Panic set in. Halbin ran after them. He didn't care if he fell down. He needed to get Chelsea out of there.
He sprinted. The only thing that he could see was the massive void in front of him. Suddenly, his momentum stopped. He was falling but not into the Hallow Ground but into the grasses instead.
"Ser Halbin! Calm down!" Nitha said as she pinned him down to the ground.
"Let go! That's a direct order, Nitha!" He struggled, but her grip and armor held firm.
"We cannot let you go inside without the proper precautions!"
He wished he could stop. He really did. But his mind was a mess. The one piece of home that he had since he was a child jumped out and one of his subordinates–no, his friend tried to do the same.
Halbin kicked and he squirmed but it was pointless. Nitha had him in a lock.
"I can't let them die! They need us, they need me!"
"And we don't?!" This time, Nitha screamed. It wasn't an order nor a reprimand. It was out of frustration. It made him freeze under her.
"You are our leader…" She said through gritted teeth. "If you go down now, we won't be able to coordinate properly!" Nitha said as she gripped him harder. He could feel her emotions through her grip.
"…I-I need to—" Halbin tried to say something but nothing came out. He felt like choking from his own words.
"I know…" Nitha said quietly. He could feel her loosening her grip. "We need to save them but making a rash decision like this will not help anyone."
Halbin bit his lip. He couldn't scream at her because he knew that she was right. Going in alone will not help anyone, most of all, Chelsea and Allendis.
He was their leader. He had to act like it.
"Let me go, Nitha." Halbin said through his heavy breath. "We'll save them."
With those words, she loosened her grip on him as she fully removed herself from him. Halbin finally felt free.
"You're stronger than you look, Nitha." He said as he twisted his left wrist, his right hand held it gently.
Nitha didn't respond to his joke but he couldn't blame her. This was no time to tell any of his ill-timed jest.
Halbin stood up as he dusted off some dirt on his armour.
He saw from afar that the Golden Cloth folk were watching everything unfold. That acolyte, Bea, looked at them with a mix of pity and contempt. The priest holding a wooden box, Marcus, stood still.
And finally their commander, Slen, smoked his pipe, watching everything unfold. He was completely unreadable. Halbin's gaze met the commander's. The more he stayed his gaze, the more he came to despise Slen.
He saw Slen turn his back at him and walked over to the two Golden Covenant colleagues. They seem to be talking about something, though Halbin couldn't hear any of it.
"Ser Halbin," Nitha called out to him. "What are your orders?"
Halbin looked around to see all of them ready to listen. Bach had his notebook ready, Geblin watched but he was guarded. Even Ponila was looking at him with wide eyes despite his frail body and fearful nature.
"Bach." Halbin called out the olde veteran's name. "You'll provide communications as always with your Artes. We'll need a clear map of where we're going."
"Understood." Bach said as he tore some pages from his notebook and gave it to Halbin. Seven blank pages.
Halbin then turn to Geblin. "Geblin. You'll stay here with Bach and provide medical support once we're out."
"I'll see to it that you are all patched up." Geblin smiled beneath his long dark locks. A slow and sarcastic tone that did not reassure him. Not one bit.
Halbin glared at him. "I'm expecting you to cooperate. I don't want you experimenting on us while we die."
He knew what was going through Geblin's head. A blood surgeon who was willing to test how far his Artes under the Path of Alteration could get on human beings. Living breathing human beings.
There was a pause. Geblin did not answer and Halbin did not falter his gaze.
"Fine. As you wish, squad leader." Geblin said as he held a knife out, twirling it around his fingers. Halbin watched with caution but as long as he gave him an order, he would follow it. That's what soldiers do. That's what a chain of command was there for.
Halbin turned to Ponila and knelt down. Ponila was merely thirteen years old. That was an adult in this world but Halbin knew that he still was a child inside.
He smiled gently. "Pon, I need you to join us this time. Your ability to make music could help us fend off mental attacks that me and Nitha might need in the Hallow Ground. Are you up for it.?"
He hated asking that to Pon. As much as he could, he didn't let the tall boy be part of any fighting. But with how the Hallow Ground feeds off of fear, he had a hunch that the kid's Artes could help them.
Ponila trembled in fear yet Halbin saw him gathering Chaos in his hands. It formed into a small yet long instrument that was filled with holes. It was a flute that mimicked fresh wood.
"I-I'll do my best." Ponila said as he adjusted his dark brown cloak.
Halbin ruffled his short but messy dark hair.
"Thank you." He said with sincerity.
He stood up and looked at Nitha with determined eyes. She knew what her role was as she prepared the sword on her left waist.
Just then, there was a dark blue light that slowly covered the sky. It was moving over the Hallow Ground as it expanded outwards and sideways, slowly encompassing everything around the void.
Halbin looked over back to the church officials to see that Bea the acolyte held her staff up as the blue light came from her staff. Marcus had opened the wooden box and he still couldn't tell what it was but it was faintly…powerful and divine.
Slen on the other hand puffed out one more smoke from his pipe before he smiled.
"You're welcome." Slen said loud enough for him to hear from a distance. The church officials were outside the Bounded Veil while the rest of them were inside of it.
Halbin wanted to do something about that man's attitude but saving Chelsea and Allendis was far more important.
He held the hilt of his sword on his back, ready to draw it.
"You guys ready?" Halbin asked firmly. He got determined nods and that made him smile.
"Then let's save our friends."
He jumped first, into the Hallow Ground.
In his mind, Chelsea's snark was probably gone. And Allendis…he trusted his friend to keep her safe.