“Thank you Kendrick for coming on such short notice,” Neheri greeted as he took a seat next to his fellow bishops, Hylan and Leander.

“The message sounded urgent,” Kendrick replied as he nodded while taking his own seat at the small table.

Unlike their other meetings, this one was conducted in a small room deep within the Cathedral most often used as a study room for student priests. Kendrick immediately noticed the solemn features on all the bishops as well as the heavily worn journal placed on the center of the table. He figured they were about to present to him another assignment but this time something was a bit off.

“We have some very disturbing news,” Hylan informed, opening up the meeting. Kendrick glanced at each of the bishops and listened intently.

Leander chimed in, “After your team disposed of the throne at Un’Goro, we sent another small group to excavate and collect information regarding the vault. Unfortunately, a group of cultists discovered the site and the entire team was killed.”

“If they all died, how do you know they are cultists?” Kendrick asked.

Neheri answered this time, “There was one survivor from the battle that ensued; a young priest by the name of Liam Bowman. He managed to escape and reach the Marshal’s Refuge. Sadly, he too died from injuries sustained during his escape but he managed to send this to us.” Neheri tapped the journal in the middle. “He also wrote a message on what transpired,” he added.

“According to Liam,” Leander spoke next, “the attackers were members of the Twilight Cult. He recognized their robes. By the time he saw them, the camp was already overrun and the leader of the expedition, Captain Trevor McKennan was captured.”

“How did he escape then?”

Leander answered, “Liam was with a group of dwarf archaeologists. They held off the cultists as he escaped. They all died to save him.” Leander seemed very grief struck as he spoke the last few words.

Kendrick sighed, “What were they looking for?”

Hylan interjected this time, “We believe they came to the location to free the entity that you discovered weeks ago.”

“That’s not possible,” Kendrick defended, “we destroyed the throne that held its power…”

“Unfortunately the evidence suggests it survived somehow,” Hylan retorted immediately. He continued, “After we got word from Liam about the attack, we immediately sent another, more combat ready team to the location. They found the broken camp as well as the dead bodies of both the first team and various cultists. They also discovered a husk of a man. His body was completely rotted away, flesh practically melting away from the bones. When the second team could not find Captain McKennan, they immediately spread out. After two days of searching, they found his body.”

Neheri said sadly, “His body was also in a very decayed state. His body was completely desiccated to the point when the team tried to move the body, it started falling apart. We suspect the entity feeds off the bodies.”

“…because it no longer has the throne to give it strength,” Kendrick whispered in shock.

Neheri nodded, “That’s our theory. The first body was of a cultist. The second was Captain McKennan. We don’t know if the entity has a body of its own or if it just jumps from one person to another. But seeing that it had the ability to enter your mind and even gain control…”

“The logical assumption would be it possesses the body it drains…” Kendrick finished the sentence. He brought the journal close to him and flipped open the pages. The entire journal was filled with etchings and copies of the runes found in the vault. He cursed himself as he slammed the book shut.

“It’s not your fault,” Neheri tried to console.

“Yes it is,” Kendrick admitted. “I should have blown that throne up instead of activating it.”

“You presume that by activating the throne, you released the entity,” Neheri argued. “But even after you destroyed it, the entity survived. And it survived without the throne until the cultists found it. In some ways, it is fortunate you discovered what you did before they did because now at least we are not completely in the dark.”

Leander looked at Kendrick with sympathetic eyes as he said, “Those cultists knew the location. They would have managed to find this thing whether you were there to destroy the throne or not. But you got there before they did but it seems they got there before the research team and somehow freed the entity. And it’s looking for something.”

Kendrick stared at Leander whose eyes were trained on the journal in front of him. Kendrick asked, “What’s so special about the book?”

Leander replied, “We don’t know yet. But Liam made it clear in the message that Captain McKennan wanted him to escape with it. Those are writings within the vault and they may have answers to what we are dealing with. We hope it reveals a way to kill it.”

“And we also suspect it also holds the key to returning power to this thing which is why it wants it so badly,” Hylan added.

“Why didn’t the cultists just go back in the vault and gather the information themselves?” Kendrick asked.

“The vault is destroyed,” Hylan explained. “The second team found the heat near the entrance unbearable. The throne most likely maintained the environment within the vault. With it destroyed, it was only a matter of time before the magma deep within took over.”

Kendrick let out a heavy sigh.

“We will need Brann again,” Leander commented. “We need those etchings deciphered.”

“I’ll contact him again,” Kendrick agreed as he nodded.

Hylan explained solemnly, “You will maintain possession of the book. Yours will be the only copy. Because we know this entity can take control of anyone, trust will be at a premium. Even now we are working on a method to identify possession of the mind but it will take time.”

Kendrick smirked as he commented, “Great. Now you’ve given me another reason not to trust anyone.”

“Even though it is risky, you will need to trust some people,” Neheri added. “This mission is far too difficult and dangerous for you to do alone.”

Leander and Hylan glanced at each other suspiciously. Kendrick narrowed his eyes as he asked, “What are you suggesting?”

“Rebuild the Society,” Leander commanded.

“You have another list of candidates?” Kendrick asked.

Leander shook his head, “Not this time. This is your team. You build it. But if we find someone we think is suitable, we will present that person to you.”

“I’ll need access to some of the Church’s resources if you want me to select the agents,” Kendrick explained.

“Granted,” Leander agreed with a nod.

Kendrick stared at each of the bishops before he looked down at the journal. He fingered the edges and reflected upon all that transpired. “Darkness never rests but the dawn approaches…” he said softly but loud enough for the bishops to hear.

“What was that?” Hylan asked curiously.

Kendrick shook his head with a smile as he answered, “Nothing. Just something a good friend once said to me.”

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