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"Ju sound as the door to the toas finally forced open Shouts and the thunder of boots on the stairwell sounded

Marciana dropped and Lia and Reome both tried to catch her to break her fall The force of her iround and spluttered with the s to Lia’s neck and wept

Marciana turned and looked up at hi her head "We were too heavy," she cried "He was holding the curtain with his hands"

Kieran was out thenext, starting down the curtain length They all stood as he hurriedly descended But there was a ripping noise as the curtain came loose Marciana shrieked Lia stood in shock as he fell She tried to rush in and cushion hih She watched the look and blaze of pain contort his face as he landed on his back His head whipped back on the stone cobbles with a sickening crunch His body lay still Bystanders gasped with shock and scattered back, soirls

Lia stared at Kieran’s body in shock A strearooves of the cobblestones Soot and ash rained down on them She looked up at the ed inside of her, building stronger and stronger It was a flood, the pressureher

Marciana stared at Kieran, stricken, her eyes bri a dead man at their feet

"Close your eyes, both of you!" Lia screan

Liaher hand in the air and touching the dead nized the pattern now, as she had seen it before There was so sacred about death, especially a death offered as a willing sacrifice for others to live She had participated in that sort of end herself, which allowed the Abbey’s defenses to flood the lowlands surrounding Muirwood and destroy the Queen Dowager’s army The Medium’s will had been fulfilled and its power now could be fully invoked Not for her benefit – never for her own benefit But for the greater good of all

"Kieran Ven, I Gift you with life You will live and you will heal" Her voice thickened with eh her "By Idumea’s hand, you will live, Kieran Ven You will live and you will heal"

The power of the Mediuh her There were screahout Comoros She could hear them all, a cacophony of despair and accusation She could sense the blood of deadher with fury and revulsion We are the deadbecause ould not forsake our oaths The oaths which you have sworn yourself to pass the Apse Veil! Avenge us!

The Medium was a roar in her ears The ash and cinders thickened like hail It was still growing inside of her It raged like the fire within the cruh in the n Her blood thundered and boiled She could only see the blaze of the fire above her Her hand was pointed towards it Not to quell it, but to feed it She sensed the fire’s greedy urge to consun tongue, the ancient language of the Idulossia "Pyricanthas Sericanthas Thas" It was the sacred language to control fire In her

"The Alderreat deal He explains the to to understand thes, because I could not understand what he was saying, even though I wanted to and he grew angry The key is to see the inner es today, for exas It was of a serpent hispered the truth of what they needed to do to gain the knowledge they required The serpent is one of the aspects of Idumea It is clear to me noas provided to whisper the truth That is a syreatest manifestation of the Mediue to Colvin, he looked at me differently It was a look of respect I have never seen him look at me that way before It happened often when Lia was nearby and it always made me jealous Today it made me dizzy"

- Ellowyn Demont of Dochte Abbey

CHAPTER EIGHT: