They crossed the square.  After the fight in the barracks, Cley had used the last of his healing ability on himself while Caelian cast her last Cure Wounds on herself.  The others were able to heal themselves with their own healing potions.  They’d coaxed the aurochs to back out of the doorway and had come out to continue up the street with packs of Dromm howling in the sidestreets and random aurochs smashing things as opportunity allowed.  They soon saw Marisol start her fight with Shutan on the rooftop and ran up through the building. 

The sounds of the town had pulled back now and seemed muffled by the same eerie quiet they’d faced all day.  Marisol led the way to the base of the broad steps.  Above them were huge double sets of double doors and a pair of massive hammers carved of stone standing next to them.  The church was easily twice the size of the one back in the northern village and clearly worshipped The Quarry, a team of gods whose exact makeup varied from tradition to tradition.  It was built of tan and grey stone blocks with the same black mold crawling up the sides as every other building in town.  Tall thin windows, now broken, soared up above the doors and all around the sides of the building. 

Marisol started up the stairs, motioning for the others to fan out the same way she’d seen Isiah do it.  Caelian and Kaspar went left and right, Isiah followed behind her, smiling.

Miah was under Cley’s shoulder as the paladin limped up the stairs.  He stopped and called out in a harsh whisper, “More undead.  Inside.”  Then he started coughing up blood onto the back of his gauntlet.

Isiah looked back at the burning building they’d just left.  Dromm wailed from inside it as some dropped out of broken, burning windows to roll on the paving stones of the square.

“We can’t stay out here.  Caelian can turn them.”

Then they saw a strange cloud come out from behind the burning building.  It turned and started slowly billowing towards the church.  “It’s him.” stated Marisol.

Isiah watched the cloud for a moment.  It was definitely turning towards them.  “Holy Light, what can’t this guy do?”

“Isiah, help Cley,” said Miah.  She disengaged from the paladin and Isiah started helping him up the stairs.

Miah turned and planted her quarterstaff firmly at her feet.  She reached a hand out and rotated her wrist while twirling her fingers and chanting her spell words.  A strong gust of wind started pushing out from her and blasted the moving cloud into shreds.  

She followed the others up to the doors.  Dromm burst out of the building they’d left.  She turned the roaring gust on them and forced them back inside, tumbling together with other Dromm trying to get out while fanning the flames around them.

Kaspar forced one of the doors open and the party rushed in, finding themselves in a vestibule with more steps leading up into the sanctuary.  Greyish light came through the broken windows.  Two small rooms led off to the sides, a quick check revealed them empty.  Kaspar grabbed a scratched up table and shoved it up against the door as Miah came through and closed it.

Caelian stood at the huge doors to the sanctuary.  They were slightly ajar and she could see the vast open space behind them, dimly.  She glanced at the paladin with a questioning eye raised towards the doors.  Cley nodded.  “Lots of them,” he whispered.

The cleric set her jaw and threw the door open.  Tables, chairs, benches, stone carving tools, anvils, gongs, brass horns, and countless other things were propped up against all the windows to a height of almost ten feet all around.  The center of the sanctuary had four large boulders evenly set, bigger than ox carts and with varying degrees of stonework chipped away as was typical in all of The Quarry’s churches.  At the far end, about a hundred feet away, was a raised stone platform with a stone altar.  Resting on the altar was a cube shaped object of dull silver.  Caelian walked straight for the center of the room.

The rest of the party gathered at the doorway and looked in.  A hissing sound started slowly and every dark space they could see began to move and stretch.  Shadowy arms and heads grew out of the dark and slid towards the middle of the sanctuary.

Caelian stopped and raised her Medallion of Light.  She shouted Ayanwu’s name and light flared from her.  Everywhere the light touched, an undead shadow dissolved into bits like sand thrown into the wind.  Shadows fell from the rafters of the ceiling and fluttered into nothingness.  More shadows dissolved around the altar.  Caelian shouted again and again and started turning around.  Shadows near her burst apart and crumbled into nothingness.

Cley kept his concentration up and sensed all the undead gone.  “She’s got them all,” he said.  He left Isiah’s side and started walking out into the room.

Caelian kept turning in a slow circle and called out Ayanwu’s titles and honors from the time of the Old Gods.  Holy Light continued to blaze and reach into every corner.

“It’s all right, you’ve done it!” shouted Cley.  “We’re good.  We’re good!”

Caelian turned back around to see the paladin waving for her to stop.  The others were behind him, eyes slightly wide.  She stopped, halfway through the first line of the Prayer of the Eternal, and blinked a few times.  A quick, embarrassed smile crossed her face.  “Oh,” she said.  “Good.  That’s done then.”

They all started walking towards the altar.  The sound of growling Dromm warriors was growing outside but sounded hesitant and did not advance on the building.  Caelian was adjusting her medallion and straightening her equipment belts when Kaspar stopped next to her.  He leaned in and kissed her cheek.  “That was amazing,” he whispered.  “You’ve got to do that more often.”

Isiah was at the altar, looking it over for traps.  Marisol stood patiently and Cley and Miah could see she was near tears.  “Aether lock is still in place,” she said with a halting voice.  “We’ve found it.”  

Isiah stood up.  He nodded.  Marisol reached out slowly and picked up the cube with both hands.  She let out a nervous laugh and exhaled.  “I’ve found it,” she whispered.  

Shutan’s voice bellowed from outside on the square.  “What are you all waiting for!  Get in there and kill them!”