Phoebe has been told to never be horrified at the state of people she rescues. Angered, yes; indignant, absolutely; saddened, always, at the cruelty achievable by humanity and the world. But Phoebe is horrified when she finds a fellow Paladin, one that, according to her Siblings, has been missing for five years.
Not dead. They would know if he was dead. But death would almost be a kindness to Prasanna in this state.
The lost Paladin is chained, suspended by his thin wrists, his ankles fastened to the floor, leaving him spread-eagle and on display. He is nearly bare, clothed in sparse, glittering golden silks, to expose the black runes tattooed across his emaciated, nearly skeletal body. A muzzle of gold is fastened to his face, keeping his jaw shut tight. His head hangs forward, dull eyes unseeing, even as Phoebe stands below him.
Paladins cannot die like this. They can go forever without food and water, but maybe that should change.
Phoebe is silent as she gets to work, picking open the locks with hands she forces into steadiness. The muzzle has no lock, and she can see where it was welded closed; she heats the gold and pulls it apart with her bare hands, throwing it into the corner. Prasanna feels too light, like an underfed child as she carries him up and out of the deep underground vault she’d sensed him in. She passes by his keepers; dead, for how they tried to fight back. It seems they knew a Paladin coming to save their captive would be the end of them anyway.
Out in the sun, Prasanna finally stirs slightly, his weak head tilting back to gaze up at the bright spot in the sky. He must be too dehydraded to weep, too frail to go through the motions of sobbing, but she feels his unending grief and loneliness change, giving way to hope.
He either thinks he’s finally dying, or he knows he’s finally free. “Your ordeal is over, Brother,” Phoebe whispers, setting him down in the soft grass, letting him feel something besides emotionless metal on his wrists and ankles. “I’m sorry it took us this long to find you.”
She needs to get him to a Paladin base. She’s already communing with the others, telling them that the lost one is found. But for now, he needs fresh air, and grass, and the sun.