dead bodies of who knows how many vampires.

After a bit, Eden stopped in place. Looking at a certain wall, moving towards it. She took a small knife and started to stab the wall in slow motion.

The sound of her knife kept going without stopping. A gray puff of powder formed in the air.

I realized then that the walls weren't made of stone. They were made of bone, ancient remains fused together over centuries. The skulls we had seen lining the entrance were merely the most recent additions.

Eden kept collecting the bone dust. I looked around and noticed that Roman had physically turned away from Eden, not facing her.

His hand rested on the hilt of his sword, his expression a mixture of disgust and necessity. I could just make out the words of a quiet prayer on his lips, an apology.

The silence continued for a bit, only being cut by the sound of Eden collecting the dust. After she was done, she signaled it and gave me the pouch that held the bone dust.

We were ready to leave, but footsteps echoed outside this section, which made all of us stop. Getting ready to flee.

The footsteps got closer and closer.

Roman made sure to turn off his magic.

Then, they stopped. And they became faintly further.

All of us let out a big sigh as we started to move slowly outside; while the catacombs didn't have the best security, they were also an important part of the city. So if we were discovered here. It might even become news to the king himself.

Which will only get us in trouble.

Getting back out into the bustling street, Eden had a look of relief on her face.

I leaned against a brick wall, feeling separated from the people around us.

Roman, who was still silent, approached Eden. "Ok then, what do we do next?"

She looked at him and replied, "All we have to do now is draw the rune and use the bones for the ritual. It should work against the Cathedral."

I looked at my hands and the cold pouch I was holding. I stood there silent.