The palisade breach lies silent, but the ward underfoot still crackles like a live coal. Jagged light crawls beneath Xarsthos's skin, answering every breath with a pulse.
Bera slows at the rubble line, staring at him with fear and hope tangled together. The Hooded Figure watches the glow, unmoving.
Bera
Xarsthos... are you holding that power, or is it holding you?
Xarsthos
The ward energy is unstable.
The Hooded Figure
Oakhaven needs a protector, not a ruin. Choose, warrior, bind it, or it will burst free through the village.
The fractured lines flare brighter across Xarsthos's chest, then answer the village instead of the wound. The hum lowers, tense but contained, as if the power is waiting for his command.
Bera
Then let me help you carry it, before it turns on us all.
✓ Quest Accepted
Bind the unstable ward under Oakhaven
“I stand fast. I can bind this power to me. I am and will be the living vessel. Oakhaven will be safe.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -2)
Xarsthos plants his boots in the rubble and takes Bera's offered hand. The glow in his chest surges, then pours outward in thin gold seams through the cracked ground.
Xarsthos
It is answering me.
The ward twines around his arm like a living band of heat. For one sharp instant, pain snaps through his ribs, and his breath catches.
Bera
Easy... I have you.
Bera braces her shoulder against his back while the fractured light sinks lower, gathering into a steady pulse beneath his feet. Dust shakes loose from the palisade, but the crackling does not spread.
The Hooded Figure
There. Hold to that rhythm. Oakhaven stands because you do.
The pulse steadies at last, contained inside Xarsthos and the ground beneath him. A sharp pulse of pain lingers in his chest, and the warm glow now marks him like a brand.
Quest Complete
Bind the unstable ward under Oakhaven