She nodded, and with that, I set off and led them in a beeline to the main cathedral doors.
“I can’t believe we’re going through all this effort to resurrect that old windbag,” Isu muttered sourly as we walked. “Xayon was always weak-willed. She preferred to flee when faced with difficulty rather than remain stalwart. A coward at heart, really, and—”
Before Isu could say another word, Rami was behind her, arms wrapped around her torso in a lock, the point of one sai pressing into the side of her neck, the other poking her belly just under her ribs, angled upward to go straight for the heart.
“Breathe another insult about Xayon,” Rami whispered into Isu’s ear, “and I’ll kill you a second time. I don’t care who you are, or were. If you ever bad-mouth my goddess again, I’ll gut you like a fish.”
“Hey, hey,” I said, putting a cautionary hand on Rami’s shoulder. “Easy. We’re all friends here, right?”
Rami’s gaze was stone cold, and there was no doubt in my mind that she was ready to slip those sais deep into Isu’s flesh.
“Rami,” I said, more forcefully this time, “step back and put those sais away. Now.”
With icy rage still-glistening in her eyes, Rami lowered her weapons and released Isu from her hold. Isu spun around, bristling with fury, a long dagger in her hand.
“You just made the worst mistake of your miserable life, wretch,” she hissed through clenched teeth, “and—”
I stepped between her and Rami, my arms folded across my chest and my jaw tight. “Stop this now! All of you!” I roared.
My voice boomed through the cathedral, resounding with potent authority, and all three women froze in their tracks. Even Isu shrank back.
“You!” I pointed a quivering finger at Rami. “Put your fucking sais away and don’t take them out again unless we’re fighting an actual enemy.” I then spun around and directed my wrath at Isu. “And you, you need to get the fuck over yourself! Yeah, you used to be the damn Goddess of Death, but now, you’re not. You’re just a necromancer, like I was. And I’m the God of Death now, so you will obey me. We’re all going to work together, and that’s how it’s gonna be. No ‘ifs,’ no ‘buts,’ and no more catty bitchiness! That goes for all for you. Is that understood?”
All three women—even Isu, to my surprise—nodded meekly.
“Good.” I smiled, the wrath leaving me as quickly as it had arrived. “And now that that’s taken care of, let’s get on with this mission.”
I retrieved Grast from beneath the cathedral, but the rest of us were in no condition to party just yet, considering our state after taking down Nabu and his men.
We washed the blood from our bodies and clothes in a blessing font, much to Elyse’s chagrin, but we couldn’t exactly go outside in our current states. When we were as clean as we could get, we made our way out of the cathedral proper.
At the doors, the moment of truth was upon us.
“Let’s see if this plan works.” I removed the bar from the large doors and hauled them open.
The two guards posted outside spun around.
“Who are you lot?” one demanded.
“I,” Elyse answered with as much authority as she could muster, “am the new Bishop of Erst, and you will address me as such.” She held out the scroll, which the guards read over, their grubby faces scrunched into expressions of confusion and consternation.
“Uh, it looks legit,” one remarked, glancing at the Resplendent Crusaders within view. “Bishop… Sorry, what’s your name, Bishop?”
“Bishop Elyse.”
“Bishop Elyse, gotcha. What’s happened to Nabu then? I mean, I see his seal is on the scroll and everything, but it’s a rather odd time to be changing bishops around. The early hours of the morning on Saint Jorl’s night… no disrespect intended, Bishop Elyse. Just curious, y’see.”
“And what was all that commotion in the cathedral earlier, Bishop?” the other guard asked. “Sounded like a bloody dragon was running loose in there!”
“That’s none of your business,” Elyse answered coldly. “And Nabu is inside. He does not wish to be disturbed. He’s preparing to meet the Lord of Light.”
“He’s heading to the Luminescent Spires?”
“Of a sort, yes,” Elyse said. “Your orders are to lock these doors and to ensure that nobody without my express permission enters the cathedral from now on until I get back. And I do mean nobody, do you understand?”
“Yes, Your Brightness,” the guard answered, still somewhat wary. “Just one last question, Bishop.”
“I do not appreciate my time being wasted.”
I had to stifle a chuckle. It was quite amusing watching Elyse in her new role, throwing her weight around like this.
“Uh… about our pay, Your Brightness,” the guard stammered. “Now that Nabu’s retired, are we going to get a, uh, pay cut? We’ll still have our jobs, yeah?”
“As long as you’re loyal to me, I’ll see to it that you get a raise.”
“Yes, Bishop Elyse!” They both saluted. “We’ll ensure nobody enters the cathedral. Apologies for wasting your time, Your Brightness.”
She gave them a curt nod, then strode off, her nose in the air. I walked past them, doing my best to suppress an ear-to-ear grin. When Isu passed, the guards stared at her horns.
“Bloody good costume you’re wearing, m’lady,” one said with a goofy smile. “You look just like a real demon!”
Isu snarled wordlessly and spun around, daggers in her eyes, but I grabbed her wrist and hauled her away before she could react.
“That was easy enough,” I remarked as soon as we were out of earshot. “It seems like they don’t really give much of a shit about who’s in charge, as long as they get paid.”
“And that surprises you?” Elyse chuckled.
“Just what I expected, actually. Why did you think I was so eager to
