Gardinal looked back to the entrance and saw the large daemon steadying itself again and looking to Her Radiance once more. The remaining hound-like beasts circling him and her.

Helpless.

Gardinal felt panic begin to take him, felt the cold shadow form around his mind again. Children screaming, soldiers dying. He was in the Shaded Lands; life being snuffed out in an instant as he…

Gardinal focused. Now was not the time to be lost in memory.

Gritting his teeth, Gardinal made his mind. She was more important than the rest of them, more important than anyone, and he would do anything for her. Anything. Rising, forcing himself to rise, he steadied himself, and glanced at the Prophetess. At the beautiful child who had given his useless life meaning.

“Run.” He whispered, just loud enough for her to hear. “Just… run.” Then he charged, rushing across the water straight into the large daemon. The two met, and Gardinal felt that brick wall of flesh hold firm once more. Ignoring the exhaustion, the pain, he focused all his thoughts to prayer.

“First Mother Most Merciful, watch over me in my final moments.” He began to sing, his voice rough and scratchy. “Bring my salvation.” He raised his voice. “Bring me your daughters hope.” He shouted. “Bring me your son’s valor.” He screamed, bashing his glowing shield into the daemon. “And if I should meet you this day.” He roared, beating against the Chaos spawn, praying that Celeste had moved. “Then bring me your husband’s justice, and know that I come to you, humbled and weak.” With his very last ounce of strength, Gardinal slammed the bottom edge of his shield into the daemon’s chest. Striking it true, without any Light left to proffer the armament, he felt the metal sink into the monster.

Gardinal fell to his knees, letting the shield slip from his arm. Looking up at it, seeing the smoke that formed around the Chaos beast’s chest, Gardinal felt ill. It still stood, strong and hungry, sneering down at him.

Please Mother. He prayed, too weak now to even speak aloud. Please protect her.

The daemon slashed Gardinal, digging deep into his neck as blood pooled up in throat. He fell into the water, his head lolling to the side.

Then he saw her, sitting in the water where he had left her. Her eyes glistened in the low light, one silver and one gold, he felt those eyes staring back at him. Run. He tried to mouth, but his lips were too cold. Frozen, they would not move. She looked back at him, her brow furrowing in concentration.

The Prophetess exploded in light. A wave of silver-teal life rushing across the room, suddenly making daylight out of darkness. Her entire form radiated with energy, silver-teal light beading off her in thick globules of divine energy that seemed to rise out of her and seep into the stone roof above. A pool of glistening light illuminating the space.

And within Gardinal, he felt it too. A powerful tugging upon his soul. Rising, he found his body flooded with energy. It flowed through him, like forge-fire in his veins. It felt incredible, a power beyond anything he had ever felt before. It felt like…

It felt like the first time she had ever healed him, all those years ago now. But somehow more so. Then he felt like he could scale mountains, now he felt as though he could tear the mountain down to size. He felt unbreakable, and as he looked down at his arms, no longer bloodied and injured but whole and strong, he saw that silver teal light begin to take form around him. Shaping itself into gauntlets of pure light that wrapped his hands.

His breath was calm, but within his heartbeat raged, a drumbeat stronger than any war march. Staring over at Her Radiance, all he could do was watch in shock. The Prophetess. He thought in awe. In a heartbeat of her floating there, she exuded a thousand-fold the amount of Light he had called for in his whole life. A… a true miracle. He realized in shock. Not even Shelezan himself could heal without touch. Here, she had brought him back from the brink of death in the blink of an eye, from across a room.

Gardinal’s stomach sank as a hound leapt through the air. The beast collided with the Prophetess, knocking her from the air. The light blinked out all at once as its claws met her flesh. Then the hound burst into pure white flames, its body ash in an instant. But the damage was done. Her Radiance collapsed to the water unconscious, face down in the ankle-deep water. She didn’t move.

Gardinal forced himself forward, but though he was no longer dying, the exhaustion set in like a zealous vanguard. Pressing against his bones as though they were front lines to be broken. It didn’t matter, he would not let the Prophetess drown. Pulling himself across the waterlogged floor, he felt daemons leaping onto him now, the battle once more in full swing. Claw and tooth dug into Gardinal’s back, the power latent in the girl’s miracle now only a memory. It didn’t matter. She was in danger again. She needed him.

Pain and blood seeped out of him in equal measure, but Gardinal reached the Prophetess and pushed her over. She spluttered instinctively for a moment, water leaving her lungs, but despite being unconscious she looked to breathe once more. Gardinal forced a pained smile down at her trembling form, pain crashing against his joy as a Chaos hound wrapped its gnarled jaw around his leg.

Helpless, lost, with no more hope in the world, Gardinal did the last thing he could do for her. He covered the Prophetess with his body. So that perhaps they would kill him, and she would be forgotten. Perhaps.

Pain wracked him with every strike against his body, and dumbly, somewhere, he saw Kriss and Vallerian back-to-back trying their best to stay alive. Brave men, if foolish. They were all going to die here. All of them. All because he had been foolish enough to agree to come. Fool enough to trust that the Jöln wasn’t sent by the cult. Likely nobody even knew they were here.

Perhaps the Korek would find their bodies eventually. Rekiak seemed an honest man. Maybe they would put him to rest. Let them save her at least. He prayed, looking down at her pale face, gentle breaths escaping her pale lips, despite his considerable weight atop her. Looking at her, the pain that wracked his body seemed negligible. She had a chance, a slim one, but a chance.

The strikes stopped, Gardinal realized. It was a faint realization, like that which was found in a dream.

Somewhere, as if through a long pipe, he heard the din of battle. Mighty battle, as if dozens of men were fighting powerful beasts. He heard shouts and commands. Light bounced across the water. Warm golden light. A mighty red light. A playful violet light. All shooting across the space in moments. He saw fire, flickering buildings in the distance beneath a perpetually cloud covered sky.

“Brother Gardinal, what is… by the holy First Mother.” A familiar stern voice sounded in his ears. The bishop? “You there!” The Bishop Shelezan shouted. “Get over here, the Prophetess is injured!’

Gardinal felt hands wrap around him, then summarily pushed him away, cool water taking him. Good. He thought. They will save her, she will survive.

“You look truly awful.” Another familiar voice, this one accompanied by the smell of wine. “Fear not brother Gardinal, I am here now. You are safe.” Derenath of the Golden Rose said to him calmly, lifting Gardinal up in strong arms.