Althea caught her breath, unable to argue. All she could manage was a faint, “I… I couldn’t just stay hidden. People needed help.”

Before Gavriel could answer, a surge of white-blue light rippled across the square.

Uriel had arrived. He strode forward, his cloak whipping around him, a staff glowing in his hand. With one look at the chaos around them, he raised it high, his voice carrying power.

“By the binding laws of the ancients, I command this darkness to scatter!”

A wave of ...