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Harigar Rhim offered a quick pat on the shoulder and Deena a short smile but one262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0thvqPUrYY
that seemed like it had a long time coming. She had a harder time than the others in262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYgSchmgcfw
holding her posture.262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5gO6NFyA1i
“Celle, Lorian... this is Red.” Dhanel Marce introduced him in such a short manner.262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxSBadbXe8A
“He is an old friend of ours and a former member of the Hand.” The new figure was262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm20gd9Of1d
a bigger man; slightly taller and larger than any other here and as he pulled his blue262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvLJvwPYwr1
hood back, he revealed his red hair and his red beard. Both coloured in vivid, almost262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQOXtPCnrF
flaming tones as if they were trying to match the very flames on his back.262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVtqsYUXBYf
“What are you doing here? Answer me.” Celle takes a few steps forward.262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGhOHx3FktF
“You could say I still live here...” his voice matches the rest of him, deep and steady...
“No one lives here...” she insisted.262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWpf6UXPH2h
“That is enough Celle.” Dhanel Marce requested.262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDRacgcPxxO
“Down girl.” Red did not care how much he could infuriate her; instead, his eyes262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvKkC99ZK98
were now turned to Lorian, the quiet and more aloof of the group “And you?”262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlhKkYGW6f3
“...” the silent companion looked instead towards that mountain...262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTkI2poMIzZ
“Not much of a talker I see...” Red looked at him from hood to boot “I like that.”262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGWronJBKC7
Celle insisted: “Sir who might this haphazard figure be?”262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNO2Jvzpm5u
“Disobedient and rude...” Red barely ever looked at her, and he didn’t seem fazed262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRoJcXT4q6T
by any of her words or stares either “So is this what you drag behind you these days?”262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrojstRGxIi
“Everyone here has definitely earned their place” Dhanel Marce manages to halt262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7DDos28Lfm
Celle right before she can sneak in another word “just as they did in your days...” he262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZb9S9tWEQ9
smiles “that hasn’t changed my old friend. Nothing has really.”262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGjDxTzZsPH
“I am not so sure about that.” Red keeps looking around at them, one by one...262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKSD3H1qkzf
“Sir I must intercede, we should not...” but Dhanel Marce cut her off once again...262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj9bX3pkzmf
“Celle, please...” he asked... “Celle here became your replacement Red, after... well,262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe1mvDTUPqe
you decided to take your leave of absence, and she has been exerting the same position262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6NkWLaoTOJ
you did from day one. Needless to say, she is most capable and very much worthy of262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYntSqyc1rW
such responsibility as my second in command. She holds my utmost confidence.”262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsyLl9MAadV
Perhaps the captain of the Hand said these words with ambiguous intent, so at the262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL0BXP2MSne
same time safeguard himself against any further implications from Red, as well as262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY45POTSTxe
to prevent any falser steps from Celle. Or perhaps he did not see that far ahead and262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCxjTIuq36E
simply told the truth, regardless of it worked both ways even if only for a short while.262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk8ieqrTb7P
Red looked around once more and then his eyes stopped on the other two; Deena and262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEpHElm2e0V
Harigar Rhim whom he has been friends with for a very long time, he looked straight262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG7CjPc7Kx3
at them...262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6RyaG95P65
“No promotion for any of you I reckon. Not a single sample of acknowledgement to262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJg585M2K9K
those serving long before this one came to join. She just tagged along and immediately262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbzE00Wu9kn
started running things? I wonder if your king might have found himself a new262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1WZsuqYeIm
favourite...” he pauses a bit as he easily reflects Celle’s harsh stare “So how do you two262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4hRtCs57b0
fancy any of it?”262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtxeMw4R8zA
“We all have our orders Red...” Dhanel Marce concluded before any of the others262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa2EJHxz1C7
could toss in the slightest contribution. A short but still awkward silence followed.262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWIeHGeaXdi
The storm still has them, over this entire region those clouds, always ruthless, do not262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrSWJKifQbU
know the meaning of relent and ever do they allow anyone under their gaze to stay dry262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw1B7GZJuwu
or warm, for even the slightest amount of time. Closer to the edge of what was once262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡivXX6kVk4E
a lively Brosse, now six instead of five, are experiencing the local weather, an ongoing262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsj2FIjMk4
storm that shows no signs of dispersion or the slightest weakness.262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8a73ycZodR
“You are not wearing your mask.” Deena pointed out.262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYvlH6X3dUK
“You don’t need that type of mask here Deena...” Red looked around once again as262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm6mOpNo8JV
if he was looking for something, and every time he did, one could tell he did not see262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTUlBOexMY
this place like any of the others “Besides I like to see the world as it really is, experience262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJVHK3nBlx
it as it really is...”262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0k3RYzohAO
“Boss,” says Harigar Rhim “we need to get moving.”262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHQNyZghtTk
“Wait a moment” Red then widened his eyes “Where is Elistia?”262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiiUraHl9vz
“After you left, she was never the same again Red, she changed...” Dhanel Marce262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7SUFsXOGVY
ignored Harigar Rhim and kept on talking, as if the sun was shining and his own voice262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDEX6vzWiht
wasn’t being muffled by his mask or the heavy rain “...her focus and her strength were262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7LzTeJq6Mb
no longer there as she started to often endanger the success of our missions and most262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl7FQMvgSLC
importantly, her wellbeing. More than once either I or another, had to step in for her262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHLX9RBtAkV
sake; we suddenly began finding ourselves intervening often in inexplicably made dire262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe3CqqK6my4
situations, and whereas before she could have just handled them easily and gracefully262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzxmmJEslwe
all by herself, now, now if not for us, she would have surely lost it all. Everyone here,262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtDACwnNEgA
except for Lorian who took her place, has saved her life more than once, and me more262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡioVi30h4z3
than I would like to count.262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9atnsFjmQn
We slowly started noticing, all of us, that she had lost something shortly after your262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN5Vj2GohhV
departure; either her heart or her mind or maybe both. Something just wasn’t there262Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc4OM3LZQEG
anymore after you left which is, I think, understandable.
