The more Paddy heard about the Necromancer Temple, the more he wanted it torn down stone by stone. Not just brainwashing, not just torture, but something that basically amounted to willful executions? Setting up fights, duels, where the outcome was almost certain death, and - worse - the victims participated in those duels anyway, as if they had no other choice? Because in a place like that, they didn't have any other choice?

He didn't ask about the powerful Necromancer. He didn't want to know.

"Saffron," Paddy began, shifting backwards in his chair and folding his hands in his lap, "I don't doubt Solomon's... powerful. I never said he wasn't." Strong, too, to be able to withstand torture and being blinded, and talking about it like it was only a minor inconvenience - at least, when he wasn't alone with Paddy, and had to keep up a brave face. "But being powerful, and not needing help... they're not mutually exclusive. He's been through a lot because of that power. There comes a point where being strong can only help you so far, and if you don't have a way to pick up the pieces afterward... if you don't have someone to help you when you need it, then all that power amounts to nothing."

Solomon would never have become an Elder, if he hadn't had Paddy's help in rejecting Necromancy. What might have happened to Solomon, if he never sought help after meeting Gabe? Would he ever have mustered the strength himself to leave? Or would he have rotted away inside a cult he knew, knew, was pure evil at its heart, but couldn't bring himself to do anything about?

"He's always needed help," Paddy added quietly. "It's just taken him a long time to realise it."