Part III - An Inconvenient Corpse

After quickly extinguishing the magical fire, Jason and Kendra looked at each other, then around the room. Everyone seemed to be very studiously not looking in their direction. Jason swept the ashes to the floor and the ring into his pouch.

"We've got to get your guest out of here, along with us." Jason muttered in low tones. "I'd bet my next meal someone will show up looking for him, and soon."

"I wouldn't take that bet." Kendra agreed. "But he's a pretty big fellow and there's not much we can do to hide the fact that he's dead, or unconscious."

"I know your Patron is a Goddess of Light and Life, but just how unhappy would she be with a brief Zombie Spell?" Jason asked.

Kendra winced, "I'd rather not ask."

"Let's go upstairs. We'd better get a good look at the problem." Jason said, then continued in a louder voice "Sure, why not? I'll flip him for Head or Tail!"
Kendra's dark eyes flashed with both amusement and anger. He'd scored in their long-running game. But she went upstairs without another word.

When they got to her room, he began laying a tracing of finely ground herbs across the threshold and the window. He muttered something under his breath that did not sound like human speech and then touched a candle flame to each line of herbs. They began to smolder and shortly a curtain of smoke stood where each line of herbs had been.

"OK, we won't be disturbed for a while. That smoke causes people and animals to find somewhere else to be. " Jason said.

"I'd almost rather drop him off downstairs and wait for someone to put him in the alley." Kendra said.

"I think it's time to hire a couple of strong backs and get him out of the city." Jason said.

"Of course we have to get him out of the city. The question is where do we put him? If we drop the body anywhere nearby the assumption will be that we killed him and left the corpse as an insult." Kendra said.

Jason began to pace. The room wasn't really big enough for pacing, but he paced anyway. "You know, maybe we don't need to get him out of town. Maybe what we need to do is get him out of the tavern and into the Temple of the Dead, like any other unclaimed body." he said.

Kendra paused in thought. "If he is being tracked the Temple of Death is a good place for them to find a body...As long as you and I aren't found, too. The questions asked would be awkward, to say the least."

"Yes, I always find being tortured into a confession awkward." Jason agreed wryly.

Kendra continued, "My patron isn't very fond of the Temple of the Dead, so you'll have to take him in. Now, the real problem is how to get a big, dead man out of here in broad daylight without anyone noticing."

Jason asked, "Since the Zombie Spell is off limits, could you ask Her to work a small miracle on our behalf? Would she drop a short don't-notice-me on him?"

Kendra smiled. "That, I think I can manage." She gracefully knelt on the floor in the middle of the room and began to pray softly. As she prayed, Jason brought a pair of unlit candles and placed them just in front of her. After a few moments of prayer, the candles began to glow softly. They looked as if they were lit by an unseen flame.

Kendra looked up at Jason and smiled with the same blissful look she normally got when she had been in communion with her Goddess. "It is done." she said. Then with more-than-human strength she lifted the corpse from the bed and headed down the stairs. Jason quickly cleared the mess they had made in the room and hurried after her.