Channel the fury of the Burning Rose

You begin to softly invoke the words of your goddess through your gritted teeth. You picture her as you have seen her in many illustrations, beautiful and nude, a voluptuous woman's body with crimson hair blowing in the updraft from the flames that surround her.

The Burning Rose reveals her furious aspect, her face twisting into anger and her blue eyes now glowing red. Her divine roar of rage becomes your primal scream as you charge the daemon in the shadows of the laundry.

It is not a dog. Not in any earthly sense. The creature has an eyeless cone of flesh for a head that tapers into a prehensile snout. It stands more than waist high and its hairless red-black flesh glistens and ripples with muscles. Its grotesque head whips in your direction as you charge at it.

Too slow.

Your fists glow with holy fire as they descend up on the creature's grotesque head. Your first blow knocks it back and your second drives it to the ground. You grip its neck, or what you presume to be its neck, and twist violently, hoping to snap the bones beneath.

"RAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" You shout with rage.

In your righteous fury, you twist the head off the daemon. It ignites into white fire as you lift it free of the thrashing carcass. Both head and body burn in seconds, the brimstone stink momentarily saturating the air and then disappearing with the air circulated through the chimney grate.

The glow dies around your fists and you feel the power of the goddess leaving your body. You struggle to catch your breath. The grate of the chimney is open and you see the daemon had very nearly discovered what it was after.

You unwrap the oil cloth from the heavy scabbard and sword. You have only touched the sword of St. Magdalena once before. The blade seems unremarkable and the hilt and scabbards are masterworks. Despite appearances, it is the plain blade that is original and it holds the true power of the martyr.

You belt the weapon around your waist and hurry out of the abbey. Gerlangen is two days away by carriage. If you are to get this blade to the Supreme War Mother quickly, you will need horse.

The stables are intact, although there is a disgusting residue of slime everywhere outside as if a giant slug has been prowling the area. Inside the barn, you find a gruesome scene of slaughtered, half-eaten horses and livestock.

Somehow, the War Mother's white charger, Aegis, has been left unharmed. You approach his stall and he lifts his head over the gate and snorts at you.

"Good to see you too, boy, I just have to..."

Your words trail off at the strange discordant trumpeting sound you hear. You steal silently to the edge of the main door and realize there is an entire pack of those strange dogs prowling near the abbey. They can see the main entrance of the barn, presuming they have eyes at all, so unless you intend to dispatch them with the sword you will have to jump Aegis out of his paddock.