“I’ve got ya.” Gardinal assured the man through clenched teeth. His voice was raw and scratchy from the smoke seeping into his lungs. This beam would need at least three men at full strength to budge. Gardinal dropped his shield, leaned down and wrapped his arms around the polished wood. “Ethinia grant me the strength to save your child” Gardinal prayed through cracked lips. The light of The Mother wrapped his hands and trailed out over his whole body, more than Gardinal ever remembered wielding before. With the thick net of light he heaved, levering the beam up.

The wood pushed free, and as Gardinal tossed it aside it splintered into a thousand little burning chunks. Gardinal fell back, resting for a moment. He breathed hard, but it proved a fruitless endeavour, his lungs aching from the ash that filled them.

“Where?” Gardinal struggled to speak. “Where is she?”

The Jöln, recovering from his ordeal, clambered to his feet. The man’s right arm hung limply, and he seemed to favour his left leg, but overall he looked far better than Gardinal felt.

“M... Master. How are you standing?” The Jöln asked with wide eyes. It seemed Gardinal looked how he felt. Didn't matter, had to find her. Gardinal rose from his momentary respite.

“The Prophetess.” Gardinal asked again through a wheezing cough. “Where?”

The old man licked his lips nervously, then bowed his head. “They left, just before midday master.” He shook his head. “I told them not to go, but mistress Arabella just spoke over me, telling me to start preparing supper...” The man was rambling, Gardinal didn't have time for this. “I was just chopping the carrots when crossbow bolts exploded through every...” The man kept on, Gardinal didn't care. He needed to know where she was. “...then the whole place caught fire, and well I’m just one Jöln, I can't face a fire. So I came to hide down here and...”

“Shut up.” Gardinal snapped. He had to think, and the man's mad ramblings weren't going to help any. If Her Radiance was gone, he had to find her. Wherever she was, she was in danger.

But with the cult outside, and him stuck in here, what could he do? Gardinal glanced up, the floor above was slowly buckling in. They didn't have much time until they'd be crushed down here. They had to get back outside, even if it meant a fight with those madmen on the surface. Gardinal moved and felt his muscles lag behind. He was in no shape to be moving, let alone fighting. But he didn't have a choice. Gardinal reached down and picked up his shield. If it had weighed as much as it looked like, there would have been no chance he could have carried it. But as his hands wrapped around the surprisingly cool metal, Gardinal felt a power within it. A power he could lean on.

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“Holy First Mother, Most Merciful, lend me your light once more.” Gardinal prayed and felt the rush of that holy light fill him. The Mother’s Mercy was truly endless. Gardinal looked over at the old caretaker. The man was decrepit on a good day, right now Gardinal was sure he wouldn't be able to charge into fire and flame. “I doubt you can walk, but can you hold on?” Gardinal rasped. The man nodded, hobbling over to Gardinal. Leaning down Gardinal heaved the man onto his back and headed towards the stairs.

The cellar stairs, despite his earlier tumble, were in good repair. A few cracked and strained under the weight of the two men, but the staircase held. One of them was only a Jöln after all. Reaching the apex of the steps, Gardinal began to have trouble breathing again. The smoke here was thick, and a glance around the Chaos-like inferno showed much of the home had collapsed already. Gardinal tried to recall the layout of the kitchen, a room he’d rarely if ever visited. Shouldn’t there be a door to the main hall? There, Gardinal remembered straining his eyes to see through the burning glare.

Blocked. Gardinal cursed, a tower of debris and flame covered the way. A quick search proved all ways in and out of the kitchen similarly obstructed.

“Ethinia's bloody mercy.” Gardinal cursed. This was bad. He kept looking, kept searching. The weight of the Jöln on his back quickly growing too much for his already weary and strained body.

Then he found it. The far wall was free of debris, the window was blocked there but it led directly outside. The wall was buckling already, and if he struck it hard and fast he might be able to burst through. It was his last choice.

“Hold on.” Gardinal rasped through gritted teeth and charged. Every muscle, every bone, every inch of skin that made up Gardinal screamed in pain as fire singed him. But Gardinal gritted his teeth and forced his way through it all, slamming full forced into the wall.

The wall gave. The wood and plaster exploding out as Gardinal came crashing through. The momentum of his charge carried him far, a blessing as he heard the whole building collapsing behind him into a blaze of sure death. Gardinal kept moving, kept stumbling, until without even knowing when, he was on the ground.

Looking over, with a heavy head, he saw the old caretaker breathing. Good, he thought, the man was alive. Gardinal took a breath as well. It hurt, the smoke and heat had probably burned his lungs, but it also felt like a gift from the Mother. The dirt and grass beneath him felt so nice, his eyes began to slowly close.

Celeste.

Gardinal's eyes shot open. Her Radiance was still in danger. The Cult was around. He had to get up, he had to move he had to.

A heavy footstep fell nearby. Gardinal roared as he pushed himself up to his feet.

“You.” A heavy voice spoke as Gardinal rose and faced the newcomer, shield clenched and ready to use as a weapon in a heartbeat. “You seek Healing child.”

Gardinal met the man’s eyes, set his jaw, and prepared to fight.