It was only on the day of the Yulan Festival that Loa learned the Dark Church held its grand ceremony at night.
That surprised him a little. The Radiant Church held all its celebrations during the day, lively affairs with hymns sung in the sunlight, bright and open however you looked at them. The Dark Church, on the other hand, chose to hold theirs at night.
Myron said this was called "returning to the source." Darkness was the beginning of all things, as well as their end. Holding it at night was in keeping with their doctrine.
Loa listened and let it pass.
At nearly nine that evening, Myron led him toward the Dark Temple. Cass and several guards followed at a distance, keeping well back. The closer they got to the temple, the more crowded the streets became, until they were practically shoulder to shoulder. Only when they reached the square in front of the temple did Loa see the sheer scale of the gathering-
Hundreds of thousands of people.
A dense, dark sea of people packed the entire square. Men and women, young and old, nobles and commoners, black-robed clerics and armored knights-all stood quietly, no one speaking or moving about.
A gigantic Fallen Angel statue stood in the center of the square-much like the one at the Radiant Temple, except black. Before it, the Dark Pope, archbishops, priests, and temple knights stood in a row. Surrounded by the others at the center, the pope was wreathed in a faint dark glow.
Farther ahead, the royal families of the Dark Alliance's various kingdoms and the grand dukes of its many duchies also stood in solemn silence. No one dared make a sound.
Loa and Myron stood at the edge of the crowd and looked over.
The entire square