Eva peeked around the corner. Juliana still sat in the couch facing away from Eva’s room. She lightly kicked her feet back and forth.
The skull stared right at her, as if the wall wasn’t even there.
After the story Arachne had told her about it, Eva expected it to stare at other people. She cursed herself for not paying attention to it during its brief stay at the dorms. Had it been staring at people then? Had it stared at Devon the night her master arrived?
The spider-demon had laid down on their bed–Eva’s side of their bed–and was nuzzling the pillow. Eva nudged Arachne. The demon’s eyes narrowed as Eva pointed out the skull.
The destruction of the skull still ranked high on Arachne’s wish list. Eva still wasn’t ready to offend Ylva. She doubted she would ever want that.
Arachne reached up and tried to twist the skull back forwards. The skull wouldn’t budge and Arachne’s sharp fingers didn’t leave the slightest mark.
Eva attempted the same thing. It turned right around to her with barely any effort. Almost as if it turned on its own. Eva stopped turning it just before it faced directly at her.
Arachne tried again, twisting it back away from Eva. She managed it without any problem. Arachne gave off a low growl and shrugged her shoulders.
Eva faced the skull directly towards herself. She pointed past the wall. “She’s a friend. Don’t hurt her.” Eva didn’t know if the skull was going to hurt Juliana, or even if the skull could hear her. Still, it couldn’t hurt.
Few things managed to get under Eva’s skin these days. The skull certainly wasn’t one of them. She decided to believe the hel’s words when Ylva said it wouldn’t hurt her. There was a bit of fear for other people, but so far it had been completely benign.
Eva grabbed the potions for Juliana and headed back to the common room to await her master’s call.
—
The church they came to had seen better times. It was an old American church. It had a single room and a high steeple at the top. The steeple contained a bell at one point in time, but it had fallen along with a large portion of the roof. The hole it punched through the floor was clearly visible from outside the open double doors.
Eva looked back over the hill they had climbed.
During daytime, the church would overlook a large valley and grassland that once held a town. The town built in the valley was built during the frontier days. It was long since abandoned, leaving the rotting remains of wood structures scattered around.
“The catacombs beneath the church are where our interests lie,” Devon said. “The witching hour is drawing close, be on your guards.” He whipped around his flashlight and trudged into the building.
Eva wondered for a minute if he was playing up the drama for Juliana. He used to do that when Eva first started accompanying him on jobs. Always some quip about how they were sure to die horribly even in the most mundane of jobs.
The blond in question seemed more concerned with an aching backside after another ride on Arachne.
Eva sent out a few small light spells, illuminating the dark corners of the chapel. Nothing seemed out of place, apart from the hole in the ground and the musky scent of rotting wood.
She thought about trying to take a peek down the hole. The thought quickly vanished. Having rotting wood crumble away and falling into catacombs would not be fun on the best of days. With necromancers running around the thought sent chills up Eva’s spine.
With Juliana and Arachne just behind her, Eva followed her master to the opposite end of the chapel. He pulled open a trap door just behind where a priest would stand to give their sermon. He shined his light down the hole. A shiny metal ladder led the way into the dark pit. It was obviously a recent addition to the church.
“Arachne,” Devon whispered, “you’re up first. Anything we see is likely hostile. If there are any humans who don’t immediately attack, I’d like them disarmed for further questioning.”
The spider-demon shrugged and jumped down the hole, ignoring the ladder completely.
“Eva, you’re her backup. Girl–”
“Juliana,” Juliana whispered.
“Whatever. You’re after Eva. I’ll watch our backs.”
Eva tossed a small light spell to the bottom of the pit. It was deeper than she expected, but not deep enough. Eva stepped straight to the bottom, also ignoring the ladder.
Lacking the methods for a speedy descent, Juliana climbed down the ladder. The moment she touched the bottom and stepped out of the way, Devon appeared in her vacancy.
Eva turned and marched after the eager demon.
The dirt walls narrowed as they progressed. Mush and fibers clung to Eva’s fingers as she brushed a hand against a wall. Not an enjoyable experience.
Archways began opening up to the sides of the tunnel every few feet. Arachne ignored them completely.
Eva tossed a light down one. A solid wall of bones, mostly thigh or arm bones by the look of it, met Eva. The wall ran up to her chest and was capped with a line of skulls.
Nice place to hunt necromancers, Eva mused.
She left the light in the first alcove as she moved down, checking each. They were all the same.
Some seemed to have a row of smaller skulls topping the wall. Young children.
A half cry, half gasp signaled Juliana passing the first of the alcoves. Growling reprimands came from her master a moment after.
Eva didn’t mind the bones themselves. Under different circumstances, she might borrow a few to spruce up the prison. It wasn’t like the old owners would mind.
What really bothered her was the sheer number. There were far more bones making up each wall than the amount of skulls facing out on top. Even if the town had been ten times as large as the remaining buildings during its heyday, this number shouldn’t be possible.
Eva stopped at one alcove. Its wall was shorter than the rest, though still capped with skulls. Eva peeked over the top.
Rib cages, feet, hands, hips, collarbones, and several more skulls were unceremoniously tossed behind the bone wall. The rest of the skeletons were piled up as high as the front wall with no order or respect.
The rest of the alcoves were probably the same.
She left another light hovering over the mangled remains and moved on.
After creeping past no less than thirty of the crypts, Eva came up to a stopped Arachne.
They looked out over a much larger cavern.
Carved stairs complete with a thin metal railing led downwards, splitting off in two at the first step. They circled around a large pool of murky green water. The cavern extended back into a cave maybe half as large as the chapel above.
Magical lights, more permanent than the one dancing around Eva’s fingertips, kept the cave well-lit. Pews sat to either side of a small aisle, all facing towards the pool of water and the stairs.
Six cages hung from the ceiling on the outside edge of the benches. Each held a single corpse in varying degrees of decay. Most were barely more than skeletons.
The two descended the staircase. Eva sent balls of light scanning every nook of the cave for anything that might jump out. Arachne checked under and behind each pew.
By the time they finished, Juliana and Devon had entered the main room. The blond made a straight beeline to Eva.
“You alright?” Juliana quietly asked.
Eva looked up from the small alcove in the wall. One not filled with bones, just a handful of spiders. Juliana looked sick. She had a wand gripped tightly in each hand as well as her two finger rings on. “Yeah, I’m good,” Eva said. “Are you?”
“Peachy.”
Eva gave the girl a sad smile. “I’m sure it will be fine. There aren’t even any necromancers around right now.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Devon said as he and Arachne marched over. He held a finger up to the ceiling.
Six skeletons all gazed down at the group. They were still slumped over in their cages, unmoving. Just their skulls pointed empty eye sockets at them.