Major Character
André
Thomas's loyal squire who stays with him through his recovery after the Battle of Crécy and brings news of his ruin. Later becomes a knight serving Chrétien d'Evreux, Thomas's enemy, but dies trying to help his old master despite their opposing loyalties.
Supporting Character
Annette
Jean de Rouen's wife who finds comfort in caring for Delphine, having lost her own daughter to the plague. Shows maternal love by gifting Delphine her dead daughter's belongings. Brutally murdered by the stone Virgin after showing kindness to the travelers.
Supernatural Entity
Beelzebub
The false pope revealed as one of the fallen angels, manifesting as a golden fly-headed demon. Identified as Beelzebub, this powerful demon grows a second head and demonstrates immense strength in battle against Thomas.
Supernatural Entity
Belial
One of the three key fallen angels mentioned in the theological prologue. Belial incites war between kingdoms as part of the supernatural destruction unleashed upon humanity during the plague years.
Supporting Character
Brother Albrecht
An aging Alsatian Franciscan monk with developing cataracts who welcomes Thomas and Delphine with traditional hospitality. Despite finding Thomas's requests unusual, the nearly blind brother senses no evil in him but rather "a long-buried goodness."
Supporting Character
Captain Carolus
The wall-eyed, greedy pirate captain of the river raft, member of the Guild of Simon Peter. His avarice leads him to attempt murdering his passengers for their gold, which results in his downfall and death at Thomas's hands.
Major Character
Cardinal Pierre Syriac
Robert Anicot's possessive and controlling patron, representing the corrupt luxury of the papal court. Later becomes possessed by a demonic entity that perfectly mimics his appearance, showing callousness toward the Jews' plight.
Supporting Character
Chrétien d'Evreux (Comte d'Evreux)
The young nobleman who stole Thomas's lands and wife while Thomas was fighting for France at Crécy. Heir to Navarre's throne and Thomas's greatest enemy, he is ultimately killed in an ambush before Thomas can complete his revenge. Thomas later assumes his identity through Delphine's miracle.
Supporting Character
Comte de Chiffre
Thomas's lord who dies heroically at the Battle of Crécy from multiple arrow wounds. A noble commander who led the first line of French cavalry in the disastrous charge against the English positions.
Supporting Character
Comte de Givra
Thomas's patron and possible father, whose protection and favor elevated Thomas's station in life. Eventually granted Thomas the manor of Apontel, enraging better-born knights who felt more deserving. Dies nobly at Crécy without revealing any final secrets.
Major Character
Delphine
The central mysterious figure of the story - an unnamed young girl (approximately 13-14 years old) who seeks help burying her father and demonstrates both innocence and divine power. She experiences visions of angels, speaks Latin, possesses extensive knowledge of herbs, and gradually reveals miraculous abilities. Her name is revealed as the story progresses, and she ultimately serves as both human girl and divine essence, sacrificing herself to save the Pope and enable the arrival of angels.
Supporting Character
Godfroy
Leader of the brigands with predatory tendencies, particularly toward young girls. Wears stolen jewelry including a jasper cross. Attempts to rape the unnamed girl and is killed by Tomas for his actions. Also known as "the Black Cat," he later becomes the brigand leader Thomas joins after losing everything.
Supporting Character
Guillaume "Big Arms"
A former soldier and Crécy veteran who serves on Captain Carolus's river raft crew. Chooses honor over loyalty to his captain, saving Thomas and the group at great personal cost. Demonstrates honor and sacrifice, giving his life to help Thomas and the others escape supernatural creatures.
Supporting Character
Guy de Chauliac
The Pope's physician tormented by prophetic nightmares who risks everything to rescue Thomas from the papal dungeons. Learned in Arabic texts and medicine, he maintains his health while those around him succumb to disease. Witnesses the final battle between angels and demons and the redemption of a devil.
Supporting Character
Isna
The multilingual chamber boy at Elysium House who befriends Delphine when she poses as Diego, the page. Despite his fear of punishment, he risks helping Delphine retrieve their belongings. Later helps rescue Thomas from the death cart and describes the angelic army that appeared during the battle.
Supporting Character
Jaco (Jacqueau)
Soldier with a drooping eye, cousin to Godfroy on his mother's side. More reluctant participant in the group's darker impulses but still complicit. Spared from death by the girl's intervention in Chapter 1, but later becomes a Norman archer in the papal guard who unknowingly shoots Thomas with a crossbow before being killed by a possessed cardinal.
Supporting Character
Janus Blount
The English routier captain who spares Thomas's life in return for Thomas's earlier mercy at the bathhouse. Leads the ambush that kills Chrétien d'Evreux and his party, demonstrating the concept of quid pro quo by ordering his soldiers not to kill Thomas.
Supporting Character
Jean de Rouen
A Norman woodcarver who takes the travelers in after hearing Delphine's familiar Norman song. The kindly woodcarver provides them shelter and guidance in Paris, having lost his daughter to the plague. Dies defending his home and workshop, killed by the animated Virgin statue.
Supporting Character
Lady Marguerite
The blind noblewoman in the epilogue who is revealed to be Thomas's former wife, Marguerite de Péronne. Thomas's educated and perceptive former wife, whose beauty and wit made her a prize catch but whose pragmatism led to ultimate betrayal. In the epilogue, she recognizes the aged friar Thomas despite his transformed appearance and station, and they share a secret signal of recognition.
Supporting Character
Little Moon
The mysterious Norman farm girl who seems to recognize Thomas despite their apparent first meeting, possibly a reincarnation or return of Delphine. When Thomas playfully challenges her to guess her name, he whispers "Little Moon," suggesting a profound recognition that transcends his conscious memory.
Supernatural Entity
Lucifer
The most powerful of the fallen angels who orchestrates the "great death" - the devastating plague that kills countless people. Later appears as a defeated and captured angel, carried by hell's princes to hell's deepest vaults, marking the shift in cosmic power back to heaven.
Supporting Character
Mathilde
The plague victim who "marries" the unconscious Thomas and dies beside him. Delirious with fever and tormented by a demonic goat in her house, she stumbles through town seeking water and discovers Thomas near death from his battle with the river monster. In her fevered state, she sees him as a holy knight and performs a makeshift wedding ceremony.
Supporting Character
Michel Herbert
Twenty-year-old son of the village reeve, object of Père Mathieu's forbidden affection, destined for law school in Paris. Known to be sexually active with multiple women and had confessed to having impure thoughts about men as well. Dies in the plague along with most of the village.
Major Character
Père Mathieu (Majer Anicot)
The priest traveling with Thomas and Delphine, whose true name the girl mysteriously knows. A village priest struggling with forbidden desire and loss of faith, tormented by his love for Michel Herbert. Demonstrates growing wine dependency and susceptibility to religious artifacts, but ultimately wields the Holy Spear effectively against supernatural evil. Dies peacefully after experiencing transcendent beauty, finally speaking of his lost love Michel.
Major Character
Pope Clement VI (Pierre Roger)
The Holy Father who announces both a new crusade and campaigns against Jews, but is later revealed to have been murdered by demonic children and replaced by a false pope. The real pope is preserved in wine and eventually resurrected by Delphine. After his restoration, he shows genuine benevolence and wisdom, canceling the planned crusade and forbidding pogroms against Jews.
Supporting Character
Renaldo Carbonelli
A young Tuscan merchant walking home from Paris after receiving word that his wife survived the plague. Delphine finds herself attracted to the handsome Italian but prophetically warns him away from their dangerous mission, speaking in perfect Italian she claims not to remember. Represents hope and normal life that the protagonists cannot have.
Major Character
Robert Anicot
Père Mathieu's younger brother, a beautiful but trapped concubine who serves Cardinal Pierre Syriac in Avignon. Struggles with guilt over his brother's fate and his own compromised position. Witnesses Cardinal Syriac's demonic possession but chooses denial over action. Eventually becomes a cardinal himself but dies when the chapel collapses during the final battle.
Supernatural Entity
Rutger the Fair
German leader of the penitents, possessing dark powers to animate the dead, ultimately revealed as a powerful demon. A charismatic, scarred figure whose followers practice extreme flagellation. Transforms into a multi-eyed monster during the supernatural battle at Auxerre.
Supernatural Entity
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
Appears as an antagonistic supernatural force, trying to manipulate Père Mathieu into killing Delphine by questioning her divine nature. Initially appears helpful as a monk in white Cistercian robes, but reveals his demonic nature when commanding the priest to murder Delphine.
Supernatural Entity
The Archangel Michael
The most perfect angel, bearing a brilliant sword too bright to look at and flying on white eagle wings the size of sails. Perches on the Tower of Angels and sings beautifully, filling survivors with relief and gratitude during the final battle against the demons.
Supernatural Entity
The River Monster
A massive serpentine creature approximately nine mules long that has taken up residence in the river, feeding on plague victims and killing anyone who attempts to cross. A nightmarish fusion of eel, newt, and frog with white blind eyes, rows of teeth, and a human hand at the end of its tail.
Supernatural Entity
The Stone Virgin
A blasphemous animated six-foot statue of the Virgin Mary that serves as an agent of supernatural evil, capable of speech and terrible violence. Holds a dead, plague-ridden infant and attacks households at night, ultimately killed by the Holy Spear wielded by Père Mathieu.
Major Character
Thomas de Givra (Tomas)
The central protagonist - a former knight turned brigand, practical and hardened by violence, who gradually develops protective feelings toward Delphine. Born as the bastard son of a kitchen servant, he rose to become a landed knight before losing everything at the Battle of Crécy due to political machinations. Shows growing tenderness and humanity throughout the journey, ultimately sacrificing his life to save the Pope. Later experiences damnation in hell before being rescued by divine love and resurrected. In the epilogue, he appears as an aged Franciscan friar who has found peace in religious service.
Supporting Character
Tristan
The doctor's devoted young assistant with an exceptional sense of smell who notices the wine's corruption. Promoted from the kitchens after the doctor's previous assistants died of plague, he tends to Guy de Chauliac with concern and helps in the rescue mission to save Thomas.
Supernatural Entity
Uzziel
One of the three key fallen angels mentioned in the theological prologue. Uzziel brings famine by corrupting crops and livestock as part of the supernatural destruction unleashed upon humanity during the plague years.
Supernatural Entity
Zephon
The first angel to emerge from Delphine's broken body, muscled yet without need of muscle, wrestling back the demons to make room for other angels. Shines warm moonish light throughout the courtyard and breaks the devils' maddening noise during the final battle.
Complete character guide for Christopher Buehlman's "Between Two Fires"