Tears of Blood (2024) Movie Script
1
(somber music)
(birds chirping) (footsteps rustling)
(birds chirping)
(water rushing)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(birds chirping)
(birds chirping)
We live in a fallen world
but we can find comfort in
those who share in that pain
and trust in the promise of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
For only through Him shall we be delivered
from this life of pain
to a new world
in which all pain will cease to exist
and we may be reunited
with those we have lost.
But let us not forget the Kingdom of Heaven
belongs to children most of all.
And who are you?
You're a father to no one!
You don't have a family!
You!
(birds chirping)
Was Jesus Himself not
frustrated at the Holy Father
in the Garden of Gethsemane?
In times of such hardship,
we should be honest with Him.
He is after all in control of everything.
(somber dramatic music)
(somber dramatic music continues)
(somber dramatic music continues)
(somber relaxing music)
(somber relaxing music continues)
(somber relaxing music continues)
(birds chirping)
(somber relaxing music continues)
(somber relaxing music continues)
(footsteps scuffling)
Gold, there is plenty,
and rubies are abundant,
but lips that speak
knowledge are a rare jewel.
Proverbs 20:15.
Come, Father Matthew.
There is a matter on which
I would appreciate your intellect.
(somber relaxing music continues)
What is this place?
I've never seen it before.
A relic of the age of heretics.
But like all tools it has
it uses from time to time.
Rise, my son!
My son, in the name of
God, I bid you to wake.
(somber mysterious music)
Consume! He will consume us all!
And the stars will fall!
Will feed on our souls.
Shadows!
Shadows!
My brother, what is it that ails you?
He's been going on like that
since I found him this morning.
Madness ails him and it
ain't nothing more than that.
Take your leave, witch hunter.
(body slams)
(hay rustling)
(footsteps scuffling)
Speak to me, brother. Speak to me.
The shadows! Shadows.
This hunger!
This hunger.
We can feed you if you have hunger.
We can even feed you the Bread
of Life if you so desire.
He will come to consume us!
Shadows!
He's in the shadows!
How many of you are in there?
Are you Legion?
Yes. Can we live again?
(somber music)
(footsteps crunching)
(footsteps crunching)
(somber music)
Who was that man?
As best I can surmise, he
was once a man of the cloth,
a priest named Johan Fidelis.
He led a ministry on the frontier.
You consider yourself to be
something of a naturalist,
do you not?
Well, I consider myself
to be a servant of God.
(scoffs amusedly)
These were found in his robes.
Do you know this flower?
It is a rose to be sure,
but unlike any other
I've seen in these parts.
Do not concern yourself with that.
It is the Cheruski Rose.
I'm sorry Sir but I'm unfamiliar with it.
It was used by ancient
pagans to speak to the gods
to invite their deities into their souls.
You believe someone is reviving
a ancient pagan religion?
Aside from my faith in God, my son,
I do not know what to believe.
There is one more thing now.
This book was found on him.
Learn what you can from it.
But as I've said,
be very careful who you share this with.
(somber music continues)
(birds chirping)
(birds chirping)
Do you know who that man was?
I have an idea.
Then you know what must be done.
(somber mysterious music)
[Matthew] 15th of
August, year of our Lord.
At long last, and thanks to
God, I have reached my position.
[Fidelis] A derelict
cathedral run by the order.
No semblance of order is to be found.
My brother is a good man.
He values his secrets but so do I.
It is too early to assess the locals,
evident though it be that
they are in need of guidance.
But who among us is not?
There is much work to be done.
7th of January, year of our Lord.
Illness has taken me. I have not much time
[Fidelis] Tragic as I've only just begun.
(coughing deeply)
Comfort is found in a curious discovery.
A rose blooms outside my door.
In wintertime,
I find myself longing for
this miracle to share my name.
I pray it fairs better than I have.
My companion is fearful
to be left alone again.
Foolish. We are always with God.
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
(bird chirping)
My brother.
Please speak sense to me.
What fate has befallen you?
The faithful shall be gathered.
Like ripened fruit on the wine,
we shall be plucked and harvested.
Harvested by who?
Is this the work of Satan?
The Antichrist?
It is the work of no serpent and no man!
Then who?
El-Athir!
El-Athir!
El-Athir!
El-Athir!
(church bell ringing)
(somber music)
Matthew, what happened to this man?
He was in some sort of delirium.
Did you not hear him screaming?
He's cold at the touch.
Must have died hours ago.
No, no, no. That cannot be.
I was speaking to him not two minutes ago.
Rather one-sided conversation, was it?
And what did he say to you Matthew?
Nothing but nonsense.
He was telling me the
Devil was not responsible
for his condition.
He was mad.
He was dead.
(somber music continues)
[Priest] I sense your fear.
For this you must go.
Reinstill the faith that has been lost.
Be strong and courageous.
Rarely we are challenged with the task
we are best suited to face.
Satan has many weapons at his disposal,
but the strongest of these is doubt.
Go forth, my son!
And may the blessing of God be upon you.
(hooves clomping)
[Matthew] That's an
interesting sword you wield,
Sir Roam.
How do you come by it?
Is it the booty of
defeating a powerful enemy?
No, I stripped it off a
dead man after a battle.
Had good balance so I held onto it.
And what about your cross bow?
I've never seen one in such fashion before.
Ho!
That's 'cause it's a repeater.
Did you pillage the
vanquished dead for it?
No, I bought it at a market in Asia.
You've been to Asia? Asia Minor?
Asia Minor, Major and beyond, Priest.
(horse snorts)
[Matthew] How long have you been in
the Lord's service for?
Oh, like the tribes of ancient Israel.
I fall in and out of his favor.
You?
[Matthew] I've been with
the Church all my life.
All your life?
Never had a woman have you?
I could take offense to that, Sir Roam.
Then you'd be easily offended, Priest.
My name is Matthew.
As you wish, Priest.
Whoa!
(birds chirping)
(hooves clomping)
(somber music)
[Fidelis] That damnable fool!
Desperate to heal me,
he has done the unthinkable.
The Fidelion rose
destroyed in boiled water.
I would curse him with my dying breath
were it not for my recovery.
[Roam] Still have a sour
disposition towards me,
Priest?
It's just what he said he escaped from.
Does that not perturb
you in the slightest way?
I've seen men eat each other.
What he described ain't gonna
keep me from slumber tonight.
(fire crackling)
(blood-curdling scream)
What was that?
Sounds like a girl.
Well then why are you still sitting here?
We have to help this poor soul.
You are a slow learner, Priest.
If indeed a girl steps
out of that tree line,
she's welcome to join us.
But she belongs to the darkness
if she can't see the light.
You're a coward, Roam.
I'm alive, Priest.
Hell is just filled with heroes.
(blood-curdling scream)
(heavy panting)
Well there she is, Priest.
Go and collect her if you want her.
You are also a monster.
(fire crackling)
I'm alive.
(wind blowing gently)
May Jesus Christ be with you.
(heavy footsteps)
I'm a representative of the Church of God!
If you attack this girl, your
eternal soul will be forfeit!
In the name of God I command you!
Be gone!
(creature growls and hisses)
(footsteps rushing)
(wind blowing gently)
What was all that
shouting about back there?
I was combating evil in
which no sword could be of use.
I haven't met it yet.
Papa!
Rest, my child. Rest.
We'll return you to your father tomorrow.
No we will not.
[Matthew] What is wrong with you?
Do you think if you do one good deed
you'll mistake yourself for Jesus Christ?
I must return home now
to Papa, to El-Athir.
They await me.
Where are you from, girl?
I do not know.
Speak girl.
[Matthew] Oh!
Forgive me, El-Athir!
Forgive me, Papa.
My sister lacked faith and stole me away,
but when I ran the shadows chased me.
His spirit shall feed us all
and bring the stars to fall.
His spiritual shall feed us all,
bring the stars to fall.
What's your name, girl?
Maria.
Where are you from, Maria?
In his skin. In his skin.
In his skin. In his skin.
In his skin. In his skin. In his skin.
In his skin.
Please have mercy with her.
She's half dead.
You know something you're
not telling me, Priest.
I know a lot of things
I'm not telling you, Roam.
But what I can tell you
is that she's exhausted.
She needs to rest.
I think we all do.
Speak for yourself, Priest.
I never heard of a settlement
called Iniskin before.
Oh! So that means it doesn't exist?
(fire crackling)
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
(wind blowing gently)
(wood clicking)
You slumbered long, Priest.
Where's Maria?
She must have recovered
her strength enough
to slip away undetected.
She helped herself to our
horses while she did so.
(somber mysterious music)
(somber mysterious music continues)
(leaves rustling)
(wind blowing gently)
(Roam sighs deeply)
Do you think Maria's here?
I think no one is here.
No one alive anyway.
Well then we should go
back and look for her.
We're not gonna do that.
Why not?
Because 'cause I'm not
here to play Hide-and-Go-Seek
in the forest with a little girl.
I'm here to avenge another damn priest
who should have raised his
sword instead of a crucifix.
Is that what you really
believe you're here to do?
Avenge a priest?
What am I here to do?
Your spiritual condition
has cast a fog over this mission, Sir Roam.
I am here to reach the lost
souls of Fidelis' Town.
You're here because the Bishop favors you.
The Bishop favors me
because I hurt people!
And if you keep preaching on like this,
you will suffer a demonstration.
(metal clangs)
(coins jingle)
(crow calling)
You there!
This place was an outpost last I was here.
What the hell happened?
Same everywhere. Pestilence.
And that what you carry,
you expect me to believe
you come by it honestly?
I am an honest thief.
You steal anything to drink?
Follow me.
(coins clanging)
(birds chirping)
(footsteps rustling)
Are you serious in your
intentions to drink with this man?
Yes.
We don't even know him!
Beer is a brawler and wine is a mocker.
Then consider that your
good fortune, Priest,
'cause you're gonna need
me to shed blood for you
before this is over.
(Roam sighs deeply)
(no audio)
(fire crackling)
(drink splashes)
Odd to find a priest
so far from a church.
Damnable company riding with a priest.
Never tried it.
Then don't.
Still strikes me as odd.
What business does a priest have out here?
Oh he's out spreading the gospel
to the lost souls of the world.
And if you ask again,
it ain't gonna be oddness that strikes you.
Pardon my companion, good brother.
It is terrible company riding with a drunk.
Been told that many times by my wife.
Where is she?
I should be honored to pray
with her, good brother.
She has no need for prayers now, Father.
Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.
But I'd be more than happy to pray with you
over her lost soul.
What good would that do?
To mitigate her time in Purgatory
so that she may know of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
She'll be fine.
Darkness will become her light.
(somber music)
What do you know about a missing girl?
I wouldn't know anything about it.
Then what do you know?
I know my village is dead
and soon I shall join them
by your hand or another's.
El-Athir saved my wife when
he took her from this place.
[Matthew] Took her where?
And why were you left behind?
I have certain afflictions
El-Athir deemed unworthy.
But worst of all,
I am a liar and a thief.
(somber music continues)
Brothers please.
We're not searching for any trouble.
We're just searching for a young girl.
Her life is at risk.
Her very soul is at stake.
It looks like you were
right about one thing,
grave robber.
What's that?
You are gonna die by my hand.
(dramatic music)
(fighters groan and growl)
(sword slices)
(dramatic music continues)
(footsteps scuffle)
(footsteps racing)
(fighters grunt and groan)
(footsteps stomping)
(no audio)
(sword bangs)
(Sir Roam panting)
What did you expect to happen?
(Roam gulping)
(footsteps shuffling)
I pray for forgiveness, my Lord,
for the blood that has been shed.
It was done in defense of your servant.
Mercy, Father! Please!
Of course, my son.
I will forgive you if you pledge
your soul to Jesus Christ.
You'll have our mercy.
(liquid splashes)
- Ah!
Not mine.
[Matthew] Roam, please!
This is a holy matter!
Absolution is his in
the next life, Priest.
He's mine for the rest of
his time left in this one.
El-Athir.
Oh!
Where is he?
(thief gasping)
I don't know.
We only follow in his wake.
And how do you follow him
if you don't know where he is?
Sign from the heavens.
I only follow it.
What kind of sign?
Star falls from the heavens.
I only follow the star.
There I find a town such as this.
And your wife?
With him for all I know.
Have you encountered a girl? Maria?
Have you seen her?
Well there have been lots of girls.
(somber music)
(thief panting)
Ah! (gurgling)
(wind blowing gently)
Roam!
[Roam] What?
Come here!
Yeah?
Look!
The stars will fall from Heaven
and the powers of the
heavens will be shaken.
It is as the Bishop feared.
We are on the eve of rapture.
(somber music)
And the eve of night.
[Fidelis] 4th of March, 1105.
Does a bat know it's blind?
His hypocrisy grows with each passing day!
So rooted in the ignorance he calls wisdom.
What wisdom does a slave possess
but to serve?
We shall see who is the
true believer indeed.
(fire crackling)
(fire crackling)
If you wanna sleep in there
with the dead men and disease,
you be my guest, Priest.
The air's cleaner out here.
Even if we wake up with cut throats,
we'll still breathe better
than in that graveyard.
(fire crackling)
(fire hisses)
I should wonder if liquor
is the courage you relied on
to the defeat the Witch of Westfalia.
The old bitch had a better
sense of humor than you,
I'll say that for the old girl.
You oughta relax, Priest.
We made it out of there.
We made it through with
something to show for it.
(fire crackling)
(fire hisses)
(creature howls)
(dramatic music)
(creature howling)
Ah!
(creature squeals)
(fire hisses)
(items banging)
(creature growling and hissing)
What is it, Priest?
I don't know. Some kind of demon?
Shadow personified perhaps.
I thought you were the witch hunter.
Have you not dealt with
satanic beings before?
There was only the one witch, Priest.
(somber music)
I doubt you could even call her that.
(sword clangs)
Poor wretch of a woman survived the plague
so towns folk wanted to her burned for it.
I never could stomach no burning.
Flesh of a man smells the same as any other
when it's cooking.
I volunteered to go in and bring her out.
When I got inside, I found her.
(bow creaking)
I put a bow through her neck.
If she felt a thing, she
didn't feel it for long.
You're a fraud?
And I've been to Jerusalem, Priest.
I saw no spirits in the Holy Land.
Just frightened men.
Must be kept frightened
for some semblance of peace to exist.
If that means my hands are
soiled in the blood of lambs,
well, so be it.
(somber enchanted music)
When this fire goes out we're on our own.
Then we better not let it go out.
(somber enchanted music continues)
(somber relaxing music)
(fire crackling)
(somber relaxing music continues)
(somber relaxing music continues)
(somber relaxing music continues)
(door slams)
(no audio)
Must've dragged the corpse off with it.
Well, let's getting moving.
(somber music)
(birds chirping)
[Fidelis] May 5th year of our Lord.
Strange circumstances I find myself in.
I came to instill love
but I feel nothing for them anymore.
They worship only their fear.
Such a God we serve who would cast us out
and into an existence we find so abhorrent!
The rose is partaken daily.
It sharpens my dreams,
refreshes my mind.
One with it.
I pray that the pestilence come
so the rose may save us all!
The taste is all that is needed.
Stay in the light.
(somber enchanted music)
(somber enchanted music continues)
(door knocks)
Yes?
Greetings, brother. My
name is Father Matthew,
an envoy of the Archbishop,
and my associate, Sir Roam.
We are seeking the Cathedral
of Jonathan Fidelis.
Have we found it?
You have indeed.
But Father Fidelis is no longer with us.
Please come inside.
Isabelle, these men will
be joining us for dinner!
Father Dominic, would
you mind if I read you
any correspondence Father
Fidelis had with the Bishop?
I can't imagine that there were many.
He'd become something of a
recluse in the time he had left.
Only concerned with his obsessions.
(somber music)
(chair scraping)
You eat like men who have been
on the road for some time.
[Matthew] We are very
grateful for your hospitality.
It is my duty.
We receive few guests around these parts,
so we must be as hospitable as possible.
Is that not right, Isabelle?
Father Dominic, you said Father Fidelis
became something of an obsessive.
Would you mind telling
me what possessed him?
Do you understand obsession?
Not possession, Father Matthew. Don't you?
It was merely his hobbies.
We have so few devote followers here.
Obsession can lead to
many strange practices.
You'll forgive me if I press the matter but
did you notice any strange
behavior before he died?
You will have to forgive
me, Father Matthew.
An old man's memory is as
about useful as a plant blade.
But I do recall he took
up an interest in botany.
Botany?
Yes! Fidelis was a
curious fellow, you see?
Before his death he was
preoccupied with plants
or rather one plant in particular.
Some sort of rose.
Was it this one by any chance?
Yes! As a matter of fact,
I do believe it was that very flower.
Would you mind if I read through
any personal belongings
Father Fidelis may have?
Of course. His room
is just as he left it.
(speaking in foreign language)
(enchanted lyre music)
Have no trepidations
of Isabelle, Sir Roam.
She's been baptized!
I don't give a God damn that
she's been baptized, Father.
(Dominic laughing cheerfully)
A true knight indeed.
Fidelis' room is upstairs.
I take you there. (laughs)
If you say, Sir Roam. Will you wait here?
Yeah.
(somber music)
You're a war bride, aren't you?
(speaking in foreign language)
I am many things. Sister, scholar.
You're a war bride taken
by a Germanic Crusader.
Who was it marked your arm?
Many men have marked me.
It was lord Idosik who rescued me.
Idosik?
Never figured him for a romantic.
Wanted a son to continue his line.
Never figured him that honorable neither.
How did you come to be here?
Dominic took me in.
And Idosek?
Dead as far as I know.
Good riddance to him, witch hunter.
You know me?
Idosik spoke of you with admiration.
I hope that offends you.
He said he'd never seen as fine a killer as
Sir Roam of the Rhineland.
He should know.
You've come for the man
who weeps blood, haven't you?
And the shadows that move in the night?
What is El-Athir?
Nothing a worldly man
like you could understand.
(hand slaps)
Tell me what you know.
Only a certain kind of man
falls in love with El-Athir.
Men like me?
No. Men like your comrade.
Men whose faith is a
sixth sense they live by.
Men like Idosik.
Men like Idosik.
El-Athir has a way of
feeding on a man's faith.
And the man who weeps blood?
Where do I find him?
(speaking in foreign language)
(somber relaxing music)
(footsteps scuffling)
(feet scuffling)
You're a very studious man,
Brother Matthew. (laughs)
You're as fervent as Fidelis!
(somber music continues)
But you have not come all this
way for a plant, have you?
You are seeking shadows, are you not?
You've seen it too?
Come with me.
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(creature growling)
What do they want?
Their mission is simple.
To bring darkness to the world.
Are those the being that
attacked Father Fidelis
and left him for dead?
Left for dead?
No!
No! Father Fidelis was not
left for dead, Father Matthew.
He was murdered on my front step.
(somber music continues)
No. No, that cannot be.
I'm sorry to be the one to tell you.
I saw it with my own eyes.
Fidelis was a man of faith,
but that was not enough.
It is the faithful that
are challenged the most
in this fallen world.
Perhaps you understand.
And those responsible?
Such evil will always
be found in this world
if one is willing to look for it.
A lesson Father Fidelis
learned with his last breath.
(birds chirping)
I hope my words last night
did not cause you alarm.
Quite the contrary, brother.
We are on the right path.
A path that leads to darkness.
Darkness that can only
exist in the human soul.
I often told my followers that
we were left here, live
on the edge of a blade.
You will soon find out what
exists beyond the blade.
(birds chirping)
See you in the next life,
Father, should there be one.
(somber enchanted music)
Keep staring at the sky
like that, you'll go blind.
Father Dominic said that
he died on the steps of the church.
That he had been killed, Roam.
How does a man die and then
just get back up again?
Yeah, you of all people
are asking that question.
Fidelis was a man of God, I assume.
But why would God resurrect
him just so he could die again?
They're all over the world, Priest.
Everybody everywhere has got a reason why
they are who they are.
You know I'm Byzantine.
Yeah, I know. I know.
There's some dying people there.
Forget it.
Dominic said it would be only
a half a day's walk away.
Yeah. If you trust him.
[Matthew] Don't you?
There's something off about
this whole business, Priest.
(shadow growling)
(Roam screaming) (shadow growling)
(dramatic music)
(Roam groaning)
(shadow growling)
(dramatic music continues)
(shadow growling)
(shadow groans)
(Roam panting)
[Matthew] We should retreat.
We're over-matched.
I'm not turning back now, Priest.
You wanna die fighting
against them, don't you?
This is the first time
you've met tangible evil
and you just wanna destroy
yourself against it.
Run back to the Bishop
if you like, Priest.
(somber music)
(water rushing)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
If the monk is right,
this should be the place.
You think there's any chance
we'll find that little girl alive?
Look!
Tears of blood.
(insects buzzing)
Let's get back to the road.
Maybe we'll get lucky.
Doing what?
(somber mysterious music)
(somber mysterious music continues)
(creature coos)
(somber mysterious music continues)
(creature coos)
(somber mysterious music continues)
(creature coos)
(somber mysterious music continues)
(sword slices)
(bodies slam)
(leaves rustling)
(footsteps running)
(somber mysterious music continues)
(cult member pants and laughs)
(Roam sighs deeply)
(somber mysterious music)
(somber mysterious music continues)
(swords clanging)
(fighters grunt and groan)
(Cultist panting)
(Cultist growls)
(Cultist grunts)
Stop! Take off your mask and
put it on the ground slowly.
Don't make me kill you.
(sword scrapes)
(somber mysterious music continues)
In the name of God, stay back!
(Cultist gurgles)
(body thuds)
(leaves rustling)
I taught you how to
fire that thing, didn't I?
Let's got him off the road.
There'll be more coming.
(leaves rustling)
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(water rushing)
(sword scrapes)
(sword thuds)
If we encounter any trouble,
do not be so quick to
sacrifice yourself, Sir Roam.
You can trust in God's plan.
I'm reminded of a Proverb.
31:6.
I cannot say I recall
this one at the moment.
Give strong drink to
him whose life is ending.
Now you're not one to drink, Priest,
but this is the occasion for it.
(somber music)
(Matthew chuckles)
(somber music continues)
Thank you.
(Roam laughs cheerfully)
(somber music continues)
(somber mysterious music)
(somber mysterious music continues)
(somber mysterious music continues)
(footsteps marching)
(somber music)
(horse whinnies)
(somber music continues)
(footstep scuffling)
(somber music continues)
(bell clanging)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(bell clanging)
(bell clanging)
(Cultists chanting rhythmically)
[Cultist] Stay in the light.
Fuck off!
They're losing their minds.
There's Maria!
Get her and let's find a
way out of this nightmare.
(somber music)
(footsteps crunching)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(swords clashing)
Maria.
Maria!
It is very important
for you to come with me.
I'm here to bring you back home.
But I am home.
This is home.
But what happened to your sister?
She was punished for leaving, was she not?
El-Athir exiled my abductress.
But I am to be rewarded for my returning,
tonight at the ceremony.
The shadow that chased you?
What about the shadows that chased you?
They chased me away from my abductress.
Oh!
(somber dramatic music)
No! Unhand me!
No! Wait! No! No!
Roam!
(Matthew gurgling and choking)
Help!
(gurgling and groaning)
(coughing harshly)
Oh!
(mysterious suspenseful
buzzing and whirring)
(mysterious suspenseful
buzzing and whirring continues)
(mysterious suspenseful
buzzing and whirring continues)
(footsteps crunching)
(somber music)
(Roam sighs deeply)
(Cultist laughing hysterically)
(Cultist laughing hysterically)
(group laughing hysterically)
(group laughing hysterically)
(mysterious suspenseful music)
(mysterious suspenseful
buzzing and whirring)
(mysterious suspenseful
buzzing and whirring continues)
(creature screams)
(mysterious suspenseful
buzzing and whirring continues)
(creature screams)
(thunder crashes)
(water dripping)
(water dripping)
[El-Athir] Arise.
(water dripping)
(water dripping)
(feet scuffling)
Matthew.
How is it that you know my name?
[El-Athir] You know your name,
therefore I know your name.
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
(Cultist growling)
(body thuds)
(somber music continues)
[Idosik] You have made a
grave mistake in coming here,
Sir Roam of the Rhineland.
Idosik.
I'm disappointed.
I heard you were dead.
Only to be reborn through El-Athir.
Reborn for what? Madness and murder.
All war is, is madness and murder.
You were a fine soldier, Sir Roam.
But you lacked the vision to truly see.
See you've lost your mind.
(bow clicks)
(Cultist gurgles)
Your beloved cross bow. (laughs)
I had almost forgotten
your amusing little
eccentricities, Sir Roam.
Why don't we settle this in the old way?
Still mired in the old
world sense of honor I see.
You never could find a
hole to crawl into and die.
I want him alive!
(Roam sighs)
But more dead than alive.
(laughs maniacally)
(somber dramatic music)
(Cultist groans)
(somber dramatic music continues)
(Cultist growls)
(somber dramatic music continues)
(Cultist growling)
(swords clanging)
(Roam grunts and groans)
(Roam grunts and hollers)
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(footsteps clunking)
So the Whore of Babylon
has chosen to grace us
with her presence.
I've come for my sister.
Where is she?
And I've come to ask for your forgiveness
for abandoning you.
And I've come to offer myself up to you
to bear your son, a strong son,
a son to carry forth your
name and your legacy.
On the condition that my
sister's life is spared.
And I've come to be a faithful wife,
to serve you until the day I die.
Should that day come.
(hand slaps)
Idosik!
I know you to be just!
But these are not the acts of a just man!
Ah!
El-Athir does not see fit
to bore me with sermons
of cheap moralities, Monk.
(body thuds)
I have been un-yoked from
the vice of righteousness.
You should not have come
back, my little Jezebel.
Idosik!
It exhibits poor judgment.
(somber music)
(Cultists singing in foreign language)
[Leader] My children!
Much work has been done
and El-Athir is pleased!
We fashion the world into our kin!
(group chatters)
[Leader] In his skin,
we live again my children.
The promise of El-Athir
will come to fruition!
We will depart these lands soon enough
to spread the seeds we have sown here!
But first,
we must attend to an imposter in our midst.
By morning El-Athir will have
turned our most fearsome enemy
into a devout and resurrected follower.
And then we will all indulge
in the blood of El-Athir!
In his skin,
we live again, my children.
(El-Athir growls and chatters)
[El-Athir] Matthew.
Breathe in.
(somber mysterious music)
I am familiar with your tactics, Matthew.
What you cannot understand you must hate!
I would hate those that
would murder a child.
Those that call themselves
disciples of El-Athir.
[El-Athir] I answer
to many names, Matthew.
El-Athir in these parts, fear in others,
and some lands I am known
only as the setting Sun.
(rocks rumbling)
[Cultist] I have just received word
on the fate of Sir Roam.
He chose death rather than servitude.
Noble but expected.
He was more gold than man.
[Cultist] He killed
many of our followers.
Was expected.
Bring his body forth.
El-Athir may yet draw power from him.
[Cultist] As you wish, my Lord.
Ah!
Ah!
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
(Isabelle groaning and grunting)
(grunting and groaning)
[Guard] Whoa!
[Cultist] Bring forth the fallen angel!
Here is the great enemy of El-Athir!
Laid low like a dog.
May we now release his body
for the shadows to devour.
Roam. Fitting name for a
man who never found peace.
[Assistant] What of our survivor?
[Cultist] The survivor of the fray.
Bring him forth!
He must be honored!
(footsteps stomping)
(water dripping)
(somber music)
What are you?
Some ancient demon?
[El-Athir] Your narrow-mindedness
may define me as such,
where you see only black
and white absolutions.
If you would join me,
I would show you what is
beyond such constructs.
What is beyond such feeble
human understanding.
Is it not by the blood of innocents
that we have laid our foundation?
Do you not draw strength from your Christ?
I don't draw strength from evil!
(El-Athir chuckles grimly)
[El-Athir] Am I evil
because I liberate myself from morality?
Morality is...
It's not a human construct.
It's not a prison we seek to escape from.
It's what protects us from sin like you.
[El-Athir] Do you feel protected?
Protected from the violence you encourage?
I would encourage nothing of the sort.
(Isabelle panting)
(sword scraping)
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
[Cultist] Rise, my son.
(Roam panting)
You have done us a tremendous service.
Are your wounds so severe?
(sword slices)
(Cultist gasps and gurgles)
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
[El-Athir] You yourself
preach that anger is needed.
Anger at your own God.
No!
It's impossible.
It's the freedom that God gives us.
[El-Athir] It is merely
the way of man, Matthew.
Why else would your church
demand war a half world away
if not for your own
land to remain in peace?
No.
Can't be.
(somber music)
(insect buzzing)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
[Cultist] Here!
Yes!
Here he comes!
Glory be to El-Athir!
Our exalted survivor.
We will baptize you in shadow, my son.
[Roam] Where's the girl?
[Leader] Ah! You seek to
free her spirit yourself?
You are a true believer indeed.
Bring me a vial of the red
flower for our proud survivor.
[Roam] And the priest?
[Leader] You wish to kill him too?
You have been soiled in
combats, have you not?
He is being converted as we speak.
Soon we will have another
priest in our ranks.
It can't be.
We can end war, Matthew.
Forever!
It can't be you.
[El-Athir] It can, Matthew.
It is.
Through El-Athir, all is possible.
He need only gather the faithful to him.
Like fruit on the vine
to be plucked and eaten?
To be driven mad like you?
It was my destiny to
bring you here, Matthew.
What of the shadows?
[El-Athir] They only work on cross minds.
They reflect anger cultivated by another.
They need our guidance in
death just as they did in life.
That's madness!
You harvest their souls to what end?
[El-Athir] There will be no end, Matthew.
We will continue onward,
immortal and perfect forever.
Join us!
[El-Athir] Fidelis serves as my feet.
You would be my beating heart.
Then you have feet of clay.
No.
Your Antichrist blood won't
intoxicate me forever.
I'll be rid of its effect soon enough.
Join us!
Join us!
Join us!
Join us!
Join us!
(footsteps scuffling)
[El-Athir] You have no
agency in your fate, Matthew.
My will will take root
in the Earth and grow
while you will shrink and decay.
At least
I'll have died a free man.
[El-Athir] Freedom?
The sole flaw of your Creator.
How many among your faith embrace His name
and yet disavow Him in their next breath?
It's our flaws that make us human.
[El-Athir] It is your flaws
that make you interesting.
For nothing is sadder than a bored God
who lives only through
His flawed creations.
Thankfully I do not share this affliction.
Farewell, Father Matthew.
(Cultist gurgling)
(somber dramatic music)
(somber dramatic music continues)
(Leader grunts and groans)
Unhand him, Roam.
Where's the priest?
He's in shadow doing
battle with El-Athir.
What is El-Athir?
Nothing you can understand.
(Leader groans)
You can kill him. (laughs)
[Leader] You are too late, Knight!
You fought well.
You are defeated!
Accept it!
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
You're tired, Sir Roam.
You need rest.
Rest you won't find in
the service of the Church!
(Leader squealing)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(bottle shatters and fizzes)
[Leader] Ah! Oh!
(liquid fizzes)
(mysterious buzzing and chattering)
(mysterious buzzing and
chattering continues)
(mysterious buzzing and
chattering continues)
[Leader] Peace, children! Peace!
We mustn't fight amongst ourselves!
Oh!
Oh! Oh!
Oh!
(leaves rustling)
(fighters grunt and groan)
These fools lack faith, dear daughter
The time draws nigh and they
cannot control themselves.
We must seek safety in the tower
and commence with the ceremony.
Yes, Father.
(Cultist growls)
(pot clanging)
(pot shatters)
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
(swords clashing)
(Cultist gurgles)
(somber music continues)
Do you know why El-Athir calls us
to reward the child's faith?
Because in all things he's good.
Yes, my beloved.
In all things he is good.
(somber music continues)
Step forward.
Good of you to join us, dear wife.
We can partake as a family.
(somber music)
Such poor judgment.
(swords clashing)
Take your own life, Isabelle,
while you have the chance.
For tomorrow, you will have wished you had.
(swords clashing)
(somber dramatic music)
Still doing the bishop's
knife work, sir Roam?
Still fighting for a god
you don't believe in?
(swords clashing)
Or perhaps war is your god?
(swords clashing)
(fighters groan)
(swords clashing)
(somber dramatic music continues)
(swords clashing)
(somber dramatic music continues)
It's not a bad death, Sir Roam.
You fought with purpose today.
The purpose you lacked your entire life.
You'll have to excuse me now.
There's a ceremony that must be performed.
No!
(dramatic drumming music)
(sword clangs)
(somber enchanted music)
(fighters grunt and groan)
(dramatic music)
(dramatic music continues)
(dramatic music continues)
(body thuds)
(Idosik gurgling and gasping)
(Roam panting)
More than a war bride indeed.
I can fix you up.
Don't bother.
I've long been spent.
Get your kin and get outta here.
(somber music)
(waves lapping)
(somber music continues)
(trees creaking)
(waves lapping)
(somber music continues)
(waves lapping)
(somber victorious music)
(waves lapping)
(waves lapping)
(somber victorious music continues)
(waves lapping)
(waves lapping)
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
(footsteps crunching)
(somber music continues)
[Cult member] We seek
your guidance, Master.
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber mysterious music)
(somber mysterious music continues)
(somber mysterious music continues)
(somber pulsing music)
(somber pulsing music continues)
(somber pulsing music continues)
(somber pulsing music continues)
(somber enchanted music)
(no audio)
(no audio)
(no audio)
(no audio)
(somber music)
(birds chirping) (footsteps rustling)
(birds chirping)
(water rushing)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(birds chirping)
(birds chirping)
We live in a fallen world
but we can find comfort in
those who share in that pain
and trust in the promise of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
For only through Him shall we be delivered
from this life of pain
to a new world
in which all pain will cease to exist
and we may be reunited
with those we have lost.
But let us not forget the Kingdom of Heaven
belongs to children most of all.
And who are you?
You're a father to no one!
You don't have a family!
You!
(birds chirping)
Was Jesus Himself not
frustrated at the Holy Father
in the Garden of Gethsemane?
In times of such hardship,
we should be honest with Him.
He is after all in control of everything.
(somber dramatic music)
(somber dramatic music continues)
(somber dramatic music continues)
(somber relaxing music)
(somber relaxing music continues)
(somber relaxing music continues)
(birds chirping)
(somber relaxing music continues)
(somber relaxing music continues)
(footsteps scuffling)
Gold, there is plenty,
and rubies are abundant,
but lips that speak
knowledge are a rare jewel.
Proverbs 20:15.
Come, Father Matthew.
There is a matter on which
I would appreciate your intellect.
(somber relaxing music continues)
What is this place?
I've never seen it before.
A relic of the age of heretics.
But like all tools it has
it uses from time to time.
Rise, my son!
My son, in the name of
God, I bid you to wake.
(somber mysterious music)
Consume! He will consume us all!
And the stars will fall!
Will feed on our souls.
Shadows!
Shadows!
My brother, what is it that ails you?
He's been going on like that
since I found him this morning.
Madness ails him and it
ain't nothing more than that.
Take your leave, witch hunter.
(body slams)
(hay rustling)
(footsteps scuffling)
Speak to me, brother. Speak to me.
The shadows! Shadows.
This hunger!
This hunger.
We can feed you if you have hunger.
We can even feed you the Bread
of Life if you so desire.
He will come to consume us!
Shadows!
He's in the shadows!
How many of you are in there?
Are you Legion?
Yes. Can we live again?
(somber music)
(footsteps crunching)
(footsteps crunching)
(somber music)
Who was that man?
As best I can surmise, he
was once a man of the cloth,
a priest named Johan Fidelis.
He led a ministry on the frontier.
You consider yourself to be
something of a naturalist,
do you not?
Well, I consider myself
to be a servant of God.
(scoffs amusedly)
These were found in his robes.
Do you know this flower?
It is a rose to be sure,
but unlike any other
I've seen in these parts.
Do not concern yourself with that.
It is the Cheruski Rose.
I'm sorry Sir but I'm unfamiliar with it.
It was used by ancient
pagans to speak to the gods
to invite their deities into their souls.
You believe someone is reviving
a ancient pagan religion?
Aside from my faith in God, my son,
I do not know what to believe.
There is one more thing now.
This book was found on him.
Learn what you can from it.
But as I've said,
be very careful who you share this with.
(somber music continues)
(birds chirping)
(birds chirping)
Do you know who that man was?
I have an idea.
Then you know what must be done.
(somber mysterious music)
[Matthew] 15th of
August, year of our Lord.
At long last, and thanks to
God, I have reached my position.
[Fidelis] A derelict
cathedral run by the order.
No semblance of order is to be found.
My brother is a good man.
He values his secrets but so do I.
It is too early to assess the locals,
evident though it be that
they are in need of guidance.
But who among us is not?
There is much work to be done.
7th of January, year of our Lord.
Illness has taken me. I have not much time
[Fidelis] Tragic as I've only just begun.
(coughing deeply)
Comfort is found in a curious discovery.
A rose blooms outside my door.
In wintertime,
I find myself longing for
this miracle to share my name.
I pray it fairs better than I have.
My companion is fearful
to be left alone again.
Foolish. We are always with God.
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
(bird chirping)
My brother.
Please speak sense to me.
What fate has befallen you?
The faithful shall be gathered.
Like ripened fruit on the wine,
we shall be plucked and harvested.
Harvested by who?
Is this the work of Satan?
The Antichrist?
It is the work of no serpent and no man!
Then who?
El-Athir!
El-Athir!
El-Athir!
El-Athir!
(church bell ringing)
(somber music)
Matthew, what happened to this man?
He was in some sort of delirium.
Did you not hear him screaming?
He's cold at the touch.
Must have died hours ago.
No, no, no. That cannot be.
I was speaking to him not two minutes ago.
Rather one-sided conversation, was it?
And what did he say to you Matthew?
Nothing but nonsense.
He was telling me the
Devil was not responsible
for his condition.
He was mad.
He was dead.
(somber music continues)
[Priest] I sense your fear.
For this you must go.
Reinstill the faith that has been lost.
Be strong and courageous.
Rarely we are challenged with the task
we are best suited to face.
Satan has many weapons at his disposal,
but the strongest of these is doubt.
Go forth, my son!
And may the blessing of God be upon you.
(hooves clomping)
[Matthew] That's an
interesting sword you wield,
Sir Roam.
How do you come by it?
Is it the booty of
defeating a powerful enemy?
No, I stripped it off a
dead man after a battle.
Had good balance so I held onto it.
And what about your cross bow?
I've never seen one in such fashion before.
Ho!
That's 'cause it's a repeater.
Did you pillage the
vanquished dead for it?
No, I bought it at a market in Asia.
You've been to Asia? Asia Minor?
Asia Minor, Major and beyond, Priest.
(horse snorts)
[Matthew] How long have you been in
the Lord's service for?
Oh, like the tribes of ancient Israel.
I fall in and out of his favor.
You?
[Matthew] I've been with
the Church all my life.
All your life?
Never had a woman have you?
I could take offense to that, Sir Roam.
Then you'd be easily offended, Priest.
My name is Matthew.
As you wish, Priest.
Whoa!
(birds chirping)
(hooves clomping)
(somber music)
[Fidelis] That damnable fool!
Desperate to heal me,
he has done the unthinkable.
The Fidelion rose
destroyed in boiled water.
I would curse him with my dying breath
were it not for my recovery.
[Roam] Still have a sour
disposition towards me,
Priest?
It's just what he said he escaped from.
Does that not perturb
you in the slightest way?
I've seen men eat each other.
What he described ain't gonna
keep me from slumber tonight.
(fire crackling)
(blood-curdling scream)
What was that?
Sounds like a girl.
Well then why are you still sitting here?
We have to help this poor soul.
You are a slow learner, Priest.
If indeed a girl steps
out of that tree line,
she's welcome to join us.
But she belongs to the darkness
if she can't see the light.
You're a coward, Roam.
I'm alive, Priest.
Hell is just filled with heroes.
(blood-curdling scream)
(heavy panting)
Well there she is, Priest.
Go and collect her if you want her.
You are also a monster.
(fire crackling)
I'm alive.
(wind blowing gently)
May Jesus Christ be with you.
(heavy footsteps)
I'm a representative of the Church of God!
If you attack this girl, your
eternal soul will be forfeit!
In the name of God I command you!
Be gone!
(creature growls and hisses)
(footsteps rushing)
(wind blowing gently)
What was all that
shouting about back there?
I was combating evil in
which no sword could be of use.
I haven't met it yet.
Papa!
Rest, my child. Rest.
We'll return you to your father tomorrow.
No we will not.
[Matthew] What is wrong with you?
Do you think if you do one good deed
you'll mistake yourself for Jesus Christ?
I must return home now
to Papa, to El-Athir.
They await me.
Where are you from, girl?
I do not know.
Speak girl.
[Matthew] Oh!
Forgive me, El-Athir!
Forgive me, Papa.
My sister lacked faith and stole me away,
but when I ran the shadows chased me.
His spirit shall feed us all
and bring the stars to fall.
His spiritual shall feed us all,
bring the stars to fall.
What's your name, girl?
Maria.
Where are you from, Maria?
In his skin. In his skin.
In his skin. In his skin.
In his skin. In his skin. In his skin.
In his skin.
Please have mercy with her.
She's half dead.
You know something you're
not telling me, Priest.
I know a lot of things
I'm not telling you, Roam.
But what I can tell you
is that she's exhausted.
She needs to rest.
I think we all do.
Speak for yourself, Priest.
I never heard of a settlement
called Iniskin before.
Oh! So that means it doesn't exist?
(fire crackling)
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
(wind blowing gently)
(wood clicking)
You slumbered long, Priest.
Where's Maria?
She must have recovered
her strength enough
to slip away undetected.
She helped herself to our
horses while she did so.
(somber mysterious music)
(somber mysterious music continues)
(leaves rustling)
(wind blowing gently)
(Roam sighs deeply)
Do you think Maria's here?
I think no one is here.
No one alive anyway.
Well then we should go
back and look for her.
We're not gonna do that.
Why not?
Because 'cause I'm not
here to play Hide-and-Go-Seek
in the forest with a little girl.
I'm here to avenge another damn priest
who should have raised his
sword instead of a crucifix.
Is that what you really
believe you're here to do?
Avenge a priest?
What am I here to do?
Your spiritual condition
has cast a fog over this mission, Sir Roam.
I am here to reach the lost
souls of Fidelis' Town.
You're here because the Bishop favors you.
The Bishop favors me
because I hurt people!
And if you keep preaching on like this,
you will suffer a demonstration.
(metal clangs)
(coins jingle)
(crow calling)
You there!
This place was an outpost last I was here.
What the hell happened?
Same everywhere. Pestilence.
And that what you carry,
you expect me to believe
you come by it honestly?
I am an honest thief.
You steal anything to drink?
Follow me.
(coins clanging)
(birds chirping)
(footsteps rustling)
Are you serious in your
intentions to drink with this man?
Yes.
We don't even know him!
Beer is a brawler and wine is a mocker.
Then consider that your
good fortune, Priest,
'cause you're gonna need
me to shed blood for you
before this is over.
(Roam sighs deeply)
(no audio)
(fire crackling)
(drink splashes)
Odd to find a priest
so far from a church.
Damnable company riding with a priest.
Never tried it.
Then don't.
Still strikes me as odd.
What business does a priest have out here?
Oh he's out spreading the gospel
to the lost souls of the world.
And if you ask again,
it ain't gonna be oddness that strikes you.
Pardon my companion, good brother.
It is terrible company riding with a drunk.
Been told that many times by my wife.
Where is she?
I should be honored to pray
with her, good brother.
She has no need for prayers now, Father.
Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.
But I'd be more than happy to pray with you
over her lost soul.
What good would that do?
To mitigate her time in Purgatory
so that she may know of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
She'll be fine.
Darkness will become her light.
(somber music)
What do you know about a missing girl?
I wouldn't know anything about it.
Then what do you know?
I know my village is dead
and soon I shall join them
by your hand or another's.
El-Athir saved my wife when
he took her from this place.
[Matthew] Took her where?
And why were you left behind?
I have certain afflictions
El-Athir deemed unworthy.
But worst of all,
I am a liar and a thief.
(somber music continues)
Brothers please.
We're not searching for any trouble.
We're just searching for a young girl.
Her life is at risk.
Her very soul is at stake.
It looks like you were
right about one thing,
grave robber.
What's that?
You are gonna die by my hand.
(dramatic music)
(fighters groan and growl)
(sword slices)
(dramatic music continues)
(footsteps scuffle)
(footsteps racing)
(fighters grunt and groan)
(footsteps stomping)
(no audio)
(sword bangs)
(Sir Roam panting)
What did you expect to happen?
(Roam gulping)
(footsteps shuffling)
I pray for forgiveness, my Lord,
for the blood that has been shed.
It was done in defense of your servant.
Mercy, Father! Please!
Of course, my son.
I will forgive you if you pledge
your soul to Jesus Christ.
You'll have our mercy.
(liquid splashes)
- Ah!
Not mine.
[Matthew] Roam, please!
This is a holy matter!
Absolution is his in
the next life, Priest.
He's mine for the rest of
his time left in this one.
El-Athir.
Oh!
Where is he?
(thief gasping)
I don't know.
We only follow in his wake.
And how do you follow him
if you don't know where he is?
Sign from the heavens.
I only follow it.
What kind of sign?
Star falls from the heavens.
I only follow the star.
There I find a town such as this.
And your wife?
With him for all I know.
Have you encountered a girl? Maria?
Have you seen her?
Well there have been lots of girls.
(somber music)
(thief panting)
Ah! (gurgling)
(wind blowing gently)
Roam!
[Roam] What?
Come here!
Yeah?
Look!
The stars will fall from Heaven
and the powers of the
heavens will be shaken.
It is as the Bishop feared.
We are on the eve of rapture.
(somber music)
And the eve of night.
[Fidelis] 4th of March, 1105.
Does a bat know it's blind?
His hypocrisy grows with each passing day!
So rooted in the ignorance he calls wisdom.
What wisdom does a slave possess
but to serve?
We shall see who is the
true believer indeed.
(fire crackling)
(fire crackling)
If you wanna sleep in there
with the dead men and disease,
you be my guest, Priest.
The air's cleaner out here.
Even if we wake up with cut throats,
we'll still breathe better
than in that graveyard.
(fire crackling)
(fire hisses)
I should wonder if liquor
is the courage you relied on
to the defeat the Witch of Westfalia.
The old bitch had a better
sense of humor than you,
I'll say that for the old girl.
You oughta relax, Priest.
We made it out of there.
We made it through with
something to show for it.
(fire crackling)
(fire hisses)
(creature howls)
(dramatic music)
(creature howling)
Ah!
(creature squeals)
(fire hisses)
(items banging)
(creature growling and hissing)
What is it, Priest?
I don't know. Some kind of demon?
Shadow personified perhaps.
I thought you were the witch hunter.
Have you not dealt with
satanic beings before?
There was only the one witch, Priest.
(somber music)
I doubt you could even call her that.
(sword clangs)
Poor wretch of a woman survived the plague
so towns folk wanted to her burned for it.
I never could stomach no burning.
Flesh of a man smells the same as any other
when it's cooking.
I volunteered to go in and bring her out.
When I got inside, I found her.
(bow creaking)
I put a bow through her neck.
If she felt a thing, she
didn't feel it for long.
You're a fraud?
And I've been to Jerusalem, Priest.
I saw no spirits in the Holy Land.
Just frightened men.
Must be kept frightened
for some semblance of peace to exist.
If that means my hands are
soiled in the blood of lambs,
well, so be it.
(somber enchanted music)
When this fire goes out we're on our own.
Then we better not let it go out.
(somber enchanted music continues)
(somber relaxing music)
(fire crackling)
(somber relaxing music continues)
(somber relaxing music continues)
(somber relaxing music continues)
(door slams)
(no audio)
Must've dragged the corpse off with it.
Well, let's getting moving.
(somber music)
(birds chirping)
[Fidelis] May 5th year of our Lord.
Strange circumstances I find myself in.
I came to instill love
but I feel nothing for them anymore.
They worship only their fear.
Such a God we serve who would cast us out
and into an existence we find so abhorrent!
The rose is partaken daily.
It sharpens my dreams,
refreshes my mind.
One with it.
I pray that the pestilence come
so the rose may save us all!
The taste is all that is needed.
Stay in the light.
(somber enchanted music)
(somber enchanted music continues)
(door knocks)
Yes?
Greetings, brother. My
name is Father Matthew,
an envoy of the Archbishop,
and my associate, Sir Roam.
We are seeking the Cathedral
of Jonathan Fidelis.
Have we found it?
You have indeed.
But Father Fidelis is no longer with us.
Please come inside.
Isabelle, these men will
be joining us for dinner!
Father Dominic, would
you mind if I read you
any correspondence Father
Fidelis had with the Bishop?
I can't imagine that there were many.
He'd become something of a
recluse in the time he had left.
Only concerned with his obsessions.
(somber music)
(chair scraping)
You eat like men who have been
on the road for some time.
[Matthew] We are very
grateful for your hospitality.
It is my duty.
We receive few guests around these parts,
so we must be as hospitable as possible.
Is that not right, Isabelle?
Father Dominic, you said Father Fidelis
became something of an obsessive.
Would you mind telling
me what possessed him?
Do you understand obsession?
Not possession, Father Matthew. Don't you?
It was merely his hobbies.
We have so few devote followers here.
Obsession can lead to
many strange practices.
You'll forgive me if I press the matter but
did you notice any strange
behavior before he died?
You will have to forgive
me, Father Matthew.
An old man's memory is as
about useful as a plant blade.
But I do recall he took
up an interest in botany.
Botany?
Yes! Fidelis was a
curious fellow, you see?
Before his death he was
preoccupied with plants
or rather one plant in particular.
Some sort of rose.
Was it this one by any chance?
Yes! As a matter of fact,
I do believe it was that very flower.
Would you mind if I read through
any personal belongings
Father Fidelis may have?
Of course. His room
is just as he left it.
(speaking in foreign language)
(enchanted lyre music)
Have no trepidations
of Isabelle, Sir Roam.
She's been baptized!
I don't give a God damn that
she's been baptized, Father.
(Dominic laughing cheerfully)
A true knight indeed.
Fidelis' room is upstairs.
I take you there. (laughs)
If you say, Sir Roam. Will you wait here?
Yeah.
(somber music)
You're a war bride, aren't you?
(speaking in foreign language)
I am many things. Sister, scholar.
You're a war bride taken
by a Germanic Crusader.
Who was it marked your arm?
Many men have marked me.
It was lord Idosik who rescued me.
Idosik?
Never figured him for a romantic.
Wanted a son to continue his line.
Never figured him that honorable neither.
How did you come to be here?
Dominic took me in.
And Idosek?
Dead as far as I know.
Good riddance to him, witch hunter.
You know me?
Idosik spoke of you with admiration.
I hope that offends you.
He said he'd never seen as fine a killer as
Sir Roam of the Rhineland.
He should know.
You've come for the man
who weeps blood, haven't you?
And the shadows that move in the night?
What is El-Athir?
Nothing a worldly man
like you could understand.
(hand slaps)
Tell me what you know.
Only a certain kind of man
falls in love with El-Athir.
Men like me?
No. Men like your comrade.
Men whose faith is a
sixth sense they live by.
Men like Idosik.
Men like Idosik.
El-Athir has a way of
feeding on a man's faith.
And the man who weeps blood?
Where do I find him?
(speaking in foreign language)
(somber relaxing music)
(footsteps scuffling)
(feet scuffling)
You're a very studious man,
Brother Matthew. (laughs)
You're as fervent as Fidelis!
(somber music continues)
But you have not come all this
way for a plant, have you?
You are seeking shadows, are you not?
You've seen it too?
Come with me.
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(creature growling)
What do they want?
Their mission is simple.
To bring darkness to the world.
Are those the being that
attacked Father Fidelis
and left him for dead?
Left for dead?
No!
No! Father Fidelis was not
left for dead, Father Matthew.
He was murdered on my front step.
(somber music continues)
No. No, that cannot be.
I'm sorry to be the one to tell you.
I saw it with my own eyes.
Fidelis was a man of faith,
but that was not enough.
It is the faithful that
are challenged the most
in this fallen world.
Perhaps you understand.
And those responsible?
Such evil will always
be found in this world
if one is willing to look for it.
A lesson Father Fidelis
learned with his last breath.
(birds chirping)
I hope my words last night
did not cause you alarm.
Quite the contrary, brother.
We are on the right path.
A path that leads to darkness.
Darkness that can only
exist in the human soul.
I often told my followers that
we were left here, live
on the edge of a blade.
You will soon find out what
exists beyond the blade.
(birds chirping)
See you in the next life,
Father, should there be one.
(somber enchanted music)
Keep staring at the sky
like that, you'll go blind.
Father Dominic said that
he died on the steps of the church.
That he had been killed, Roam.
How does a man die and then
just get back up again?
Yeah, you of all people
are asking that question.
Fidelis was a man of God, I assume.
But why would God resurrect
him just so he could die again?
They're all over the world, Priest.
Everybody everywhere has got a reason why
they are who they are.
You know I'm Byzantine.
Yeah, I know. I know.
There's some dying people there.
Forget it.
Dominic said it would be only
a half a day's walk away.
Yeah. If you trust him.
[Matthew] Don't you?
There's something off about
this whole business, Priest.
(shadow growling)
(Roam screaming) (shadow growling)
(dramatic music)
(Roam groaning)
(shadow growling)
(dramatic music continues)
(shadow growling)
(shadow groans)
(Roam panting)
[Matthew] We should retreat.
We're over-matched.
I'm not turning back now, Priest.
You wanna die fighting
against them, don't you?
This is the first time
you've met tangible evil
and you just wanna destroy
yourself against it.
Run back to the Bishop
if you like, Priest.
(somber music)
(water rushing)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
If the monk is right,
this should be the place.
You think there's any chance
we'll find that little girl alive?
Look!
Tears of blood.
(insects buzzing)
Let's get back to the road.
Maybe we'll get lucky.
Doing what?
(somber mysterious music)
(somber mysterious music continues)
(creature coos)
(somber mysterious music continues)
(creature coos)
(somber mysterious music continues)
(creature coos)
(somber mysterious music continues)
(sword slices)
(bodies slam)
(leaves rustling)
(footsteps running)
(somber mysterious music continues)
(cult member pants and laughs)
(Roam sighs deeply)
(somber mysterious music)
(somber mysterious music continues)
(swords clanging)
(fighters grunt and groan)
(Cultist panting)
(Cultist growls)
(Cultist grunts)
Stop! Take off your mask and
put it on the ground slowly.
Don't make me kill you.
(sword scrapes)
(somber mysterious music continues)
In the name of God, stay back!
(Cultist gurgles)
(body thuds)
(leaves rustling)
I taught you how to
fire that thing, didn't I?
Let's got him off the road.
There'll be more coming.
(leaves rustling)
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(water rushing)
(sword scrapes)
(sword thuds)
If we encounter any trouble,
do not be so quick to
sacrifice yourself, Sir Roam.
You can trust in God's plan.
I'm reminded of a Proverb.
31:6.
I cannot say I recall
this one at the moment.
Give strong drink to
him whose life is ending.
Now you're not one to drink, Priest,
but this is the occasion for it.
(somber music)
(Matthew chuckles)
(somber music continues)
Thank you.
(Roam laughs cheerfully)
(somber music continues)
(somber mysterious music)
(somber mysterious music continues)
(somber mysterious music continues)
(footsteps marching)
(somber music)
(horse whinnies)
(somber music continues)
(footstep scuffling)
(somber music continues)
(bell clanging)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(bell clanging)
(bell clanging)
(Cultists chanting rhythmically)
[Cultist] Stay in the light.
Fuck off!
They're losing their minds.
There's Maria!
Get her and let's find a
way out of this nightmare.
(somber music)
(footsteps crunching)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(swords clashing)
Maria.
Maria!
It is very important
for you to come with me.
I'm here to bring you back home.
But I am home.
This is home.
But what happened to your sister?
She was punished for leaving, was she not?
El-Athir exiled my abductress.
But I am to be rewarded for my returning,
tonight at the ceremony.
The shadow that chased you?
What about the shadows that chased you?
They chased me away from my abductress.
Oh!
(somber dramatic music)
No! Unhand me!
No! Wait! No! No!
Roam!
(Matthew gurgling and choking)
Help!
(gurgling and groaning)
(coughing harshly)
Oh!
(mysterious suspenseful
buzzing and whirring)
(mysterious suspenseful
buzzing and whirring continues)
(mysterious suspenseful
buzzing and whirring continues)
(footsteps crunching)
(somber music)
(Roam sighs deeply)
(Cultist laughing hysterically)
(Cultist laughing hysterically)
(group laughing hysterically)
(group laughing hysterically)
(mysterious suspenseful music)
(mysterious suspenseful
buzzing and whirring)
(mysterious suspenseful
buzzing and whirring continues)
(creature screams)
(mysterious suspenseful
buzzing and whirring continues)
(creature screams)
(thunder crashes)
(water dripping)
(water dripping)
[El-Athir] Arise.
(water dripping)
(water dripping)
(feet scuffling)
Matthew.
How is it that you know my name?
[El-Athir] You know your name,
therefore I know your name.
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
(Cultist growling)
(body thuds)
(somber music continues)
[Idosik] You have made a
grave mistake in coming here,
Sir Roam of the Rhineland.
Idosik.
I'm disappointed.
I heard you were dead.
Only to be reborn through El-Athir.
Reborn for what? Madness and murder.
All war is, is madness and murder.
You were a fine soldier, Sir Roam.
But you lacked the vision to truly see.
See you've lost your mind.
(bow clicks)
(Cultist gurgles)
Your beloved cross bow. (laughs)
I had almost forgotten
your amusing little
eccentricities, Sir Roam.
Why don't we settle this in the old way?
Still mired in the old
world sense of honor I see.
You never could find a
hole to crawl into and die.
I want him alive!
(Roam sighs)
But more dead than alive.
(laughs maniacally)
(somber dramatic music)
(Cultist groans)
(somber dramatic music continues)
(Cultist growls)
(somber dramatic music continues)
(Cultist growling)
(swords clanging)
(Roam grunts and groans)
(Roam grunts and hollers)
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(footsteps clunking)
So the Whore of Babylon
has chosen to grace us
with her presence.
I've come for my sister.
Where is she?
And I've come to ask for your forgiveness
for abandoning you.
And I've come to offer myself up to you
to bear your son, a strong son,
a son to carry forth your
name and your legacy.
On the condition that my
sister's life is spared.
And I've come to be a faithful wife,
to serve you until the day I die.
Should that day come.
(hand slaps)
Idosik!
I know you to be just!
But these are not the acts of a just man!
Ah!
El-Athir does not see fit
to bore me with sermons
of cheap moralities, Monk.
(body thuds)
I have been un-yoked from
the vice of righteousness.
You should not have come
back, my little Jezebel.
Idosik!
It exhibits poor judgment.
(somber music)
(Cultists singing in foreign language)
[Leader] My children!
Much work has been done
and El-Athir is pleased!
We fashion the world into our kin!
(group chatters)
[Leader] In his skin,
we live again my children.
The promise of El-Athir
will come to fruition!
We will depart these lands soon enough
to spread the seeds we have sown here!
But first,
we must attend to an imposter in our midst.
By morning El-Athir will have
turned our most fearsome enemy
into a devout and resurrected follower.
And then we will all indulge
in the blood of El-Athir!
In his skin,
we live again, my children.
(El-Athir growls and chatters)
[El-Athir] Matthew.
Breathe in.
(somber mysterious music)
I am familiar with your tactics, Matthew.
What you cannot understand you must hate!
I would hate those that
would murder a child.
Those that call themselves
disciples of El-Athir.
[El-Athir] I answer
to many names, Matthew.
El-Athir in these parts, fear in others,
and some lands I am known
only as the setting Sun.
(rocks rumbling)
[Cultist] I have just received word
on the fate of Sir Roam.
He chose death rather than servitude.
Noble but expected.
He was more gold than man.
[Cultist] He killed
many of our followers.
Was expected.
Bring his body forth.
El-Athir may yet draw power from him.
[Cultist] As you wish, my Lord.
Ah!
Ah!
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
(Isabelle groaning and grunting)
(grunting and groaning)
[Guard] Whoa!
[Cultist] Bring forth the fallen angel!
Here is the great enemy of El-Athir!
Laid low like a dog.
May we now release his body
for the shadows to devour.
Roam. Fitting name for a
man who never found peace.
[Assistant] What of our survivor?
[Cultist] The survivor of the fray.
Bring him forth!
He must be honored!
(footsteps stomping)
(water dripping)
(somber music)
What are you?
Some ancient demon?
[El-Athir] Your narrow-mindedness
may define me as such,
where you see only black
and white absolutions.
If you would join me,
I would show you what is
beyond such constructs.
What is beyond such feeble
human understanding.
Is it not by the blood of innocents
that we have laid our foundation?
Do you not draw strength from your Christ?
I don't draw strength from evil!
(El-Athir chuckles grimly)
[El-Athir] Am I evil
because I liberate myself from morality?
Morality is...
It's not a human construct.
It's not a prison we seek to escape from.
It's what protects us from sin like you.
[El-Athir] Do you feel protected?
Protected from the violence you encourage?
I would encourage nothing of the sort.
(Isabelle panting)
(sword scraping)
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
[Cultist] Rise, my son.
(Roam panting)
You have done us a tremendous service.
Are your wounds so severe?
(sword slices)
(Cultist gasps and gurgles)
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
[El-Athir] You yourself
preach that anger is needed.
Anger at your own God.
No!
It's impossible.
It's the freedom that God gives us.
[El-Athir] It is merely
the way of man, Matthew.
Why else would your church
demand war a half world away
if not for your own
land to remain in peace?
No.
Can't be.
(somber music)
(insect buzzing)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
[Cultist] Here!
Yes!
Here he comes!
Glory be to El-Athir!
Our exalted survivor.
We will baptize you in shadow, my son.
[Roam] Where's the girl?
[Leader] Ah! You seek to
free her spirit yourself?
You are a true believer indeed.
Bring me a vial of the red
flower for our proud survivor.
[Roam] And the priest?
[Leader] You wish to kill him too?
You have been soiled in
combats, have you not?
He is being converted as we speak.
Soon we will have another
priest in our ranks.
It can't be.
We can end war, Matthew.
Forever!
It can't be you.
[El-Athir] It can, Matthew.
It is.
Through El-Athir, all is possible.
He need only gather the faithful to him.
Like fruit on the vine
to be plucked and eaten?
To be driven mad like you?
It was my destiny to
bring you here, Matthew.
What of the shadows?
[El-Athir] They only work on cross minds.
They reflect anger cultivated by another.
They need our guidance in
death just as they did in life.
That's madness!
You harvest their souls to what end?
[El-Athir] There will be no end, Matthew.
We will continue onward,
immortal and perfect forever.
Join us!
[El-Athir] Fidelis serves as my feet.
You would be my beating heart.
Then you have feet of clay.
No.
Your Antichrist blood won't
intoxicate me forever.
I'll be rid of its effect soon enough.
Join us!
Join us!
Join us!
Join us!
Join us!
(footsteps scuffling)
[El-Athir] You have no
agency in your fate, Matthew.
My will will take root
in the Earth and grow
while you will shrink and decay.
At least
I'll have died a free man.
[El-Athir] Freedom?
The sole flaw of your Creator.
How many among your faith embrace His name
and yet disavow Him in their next breath?
It's our flaws that make us human.
[El-Athir] It is your flaws
that make you interesting.
For nothing is sadder than a bored God
who lives only through
His flawed creations.
Thankfully I do not share this affliction.
Farewell, Father Matthew.
(Cultist gurgling)
(somber dramatic music)
(somber dramatic music continues)
(Leader grunts and groans)
Unhand him, Roam.
Where's the priest?
He's in shadow doing
battle with El-Athir.
What is El-Athir?
Nothing you can understand.
(Leader groans)
You can kill him. (laughs)
[Leader] You are too late, Knight!
You fought well.
You are defeated!
Accept it!
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
You're tired, Sir Roam.
You need rest.
Rest you won't find in
the service of the Church!
(Leader squealing)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(bottle shatters and fizzes)
[Leader] Ah! Oh!
(liquid fizzes)
(mysterious buzzing and chattering)
(mysterious buzzing and
chattering continues)
(mysterious buzzing and
chattering continues)
[Leader] Peace, children! Peace!
We mustn't fight amongst ourselves!
Oh!
Oh! Oh!
Oh!
(leaves rustling)
(fighters grunt and groan)
These fools lack faith, dear daughter
The time draws nigh and they
cannot control themselves.
We must seek safety in the tower
and commence with the ceremony.
Yes, Father.
(Cultist growls)
(pot clanging)
(pot shatters)
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
(swords clashing)
(Cultist gurgles)
(somber music continues)
Do you know why El-Athir calls us
to reward the child's faith?
Because in all things he's good.
Yes, my beloved.
In all things he is good.
(somber music continues)
Step forward.
Good of you to join us, dear wife.
We can partake as a family.
(somber music)
Such poor judgment.
(swords clashing)
Take your own life, Isabelle,
while you have the chance.
For tomorrow, you will have wished you had.
(swords clashing)
(somber dramatic music)
Still doing the bishop's
knife work, sir Roam?
Still fighting for a god
you don't believe in?
(swords clashing)
Or perhaps war is your god?
(swords clashing)
(fighters groan)
(swords clashing)
(somber dramatic music continues)
(swords clashing)
(somber dramatic music continues)
It's not a bad death, Sir Roam.
You fought with purpose today.
The purpose you lacked your entire life.
You'll have to excuse me now.
There's a ceremony that must be performed.
No!
(dramatic drumming music)
(sword clangs)
(somber enchanted music)
(fighters grunt and groan)
(dramatic music)
(dramatic music continues)
(dramatic music continues)
(body thuds)
(Idosik gurgling and gasping)
(Roam panting)
More than a war bride indeed.
I can fix you up.
Don't bother.
I've long been spent.
Get your kin and get outta here.
(somber music)
(waves lapping)
(somber music continues)
(trees creaking)
(waves lapping)
(somber music continues)
(waves lapping)
(somber victorious music)
(waves lapping)
(waves lapping)
(somber victorious music continues)
(waves lapping)
(waves lapping)
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
(footsteps crunching)
(somber music continues)
[Cult member] We seek
your guidance, Master.
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber mysterious music)
(somber mysterious music continues)
(somber mysterious music continues)
(somber pulsing music)
(somber pulsing music continues)
(somber pulsing music continues)
(somber pulsing music continues)
(somber enchanted music)
(no audio)
(no audio)
(no audio)
(no audio)