He leaned to the side, trusting his instincts as he raised the sword in a feeble attempt to deflect the blow. She barely missed Daniel’s heart, his blade knocked from his hands by the sheer force of the impact. Agony took him in an instant. Her sword had pierced straight through his left shoulder, the flames ravaging through his body once again.

Even despite the horrible pain, there was a trace of familiarity in the situation. As if reliving a horrible nightmare, he traced a dot on her head and mentally chanted a spell, fighting through the suffering. In his mind, he saw the deer’s head go flying, but the reality didn’t match his expectations.

She widened her eyes at the scythe and impossibly twisted her body, avoiding death by mere inches. Still, it left a deep gash in her shoulder. The next scythe came moments after. She was ready this time. The nimble figure disappeared from Daniel’s sight, reappearing a few feet to his left, not giving him a single moment to rest as her sword trailed a wave of flames through the air. Desperately, he tossed himself to the ground and did the only thing that could save him.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH” he screamed, louder than he had ever before.

For a moment, it seemed to lessen the pain, until it came back like a surging ocean. He curled up and rolled to the side, avoiding any possible blow. None came. Instead, a quiet had come over the courtyard, every fight simultaneously stopping. The young woman held her blade steady, but even she paused as everyone’s attention turned to them.

“Someone get a priest!” the nearest warrior yelled before even knowing what happened.

Immediately, two young acolytes kneeled next to him, their voices united in a chant. A pleasant warmth spread through his entire body, and when it met his shoulder, the wound healed. Daniel drew in shaky breaths as the pain receded and his thoughts came back to him.

“What’s going on?” the same older man said, glancing at the two of them.

“S-She tried to kill me,” he said, desperately trying to calm down. That wasn’t any attempt at sparring - she had gone for his heart the first chance she got.

“We were just sparring. He said that the dawn warriors were lacking, and I was proving him wrong,” she said, scowling at Daniel.

He widened his eyes in shock, hearing how shamelessly she lied. Pure incomprehension dominated his mind, and in a moment, it transformed into rage. How dare she!? He had come here with nothing but respect, and what had it gotten him?

A terrible thought infested his mind. Soul Scythe was quick and silent - she wouldn’t expect him to cast it again. He could kill her at any moment. Those unsettling emotions strangely cooled his rage, being replaced by confusion. From where had this thought even come from? Then again, if he was in his realm, he wouldn’t have hesitated to do it.

“I told her I didn’t wish to fight, that I had only fought once or twice. Instead, she didn’t listen and went straight for my heart,” he scrambled to come up with the best possible argument.

To Daniel, this was hostile territory, and the situation could turn at any time. Calling her every kind of curse word would not do anything meaningful. The warrior looked down at Daniel’s clothes, and then back up at the woman.

“He’s a priest of Morvina,” she said in a last-ditch effort. Fortunately, the older man didn’t share her sentiment.

“Right. I see now. May, go back to the citadel. I’m sure a Paladin will hear your story there,” he said, his words softly spoken for a warrior.

She wanted to argue, to say something back, but one look around her and she chose to retreat, though not before glaring at Daniel, no doubt wishing him dead. He carefully stood up, feeling at his shoulder. One moment he was in agony, the next he felt perfectly fine, even better than before if one disregarded his mental status. It was like, well, magic.

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“What the hell was that?” Daniel spoke as the courtyard began to move again, like a machine being powered on. The place had its own rhythm to it.

“Inexcusable is what it was,” the warrior said, his voice stern. “She lost her brother to a night watcher. Her grudge is a lot deeper than any of us had imagined. Tell me what happened.”

He slowly retold what had happened just minutes prior, still surprised at how quickly the situation escalated. Most of all, his weakness was the thing that made him the most bitter. He had almost lost his life because some madwoman decided to attack him, and she would get away with it as well. The older warrior assured him that things would be settled privately, but he had his doubts.

Halfway through the story, Raph came back, and he had to retell the same thing again.

“Paladin Thomas is just inside the citadel. I’ll guide you to him,” Raph said after listening to the story.

At least there was some good news, though he wasn’t too sure about his plan now. Still, he had come this far, and even gotten stabbed for it. It would be a waste to quit.

“Are you alright? The scream could be heard through the entire citadel.”

Daniel nodded. To be fair, he hadn’t needed to scream out his lungs for the courtyard to hear him, but the pain had done its wonders. Better alive and embarrassed than dead.

“I truly apologise for the way she acted. Croelius teaches us to brandish our light against those that would harm innocents and to protect ourselves. A dawn warrior should be honourable and steadfast, never to falter in the face of danger.”

Somehow, it had turned to Raph trying to convince him to join again. If previously Daniel was tempted, now there was nothing more he wished to do but be away from here. Still, he pretended to listen and asked questions, only to maintain the supposed friendship.

The inside of the citadel, just like everything else dedicated to Croelius, was beyond magnificent. Paintings and murals covered every inch of the golden walls, showing his acolytes worshipping the sun. The grandest of them depicted a massive airship that sailed out towards the sun. Perhaps the priests had discovered a terrible secret, or perhaps they were just mad. Either way, they were certainly in Croelius’ afterlife now.

“Be respectful,” Raph said, knocking on the door just a few feet away from the mural. Then, he opened it, letting Daniel step in.

The interior of the citadel had a grand display of wealth that could not be topped. So, the Paladin had chosen a different approach. The first thing Daniel noticed was an entire wall lined with display cases and shelves. On them rested questionable objects - a clay figurine embedded with obsidian screaming faces trying to escape from the clay, a menagerie of clockwork beasts fighting in an eternal war, and a twisted, curled finger of a creature not quite human.

Besides that, the room featured various magical paintings and a large bass, worn out from practice. Daniel’s eyes wandered over to the left, and he finally saw the so-called Paladin. The writing desk seemed comically small in comparison to his size. He towered over anything in the room, his muscles chiselled from stone.

One would expect such a man to look threatening, but he was anything but. Thomas was whistling a cheery tune, a smile resting naturally on his face. Upon seeing someone step into the room, he raised his bushy eyebrows, the only piece of hair on his face or head, and gestured to Daniel to come and sit.

“My name is Thomas. To what do I owe the pleasure?” he said, his voice deep enough to resemble an earthquake.

“Daniel. Very nice to meet you,” he reached over to shake Thomas’ hand, which was twice as big as his. “I’ve come to you with a request that might help us both.”

“Has my love for art spread so far throughout the city? Tell me your proposal,” Thomas grinned, pushing forward a figurine of a cat that meowed every time he touched it.

The cat threw off his entire rhythm. He had an entire speech prepared to move the man’s heart, but if there was one thing he hadn’t expected, it was the silly toy.

“Unfortunately not. Do you know anything about a creature named Velkir? It’s the leader of the silvermoon wolf pack in the Emerald Woods.”

“I might have heard of it once or twice. Enlighten me with the story.”

“It’s a horrible beast, the work of a necromancer mashing together a thousand different souls to create a wolf that can devour the souls of everyone he kills. He is also incredibly deadly, and no less than six hunting parties have failed to kill him,” he said, exaggerating every detail he could.

Then, without pausing a single beat, Daniel slammed his hands against the table, his voice raised in outrage.

“Such a monster is free to roam in the woods without anyone stopping him. But, I have acquired the ability to track it down no matter where it is. My offer to you is this - please authorise dawn warriors to hunt it down, for the safety of everyone involved.”