Around halfway towards Tristram, dark clouds began to form in the once bright sky, putting the angelic hosts in a small panic. Sabirah stopped and looked up, her wings dimming down in their light. She flinched when a small, tiny droplet of what she assumed to be water fell on her wings. It made a 'tsss' sound upon contact, a stinging sensation running up her spine. The others, having noticed her absence, were quick to fly back to her, bombarding her with questions.
"Is everything alright?"
"Did you see something?"
"What's wrong? Why did you stop?" Sabirah waved a hand of her, dismissing the questions before pointing back up, just in time for more water to drop from the sky. Now noting the problem, the maidens looked to Urzael, whose wings flicked a little.
"Double time, we'll take refuge in the Cathedral." he said, flying behind them and ushering the angels forwards, his wings fluttering when he heard no protests of the plan.
Finally sheltered from the water falling from the sky, the group looked around the cathedral, taking note of how the building looked from the inside.
"Think someone still lives here?" asked Aracai, sparking laughter from a few of the maidens. Their laughter was cut short a sound; a growling sound mixed with what seemed to be gurgling. Sabirah bolted behind Urzael, peeking out from over his shoulder at the area the noise came from. The lieutenant protectively pushed the women behind him, drawing out his sword and holding it out in front of him as he slowly advanced. The air around them felt suffocating, tense with dread and stress as to what exactly had made the noise. His wings were stiff and flaring, brightly illuminating the area around him, while leaving everything else in the dark. Slowly, one step in front of the other, he arrived at the source of the sound; a blank wall. He gave a groan, turning around and sliding his sword back in his scabbard. Tch, nothing of importance, maybe it was just one of those mortal creatures in a rut or something. His wings shifted to a more relaxed position when he looked at the maidens that were waiting for his analysis.
"It's just some mortal creatures stuck outs-" he hadn't had time to finish when the floor underneath him gave out, the rubble caving in and falling just like he did. Sabirah gasped, rushing over and stopping at the edge, accompanied by her other fellow maidens. Where she couldn't talk, Ramma yelled down, seeing Urzael emerge from underneath what once was the floor.
"Urzael! Are you alright?!" she asked, wasting no time in gliding down next to him, helping the man stand up. Sabirah let the others go down to meet them, yet remained up. She heard the faint growling of the cat resonate though her satchel, as if something was putting it on edge. She couldn't help but agree with the growls; this place reeked with horrible memories and events; no wonder it was abandoned now. Gripping the strap, she flew down and rejoined the group, her feet kicking up dust as she landed. She heard Urzael's dazed groan, followed by the songs of their wings quieting down. Sabirah walked aside, peering down the stone railing, only to be met with nothing but darkness below. Her sharp wings folded behind her back. The female wasted little time in huddling closer to the group.
"We seem to have found an extra layer to the cathedral, Urzael." informed Ramma, earning an impressed whistle from Aracai.
"... And we can't see anything." she added. Urzael, now having gone back to his senses, grumbled a little, chanting a few words before suddenly, most, if not all the candles that were present in the lower parts of the cathedrals were lit, lighting their way. The same gurgling of a growl noise came from the hallway in front of them, the angel now drawing out his sword again, pointing it sharply towards the noise again. This time, figures were seen in the dim light, three human- like figured in fact, crouched over something, the sound of liquid and flesh ripping breaking the once brief silence. Sabirah squinted, taking a moment to figure out what the figures were. She gasped, her wings going limp and rigid.
"Risen." Abnormalities who were once human, but now corrupted and void of any peace, even in death. "Far too many of them." Growled Urzael, who began approaching them with heavy steps. Of course, he wasn't silent, the risen humans snapped their heads over to his growing form, growls and wheezes escaping them. All the maidens heard, from when he stepped into the doorway, were screeches and growls of dying creatures; and those creatures were silenced as soon as they let out one sound. Only once all was silent again, did the maidens of Wisdom dare to approach, regrouping behind Urzael, despite being cramped. Sabirah looked down, her hidden eyes widening at the sight of what the Risen had been feasting on.
A human- most likely a villager or farmer from nearby. She heard a whimper from one of the maidens, who spoke, her voice hushed and with pity.
"The poor thing..." Urzael remained silent at the sight of the bloodied body, the intestines having been ripped out and in the process of being devoured before he'd killed the Risen. At a further glance, there were bodies littering the floors, some in the process of decomposing or freshly killed. It smelled worse than the Hells; every human here had been recently killed. His wings flared.
"Everyone stay behind me incase any of those unholy spawns try and attack." He ordered, rising up above the ground and floating forwards, the maidens doing the same. Sabirah sent a glance at Ramma, who dipped her head down and followed Urzael close behind. The maiden silently sighed, following behind the group, listening to whatever conversations they had regarding Sanctuary and the cathedral. Had she been allowed or even able to talk, she would have given out a few remarks and information to the angels. But alas, she'd made a vow millennia ago, far before humanity itself had been formed, and wasn't about to just break it after years and years of respecting it.
A faint clap of thunder from outside was enough to make a few angels jump, startled by the sudden loud noise. She ushered forwards, never straying too far behind from the group in fear of getting herself into too deep of a trouble. Just as the party was beginning to walk up the stairs, Sabirah felt the satchel jostle around a little bit before the cat suddenly squeezed itself out of the sack, jumping down and sniffing around, running off into the opposite direction of where they were going before Sabirah had a chance to react. The angel jumped, entering a frenzy of panic. She didn't even think before chasing after the cat, almost stumbling in mid air as she flew alongside the hallway, following the dark grey feline to wherever it was running off to.
"SABIRAH!" She couldn't just /stop/ chasing after the damned cat, her body wasn't letting her, no matter how much her mind protested. Her worry grew stronger when she saw the cat run towards a Risen who was just pacing back and forth with wobbling legs, gurgling and wheezing, as if gasping for air. The feline ran past the risen, but, unfortunately, it took notice of her and grabbed her leg at a surprising strength just as she flew inches above it and nearly slammed her do the ground, had her wings not held her up. Sabirah looked up at the unfortunate creature, fear running up her spine, digging itself into her chest and lingering there. Out of instinct, her white tendrils of light wrapped around the risen, the sudden smell of burning rotting flesh engulfing her, almost making her gag. The one human let out a screech, letting go of her out of pure instinct, in which she took her chance to flee, leaving the walking corpse to burn in agony. By then, she'd realized the cat was gone, out of her sight.
"Mrr." well, not gone, since she now could see it peek out from behind a corner. She flew over, about to pick it back up when it turned and ran away again, the only sounds heard from it being the pitter patter of its paws hitting the stone floor every once in a while, and being muffled when it ran over a carpet. Sabirah wished she'd have been able to say something, but instead was forced to resist the urge to yell for it to come back, and instead doubled her flight speed.
"SABIRAH!" yelled out a voice, seemingly growing closer to her. Then, the sound of a dying risen rung throughout the hall. Sabirah kept following the blind cat, watching as it rushed down some stairs before turning left and running off as if it wasn't blind at all. She lowered herself down, now resuming her chase in a run, since no Risen were in sight. The female couldn't help but squint at the ever approaching wall at the end of the path they were running on. She skid to a stop once the cat slowed down to a mere trot, stopping and sitting in front what looked like to be the entrance to a room.
The cat stood up before she could grab it and trotted to a part of the room where there was something laying on the ground. She entered the room cautiously and approached it, taking a step back when she saw that it was a human body; with its head cut clean off and missing. Next to it was what looked to be a quill. With a wing tendril, she picked it up and brought it closer to her, inspecting the details. Wait...
This was one of Malthael's quills. He'd been here before! She looked at the cat, her wings fluttering.
"SABIRAH!" Oh Anu, the voice was louder now. Without thinking, Sabirah put the cat in her satchel as quickly as possible and closed it, turning around just in time to be met with Urzael rushing towards her. He looked less than happy, his wings tense and flared up, the other maidens near him.
"What in the Burning Hells was that?" he asked, a growl almost heard in his voice. Sabirah didn't respond, her wings twitching. Frankly, she herself didn't know what took over her; she just couldn't have stopped to chase the damn cat, no matter how much she'd forced herself to. She did however, show him the quill, in which he grabbed and inspected it himself, ignoring the body that lay nearby. Almost immediately, she felt his aura lighten up into one of hope and energy.
"This was Master's!" he exclaimed. "He was here, he could still be here!" This is it, yes! If they were lucky enough, they could very well find him! Careful of the feather Urzael brought Sabirah in a hug, thankful for her discovery. Sabirah silently squeaked, patting his back to try and get him to let go of his crushing grip. Her wings perked up once he did, the two now exiting the room to join the others, who were curious to know as to why Sabirah just suddenly bolted for no apparent reason. Urzael showed them the quill, earning a few shocked gasps.
"What could he have wanted here?"
"It's the perfect place to hide, Ziziel, it's hidden and it's practically a maze; there's books and scrolls everywhere too."
"Exactly," hummed Urzael, putting the quill in a pouch on his belt. "Which can very well mean that he's still here and that we have a chance of finding him and bringing him home." he said, his wings fluttering again.
"We'll keep searching the cathedral for hidden rooms and other levels, hopefully the water would have stopped falling from the clouds by the time we're done."