[In the temple basement]

The head librarian was breathing hard when he caught up to the guards who stood around frozen. Stepping past them he saw the forced door and nearly tripped over his own feet. All but choking on his indignation he screamed internally, The madman forced the door! The sacrilege! Is that? No! It is one of the holy texts, ON THE FLOOR?!

Beside him, the head priest recovered himself from the shock of the appalling scene, and began shouting orders. “Drag him out of there!”

The words seemed to shake the guards out of their trance. The closest one raced through the door and grabbed the lunatic by the collar. The half starved sobbing man turned as he was lifted to face the guard. Even from where the librarian stood, he could tell the watering eyes barely say the man in front of them. Instead they stared blankly up, as he mumbled incomprehensible nonsense.

“Get a hold of yourself!” The guard yelled, raising his hand. The large man brought it back down with enough force that the librarian cringed.

What happened next caused him to stare in disbelief. While the madman fell to his knees with a red mark on his face, the guard was thrown backwards. The guard landed hard on his back, at the librarian's feet and the librarian saw a quickly forming bruise covering the side of the guard’s face.

What happened? I did not even see the heretic move, much less strike him. He looked at the other guards to see they were backing away from the door with fear plainly written on their faces. The head priest stood frozen, a look of horror on his face.

Why is he? No it cannot be! The librarian looked back to the man on the floor and felt a sinking feeling. Starting at the lunatic he remembered a line from an old prayer for soldiers. May they find my cause worthy and repay the harm done to me thrice upon their enemies.

The mad priest that had been living in the basement raised him self back to his knees and stared at the ceiling. His voice half croaking through the tears, “She will make me worthy. Lac will make me worthy to speak her will…”

The librarian watched the blood drain from the head priest’s face, and could not help but shudder at the sound of the madman’s voice.

[White rooms]

The pain is gone. The single thought seemed to echo in Orn’s mind as he opened his eyes.

Above him, he saw Kao’s face, and the ceiling of a familiar white room. Recognizing the room as the one form his dream he instantly knew what happened. I died.

He knew the thought should have caused him to fell something but his emotions felt distant. Above him Kao kept looking past him to something off to his right. She looks so sad, I need to tell her...

“Thank you,” Orn managed smiling as he looked up at her.

“For what?” Her eyes did not move from the point she was staring at.

“For staying with me to the end.” He tried to turn his head to see what she was looking at, but she placed a hand on the side of his head to keep him facing up at her.

“Not yet…” Kao kept looking forward.

Orn tried to sit up, but was held back by Kao’s hand moving gently to his forehead. Only then did he realize his head was resting on her lap. “Kao …?”

“Idiot knight!” she cut him off, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I had to watch. You…”

A sob cut off the rest of what she was going to say.

“Die?” He reached up and grabbed her hand. Like the pain all the fear and sadness he knew he should have seemed so far away. The only thing he could still feel, was a sense of gratitude toward her for standing by him. “I am sorry. But you being there means I was not alone. Without you I would not have managed… ”

He felt things growing fuzzy and distant. He gently squeezed her hand. “I failed at a lot, but I did not give in. I think I might have even gotten a hit in on the queen. Also it is not the end.” He smiled as the fuzzy feeling started to wash over him. “Remember? You said in every life after…” he felt the room slowly falling away.

“Do not dare!” Kao yelled hitting him on the chest with her free hand, before clutching his shirt in a fist. “Keep holding on. Just a bit more.” She bit her lower lip and glared at what she had been so intently watching..

Orn cringed, and felt the fuzziness recede a bit. He tried to focus on ‘staying,’ but he was not sure how. Instead he could feel everything slipping slowly through his grasp. As the rest of the room faded out of focus, he stared at Kao’s face. The room beyond her was gone, but the fading stopped.

“Better,” she said whipping at her eyes with her sleeve, “stay focused on here. Do not go anywhere.”

Orn felt as if something was tugging at the edges of his mind, and it was a struggle to think at all. “Yes, My Lady” He managed.

She laughed and stroked his head, “Idiot knight. Just a bit more. You are almost there.”

“Where?” he tried to speak, but the words would not come out.

To his right he heard the sound of a hand striking a piece of wood. The sound seemed to reverberate through the room, and in a strange way through him.

“There!” She smiled widely, and turned to look at him for the first time.

He was confused. Everything was so fuzzy.

Kao whipped her eyes on her sleeve. Then slowly lifting his head up she stared into his eyes. “You scared me so badly. You brave, willful, idiot knight. You deserve this.”

She then kissed him on the forehead, and released him. He felt himself falling backward. Rather than falling back into her lap, he felt himself seem to pass through her and the floor.

The room disappeared in a flash of white.

Suddenly his body felt like it was on fire, everything hurt, and then he knew nothing.