We walked on for a while longer, then Lear paused, closing his eyes for a moment.

“What’s up?” Fear rose in me for a brief second.

“Nothing. I can just feel the hallowed ground of the temple. Took me a minute to realize it, but that’s definitely what it is.” he replied, “It’s not far, now.”

“Oh good!” I sighed in relief.

Though we were already walking fairly fast, we quickened our pace until I was moving at a decent jog. “Phew, I need to exercise more!” I laughed, already breathing a little heavily.

“Hmm, I like that idea, it’s very…moving.” he let his eyes drift suggestively down to my chest, which was, unfortunately, bouncing as I jogged along.

“Lear!” I reached out to whack him.

“And to hear you panting like that…” Lear’s voice trailed off, also suggestively.

“Oh gods! You’re going to give me a coronary!” I fanned my face, which was hot, but not just from the effort of our quick pace anymore.

He, of course, kept up easily, not breaking a sweat. I knew he could move a lot faster, and likely would have scooped me up and just run, but I suspected he was still tired from flying as much as he had.

“It’s just ahead.” Lear said as my pace began to slow.

I could see the trees beginning to part, and caught flashes of white marble in the clearing that was our destination.

Suddenly, Diana gave a shrill growl of warning, and before I could react, a dark splotch appeared on the ground before me, growing suddenly into a shade before my eyes as my still slightly quickened pace carried me forward.

Lear’s power crackled, and I heard him scream in pain, thanks to the lingering poison in his veins, as a sword made entirely of magic materialized in his hand. The fey man surged forward, slicing through the shade like butter.

Then he caught me around the waist, and darted forward, pausing every couple of seconds to ward off another shade that would appear. These pauses, though they were to fight, did let him catch his breath, because he was breathing fairly heavily now as well, likely from the effort of using the magic, which had to have hurt terribly, and from having to carry me while running even though he was already exhausted.

“Can you kill them all before we get there?!” I cried, terrified they’d manage to kill us before we made it.

“I’m not killing them! It just makes them have to reform. I’m just buying us time to get to the safety of the temple!” he grunted.

“Why are they out, I thought you said they preferred the night?!”

“I don’t know! Maybe you were” he grimaced and sliced through another shade, “too much of a draw for them to wait for night!”

“Gods, that’s the worst prize in the world!” I lamented. There was nothing I could do, either.

But we made headway. Or rather, Lear made headway. Diana and I were little more than useless baggage in his arms.

Then the grown-up, white marble temple was before us, and safety was in our grasp.

“Get inside!” he shouted, letting go of me and pushing me towards the door, turning to fend off yet another shade as the onslaught continued.

Suddenly, I could hear hissing speech from the shades as they clashed with Lear. “No, little child of starlight, come and play!” They laughed. “We’ve looked long and hard for you! You filth! You traitors!”

With the terrible voices chilling me to the very core, I staggered forward, caught my balance, then raced towards the door to the temple. I clutched Diana’s basket tightly with both of my hands as Lear followed, still moving backward as he protected us, practically on my heels.

Then my foot was on the marble threshold, and I stepped inside the temple.

Immediately, a sense of safety I hadn’t felt since we’d left the land surrounded by the protection runes filled me. We would be safe here, it seemed.

“Finally!” I gasped, setting Diana’s basket down. “Well, you were right, Lear.” I turned, meaning to say something about hallowed ground feeling obviously safe to me, now that I was standing on it, but saw he was still outside. “What are you doing?!” I cried.

“I-I…I miscalculated!” He cried, blocking the blow of a shade, then slicing the appendage off.

“What?! What do you mean?!”

“I-I’ve never been into a temple before, so didn’t think about how I’d be granted entry! Temples must be considered their deity’s dwelling place! I guess there’s usually a priest or a priestess who could grant me entry, but obviously this place doesn't have any of those! There’s no one here to invite me in, so I can’t enter!”

“Yes you can, just step inside!” I cried.

“It’s not a matter of me not wanting to because of some stupid rules! I can’t! Physically can’t!” he fell back a step, which should have carried him into the doorway, but instead it was like he was leaning against an invisible wall. “See?!”

“Oh gods! A-and this isn’t my home! I-I can’t invite you in!”

“I know! Just make your wish, Winna! Then we’ll get out of here!”

But there was no way that would be possible. Not with him as tired as he was. He’d barely been able to run with me, there was no way we’d be able to escape from that many shades.

Diana had left her basket and was now standing beside me as I sank to my knees, wracking my mind desperately for a solution.

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“L-Lear, there’s too many of them!” I sobbed.

“Pray, Winna! We’ll manage, just pray!” he shouted back, still managing to hold his own against the shades’ attacks.

I lifted my hands, trying to gather my thoughts to cobble together some meaningful kind of prayer, but my thoughts were terrified, scattered, and Lear’s grunts and gasps as he fought kept breaking through what little concentration I could gather.

As I continued to try to get my act together enough to pray something that made any sense, I suddenly felt magic well beside me. Before I had the chance to register what it was, the power darted forward.

Horror filled me as it struck me what was going on, and as my eyes opened, I saw Diana stepping out of the doorway, glowing feebly with what little magic she had left.

It was the only thing keeping her alive.

“DIANA, NO!” I screamed, staggering to my feet and reaching for her, but it was too late, she’d already passed through Lear’s legs.

Instead, a six fingered hand reached out and scooped up her small form. “No, Annie! Winna would be so sad without you!” Lear said as he clutched the little cat to his chest.

But the damage had already been done. It had taken too much of her magic to even try to do what she was going to do, and some had ebbed away with the effort. It was magic she couldn't afford to lose, and she slumped in Lear’s arms.

“DIANA!” I screamed.

At that moment, one of the shade’s shadow-limbs broke through Lear’s defenses, which were hobbled as he clutched my little familiar close.

It pierced his flesh with a sickening crunching noise, slamming into his chest from a terrible, odd angle beneath his left arm. A strangled cry of pain and rage tore itself from Lear’s throat. Immediately, he severed the limb, and staggered back, once more hitting the barrier that kept him stranded outside.

Terror filled me.

I was going to lose both of them, and die here in this temple, alone, trapped by the shades that prowled outside!

“Marna, I don't know if you can hear me, but I am a descendant of those of your children who stayed true,” whatever that meant, but the words were coming to me as if divinely inspired, “and by the mark on my hand, surely I have the right to grant a fey man entry to this abode!” I cried, paused for the briefest second to let the words sink in, then shouted, “Lear! Please come inside!”

As if a pane of glass had broken, Lear immediately fell backwards, carrying Diana’s limp form over the threshold of the temple with him, and scrambling back until they were both entirely inside the temple. Finally safe.

I bolted to his side, and pulled him, and therefore Diana, away from the door, as if the shades could get in.

But Lear had been right about them not being able to enter the hallowed ground of the temple, thankfully. The evil creatures were throwing themselves against the opening, only to bounce off the same kind of barrier that had blocked Lear’s entry just moments before.

“I…I thought the priests near the door were just there to be hospitable…” Lear groaned, clutching his side with his free hand. “I never…never thought about it. Gods, how stupid!”

“I-it’s okay!” I sobbed, “You’re inside now! You’re safe!”

“Diana.” he said softly, holding the little cat out to me.

I caught up my oldest and dearest friend, and held her close, immediately starting to pour my magic into her small body, but also reaching out a hand to push it into the fey man that I loved as well. But split like that, it wasn’t enough to help either of them.

“Focus on Diana, Winna. I’ve got more time than she does.” But he grimaced as he spoke, “I…I think the shade’s magic from where it injured me is reacting in a bad way with the poison already in me, but I…I still have more time.”

“D-don’t say that!” I whimpered, but did as he said, concentrating on pushing all of my magic into Diana, who’s breathing was shaky and shallow, though I kept hold of Lear’s hand for comfort. “Wh-what am I going to do?!” I sobbed.

“Ask the goddess to heal Diana, Winna.” Despite our fraught situation, his tone was now calm and subdued.

“O-oh, right! Th-then, i-if she does it, we can just heal you together!” I gasped, having not thought of that.

But my small familiar stirred, maowing weakly.

“What? Don’t say anything and don’t move, Diana, just…just rest! I-I’ll get you help! You’ll be healed!” Gods, I hoped that was true. Surely the fact that I’d been recognized as having the right to give Lear entry to the temple, then I did actually have some sort of claim on the goddess, and she might at least deign to hear my request.

“She said that an injury dealt by a shade can’t be healed by normal magic, given it’s a demon.” Lear sighed, shaking his head, I could see pain written in his expression, and knew he was suffering. “I…wondered. It does feel different.”

“What?!”

Another quiet maow.

“She said…hang on, I’m not telling her that!” he protested weakly, “She needs to choose you, not me! I don’t matter! Not like you do! I’m little more than a murderer, Diana, whereas you’re the familiar of a goddess, sent to help Winna help others!”

“I-I don’t want either of you to die!” Tears coursed down my face. But in my heart, I knew I could only pick one, if I was going to be able to get a prayer answered. I was lucky that begging to be allowed to grant Lear entry to the temple hadn’t counted as my prayer.

“Winna, don't listen to Diana. She’s selfless, but not thinking clearly. I know she just wants you to be happy, with me, but…if she lives, you two will go on to save many more lives. Even just when you make it back to the village. My life is filled with violence and bloodshed. It’s not worth much. You save her, and go save more people, and live a long, wonderful life!”

Diana gave a very faint snort, and I took its meaning. My dear, sweet cat was telling me to pick Lear, to choose happiness for myself.

“B-but you won’t be there!” I shouted, “I-I don’t want to live that life without either of you! I-I love you, Lear! I-I wanted to have kids and live a ridiculous amount of time! Y-you said we’d be together! Y-you lied!”

Lear pulled himself close, the pain in his expression not a physical one, this time. “I didn’t. You know I can’t. I wanted to be there. I’ll watch from the other side, and wait as long as it takes, alright? That’s the truth now.” he put a gentle hand on my leg. “I love you so much. But it’s okay to let me go.”

“I-I can’t let either of you go!” my words were barely coherent.

“Winna, my love, you have to.” His tone was gentle.

I was choosing between my past and my future. My dearest friend who was also my last link to my parents, and the man that I loved, who had so suddenly come into my life and changed it forever.

Diana was purring very weakly, ultimately reassuring me that whatever decision I made, it was okay, but that it was my decision to make.

I took a very ragged, deep breath, trying to center myself. “I-I love you both very much!”

“Winna, you have to make a decision. Diana is fading, and I don’t think Marna holds with necromancy, as much as you love your sweet cat.” Lear murmured.

“I-I know.” One last deep breath, and I closed my eyes.

I could see a long life stretched out before me. Lear and I getting married, having children, those kids growing up and eventually having their own kids. A long, happy family line stretched out before me, and I wanted it with every ounce of my being.

But there were people in the village who also had a shot at happy lives, but only if Diana lived. What I wanted didn’t matter. My gift was for helping people, and the decision to save Diana was ultimately the one that would lead to that.

Lear was my heart, but Diana was my soul. And if I didn’t choose Diana, the deaths of every villager that died from here on out would be my fault entirely, were it something I could have otherwise prevented by having Diana’s help. But in doing so, I was staining my hands with the blood of the man I loved.

“Winna, love, it’s okay. Let me go.” Lear’s voice was soft.

Diana gave a whimpering sort of maow, and her breath caught for a moment.

Then my mind was made up.