The Sister didn’t know what woke her, but at some point before dawn, Arria’s eyes shot open, and she sat up. Instantly she noticed the aching pain in her back. She’d fallen asleep at an awkward angle. She’d tried to stay awake, but apparently it was no use, and sleep had taken her against her will. Not that there had been any point to staying awake. She was useless down here, locked away by one of her Templars for her own protection, unable to heal anyone. But she’d proven herself just as useless above, unable to heal anyone there either. Just one effort had drained her of all her power, and then she could help no more. And that boy, and his mother…

Arria’s eyes were red from crying, though at some point there had been no more tears to shed. She’d been taken to what was probably the one safe place left in the town, so that she might survive while everyone else died. It wasn’t supposed to be that way. Her gift… it had been given to her for a reason, so that she could save the afflicted, mend the wounded, [i]prevent[/i] death like this. But against this evil, her gift was nearly useless, and she felt a knife of guilt twisting in her belly. Never before had she felt so worthless.

But she couldn’t think that way. Now that she was awake, she realized she could not hear anything coming from above. Well, maybe there was something moving around, and her ears were admittedly untrained to detecting threats, but it wasn’t the horrible din of slaughter that she’d been subjected to for hours the night before. They couldn’t stay down here forever. They would starve, for one, but besides that, if there were people she could help up there, she had to try. That was the duty placed upon her shoulders.

“Havarr,” she whispered from where she sat against the wall, knees tucked to her chest. She did not want to make too much noise if they were still in danger. “Havarr, are you awake? I think it’s almost dawn. If it’s safer now… I need to leave the Temple. I need to help.”