Mera didn't wait for him.

She disappeared inside, boots crunching over broken, splintered wood as she pushed past the wreckage of the doorway.

"Inside," she repeated. "Now."

Gabriel stepped in after her and pulled the ruined doorframe partly closed out of habit, more to block sight than sound.

Mera stepped towards him the moment he crossed the threshold.

"Start talking," she said. "And don't insult me by pretending this was nothing."

Gabriel didn't answer straight away.

He swallowed hard. "Something's coming for me." his face tightened "Or protecting me. I'm not sure."

She watched him closely, the sharpness in her posture shifting into something more cautious.

"Protecting you?" She looked past him at the shattered door. "Protecting you from what?"

Silence stretched between them, broken only by the faint pounding of soldiers boots hitting the ground, moving away from the apothecary.

His head tilted slightly, attention snagged by something out of place—a pause in the noise outside, a subtle shift that didn't belong to the rhythm of the street. He turned away from Mera, eyes drifting toward the front window, listening.

Mera frowned. "Gabriel?"

He raised his hand, not looking back.

The Apothecary took a step back.

Glass burst inward in a violent spray, shards catching the light as a figure crashed through the frame, hitting the floor hard. A blade followed the motion, thrusting straight for Gabriel's chest with precision.

Gabriel moved.

He stepped outside the strike, caught the attacker's sword arm at the wrist, and wrenched it down hard. At the same time, he kicked his boot forward, sweeping the man's legs out from the front.

The attacker hit the floor face-first, breath bursting from his lungs as the blade clattered across the wood.

Gabriel didn't give him time to recover. He raised his foot and brought it crashing down on the back of the man's neck.

A dull crack echoed through the apothecary.

Mera scrambled back, slipping on glass as she caught herself against the alchemy table. Eyes wide.

The former Paladin was already moving towards the door.

A second figure stepped through the frame, blade half-raised—

Gabriel closed the distance in a single stride.

His fist crashed into the man's face, snapping his head back and driving him hard against the splintered doorframe. Wood creaked under the impact as the attacker staggered, breath knocked loose.

His hand went over his shoulder to the hilt of his sword.

He stepped in and drove the blade straight into the man's chest, precise and merciless, the force pinning him to the door for a heartbeat before his legs gave out.

The sword tore free as the body slid down the wood, leaving a dark smear behind.

He turned from the corpse immediately, eyes lifting to the shattered window, then the doorway, then the corners of the room. Listening.

Behind him, Mera edged closer to the first body, careful where she stepped. She crouched, brushing the hood aside just enough to see the mark burned into the man's hand.

Her breath caught.

"The Order," she whispered as her heart skipped a beat

Gabriel's head snapped around.

In one smooth motion, his blade came up, the point stopping inches from her throat. His eyes were sharp, unyielding.

She froze, hands raised slightly, pulse hammering.

Images of the woman in the fog burst into his mind.

"She showed me the truth."

…

The gates of Eldenreach remained shut.

Dust still hung in the air from the passage of the horse.

Churned earth and splintered wood settled slowly as shouts echoed along the walls, still scrambling, their eyes facing the town, towards the chaos Gabriel had left behind.

None of them noticed the man standing beyond the path

He waited where the fields met the road into town, hands folded within the sleeves of a white robe. The hood was drawn low, shadowing his face completely. He had not moved when the rider thundered past.

He had simply watched.

The sun hovered low on the horizon, its light dull and red, bleeding across the clouds as day began its slow escape.

Dusk pressed in from the edges of the world, stretching shadows long across the field.

Patiently, he remained.

A soldier on the wall shifted, sweeping the road out of habit more than caution.

His gaze snagged.

"There," he muttered, leaning forward, squinting into the dusk.

"Who's that?" another guard asked, frowning.

The soldier hesitated, then glanced back toward the gate, where orders were still being shouted. When he looked again-

The figure hadn't moved.

The soldier's heart began racing.

He couldn't swallow the saliva pooling in his mouth.

The man moved.

Not abruptly.

He lifted his hands from within his sleeves and reached up, fingers brushing the edge of his hood. With a slow, unhurried motion, he pulled it back.

The dying sunlight caught him instantly.

Silver hair spilled free, like polished steel. His face was calm, untouched by the road. When he raised his head, the last rays of the light lit his sapphire blue eyes.

The two guards stiffened.

"Hold," one hissed.

Metal clinked as both men brought their weapons up, spears angling downward from the top of the wall.

The man did not stop.

He continued forward at the same measured pace, boots pressing into the dirt without sound, eyes never leaving the wall.

One of them took a step back without meaning to, heel scraping the wood.

The other followed a heartbeat later.

Their weapons remained raised, but their grips had changed, it was no longer steady.

"Captain!" They both screeched in unison.

The man stopped just beyond the gate's shadow.

He looked up.

"Take me to the church," he finally spoke.

His voice carried easily, calm and level, cutting through the noise on the wall without rising.

Boots pounded along the wall.

The captain appeared between them, eyes wide as he locked onto the figure below.

He stared for a moment too long.

The colour drained from his face.

"I-" His mouth opened, but the words caught in his throat. He swallowed hard. "O-open the gate."

The gate began to creak, revealing an opening. The man stepped forward as the last flicker of sun slipped behind the treeline, his shadow stretching across the ground.

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