“I can’t do this!” A young-faced priest shouted from the back of the group, shoving past his comrades and scrambling towards the door they had infiltrated through.

Cleo sank into the darkness, appearing out of the shadows in front of the terrified man and connecting her armoured fist with his stomach, then teleported back in front of Corvus, all in the blink of an eye.

The terrified man sank to his knees, spewing up his last meal and several mouthfuls of blood onto the cold stone floor. The priests nearly broke ranks in shock, several of them were visibly panicking, hyperventilating and quivering in fear. The woman who had killed Daeden backed off slightly, her gaze darting around fearfully. The only reason the priests were still there at all was Sky.

“Stop it, damn it, all of you!” Sky held up his hands, a desperate look on his face. He turned to Cleo, lowering his gaze in appeasement. “Listen to me, please. I don’t want this to turn in to a fight, and I don’t want to endanger anyone who is foreign to our conflict.” He gestured at Corvus and his friends, who were still reeling from the sudden invasion, as well as the two crying children.

Cleo raised her spear, pointing it at Sky.

“You killed my friend. You turned this into a fight, not me.” Her voice was low and vicious.

Sky glared at the red-haired woman, tensing his own fist at her look of worry.

“I know. I take full responsibility and will accept full punishment for his death. I only ask that it comes at a later time. Once we have who we came for, I will stay behind and receive any pain you wish to give.”

“Why should I let you go? You’re in my home uninvited, you threatened my students and killed my friend. If any of you live to see tomorrow, it would be my failure.” Her voice was final and deadly.

“All of that is true, but I swore to end this conflict. We will take your leader tonight and end his reign of power and control. I would prefer that it is without further bloodshed.” Sky raised his head, changing his posture from one of submission to resolve.

“So I should stand aside for you?” Cleo raised an angry eyebrow.

“I cannot ask that of you. However, if a fight were to break out…” Sky looked at Corvus’ group and the two terrified children, then shot a disappointed look at his priests. “I fear that some of my companions feel less strongly about sparing others than I do.”

Cleo wavered. She glanced over at Corvus and his friends, who were still watching from the side, afraid to move a muscle in case it escalates things. She turned back to Sky; the tip of her spear lowered slightly.

“You’ll spare them and leave without hurting anyone else?” The anger in her voice was almost completely gone, as if it were no more than skin deep before.

Sky nodded, lowering his claws.

Cleo completely turned her head to Corvus, who simply shrugged.

“Alright.” Cleo began to lower her spear, earning a sigh of relief from the priests.

The low scratch of the stone doors sent silence across everyone once more. Sky tensed up, Cleo’s face fell in despair, then quickly to stone-faced duty. Corvus raised his eyebrow at her change in expression.

The stone door at the far end of the room opened slowly, the one that lead to the library, if Corvus recalled correctly. Odere stepped out, flicking through a notebook that contained sketches and runes that seemed to swim across the page.

He didn’t look up, focussing intently on his research, walking through the gaps in the stone benches from memory. The room was tensely silent as the old man quietly walked through the chapel, oblivious to the world, heading for a door just opposite him. He put his hand on the cold stone and pushed, making his way to the other side, closing it behind him.

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Several tense moments of silence passed between Cleo and Sky, taken up purely by a confused stare from him that went unanswered.

That same door opened again, only this time Odere came out with an angry expression on his face and a sleeping person slung over his shoulder. Odere was muttering something about not sleeping with the swords, while the sleeping man dreamily sung about seashells. Judging by the tumbling locks of hair that fell across his shoulders and the slightly shredded pyjamas, Corvus guessed it was probably Alex.

Odere lifted his fellow instructor as high as he could, trying to avoid hitting his head off the stones. He opened a far stone with his foot, grumbling about how Alex apparently had injuries from his habit of sleeping in the armoury. Odere placed his hand on the stone door, but didn’t open it. He stood motionless for several seconds, as if listening to the rocks around him.

He turned his head around, inspecting the chapel. When his eyes fell on Cleo and the priests, he dropped Alex to the ground in a painful thud, immediately focussing his vision and readying his small form for combat.

Alex, meanwhile, turned over on the cold floor, groaning complaints at his colleague. He stood up lazily, his thin cotton pyjamas hung loosely around his muscles as he shook the impact out of his head. He blinked several times, assessing the abnormally large number of people in the chapel at this time of night. After he realised what was going on, he sharpened, running up beside Cleo and Odere, his bare feet quiet on the ground.

Sky flashed his pale eyes at the two new combatants with wariness. He raised his claws, readying himself for a fight, as did the rest of the priests, their faces newly terrified.

“You didn’t call for help. Why?” Odere flashed an accusatory glance at Cleo, who didn’t even flinch at the comment.

“No need. A deal has already been made.” She lowered her spear, motioning for the others to step back.

A surprised look flew across Alex’s face.

“A duel? Now?” He dropped his fists in sheer confusion.

“Yes. We have already discussed terms. They cannot be broken anymore.” Cleo stared into Sky, silently begging for him to understand what she meant. He blinked in agreement, dropping his hands and taking several strides forward, simultaneously gesturing for his priests to stand down.

“If victory is mine, they all leave, and do not return here for the remainder of their lives.” Cleo continued, stepping forward, her black armour glinting in the low green light.

“And if it is mine, we will take a single prisoner of our choosing, harming no one else.” Sky spoke politely and honestly, not wanting to invoke any more hostility.

Alex and Odere exchanged glances, weighing up their options. The two men sighed, stepping in front of Corvus’ group protectively.

“If terms have been arranged, there is nothing we can do. We will see to it that no harm comes to these young ones.” Odere nodded solemnly.

“Come on now, lets get you out of here.” Alex extended a hand to the young children, assuring them of their safety. They took it, tears flooding out of their terrified eyes.

Alex nodded to May and Lanya, who understood. The three of them turned and began ushering the children back to somewhere safer.

“That goes for you lot too.” Odere motioned for the rest of them to go down the corridor as well. Damian and Jack nodded quickly, stepping towards the dark tunnel, while Henrith and Aria eyed the upcoming fight, before reluctantly following their companions.

Corvus and Johanna didn’t follow them, instead, making their way further into the chapel, and sitting on a bench that overlooked the fight.

“Get back here you two.” Odere spoke quietly and intensely, eager to stop any further tension.

“Not happening.” Corvus didn’t even look at the short man. He picked up his sharpened blades from the bench in front of Daeden’s cold body, slipping them back into his belt, before returning to his seat.

Odere looked as if he wanted to strangle Corvus, but gave up eventually.

“I’ll be back shortly, and you will follow me.” Odere jabbed a finger at them, before turning and ushering the rest of his classmates down the dark hall.

Cleo sighed gratefully, then turned her gaze back to Sky, who smiled apologetically.

“In other circumstances, I would’ve liked to talk with you further.” He bowed his head slightly.

Cleo didn’t reply. She took two steps forward, so that she and Sky were almost touching noses. She leaned up to him, whispering something in his ear.

His face rose in surprise, then horror, then sympathy. When her message was over and she backed away, he was speechless.

Cleo nodded, raising her spear above her head and striking at his heart. Sky’s distracted ended quickly, as he struck at the sharp steel with his claws, deflecting the strike away from him.

Cleo dashed backwards putting some space between herself and Sky, who cracked his back and began flexing his muscles in preparation for their duel.

“They’re going to kill each other.” Johanna noted, worriedly.

“Probably.” Corvus shrugged, propping his legs up on a nearby block of stone in a way that would make Gilgamesh proud. “Let’s watch.”