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Harigar Rhim offered a quick pat on the shoulder and Deena a short smile but one287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr9QOIq1dXf
that seemed like it had a long time coming. She had a harder time than the others in287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx7ylBloX06
holding her posture.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJAeCzYFLnK
“Celle, Lorian... this is Red.” Dhanel Marce introduced him in such a short manner.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrnyjr8ZLUm
“He is an old friend of ours and a former member of the Hand.” The new figure was287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMpm23TKSpJ
a bigger man; slightly taller and larger than any other here and as he pulled his blue287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgzw0DbFiJr
hood back, he revealed his red hair and his red beard. Both coloured in vivid, almost287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH24u55bJA0
flaming tones as if they were trying to match the very flames on his back.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTRM2nymAv1
“What are you doing here? Answer me.” Celle takes a few steps forward.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2igs5dfjlx
“You could say I still live here...” his voice matches the rest of him, deep and steady...
“No one lives here...” she insisted.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡljOZg9kuR8
“That is enough Celle.” Dhanel Marce requested.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFRvRO5sc75
“Down girl.” Red did not care how much he could infuriate her; instead, his eyes287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUGSl025cqg
were now turned to Lorian, the quiet and more aloof of the group “And you?”287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6KCJ9GIRJb
“...” the silent companion looked instead towards that mountain...287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ05uWg7HnGS
“Not much of a talker I see...” Red looked at him from hood to boot “I like that.”287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG6mFprxSJZ
Celle insisted: “Sir who might this haphazard figure be?”287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCdMbloapj5
“Disobedient and rude...” Red barely ever looked at her, and he didn’t seem fazed287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZEf2AG2pvQ
by any of her words or stares either “So is this what you drag behind you these days?”287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAb3Y0XpG5D
“Everyone here has definitely earned their place” Dhanel Marce manages to halt287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3iJi92ITtl
Celle right before she can sneak in another word “just as they did in your days...” he287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJkGmfwJ4O
smiles “that hasn’t changed my old friend. Nothing has really.”287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHFA54TZRTH
“I am not so sure about that.” Red keeps looking around at them, one by one...287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY7uyvPij4P
“Sir I must intercede, we should not...” but Dhanel Marce cut her off once again...287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs66D4zCir2
“Celle, please...” he asked... “Celle here became your replacement Red, after... well,287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqsuw4LTx6C
you decided to take your leave of absence, and she has been exerting the same position287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbplqjOjakh
you did from day one. Needless to say, she is most capable and very much worthy of287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAbGLJECRCt
such responsibility as my second in command. She holds my utmost confidence.”287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw8Ub2Tu7zk
Perhaps the captain of the Hand said these words with ambiguous intent, so at the287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTP0zxAYsfy
same time safeguard himself against any further implications from Red, as well as287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu42Ao0Iz6u
to prevent any falser steps from Celle. Or perhaps he did not see that far ahead and287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSBWvZWZc5
simply told the truth, regardless of it worked both ways even if only for a short while.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqPRUjGAXB6
Red looked around once more and then his eyes stopped on the other two; Deena and287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNWjMUv6hE4
Harigar Rhim whom he has been friends with for a very long time, he looked straight287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgzTkSHJvmH
at them...287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ymJfLZ2y8
“No promotion for any of you I reckon. Not a single sample of acknowledgement to287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuFm2dizb6v
those serving long before this one came to join. She just tagged along and immediately287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjcdrFu56lG
started running things? I wonder if your king might have found himself a new287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpeHIY6tpwW
favourite...” he pauses a bit as he easily reflects Celle’s harsh stare “So how do you two287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq1Owq700b1
fancy any of it?”287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuA0Go6Av0s
“We all have our orders Red...” Dhanel Marce concluded before any of the others287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzx1RzpT9QA
could toss in the slightest contribution. A short but still awkward silence followed.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ676t1Ru5Uz
The storm still has them, over this entire region those clouds, always ruthless, do not287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUSFSKAk201
know the meaning of relent and ever do they allow anyone under their gaze to stay dry287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZ4aX0jafA
or warm, for even the slightest amount of time. Closer to the edge of what was once287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPWcFlokHDF
a lively Brosse, now six instead of five, are experiencing the local weather, an ongoing287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEpV8Mt7gAu
storm that shows no signs of dispersion or the slightest weakness.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZp50QVUuXp
“You are not wearing your mask.” Deena pointed out.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9SNiNVt58W
“You don’t need that type of mask here Deena...” Red looked around once again as287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9p765cp5kV
if he was looking for something, and every time he did, one could tell he did not see287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK9gOeqT3xD
this place like any of the others “Besides I like to see the world as it really is, experience287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPlma3hea2Z
it as it really is...”287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUvySdvJKr6
“Boss,” says Harigar Rhim “we need to get moving.”287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNl4Vko1Sz3
“Wait a moment” Red then widened his eyes “Where is Elistia?”287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6wee9eObFg
“After you left, she was never the same again Red, she changed...” Dhanel Marce287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbkv8CN2H5r
ignored Harigar Rhim and kept on talking, as if the sun was shining and his own voice287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNaElKcRa7H
wasn’t being muffled by his mask or the heavy rain “...her focus and her strength were287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIzlZHDWxQ3
no longer there as she started to often endanger the success of our missions and most287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡevXI1Ne3Jn
importantly, her wellbeing. More than once either I or another, had to step in for her287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe7bsQrdESV
sake; we suddenly began finding ourselves intervening often in inexplicably made dire287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZn9i97IYc
situations, and whereas before she could have just handled them easily and gracefully287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZV5hGzMTC2
all by herself, now, now if not for us, she would have surely lost it all. Everyone here,287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡETAHzLn8aq
except for Lorian who took her place, has saved her life more than once, and me more287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn0HMlLK6Uh
than I would like to count.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1AA3O44n3H
We slowly started noticing, all of us, that she had lost something shortly after your287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeqMrqE3kB2
departure; either her heart or her mind or maybe both. Something just wasn’t there287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgh98JIJciZ
anymore after you left which is, I think, understandable.
