Seraphiel nocked an arrow and put it through the gap between Drekken's helmet and his gorget.
The garrison commander grunted as he tanked the shot seamlessly. His tower shield absorbed Lucille's next axe blow with a crash that shook dirt loose from the basin walls, and his counter came in the same breath, war-hammer swinging in a horizontal arc that would have caved in the Bloodmonger's chest if Iris hadn't stepped between them.
The hammer hit Iris square in the guard.
She folded. Her feet carved furrows through the dirt, her arms buckled to her chest, and for a half-second it looked like Drekken had broken her in one swing. Seraphiel felt the impact pulse through [Aegis of Dawn]'s tether and her hand twitched toward healing on instinct.
She stopped herself.
'Not Iris. Never Iris.'
"[Severance of Mercy] transmuted a Child of Reckoning's pain into raw power instead of mending wounds. Healing Iris too early meant burning through the stockpile she'd been building with every hit.
