Deathguard

Deathguard was a common abjuration/necromatic spell of the southern magic tradition.

Effects
When cast, the spell created a guardian spirit which protected the caster from attacks from the Ethereal Plane. The guardian spirit absorbed a fatal strike inflicted on the caster, afterwards the spirit was destroyed. The caster does not suffer any negative affects of the attack. Since the guardian spirit only absorbs lethal attacks, the caster was vulnerable to a non-lethal attack.

Components
The spell required only verbal and somatic components.