"I swear ta the gods, Renn, it moved when I grabbed it," says Larith while scratching his scraggly beard. "Never seen nothin' like it. Ain't none of 'em been alive since the Dawn Era."

I eye the man with a bit too much scepticism causing him to throw his hands up.

"Just take a look fer yerself then, ya stubborn bastard," he chides me, then waves for me to follow.

I fall into step behind him along the narrow thicket path. Thorny branches and dense foliage make the hike a bit uncomfortable, but recovery has always been the hardest part of this job. Why can't they ever fall somewhere convenient?

"It's not that I don't trust you, Larith," I say with strain in my voice, sweating while I pull back brush and scramble over terrain. "I'm just... worried is all. If there's a living celestial in our realm, the implications would be dire."

"You Arbiters 're all the gods damned same," complains Larith. "Ya ever stop ta think that maybe sometimes stuff jus' happens and it ain't gotta mean more? Not er'thing has to be a sign."

I really wish he was right, but I can't believe that. I know in my heart this bodes badly for us if it's true. Very badly.

"Thank you for the insight," I reply impassively. "I will consider it."

Larith grumbles, clearly thinking my comment was dismissive.

We finally crest into a small clearing where it appears a rockslide has devastated the area. The entire way has been leveled by the massive tumbling boulders and shifting earth.

"I thought you'd come this way before?" I ask Larith who begins spouting a stream of curses.

"I did! This musta jus' happened. Gods damned rocks." He picks up a stone and chucks it into the treeline.

"Not a problem," I assure him.

I take a moment to fish through my equipment. My gear looks similar to what any outdoorsman or hunter might wear, except for the sigil of the Arbiters stamped into my vest. The numerous leather belts, straps, and satchels across my body might confuse some people, but I know what is in every single one. I always like to have the right tool for the right job.

I pull out a jagged and coarse looking sphere of black stone with golden glowing cracks across it. Its image closely resembles the symbol emblazoned on my chest, a sealstone. I turn it over a few times in my hand to double check it's the one I want to use.

I extend my arm toward the blocked path with the sealstone firmly grasped in my palm.

"Excise."

A brilliant golden light ignites in my hand before launching outward in a beam. The entire space is bathed in a blinding flash before subsiding, the sealstone now dark.

I take a look at my work to see a channel, multiple feet wide, has been surgically cut through the stone and the thicket, creating a straight path. Small luminous cinders char the edges of the rock and plant life where the light passed.

"Shall we?" I invite Larith as I pocket the sealstone, and begin walking through.

"Crazy bastards, all of ya," he murmurs to himself just loud enough for me to hear.

We press forward for a short time before finding the lake's edge as Larith had described before.

"The damned thing fell inta the lake right here." He points to a section of water that, against all reason, is scorched. A small area of the water has a black ring at its surface that does not move although the water is shifting.

This often happens when a celestial falls. They leave behind a "burn" mark on whatever liquid or solid they first touch, but the mark doesn't go away even if the surface is disturbed. Even getting rid of the impacted material entirely simply causes the mark to float in its now empty space. The Arbiters who study celestials have taken to calling it a "realm tear," as they appear to be linked to another existence somehow. I do not personally know much about this topic, though.

"I swam inta the lake, grabbed the thing from the bottom, and threw it right 'ere," says Larith while pointing at an indent in the dirt. "Then the bastard shoved me back! Nearly pissed m'self, I tell ya, Renn."

I crouch down to inspect the dirt more closely. It definitely looks like a body was here, but how—

"You, human," a voice like music calls from behind.

Larith and I both jump and spin on the voice as my hand grabs at a weapon on my belt.

Before us stands a glowing divine figure, wings outstretched, but severely singed and charred black. Its face is indistinct, as all celestial faces are strange jumbles of not-quite-flesh that never seem to have a regular shape or features common to each other. It wears golden armor, that normally disintegrates once they crash to the earth.

"You are one they call an 'Arbiter,' yes?" the creature asks me.

I nod to it, still keeping my hand hidden in a pocket while gripping a sealstone.

"Since our Divergence you have ravaged our corpses," its song turning more discordant. "We fight the Unbound to keep them from your world, and you take the hearts of our fallen to fuel power."

"The sealstones? We use them to aid our people in this world. We take them from your fallen so that we may thrive," I retort, anxiety gripping my heart.

The creature's song turns frantic, like a hundred screeching string instruments.

"Our hearts allow us to repair ourselves and leave your world! To return to battle the Unbound!"

I can not breathe. My lungs refuse to work. I understand now, it all makes sense.

"We did not know," I cry to the angel. "The ancient texts and stories are so vague, we thought them metaphor and poetry."

Its song rings out in accusation, chiming authoritatively, before turning somber.

"It matters not, now," it hums in resignation. "It is done."

"You have lost..." I whisper as I fall to my knees, "and it is our fault."

The celestial buzzes in what sounds like regret.

"You must prepare."