Mystics
Chapter 6

Zven wakes up to the sound of someone knocking on the door to the room he’d been given. Getting up he makes his way to the door and opens it. On the other side are a couple priests, one of whom has a number of coats.

“We’re heading around handing out jackets. The snow arrived sooner than we expected. We’ll be docking in a couple minutes.” A man with yellow wolf like eyes, says.

Zven takes the coat, saying. “Thank you.”

He puts on the jacket and heads out shutting the door to the room he’d used. If the ship is docking in a couple minutes he knows that the first stop is the church where they will meet with Father Yinto. As he walks the halls he notices they are rather empty, say for a few people that like him are just waking up. Finding his way to a stairwell he climbs it As he climbs the stairwell he replaces Sinead heading down. Upon noticing him, the lich joins him.

“I was on my way to replace you. I already reached out to Yinto. When we arrive, you, Marcie, and the founder will be heading to the church with me. He’ll want to know everything you experienced at the Forest Outpost before he comes up with a plan of action.” She explains.

As they ascend the steps together, Zven asks. “What role will I have in any of this beyond revealing information?”

“Well I imagine he may view your connection to the Seekers as a valuable asset, but with the fact you’ve been missing for three years, I don’t know if the Seekers look into such disappearances.” The lich answers. “Truthfully I’ve avoided Leo since his joining. I have no desire to provoke his justified wrath.”

The man lets out a breath, replying. “I’ve never known Leo to be a wrathful person. I mean sure the man can hold a grudge, but it takes a lot to push him to violence. You might’ve met as enemies, but you’d be surprised at what you can replace by talking to him.”

For Leo to join the Shadows Bane and become a member of the church he had to see good in the civilian culture. He wouldn’t have joined the church otherwise. In truth Leo has connections to people who know the Sunsets have connections to the Seekers. It’ll be something Zven can bring up if Yinto decides to go right into the planning phase.

They enter out onto the deck a light blanket of snow sits on the deck with the falling snow casting an eerie fog on the coastal city as it comes into view. Though the snow is coming falling heavy enough to only allow the silhouettes of the buildings to be visible. Zven rests his hands on the rail. A few minutes pass before a dock comes into view. Marcie goes to approach the two but is stopped by Raven.

Raising an eyebrow, Marcie asks. “How come we’re not joining them?”

“Let them have their time together. We have a long road ahead of us.” The cambion answers.

Based on her conversation with Sinead the night before, the church calling Raven herself a ‘founder’ suggests that at the very least the church has maintained its belief in the foundation of the Shadows Bane’s original structure. If the church calls her founder, then there must be a somewhat religious belief structured around the ‘founders’ of the Shadows Bane. Her first goal will be linking up with the Honor Guard catacombs. Thankfully she can shroud into the ground to keep herself hidden from unwanted company. Before parting ways with Sinead the night she talked to her, the lich allowed Raven to probe her mind to know exactly who to trust and who to avoid.

Zven looks to Sinead as she walks to his side. He’d never noticed it before now, but Sineads eye patch has the vampiric symbol for the word ‘Baraaj’ which loosely translates to redeem, or redemption depending on how the it’s used in sentences. A vibration ripples along the ship, a sign of it’s docking. Together they head into the lower decks of the ship and head for an unloading point for passengers.

Sinead leads him off while Marcie and Raven vanish into the unloading priests and priestesses. The lich leads him to a path that breaks away from the disbanding group. After a few minutes they encounter a man with crimson eyes.

He gives her a smile and gives a bow of the head before asking. “Sinead, aviba rao?”

“Ja ij raet vav, Lucius.” Sinead answers, returning the smile.

Zven raises an eyebrow, asking. “Isn’t the vampiric language something that was lost to time and discovered later?”

“Tayiyiv. Eyet zab’r lajat.” Lucius answers.

With an understanding nod, the man replies. “I didn’t know it was common. But most vampires I know only have things of loose reference to a vampire culture.”

“When Lucius first arrived her he said something about being from the First Vampires.” Sinead says.

Lucius looks to Zven saying, “Evit badab dr Healer Carden.”

“Ivan told stories about the First Vampires when he was training me. I didn’t think there was anything to that.” The man replies.

Lucius joins them as they walk. He’d never met a hunter who wasn’t one of those ‘kill all monsters’ types. For him it’s easy to get a read on who is a hunter and who isn’t. Most hunters in his experience give off this ‘fuck around and replace out’ kind of aura.

Sinead looks to Lucius, asking. “Aviba yet’c iyaja?”

“Yet’c iza dat vav. Va netiv cay ya tav aiyab.” The vampire answers.

The lich nods before questioning. “Avet Kana?”

“Tua et raet vav. Va vaba yiv’pet idao izet’c i luev’r.” He answers, a rather happy tone in his voice.

Judging by the tone in Lucius’s voice, he seems like a man who would be a good father. He knows Darius to be a good father despite his experiences with the Shadows Bane military. Course Darius always said he was an ‘agent of Azriel’, it’ll be something Zven can ask this ‘Yinto’ when they finally make it to the church.

Lucius gives a wave to Sinead before parting ways and entering a small store. Zven looks around, taking in the sights. The buildings are decently sized and spaced out enough to ensure each building has enough openness for passing citizens to get a glimpse into the store. A few stores have no lights, with them having signs in various languages, likely saying ‘closed for the season’. People of various turned blood species walk about, a succubus, a vampire, a werewolf, a Talvani, and many more. Humans are as common among them as the many different turned bloods.

Sinead grabs Zven’s hand and pulls him towards a bakery, saying. “I love coming here whenever I return home. The owners are a vampire and his werewolf wife. They bake some of the best pies in the town.”

A man who looks to be in his thirties having heard the latter half of what Sinead said, and looks over to her replying. “We’re good at what we do. How have things been for you, Sinead?”

“Things have been generally good, Darian.” She answers.

Taking notice of Zven Darian says. “Haven’t seen you around here before.”

“He’s new to the city. I figured I would show him around before we head to the church.” Sinead replies.

Darian gives a smile and looks to Zven, saying. “I’m Darian Valtek. My wife and I have lived here for as long as we can remember. You couldn’t replace a town of nicer people.”

“I’m Zven, I’m hoping to make a difference in my time here.” He says, before realizing what he said.

He hopes that Darian doesn’t catch on to the meaning. Then again one would only catch on if they were looking for something to catch. A baker isn’t a soldier or a spy. So presumably he has nothing to worry about.

The man gives an understanding nod, saying. “People come here looking to make a difference, most come from the worst places you can imagine, so new comers like yourself will replace your feet pretty quick.”

“Our community was built by people who needed a fresh start. You’ll replace that plenty of citizens will give a warm welcome to people new to the territory.” Sinead adds.

Darian looks to Sinead asking. “So what can I get for my favorite customer?”

“Two of my usual.” She answers.

The man gives her a knowing look which turns into a smile and he nods. The lich takes a quick glance over to Zven, then her eyes dart to the floor, her cheeks becoming a little flushed. He takes notice but doesn’t say anything, and instead walks around the shop taking a look at the glass cases which have boxes with glass boxes with glass windows to give people a view of the variety of sweets and other baked goods in the shop. Though he notices a lack of price tags with each item. It leaves him a bit puzzled.

Looking to Darian who is walking out with two little boxes with the glass covered with steam, asking. “How come there are no price tags?”

“The Shadows Bane doesn’t use currency. In our community we don’t concern ourselves with something like currency. As the church texts say, ‘currency while not inherently bad often leads to greed and corruption’.” The vampire answers. “You’ll replace that when most people talk about the church texts there isn’t anything religious to practice, its more of a guidance for the people.”

Sinead nods in agreement accepting the two boxes from Darian and handing one to Zven, saying. “There are some aspects that could be considered religious, but its more for hunters who are looking to broaden their horizons of what supernatural beings could be out there. That’s the purpose of the church, not to propagate any religion but to raise awareness of the existence of natural and supernatural beings.”

Hell it was the whole reason Sinead became a Church Seeker Priestess three years ago. She knew that as a CSP she would have an opportunity to learn what else could be out there that the church texts don’t have any information on. Not only that but it led her to some of the most beautiful ruins she’s ever seen.

“Why call it a church then? Isn’t the point of a church and its priests to propagate a religion?” Zven asks.

In his eyes it seems redundant to call it a church if the ‘church’ doesn’t actually practice anything. But there’s so much he doesn’t know about the people let alone the church. So it’s best not to make any assumptions.

In understanding Sinead answers. “The members of the church come from different cultures all over the world. For instance, Lucius comes from the First Vampires, which practices a kind of coexistence with nature much like the kitsune, or the dryads do. So their religion is structured around it. It is a church because the church’s members come from a multitude of religions. Yinto got so many who would’ve otherwise hated each other due to religious differences to see eye to eye, by presenting the commonalities within each religion. By presenting those commonalities, he works people towards accepting the differences within each others religions and develop a respect for one another.”

“That’s why you’re a priestess and I’m a baker. I don’t think I could work that well with that many people of so many different cultures and try to get them to see eye to eye.” Darian replies.

Sinead gives a thankful nod to the vampire who gives a smile and returns it. Though Darian’s hiding a sly smirk when he turns away to head into the back of the store. He left a little message for Sinead in her box.