Immortal: Curse of the Deathless

Chapter 3 (Part 1: A Beginning)

It was almost full dark, but Asher jogged over to a pawn shop before he headed towards his ultimate destination. There he was able to negotiate a deal for two police-grade tasers and four extra cartridges. On top of those he stacked an extendable metal baton on the scratched glass countertop. He thought he'd get an odd look or two from the cashier, but the old hand manning the shop didn't look like he was surprised by much. As casually as he could managed, Asher stuffed the purchases into his bag and rushed off to the cathedral like he had the Wild Hunt on his biting at his heels.

When he got there, the first thing he noticed was that the cathedral wasn't as he remembered it; the monstrosity had somehow grown. Its bulk stretched up and up until Asher got vertigo from craning his neck and he gave up trying to think about how many stairs he'd have to climb. The stone seemed thick enough to withstand an act of God, even though Asher didn't think the big guy would be interested in smashing his own toys. It was the least church-like cathedral he'd ever seen, and he was trying to storm it like some hero without even an entourage to egg him on. When he measured himself against it, he felt small and insignificant.

I don't see how this could possibly go wrong.

He caught a lucky break. A service was scheduled despite it being a Saturday, so he was able to blend in with all the other good Christians as they made their way inside. He clutched all the papers and pamphlets handed out by the greeters to his chest. All his senses were focused intently on finding anything that seemed out of place. Presented with the option of climbing any number of stairways to the next floor or continuing on the same level, Asher chose one of the former at random. He ascended to a landing where row after row of seats were arranged until they met the upper balcony.

Asher realized he didn't have a clue where the super-secret entrance was hidden away at, so he remained standing and steeled his nerves as people filed past him. After a few minutes of waiting with nothing to show for it, Asher made his way back down another set of stairs. He determined to search them all from floor to ceiling until he turned up a clue. In that moment of decision, an inconspicuous pair of plainly dressed men passed him. There was nothing off about them, besides their clinically bored expressions and that there were two of them.

Right, not suspicious at all.

It was enough for Asher. He pivoted on his heel and followed. Although there were bubbles of conversation all around him, Asher noticed the two men hadn't said a word to each other. He gritted his teeth and grinned while he tailed them through a route that had the makings of a regular patrol. It was when they stopped at an isolated and unremarkable expanse of wall that Asher knew he'd found his marks. Hesitating would get him nowhere, so he produced the tasers, flipped their switches into the on position, and pulled lightly on each trigger. Asher gauged the distance between himself and the Inquisitors, figured they were separated by about ten feet. He was only a passably fair shot on a good day, but he couldn't miss with red bullseyes trained on each Inquisitor's back.

"Bang, you're dead" Asher said, and the Inquisitors half-turned towards him as the two prongs arced through the air with an electric crack.

Both the bogies collapsed limply as millions of volts of electricity arced through them. He watched the convulsions take hold before they hit the floor. Asher made sure to hold down the triggers even after they'd been rendered unconscious. He approached the downed Inquisitors cautiously while ejecting the spent cartridges. Asher had mixed feelings when he found the keys after a quick search, which hung innocuously around their necks— as any cross might.

He smacked each drooling Inquisitor to make sure they weren't playing possum. "Sorry for not being gentle boys, but I couldn't leave you in shape to move around."