The guards stationed outside the gates saw him coming.

A single figure, tearing up the fields with no attempt to slow.

One of them leaned forward, hand rising as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing.

"Rider," he called, uncertainty creeping into his voice.

Gabriel didn't look up.

The horse thundered closer, hooves chewing through dirt and frost, breath flaring white in the cold air. He rode low, cloak snapped back by the wind.

The guard's shout sharpened, "Close the gate!"

The heavy timbers began to shift. Another guard raised the horn and blew, the sound short and urgent, echoing around.

Instead, he lowered himself over the horse's neck and drove it harder, boots locking in as the ground rushed beneath them. The gap was already narrowing.

At the gate, discipline snapped into place.

Spears came down in unison, points angling outward. Shields locked. Boots spread, weight dropped. The two guards braced themselves for impact.

Gabriel didn't slow.

The distance vanished in an instant.

At the last possible moment, one of the guards threw himself sideways, dragging the other with him as the horse burst through the narrowing gap.

His shoulder brushed the wood of the gate as he passed.

"Loose!" A shout came from the top of the wall.

Twang.

An arrow snapped past Gabriel's head, close enough that he felt the whisper of it tug at his hair as it vanished down the street beyond.

He didn't flinch.

His eyes stayed on the path ahead as the horse bolted through the gate, hooves striking hard stone inside the walls.

The second shot from a bow never came. He had created too much distance before the archer had time to knock another arrow.

Shouts erupted behind him. Orders overlapped. Boots pounded stone as guards scrambled to reposition.

A bell began to ring above the wall.

The sound rolled out over the town, deep and urgent, cutting through the midday noise and tearing Eldenreach into a panic.

The alarm spread.

He kept moving forward.

He burst into the market at full speed.

Crates scattered as the horse slammed through a stack of drying goods, wood splintering and spilling across the street.

A vendor shouted and dove aside, baskets tumbling as people scrambled out of the way.

"Move!" someone screamed.

Gabriel threaded through the chaos without slowing, the horse shouldering past overturned carts and leaping debris as townsfolk threw themselves clear. Shouts turned to curses, then to fear as the bell continued to toll overhead.

The street widened into dirt, stalls giving way to fencing and low stone walls as he tore past the stables at the edge of town. Horses screamed and reared as he raced by, the smell of hay and manure cutting sharp through the air.

Beyond them, the potato fields stretched out, rows torn and trampled where people fled the road.

At the far end of the track, tucked behind a strand of trees, was the apothecary.

Smoke still curled lazily from the chimney.

Gabriel hauled back on the reins.

The horse screamed in protest as its hooves dug into the dirt, skidding sideways through the garden beds. Soil and crushed herbs sprayed outward as they slid to a halt just short of the porch.

Gabriel was off the saddle before the horse fully stopped, boots hitting the ground hard as he left the reins untied.

The alarm bell still carried this far, its relentless clang rolling over the fields and bleeding through the walls of the apothecary.

The door was still standing.

He reached up, drew his blades, and charged, slamming his shoulder into the wood.

It imploded instantly under his weight.

"Mera-!"

She jumped with a sharp cry.

Glass shattered as the vials slipped from her hands, bursting across the wood floor in sprays of colour and acrid smoke. She staggered back from the alchemy table, breath caught in her throat as she stared at him.

"Ga-Gabriel."

Her brows furrowed as her face reddened.

"What in creator's name are you doing!?"

Gabriel didn't answer.

He stood just inside the ruined doorway, blades still in his hands, chest rising and falling as he scanned the room.

His gaze locked on her.

The pressure in his chest eased slightly.

Mera looked past him, her eyes catching on the shattered door, the splintered frame, the debris scattered across her floor.

"Have you gone mad?" she snapped. "You're getting this door fixed. Now."

He remained silent.

His eyes never left her.

His grip tightened around the hilts of his swords, leather creaking softly under his fingers.

Gabriel finally spoke, voice low. "Did anyone come here?"

"Only you, you stup-" Mera stopped mid-way through her sentence. Turning her head to the window.

The sound of metal clinking echoed through the house.

Gabriel paused, listening.

Boots struck the dirt path outside in steady cadence, armour shifting with each step.

"Too many for a patrol." She turned back to Gabriel. "What did you do?"

He exhaled slowly and sheathed his blades as he turned his head just enough to glance toward the window.

Shadows passed across the glass.

Mera followed his gaze, her irritation draining as the sound grew clearer.

Gabriel didn't answer.

The march continued, closing the distance quickly.

He pulled the sheath itself free, setting both aside near the wall. He rolled his shoulders once, forced his hands to still, and moved for the door.

Mera barged past him.

She stormed out into the garden just as the soldiers rounded the path, armour clinking, spears upright, faces set in practised neutrality.

"Finally," she snapped, hands flying to her hips. "Do you have any idea how long I've been standing here?"

The officer at their head blinked, clearly wrong-footed. "Lady Mera, we responded as soon as the alarm-"

"Oh, spare me," Mera cut in. "My door is in splinters, my herbs are ruined, and I had to be rescued by that poor boy."

"Whatever lunatic came through here fled before you arrived. I'll be taking this to the Lord personally. This is what I pay my dues for?"

The officer opened his mouth, then closed it again, colour creeping up his neck. "We'll… make a report."

"You'll do more than that," Mera said sharply. "You'll explain why a healer was left unguarded."

She turned away from them with fire in her eyes, already marching back toward the wrecked doorway.

"Sir, that's him, him from the horse. I can't forget them eyes." A soldier perked up.

Gabriel stayed in the doorway, expression unreadable.

His eyes flicked from the soldier to Gabriel, then back again, reassessing.

"You're sure?" he asked.

The soldier nodded quickly. "Aye, sir. I won't forget them eyes. He came through the gate like a battering ram."

Mera stopped mid-step and spun back around. "Excuse me?"

Her gaze snapped to Gabriel, sharp. You rode through the gate. Idiot.

Gabriel didn't react.

He stood in the doorway, shoulders square, hands empty, posture calm in a way that made the soldiers uneasy. He didn't deny it. Didn't confirm it either.

Mera scoffed. "Of course, he rode through the gate. I was in danger."

She stepped forward, planting herself squarely between Gabriel and the soldiers.

"You should be thanking him," she snapped. "Or paying him. Instead, I find myself standing here explaining why your men arrived after my door was torn off its hinges."

The officer shifted. "Yes, Lady Mera. My apologies."

He dipped his head, the tension easing by a fraction.

Gabriel remained where he was, eyes steady, watching as the soldiers began to pull back.

The alarm bell faded into the distance.

Mera came storming past him. "Inside, we need to talk."

She glanced over her shoulder one last time, "Captain, send someone to repair this door… Today.

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