The doors were light compared to the weight of the atmosphere that lay within the Shrine. The dark, overcast grays of outside were replaced by the blinding silver light, forcing Helbram’s eyes to the ground as he stepped through the doorway. When he redirected his vision upwards, he found exactly what he suspected.

Marjorie stood at the tree, her hands wrapped around the Sword’s handle, foot braced against the blackened tree that served as its sheath. More of the Sword’s blade was revealed than before, and there were now tendrils of silver light leaking from the tree, bleeding out through the Shrine and reaching for the opening of the building’s ceiling, banishing the presence of shadows around him. The Hawk did not look his way, her gaze wholly fixated on the Sword as she pulled at it, eyes flared with fury and desire.

Something prodded the back of his mind, an impulse that flared a similar desire within him. His hands trembled as anger built in his chest, and he found himself stomping forward, letting the large doors of the Shrine slam behind him. The sound echoed through the structure, bouncing off its rounded ceiling and breaking Marjorie’s focus. Her eyes cut to him, then to his breastplate and shield.

“Where is Holden?” she asked, her voice dripped with anger but Helbram could feel concern underneath it.

The anger within him wanted to keep her companion’s fate ambiguous, wanted to pull at strings that he knew would fill her with worry and anger. Perhaps there was a tactical element to such desires, but the impulse was born from pettiness alone, pettiness that, as it entered his mind, gave him pause. He could not deny that such emotions were a part of him, that the desire was implanted within him, but the intensity?

No, that was not him.

He shook his head and let out a breath that he did not know he was holding before meeting Majorie’s gaze.

“Alive,” he said, “incapacitated, but alive.”

There was uncertainty in her eyes as he spoke in a blunt tone, but he could see her shoulders relaxing somewhat. Her hands left the Sword and moved to the one that was strapped at her waist, drawing the steel from its sheath as she walked away from the tree.

“Come to claim the Sword for yourself, have you?” she accused.

Helbram unsheathed his sword and let it hang loosely at his side, but kept his shield in front of him, “I will not deny that there is an intense desire to do just that,” he said, “an impulse that grows more prominent with each passing moment,” he widened his feet, “but no, that is not why I am here.”

A red aura started to bleed from Marjorie’s frame, her Ether covering all of her body as she stepped towards him.

“Then why?” she asked as she pointed her sword at him. Her Ether had already suffused the length of the blade, and though there was a large gap between them, Helbram could feel the pressure that emanated from the blade.

He looked over the rest of Marjorie, noting that her leather armor had been reinforced with chainmail at several spots and that she sported a single shoulder pauldron opposite to her sword arm. He wasn’t sure what purpose that held, but he made note of it nonetheless.

He raised his own sword at her, “You have much to answer for, and I aim to see that you do so.”

She scowled, “If you knew what we’d been through to get he-”

“That does not matter,” Helbram said, his voice sharp, “your actions resulted in the death of an innocent, and in turn the deaths of many more.”

The Hawk let out a mocking laugh, “Such convenient reasoning for a man who stands here as others fight under his own falsehood. I know not how you managed to get the Maiden to spout your lies, but you are not the only one to have spoken with the Sword.”

Helbram looked at the blade in the tree, which remained silent.

“Oh he desires you,” Marjorie spat, “tells me that I am not the one who will wield him, but it is as you said in the square,” she clenched her fist, “It’s just a bloody sword, and I’ll be damned if I let such power slip away from me.”

Helbram looked at her eyes, noting the absence of silver light from her green irises.

“You are correct,” He pulled his sword back, keeping it raised high as he shifted his stance to keep his shield in front of him, “I have lied, manipulated to get what I want, to pursue what I believe to be the best possible outcome, and as I stand here there is a darkness in me that hungers to cast you aside and claim the Sword, to achieve a long held dream… a debt for all that I have done is due, but before I pay the price, you have much to answer for.”

He rapped his sword against his shield, “So come, Hawk of Dunwich, let us see whose desire prevails today.”

Marjorie screamed as she leapt at him, both of her hands wrapped around her sword as she held it over her head. Too far behind her. Helbram thrust his sword at her unguarded center, forcing the Hawk to twist her body to avoid the blow. He followed her movements, keeping his shield between him and her. Her Ether enhanced physique had granted her speed and agility beyond his own means, but he could tell that she possessed little footwork behind her own actions. As she circled him he kept his movements minimal, keeping pace with the Awoken as her sword lashed out at him.

Her swings were wild, arcing wide and with little precision. From an unawoken warrior, such strikes were easy to side step and exploit, but the addition of Marjorie’s speed forced Helbram to intercept such attacks with his shield. Each attack shook his body with force but he was able to turn or deflect the attacks away from him to reduce their overall shock. He stayed on the defensive as she continued the onslaught. With each blow that failed to land her attacks grew in speed but even poorer in form, and while the force behind such blows was formidable he’d been hit by much harder, much more precise attacks in the past.

He stepped back from her as one of her swings went wide, but rather than recover any semblance of footing she lunged after him. She overextended in her attack, and even with her enhanced strength the blow carried little weight behind it, allowing Helbram to catch the blade in a bind with his shield. He pushed forward with his shield, forcing her arms back as he closed the gap. When he was within range he shoved her sword aside and followed his shield with his blade, striking Marjorie at her flank. She jumped back from him as the blow landed, but there was now a noticeable cut along her leather cuirass, indicating that his blade had bit in, but not through her armor. Her eyes darted to her side for a moment, and Helbram could see them narrow in confusion.

In that brief moment, he sheathed his sword and pulled at the knot he had tied across his chest, releasing his spear from his back. As he grabbed it, Marjoried resumed her assault, but Helbram kept her at bay with the longer range of his spear. He could not deliver any quick thrusts as he wielded the weapon in one hand, but simply keeping the point of it between him and Majorie was enough to deter any forward charges. He kept the spear from tucking inwards by bracing it with his shield , allowing him to maintain a guard that the Awoken struggled to break. The haft of the spear suffered numerous nicks and gouges, however, for she had tried to slice through the weapon multiple times. Helbram had managed to twist the weapon away from such strikes to minimize the damage, but he knew that it was only a matter of time before she would succeed.

To that end he shifted his grip towards the center of the spear’s haft as Marjorie swung at it. As a result, the blow struck the steel spearhead, knocking his weapon outwards. Putting as much of his body as he could behind his shield, he brought back his spear and rammed into Marjorie with his shield. Leveraging all of his weight, the bash knocked the Awoken off balance granting him enough of an opening to make a strong thrust with his spear. He threw all of his weight behind the strike, driving the tip of the weapon into and through her cuirass. She screamed as the spear pierced her flesh, and in a fit of panic and rage slammed her fist onto the spear, splintering the weakened haft as she retreated with the spearhead still embedded just below her collar bone.

Helbram pursued, throwing his broken spear at Marjorie and drawing his sword right after. The Awoken knocked the spear out of the way out of reflex, Giving Helbram an opportunity to deliver a quick slash across Marjorie’s chest. Keeping his guard up, he bound The Hawk’s sword arm and delivered a cut across her thigh. She screamed and threw a kick in their tangled position, striking Helbram in his breastplate. The blow was absorbed by his armor, but Helbram retreated back from his opponent when she tried to follow her kick with another wild swing of her sword. He could see red Ether flowing into her wounds, closing them as she pulled the spearhead from her chest.

Any semblance of a stance was absent from her posture now, and while her sword was pointed at him, the Ether that once blazed from it was starting to fade. Her breaths grew heavy, but before Helbram allowed her to recover any more he charged at her.

She moved to skip back from him, but could do little to repel his assault as she swatted at him with her sword.

“Is this it?” Helbam said as he knocked her sword aside, “So many tales of your prowess and this is all it amounts to?”

He struck her flank again, his blade finding purchase through her armor as she let out a groan of pain. When she tried to retreat he kicked her ankle, throwing her off balance. He followed with another shield bash, catching Marjorie in the chest as she stumbled back. She was thrown from her feet, barely maintaining the grip around her sword as she hit the ground. Helbram rushed after her, but she repelled him with a blind swing of her sword, Ether flaring through it momentarily as it passed right in front of him. Still keeping her sword pointed at him, she returned to her feet, her wounds healed but with far more labored breaths than before.

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“You know nothing about us,” she said in a trembling voice, “how much we had to crawl through to get where we are.”

“I do not doubt it,” Helbram said in a controlled tone, “but in your haste to reach such heights you failed to realize that you have built your ladder on a foundation of mud.”

He pressed the attack again, binding his sword with hers before flicking it to the side and swiping at her side again. She twisted to avoid the blow, but Helbram again caught her off balance with another bash of his shield, knocking her back to the ground.

“You possess the strength to cleave me in two so you so choose,” He said, his voice growing more taunting, “Yet here you are, staring up at me instead.”

“Shut up!” Marjorie growled. She lifted herself from the ground, breaking into another reckless charge. He stepped towards her as she made her reckless attack and swept her ankles from under her, causing her to fall flat on her chest. She was quick to recover from her fall swiping behind her with another desperate, Ether infused swing. Helbram backed away from the attack.

He needed a bigger opening.

“It is no wonder the Sword does not wish to be wielded by you,” he said, “why would such a weapon wish to be waved around like a stick by someone so unworthy?!”

A roar parted from Marjorie’s lips as she pushed herself to her feet, a newfound vigor driving her forward. With her rage came a surge of Ether through her body, a burst of energy that let her close the gap between them in an instant. Helbram barely had his shield in front of him when she brought her sword down, the blade flared with a brilliant red light. He caught the blade with the top of the shield, the force behind her blow enough to cleave through the thick steel border and into the shield, towards his arm. Helbram twisted the shield before the blade struck him, pulling Marjorie to the side as she kept her grip on her blade. The movement killed the momentum of her blade leaving it stuck in his shield as she tried to pull it out, leaving her flank exposed. Helbram struck at the opening with his sword, delivering only a glancing blow as The Hawk abandoned her weapon and pulled away from him. He pursued, catching her on the arm as she kept trying to retreat, drawing a hiss from her lips.

In desperation she threw a fist at him, the blow infused with a small amount of Ether. Helbram caught the blow on an undamaged part of his shield and shoved her hand up, allowing him to drive his pommel into her jaw, a blow that knocked the last of her strength from her legs as she fell limp on the ground. Before she could find her strength again he pressed his boot down on her chest and pressed the tip of his blade against her throat. The rush of battle left him soon after, making him aware of how labored his breaths were, of how heavy his limbs were. He prayed that Marjorie did not notice the tremble in his arm as she looked up at him, eyes a mix of shock and hate.

“Why do you spare me?” she hissed at him, “am I unworthy of your judgment as well?”

“No,” He said, “your judgment shall be given by those more deserving of it.”

He kicked her in the jaw, watching her go limp before pulling his sword away from her. He flicked Marjorie's sword from his shield and kicked it off to the side and sheathed his. He knelt down, reaching for the Sealing Cuffs that he had taken from the prison. Pulling them from his waist, he rolled Marjorie over and cl-

Fire lanced through him, a spear of pain that seared through his mind. The cuffs fell from his hands and he clutched his head, screaming in pain as he felt his vision blur from the tears that pooled in his eyes. He felt his thoughts leaving him, replaced by a singular desire that filled his mind. His hands moved from his head and he pushed himself up, turning to the Sword. Pain was replaced by a haze as he walked forward, feeling light headed as he walked forward. He wanted to believe that something was controlling his body directly, but he still felt control over his own limbs, felt his own impulses drive him towards the Sword. Rather, it was the pure, distilled desire that occupied every inch of his mind that he knew to be the Sword’s work, and yet there was nothing he could do to stop it. His body remembered the feeling that the Sword had shown him before, the power of the dormant Ether that lay within him, the proof that all of his efforts over the past fifteen years, all of his father’s efforts, were not in vain. His body remembered, and kept walking towards the Sword.

The rest of his mind lay partitioned away from such feelings, and he slammed them against an invisible wall that refused to give. Anger filled this part of his thoughts, a rage directed at the Sword for exploiting such desires, at himself for being unable to fight against it. He threw such anger at the walls around him, feeling them tremble steadily as his rage grew.

How dare it do this to him?

His body took a step forward. The box around him shook.

How dare he be so weak to fall victim to it?

He was drawing closer to the Sword. The box around him rattled, cracks forming at its corners.

He decided his own actions.

The Sword glinted under its own blinding light, a beacon that called to him.

He decided his own feelings.

His hand reached for the Sword’s handle, only inches away.

And he was not going to let anything, especially a sword, decide those things for him.

The walls around his mind shattered just as his hand started to wrap around the handle. He felt the presence of the Sword brush through his mind for a brief moment before he pulled his hand back, the force of the sudden action causing him to stumble. As he recovered his limbs felt heavier than before, like lead that hung from his torso. He lifted his visor and breathed, but not matter how much air he took in he always felt that he was short of it.

Still, in such a weakened state he pushed himself to his feet, only for the roar of the Parents to ring through the air. Helbram clenched his jaw as he felt the pressure of their magicks collide with the Sword, and his vision went white.

Laughter greeted him first, the ring of childrens’ cheers that summoned the sight of clear blue skies as his eyes opened. He felt grass beneath him. It was soft, untamed as it brushed against him in the wind. His small hand was wrapped around another, larger one. It’s touch was soft and belonged to the woman that lay at his side. A strand of red hair entered his vision, and he knew who’s eyes he was seeing through.

Marjorie clenched the hand, drawing the attention of the woman. Her hair was a light brown, and she looked upon Marjorie with soft blue eyes.

“Did you have a good nap?” the woman asked.

Marjorie nodded, and the woman’s smile brightened.

“Good! Though I am afraid we must get up, there are chores to do.”

“Aw, can’t we stay just a while longer?” Marjorie said, her voice lighter, that of a child.

The kindly woman giggled, “No silly, unless you wish to do your chores in the dark.”

The small girl grumbled, “Fine…”

She scrambled to her feet and dusted off her dress, letting her vision fall upon the group of children in the distance. They chased after each other in the field, the sounds of their laughter carried in the wind. One of the faster girls, Sarah, had caught up to one of the boys, Leo, and snatched a flag from his waist. She held it up high above her head, triumphant cheers from all the children ringing out as the girl basked in her victory. A fleeting moment, for Sarah soon strapped the flag to her waist and sprinted off, goading for the other children to chase after her.

Marjorie sighed, “It’s going to be a pain rounding them all up…”

“Then you’d best get to it,” The woman said, “You are the oldest after all.”

“Oh but you’re so much better at it than I, Lisa,” the child said as she looked at the woman in admiration.

Lisa clicked her teeth, “Flattery will get you nowhere, Marjorie. Unless you wish to handle dinner yourself?”

Marjorie fluttered her lips,” I suppose not…”

She ran towards the other children, hands raised above her head, “Alright you lot! Play time is over!”

Whines washed over the children as their cheer left them.

“These chores aren’t going to do themselves,” she said, mimicking Lisa’s tone as best she could, “Besides, we managed to get a chicken from the markets today. A good day’s work will make that taste all the better.”

She could see a few of the children salivating at the prospects of dinner, and most made their way back to the house, all except one.

Sarah stood defiant in the distance, a mischievous smile on her face.

Marjorie frowned, “Come now, Sarah, quit wasting time.”

“I’ll go,” the scheming girl said, “but only if you catch me.”

The older child sighed, but couldn’t hide the smile that tugged at her lips, “We both know I’m the faster one.”

Sarah puffed her chest out, “Until today,” she sprinted off to the distance, and Marjorie followed right after her.

She heard cheers from her behind her as she ran after the younger girl, some for her, some for her opponent. Sarah giggled as she ran, something that Majorie soon started to mimic as she continued to run. She let the brightness of the moment carry her, feeling herself slip further and further into bliss. She slowly started to gain on Sarah, her hand outreached towards the girl’s shoulder. Her breaths were running short, but she pushed forward, finally grabbing Sarah’s dress.

Only for the girl to turn to ash.

Laughter turned to screams as Sarah’s ashes were carried away by harsh winds. Confusion entered Marjorie’s mind as she followed the ashes, seeing them disappear in the dark overcast sky above.

“Help us!”

Her head whipped around towards the building. It was engulfed in flames, a pillar of smoke rising into the sky like a static cloud.

“Help us!”

A vicious laughter undercut the scream, sadistic cheers of men and women as the screams continued. Marjorie could only continue to look at the building, watch it collapse as her legs trembled, unable to move as her breaths grew more shallow.

“Help us!”

Marjorie turned and ran. She felt invisible hands at her back, pulling at her dress, at her hair. Small hands, child’s hands. Hands that she knew, that she wanted to forget. Tears filled her eyes as she ignored their screams, their touch. A hand wrapped around her shoulder. A larger hand with a soft touch. Her head turned towards it out of instinct, only to see Lisa’s face staring at her, face warped in horror as her mouth was wrapped in a scream.

“HELP US!”

Helbram’s eyes snapped open, his own breaths shallow, his heart racing as he staggered back. He expected memories, not nightmares to plague him in that moment, though the experience felt more real than the visions he saw before. He did not have time to question what it meant, and froze as he saw Marjorie next to the sword. She was on her knees, her hand hanging limply off of the weapon’s handle, any indication of strength absent from her body.

“So you saw it,” she said, her voice low, but with a calmness that put Helbram on guard.

Helbram reached for his sword, but nodded at her.

“That nightmare has plagued me every night for the past twelve years,” she said, “a sensation that I am sure you are familiar with.”

He did not know what memories of his that she saw, but on that she was correct, “There was nothing you could have done,” he said.

“I know,” she hissed, “I know there was nothing a little girl could have done, but that doesn’t stop the screams does it? Doesn’t stop this pain that burns at my chest,” tears filled her eyes as she shook her head, “No more.”

Her hand wrapped around Sword’s handle, tears streaking down her cheeks as resolution filled her face.

“No more.”

She pulled, and the Sword came free.