AUTHOR'S POV
In an impactful silence, Atrius' lips trembled with his tunnel vision focused solely on Helena. His hands shook seeing so much blood that have pooled on the floor. He removed his shirt and lifted Stellan's head. "Helena!? Wake up!!", he couldn't hide the panic quavering in his voice as he place his shirt on the back of Stellan's head. It was a moment he never imagined.
Seeing Helena's life slip away slowly in every shallow breath, a slow parade of nightmares haunted him despite being awake. His head spun, fading its clarity. He took out his string of beads with a cross from his pocket, and let it grace him with a light of hope. In a prayer, Atrius tried to suppress the voracious thirst of his dread from binging on his half glass full of happy endings.
Too much emotions flooded his eyes, and the overwhelming ones raced in his chest, almost making it hard to breathe. When everything became clear, Atrius turned to Mago as he decided to set his qualm aside. "Help her".
Mago laid his downcast eyes on Atrius' hand, clenching the string of beads. He could still sharply remember how he specially wrote every rune on each bead before the prince headed off to Nether from the monastery. "If you hadn't left Vierme, you'd know exactly what to do with that. You might even save this woman's life".
"I'll have you all punished with a hundred lashes, if she dies. So, help her", Atrius spoke woodenly, without giving Mago a look. It didn't matter how Mago knew the true identity of the person in front of them.
Mago scoffed at Atrius' unchanging hostile demeanor. It's always been his classic move ever since he was young. When times are hard and painful, the prince keeps it all in. Letting his livid simmer in the wake of his indignant calm. It is what he's good at. "I acted on impulse to protect the prince. If it is a mistake, then I would accept. But, just so you know, it is something that I would do again when I see a paladin near the Viermese Prince whom I thought is dead", at first glance, Mago was certain that he daw Stellan beside the seemingly dying prince of Vierme. The great paladin knight of Nether. Stricken with shock, he battled with his thoughts to attack or walk away. However, he was consumed by a victorious desire to kill a paladin... And so, he did what he did.
"It seems like I failed to give light on how that works. Did you check the runes on each bead?", Mago uttered, peering closely on the beads.
Atrius never noticed the runes. He have kept the string of beads in his pocket at all times, and never have he look over the beads. As he scan the necklace, just as he thought, there were no runes. "What runes?".
"That necklace is meant to protect the bearer. Each rune is for every danger that you encounter. They vanish after they serve their purpose", Mago explained that brightened Atrius' eyes.
Unfortunately, not one rune is left written in the necklace. He even wiped them with his thumb. Squinted his eyes a little more… Still no rune. At first, he thought Mago is poking fun at him. It isn't really the best time to make jokes.
Atrius looked at Mago and studied the lines on his forehead. He can't be lying at a time like this. And then, he recalled the times when he courted death. From Kelpie in the rivers and Oizys in the Forest of the Forgotten in Brandenburg, to the basilisk lurking around the Holy Land, dark healers, the sirens and the rebels, most especially the crawler. He was constantly in a death sentence, exhausting all the runes in the necklace.
Meanwhile, now that there's only one sand soldier left inside, Jac took his chances. He may not be able to take them all down at once, but at least, he can take them one by one. Jac crept behind Mago and got him on chokehold with his thick arm. In a swoop, Jac flipped Mago and overthrew him on the floor. Furious, Jac growled like a beast, sitting on Mago's chest pinning him and landing a hard blow on his face. With deep surging rage, his fists glowed with his paladin aura about to punch Mago again.
Mago, who happens to be the great archmage of Vierme, made his eyes shift to white. Jac was perplexed to notice the sudden change, realizing that the man he locked horns with is no ordinary.
A potent energy wrapped Jac's hand, bridled it in the air as he shakily force his punch to land on Mago. The veins on Jac's neck were like roots emerging underneath his skin. His entire body was petrified from head to toe. He strained heavily with audible grunts, as he release the maximun potential of his paladin energy just to move a finger.
"Mago stop!!! Stop this instant!!", Atrius ordered, in his erratic and unsettling tone with his other fist tightening in a ball of handgrip, crushing the necklace in his palm. He knew that if he wouldn't be able to stop Mago, Jac will be shredded into chunks.
Hearing the loud commotion, the sand soldiers scurried back into the watchtower and pulled Jacomus away. It was only then that Mago released his hold on Jacomus. "He got you really good, Mago", a sand soldier, wearing thick golden hoops in his ears, had his mouth twisted with a contemptuous sneer. He offered a hand to Mago, but the archmage refused.
Returning to his feet, Mago licked his busted lower lip, which tasted like iron. "No, this one's unripe. Not even close to the paladin with an axe!", Mago spit a bit of blood, with a hiss. He scoffed at Jac's inept handling of a threat. An amateur paladin, he believed.
"Paladins multiply in Nether, how's that possible?", another man, with chipped front teeth, wondered.
"Let me gooo!!", Jac thrashed about like a wild animal from the grapple of two men on each of his arms and one snaking his neck.
Writhing his rigid body, Jac scowled at Mago. The tightening clutch made his hot blood rush even more to his head. He let out a beastly growl, breaking loose. In steadfast, Jac went on a rampage of fisticuffs against all four sand soldiers at once, while the others watch as if it's an entertaining battle in an iron cage arena.
"Let Jac go!!", Atrius angrily pitched. "Stop this at once, Mago!!". His desires to aid Jac was outpouring, however, he is trapped in an unwavering uncertainty between putting pressures on Stellan's wound, and backing up Jac, who's soon going to be skinned alive.
"Not until he is calm!", Mago stood before Jac with cold stares. "Ahh, paladins. Always a nuisance". Mago despise paladins. Apart from the insanely immense power that they have, they are showered with great strength in combat. Something mages do not possess. He stoodby as he watch Jac overpower his sandsoldiers.