The book was old. Allan could smell the age on its pages even before he got close. It wasn't a bad smell, quite the opposite. Old books contained knowledge potentially lost to others -- only to be found by someone else. Someone like him.
The Ascendancy stepped away allowing Allan space, instructing him to open the ancient tome. Allan stood in front of the red leather with gold embossing. The snake biting its tail. That was more important than the pentagram in the middle. It was a distraction. "The snake. I've seen it before." Allan turned his attention to the Ascendancy, "When the images of the attack happened here in the bowles of the Kremlin. The leak. This image." Allan tapped the top of the book gently. "It was littered through the images that were shown."
"This is their mark." He said to himself as he undid each buckle carefully. "Seems a careless thing to do, marking yourself as some cultist. Nox didn't have the mark anywhere visible." Allan said casually. No he hadn't been checking the other man out after he removed his shirt. But he had just revealed he had looked at the man more closely than he should have. Maybe it would go unnoticed. Maybe not, but it didn't matter. "Do all Atharim carry the mark? Why aren't we hunting them all down and locking them up?"
Atharim were dangerous. They had attacked the Ascendancy twice that he knew of. But they had knowledge of monsters and the underground worlds and the occult.
But he let the distraction fade as he lifted the leather cover to reveal the first page. "Should I be using gloves or anything?" He looked to the Ascendancy for guidance.
The Ascendancy stepped away allowing Allan space, instructing him to open the ancient tome. Allan stood in front of the red leather with gold embossing. The snake biting its tail. That was more important than the pentagram in the middle. It was a distraction. "The snake. I've seen it before." Allan turned his attention to the Ascendancy, "When the images of the attack happened here in the bowles of the Kremlin. The leak. This image." Allan tapped the top of the book gently. "It was littered through the images that were shown."
"This is their mark." He said to himself as he undid each buckle carefully. "Seems a careless thing to do, marking yourself as some cultist. Nox didn't have the mark anywhere visible." Allan said casually. No he hadn't been checking the other man out after he removed his shirt. But he had just revealed he had looked at the man more closely than he should have. Maybe it would go unnoticed. Maybe not, but it didn't matter. "Do all Atharim carry the mark? Why aren't we hunting them all down and locking them up?"
Atharim were dangerous. They had attacked the Ascendancy twice that he knew of. But they had knowledge of monsters and the underground worlds and the occult.
But he let the distraction fade as he lifted the leather cover to reveal the first page. "Should I be using gloves or anything?" He looked to the Ascendancy for guidance.