Dead Men Walking, Part 2

The procession continued uneventfully until Sam and Raven Knight drew close enough to the canyon wall to see what was happening by the city gates. Two rows of black spartoi stood at either side of the opening between the heavy metal iron doors. At their head was a spirit one couldn’t call a shade. This spirit didn’t have a hood over its head as most shades did. Sam could clearly see the features of its face. Also, the heavy metal iron behind it didn’t seem to affect the spirit. It shone brightly and seemed more filled with life than even the Phylarch’s people whose forms had been strengthened by their convictions.

He was a man, big like Dr. Hearthstone, but with a belly so large Sam assumed this ghostly figure had lived an excessive life before his death. Long wavy hair flowed down his shoulders. They framed a pudgy face with slanted eyes below a wide brow with zero eyebrows, a big button nose, and thick lips currently fixed in a sneer.