As they made their way back to the main area of the temple, Quinn could see the lights of flickering torches illuminating the area. A number of robed figures waited for them. Once they got closer she could finally see what was being done with Kael and Noctus. Each was on the floor. Kael laying on his stomach, arms chained behind his back. There looked to be a trident like weapon around his neck. The middle spike of the trident was short, threatening to lengthen the moment it’s wielder commanded.
Noctus was in a similar state, but on his back and arms spread apart also being held in place by a trident like weapon. Once Quinn saw the kid in such a state she couldn’t help the rage that started to take off. This also brought attention her way from the others.
“Quinn!” Noctus was struggling to get out, though stopped when the spike from the trident lowered with a metallic click.
Once she was dragged to the middle of the circle of robes, her hair was released. She gave a look around, trying to find some way to work with the situation. The only thing that she could see was a closing circle of cultists. This is the weirdest situation I’ve been in and I have no clue what I did this time.
Noctus let out a frustrated yell as his eyes flew around at the enclosing members. Then his eyes fell on someone out of Quinn’s view. His squirming was starting to shake the trident like restraints. The spike clicked once more, trying to scare him into being still. Though it had a momentary effect, he went back to struggling.
“Just stay still, buddy.” She tried to keep the treble from her voice.
“Brothers.” The man who dragged her in commanded everyone’s attention. “Our long search has finally come to an end.”
The members stomped and an odd deep toned hum emitted from the circle. This definitely made Quinn uncertain about what was to come.
“We can finally bring the great Lord of Decay back to his rightful place.”
He nodded and a member emerged from the circle carrying a large object in his arms. The item was placed down in front of Quinn. Staring up at her was a statue’s head. This one was completely different from the ones that decorated the room they were in. It was much more expressive and a darker shade. The mouth was wide open in a snarl with many tiny shards of teeth. Cracks fractured the head making it look like it would fall apart with the wrong movement. The eyes though normally blank and expressionless had an odd coloration to them. This was the feature of the head that gave a chill working up Quinn’s spine.
What the fuck are these assholes going to do now?
It wasn’t long before she was given an answer. The preacher knelt down behind her, wrapping an arm around her neck. Quinn went rigid at the contact. If there wasn’t a threat of the kid getting hurt, she wouldn’t let this prick get away with doing what he wanted.
“With the last Ora sacrificed to our Lord, we can bring the world to its real potential!”
Quinn saw the glint of a knife rise up out of the corner of her eye and came traveling her way. Her arms instinctively flew up to protect herself. The tip of the knife sunk into her flesh just enough to draw blood but didn’t move further on. She was able to intersect his arms but the knife found a gap in her shield.
“You’re all crazy.” Quinn struggled against the force trying to plunge the knife deeper. Though she attempted to move back, she found that she was right up against the psycho preacher’s chest.
Shouts started to resound around the circle. This built up into more chaos. Then something came barreling into the preacher and Quinn. They toppled to the ground, however, the preacher seemed to roll a few extra feet away with the help of another body. A piercing scream escaped from the preacher and a familiar smell of burning meat filled the air.
Quinn panned her eyes over to the noise and saw a wildly angry Noctus attacking the preacher. He sat on top of the preacher punching away at him. Every time his fist pulled back a waft of thin smoke rose up. His fists also showed a dark coloring that splotched and started to spread toward his wrists. As members tried to help pull the child off, they also let out shocked screams as Noctus turned to smack them away. They received burns as his skin made contact with them. Their robes melted where he touched them. More and more members came to the preacher’s aid and were starting to get a hold on Noctus.
Trying to pick herself up, Quinn felt a searing pain along her chest and neck. Putting a hand to it, it pulled away smeared in blood. Fucking shit. She didn’t need to be told that something was wrong with the amount that was seeping out of the wound. Not when she got a visual clue when a small red puddle started to spread out. Everything around her seemed to fade out. Even her body felt like it was fading, getting weaker and colder. She watched the blood puddle expand until it ran into something. It seemed during the small scuffle the statue’s head had been knocked around. Now it was laying near her, the face staring back at her. As her blood touched the statue’s head it became sucked up into the cracks. The blood traveled up the cracks, filling in the empty space and spreading over the statue’s face until it had an odd brimstone look to it.