The First Confessor: The Legend of Magda Searus

Chapter 97

“The first thing we need to do,” Magda said when the crowd had finally quieted, “is to seal the catacombs.”

Councilman Sadler frowned. “Seal the catacombs? But wizards work down there.”

“The dead also work from down there,” she said. “The dead hide in their resting place, only to come up in the darkness and murder us. We don’t know how many of those dead down there have been prepared by the enemy to be able to be awakened. We don’t know how many of the dead that have been laid to rest there were really being placed by spies.

“We have no way of knowing which corpses might sit up and strangle us. How would we find them? The wizards will have to be moved to other work areas.”

“But seal the catacombs?” Councilman Hambrook sounded incredulous. “That’s sacred ground. The people of the Keep have been laying loved ones to rest there for centuries. Visiting ancestors is a deeply valued tradition. Are you sure there isn’t another way? Maybe it isn’t necessary. Maybe our gifted could find a way to reveal the dangerous bodies and remove only those so that we wouldn’t have to take such a drastic step.”

Magda looked out at all the faces watching. “Do any of you feel comfortable risking having the dead walk the halls of the Keep at night, looking for more victims to rip limb from limb? I know that I certainly don’t.”

The crowd assured her they did not like that idea one bit.

She looked back at Hambrook. “I understand your concerns. But we are fighting for the survival of the living, not the dead. They are gone. We have to let go of those who have died and move on to devote ourselves to the living.”

Magda’s own words abruptly hit a painful place deep within her. She still could not let go of Baraccus. As much as she knew that he was gone, and as much as she realized that she had to move on with her life, she couldn’t seem to let him go.

“Magda is right,” Merritt said. “Even if we thought that we had come up with a way to detect the dangerous dead from all the rest, how would we ever know for sure that we were right? A day could come when we tragically learned that we had only been fooling ourselves. Aren’t the living what really matter? Would any of us want to lose the life of a loved one on such a risk? Would anyone here want to lose a mother? A father? A child?”

None in the onlookers indicated that they would.

Councilman Hambrook sighed in resignation. “I have to admit, that makes sense. I wouldn’t want to risk loved ones.”

“Nor would I,” Councilman Clay added.

Councilman Sadler nodded. “We have a responsibility to life. The living should be our only concern.”

“Then seal the catacombs,” Magda said with finality.

“We will need to use magic to be sure,” Merritt cautioned. “We’ll need some of those keeper spells that Isidore developed. They will ensure that none of the dead can escape to hunt us.”

“Please advise our wizards what they will need to do,” Councilman Sadler said. “General, please assemble a team as swiftly as possible.”

General Grundwall clapped a fist to his heart in salute. “At once.”

“And let it be done before Lady Searus’s nightmare comes to life,” Sadler added.

“Confessor Searus,” Merritt corrected under his breath.

Councilman Sadler lifted a finger and addressed the onlookers. “I meant to say, ‘Confessor Searus.’”

The crowd seemed to like the title.