Gnenmo was in the hands of the church. That much had been obvious from what Simon had told Deatt. Why did the church decide to jail him themselves? Deatt could only guess.

  His research was already branded as wrong and borderline evil, even before the waves of turned washed over the continent. Maybe they hoped to contain anything the man was doing, believing that somehow, he might have been behind this. Or they went in the complete opposite way, letting a heretic work under their close surveillance, hoping for a miracle. Either way, Deatt was not getting to Gnenmo anytime soon.

  He spotted his friends fairly quickly in the sea of refugees. Evelynn's tent was much bigger than the rest. He had handed her the notes before he went to the cells of the castle, in hopes that she might figure something out of them.

  Entering the tent, he saw Evelynn hunched over the notes, crazily moving them around.

  She was so invested in her work, that Deatt walked right next to her and moved his head over her shoulder.

  "Any luck yet?"

  Evelynn almost threw the papers she held around the tent as she jumped.

  "Something? Maybe? He was definitely researching the curse, but most of these notes don't tell me much. Other than the fact that Gnenmo's jailors seemed to assist him quite a bit." She pointed at one of the papers. "Like here, this is a list of items he 'required' for his work. Most are normal things, but he definitely asked for a lot of blood."

  "Anything about cursed items? Like swords or daggers?"

  She eyed him for a little bit, then took out a different paper.

  "Surprisingly, yes. Did you find something, or was that a guess?"

  "A guess." Deatt lied. He had taken the dagger out of his pack some time ago. He made sure not to touch its surface directly as he covered it in the cloth whole. Now, it rested in a hidden pocket on his chest. He could feel its weight now, heavier than it should have been. As if it knew it was being talked about.

  "Good guess then. Though it seemed like an abandoned project, he researched a way to imbue curses into items. Like a transfer from a person. Seems like he was unsuccessful judging by the notes. He explicitly wrote that he was still missing a piece. What kind? I have no idea."

  Looking at Evelynn, Deatt found that the little glasses she wore made her look cute. Like a small girl reading a romantic novel.

  "And the curse itself?"

  "If I had to guess, he took most of those with him. These are all highly theoretical. The kind that isn't enough for any experiments by itself. All I can glean from it, is that he believed the curse couldn't take a hold of the person by itself - which doesn't really make sense to me - and that it was demonic."

  "Demonic?"

  "Yes, but I wouldn't give that much thought. Excommunicated he might have been, he was still a priest. Most of them attribute curses to demonic intervention."

  "They exist? Demons?"

  "Probably?" Evelynn shrugged. "I read about them some, but it's not like I ever saw one."

  It did make some sense. The turned were acting a lot like what Deatt imagined demons to be like. Though from what he had heard before, demons did everything for their own gain. He did not know what they had to gain from all this.

  "Alright. Did you manage to check the scarab?" Deatt still knew nothing of the trinket he had stolen.

  "No, not yet. I Didn't check all the notes first."

  "Well, thank you for taking a look at them."

  "No problem. I am glad I have at least something to take my mind off...things." She put down her glasses and turned to him. "So what are you going to do now? Will you look for Bernard?"

  "I might. Maybe he could tell me something useful. Like how to take a heretic from a cathedral."

  "Gnenmo is there?"

  "Most probably, yes."

  "Huh." She replied. "What is the story between you and Bernard anyway? You seemed to dislike the idea of meeting him again."

  Deatt regretted asking Morek in front of her. He would rather tell her about how Simon managed to almost eat his own cousin, that was a fun one. Honestly, he would rather tell her anything other than his history with Berry, maybe except the one with Carmila.

  "Berry is what you would call...a righteous idiot. That sums it up pretty well." Deatt tried to cut the story short.

  "You have to give me more than that!" she complained.

  "He used to be a friend of mine, when we were little. Me, him and Nido did all kinds of things. Mostly stealing food to live another day. Then he decided to turn a new leaf. Told him and Nido all kinds of reasons why we should behave more heroic. That he wasn't going to steal things anymore and that he would join the guard."

  "Sounds like a standup guy."

  "He...is, I guess. Anyway, I will go and try to find him. Good luck with the notes."

  When Deatt left the tent, Nido was already waiting outside.

  "Guess what?" He asked Deatt, his smile gleaming.

  "You beat someone again?"

  "No?" Nido shook his head. "The tavern here is open."

  Deatt realized that he was feeling like having a beer. Unfortunately, he did not have any money with him.

  "My pocket is a bit too empty for that."

  "Yeah, my too. But," Nido took out a small pouch. "Dancer had quite a number in his."

  Deatt smiled, feeling proud of Nido. The half-orc might have a future with pickpocketing yet.

  "Then we head for a drink first?"

  "Right behind you."

  Deatt could almost forget about all the bad things happening outside. The tavern was rowdy, loud and people were drinking and singing. The only bad thing was, that they were all out of beer. Instead, they drank wine and some nameless spirits. But based on their price, even those were starting to run out.

  Gulping the little wine he had left, he looked around the tavern disapprovingly. He understood that alcohol was nowhere to be made here, or at least nothing to be made out of, but he hoped the supplies, that an establishment in Kitva would have, would be bigger. Still, he at least got a taste of something.

  His disappointment paled in comparison to Nido's. The half-orc sorrowfully watched his cup, with the little wine he had been poured with all the coins he stole.

  "Look at the bright side. You won't get a hangover." Deatt joked.

  Nido only flashed him an angry glance, returning to his self-pity.

  "I can't wait to be back in Zenwall."

  "I will buy you a whole bottle once we get there." Deatt tried to lift his spirits.

  As if the whole tavern had heard him, a wave of cheer ran through the drinkless drunkards. They stood up with a smile, yelling over each other in excitement.

  "Bellringer! Bellringer is back!" They shouted.

  Deatt was turned to the source of the commotion, but he did not care enough to look over his shoulder. Meanwhile, Nido was trying his hardest to spot just what might cause such a surge of emotion. When he did, he tried to stifle a laugh. The corners of his mouth were twitching and a sly smile involuntarily appeared on his face.

  "What?" Deatt asked, suddenly feeling a bit stressed. "Tell me."

  "I... it's...Ha!" Nido burst out into a laugh.

  "You know I hate when you do this kind of shit." Deatt's voice rose with his nervousness. "Can't you just tell me-"

  "What's going on?" Asked a man who arrived right next to them. He wore a sturdy tunic, with leather gauntlets and pads leading under the tunic. His body was staut and trained. Deatt did not even have to see his body to know that there would be next to zero fat on it. But the man's face was the most interesting, because it was, without a doubt, Berry's face.

  Deatt just stared at Berry, as an ember of recognition fired in the man's eyes.

  "Deatt! Nido! Welcome!" He smiled from ear to ear. "Aren't you supposed to be..."

  "In prison? Yeah, funny thing that. Seems Jirfort let us out on good behavior."

  Berry grimaced at Deatt, locking his eyes with him.

  "The turned?"

  "Yeah." Deatt answered as he reached for Nido's wine. The half-orc wanted to protest, but Deatt flashed him a look so accusing, Nido decided against it.

  "Then I am glad you made it out alive. Not that I wouldn't trust you. But a lot of good men fall to the things." Bernard sighed, then asked gently. "Do you mind if I sit?"

  "Yes, obviously I..."

  "Do not. Sit with us, it's been a while." Deatt said through his teeth. Though he really tried to act nonchalant and friendly, he could not help himself but hiss a little bit.

  Thankfully, Berry seemed unaware.

  "What have you been through?" Nido asked, his face still a bit sullen from the lack of alcohol.

  "Well, since you two were...jailed. I have tried to uphold my oath. It was a bit hard at the beginning, but I think that I managed in the end."

  "Managed, huh? With a body like a statue and the mind of a saint, everyone would manage." he could not stop his jealousy.

  "What about you guys? Aside from breaking out of prison of course. You are even bigger than the last time we saw each other Nido!"

  "Thanks! We made our way to Zenwall. Managed to recruit a new mage to our cohort. A pretty one." Nido started. "We made a hit in Zenwall as well. Got a few trinkets out of it."

  "Figures." Berry looked at the pair with a somewhat disappointed understanding. "Have you met Carmilla? The last thing I heard was that she was traveling to Zenwall too."

  Deatt felt the hurt of the past and gritted his teeth, keeping his mouth closed.

  "She is safe in Zenwall. Actually, she has a very pretty house. She even has a hus-" Nido was interjected by a waiter who suddenly appeared before the man, holding a cup. He was giddy, his eyes fixed on Bernard.

  "A compliment of the house for the Bellringer. Are you hungry? Or do you want lodging? We are full, but we could always find a place for you."

  "No thank you. Just two more cups if you wouldn't mind? For my friends."

  "Friends..." Deatt thought to himself in a mocking tone.

  "Of course, right away."

  "Thank you." Deatt said as the waiter brought them their drinks. This time, the cups were full. "What is it about this 'Bellringer' business?" he asked.

  If Deatt had to guess, It probably had something to do with the ringing that they heard before. The one that took the attention off of them, and enabled them to run away.

  "Just a name the people here took to calling me. Whenever any supplies make it to the vicinity of the city, I use the bell to attract the turned away. There are still stranglers, but we can get at least some more rations this way."

  "Yeah, I do that too sometimes. But how do you get out?" Deatt asked. Immediately reminded of his time back at the manor.

  "I have some routes over the roofs. I made sure to block the entrances from the streets, so it's more or less safe. It connects right to the midtown wall, so it's smooth sailing from there."

  "So that's it, huh? Became the hero of the city. Seems like your dream is coming along nicely."

  "Hero is a bit over the top." Bernard smiled sheepishly. "But yeah, I do what I can. What about you guys? Why did you decide to come here? Not many decide to pass through hordes of the turned just to get to a failing city."

  "Actually, that is what I wanted to talk to you about. You see, we have a mission of utmost importance as well."

  Bernard's expression changed visibly during the explanation of their mission. From horror to solemn nodding and everything in between. Deatt decided to leave out the information of the more questionable things Gnenmo had been doing, along with the fact of just how many men already fell during their travel. He knew that Bernard would not like that part.

  Lastly and most importantly, he tried to avoid anything that might clue Bernard into knowing of Deatt's condition, and about Evelynn. He did not know exactly why, but he would rather they would not meet.

  After digesting the information, Berry chugged his cup in one go.

  "And why did the head of the Mortimmer family want you to meet up with me? I have some name here, sure, but I don't think the church cares about any of that."

  "I don't know. I was hoping you would tell me." Deatt took a swig of the wine as well. It was much better than the thing he had been given earlier. Maybe being known as Berry's acquaintance would be alright as long as he was here.

  Looking at Berry, it was obvious a fiery fight was taking place in his mind. It was against his beliefs to steal from a church, especially if what was stealing was a person. But the other side, a world-saving mission, was something he could not just ignore. Deatt was hoping that his words were enough to convince him to help. Or at least support him in some way.

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  Deatt was surprised to see a resolute expression appear on his face. With serious eyes, Berry turned to Deatt.

  "I will help you, with one condition."

  "What condition?" Deatt was dreading just what might Berry desire from him.

  "You will take me with you to Zenwall. I want to meet this Vael myself."

  "Taking you with us?". Deatt thought. "But that would mean spending long weeks with Berry. Who knows just how much righteous crap he might say to Evelynn!"

  She was already pretty hard on him. What would she require after meeting with an actual knight in...leather armor? Just the idea of Evelynn echoing Berry’s sermons made his stomach churn.

  But he was at his wit's end. He could try to find some secret passage to the cathedral. Maybe he would find one, maybe he could sneak Gnenmo out himself.

  Was he willing to accept that chance? He might have to spend a number of days doing next to nothing, hoping that a clue would find its way to him.

  And as much as it irked him, Vael had said to Morek to find Berry. It was completely possible that he wanted him under his employ as well. Like Deatt was planning to be.

  If Berry was not right in front of him, Deatt would shout his frustration out. Now, he could only say what he decided was for the best.

  "You'd be welcome to."

  "Alright." Berry suddenly stood up from the table. "Give me a few days, maybe a week. I have a plan in mind."

  "You do?" Deatt asked, surprised.

  "Yeah I do. I am going to try to use the connections I have here. I will see where it'll lead me." He stood up, prepared to go. Then he looked at Deatt and Nido again, in his eyes was a sparkle of joy. "I am very glad to see you again boys. And even more that I will work with you again." He reached out with his hand.

  Nido quickly accepted it, pulling Berry into a warm embrace.

  "Same here little man." He said as they left the embrace.

  Then Berry stretched his hand to Deatt.

  Fighting against his feelings, Deatt accepted the handshake.

  "Glad to see you alive." He managed to say. But even if it was hard to show goodwill to Berry, the statement was very much true.

  For the third time in the span of a week, the bells were ringing loudly. Deatt was already prepared in his hiding spot, waiting for the men who brought the goods to leave the share for the church unattended. Berry would not have agreed with Deatt's methods, but Deatt could not just stay still and wait for him to solve the riddle of Gnenmo's escape by himself. Not only was he still having doubts about Berry, even though he seemed scarily competent compared to the Berry he remembered, his pride could not take it.

  As the three men left the cargo beneath the cathedral, Deatt wanted to jump out and do what he had successfully done two times already. Dirty and poison the supplies. He used nothing that would actually hurt people trying to drink or eat what was brought, but it did cause them to push it out one way or another uncomfortably quickly.

  But today, he felt that he should not. Instead, he banished his thirst with his magical iron bowl and continued watching.

  His thieving instincts had already somewhat returned to their former glory in the last days. Truthfully, he had been performing much riskier things than he would at Zenwall, knowing that he was not going to stay in the city for long. Those instincts were flashing crazily, telling him that something was not quite right.

  Fearing that the church might have caught on to his subtle subterfuge, he decided to wait in the overgrowth of bushes next to the spot.

  As always...as most of the time, his instinct was spot on. Not long before the men left the goods on the small stone square, two clergy appeared from a seemingly abandoned house.

  Looking to all sides, trying to find the nuisance that poisoned their food, they walked through the open space.

  "Don't see nobody. You sure the bishop wasn't just imagining things?" one of them started.

  "Really George? Was he imagining you spending nigh a full day on the latrine? Gods, you are dull sometimes."

  "Do not take the name in vain." the other said, putting his hands together in a pleading gesture. "Oh, the divine, forget the sins of a simple man."

  "Fuck off. You know as well as I do that it's all stupid."

  "I found peace in the religion you know? You should too. It's not like you have better things to do."

  "Yeah, like stripping you whole in a game of dice again?"

  Deatt rolled his eyes in his dark corner. Whatever priests these guys were, they did not seem to be good at it.

  The not-so-believing clergy stopped before the goods instead of taking them. He looked around, then bent forward to his friend.

  "What if...what if the evil saboteur struck again?" He whispered so badly that Deatt heard it from far away.

  "But he didn't? It's all right here."

  "I am saying, why don't we take a little for ourselves? Just say that the guy managed to run off with a few bottles?"

  "But that's stealing! That is a sin!"

  "Hey, infiltrating a church is a sin. These things were meant for the faithful anyway, right? So if we take some, we just take our share, easy as that."

  The other looked to the sky as if in thought, or maybe he was just waiting for thunder to strike his fellow. When nothing happened, his gaze fell on the bottles of alcohol.

  "There is some truth to your words." He nodded.

  Deatt was not an expert on any things holy, but if he was a god, pretending to be pious and acting for self-gain would probably be worse than open disbelief.

  As the two man began rummaging through the goods, Deatt recognized the playful fires in their eyes. These men were not stealing for the first time. To wear such an expression, a man had to have numerous experiences of the bliss. Sin it might have been, Deatt knew the feeling like the back of his hand.

  "Wait!" the one - named George from what Deatt had gathered - shouted out as his friend began shoving the bottles in his robe. "We can't just take it like this. The others would notice!"

  "So what should we do, you twit? Leave it here?"

  "No, that's too obvious." the other priest said. Taking a look around while stroking his chin, George suddenly stopped and pointed. Right where Deatt had been hiding.

  "Let's hide it there, we will come for it back at night."

  Deatt could not believe his own luck. By all the things that had happened to him, he started to believe that a god of misfortune or something like that had been his patron. Of course they would choose his hiding spot.

  "Actually, that is a good idea. Maybe the gods are really doing you good." the other clergy said in irony.

  "Yeah!" the other yelled joyously, completely unaware of what the other had meant.

  Deatt quickly looked at his surroundings, hoping that they changed since he had hidden there. Unfortunately, it did not. He was still hiding in the bushes, surrounded by the walls of the cathedral.

  There was no running from the man, no place that he could hide in further.

  So he had to improvise.

  Taking a step from the bushes, he revealed himself, staggering the two men. George almost dropped the bottles in his hands. While the other immediately started thinking of what to say.

  "You!" he managed to squeeze out. "You are the saboteur!"

  "No, actually. I am quite sure that you two are." Deatt said, waking towards them, acting calm. "You see, the church has come with a job offer to me. Survey the goods and find the criminal that spoils the food. And look here, there are you two."

  The men looked at each other in a panic, before the name-less one turned back to Deatt.

  "You liar! We are honest priests! We know everyone in the cathedral! The bishop would not just buy some outsider!" Even though the pretend clergy tried to act confident, his voice was shaky.

  "Yes, because I am a wandering saint." Deatt said, taking his empty iron bowl into his hands.

  "I really hope this will work." he thought to himself.

  "Thy the gods, thou the divine. Bless this humble bowl of mine. For with thirst and hunger do I falter, bless me with the holy water." He recited, then he activated the bowl's enchantment.

  The men's eyes widened as they watched water appear out of nowhere. Both stood still, captivated by the moment.

  "They are real..." the nameless one whispered. Then he quickly dropped to his knees. George followed immediately.

  "Please saint! Forgive our sins. This was just a mistake! Truly! We have never done so until this day! We are not the ones you are searching for!"

  "Truly? You are acting as if I did not hear you jest about our holy god." Deatt said.

  "It was but an ignorant jest! Please, your holiness! Bless us with your mercy and understanding! We will strive to honor the gods from now!"

  Deatt walked closer to them, his face stoic.

  "Do you swear on your sinful darkened souls?"

  "Yes!"

  "Completely!"

  Deatt quickly turned around, as he felt his stifled laugh budding. He took a few deep breaths to compose himself, then he turned back to the men.

  "I will forgive you, but you are not to reveal any of this to the bishop, lest you want me to not carry this secret of yours. You will also do anything I preach to you, for I am closer to god than any in this 'holy' place."

  "Of course! Of course! We will make sure to carry the goods back immediately!" they turned around, quickly hauling the alcohol back to the goods.

  "Wait! Leave the spirits, for they have been stained by your impure thoughts."

  "Makes sense!" The two quickly placed the bottles on the ground. Then they ran to the goods, both gripping one side of the loaded cart and quickly ran to the cathedral.

  "And they just ran off?" Evelynn continued asking in disbelief.

  Nido was already laughing so hard that his tears made it hard for him to breathe further.

  "Yeah, no further questions. They just ran off." Deatt could not

  hold his own laugh inside.

  "What a bunch of idiots." Evelynn struggled to comprehend the story, then she started giggling herself.

  There, sitting in her tent, only the three of them, Deatt was again reminded of the 'good old times', though this time, he had not let it sour his mood. He had another surprise after all.

  "Nido, I know this is not Zenwall stuff, but still." He took out the bottles and clanged them against each other.

  Nido's eyes sparkled with incredible joy, as he practically lunged for the bottles of spirits.

  "What do you say?" Deatt dodged with his hand, making Nido miss the alcohol.

  "You are an incredible thief, smart person and I am sorry for thinking Berry became kind of cool." Nido said, eyeing the drinks in Deatt's hand. Deatt stopped at the last remark, but decided to reward the performance with the bottles.

  Nido, waiting for nothing and no one, opened one of them and drank greedily. After downing about half of the bottle, he stopped, quickly breathed in, then continued.

  Evelynn was watching him with an entertained expression. Then her gaze turned to the bottle.

  "Don't worry. These are just his. I have a special one for us." Deatt said as he reached for the wine. After stealing enough alcohol, one gets an inkling of what might be good wine and what is wine-piss. This time, he was sure he struck gold.

  Evelynn's anticipation suddenly turned sour, her eyes filling with disappointment.

  "No..." he heard Evelynn say as he took it out. "No! It's the same as in the cellar! That was gross!"

  "I know, I know. But that's because it was old. This one is fresh."

  Deatt opened the bottle and smelt the sweet and fresh scent of the wine. He could immediately feel the difference.

  "I know this isn't exactly high class, but I even got a cup for us." he said, taking two ceramic cups out.

  He poured the wine into the cups, enjoying the long moment and building Evelynn's anticipation further. Then he handed her the cup.

  "Before you drink, smell it." he said with a smile.

  Clearly in doubt, Evelynn brought the cup under her nose.

  Suddenly her tensed body relaxed. She humped down in comfort and drank from the cup.

  It was a long time since Deatt let himself enjoy the moment. Since escaping and getting the curse, he was always on edge, never letting himself truly relax.

  But today, today was good