Snippet #2690081

Val swooped down from his perch. Diving in a mad freefall towards the ground, he increased his speed just before the last critical moment, pulling his body to fly just above the rooftops, his underbelly nearly scraping the tiling beneath him. In a city as large as this one, he would have to fly around for ages hoping to get lucky enough to find the Hunters hidden within the city. But while Val did have the time, he lacked the patience, and kept rocketing straight towards one of the only places that would.

---

The Church of Ironsgaurd had always been an outstandingly beautiful and opulent affair, with it's towering stone-gray spires, larger-than-life architecture, perfectly showcasing the pride and joy of the city's best builders and designers. The church almost acted as a city within itself, standing behind thick walls, acting as a formidable fortress easily dependable in the case of invasion. The current group in ruling had been much more lenient than the last, allowing more funds and men to be taken from the ranks of the town guard. This left the unfortunate night watchmen up upon the wall standing quite alone, their nearest neighbor being a small silhouette much further than what felt comfortable.

This is the situation that Constable L.W. Bristow found himself that night, staring out into the empty darkness. The air was cool, yet not horribly so, leaving his senses only tingling, slightly numbed from the exposure. Occasionally his posture would break, sending a small shiver down his spine. The wall forced the winds to break, forcing them up and overtop the wall to clash over his head. For the most part, he was left in complete stillness, only experiencing the nightly winds on particularly fierce nights.

Tonight was still as always, even though he could see the torches in the distance flicker and sway, he was left in the quiet of the night. For hours he stood, every several hours he checked behind him, looking for the signal light, then back towards the array of houses arranged before him. For a moment, his eyes unfocused, looking up to the moon. The stars were hidden, missing behind the marching of the clouds. Then, for a brief moment, as he lowered his eyes to the horizon, he saw something. Something swiftly moving through the night, cutting through the air like a knife.

He barely had enough time to light the signal pyre before the creature had him.

---

Val looked about the interior of the ministry. The dull red carpets flowed down endless immaculate halls, each holding windows that let the faint light stream into the darkened corridor, tainted with bright colors. The main room of worship, was left in complete darkness, save for a single unlit candle, somehow left unscathed during the slaughter. The great massive curtains and banners, some depicting religious symbols and figures, were drenched in copious amounts of blood, spilled from the number of worshipers and guardsmen in the area.