Chapter 4: Tactics

As Tera’ Lee led the others towards her house, she asked them what were they looking for and what they were doing here in the first place. She aimed most of the questions towards Danach.

Danach was clearly getting annoyed. His fists her balled up, and if he removed his helmet, it was red with rage. He strongly wished she’d leave him alone. Why did this darn girl have to ask some many questions? Hadn’t she ever heard of privacy before? He proceeded to ignore her, hoping that she would then turn her attention to the others. He was also making mental plans to murder the girl in her sleep. Maybe that way she’d shut up.

"Okies, don't talk then". Tera' Lee was a bit angry with that Danach guy, she was just trying to be nice. She walked in the front of the group paying attention on the villagers doing their normal activities. Everything was normal, perhaps a little too normal to be honest. She wanted action and adventure, and she was still aiming to join the party and make friends with them. Even though they didn’t seem to like to her all that much. She also wanted to have fun, which didn’t seem to be happening.

Gat Fuun was cowering in the back of their little group, watching the proceedings and their surroundings with unease. It didn't take a genius to understand the clattering coming from the dragoon's armour wasn't entirely from walking. He wisely kept the yuke between him and the other two; so far the yuke, although terrifying, had proved useful when it came to sticky situations.

Said yuke was doing her utmost to ignore the troupe, annoyed at yet another wrench in her plans. She watched the town a little as they passed, but nothing proved interesting. Instead she looked at the fighter, and noticing his mood, felt it might be best to distract him, "So, dragoon... That library. You are familiar with it, yes? I must admit, the methods employed there to protect the books are indeed intriguing.”

Danach turned to face Rossandra as they continued to walk. “I do.” He answered. He eyed her up, trying to figure out her motive. He guessed she was hoping to get more access or something. “The way they’re protected it rather simple. Geadeus has been around for at least a couple of centuries, so for him, magic is easy. There’s very little he can’t do.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “In fact I believe that he can cast every single spell mentioned in those tomes, not that he would let on.” He was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice the dog charging straight at him until it had knocked him clean of his feet.

Tera’ Lee stopped when a dog came across Danach. She was ready to help him and prove that she was a good person, that she was useful and here to help, but before she could act, it was too late. He’d been knocked to the ground.

Rossandra growled, and with a swipe of her large furry hand the dog was sent flying. She watched it carefully, wary if it decided to come in for another attack, but not yet casting any spells. Accidents happened, after all. She'd have to ponder on the dragoon's revelation of the elder yuke later.

Meanwhile Gat Fuun yelped, jumping backwards as he fumbled for a weapon. He ended up grabbing his bow, wielding it as if were a club.

Once Danach had pushed himself off the ground, he rubbed the back of his head. Not quite realising the panic his acquaintances were in, he knelt down. The dog raced over to him as if nothing happened. Pounced and toppled the half breed over again, this time round knocking the helmet clean off. It then attacked the dragoon with licks to the face. Danach laughed, he tried to lift up his arms to cover his face in order to prevent the attack of saliva, but failed miserably.

The puppy wagged its tail, yapping from time to time. It was clearly rather happy to see the dragoon. After licking him for a good few minutes, the canine finally sat down on the ground, tail still wagging.

The dragoon sat up, ran a hand through his cherry red hair, before wiping his face. “Geez, can’t you ever just say hello like a normal dog?” he scolded.

The dog whined bowing his head. Danach sighed, petted the puppy again, which only caused it to jump up and knock him over again.

When she noticed the dog was a friend, she bent down and tried to talk to it "Oh puppy, don't kill me, lovely!" She laughed and immediately continued to walk.

Gat Fuun and Rossandra both relaxed, although Rossandra huffed at the sight before them. The yuke shot a quick glance to the female selkie at the front of the column before returning her gaze to the puppy and the fighter, "Ah, it appears that one is not hostile after all. Excuse my caution." She bowed her head slightly in apology. "It would appear you are not only a friend of the librarian, but a friend of this animal as well? Pray tell, will it be joining us for our meal?" The sarcasm in her voice was very faint, practically undetectable, but still there. Knowing the fighter, it could very well be joining them after all. One more mutt following their disjointed little pack, she supposed. It really was starting to get on her nerves though.

The dragoon knight sat up once more, this time pushing the pup off him. He stood up, dusted off then looked Rossandra dead in the eyes. “Got a problem with that?” His voice sounding bone chilling, daring her to object to the pup joining them.

The dog let out another whine, clearly being able to read the tension in the air. In hopes to calm it down, it wiggled it’s butt over to Rossandra and rubbed it’s little head against her large hand.

Rossandra's attention was momentarily taken by the dog, but what kind of attention she gave it was uncertain. Danach's cold tone had no effect on her as she retracted her hand, crossing her arms to lift them from the puppy's range of slobber. "I have no issues worth mentioning. I am merely unused to the presence of pets."

She watched Gat Fuun make baby faces and beckon the dog to him goofily before she turned her stern gaze to the other party members. "Now, I believe we were on our way? I wish to get this meal over with soon so that we may retrieve our funds owed." Had she known the direction of the house she would have started walking towards it, but alas, she had little choice but to sit around looking impatient. "I believe we should discuss a plan of action while we eat."

The dog pawed at Rossandra after she moved her hand. But after seeing the way Gat Fuun was acting, it headed over to him, knowing full well that there would be attention there. It wiggled it’s butt over to Gat Fuun, to existed to walk straight. Once in front of him, it pawed at his legs, begging for cuddles.

Danach for his part continued to glare at Rossandra. He knew there was no point in getting upset over the small stuff, but he still felt angry. He sucked in a deep breath in hopes to relax, it didn’t really help much.

He looked over to see what the pup was doing. Strange thing, always did love a good old cuddle. He ending up relaxing somewhat. Rossandra was right, they should keep moving, once they got some food in their stomachs, they could get the money they needed and maybe part ways? Who knew? He also had no intention of admitting that Rossandra was right, heavens forbid such a vile act to happen.

Tera’ Lee gave them a puzzled look, but then continued to walk onwards after Rossandra’s request. A few minutes later she was home, the party having followed her diligently.

But as Tera' Lee looked, she noticed that something was strange... She entered the house and found the food all okay, there was enough for everyone. She continued to look about the house, trying to figure out what was wrong. She finally realised that her brother’s things weren't there anymore, and she realised he really left her... Tera' Lee was a bit sad at the moment so she cooked to distract herself for a while... Anyway, she could make an impressive dish to make everyone trust she that she was a good person, and to let her join them. She had to do her best...

Gat Fuun and Rossandra were looking around the house as Tera' Lee busied herself immediately with the chore of cooking. Gat Fuun looked like he wanted to say something, confused about her and her sudden change of mood. He let it slide however, more concerned with the puppy still demanding attention from him. He fully indulged it, engaging it in multiple rounds of play-wrestling on the floor and plenty of petting and goo-goo baby noises that made the yuke beside him huff in mild disgust.

Rossandra continued to survey the house, noticing slight signs that indicated while there should have been two people living here, one might have left. A hastily opened drawer with cloth poking out, scattered belongings on a desk, and so on. Seeing nothing of interest, she instead settled herself at the dining table, looking expectantly at Danach and doing her best to ignore all else. "We may wish to discuss our path forward as we wait."

She secretly took great delight in the foul look he'd been shooting her way ever since she'd refused to coddle his mutt.

Danach had followed Tera’ Lee into her house. He felt guilty, seeing as he hadn’t been welcomed in, but she had said they were allowed to earlier. So surely it was ok, besides, the others had already gone in. He watched Gat Fuun playing with the puppy, which amused him.

When he sat down at the table in front of Rossandra, he nodded in agreement. “Yes, I suppose it would be best.” He lent forward resting his chin on his thumbs, the rest of his fingers crossed, covering his mouth. He had yet to place his sallet back on. So his face was rather comfortably visible.

Rossandra nodded, "Good, that's what I like to hear. Anyways, I believe our first order of business shall be to procure those funds we discussed earlier. After that," she continued, "I wish to hear more of your next assignment. I have decided that for now, I shall accompany you on your endeavours.” she stated clearly. The only reason she wasn't out and leaving after they got their money was because that library had aroused her curiosity, and she needed to know more, one way or another. That being said, she wasn't about to blindly follow some half-cocked half-breed into dangerous areas if she could help it.

Then again, the dangerous areas usually had all the good treasures...

Gat Fuun, who had been listening nearby, was suddenly tackled to the floor with a loud thud of his head hitting the floor.

"Ow."

Rossandra barely spared him a glance.

The pup had knocked selkie boy to the floor and proceed to lick his face. Though it felt bad for hurting him, it was just so happy to have a friend that it could play with. Tail wagging like it might take off, the puppy cuddled into the selkie trying to get his attention again. I then rolled onto its back and looked up at him, pawing at his face.

Danach turned to face them, a single eyebrow raised. He then turned to Rossandra, “Once we’ve got the money, I’ll split the share.” He declared. His face then became sterner, “Do you perhaps recognise this writing?” he asked while placing the note on the table. It was clear that the top and bottom parts had been ripped off.

The note read:

*The pay you received is less than half of you what shall be given should you complete this foolish old man’s request.*

Rossandra went dead silent. The world no longer mattered, not the disgusting half-breed in front of her, not the worthless selkie in the kitchen, nor the one making a mockery of himself on the floor as he returned the puppy's affections. She recognized that writing all right. She paused perhaps a moment too long.

"I do not."

Her voice held no mercy. It was hard and cold, colder than a glacier and harder than any mountain. It only held finality. If anyone dared challenge her, there would be retribution. Whether or not the others realized this, however, was up to them.

Danach froze for a moment, that pause clued him in. She knew him, she*knew* him. She was his *daughter*. Which made his life all that easier. He no longer needed to worry about searching for this girl. Instead he was faced with a new problem. He was going to need to be friend her and then convince her to return to her family. Judging by the way she was acting, that wasn’t going to be happening any time soon.

His shoulder went tense, feeling the coldness omitting off of her. He grabbed the note and placed it back in his pocket. He let out another sigh “Oh well, back to square one he said.” His eyes remained locked on hers.

Rossandra met his gaze with harsh resolution. It looked like he thought he'd figured something out. Maybe he had, maybe he hadn't. All she knew is that he wanted something from her, that much was obvious. And she wanted something from him, information about that library. Very well. She'd play his game! But if all else failed, she had a little secret to ensure she'd get what she wanted in the end, one way or another. He eyes were hidden by her helmet, but nonetheless they met those of Danach with imperious scorn.

Gat Fuun watched the exchange with trepidation, the puppy's playful demeanour temporarily being ignored in case things went pear-shaped with his companions. If he had to grab the dog and run, he would. He was rather fond of dogs after all, and quite frankly nothing really deserved the wrath of the yuke sitting nearby.

The pup let out a whine, clearly unhappy with being ignored. It continued to paw at Gat Fuun’s face until it got fed up. Instead it decided to get and try and get more cuddles from Rossandra, even if it didn’t get proper ones, it was something. It padded over to her and placed a paw on her lap, it looked up at her and gave her the cutest puppy eyes it could.

Despite its actions, Rossandra brushed it away at best.

Danach leaned back on the chair, putting his feet on the table while remaining eye contact, a somewhat smug look on his face. Yes, he was using Rossandra. Yes, she was using him. Yes, they were both aware. In a way, he was beginning to feel some respect for her.

"And... Done" As she arrived with the finished meal, Tera' Lee noticed everyone was a bit tense. "I made a special dish! It's called 'Macaroni Bruschetta', and… And it has a bit of mu in it too! I also have some pieces of cake here. So, uh...you can go ahead and eat? I want to organise some things here, unless you want to keep an eye on me... and even if you do, I will stay here. Promise!"

She then had an idea. She remembered an old book Tera' Lee and Ban' Hone had stolen a long time ago... It wasn't understandable to them as it was written by ancient yukes, and as such was in very old script. Tera' Lee remembered their victims: old yukes in a rich looking caravan, all of them talking a strange language. After that she took the book and gave it to Rossandra, "Maybe this can be of use for you." She then sat where everyone could see her.

Rossandra's eyes were diverted from her rivalry with the half-breed as she took the book, mildly perusing it. "Hmm, interesting. It appears to be an old personal journal. Very valuable among relic hunters, but usually worthless otherwise." That being said, she would pursue a more in-depth read of it later.

As for the food, she would hold off eating it until her host, or someone else, had tried some first. She didn't trust it to not be drugged. Gat Fuun ended up being the first to dig in as he leaped to the table, giving the puppy one last good petting before digging in. "Thank you!”

"Oh well...Uhm, bon appetite? Hehe" She was embarrassed and nervous. Tera' Lee preferred to stay quiet during the dinner, she picked up some food for her, and ate. It wasn't because she cooked it but... It was AMAZING! It was something her mother taught to Ban' Hone before dying, and consequently, Ban' Hone taught it to Tera' Lee, and she adapted it. She was very proud of herself, and asked everyone if they liked it. She also gave a smile to Gat Fuun... If he like it then nothing else matter, everything would be just great for her!

Danach watched Gat Fuun eating. Waiting to see if anything happened. When nothing did, he finally looked down at the strange food plated in front of him. The so called ‘Macaroni Bruschetta’ looked to be a strange worm like thing, presumably the pasta. With red, purple and green chunks. As he picked up his fork and took a bite, he shuddered. This meal tasted disgusting! The wormy things tasted of worms dipped in rubber, the tomatoes, onions and peppers tasted as if they’d been rotting for months. The worst part was that the mu meat still had its fur on.

Looking up, Danach glared at the girl, was she trying to poison them? Or just terrible at cooking. Being sat near Gat Fuun was proving to be an advantage, the boy was probably too hungry to care about what the food tasted like. So he decided to give his share out of the kindness of his heart. He then waited to see what Rossandra would do. If she’d eat, he’d make a plate for himself, and if she wouldn’t, a meal for two.

Rossandra, upon seeing that Gat Fuun was doing fine with the meal, finally turned to her own. She then turned back to Gat Fuun with shock. Clearly he was NOT to be used for poison testing. That gut of his had to be made of something inhuman. She played around with the food on her plate, then gave a sigh and dug into the most edible looking bits. She'd been forced to eat worse. She was a sorceress, not a cook, after all. That being said, her fire powers were certainly coming in handy for some of the less... savoury pieces.

Tera’ Lee looked over at Gat Fuun "Uhm, it is amazing, isn't it, Fuun?" she asked, smiling brightly. Tera' Lee was feeling so happy to have guests, especially a hot selkie. "Selkie food is the best!" she chimed.

She continued to eat more of the dish, while offering another serving to them all. She took a look at Rossandra and noticed that the yuke was picking at her food. "Oh, dear, would you want something else? I don't know what food yukes eat, or if they eat normal food. I don't wanna offend you, but I am not an intelligent person. If you want, I can make some juice or..." She was afraid the yuke would slap her at the face.

Danach pushed his chair back, he got up from the table and walked straight into the kitchen. Surely there would be something he could use to make a more tasteful meal. Or at least one for himself. As he searched around the kitchen, he discover a few strip apples, some flour, eggs. He decided he wanted to make an apple flan, though it was going to be hard to make sure there was everything he needed.

Rossandra huffed, watching Danach leave. Looks like their tactics meeting would have to wait. She coughed, turning to their host, "I am fine...  Ah, we yukes are just picky!" That and the food was DEFINITELY not to her personal tastes, but hey, if she had been forced to eat monster food once, she could tolerate this. Gat Fuun burped, looking around for more. With a sigh she pushed her plate towards him. If he survived this with no outwards effects she swore she was going to buy him the best bow she could find. Anyone who had THAT kind of poison tolerance was worth keeping around!

Danach had been in the kitchen for a couple of hours, he had to use some of the ingredients he’d brought with him, but if it meant he got some good food out of it. Then it was worth it. The moment the flan was ready, he cut up and slice and dug in. By the heavens it was good. As he continued to dig in, he couldn’t help put wish he’d made a sauce or something to go with it, but he didn’t really feel like whipping one up, so just ate it as it was.

Once his slice was finished, he put the rest of the flan inside a box, and then into his bag. He may have gone missing for a couple of hours, but he wasn’t going to let them know why. Besides, he could always eat the rest of the flan on his journey. He then walked out of the kitchen, feed the pup the scraps, before sitting down at the table once more.

"Oh, hello again dear!" Tera’ Lee said when Danach returned. "May I ask you what you were doing? I think my food isn't good enough at all... What a pity, well at least..." she was unable to continue, a very strange sound came from out of the house! Tera' Lee jumped out of her seat, and raced over to the stairs to pick up her racket, before heading outside.

Upon seeing the startled reaction of the selkie girl, Danach shoulders grew tense. He stood up from his chair, grabbing his club. Sucking in a deep breath, he followed her outside.

Gat Fuun burped, dragging himself to awareness. Rossandra cocked her head, curious. She reached for her hammer and was up and at the door within short order. Gat was soon to follow.

As soon as Tera’ Lee got out of the house, what lay before her was most horrific site she had ever seen. The small forest around her house was ablaze with light. The forest was burning down. Out from the smoke of the woods came a bone chilling growl.

Her face grew pale. From the roaring flames and smoke came a shadow. As the shadow grew closer, it became clear what caused the destruction. A cerberus. It let a lot another roar, before ramming into the side of Tera’ Lee’s hut. The wall began to crumble. She looked in horror as her house began to fall apart.

When she noticed that her new friends where in fact outside of the building, she relaxed a little. Sucking in a deep breath, she perked up a little. "Thanks God! Ya’ll ok." Turning back to face the creature she continued speaking "Now if ya’ll sit back and relax. I gotta beat this lil hellish creature!" She then charged pull speed towards the creature, racket in hand. Lifting it above her head she hit the monster with all her might. Again and again she struck, but it had no effect.

The monster snarled at her, it turned and beat her to the ground with it’s two tails. She was thrown to the side, landing in the rubble of her old home.

As the beast's growls echoed through the smoky air, the group prepared for battle. At least, that's what it seemed. Rossandra coolly observed the situation, backing away from the creature as she watched its movements. Her armour did not glint, too obscured by smoke to catch the light from the blaze. Instead, her salmon clothes seemed to meld into the fiery glow as she practically disappeared, watching the situation unfold.

Gat Fuun yelped, his eyes skirting from the beast to their surroundings as he simultaneously plotted out an escape route and several hiding spots. Seeing what little effect Tera' Lee's attacks had on the beast, he gulped down his fear, at least for the moment, and fired arrows at it, hoping to distracted it. One arrow bounced off its eyebrow.

Danach was frozen in shock. He’d heard of these creatures, but never expected to meet one. As he watch Gat Fuun’s miserable attempts at attacking the creature, he wondered if there was any point in trying to fight. The creature before them was practically impossible to defeat. Just as he was losing hope, he remembered something. Something very important.

The foul creature charged towards the small selkie boy, clearly peeved from being hit by the arrows. Danach turned on his heels and screamed at the top of his lungs. “Rossandra you fucking bitch!!! You blizzard!!!” He then raced towards Gat Fuun, just barely knocking the boy out of the way in time.

Rossandra blinked, although it couldn't be seen through her sallet. Danach's cry had alerted the best to her presence. With a sigh, for it really was a rare and admirable monster, even she had to admit it, she sent a few half-hearted ice spells its way. They were really more to test her strength against the beast, but in return it gave a high pitched yelp, dodging as many of the freezing blasts as it could. It growled, lowering its posture into a defensive position as it stalked around the group.

Gat Fuun coughed, a little out of breath after having been tackled to the ground by the dragoon. However, after seeing just how deep the monster's claw marks were in the soil, he quickly decided it was a better fate than the alternative. He picked both himself and the half-breed up, setting the fighter down and attempting to locate the bow he'd lost in the confusion. He kept an eye out for the beast, but was momentarily distracted at the sight of his weapon snapped not far away.

He gave a groan, leaning over to pick it up.

Seeing this, the cerberus tensed for another attack.

Danach dusted himself, trying to ignore the fact that he’d been picked up, which was rather embarrassing for him. Instead he focused on the monster. He wondered if Rossandra was actually trying to defeat it, but seeing as the spells were working, it didn’t really matter. He was about to ask Gat Fuun to use his bow, when he noticed that the boy was holding a broken piece of wood. Probably what would have been the bow.

He sighed, guess he was going to have to focus on protecting the idiot from attacks. He grabbed Gat Fuun’s arm and dragged him over to the knocked out selkie girl. “Keep an eye on her!” he barked before running off. He signalled to Rossandra to splash the girl with water or something to soak her. Before sneaking up behind the creature and jumping on it’s back. Grabbing its large ears, he tried to cover the monster’s eyes.

The cerberus growled and tried to buck the half breed off while still attempting to dodge the spells casted by the yuke. It was beginning to regret having decided to attack this little area.

Gat Fuun sighed, threw the broken bow at the cerberus in spite, and attended to the girl. Really, today was just turning out wonderful.

Rossandra's ears perked, and she muttered at Danach's tone. "Really, I am not a nursemaid, a little more appreciation for my abilities would not be undue," she grumbled. She sent a quick blast of ice towards the selkie pair, Gat Fuun yelping at the chill but otherwise coming to no harm. The ice would melt soon enough in the heat from the house. In the meantime she channelled her temper into a horrendously dark aura, staring at the bucking beast as she sensed its hesitation.

**"LEAVE."**

The creature feeling more terrified then it had ever done before, made one last attempt to buck the half breed off. The boy came flying off, knocked unconscious from a blow to the head.

It was at that moment that the selkie girl came to. Seeing the creature swinging the lilty around, she decided to pick up her more beaten racket up one last time and made a mad dash straight towards it. Once she was standing next to the over towering monster, she began hitting it with her racket again. “You dumb fucking beast! You!” she screamed while bashing the monster anywhere she could. Using the racket, she was venting out all the anger and pain bottled up inside. *It was because of this monster that her brother left, it was because of this monster that the boy she loved didn’t love her back, it was because of this darn fucking monster that she couldn’t make friends with any of them!* She blamed it all on the creature, every single bit of pain she ever felt inside.

The creature growled at her, with a swift swing of the tail, it beat the girl away from it once more. Then it raced out of site, deep into the flames from whence it came.

Tera’ Lee lay in the rubble once more. This time she felt a sharp pain in her chest. Trying to sit up, she found herself coughing up blood. Looking down, she discovered the source of the pain. A plank of wood had skewered her through the heart. She let out a sharp gasp, looking up, tears began to form in her eyes. Not yet, she wasn’t ready to die yet.

Gat Fuun screamed. One second the girl had been in front of him, unconscious, and the next she'd been up and running at the beast, and the few seconds it'd taken for him to understand what was going on had been more than enough for everything to go wrong. Weaponless, nothing came to him but terror and shock. He rushed to her side. He'd failed Danach, who'd asked him to take care of her. He'd failed her too, so completely and utterly.

Dying to a monster was supposed to be his fate, not someone else's. Seeing it now, for the first time in front of his eyes, he was petrified, disgusted, shocked... his mind could make little sense of things.

He held her hand, patting her down, catching the look in her eyes she shot him even as the light within them faded. Her lips moved, as if trying to say something, but no sound came out. Gat Fuun trembled, "No, no, you're going to be fine. No! No! Help! Rossandra! HELP! PLEASE!!" His gaze shot between the girl and the lilty boy not far away, both downed on the ground. Danach was breathing, but her…

She...

He saw the last glint, the last spark of life in her body, leave her in a long, soft gasp.

And that was it.

"...Cure... Rossandra... she n-needs cure..." he gargled, his voice choked. He held her hand desperately. There was no way... no way…

His eyes stung from the thick smoke, his skin blistering in the torrential heat. Despite the roaring flames, the selkie boy could hear the yuke walking. Clank, clunk, clank, as if death itself were doing nothing but a minor inventory while dressed in armour. She appeared briefly next to Danach, feeling his neck for a pulse. Seemingly satisfied with whatever she found, she moved slowly towards the weeping, shell-shocked selkie male and the rapidly expanding pool of red surrounding the corpse beside him.

"R-R-Ros-s-sandra, Sh-she needs...!" he started.

She leaned down, delicately picking up the body. "I will do what I can." The wood had hit home, the blood rapidly drying upon the splintered lumber. She took a few steps, her gaze emotionless as she inspected the body. Although cure was a spell she'd learned out of practicality and necessity, raise, its counterpart, was one she was not as well versed in. And even if she'd tried... it was not too difficult to see that the spirit was already gone.

Rossandra took one final gaze at the body before throwing it to the fires blazing steadily where once stood a home, a family, and a livelihood. Gat Fuun screamed. He ran to her side, gripping her clothes with a white-knuckled grasp, but before he could say a word she'd rapidly whirled around, gripping the selkie boy by his neck and lifting him so she could stare at him eye to eye.

"Save yourself for the living!" she snapped.

Gat Fuun had never seen eyes so ruthless. As the yuke dropped him he moaned, holding his throat. He looked back up at her, but her eyes had already moved on. He followed her posture, and just as if she'd been pointing he followed her line of sight to the dragoon, his limp form but a silhouette under the darkening sky. Gat Fuun numbly ran to his side. That armour would easily overheat in this situation. He needed to find somewhere cool, somewhere with water...

Gat Fuun understood, as much as he hadn't wanted to, exactly what Rossandra meant by her words and her actions. There was nothing anyone could have done. Save his energy for those he could still help. Save himself for the living.

And as he ran off into the night, seeking whatever help he could, the yuke behind him turned back to the blazing house. Firelight glinted mercilessly across her bronze armour, but it was as if the heat had no effect upon her. The aura of the monster long gone, she simply stared at the merry blaze in front of her, emotionless and calculating.

*"Pathetic."*

Rossandra the cold had spoken.

<<<<<<<<Chapter 3: The city of gold                                                                             Chapter 5: >>>>>>>>