[ this is not the full chapter, just a taster so the story doesn't look as dead. hopefully i'll be updating the story every few weeks now ]
The room was still in the wake of Tyrael's proclamation. The golden orb floated serenely above Valla's cold body, utterly unchanged from being struck with El'druin.
"A soul?" Sherade said with some amount of confusion. The woman approached the ball with an outstretched hand.
Tyrael had felt the immense power roiling within that sphere. "No, don't!"
He surged forward but before he could hold her back, the doctor had laid her hand on the surface of the golden orb. Excepting the woman to recoil in agony or shoot back like he had, Tyrael hurried to her side.
"Most peculiar." Doctor Sherade stood as calm as ever, her hands moving through the roiling energies of the orb as if it was just a bowl of water.
"In all my years as a physician I have never seen a soul, even if I lost the patient." She withdrew her hand and simply looked at it for a moment, as if examining a leaf in autumn. "I guess I was expecting more."
Tyrael stood dumbfounded beside her. Even from this distance he could feel the energies contained within and was afraid of what would happen was he to touch it again.
"You should feel grateful for your lack of magical potential, Doctor Sherade." Captain Asheara said. The hard woman's eyes were fixed on the sphere, her arms crossed guardedly across her chest.
"You sense it too?" Tyrael asked, relief and fear mingling in his voice.
"I do. That orb contains incredible amounts of power, more than I have ever felt in my life, even when-" Asheara's voice faltered for just a moment. "-Even when the Prime Evils came to Kurast."
Tyrael thought back to that year, the first time Sanctuary had nearly fallen to the Nine Hells. The Prime Evils had walked together for a brief time, until their pursuers had caught them in the swamps of Kurast. The Lord of Hatred, in his arrogance, stayed behind to fight and was imprisoned again. Asheara had been there in the swamps when the Prime Evils came and had helped the pursuers navigate the treacherous wetlands. She knew the power of those daemons far better than most other mortal still alive.
Doctor Sherade took a step back, holding her hand like it had been scalded. Tyrael picked up his sword and walked to Asheara's side. "I believe this is why the daemons attacked your city so brazenly, Captain Asheara. They were drawn to this, to the soul of the Nephalem."
"I believe you are right, Tyrael." Asheara sighed deeply. "It cannot stay here. If the daemons attack with a larger force, we would not be able to stop them."
"Our city is strong, captain!" One of the chirurgeons shouted, fist raised in the air.
"Shut up, you young buck." Asheara retorted. Stepping away from Tyrael, she pointedly prodded the chirurgeon in the chest, forcing the young man back a step. "I am of the Iron Wolves. I hate weakness as much as any of my men, but the daemons are unlike any army in this world. We are not Bastion's Keep."
Doctor Sherade stepped to the side of her assistant. "I apologise for his outburst, Captain Asheara. It will not happen again."
"Good. Let my men fight the battles, young man, you and yours patch us up afterwards." Asheara said.
"But I stand by my words, Tyrael."
Tyrael looked her in the eye. "It cannot stay here." Asheara repeated.
"I know, captain Asheara, I know. However." Tyrael said and approached the orb. He reached out for it but before his hand touched the roiling surface, a golden arc of energy leapt from the orb to his finger. Tyrael backed away quickly and Asheara thought she saw a twinge in his expression. The orb had not moved an inch.
"I cannot move it by my own power, it would seem." Tyrael said.
With some trepidation Asheara reached out too. No arc of energy leapt at her hand but touching it, even through her leather gloves, was like holding her hand to a hotplate. With a grunt of effort, she moved it half a foot before she had to back off.
"Captain!" Sherade cried out. The surgeon carefully removed Asheara's glove but to the amazement, and some measure of relief, of both, her hand was unharmed. The pain still tingled but her flesh was not scorched.
"So, none of us can feasibly move it." Tyrael said
There was a moment of silence.
"As Captain of the Guard, it is my duty to look after my men and the citizens of Caldeum. We could hold against an assault by an army, maybe even the daemons." Asheara said.
Tyrael kept his silence.
"But the daemons will not stop, not after one single assault, and never for this prize."
Asheara turned and looked Tyrael in the eye. Her eyes were stern. "I cannot doom my city for this, Tyrael. I hope you understand."
Tyrael nodded in reply. The sphere still hovered where it had emerged, covering the room in its gentle radiance.
"Ahem."
The assembled room stopped and looked to the door. A guard stood fresh from the street, looking decidedly uncomfortable. "I'm sorry for the disturbance, Captain."
"I assume the disturbance has a reason." Asheara said pointedly and put her leather glove back on.
"Ah, yes. There is a caravan at the western gate. They say they're looking for Master Tyrael." The guard said.
Asheara turned to Tyrael. The man looked about as confused as she. "Were you expecting guests, Tyrael?"
"I was not. It was not out of secrecy, but I did not tell anyone I was going for Caldeum." Tyrael responded. His gaze flickered to the floating orb.
"They call themselves the horadim? Horalim?" The guard said, struggling with the last word.
Tyrael's face brightened. "The Horadrim." The guard made to speak but Tyrael continued.
"If it truly is the Horadrim, they will be a great help to us."
"But the Horadrim were destroyed years ago." Doctor Sherade said in disbelief. Asheara had been about to say the same. She had not known the palace's chief physician knew anything about such matters.
"I know, I was there. It was reborn after," Tyrael paused, "After the Nephalem returned from the last war against the Nine Hells. I will concede that they are less, ah, scholarly now." Tyrael said.
He looked to the guardsman, who was looking anxious to leave. "I cannot leave here, but if you would bring someone here to represent them, they would be guests of the palace, just like I." Tyrael said, looking at Captain Asheara.
She sighed and gave her consent.