You have to appreciate that by now I was furious and sick with worry about my poor, beautiful Selene. I couldn't imagine her piety being corrupted in such a way. She seemed so flawless in my eyes, almost saintly. There was no way she could be someone like that. I wanted to rescue her, to jump through one of those lofty stained glass windows, sweep her up in my arms and take her away to... well, wherever she wanted to go, I guess. I was very naive in some ways, and my heart burned with an unquenchable fury at having my illusions shattered. It was my first and only true love. Even Lola didn't try and stop me once she realised how effortlessly I could break down most doors when I was angry.

At sunrise, my reluctant hireling and I entered St. Heim disguised as pizza delivery men. I was very hungry so it seemed logical at the time. Nobody would question my presence in the Cathedral- some of those priests looked very fat so they probably ate pizzas all the time. St. Heim was famous for its pizza delivery service. They were never late. If we got trapped in the Cathedral for any reason, at least we could eat the pizzas so we wouldn't starve to death. We made our way through the city streets, tripping over a squeak-baa only three times. I was impressed with St. Heim. There was something comforting about the architecture, the space between the buildings, the attitude of the people, the background music and the noise the squeak-baas made. It was gleaming white, but in a warm way, not like some alien minimalist design. Everything had strange little twirls on the end like the tops of flames. There was a bakery full of delicious bread and addictive smells and a library full of boring religious dogma. I really love those squeak-baas, the miniature sheep/mouse hybrids that dominated life in St. Heim- the people there have a lot in common with sheep and therefore feel a great kinship with them and gladly allow them into their homes. St. Heim was a sanctuary- a warm, fluffy, slightly stupid place that could offer both the most impressive ceremony and the friendliest welcome.

The Cathedral was flipping huge.

I stared up at the enormous statue of Granas with her (I'm convinced Granas was really a girl) dove's wings that shaded her people from harm, or something like that. Then I showed the pizzas to the man at the door and he let us both in. We darted down a side corridor and climbed some stairs. Ragnald knew which way the staff was. It had been in his possession since his father passed it on to him as a child, so he was well attuned to its aura. There were plenty of guards but they were expecting thieves, not pizza delivery men and Ragnald was using magic to conceal the sound of our breathing and footsteps. Just to be on the safe side, when we actually reached the room where the staff was kept, we gave the guard a pizza. He ate it. It was drugged so he fell straight to sleep.

The staff stood upright on a specially designed stand. It was part of a set of clothes- the staff, a big mitre, a complicated set of robes that were designed to make the wearer look like they had twice as much HP as they actually had, and a long chain of green crystal prayer beads. The robe and hat were old and dusty, so I guessed the staff must have been recently replaced, probably because the old one had fallen apart. We checked the area for traps. We found a trip wire, some poison darts, a blade that swung outwards and a divine magical trap that summoned something nasty. Having disarmed them all, we examined our loot.

"My staff." sighed Ragnald, hugging it close to him like a baby, "I take back all those names I called ye, Zera, ye're an excellent leader."

"Do you want the hat or can I have it?" I asked, turning it in my hand and feeling the smooth contours. It was like a dream- perfectly synchronised with my every aesthetic taste.

"Ye can keep it." said Ragnald, placing it on my head. It fit perfectly. "D'ye want to try on the robes as well?"

"We're not playing dress-up-Zera here. I have to find Selene and get out of this awful place."

"Ye'll really impress the girl in that robe!" he objected, "I'll even let ye borrow the staff to complete the look, ye know."

That made sense, so I let him help me put the robe on. I swear it took half an hour to get that damn thing on. I looked- and felt- ten times more impressive though. Just as I was trying to decide whether to nick the beads as well, the door flew off its hinges and ten Cathedral Knights burst in.

"Excuse me, have you seen Selene?" I asked. The Knight in front almost decapitated me.

Ragnald grabbed the collar of my robe and practically threw me out of the window. We landed a couple of floors down- I don't know what I would have done if Selene kept the important stuff on the top floor like level guardians do- and bolted. We aimed for a small cave we could see in the distance, just inside the Cathedral boundaries. By now there was a small army of Cathedral Knights chasing after us like hounds after a fox. I forced my exhausted legs to run at full speed all the way to that cave.

In contrast to the Cathedral, the cave was small, dark and silent except for the sound of dripping water and an old black-robed priest frantically hammering on a door. The door was too tall and solid for me to shoulder-charge and didn't have a handle or any visible means of opening it. It also had a Granas holy symbol neatly engraved upon it.

"Let me try." I ordered. The priest took one look at me and laughed. He did, however, get out of my way.

"You're very confident, aren't you, youngster?"

I ignored him and spoke to Ragnald. "No hidden switches."

"No divine magic either." he reported, "Although... I feel something. Not much of it, but very strong magic. It isn't the kind used by any magic-user I've ever seen."

"You can't force that door open, youngster. You have to be the right one." he laughed.

"Ragnald! I've got it! This is an Event Door locked by admin magic!" I snapped my fingers, "Dad taught me how to bypass these. Hang on a sec..."

I put my hand on the door in preparation. It opened with a click and I fell on the floor. The priest gave me an incredulous look. Then the door closed behind me.