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Her heart broke. Every single bandit still held their weapons aloft, still bathed in the blood of the innocent, still stayed resolute in their dedication to the slaughter, to chaos, to sin, even in the face of promised salvation. It’d have been an admirable quality in any other soldier, any other profession, but here it only served as a stark reminder: only those who wished to be saved could be. Those who’d turned willingly away from the Goddess and her creations were no more than craven, unscrupulous wretches, no better than carrion-feeders. No, that was an insult to them. At least vultures had a purpose. 

But, despite that truth, Clarissa still found her heart heavy as the violence waged on. Despite their blackened souls, she found no pleasure nor satisfaction in her part to end these lives. They’d butchered countless innocents incapable of resisting and showed no remorse, no mercy, as they reveled in the spoils of their slaughter. They deserved the divine retribution, deserved every stroke of Auberon’s axe, every swing of Kellen’s blade, every arrow nocked on the string of Jorah’s bow, but still, Clarissa squared her shoulders solemnly in the face of this responsibility. They’d thrown themselves into this fray; there was no turning back. The people of this poor village were counting on them and Clarissa wouldn’t let anymore fall in the blood bath.

Jorah’s shouted brought her attention to the rear guard, even as Michail commanded her forward. She’d been so focused on the vanguard that she’d missed their altercation but it had her full attention now. Kellen was all but dripping in blood and frantically wiping it off, Imogen fussing over him before her attention returned to the battle, and Kayden… She watched in horror as Kayden leapt into the fray, launching himself into the center of [i]five[/i] enemy combatants despite the fact that any hope at reinforcement was engaged at the front. Oh Goddess above help them, this boy was going to get himself killed! 

She hesitated for a long moment, considering how to proceed. Their commander had demanded her advancement but at the same time, had instructed her to act as the support for the entire unit. Surely that meant supporting others was the priority over staying with the forward group? Auberon and the others had Professor Michail, Tomai, and Kaira supporting them right now and the rear guard had been left in the hands of… well, no one. Injuries took priority so Clarissa quickly darted to the rear guard, taking care to ensure that Kellen and Imogen were between her and the observable enemies. She made it just in time to see Kayden get nicked in the stomach, the blood stain visible from here. 

[color=FF650E]“Kellen hit the ground, now! Archer’s are looking for easy targets and the smaller we are, the less attractive we seem.”[/color] Clarissa commanded as she yanked him down, turning her attention to Imogen. [color=FF650E] “Imogen, go support Kayden now! He may be stupid but at least he’s a pretty target. Flank them while they’re distracted and hurt and then cover his back until I can get to him.”[/color] Clarissa ordered, turning to focus on Kellen. The blood was primarily concentrated in the front but as she looked, searching for any opening, she couldn’t find any injury. She grimaced as she wiped her hand on the side of her uniform, the acrid stench of blood making her nauseous, but relief washed over her as she confirmed that, at least physically, Kellen was unharmed. 

[color=FF650E]“You’re okay.”[/color] She sighed, patting him on the shoulder. He was clearly terrified, panicking, but as much as she wanted to offer him comfort, now wasn’t the time. [color=FF650E] “You did great and now I need you to do it again. Kayden’s hurt and they’re going to turn him into a pin cushion if we don’t help. The Goddess has given us the strength to make it through this ordeal and as long as we band together, back to back, we’ll overcome this challenge. You’ll overcome this challenge.”[/color] She patted his shoulder again and turned her attention back to Kayden. 

Looking at the situation logically, she knew she couldn’t dive in and heal Kayden until they’d secured the area further. As the only one on the rear guard with restorative magic, it’d be a serious problem if she found herself on the wrong end of a nasty swing, even accidentally. She wanted to make sure the idiot prince made it out [i]alive and whole[/i] but she’d have to trust that he had some plan in mind, other than act like a piece of meat in a feeding frenzy, and pray that the Goddess would look out for him. So instead, she’d have to help clear a path.

Clarissa took a deep breath, stretching out her hand as she focused on one of the reeling enemies surrounding Kayden. Righteous indignation boiled up from her soul and filled every crevice in her as she focused on the magic circle in front of her as spindles of light wove before her fingertips. The circle spun, completed, and with a flick of her wrist, she cast out her sorrow and horror and frustration in a burst of holy fury, radiant light bursting up from around her target. A pleasant rain of light settled over her and into her skin, soothing nonexistent wounds and proving an effective balm for her aching heart.