Gilbert stood over Gabriel's unconscious form, the club still gripped in his hand. Blood dripped from the wood where it had connected with the former Paladin's temple.

A smile tugged at his lips despite the circumstances. He was breathing hard, adrenaline still pumping through his veins, but underneath it all was satisfaction. Pure, undiluted satisfaction.

"Help me," Melissa gasped, her voice raw and broken as she clutched her bruised neck. "We need to move him. Now."

Gilbert glanced at the crowd. Still celebrating, still focused on the scaffold, oblivious to what had just unfolded at their edge.

"Where?" Gilbert asked, unable to keep the smugness from his voice as he moved to grab Gabriel's arms. He'd finally gotten one over on the demon-eyed bastard.

"I know a place," Melissa wheezed, struggling to her feet. "Not far. But we need to go before someone sees."

Ennu appeared from the crowd, her face pale, eyes wide with shock. She'd been positioned at the opposite side of the square, watching for Church patrols, but something had drawn her attention to the commotion.

"What happened?" she whispered, staring at Gabriel's bleeding head.

"Later," Gilbert snapped. "Grab his legs. We move now."

They lifted him between them, Gilbert taking most of the weight at the shoulders, Ennu struggling with his legs. Melissa led them away from the square, one hand still pressed to her throat, the other gesturing them forward through narrow side streets.

The celebration faded behind them as they moved deeper into the maze of alleys that branched off from Cathedral Square.

The buildings here pressed close, creating shadows even in daylight, passages where three people carrying an unconscious body could pass without drawing attention.

Melissa moved quickly despite her injury, taking turns without hesitation. She knew these streets.

Left. Right. Through a courtyard. Down steps that descended into what looked like cellars.

Gilbert's arms burned. The wound in his ribs pulled with each step, sending fresh waves of pain through his torso. But he didn't slow, didn't complain. His jaw was set, and beneath the strain was a grin he couldn't quite suppress.

Twice now, the demon-eyed bastard had attacked him.

This made them even.

He'd been the one to drop Gabriel. The one to save him from himself. The smug satisfaction sat warm in his chest, better than any ale.

"Here," Melissa croaked, stopping in front of a nondescript door wedged between a tannery and a boarded-up shop. She knocked three times, paused, then twice more.

The door opened immediately.

Tess stood in the doorway, sword already drawn, her eyes scanning the street behind them before landing on Gabriel's unconscious form. Her expression flickered, something passing behind her eyes too quickly to name, relief maybe, before her features hardened into anger.

"Get him inside," she said, stepping back. "Quickly."

They hauled Gabriel through the doorway and into a dim room that smelled of dust and old parchment. The door slammed shut behind them, bolts sliding home with heavy finality.

Adan appeared from an adjoining room, his face carefully neutral as he took in the scene. His eyes lingered on Gabriel for a moment longer than necessary before he spoke. "What happened?"

"He lost control," Gilbert said as he lowered Gabriel onto a table that dominated the centre of the room. "At the execution. Sister Melissa tried to stop him, and he nearly strangled her. So I put him down." The satisfaction in his tone was unmistakable.

"You clubbed him," Melissa finished quietly, her hand still pressed to her throat. The bruises were already forming, dark fingerprints pressed into her pale skin.

Mera emerged from the shadows at the back of the room. Her jaw clenched the moment she saw Gabriel, anger flashing across her face before something else took its place. Concern, maybe.

Relief that warred with fury. Her hands trembled slightly as she approached the table, but when she spoke, her voice was ice.

"What the hell was he thinking?" she demanded, though her hands were already moving to Gabriel's head, checking the wound where Gilbert had struck him with more care than her tone suggested.

"You hit him hard," she said, not looking up. Her voice carried accusation, but her fingers were gentle as they probed the wound.

"Had to," Gilbert replied with a shrug, the smugness still evident. "Wasn't going to ask him nicely to stop choking the sister."

Mera's fingers probed the split skin at Gabriel's temple. Blood matted his hair, still seeping slowly from the gash. "The skull isn't fractured. He'll have a concussion, but he'll live."

Something in her voice softened on those last words, relief bleeding through despite her anger.

"Idiot," Tess muttered, staring at Gabriel's face. "Reckless, suicidal idiot." But her hand came up unconsciously, hovering near his shoulder before she caught herself and pulled it back. "Charging into Cathedral Square. Trying to stop an execution. What did he think would happen?"

"He wasn't thinking," Adan said quietly, his eyes still on Gabriel. "That was the problem." A pause, then softer. "At least he's alive."

"Barely," Tess snapped, though the anger in her voice didn't quite reach her eyes. "And now he's going to be the most wanted man in Adaranthe."

"We found him though," Ennu said softly, setting Gabriel's legs down carefully. Her eyes never left his face, concern written plainly across her features despite the words of frustration leaving the others' mouths. "That's what matters. We found him."

"What was that smoke?" she asked quietly.

No one answered immediately.

Mera continued working, cleaning the blood from Gabriel's temple. Her jaw was tight, her movements controlled, but something flickered behind her eyes. Recognition. Or maybe just confirmation of something she'd suspected.

"Forbidden magic," Adan said finally. "The kind the Church burns people for."

"The kind that gets you executed," Tess added. "Or worse."

Melissa had moved to a chair against the wall, sinking into it with a wince. She was still breathing hard, each inhale rasping past her damaged throat. "It wasn't magic," she said hoarsely. "He didn't use any mana."

Gilbert found a stool and sat heavily, pressing his hand against his ribs. The adrenaline was fading now, leaving only exhaustion and pain. "He didn't recognise you," he said to Melissa. "When you tried to stop him. There was nothing in his eyes. Just... emptiness."

Melissa nodded slowly, her own eyes distant. "I know. I saw it." She swallowed painfully. "That wasn't Gabriel. Not the boy I knew from the academy. That was something they made him into."

"They?" Tess asked sharply.

Melissa's gaze dropped to her hands. "Whoever did this to him. Whoever gave him those scars, that power. They didn't just hurt him. They changed him."

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