AUTHOR'S POV
Two dark healers against two paladins. Fighting the elements, and fighting demons, paladins, Alesso and Vesta, do what they do best. Despite they engage well in a cat and mouse kind of game, they still ought to be hanging by a thread as no weapon can pierce through those soulless wraiths. "What's taking him so long!!", Vesta rolled on the snow as she escape the deadly blasts from the dark healers. Their altruistic acts made them face a difficult challenge that would possibly cost their lives.
"What? Getting tired already?", Alesso fired another energy arrow, however, just like the other arrows he shoot… it only kept going through the dark healers. Apart from their enemies being undefeatable from ordinary weapons and even paladin magic, these dark healers doesn't seem to get tired.
"No!", Vesta shouted as she swing and threw her labrys against the dark healer chasing her. Her labrys passed through the phantom mantle of the dark healer, hitting a fir tree. "But I hope, we won't do this all night", she said as she hid behind a tree. Just like normal people, they get weary too.
Alesso scoffed at Vesta's assumption. Yet, he knew that it is a challenge for Stellan to seek help for Helena, after all. How could a paladin like Stellan ask a woman to fight a war with him? For Alesso, it's nothing but an insult. But by the looks of it, Stellan might have found Helena in the deep caves of Caluso. One way or the other, they need Helena's help or what Vesta said will be true… they would all end like barbeque. And so he kept telling himself that it's just a matter of time for Stellan and Helena to arrive. It should be, he ardently believed.
Swiftly, Vesta retrieved her labrys which was stuck on a tree. However, it has lodged tightly that it was too difficult to pull out. As she took time to pick her double-bitted axe, the dark healer blasted its power on her back. "Vesta!!", Alesso called for the paladin crusader.
Missing the dark healer's blow, the paladin crusader stepped on her stuck labrys and jumped up the tree. However, both of the dark healers took more interest in her that they attacked her at the same time. Alesso tried to lure the other one away but it was already ahead of him, engaged in a more solitary hostility against Vesta. "Forget that thing!", Alesso yelled, it's useless anyway.
However, Vesta persistently hopped down the tree to get her labrys. Inevitably, she was struck with the deadly magic of the dark healer right on her back. Together, the dark healers were about to strike another blow again, when a strong whirl of wind suck one wraith into a whirlwind. A loud screech resounded throughout the mountains, as the other dark healer flew towards the newcomers.
On her knee, Vesta silently grunted on her burning back. Alesso placed snow on her burns, which were looking dreadfully painful. "We are saved, they are here", Alesso said, but in the eyes of Vesta, Alesso is mouthing his words and his voice just echoed through her ears. She responded with a faint smile, and pale lips.
Standing aside watching, Alesso was astonished to see how Stellan and Helena fight in perfect unison. While one steps, the other swings. Stellan needn't to dodge the deathly blows of the dark healers, for Helena blasts them off before it reaches the paladin. With a sword of a massive power, Alesso dropped his jaw seeing how Stellan can inflict pain in those wretched dark healers. A satisfying sight to see.
Using the scepter, Helena played with the snow and summoned the winds as she seize the demented wraith afloat, twirling it endlessly like a vortex. As she hold it in place, she lifted Stellan with her wind magic like a flitting demise against the other dark healer. With her blazing sword in Stellan's hands, the paladin knight lunged it against the soulless wraith, which instantly dissolved into fine dusts. It was a fight of purely great power and adroitness. Alesso felt an indescribable elation, understanding why the royals are obsessed with soul travelers. Such power is so great that they want to keep them to themselves.
Stellan tightened his grip on his bladeless hilt which purely emanates unbelievably immense power. The sword was particularly light, yet it's incredibly sharp to kill a dark healer. In all the craze, he jumped into the cyclone unhesitatingly and struck his sword against the shrieking ghoul that sent an electrifying aura within the whirl of the wind. Its dying screech was deafening, until silence took over.
Helena let out a weak sigh as she fall on her knees. Breathing through her dry throat and parched lips, she barely feel her body from using so much power. "Helena!", Stellan called as he get to Helena in quick long strides. He held her tightly in his arms, as he drop the dragon hilt on the thick snow. "Are you alright?", his eyes that is now empty of rage, becomes full of gentleness and worry.
"Yes, I just.. I just need a second. Are you well?", Helena asked caressing his cold cheek.
Stellan kissed her hand, which smelled of blood and ice. Her dull eyes tells him that using her magic drains her strength, something that he should keep in mind. "All the better with you here", he said.
Alesso and Vesta were both caught by surprise seeing Stellan being outrageously expressive and impossibly capable of love. They cringe as he held Helena, whom they knew as Haelan, so close with his eyes locked on her with what it seemed like the look of affection. "Hey love birds, a little help here?", Vesta groaned in pain as she stood up, hanging over Alesso's shoulder.
"Or we can just let Vesta die", Alesso shrugged, and then, received a smack in his chest from the irked paladin crusader. "Aww!", he flinched.
"You don't have to do this", Stellan worriedly as Helena stood up on her feet, on her way to the paladins with the help of her scepter. Stellan grunted at Helena's reality. Picking up the dragon hilt in the snow, Stellan guided Helena on her limp walks until they reach Alesso and Vesta by the tree, whom both still can't fathom the apparent change in the paladin knight around Helena.
"You know there's no one else out there who can help your friend", Helena smiled despite seeing Stellan's defiance. This is her crime of compassion that she'd be willingly put on lock and key. A calling that she would never choose to turn her back from, in any other day. Stellan doesn't hate it, but he finds it too ridiculous that Helena had to endure the pain and discomforts every time she uses her powers at the disposal of others.
With the power conjured from her crest, she have started to regain her strength, quicker than before. The color of her cheeks returned, and the pins and needles in the tips of her fingers were gone. It was refreshing to regain her resilience with her crest, something that she have already forgotten how it feels like.
As she lay her hand on Vesta's back, the paladin crusader felt a certain coolness spreading all over her back. She felt her skin twitch multiple times until she no longer feel the burns anymore. Alesso was watching intently, in complete awe how her magic works. Seeing Helena up close, he noticed that she is far more different from the Haelan whom he spent time with back in the towers. When Helena withdrew her hand, Vesta stood upright moving her shoulders, trying to perceive if she's really all healed. Then, she turned to Alesso and Stellan who's eyes were not on her... but on Helena.