Botre Village was a small town, developed on the side of the Armastan River. It served predominantly as a trade hub for the farmers along the river, but also as a waystop to the Maurish Empire's major trade hub, Port Ryndem, in the north.
By its nature, it didn't require Trenmir presence. Resultingly, the Tomb Order of the Empire's great Trenmir had co-opted the village cemetery as a base of operations.
The cemetery was just outside of town - a small trek. Yakob dragged his feet on every step of the way. He carried Jackie's scroll of Maurish law, feeling the grooves of the metal bearings.
He didn't spin it. Just walked silently, reverently, carrying the weight of it.
Of her.
Brutus carried the corpse. He walked alongside Yakob, every other step a faltering limp. He smelled of blood and sweat, so only one new thing. Jackie's body was slung over his shoulder carelessly. The back of her head stared into Yakob's soul as it bounced against Brutus' meaty shoulders. Infrequent drips of dark blood and purple poison stained the ground behind them.
Lauren practically skipped ahead of them. She pushed Vanii forward with casual swings of her baton at the backs of his legs. Before moving him, they had placed extra Inhibitors in his back just in case he wiggled the others out. Lauren would occasionally jab a viscious finger at the back of the pins as they walked, causing Vanii to jerk forward and whimper into the muffle tied around his mouth.
The cemetery of Botre Village was steeped in fog. On the edges of town, there was little of the residual warmth from the hearth of homes and smoking chimneys to burn it away. The dead lay in the cold dirt, and the stone markers of their lives lay in the cold air.
This was a place on the edge of memory. Yakob wanted people to remember him when he died, and he wondered if those interred below had any to remember them. He looked at Jackie's lifeless form, thumping against Brutus' back as they walked and wondered who would cry for her.
Jackie believed in the law, but she used it to enable the persecution of Yakob's people; the Drai. He wouldn't mourn her, but she didn't deserve to die. She was just a cog in the Emperor's great machine.
The headstones gave way to greater monuments - obelisks and small family graves. Tributes to the Greats of this region.
Lauren pushed Vanii into a marble column and he smacked his face. He leaned on the stone momentarily, only moving when Lauren pulled him back by his shirt. When he came away, he left a dark red stain on the marble.
"Clean that shit off," Lauren barked at him.
Vanii cast a reproachful glance at Yakob, then glared at Lauren. "Untie me," he said weakly.
"Can't use your hands?" Lauren grinned, "Don't worry, starcursed, I'll help you."
Lauren pushed him back onto the marble tribute and rubbed his face against his own blood harshly, using his skin like a mop. She pulled him away and shoved him in Yakob's direction with a sneer. "Show some respect," she said, then turned to lead the group in the direction of the largest mausoleum.
It was a drab affair, befitting of its surroundings. All grey stones, impossibly smooth and stacked artfully in a somber shape. It towered above every other monument, and Yakob knew its roots ran deeper than any other grave around them. The Tomb Trenmir did so love a cavern.
Vanii kept his head down as he trudged along in front of Yakob. "I didn't want..." he muttered, just loud enough for Yakob to hear, "I didn't mean it. You have to believe me, Yakob. The whispers were so loud..."
"I know Vanii," Yakob hissed back, "I believe you. I believe you were too weak. I believe you are exactly what they say you are. You compromised the mission because a God whispered in your ear? You know better than that, Vanii. You are better."
"Don't take this path, boy," Vanii whispered. "Set me free. You have much to lose here."
"A threat, Vanii? Do you hear Scorpio even now?"
"No God tells me tales of freedom today," Vanii turned to him. They had arrived at the mausoleum. "Don't let them have me, Yakob."
Lauren stopped in front of the stone double doors of the mausoleum, then turned and pointed at Brutus. "Leave that thing here," she said.
Brutus grunted and dropped Jackie's body unceremoniously. It hit the ground head first with a wet smack.
"I've already secured audience," Lauren declared, traipsing forwards "Let's not waste any more time. Bring the prisoner, Yakob!"
The interior of the mass grave smouldered with the scent of rot mixed with earth - a smell that was at once sharp and dull. Footsteps echoed back at Yakob. It was hard to tell if they were his or the promise of a ghost. Around the edges of the room lay stone coffins with gilded slabs atop them. Plaques of burnished bronze denoted the heroes and their escapades lying within.
Two Trenmir guards stood beside a set of steep stairs descending into the dark pits of the earth. They were both Putrescos - initiated Alchemists as indicated by the black knots on their shoulders. You don't need many guards when one has the power of ten men.
Lauren saluted them eagerly. One of the guards smiled and jerked his head in acknowledgement and by way of admittance. Yakob saw he had no skin on top of his head - just pure white of the skull catching torchlight. He smelled like he belonged here.
At the bottom of the stairs, Brutus took Vanii by the elbow and shoved him from the dark recesses into the slightly less dingy centre of the room. It was a massive cave, hollowed out for an unknown purpose, with many branching tunnels. Stone shelves carried grisly paraphernalia - jarred body parts and murky bottled concoctions littered the space. The stench was more acidic down here than above. Fungus grew in wet corners.
"Where's the boss?" Brutus grumbled into the empty space.
"He must be on his way," Lauren shrugged and sat down on the floor. Brutus sighed and leaned against the wall, tapping on a jar of eyeballs with his foot.
Yakob sidled up to Vanii who was just now pushing himself off the ground into a kneeling position. "Get up, filth," he said and pulled Vanii by his hair to a standing position, "I don't want to see you grovelling after what you did. Hold your head high and own it."
Vanii searched Yakob's face with frantic eyes, then set his jaw and held his head high.
Yakob swung a fist, sending a spray of blood and spittle onto the floor beside them. Lauren clapped and laughed in the background as Vanii returned his gaze to Yakob.
"Hit me," Yakob whispered.
Vanii acquiesced.