Requiem looked at her hand as she channeled her magic for a moment and watched as it flowed differently from how it used to. Normally it seemed like dark flowing water that appeared from nowhere and went nowhere. Now though, it looked like it devoured the light. She cut it off and shuddered. Too late to regret it, she needed that power. To get stronger. This job would give her knowledge to use her power in the end combined with the things she learned from the cult and her father.

She had been lost in thought and nearly ran into a strange man with a bag over his shoulder, "ah, sorry!"

"My apologies. I was a bit preoccupied with my task, young lady." The scholarly looking man set the bag down and wiped the sweat from his face. He was an older man that wouldn't have been out of place at one of the more prestigious academies, "If I may, what are you working on?"

The man's eyes lit up, "well, you see, Dahlia is notorious for being a hotspot for creatures of the dark. So I've been working on a project to protect the citizens from being lunch."

Requiem raised an eyebrow and looked at the bag, "Sanctified Silver Salt?"

"Famous for it's holy properties and uses against dark powers."

She studied the man a moment, he looked like he had been doing this for several hours and it showed with little things. The shaking of his arms, the slowness of his movements, "do you need help sir?"

The man smiled, "that would be appreciated. My name's Eowin."

"Requiem."

She picked up the bag as Eowin massaged his sore shoulders, "so where to?"

The man pointed, "today I'm doing this street. Since we don't know who's thralled to whom, it would be best to avoid notice until the wards are completed."

They headed down the street, slowly emptying as night began to fall. From her time in the Cult of Echidna, Requiem was aware that the best time to cast wards against dark magic was when the sun reached apogee. Failing that, moonrise served fairly well. Occasionally, Eowin would grab a handful of salt and toss it at a door or window while chanting. The words were vaguely familiar to the girl as she watched and learned as best she could while keeping an eye out for anyone who might interfere.

After about ten minutes, Eowin stopped and motioned for Requiem to lower the bag, "pour some here." She did so and watched, fascinated, "I don't recognize some of these times."

"Not surprising given how few people choose a profession where such knowledge is required." The man replied when he finished. The runes glowed and the salt faded away. They looked around and quickly walked away to the next stop, "So what was the Rune connecting the runes for attraction and repulsion? I imagine those would cancel each other out."

"Ordinarily, yes if they were used plainly. But this is an exorcism rune combined with a cleansing rune, which draws and filters out profane energies."

"Ah! An oversimplified cleansing ritual?"

"To an extent." Eowin chuckled as he flicked more salt on nearby doors and windows, "the difference lies mainly in power. Someone directly enthralled by a vampire queen, for example,wouldn't be freed of the spell, but neither would they be able to pass the wards."

Requiem scratched her cheek, "But wouldn't a sufficiently powerful dark magic user simply break the wards then?"

"Yes, but that's what the runes for warning and locating are for. This is just a temporary measure until the new priests arrive and work their magic."

Requiem frowned at Eowin, "seems rather excessive for a stopgap."

"A good foundation never hurts."

They stopped a few more times before the bag went empty. The sun rise and the new day began as Requiem and Eowin parted ways.