Phantom Rain

[Lion]

While Corvus purveyed the old cellar, holding out a candle-light lantern ahead of him, he avoided the small collections of water that puddled in the center of the floor and as the priest followed him, he made sure to stay just at the foot of the stairs.  Corvus furrowed his brows in the dim lighting as he tread onward.

"How old is this place, Father?"

"Pratchett," the man on the stairs said, causing Corvus to look back at him.

"Father Pratchett.

"Approximately 800 years. Although...our collection of texts has diminished over the years. So the ones we do keep, are locked away in... HEY!  Do not touch that!"

What the father had protested to was Corvus breaking the lock on a trunk that was elevated over a set of casks. And when he opened it there were a set of books and folios.  The smelled a little of mildew and age and he set the lantern down on the lip of the lid.  He was quiet as he rifled through them, knowing the priest would do nothing to stop him.  He didn't know for sure if what he was looking for would be here, but copies of the text were so few and far between, placing it in a place like this.

And something as ordinary and unobscured as the folio at the very bottom, he knew he'd found it.  The Illuminations, Confessori de Magi as told by Sigurd Delverio he read and found it was a lot thicker than he thought it would be, bound together by sinew and written on a thickened vellum.  He rolled it up and shoved it into his coat and raised the lamp to find a loosened grate beneath casks in the cellar floor.

"Father Pratchett, get the others!  I know where the water is going," he said loudly.

[Incognus]

The priest trudged up the stairs and into the main room. "The man. H-he want's you." Pratchett eyed Boreas, wary of another outburst from him.

Evelyn sighed. Of course there was no time for a break. Sitting up she looked over to her brother, who was silent. He had a contorted look on his face and twisted his back to crack it. "Whats wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing. My lower back and legs are just stiff. Probably from all the running. And the hoe probably didn't help."

"Huh?"

"One of the farmers," he answered standing up, "He sliced me in the back with his hoe."

She hadn't noticed the line of blood along his lower mid back before and stared at it in shock. There was a fair amount of blood soaked into the fabric. "Borea-!"

"I'm fine! I'm fine..." he said. Thumps sounded from outside of the front door. The sound of chopping. They had found some sharp tools to get in with, and through the window Boreas saw the first root get pulled away. "We've got to find a way out of here." He stated urgently.

Evelyn pushed herself warily off of the bench. "We need to tell Corvus."

The two sibling made their way down into the cellar, while the preacher followed behind.

"Corvus!" Evelyn yelled, "They're breaking in!"

[Lion]

"There's a grate here, loosened. We'll find our way out through here," Corvus said as he shifted around and pulled the slimy piece of metal out of the way, the hinges coiling up angrily from grime and poor maintenance. Once he saw the pair coming closer, he gestured for them to come closer, seeing there was a rusted ladder leading down to the bottom.

Water was flowing outward, but the stream was manageable.  He carried the lantern toward the edge and gestured for Evelyn to go first.

Then to Boreas and the wetness along his back that wasn't exactly water.  "You're wounded," he said plainly as if the man didn't know already.  "I'll carry you if you can't manage the climb. There isn't any time to argue, so make a decision."