Lucius watched with furrowed brows as the wave of magic spread out and disappeared into the air. He looked back at the doors before him and decided to try a different approach. Reaching up, he wrapped his fingers around the cold metal of the large door knockers. He lifted them and knocked the metal against the door three times: thunk, thunk, thunk. As he knocked for the third time, he felt the weight of the door disappear under his hand as it slowly creaked open. Lucius pushed the door the rest of the way with the handle of his sword and cast his vision into the church for the first time.
Rows of broken pews lined each side of the building, and soft candlelight flickered off the walls from the candlesticks sitting in front of each window. It was just one more thing that didn't make sense—he should have seen the lights from outside but could not. With a deep breath, he slowly stepped into the building, walking along the center aisle toward the front of the church, where row after row of candles burned softly. As Lucius reached the lectern at the front of the building, the sound of a slam caused him to jump. Turning like a startled cat, he looked back the way he had come to find that the door had closed. The next moment, the light of the candles slowly dimmed, and the figure of a man appeared behind the lectern, a few paces away from Lucius.
The man wore a round black hat with a wide brim that circled his head. The hat covered a head of long, curly gray hair that framed the thin, stern-looking face of a man in his forties. He wore black, flowing clothes; the only other color on his body was the white circle of fabric that wrapped around his neck and rested on his shoulders. With shiny black leather boots on his feet and a small black cane with a round metal handle at the top in his hand, the man glared at Lucius. The man's mouth hung open for a few moments before he quickly closed it and wiped the back of his sleeve across his lips hurriedly.
"Good eve to you, traveler. Might I inquire from thee the current year and month of our Lord?" The man's voice was a wind-like whisper, but in the silence of the church it was easy enough to hear.
Lucius stared back at the man for a long time before he spoke. His nerves had been pulled tight by the eeriness of the situation, and the man's sudden appearance had sent buckets of adrenaline shooting through his veins.
"The year... is 2024. I couldn't tell you the day," Lucius replied flatly without lowering his sword, he continued watching the man carefully for any signs of danger.
"By God... I am four hundred years a dead man." The man looked down at his hands with a melancholic frown. "The Book of Revelations did promise the dead would rise on Judgment Day, but why have I risen alone?"
The man began mumbling something under his breath that was difficult to hear, seeming to ignore Lucius' presence for a moment. Lucius took the opportunity to get a better look at his surroundings. There was a slight smell of iron lingering in the air, and he was well enough acquainted with the scent to know it was blood. Taking a few steps backward as he glanced between the pews to his left he saw the body of a small white rabbit. The creature's lifeless remains carried two small, bloody holes on its neck. Looking away from the dead animal, he returned his gaze with narrowed eyes to the strange man as he listened to the continued speech.
"I have seen the foul demonic beasts that stalk these forests. The Day of Judgment truly has come. The Devil's hordes have been unleashed upon humanity, and the righteous have no doubt been whisked away to heaven in glorious beams of holy light, as was promised."
The man's voice grew louder and more animated as he spoke. When he finished his sentence, he looked at Lucius with a crazed smile stretching across his teeth, that exposed the sharp canines hiding there.
"Yet you still remain here on Earth, after the Day of Judgment, abandoned by God for your wicked deeds, no doubt. This is the greatest of all possible proof of your sins!" The man raised his hand and pointed his cane at Lucius. With a tone of finality he spoke on last sentence, "I am well within my rights to do with you as I please!"
As the cane pointed up at him and the man finished speaking, the candles dimmed once again until barely any light was being emitted. Long shadows began rising up unnaturally all around Lucius. The lengths of shadow, like disembodied snakes, rose from the ground and swam through the air toward him. Sense Danger sent a pulse of warning, helping him identify the threat in the darkened room. He wasted no time as he dashed away, the shadows hastily pursuing him. Jumping into the air, he placed the tip of his foot on the edge of the nearest pew and launched himself with great force toward the closest window. He Slammed into it like a cannonball with his shoulder, but the enchanted glass merely cracked and did not shatter. Lucius was forced to dodge and run again to avoid the pursuit. More and more of the lengths of shadow rose from the darkness around the room, narrowing the space available for him to dodge. He would soon be trapped entirely if he didn't think of a solution.
Looking at the situation he was in, Lucius came to the conclusion that his only chance to stop the shadows was to attack the man directly, but that would be difficult because there was no route to the man clear of shadows for him to move through. He looked around before running toward the wall with the least shadows at full speed. Jumping up as he reached it, he began to run along the wall at great speed, only a few inches above the slithering darkness. When he reached the edge of the remaining safe area, he launched himself into the air toward the lectern where his attacker stood directing the shadows. He reached back with Matriarch's Fury to add the strength of his arm to the stab. As he reached the lectern, he pushed forward with all his might, the tip of his sword whistling through the air. The moment the sword reached the black-clothed man, Lucius' eyes shot open wide as the man's body collapsed into a pool of shadow, and his sword flitted harmlessly through it. His body soon followed after his sword, crashing into the shadows where the man once stood.
The moment the shadows touched his body, they began piling onto him, wrapping up his limbs from every direction. Lucius struggled with all his might, tearing away the first few shadows that tried to hold him. But they managed to force his arms behind his back so he couldn't leverage his strength, one length of shadow wrapping his hands together like handcuffs while another did the same to his feet. Matriarch's Fury clinked to the floor as the shadows forced it from his hand. Realizing that his struggling was futile, Lucius clenched his fists so tightly that his fingernails dug into his skin, glaring angrily at the man approaching him. A goblet floated off the row of tables near the lectern into the mans hand as he approached Lucius. Once he arrived, he raised his hand up as long black claws grew out from his fingernails. The man stabbed into Lucius' chest with the sharp claws, drawing a steady flow of blood that he quickly collected with the goblet.
Lucius could see the saliva running down the front of the man's face, causing him to constantly wipe his lips with his forearms. The mans eyes had become bloodshot and he appeared to be completely entranced by the sight of the blood, he continued focusing all his attention on Lucius' bleeding chest as the blood slowly dripped into the cup. While the man's eyes remained fixed to the front of Lucius' body, a dagger with intricate engravings slowly floated up from the trapped young man's left boot, stealthily making its way to his hands.