With back pressed against the cabinet, Celeste looked to her goal. There was plenty of debris still, and wooden bolts would still occasionally shoot through that spot. She was going to need to run, and no tripping this time. She couldn’t afford to make that mistake again, not when lives were at stake. She glanced over at Kriss and Vallerian, both bravely doing their best to draw attention. If they could be so brave, so too could she. Celeste whispered a prayer for their safety, then turned back to Rekiak. He was deathly still in Thelyra’s arms, once thick torrents of blood now only a trickle. He would die soon. She had to do something.

Move. She urged herself and burst off towards the couple. Dashing across the uneven flooring, she felts pieces of the building cutting into her feet, not the best day to wear her silk slippers it seemed. They were slowing her down. Heedless of the gashes her feet would sustain, she threw them off and stumbled onwards.

With the Mother’s mercy, Celeste made it to Rekiak and Thelyra. The Fershya’s face contorted with grief, sobbing helpless prayers to the True Father for help.

“I can help him.” Celeste whispered to her, just loud enough to be heard over the cacophony of battle. “Let me hold him.”

Thelyra looked up at her with tear-stained eyes, only now noticing Celeste’s presence. Confusion spread over Thelyra’s face at first, then she nodded, backing away from her lover slightly.

Celeste took the man in her arms, held him to her chest. Cold. The man was growing cold. Was he already dead? Could she even do anything to help? She looked down at him, truly looked, and for a split second she saw a flickering. Like a low burning candle late at night in a winter storm. So fragile, so weak. But the fire was still there. She had never pulled someone back from so close to death, but she would try none-the-less.

She opened her soul once more, the light pulsing from within. It beat out of her skin, flowing forth from her every pore and seeping down her arms and out her fingers. She had used much of her strength already on healing Kriss and Vallerian, though the former hadn’t taken nearly as much as she had expected and the latter had stopped before she could properly heal him. She pushed hard anyway. The light flowing down her arms like dewdrops on a cold windowpane. They cascaded past her fingers and into Rekiak.

No effect.

Celeste pushed harder. The life that she felt within, the light that always pushed against her, wasn’t moving fast enough. So she urged it forward, forced it onward. She had to be better, had to do better. She was the chosen of the Mother, the gifted of Ethinia herself, if she couldn’t save a life than what use was she? “Please.” Celeste begged, a glowing teardrop of light falling from her cheek onto the man. “Please hold on.” She had been weak lately. Too weak. She had relied on the pure life energy itself for too long, not bothering to learn how to utilize her gifts to their full potential. “Mother, let me save this soul and I will do better. I swear it.” She begged.

Rekiak began to cough. The wound around the splinter glowing radiant as her life-light pushed it free from his heart. Thelyra sobbed uncontrollably, shouting praises to the gods above. Celeste just kept the life flowing, even as she felt her muscles grow weak and her bones begin to ache. She would not stop until he was safe.

“You.” Rekiak gasped, looking up at her. “you…” He was cut off by Celeste shushing him.

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“Quiet. Keep… your… strength…” Celeste managed to gasp out as the wooden chunk that had so nearly taken his life was pushed free, nothing but skin where it had been only a heartbeat earlier. At the clank of wood on the ground, Celeste closed her light off once more, exhaustion crashing over her. She collapsed to the ground.

“Your Radiance!” Rekiak gasped, reaching down and sweeping her up. It seemed the man had more than regained his strength, blessedly.

“Celeste! Are you alright?” Kriss asked, leaning down next to Rekiak. When had he come over? He was so handsome, so nice to…

Focus Celeste, she told herself. She couldn’t just fall unconscious here, not right now. People still needed her. Somebody needed her. She was forgetting…

Her sisters.

Celeste shot her eyes back to the collapsed hearth. They were still breathing, thankfully, but even from here Celeste could tell their rhythm was off. That flickering, what was that flickering she saw?

“We have to save Arabella and Valleresa.” Celeste stated, looking back to the two men. “I… I’m not strong enough to get to them.” Celeste felt so pathetic, so weak. Why couldn’t she control the Mother’s gifts like Gardinal could? To strengthen herself? Or even as the Bishop? All these gifts, and she still wasn’t strong enough to use it properly.

“Then we’ll bring them to you.” Kriss stated, looking to Rekiak. The Korek man nodded. Then, hunched over as they were, the two men began to slowly shift over to the girls Fewer bolts were flying now, but even then one scraped Rekiak across the shoulder, another barely missing Kriss’s head.

“They’re running out of bolts.” Vallerian said, dropping down beside Celeste to take a breath. He seemed concerned.

“Isn’t that good?” She asked back.

“It means they’ll start coming with knives and spears soon.” He responded tautly. “I thought today was just going to be a nice little conversation with that little old Korek woman.” Vallerian began muttering under his breath. “I only signed up for all this so I wouldn’t die.” He said that last part so low Celeste barely heard it. Whatever it was that had meant.

A shadow loomed high over Vallerian, a robed man stood high above him, dagger ready to strike as he rounded the corner.

“VALLERIAN!” Celeste shouted, pointing up behind him. Without a moment’s hesitation, Vallerian pushed back, crushing the man’s knee with an elbow strike. The figure came down hard, dagger flying from his hand. Vallerian swept the blade from the air, spun it in his hand, and moved to lodge it into the fallen man’s throat.

“STOP!” Celeste shouted, barely in time. He had moved so quickly, so ruthlessly.

Vallerian held the dagger for a moment, the tip of it just barely nicking the man’s skin. He shot her a glare, a dangerous look, then spun the blade around once more and knocked the man over the head with the pommel. After that he gave her a look that said: There, happy?

“Thank you.” She gasped. He had been doing so well lately, it hurt her deeply how close he had come to something so awful. They had to get out of here before someone did something that they couldn’t take back.

With a grunt Rekiak and Kriss dropped behind the cover, dragging the two girls’ unconscious bodies behind them.

“Reesa!” Vallerian shouted, dropping to his sister’s side, cradling her head in his hand. It seemed he wasn’t aware of how badly she had been struck. “Celeste do something.” He growled.

Celeste move as quickly as she could. Kneeling down, she let her light flow into both of them, it drained her quickly, her eyes growing heavy at the strain. She’d never tried to heal two people at once before and doing so seemed even more straining than doing two in a row. She wasn’t sure she’d even be able to walk after this.

Although Celeste knew she should be thankful. A month ago she would have fallen unconscious at even just Rekiak’s healing, but now she had grown able to do all of this and still move. She was growing stronger. Just not strong enough yet. Not like Gardinal or her father.

“R… Radiance?” Valleresa muttered, her eyes fluttering open. “Vallerian? What’s going on? What happened?” Her brother helped her to a seated position, and Arabella as well slowly awoke next to her.

At the sight of Arabella rising, Celeste felt a weight lift off her heart. Everyone was alive, if not necessarily safe. That was next.