Larksong Grotto eat your kings

And so he arrived. The Cardinal Hiram took a form so startling and so vile that Daniel knew exactly what he was dealing with. This was an agent of the darkness given shape, a wraith of the heartless sent to corrupt. Hiram held a general air of wrongness, a kind of inherent wretchedness that twisted his body. Hate rose like bile in Daniel, but he was a priest and an inquisitor. He would not let the darkness guide him, but seek the light.

Hosannah spoke, introducing them to Hiram. Daniel spared no glance to Hosannah, nor to the child or the woman. Hosannah spoke truly, he said, eyes fixed unnerringly on Hiram, though he addressed all present. You have nothing to fear from our presence. We are here to purify you. We will set your course right where you have erred. You were sent astray by Hosannah's sins. I will save you. And he would do so by any means necessary.