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Harigar Rhim offered a quick pat on the shoulder and Deena a short smile but one385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhQLDKCtoJf
that seemed like it had a long time coming. She had a harder time than the others in385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrugDO2vpOn
holding her posture.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKV73Mgb37V
“Celle, Lorian... this is Red.” Dhanel Marce introduced him in such a short manner.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxxhbLfgBIq
“He is an old friend of ours and a former member of the Hand.” The new figure was385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLjpUCty7y
a bigger man; slightly taller and larger than any other here and as he pulled his blue385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy4p6tpzhUZ
hood back, he revealed his red hair and his red beard. Both coloured in vivid, almost385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ595H23ZbFw
flaming tones as if they were trying to match the very flames on his back.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ2VcOtLC7o
“What are you doing here? Answer me.” Celle takes a few steps forward.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9A3dKQbXyP
“You could say I still live here...” his voice matches the rest of him, deep and steady...
“No one lives here...” she insisted.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXLMFM1bilM
“That is enough Celle.” Dhanel Marce requested.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7VmLeRCRZW
“Down girl.” Red did not care how much he could infuriate her; instead, his eyes385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl3hjhzFkNv
were now turned to Lorian, the quiet and more aloof of the group “And you?”385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQHTC7UViwc
“...” the silent companion looked instead towards that mountain...385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7xgcoz7LFV
“Not much of a talker I see...” Red looked at him from hood to boot “I like that.”385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLheGm9sXya
Celle insisted: “Sir who might this haphazard figure be?”385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDQ427InS2V
“Disobedient and rude...” Red barely ever looked at her, and he didn’t seem fazed385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBhV1uzS41q
by any of her words or stares either “So is this what you drag behind you these days?”385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3B3hXNsseK
“Everyone here has definitely earned their place” Dhanel Marce manages to halt385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPCCpFdXumq
Celle right before she can sneak in another word “just as they did in your days...” he385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGXEoFKDgtB
smiles “that hasn’t changed my old friend. Nothing has really.”385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJgYWg5M4dx
“I am not so sure about that.” Red keeps looking around at them, one by one...385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbTi1kE42K3
“Sir I must intercede, we should not...” but Dhanel Marce cut her off once again...385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipNoDo2okK
“Celle, please...” he asked... “Celle here became your replacement Red, after... well,385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYubO6LiLZX
you decided to take your leave of absence, and she has been exerting the same position385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSEOKcYClHl
you did from day one. Needless to say, she is most capable and very much worthy of385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqvLGWMQdw4
such responsibility as my second in command. She holds my utmost confidence.”385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0DGexXqgV7
Perhaps the captain of the Hand said these words with ambiguous intent, so at the385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl2gsPY8poy
same time safeguard himself against any further implications from Red, as well as385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxN8XkqWgA
to prevent any falser steps from Celle. Or perhaps he did not see that far ahead and385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgX2TOJGxQl
simply told the truth, regardless of it worked both ways even if only for a short while.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ46037UDV1
Red looked around once more and then his eyes stopped on the other two; Deena and385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKFTBpyzgTw
Harigar Rhim whom he has been friends with for a very long time, he looked straight385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1GYk6c1sY3
at them...385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKQFGJYlA4z
“No promotion for any of you I reckon. Not a single sample of acknowledgement to385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaCHGTnra19
those serving long before this one came to join. She just tagged along and immediately385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyQnIo5ZmIU
started running things? I wonder if your king might have found himself a new385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEnMgo6oQP
favourite...” he pauses a bit as he easily reflects Celle’s harsh stare “So how do you two385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31ubUrnydV
fancy any of it?”385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7lrAlo4X0U
“We all have our orders Red...” Dhanel Marce concluded before any of the others385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR3rwrz3OE3
could toss in the slightest contribution. A short but still awkward silence followed.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZknuP55qP
The storm still has them, over this entire region those clouds, always ruthless, do not385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcn7HUHxC5D
know the meaning of relent and ever do they allow anyone under their gaze to stay dry385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgzbNCSH7N6
or warm, for even the slightest amount of time. Closer to the edge of what was once385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi9P8bh94kL
a lively Brosse, now six instead of five, are experiencing the local weather, an ongoing385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgk4efRmfeW
storm that shows no signs of dispersion or the slightest weakness.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzszP0LP3N2
“You are not wearing your mask.” Deena pointed out.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡltFU7Z1L9Z
“You don’t need that type of mask here Deena...” Red looked around once again as385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKqcHOvv8OJ
if he was looking for something, and every time he did, one could tell he did not see385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshesM8plWo
this place like any of the others “Besides I like to see the world as it really is, experience385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4D8oLm9Rjj
it as it really is...”385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5UAhilpQ8v
“Boss,” says Harigar Rhim “we need to get moving.”385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡohCm6EkNCb
“Wait a moment” Red then widened his eyes “Where is Elistia?”385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYE6BFaDK4z
“After you left, she was never the same again Red, she changed...” Dhanel Marce385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhfb9IlUQA9
ignored Harigar Rhim and kept on talking, as if the sun was shining and his own voice385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ7Rl8Mq1xB
wasn’t being muffled by his mask or the heavy rain “...her focus and her strength were385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY3uLJoZFu3
no longer there as she started to often endanger the success of our missions and most385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡztFfU7OoPP
importantly, her wellbeing. More than once either I or another, had to step in for her385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFeIsD59Jbc
sake; we suddenly began finding ourselves intervening often in inexplicably made dire385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWAQ3Vg2R9N
situations, and whereas before she could have just handled them easily and gracefully385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcKDQuVmudO
all by herself, now, now if not for us, she would have surely lost it all. Everyone here,385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcN3uW5tYXd
except for Lorian who took her place, has saved her life more than once, and me more385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlptgheBeTn
than I would like to count.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDCCqi6ttoy
We slowly started noticing, all of us, that she had lost something shortly after your385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDAiAkcYW2Z
departure; either her heart or her mind or maybe both. Something just wasn’t there385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn5vnQUuQkS
anymore after you left which is, I think, understandable.
