The church doors slam open on a wash of white light. Armored paladins file in, shields raised, swords bared, and the holy symbols on their chests burn like coals in snow.
Captain Valerius points straight at Tancred du Forietan. Around him, the walls throb harder, and dust pours down in narrow, trembling streams.
Captain Valerius
There. The corrupter. Take him alive if you can.
The Ghost
No, no, not now. If they break the seal, it all comes loose.
The Woman stumbles back from the altar, one hand over her mouth as the light catches her face. A side door creaks open, and a thin man in a soaked clerical coat slips inside, clutching a ledger to his chest.
Brother Adelric
Saints preserve us, this is the wrong congregation for a miracle.
He freezes when he sees the paladins, then Tancred, then the ghost in the rafters, and all the color drains from his face. The altar cloth twitches again, as if something beneath it is waking to the sound of prayers.
✓ Quest Accepted
Protect the woman from the paladins