Chapter 3: Ghouls on the Green Line

Arthur woke to the sound of Kael's boots stomping across the office floor and the acrid smell of coffee that could probably strip paint. Sunlight streamed through grimy windows, highlighting dust motes that danced like tiny spirits in the air.

"Rise and shine, divine boy," Kael called from his desk, where he was already surrounded by case files and what looked like a half-eaten sandwich from sometime last week. "Time for your first lesson in supernatural pest control."

Arthur sat up on the couch, his back protesting every angle the ancient springs had forced him into during the night. The golden interface flickered to life in his vision, apparently an early riser itself.

DIVINE SYSTEM STATUS: RESTED NEW QUEST AVAILABLE: DESCENT INTO DARKNESS OBJECTIVE: Investigate the Green Line disappearances REWARD: Experience points, new abilities WARNING: Combat encounter likely

"Let me guess," Arthur said, rubbing his eyes. "The missing persons case isn't going to be a simple matter of filing paperwork and interviewing witnesses."

"You're learning." Kael tossed him a thermos of coffee and what might have been a bagel, though Arthur couldn't be entirely sure. "Subway maintenance reported strange sounds coming from the abandoned sections of the Green Line tunnels. Sounds like screaming, only not quite human. Plus, three more people went missing last night—all within six blocks of the Riverside station."

Arthur accepted the questionable breakfast and tried not to think too hard about what the coffee might contain. "And you think this is connected to the shadow wraith from last night?"

"Everything's connected, lad. That's the first rule of this business." Kael pulled on a shoulder holster that looked older than Arthur's exile, checking the cylinder of a revolver that definitely wasn't standard police issue. The weapon was covered in intricate engravings that seemed to shift and pulse with their own inner light. "Second rule: when in doubt, bring more firepower than you think you'll need."

QUEST ACCEPTED: DESCENT INTO DARKNESS OBJECTIVE UPDATE: Follow Kael to the Green Line investigation BONUS OBJECTIVE: Learn to use your divine abilities in combat

The subway entrance at Riverside station looked normal enough during the morning rush hour—commuters hurrying past with their coffee and newspapers, the usual urban rhythm of people trying to get somewhere else as quickly as possible. But Arthur could sense something underneath the mundane surface, like a discordant note in an otherwise familiar song.

"You feel it, don't you?" Kael asked as they descended the concrete steps. "Your new senses picking up the wrongness?"

Arthur nodded. It was subtle but definitely there—a cold current running beneath the normal sounds and smells of the subway system. Something that made his skin crawl and his newly awakened divine nature recoil.

"The abandoned tunnels are through here," Kael said, leading him past a maintenance door marked with warnings in three languages. The dwarf produced a set of lockpicks that looked suspiciously professional. "City sealed them off five years ago when they rerouted this section, but the homeless population found ways in. Made themselves a little community down there."

The door opened with a click that echoed strangely in the narrow corridor beyond. Emergency lighting cast everything in sickly yellow, and the air tasted of rust and something else—something organic and wrong.

"Kael," Arthur said, his voice smaller than he'd intended. "I should probably mention that I've never actually been in a fight. Not a real one."

The dwarf paused, looking back at him with an expression that might have been sympathy. "Your god didn't choose you for your combat experience, lad. He chose you because you've got the heart to try when others would run." Kael's grin was sharp. "Besides, that's what divine magic is for."

They descended into the tunnels, following a maintenance walkway that ran parallel to the old tracks. The silence was oppressive, broken only by the distant drip of water and the occasional scurry of unseen creatures. Arthur's enhanced senses were going haywire—every shadow seemed to move, every echo carried hints of whispers.

ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD DETECTED CORRUPTED MAGICAL ENERGY PRESENT RECOMMEND CAUTION

"There," Kael whispered, pointing ahead to where the tunnel opened into a wider area that had once been a station platform. "You see them?"

Arthur squinted into the gloom and felt his blood turn to ice. Huddled around makeshift fires were shapes that had once been human. Their skin was mottled gray-green, stretched tight over too-prominent bones. Their eyes reflected the firelight like an animal's, and when they moved, it was with the jerky, unnatural gait of marionettes controlled by a drunk puppeteer.

"Ghouls," Kael breathed. "But not natural ones. Something's been feeding them corrupted magic, changing them faster than should be possible."

One of the creatures looked up, its nostrils flaring as it caught their scent. It let out a sound that was part growl, part sob, and entirely inhuman. The others began to turn, their movements becoming more agitated.

"Kael," Arthur said, backing toward the entrance they'd come through. "Maybe we should—"

The first ghoul launched itself at them with impossible speed.

Kael's revolver boomed in the confined space, the bullet striking the creature center mass and exploding in a shower of silver sparks. The ghoul stumbled but didn't fall, its wounds already beginning to close with sickening wet sounds.

"Enchanted rounds," Kael explained tersely, already taking aim at the next attacker. "But they're not staying down. Whatever's powering these things is stronger than usual."

More ghouls were emerging from the shadows—at least a dozen, maybe more. They moved in coordination that spoke of intelligence behind the feral facade, spreading out to surround the two intruders.

Arthur felt panic rising in his throat. This wasn't like the movies or the adventure stories he'd read as a child. This was real terror, real claws and real teeth, and he had no idea what he was supposed to do with the divine power thrumming through his veins.

COMBAT INITIATED RECOMMENDATION: Channel divine energy through righteous purpose REMEMBER: You are not fighting monsters—you are protecting the innocent

The interface's reminder struck something deep in Arthur's memory. These had been people once. Homeless, forgotten, preyed upon by something that had twisted them into abominations. They were victims, not villains.

A ghoul leaped at Kael from behind while the dwarf was reloading. Without thinking, Arthur threw himself forward, his hand reaching out toward the creature.

"Stop!" he shouted, and power flowed out of him like liquid light.

The ghoul froze mid-leap, suspended in a column of golden radiance that poured from Arthur's outstretched palm. For a moment, the creature's face twisted with something that might have been recognition, might have been gratitude.

Then it dissolved into ash.

ABILITY UNLOCKED: TURN UNDEAD DIVINE ENERGY DEPLETED: 40% COMBAT EFFECTIVENESS: MODERATE

"Not bad for a first try," Kael grunted, putting two more enchanted rounds into a ghoul that was trying to flank them. "But we've got bigger problems."

Arthur followed his gaze deeper into the platform area, where something much larger was emerging from what had once been a newsstand. This ghoul was different—bigger, more coherent, wearing the tattered remains of what might have been a security guard's uniform. When it spoke, its voice was like gravel in a blender.

"Intruders," it said, raising what Arthur realized was a badge still clipped to its decaying chest. "This... is a restricted... area."

"That one's still got some of its mind left," Kael whispered. "The corruption hasn't finished with it yet."

The alpha ghoul—for lack of a better term—gestured to its pack. They began advancing in formation, showing tactical awareness that made Arthur's skin crawl.

"Can you do that light trick again?" Kael asked, ejecting spent shells and reloading with practiced efficiency.

Arthur looked at his hands, still tingling with residual divine energy. The interface showed his power reserves dropping steadily, but there was something else—a warmth in his chest that had nothing to do with magic and everything to do with purpose.

"I can try," he said.

What followed was less a battle than a desperate experiment in applied theology. Arthur discovered he could channel his divine energy in ways the interface hadn't explicitly outlined—creating barriers of solid light to protect Kael from claws, healing minor wounds with a touch, even projecting his voice with supernatural authority that made the ghouls hesitate.

But it was draining him fast, and there were too many of them.

"The corruption source," Kael shouted over the sound of gunfire and inhuman screams. "It's got to be here somewhere, feeding them power. Find it!"

Arthur pressed himself against the tunnel wall, dodging a ghoul's swipe while scanning the platform area. There—behind the alpha ghoul, where the old ticket booth would have been. A pool of something that definitely wasn't water was spreading across the floor, glowing with the same sickly light he'd seen in the shadow wraith's wounds.

"There!" he pointed. "Behind the big one!"

Kael cursed in what sounded like Old Dwarven. "That's magical runoff, all right. Industrial strength. Someone's been dumping corrupted energy down here like toxic waste."

The alpha ghoul turned toward Arthur, its remaining eye fixing on him with uncomfortable intelligence. "You... smell like... the old gods," it said. "The forgotten... ones."

"Yeah," Arthur said, raising his hands as golden light began to gather around his fingers. "And you smell like something that needs to be put out of its misery."

He poured everything he had left into one massive surge of divine energy—not the targeted beam he'd used before, but a wave of purifying light that washed over the entire platform. Ghouls shrieked and dissolved, the corrupted pool began to bubble and steam, and the alpha ghoul stood in the center of it all, its form beginning to waver.

"Thank... you," it whispered as the light consumed it. "I... remember... my name now."

Then it was over. The tunnels fell silent except for the sound of Arthur collapsing to his knees, completely drained.

COMBAT COMPLETE EXPERIENCE GAINED: 150 XP LEVEL UP AVAILABLE DIVINE ENERGY DEPLETED: 95% STATUS: EXHAUSTED BUT VICTORIOUS

Kael helped him to his feet, the dwarf's expression mixing approval with concern. "Well done, lad. But this is just the beginning. Someone's been using these tunnels as a dumping ground for magical waste, and whoever that someone is, they're not going to be happy that we've cleaned up their mess."

Arthur nodded weakly, leaning against the tunnel wall for support. Through his exhaustion, he could feel something new—a sense of completion, of having done something that mattered. The forgotten homeless who'd become ghouls were at peace now, and the source of corruption had been cleansed.

But Kael was right. This was just the beginning.

As they made their way back toward the surface, Arthur's interface helpfully provided one final update:

NEW QUEST AVAILABLE: FOLLOW THE TRAIL OBJECTIVE: Investigate the source of the magical corruption WARNING: You have attracted hostile attention

Arthur sighed and followed Kael up the stairs toward daylight, wondering what he'd gotten himself into.

He had a feeling he was about to find out.