Ned did not have any particular duty assigned to him, and went back to the church, which now bore so little resemblance to a house of worship.

He gazed curiously at the battered carvings and images over the door.

They looked almost grotesque to him now, and some of them threatened.
He went inside the church and looked around once more.

It was old, very old.

The grayness of age showed everywhere, and the silence of the defenders on the walls deepened its ancient aspect.