Thunder slunk down to the ground.

  “I’ll be back,” she said and went into the grass. She was lost to sight completely and the rest of them were left shifting uneasily in the ill wind.

  “What if she doesn’t come back?” The caretaker asked.

  “She’ll come back.” Shaynen said, sounding more sure than he was.

  “Keep your mouths shut and your eyes open.” The Mayor snapped. Jiit narrowed his eyes, his under eye lids blinking in annoyance. Jiit turned his attention to the ground, pawing at the dirt and leaves.

  “There’s no unaccounted for tracks.” Jiit said. “Just ours, if someone came from the house they didn’t leave this way.”

  “So they’re waiting for us.” The mayor said. “Proceed, silently.” The mayor moved forward in a practiced crouch walk that was indeed nearly silent. The rest of the party tried to emulate it but Kilek fell over and Mayhem made an unreasonable amount of noise which led to the mayor stopping and turning to them angrily.

  “Why are you even here if you’re so useless?” He snapped.

  “Hey. We just cleared out your basement of a cult.” Shaynen said. The mayor stared at Shaynen. Before he could say anything Thunder appeared again.

  “It’s clear. Let’s go.” She said and stood up. The party sighed in relief. The mayor stood up but gave Shaynen a hard side eye before leading the group into the manor.

  Though it was found clear, the party found themselves on edge as they entered the manor. Somehow knowing it was empty just made it creepier.

  “We need to clear the house. Make sure it’s empty.” The mayor said. “We’ll start at the top and work our way down-”

  “The house is empty,” Thunder said. “I checked the path down to the underground and it’s intact. There’s nothing waiting for us up here.” The mayor didn’t respond right away. Instead just glaring into nothing while stomping down the halls.

  “Okay, but.” Mayhem whispered, pulling the party close. “What if HE’S involved somehow?”

  “What if he’s trying to grieve the family he very clearly lost?” Shaynen whispered back.

  “Especially if he was working late that night. That guilt is strong.” Jiit agreed.

  “Still something interesting to keep in mind.” Thunder said. “Jiit, why don’t you and I bring up the rear. The flanking might give us an advantage.” The members of the huddle all nodded and dispersed.

  “We’re going into the kitchen, through the pantry and below the larder.” Kilek said as he began to lead.

  “Below the larder?” The mayor asked, watching Thunder and Jiit carefully as they passed him.

  “There’s an underground space there.” Shaynen explained. Helping move the furniture from the kitchen door. “Are there any other ways in or out of the kitchen?”

  “No.” The mayor said. Watching the party clear the path. Entering the kitchen and working on clearing the path to the larder.

  “What’s down there?” The mayor asked.

  “Whatever we didn’t kill the first time.” Mayhem said. “I warn you to cover your nose. It’s very potent down there.”

  “I see.” The mayor said. Mayhem led them down. With the party, cept the mayor, all covered their noses as they got to the last barrier they’d made and released the foulness from the secret entrance. The mayor coughed on the stench and hastily covered his nose.

  “Yeah, it’s vile but you get used to it quickly. Small blessings.” Kilek said. Mayhem and Shaynen jumped down. The mayor looked distrustfully at Thunder, Jiit and Kilek. Kilek smiled and jumped down as well. But this didn’t assuage the mayor. He kept looking between Thunder and Jiit.

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  “You mean to ambush me.” He whispered.

  “You mean to ambush us.” Jiit said back. They eyed each other, tensing. Thunder’s fur beginning to stand on end.

  “Guys?” Shaynen called up. “It’s getting weird and creepy down here.”

  “Yeah, hurry up!” Mayhem yelled. The mayor sighed and looked at the hole in the ground. He begrudgingly jumped down and Thunder and Jiit jumped down after.

  “How much farther?” The mayor asked.

  “Not much now.” Shaynen said. “I hate this tunnel.”

  “Yeah, me too.” Mayhem agreed. She shuddered and they walked the tunnel as fast as they could. Coming out of the door and into the ritual area.

  “Okay, this is it.” Mayhem said. Sweeping her arm around. “This is where we found the cult, see the cultists on the ground, where the ritual happened, see the weird patterns on the floor. Where the demonic ghoul appeared, see the ick over there.” Mayhem pointed at all the evidence that they were telling the truth.

  “I don’t believe it.” The mayor said, looking at all the pieces. “This is. No. This can’t be.”

  “It can and it is.” Jiit said, “And we believe that there’s more at play here.”

  “This was an escape route I made for my family. So that they’d always have a route to safety.” The mayor said. “No one was supposed to know about it. Much less turn it into this. This. Heresy.”

  “We should split up and look around. See if we can find and hide or hair of this cult and what its next move is.” Thunder said. They spread out and went looking through the hastily made chambers with large peeled pieces of bark or lumber covering them. The party took a breath and opened their chambers.

  Torrents of corpses in varying states of decay fell out of the chambers. Swears and screams followed the falling bodies. The stench of rot intensified and Shaynen wasn’t the only one gagging this time. Mayhem leaned against the dirt wall for dear life as she tried to keep her stomach down.

  “There’s no knowing how long this has been going on,” the mayor said. More to himself than anyone else.

  “There’s an exit,” Thunder called.

  “Hang on, I’ll come with you. That way you can sound the warning if things go sideways.” Jiit said, jogging over to her.

  “Sure.” Thunder agreed and the two vanished into the last corridor that wasn’t spilling with black ick and corpses.

  “The Thuk-Chisudo is thick here. Bubbling even.” Kilek observed. Looking far too closely at the bubbling ooze over the rotting bodies.

  “The what?” Shaynen asked, trying to hold back his dry heaves.

  “Thuk-Chisudo is the proper name for the ooze here.” Kilek said, pointing and prodding with the end of his dagger. “It’s a phrase from the villages first affected by it.”

  “They can’t just leave these bodies like this.” Shaynen said, seemingly not hearing Kilek at all. “They have to be laid to rest properly, this is… it’s..”

  “Hold on there.” Kilek said and grabbed the mayor’s arm before he could grab one of the bodies. “That ooze will infect you and take you down with it. This is clearly meant to be a trap to get anyone trying to perform last rites.”

  “That’s horrible.” Shaynen shook his head.

  “It is. And these people need their last rites.” the mayor said sternly. Kilek released his arm and stepped back.

  “I won’t tell you what to do or anything. I’ve advised you the best I can.” Kilek said, putting his hands up. The mayor glared at him but then looked back at the bodies before him. Shaynen and Mayhem approached. The bodies were mangled and rotted and eaten by the ooze. Nearly unrecognizable. But on the top of the pile was a child with tarnished golden curls.

  “I’m sorry for your loss.” Shaynen said finally, not knowing what else to say.

  “You can keep that pity for yourselves.” The mayor shot back.

  “C’mon, let’s give him some space.” Kilek whispered and pulled Shaynen and Mayhem away. They moved a few paces away where they could keep an eye on the mayor but not clearly watching.

  “I can’t imagine where we’d find anything useful.” Mayhem said. “Even if we could inspect the bodies.”

  “I have good news,” Jiit said as he and Thunder reappeared from the tunnel. “This tunnel ends in the forest, and there’s only tracks of whatever was here. All heading away from the village. Seems the people here are safe for now.”

  “How is that good news?” The mayor turned, lashing out viciously.

  “Because the people aren’t being threatened.” Jiit said, not fazed in the slightest. “Whatever this cult is after, this place was nothing more than a breeding ground.” The mayor’s lip curled in a sneer.

  “Does that letter we found give any hints?” Kilek asked. Jiit produced the parchment and looked it over.

  “Yeah, it says it needs all hands for the princess’s wedding day.” Jiit said.

  “The princess?” The mayor asked. “That’s only a week away. The whole affair is a month long affair but the wedding starts in a week.”

  “That must be the big target.” Mayhem said. “Let’s get out of this depressing place.”

  “There is one more favor I have to ask of you.” The mayor said, stiffly and staring off into space.

  “What is it?” Kilek asked.

  “Help me lay these people to rest.”