Hali
| Home | Zybersia |
|---|---|
| Status | Last seen a captive at Zybersia |
| First appearance | Sacred 2: Flames of the Awakened |
Hali is the elderly woman who helps Alyria, the head of the Olphins, on the day Obellius Kalaar takes the throne of Zybersia.[1] She holds Alyria's elbow, picks up her dropped cane, and gives Obellius the surrender he wants in order to stop him burning her. She appears in that one scene and nowhere else in the series.[1]
Appearance
The novel calls her an elderly woman and an old woman, and describes nothing else about her.[1] Whether she is an Olphin herself is not established: the crowd she steps out of holds the Olphins and the rest of the citizens of Zybersia together, and Alyria is the only individual in the scene the narration identifies as an Olphin.[1]
Story
Sacred 2: Flames of the Awakened
Zybersia has fallen to the Nelazgians and its people have been corralled into the town square below the citadel. Obellius demands to know which of them leads the Olphins, and Alyria comes forward on a cattail-shaped cane. Ordered up the steps to join him, she takes one wobbly step and Hali steps out of the crowd to put a hand under her elbow and steady her.[1]
Obellius stops them both and says that she will walk on her own, and that the so-called leader of the Olphin race can carry herself as she did for the rest of them. Alyria squeezes her friend's hand and tells her "I'll be okay, Hali", and promises it.[1] Obellius loses patience and sends a Nelazgian down to fetch her, who yanks Alyria away from Hali and drags her up the steep flight. The cane clatters back down the steps to Hali's feet, and she picks it up.[1]
When Obellius orders the square to kneel, nobody moves. He brings his burning staff down on Alyria's fin and holds it there until it burns a hole through. It is Hali who breaks: she shouts from below for him to stop, tells him "We will submit, they will submit. Just stop. She doesn't deserve that," and goes to her knees. One by one the rest of the crowd follows her down with their heads turned to the ground, and Hali alone keeps her gaze up toward Alyria.[1]
Nothing further is recorded of her. The novel does not return to the square, and her fate is not established.
Relationships
Alyria is named as her friend, and Hali is the one steadying her, carrying her cane and speaking for her when she cannot speak for herself. How long the two have known each other, and in what capacity beyond helper and friend, is not recorded.[1]
Obellius Kalaar takes her surrender as the moment the square gives in, which is what he was burning Alyria to get.[1]
Behind the scenes
The pronunciation guide at the back of Sacred 2: Flames of the Awakened gives the name as Holly. She is not in the guide at the back of Sacred: Eslura's Calling, and she is not mentioned anywhere in that novel or in A Sacred Tale Collection.[2]
Her whole appearance runs to a handful of lines in Nedifar's chapter, seen from the platform above rather than from ground level, which is why so little of her is on the page.[1]