The Girl with No Name Ch. 30

As Danka had suspected, the men were local guards from Sihídikti Ris who were assigned to help watch the horses while the Bishop's escort accompanied the entourage to the cathedral. They had been startled by the landslide and saw the huge cloud of dust in the twilight, but didn't react coherently because they already had spent several hours indulging themselves from an unwatched cask of fine wine left in one of the tents in the camp. When none of the Church guards returned, they decided to continue drinking and played several rounds of cards through the rest of the short summer night. Finally, they realized they had consumed so much of the cask it would be better if they departed before passing out and being discovered unconscious by their counterparts from the Church. As they were leaving, the ghost-woman came out of her tent and confronted them with their sin.

The guards tried to figure out who was the mysterious spirit who admonished them. Was she the Virgin-Mother? But if she was, why would she be naked? As far as anyone knew, the Virgin-Mother had never appeared naked in front of anyone. And why would the Virgin-Mother want the Bishop's horse? If the ghost-woman wasn't the Virgin-Mother, who else could she be? Had Beelzebub the Destroyer destroyed the cathedral and sent a naked spirit to mock the Bishop by taking the horse?

As they discussed the terrible mystery, one of the guards remembered a story he heard a few years before from a visiting cousin. He related the tale of the cursed town of Rika Héckt-nemát and the beautiful but infinitely evil girl who condemned the city when she called out to the Profane One to save her from drowning. The guard shook from fear and apprehension.

"I'm sure that's who visited us. The cursed girl from Rika Héckt-nemát. That wasn't the Virgin Mother at all. Nor was she any saint or ordinary ghost. That spirit-girl was Beelzebub's daughter!"

The men chatted and frightened each other with speculation for a couple of minutes, remembering the details of the ghost-woman's visit confirming their suspicion she was the evil beauty Beelzebub had saved at the expense of cursing the city of Rika Héckt-nemát. Another man added a theory that connected her to the Bishop:

"Don't you remember what she said about the Bishop's horse, that she wanted him so she could give his master a final ride? Now I know what she meant by that! She took the Bishop with her to the Realm of Beelzebub! And she had to take away the entire cathedral to do it!"

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The frightened crowd gathered around the rubble tried to make sense of what had just happened. Their beautiful church and all of its occupants were buried under fathoms of rocks and massive boulders. The only evidence the cathedral ever existed at all was the Virgin-Mother statue, safely protected in its grotto, standing in the middle of the newly-formed cliff nearly 100 fathoms above the jumble of debris. Why would the Virgin-Mother do such a thing to her faithful followers... and to her own cathedral... and to the heir to the Vice-Duchy's crown?

A large group of panicky residents arrived, bringing with them a terrifying story of being attacked by a woman's naked ghost. The ghost charged at them with a thunderous noise. At first some in the group thought it was the sound of a horse galloping, but later they realized the roaring must have been the echo of rocks falling from the landslide. There was no disputing the ghost story: dozens of people saw her. The crowd's fear worsened when a town councilman arrived at noon, bringing with him six terrified guards and their awful story about the ghostly visit by condemned girl from Rika Héckt-nemát.

The crowd remembered another detail, that a mysterious young woman had accompanied the procession as they entered the town and ascended the mountain. She was naked and beautiful beyond belief, but no one among that procession seemed to notice her. So... the strange nude girl walking next to Prince Hristóckt's litter must have been Beelzebub's daughter, the curse-bringer from Rika Héckt-nemát. That made sense, and would explain who was the ghost that attacked the townsfolk.

The story of the destruction of the cathedral by Beelzebub's daughter fueled wild speculation and spawned legends throughout the eastern part of the Vice Duchy. The witnesses spent the rest of their lives telling and re-telling the story of their scary encounter with the ghost girl. As the years passed, the details became more terrifying and exaggerated, along with the beauty and allure of the evil seductress.

Meanwhile, the Virgin-Mother statue stood serenely on the inaccessible cliff, looking down and silently mocking the people who had placed their faith and hopes in her. How could such a thing have happened? How could a daughter of Beelzebub obliterate the most holy men of the Vice-Duchy right in front of the Virgin-Mother? What message was the Lord-Creator sending?

The True Believers of the Vice-Duchy never recovered from the disaster. Their hierarchy was decimated by the deaths of the faction's most senior officials, but eventually the men could have been replaced. However, the faith of the people in the blessings of the Virgin-Mother and power of the Roman God's executed son had been irrevocably shaken.