Wow. Please, feel free to curse me to high heaven for my failure to update sooner.

Chapter Fourteen

The walk down the stairs into the Temple of Shadows was the single most terrifying experience James had ever had to suffer, up to that point in his life anyway. Every few steps or so he stopped short, some survival instinct trying its very hardest to keep him from going down into the depths of the Cathedral. It was only Sparrow's hand, wrapped punishingly tight around his wrist that kept him moving.

When they finally found the ground at last, disproving James' rapidly growing theory that the stairwell was in fact bottomless, Sparrow released James' wrist and looked around with an expression of curious distaste. James, startled by the sudden lack of contact, blanched and immediately searched for Pumpkin. He latched onto the dog's collar and held on for dear life. Pumpkin snorted at him softly and leaned against his leg, seemingly looking for comfort from him as much as James was.

The entrance was empty and a second smaller portcullis was already drawn up, allowing them access down a tight, high ceilinged corridor that led further into the temple of Shadows. Sparrow didn't seem to think twice before setting off into the dark. James, being far less eager to go in there, lunged forward to grab his arm, but missed, his fingertips only just barely grazing Sparrow's arm. After a moment of fearful fidgeting and sighing he finally hurried after the adventurer, not wanting to be left alone in that place. Pumpkin whined, expressing his own displeasure at the turn of events but followed when James did none-the-less.

Sparrow slowed a little to allow James to catch up with him, and once they were side by side once more, he leaned closer and whispered, "Don't go wanderin' off and don't let any of them touch yeh. Stay within touchin' distance of me so I can grab yeh if I need to. A'right?"

James nodded jerkily and edged right up to Sparrow's side, close enough that their arms almost touched as they walked. Sparrow grunted, pleased with the obedience, then turned his focus back to the situation at hand.

The wheel was the first thing James saw as they stepped out of the corridor and into the large circular room at the centre of the temple. Eight discs decorated the edge of it, each with a deceptively colourful symbol etched into it. James' footsteps hesitated as he stared at it in confusion, but Sparrow's hand snapping back and clipping his wrist got his attention and he tore his gaze away from the sinister looking device.

Edging after Sparrow, James eyed a second Shadow Worshipper who was standing beside the wheel fiddling with his gloves and muttering to himself. Although it seemed to be impossible to tell Shadow Worshipers apart by appearances, James felt rather sure that this one was different. Perhaps it was because he was far more subdued than the excitable one who'd made Sparrow eat live birds.

Sparrow stopped at the edge of a large circular indentation in the floor that James wouldn't have noticed by himself, thanks to the half light in the cavern-like room. Clearing his throat to catch the monk's attention, Sparrow called out, "Oi. We want to talk to someone about one of yer monks."

The Shadow Worshiper lifted his head slowly, one eyebrow rising above the mask on his face. "Do you really? And which monk would that be?"

"My- he's... his name is Edmund Hamilton..." James said softly, edging further behind Sparrow for protection from the malevolent vibes that seemed to radiate from every part of this room. He didn't want to think about what his father had done here. It made him sick to the stomach to even consider it.

"Ah, Edmund," the Shadow Worshiper said, almost fondly. "Yes, I know him. However, I can't give you any information regarding his... situation. You'll have to go higher if you want to discuss it."

Resting his hands on his hips, Sparrow cocked his head. "Higher?"

"You'll need to speak to Cornelius Grim."

James was shaking his head before the first syllable of that name was finished. "I don't want to see Grim," he whispered frantically in Sparrow's ear. "He frightens me. I've changed my mind, let's just go..."

But James' protests were in vain, and he could already see traces of that predatory look about Sparrow once again. "Don't be stupid," he said. "What's an old man gonna do to yeh when I'm here?"

James wanted to point out that Cornelius Grim could probably do quite a lot to him, regardless of Sparrow's presence, but the older boy had already turned back to the Shadow Worshipper, demanding to see this Grim bloke.

"Cornelius Grim is a very busy man, you understand," the Shadow Worshipper said, turning his attention to his nails and examining them casually. "I suppose I could arrange a meeting – he is here after all – but it would cost you..."

Almost immediately Sparrow's expression turned bitter with distaste. "An' what would it cost us?"

The Shadow Worshiper was menacingly quiet for a long moment, seizing them both up. Just as James' nerve was about to break, however, he spoke up. "You wouldn't happen to have any food on your person, would you?" the monk asked. "Only, I've been working the wheel since this morning, and I forgot to bring the packed lunch my wife put up for me. She gets ever so unhappy if I don't eat properly."

James blinked in surprise and glanced at Sparrow, who looked just as alarmed at the request as he felt. It was safe to say that neither of them had expected something quite so... easy. "We have an apple?" Sparrow replied, shaking his head slightly, like he couldn't believe he was going along with this. "...Will that do yeh?"

"Yes, yes, that will do just fine," The Shadow Worshiper replied, smiling as he strode around the perimeter of the circular indentation. James still didn't know what it was, and had no desire to find out. Sparrow reached into his pack and drew out one of the apples, handing it over to the Shadow Worshiper who immediately secreted it away in his robes. "Thank you very much."

"And what about our meetin'?" Sparrow pressed. He had no intention of letting the Shadow Worshiper just forget about his part of the bargain.

The monk blinked. "Hm? Oh, yes. Of course. This way please." He turned on his heel and approached a large portcullis directly to the left of the corridor Sparrow and James arrived through. Sparrow followed him immediately, but James and Pumpkin hung back, as usual. Glancing back at them, Sparrow gestured for them to follow and after a slight hesitation, Pumpkin did as he was told. James was not so eager to obey, but it didn't take him long to decide he didn't want to stay there by himself and he hurried after the other two.

Reaching behind a large black banner with a peculiar red symbol emblazoned on it, the Shadow Worshiper pulled something, a lever James assumed, and the chamber was suddenly filled with the clunking metallic sounds of metal gears grinding against one another. The portcullis began to rise and the Shadow Worshiper stepped back, gesturing down a small flight of stairs. James peeked around Sparrow and down into the room below. He could see a few desks, each with a monk sat behind it. Desks were far less threatening than he'd been expecting, and he relaxed a little.

"Just head down there and I'm sure Cornelius will be happy to discuss Edmund's case with you," the monk said, before turning and returning to his place in front of the wheel. "Good luck."

"We'll need more than luck," James muttered under his breath, only just loud enough for Sparrow to hear. He snorted in response before setting off down the short flight of steps, Pumpkin heeling without prompting this time. James followed too, at a slower pace, trying not to let his imagination get carried away with what could happen to them if this went wrong.

As they stepped into the room, a strange white mist wrapping itself around their legs as they walked, James noted that there was in fact a forth desk, this one on a raised platform above the other three. And behind this desk sat the foreboding form of Cornelius Grim.

The other Shadow Worshipers looked up from the books they were writing in as Sparrow came to a stop in front of them. James edged behind him, peering over his shoulder in the fashion that was rapidly become common place for him. He jumped slightly when Sparrow reached back and gave his hip a quick reassuring pat, and almost smiled at the gesture, before realising that was entirely too much gratitude for something so small.

"Yer Grim, I take it?" Sparrow said, nodding at the man in question. Grim didn't look up straight away, instead finishing the line he was writing in his ledger first. Once he was done, he placed the quill into the ink well carefully and clasped his hands in front of him on the desk.

"Who, pray tell, is asking?"

Sparrow paused, glancing back at James. "Well, go on then," he muttered. "Ask 'im."

James just stared at Sparrow in shock, his gaze twitching between Sparrow and Grim before he shook his head jerkily. Sparrow sighed and turned around, putting a hand on James' shoulder and dragging him to stand in front of him. He kept his grip on James to stop the younger boy from attempting to hide again.

Grim arched an eyebrow curiously at James. "Ah, I know you from somewhere, don't I, boy." It wasn't so much a question as it was a statement. James attempted to answer with a simple yes, but all that came out was a strangled squeak. The other Shadow Worshipers sniggered amongst themselves, but Grim's expression didn't change from its mildly curious look. "You're Hamilton's boy, aren't you?" he said after a moment. James, having learnt his lesson, just nodded this time. "Well, this is the first time a Hamilton has been within these walls for weeks now. Your father has been avoiding us, I fear. What brings you here, boy?"

Grasping for words, James opened his mouth to reply, but still nothing came out. His mind was completely blank when face to face with Grim down here. He had thought the man frightening in the safety of his own sunlit home. Down here, beneath the earth in the darkness however... Those pale, bloodshot eyes of Grim's reminded him of the Shadows in the stories his mother used to tell him.

"He wants to know what yer so pissed at his dad about," Sparrow finally said, stepping in for James yet again.

For the first time a small smile graced Grim's lips and he glanced down at the book in front of him. "How fortuitous that you stopped by when you did. We were just in the process of bringing the accounts up to date." James frowned, confused as to what that had to do with anything, until he remembered what Sparrow had said about his father's situation. Debt. Of course.

"Your father..." Grim began, as he stopped at what was apparently the page detailing his father's debt, "...currently owes the Temple in excess of four hundred thousand gold pieces."

"He's a terrible poker player, but just never knows when to stop," one of the other Shadow Worshipers muttered, grinning wickedly.

James' mind, which had already been reeling from fear, shut down completely then. He couldn't think about it. He could not think about it. But how could he not think about it when what he'd essentially just received was the death sentence for the life he had for so long taken for granted?

His father would never be able to pay that debt off. At most they made perhaps fifty thousand a year, and what they didn't spend on food and other necessities was wasted on frivolities and petty luxuries. The last time James had checked, the bank had only had twenty thousand, at most, in it.

They were, in short, completely buggered.

His hand rose to his mouth, and then higher to his forehead. He felt dizzy with shock and he staggered backwards against Sparrow's chest as he struggled to work this horrifying new revelation through his mind. Sparrow's grip on his shoulder tightened slightly and he slowly came back to his senses. He looked up at Grim, who merely stared back at him with those soulless eyes of his, and in that moment knew there would be no reasoning with this man.

Slipping out of Sparrow's grasp, he turned and hurriedly left the room, climbing the stairs as fast as he was capable. Behind him he heard Sparrow's footsteps and the click of Pumpkin's claws. Those sounds did not really register in his mind, however, as one question was completely monopolising his thoughts.

If they could not pay off the debt, what would the Temple of Shadows take as collateral?

Once again, sorry for the stupidly long wait. D: