Chapter 13
Kale's Counsel
Abbott Kale summons Bishop Dark, his expression grave. The Church liaison confronts him about his increasingly reckless behavior, the escalating body count, and the whispers of his unorthodox methods reaching the highest echelons. Kale warns of dire consequences, a thinly veiled threat of excommunication if Bishop Dark cannot be reined in. He attempts to steer their most effective, albeit volatile, weapon back towards compliance, a task proving more difficult than any hunt.
Abbott Kale sat behind a desk carved from what looked suspiciously like petrified dragon bone, the kind of ostentatious display that made Bishop Dark’s teeth ache. The office itself was a study in muted opulence, all dark wood and hushed whispers of incense, a stark contrast to the blood and grime Bishop Dark usually dealt in. Kale’s face, usually a mask of weary pragmatism, was etched with a gravity that suggested more than just a bad batch of communion wine.
“Bishop,” Kale began, his voice a low rumble that barely disturbed the stillness. He didn’t look up from the parchment spread before him, a meticulously detailed report that probably cataloged every spilled drop of holy water in the last decade. “We need to talk.”
Bishop Dark took a slow drag from his cigarette, the smoke curling lazily towards the vaulted ceiling. “I figured as much. Been a quiet week, hasn’t it? Makes a man nervous when the world isn’t actively trying to chew his face off.” He punctuated this with a dry chuckle that echoed unnervingly in the hushed chamber.
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