[color=E83125]"This damnable city is a fucking labyrinth!"[/color]

After spending an entire week navigating the streets of this hellhole of a city Gale had only found Ahriman's castle less than an hour ago; and now found himself in the same hallway for the third time. Frankly, the former knight had been hesitant to even accept the Demon Lord's invitation in the first place even if it provided the perfect opportunity to strike at the very heart of the Church. 

[color=E83125]"As if agreeing to hear out the proposal of a creature I've spent more than half my life training to kill wasn't bad enough-- I have to undertake a one man expedition to even FIND the damn meeting!"[/color] 

The mounting frustration of having to navigate days worth of winding passages of varying size and complexity finally surfaced in a string of curses as a raving Gale repeatedly kicked the nearest wall. By the time his nerves had calmed, the man had nearly split the toe of one of the boots he'd gotten just before braving the needlessly long trek through the endless complex of buildings and strongholds that demonkind called home. [color=E83125]"Truly, only something so twisted as [i]demons[/i] could design a city as torturous as this."[/color] Gale muttered to himself as he shook his head in frustration. At this rate, he was liable to miss the meeting entirely.

[color=E83125]"Maybe I could--"[/color]

Before getting the chance to finish his thought out loud, a blur falling past a nearby window caught Gale's attention. The man's brow furrowed in confusion as he tried to determine what the hell he'd just witnessed. Did demons actually commit suicide? Or had a servant failed their lord for the last time and been simply tossed out the window?

Regardless of the cause-- whoever had just fallen out the side of the building may have been carrying a map of the place, and Gale had every intent to make use of it for himself. Upon glancing out the window to determine if the demon's corpse was somewhere he could get to, the former knight was pleasantly surprised to find that it was neither a corpse or a demon that had passed the window... The person he'd seen drop was nothing other than a fellow human! 

Though Gale had no idea where the woman had jumped down from, the woman seemed like she'd taken quite the drop. Clearly she was in a rush to get somewhere fast. What were the odds she might be headed to the same meeting Gale was looking for? They were certainly better than him wandering aimlessly through these halls until he found the room he was looking for.

[color=E83125]"Bah, to hell with it then!"[/color]

Prying open the window, Gale would follow the stranger's lead onto the balcony only a floor beneath him and tail her all the way to a lavish dining hall, stopping himself at the corner just before he'd enter the room. At long last he'd finally arrived at the meeting... 

But first, Gale needed to do one more thing before making his own entrance.

[hr]

In the doorway of the dining room; filled to the brim with fine foods and wine, the shadows seem to stir. Shapeless darkness became hardened edges, vague outlines focused into humanoid form, heavy steps echoed, the air grew heavy with cold, creeping dread.

The Black Knight stepped into the dining hall, closing his fist and folding a single arm across his chest in salute to Lord Ahriman as  the colossus would respectfully bow his head. Without so much as a single word the Knight took his place behind one of the table's many seats, opting to instead stand for the remainder of this gathering.