As Kaine and Aloura entered the room, the Priest was chanting a blessing over a large silver chalice of water. He clutched his holy pendant and waved a hand over the chalice while speaking in a language the two could not understand. As they crossed the threshold the priest felt a strange sensation, a presence that formed a pit in his stomach. A chill ran down his spine as he slowly turned to see what foul thing had entered his chapel. As he laid his eyes upon the two the feeling lessened but did not wane completely. He waved it off after they came closer as he did not sense any malicious intent. He thought to himself, "My senses must not be as sharp as they used to be." But his instincts did not deceive him, for the soul of a wretched beast had entered this holy place. A creature that would not have been able to do so had he not been shrouded under the soul of a benevolent human. "Good afternoon my children. If you've come fore today's mass you're a bit late." Kaine took a deep breath and said, "No, we've come here for a different reason." The priest was a bit puzzled. "Have you questions about your faith child? Are you in need of assistance?" Kaine replied, "Well, I had a dream of sorts, thought it felt all too real. In it, I'm in a room filled with black flames and a voice is telling me I must fulfil my contract. I'm just looking for answers." The priest felt a jolt run through his body as the words black flames filled the air. "I see. Would you like me to grant you a blessing?" Kaine looked at Aloura, who nodded at him, then turned to the priest and nodded in confirmation. The priest beckoned him to come close to the altar and kneel in front of the chalice. He dipped two fingers into the water and marked Kaine on his forehead with it, in the pattern of a star. He began to chant his prayer again while holding his hand out and up towards the sky. As the blessing continued Kaine began to feel a slight tingling where he'd been marked with the water. That tingling soon began to itch, then sting, finally rolling into a burning sensation. It burned so much so that he grunted in pain. The priest looked down at him and saw that his forehead was beginning to smoke and blister. He stopped his chanting and the pain subsided, along with its visual side effects. "Oh gods, what are you boy?" He asked. "That's what I came here to try and figure out" Kaine replied harshly, still recovering from the blessing. The priest thought for a moment, stroking his chin while lightly pacing. "I do have one idea but, it is far too dangerous. The process could injure or even kill you. I won't do it. You're not well boy. But I won't take part in doing you harm, even if it is to try and help." "It might hurt a normal human father, but, Kaine is no normal human." Aloura chimed in. "It's true, my body can withstand much more than normal." The priest again took a few moments to think to himself before replying, "Well, whatever has its hold on you needs to be taken care of immediately. I suppose I could try." The priest approached Kaine and held his hand in front of his face. He began his chanting again as his eyes began to glow golden, a sigil of the churches symbol appeared behind his head formed in glowing runes. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them to reveal a stark white glow. What the priest saw was a vision that would haunt him for the rest of his days. Enough primal fear was instilled in him in that moment to last several lifetimes. Where Kaine once was, stood a ghastly figure. A shifting mass of black, charred skin, and gore was standing before him. Giant leathery wings stretched out almost twenty feet from the creatures back, wickedly curved claws sat atop the joint in the wing. Its hands and feet shared the same appearance, gnarled and twisted, with large claws like a predator. The ground at its feet appeared to scorch and smoke. Then its face. Where its eyes were supposed to be sat black pits that seemed to be infinite. Their darkness transcending that of the darkest night, deep inside a cave. A mouth made of shifting teeth and flames, a long tongue that writhed around like a serpent also wore teeth in rows along the side, baring a twisted smile that curled up almost to its eyes. Finally, long spiraling horns rose up about a foot from its head, flames dancing from the tips. Unbeknownst to Kaine and aloura, the priest was witnessing all of this in complete silence. Upon feeling this aura wash over him, the priests body reacted without his order. Out of reflex he casted a purification rite onto Kaine, much like the previous ritual with the holy water but for Kaine much more painful. The priests eyes shifted from a golden hue to blinding white light, lines of white sigils appearing in his robes and skin. Kaine felt an enormous wave of pressure as the spell converged on him. His body reacting by catching ablaze on his arms and his head. The wraps he wore on his arms disintegrated, leaving his marks bare for the world to see. As Kaine cried out in pain and fell to his knees the priest released his hold on the weave and his spell dissipated. He fell to the floor and scrambled backwards away from Kaine, breathing heavy and jagged. He looked over at Kaine on the ground, shaking and clawing at himself like a wounded animal as the spells effects subsided. "You're marked" he said, barely above a whisper. Kaine looked up and stared directly in his eyes with a look of pleading and grief, but also an intense rage that the priest could almost feel in the air. "Don't worry, boy, I'm not one to tell the guards but you must leave the city immediately. Not only because they're hunting you but because you need to remove that vile thing from your soul. I'm sorry for casting that rite on you but whatever's found refuge within you comes from the deepest circle of the hells." He went over to his podium upon the altar and grabbed a small stone tablet. He put it in Kaines hand and said, "Go to the monastery in the west. It sits in the heart of the Bleak Valley mountains." Kaine slipped the tablet into his pocket and turned to leave without another word. Before he reached the end of the pews Aloura grabbed him by the shoulder. "Here take this. Can't have anyone seeing your arms." She unclasped her dark green cloak and fastened it around kaines neck. The two then set off for the door but before they could exit, two guards barged in, their faces red and smelling of spirits. They had a slight stumble in their step, obviously the two had been drinking on duty. "Hello father, got your taxes for the week?" The taller one asked gruffly. "You know the temple is exempt from taxes." The priest replied angrily. "Laws changed old man. The tithe now belongs to the state. Now hand it over and we'll be on our way." The guard had his hand on the hilt of the blade hanging off his hip. The priests voice began to quiver. "The money does not belong to you. It's used to provide for those in need you heathen. How dare you try and steal from the temple." The taller guard drew his sword with a resounding ring of the metal scraping the scabbard, and placed the edge against the priests throat. The other guard said to Kaine and Aloura, "Leave now. Both of you" Kaine looked Aloura in the eyes and she knew what was about to happen. "Let him go and leave this place." Kaine said, face hidden under the hood of the cloak. The one guard still had his blade against the priest while the other approached Kaine slowly before saying, "And why would we do that?" The priest shook his head at Kaine pleading with him to not follow through.
