It had been several work
cycles since anyone in Mine 4 had seen nor heard from Morrigan which caused
Nora to grow worried.

Xol and his clan had obstinately
taken charge of standing guard over Morrigan as she hid away within Tyrus’s old
dwelling, so Nora and the task masters took charge of the mine, though Morrigan
had been the one to depose Tyrus of his status as warren leader.

Her absence had been noticed
by the prisoners though which began to cause discontent and disinterest in
working despite the threat of whips and Nora’s magic. At the end of the day,
the prison’s hierarchy is significantly more important than one would expect
and the warren leader was a reflection of the health of the mine.

Aside from the risk of a
small army of guards coming down to forcibly restore production, Nora worried
about Morrigan. She still could not process how such a sweet girl could
become…what she saw.

All things considered, she
had a suspicion that there was more to Morrigan after she mentioned what had
happened in her previous mine, “I knew she was dangerous but…I didn’t expect her
to be such a…terrifyingly deadly creature,” Nora thought to herself in a near
longing manner. She turned her gaze towards Xol who stood sentry at the base of
the second tier.

“It’s been days… she’s got
to be starving…” she murmured to herself trying to find an excuse to get past
Xol and see her.

Nora moved from the entrance
of one of the work tunnels she watched over and made her way to the abandoned
tunnel on the second tier.

She noticed Xol watched her with
scrutiny while the two Skinks chirped and squawked at each other, the head of
his stone hammer resting against his arm at the ready.

Initially, the guards near
the base of the slope were nervous having the Saurian so close to the elevator
but overtime they learned to accept that if no one tried to get too close, Xol
and his ilk left them alone.

Nora found the bodies of Tyrus’s
bodyguards flanking each side of Morrigan’s hovel, the faintest blood stains on
the ground since Nora presumed the rest went with the girl.

That was something else she
couldn't wrap her head around. She watched all the blood that she shed absorb
into her like water drawn into a sponge.

She stepped through and
gasped as she witnessed what remained of that day. Half of Tyrus’s eviscerated
torso and entrails piled next to his severed, bare legs and arms… Morrigan’s
trousers on the ground.

Nora resisted the sudden
urge to vomit as she clenched her teeth and fists. “Regardless of how painful
your death was… you deserved so much worse you sick bastard…” she thought
angrily as she forced herself to move towards Morrigan’s storage area that was
tucked away inside the wall.

Nora forced herself to
refrain from staring at the trousers speckled with blood that lay next to her
as she dug out Morrigan’s stash of food and cigarettes. She tried to find
anything that would be useful, including two bottles of water the girl had
squirreled away.

Wrapping everything in a
large torn piece of spare cloth Morrigan always seemed to keep a supply of, she
headed back to the central warren with a seething anger burning in her chest.

Xol stood firmly like a
shield to hold back a tide of soldiers as Nora approached him.

He bore his fangs at her and
slammed the handle of his crude hammer on the ground, “hûn xeste qet dîtin
Mirina Sor,” he rumbled.

Nora expected him not to let
her pass though. “Xol, it’s been days… she needs food, she needs water…” Nora
exclaimed in incredulous annoyance as she brandished the bundle of effects.

Xol held out his large
reptilian hand. However, Nora had no intentions of handing it over. “No, you
need to stand guard over her. I'll take it to her,“ she stated.

Fangs were bared at her
again from Xol as his hand tightened around the handle of his hammer, a low
hiss of a warning emanating through his fangs.

Nora scoffed, “come on Xol!
You may understand it but you don’t even speak Terran, how is she supposed to
understand you? Just let me through, it’s not like I’m going to hurt her…” she
trailed off as her heart felt heavier, her mind flashing back to the image of
the girl’s hovel.

Xol watched her expression
change, “No..onnne seesss...Mirina Sor till...sheee deeemms…so,” Xol spoke
crudely in broken Terran. His attempt to speak in her own language surprised
Nora as she looked wide at him before letting out a long sigh in irritation at
his stubbornness.

One of the Skinks started
screeching and warbling drawing both of their attention. The Skink spoke with
dramatic flair with its hands, as far as she could tell, defending Nora.

Xol let out a deep hiss as
another Skink interjected, looking far more offended by what it’s counterpart
was saying.

It always amused Nora how talkative
the Skinks were though she did not expect either of them to speculatively plead
her case seeing as she had killed one of them in a fight recently.

Xol sighed in a growl as he
watched the two Skinks argue. “Bestere!” Xol barked, shutting both Skinks up
instantly as they turned to face him with wide eyes.

Nora found the Skinks to be
adorable in a squirrelly, puppy dog sort of way as she stifled a giggle.

“Heye dibe nasnamé, hûn
xeste welkîl va derî!” Xol said pointing to the blue and gold Skink that
started the argument.

The Skink bobbed it’s head
enthusiastically before turning its attention to Nora. It let out a warbling
chirp at her and waved for her to follow it.

Nora glanced Xol who looked
displeased but stood a step away from her, letting her pass.

“Thank you…” she said lowly
to him. His response was a click from the hinge of his jaw and a motion of his
head towards the impatient Skink.

Nora stepped past and followed
the exuberant energetic creature up the slope all the while, the guards watched
curiously at the interaction.

When they reached to the
entrance to Tyrus’s old dwelling, the Skink turned around and stood in front of
the entrance, looking quite proud of itself.

Nora regarded the creature
for a moment, “Thank you…what's your name?”

The Skink turned its head
and streamlined a string of various noises, watching her with curiosity.

She snorted as she pursed
her lips, “right…I'll try my best to remember that, thank you though,” feeling
ridiculous for even trying to ask. If anything, she would have to ask Xol what
the Skinks name was later.

The Skink flicked it’s long
black and red tongue at her and nodded rapidly before reassuming its role as
guard.

Nora took a deep breath and
entered the darkened room cautiously. From the light that shone in from the central
warren, Nora could see that the room was utterly destroyed. There was
unrecognizable furniture thrown around the room in pieces, the legitimate bed
that took up a quarter of the room was torn to pieces, the frame shattered
beyond repair.

“I'm pretty sure I threw a
tantrum very similar to this when I was younger,” Nora mused to herself quietly.

The sound of skin moving
across stone followed by a low growl drew Nora’s attention to the corner to her
right. “Mori?” Nora called out softly in caution, taking a wary step towards
the noise.

The corner was too dark for
Nora to see anything more but the faintest silhouette shift slightly behind
some form of shrouded wreckage.

Taking another step forward,
“Mori, it’s me Nora,” she said only to receive a feral hiss as a response.

“Okay, okay I won't come any
closer,” she said before setting the wrapped package on the ground at her feet,
deciding to try and handle the situation as if dealing with a skittish animal.
Which to Nora, wasn’t far off the mark.

“I'm just going to sit down…”
she said tentatively as she slowly lowered herself to the ground and crossed
her legs in a sitting position.

Morrigan let out another hiss
as the sound of her shifting reached Nora’s ears. Nora lifted her hands to show
her that she wasn't a threat before putting her hands on her knees.

Nora could not hide the
heart break on her face as she faced the obscured woman.

“Its okay hun, I won't hurt
you. I just brought you some food and water… you have to be starving, “ she
said trying to coax Morrigan out.

Morrigan let out a softer
hiss followed by what sounded like an animalistic moan, or like a kitten trying
to growl.

Nora frowned, “I seen what
happened… in your room, what that bastard did to you…” she said remorsefully.

Morrigan seemed to
understand what she was saying because at the mention of what happened, she
hissed loudly and a short burst of crimson energy crackled over her arms.

Nora chewed on her lip contemplating,
“you know… he did the same thing to me…and many of the other women here…” Nora
started saying, Morrigan seemed to go still as she listened, not making a
sound.

Nora sighed, “honestly he
even went after the weaker guys too… but out of anyone here… you didn't deserve
him doing that to you,” she continued as tears swelled in her eyes.

With no response from
Morrigan, Nora wiped her nose with a sniff and continued, “I mean let’s be
honest,” she said stifling a laugh, “no one in here is innocent. We’re all a
bunch of murderers, thieves and whatever the Federation deemed acceptable to
use as slave labor in this mine… but you’re none of those things Mori…” Nora looked
up to the ceiling. She hated crying with every fiber of her being, but when it
came to Morrigan, she wanted to cry for her despite her body revolting at the
notion.

She looked back down to the
surprise of Morrigan crouched before her. Nora’s eyes stung as she
instinctively fought back tears at the sight.

Morrigan was dirty, barely
dressed and the hallow look in her eyes told Nora that she had not slept for a
single minute since the massacre. The way that she crouched on her hands and
feet was defensive, but the primal look on her face was filled with hesitant
curiosity.

Nora was torn, but
she kept on a brave face for her. “You’re not a monster like the rest of us,
instead, you’re a sweetheart, and the kindest person here… especially to me,”
she said, giving Morrigan a soft smile of mixed emotions. “Honestly, everyone
here has treated me like an asshole, which frankly I am one but…” she paused as
she looked into Morrigan’s green curious eyes, “but not you… you’ve treated me
better than anyone here, in my life for that matter… you treat me like I’m a
real person,” Nora’s lip quivered as she finished, her eyes glistening.

Morrigan prowled close to
her suddenly, crawled on her hands and toes in a long, lanky form that seemed
nearly impossible for a human.

Morrigan stretched forward
merely inches away from Nora’s face as she studied the blonde woman sitting
before her, dipping and craning her neck to look at her face from every angle.
Nora watched her nostrils flare periodically as if Morrigan had been taking in
her scent. The display was both intriguing and terrifying as Morrigan’s bloodshot
eyes scoured over her.

Morrigan slowly moved herself
into a sitting crouch on the flats of her feet directly in front of Nora. She
watched Morrigan study her for what felt like forever to Nora when she saw
Morrigan’s lower lip start to shake.

Nora watched her lip quiver
stronger as tears pooled into Morrigan’s eyes, a stifled cry slipping her lips.
The second Nora moved her arms, Morrigan thrust herself against her, grabbing
onto Nora as if her life depended on it.

“I got you, I got you,” Nora
gasped as she wrapped her arms around the girl and helped her curl into her lap.

Nora didn't feel Morrigan
breath at all as the girl clung to her tightly. Nora rested her cheek on the
top Morrigan’s head and gently rubbed her hand along her back.

Each time she moved though
she could feel Morrigan’s grip get tighter and tighter.

“It’s okay precious, you're
safe now,” Nora said softly as she ran her fingers through Morrigan’s messy
hair.

Morrigan clenched around
Nora just tight enough to not be painful as she let out a single sob. That one
sob turned into more until the true cries of pain and misery bled through.

Nora held onto her tight,
letting Morrigan bawl her eyes out into her chest. She whispered reassurances and
anything positive she could think of into Morrigan’s ear even though her cries
drown out her voice.

The Skink that guarded the entrance
poked its head in, alert to Morrigan’s cries and chirped at Nora holding the
crying girl.

Nora didn't understand but
hoped the creature was asking if everything was okay because she simply nodded
as she forcefully eyed the humanoid lizard, not willing to let Morrigan think
she was letting go.

The Skink flicked its forked
tongue at them twice before giving a sharp nod and returned to guarding the
door.

Nora had no idea how long
they sat on the ground, but it was long enough for her entire body to ache from
sitting on a stone floor, especially with the weight of Morrigan on her lap.
She didn't dare move once Morrigan cried herself to sleep.

Nora looked down at the
beautiful girl cradled in her arms who slept soundly. The level of peace she
saw in her face was worth the sacrifice of her body.

She also realized in
amusement that it was also possibly the most selfless act she had ever
committed in her life.

All in all, Nora deemed it
worth the pain to see Morrigan find some semblance of peace.

ΩΩΩ

Morrigan let out a soft
groan as she shifted slightly before letting out a comfortable sigh before her
eyes slowly began to open.

Her vision was dark as her
eyes adjusted to the low light; a black shirt she had her face buried in filled
her vision with comfortable familiarity.

She slowly turned her head
to see Nora staring down at her with a smile that was steeped in emotion. “Hi precious,”
Nora's words were thick with tender happiness.

“Nora?” Morrigan questioned
softly as her eyes focused on her.

About fucking time! Do you
know how long I have been fucking screaming at you?! Apollyon roared in her
head causing her to flinch.

“What? What’s going on?
Where am I? What happened?” Morrigan stammered out in panicked breath as she
tried to move, her body revolting painfully at her attempts, especially her
head.

“Shhhhh, it’s okay sweetie
you’re okay,” Nora tried to soothe her as she brushed her fingers through Morrigan’s
hair.

Nora’s attempts barely
helped her hyperventilating as she gripped her arms firmly. “Apollyon what the
fuck happened? I’m freaking out!” She demanded.

Fuck if I know what
happened! I kept telling you to kill Tyrus when he attacked you then I got
sucked into some pocket of your consciousness that was disconnected from your
senses. What ever happened don’t let it fucking happen again! Apollyon growled
out in anger and panic.

For a brief moment Morrigan
felt bad for causing Apollyon such frustration until what it said registered. “I
was attacked?! I don’t… I don’t remember…” she responded as her anxiety shot
even higher.

I don’t even know… he
smashed your head against the wall and everything faded from there…it was like
you disappeared. Please girl, don’t let that happen again, Apollyon drawled out
in fear which was all the more reason for Morrigan to worry.

Nora cupped her cheek
getting her attention. “Precious, you need to calm down. Take a deep breath,
nice and slow,” she said as she started mimicking methodic deep breaths.

Morrigan panic grabbed for the
hand on her cheek but as soon as she felt the familiar scarred knuckles and
calloused fingers of Nora’s hand, her anxiety dropped a peg as she locked her
fingers through Nora’s. She tried the breathing exercise Nora was setting for
her and after a multitude of deep breaths, she finally felt her nerves begin to
settle.

“You’re okay precious,
everything is okay,” Nora said as she leaned down and pressed her lips firmly
on Morrigan’s forehead.

Her nerves finally calmed
enough to garner proper thoughts as she released a deep sigh, feeling Nora that
close to her seemed to make a world of a difference.

You really need to keep this
one… ugh it finally feels normal in here now, Apollyon noted aggressively once
Nora pulled away.

A wave of guilt washed over
Morrigan as her eyes burn fiercely with swelling tears, “I’m sorry…” she said
quietly as she buried her face into Nora.

The pressure in her head
increased as she sobbed.

Nora wrapped her arms around
her tightly, “no, no sweetie, you have nothing to apologize for,” she said
softly in her ear.

Apollyon sighed deeply, no,
I’m the one who should be sorry. Neither of us knows what happened… it’s not
your fault I just… I would much prefer it if whatever it was never happened
again… I’m sorry for yelling at you, Apollyon stated sincerely, seeming to have
calmed down.

The pressure in her head
didn’t go away as she slowly calmed down again, “it hurts,” she mewled into
Nora’s ribs. She did not notice Nora go rigid, though she did feel the hitch in
her breathing.

“What hurts sweetie?” Nora
asked after a moment.

“My head, everything, mostly
my head…” Morrigan whined.

Nora let out a steady
breath, “here, lets try sitting you up,” she said while gently shifting.

Morrigan nodded, and shifted
her arm wincing as she lifted it over Nora’s leg. In a very slow, awkward
effort, Morrigan sat up and shifted into Nora’s lap.

Nora then leaned over and dragged
a bundled bag over and dug out a bottle of water. “This should help hun,”

Morrigan took the bottle and
sipped the warm water, the second it touched her tongue though, she
instinctively tilted the bottle upright and started chugging it with avarice.

She felt as if she had not drunk
anything in days. “Please tell me there’s more,” she asked breathing heavily
after finishing off the bottle.

Nora chuckled as she pulled
something else out of the makeshift sack, “slow down hun, you’ll make yourself
sick if you keep that up,” she said as she unwrapped hardtack and broke off a
piece to hand to her.

Morrigan’s eyes went wide at
the sight of food, her stomach growling painfully. Her mouth watered as she
grabbed the piece of biscuit and crammed it into her mouth.

“Oh my God! Why am I so
hungry?” She asked with a mouth full of food.

Nora smiled softly as
Morrigan made a grab for the rest of the hardtack. “Nuh uh, finish what you got
first,” Nora chuckled.

Morrigan groan in faux
irritated as she worked on chewing what she had. When she swallowed, she nearly
choked.

“Hold on, here, drink slowly
you brat,” Nora giggled as she handed her the second water bottle. Despite the
pain she felt throughout her body and the mass amount of confusion in the
recesses of her brain, Morrigan was completely enthralled in the moment with
Nora.

She listened, taking slow sips
and clearing her throat to make sure nothing was stuck while Nora unwrapped
more of the biscuit and held it out in front of her face.

The sly smile Nora wore on
her face made Morrigan narrow her eyes before she leaned forward and grabbed
onto the biscuit with her teeth.

Nora chuckled in amusement,
“bite down, silly.”

Morrigan huffed at being
treated like a child but did as she was told, breaking off a chunk of the
hardtack.

“I’m sorry. I have no idea
why I’m so damn hungry,” she said while stuffing the entirety of her food into
her mouth.

Nora’s smile falter for a
brief second, “it’s okay sweetie, just take your time and eat.”

Morrigan watched Nora as she
leaned back on her palms and watched her eat with that pretty warm smile. Her
eyes though, held a different story.

“Apollyon…I hate to ask but,
can you tell what Nora is feeling?” She requested.

Hmmm…relief, compassion, a
boat load of worry, a subtle anger which is a little surprising coming from
this firecracker umm… well unsurprisingly a touch of arousal hehe, Apollyon
replied.

Morrigan took the lull in
conversation to inspect her surroundings, her dark vision settling across the
vast array of destruction.

“Where are we?” she asked
with cautious curiosity.

Nora chewed her lip feeling
the strong desire to lie. However, after what Morrigan had been through the
last thing Nora wanted to do was add to the list.

“This was Tyrus’s room…” she
said warily.

Morrigan’s anxiety shot up
as her head snapped around wide eyed, “what?!” she exclaimed as she looked
around the room frantically. Nora brought her arms up around her again as she
panicked.

“Its okay sweetie! Don’t
panic,” Nora pleaded, “technically…it’s your room now.”

Morrigan snapped her gaze
back to Nora, “what? What happened… what the hell did I miss?” she demanded.

The blonde woman brushed
Morrigan’s hair out of her face, “Tyrus is dead and you, well, took his place
as the warren leader,” she told her.

Morrigan was horrified by
the revelation, “what the fuck happened?”

Nora sighed and looked away
before looking back into Morrigan’s eyes and holding her hands, “we will talk
about it but first you need eat and rehydrate. As far as I can tell it’s been
four days since you’ve…”

“Four days?!” Morrigan
exclaimed, cutting Nora off and fell out of her lap in a panic induced jump.
“You need to tell me what happened, now!” she demanded as she held herself
upright by her palms.

The worry and remorse that filled
Nora’s eyes, even as she winced scooting closer to Morrigan.

With a deep sigh she
explained, “the only way I can describe it is… well you went sort of… feral.
Animalistic, and very, very confrontational… you umm, killed Tyrus, as well as his
loyal inmates who tried to retaliate.”

Panic spread through
Morrigan’s core at the implications of killing so many people, “wh-why? Why did
I do this?” she asked, her voice shaking, unable to look away from Nora’s
troubled gaze.

Nora bit her lip with obvious
reluctance. As if unwilling to speak of what happened which only made her
anxiety worse.

“Nora… please tell me…”

Listen kid, it looks like it
might be better not knowing… Apollyon noted hesitantly.

Nora felt trapped, letting
out a heavy guilt riddled breath, her eyes grew soft and began to shimmer, “Mori…
Tyrus, he…” her voice hitched as she struggled with the words, “he tried to
rape you…well… he did…… rape you…” Nora pushed out in exasperation.

Oh fuck…

Morrigan’s body began to
shake as she absorbed what she had just been told. Her gaze slowly moved from
Nora’s worried expression to her bare legs where she saw dried blood staining
the inside of her calves.

Don’t do it Morrigan, leave
it alone, Apollyon warned her in stern worry.

Morrigan slowly sat up and
reached her fingers towards the edge of her shirt, hooking the hem and slowly pulling
it back. She began hyperventilating as she saw the blood stains grow thicker
the more she revealed her inner thighs.

“No…no-no-no-no,” she
panicked as she touched the dry blood on her legs, pushing her fingers across
in an attempt to wipe it off.

“Oh my god,” she repeated
over and over as she began to paw at her legs frantically in pure anxious
horror.

Morrigan calm down!
Seriously, take a deep breath like Nora showed you. Do not push me out again!
Apollyon pleaded; its voice was filled with dread as well as concern.

“Sweetie stop, you need to
calm down,” Nora said as she shifted on her knees in front of her ignoring the
pain  and grabbed at Morrigan’s wrists.

Morrigan fought her grip, “No,
no get it off, get it off me!” Morrigan cried.

Nora gripped her wrists
tighter and kept her from tearing at her legs. “Mori look at me… precious,
look. At. Me,” Nora growled forcefully.

Morrigan’s head jerked up to
find a stern look on Nora’s face as she struggled in her grasp. Her breathed
choked in a mix of whimpering in fear and sobbing in utter devastation.

“He’s gone Mori, you killed
him. He can't hurt you anymore… no don't look down, keep looking at me, please just
keep looking at me,” Nora pleaded as her expression softened in heartbreak.

Nora shifted and slipped her
legs underneath herself and scooted closer, gently tugging on Morrigan’s wrist,
“come here sweetie, come to me.”

Morrigan’s breathing
broke as her sobs became stronger as she instinctively moved forward and
crawled into Nora’s lap and threw her arms around her in a death grip as she
buried her face into her neck; crying heavily and painfully.

“Shhhhh, it’s okay precious,
you’re okay, nothing will hurt you again,” Nora cooed as she eyed the entrance.

“Hey! uhhh…shit… Oi!” Nora
called out, forgetting she didn’t know the Skink’s name.

The Skink poked his head in
and homed in on Nora.

“Get Xol,” she said firmly.

With a sharp nod the Skink
disappeared.

Morrigan trembled and shook
her head frantically into her neck, “no, no, please don’t!”

Nora rubbed her back and
held her close trying to soothe her, “its okay sweetie, I promise. Xol is on
your side,” she said as she gently rocked back and forth as her grip managed to
tighten even farther.

“It’s okay precious, you’ll
be safe,” she whispered as she pressed her cheek against her ear.

Thankfully, Morrigan’s tears
quickly dried though her body still trembled from the shock.

Just think kiddo, that big
ol lizard you wanted to talk to might be your friend now, that’s good news,
right? Apollyon pointed out, hoping a positive note might help.

Morrigan let out a tiny
squeak that resulted in her muscles beginning to loosen up.

Xol’s heavy footsteps caused
her to seize back up as he entered the room. He let out a soft hiss as he
scanned the room to find Morrigan wrapped around Nora on the ground.

Nora wasted no time, “Xol,
Morrigan is going to need new clothes. We need cloth and water too. I don’t
give a shit who you have to take it from but we need it now.”

Xol let out a rumbling hum
as he studied the pair of women before clicking his jaw and giving her a terse
nod and stalked out the door menacingly.

“Is Xol my friend?” Morrigan
asked in a near innocent tone once she was certain he left.

The question made Nora smile
for some reason, unsure if it was the innocence or the randomness of the
question that got to her.

She brushed her cheek
against her, “well, he did swear loyalty to you. If that doesn’t make him a friend,
I don’t know what does,” she said in a lighter tone.

The way Morrigan hummed made
Nora’s heart flutter, feeling the vibration of some semblance of happiness come
from the tortured girl.

Eventually Xol prowled back
into the room, carrying a sack over his shoulder and his makeshift maul in the other.
Nora spotted the gleam of fresh blood on the head of the stone hammer and had
to bite her lip hard enough to keep from laughing.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure friends
may be an understatement,” she mused to herself.

“Hey, Xol came back,” she
said cheerily in a soft tone.

Morrigan shifted and tucked
her head under Nora’s chin and peeked out from behind her messy hair in a
childishly shy manner which made Nora giggle softly.

“It’s okay, he brought you
some new clothes,” she said gently nudging her to stand.

Morrigan slowly got off Nora
and let her stand before Nora took her hand and led her towards the eight-foot reptilian
who set down the sack of goods.

Morrigan smiled softly as
Nora gave her some space to properly interact.

“Xol…” she breathed out in
amazement.

“Mirina Sor,” Xol replied
with a respectful dip of his crested head, the deep reverberant tone of his
voice resonating off the walls of the room.

As timid as she looked, Nora
could see the growing excitement within the girl as she watched her cock her
head to the side.

“Mirina Sor? What does that
mean?”

Xol hummed deeply as he
looked up in thought. When he returned his attention to her, he replied, “Red,
Death.”

Morrigan frowned, “I’m… Mirina
Sor? I’m Red Death?”

Xol saw the contempt and
sadness in her expression, “yesss… grrreat honnorrr, grrreat warrriorr,” he
rumbled affirmatively.

Morrigan looked between Xol
and the sack on the ground still warring with the idea of being called
something as dark as that.

“Is that why you brought me
this stuff?” she inquired.

Xol hummed affirmatively, “Xol-Tau
guarrrd. Xol-Tau llloyallty too Mirina Sor,” he said in his gravely voice.

Nora watched as Morrigan
took a step closer and place her hand against Xol’s dense stomach as if seeing
if he really existed.

See? Big ass lizard hahaha.

Without warning Morrigan
threw her arms around the reptilian humanoid’s waist.

Nora snorted and began
chuckling as Xol looked down in surprise and completely out of his depth.

“It’s called a hug dude,”
Nora pointed out in amusement and mimicked how to return a hug as he looked
towards her.

Xol looked down at the tiny
woman wrapped around his waist then to the hammer he held in his right hand.
Gently and cautiously, he raised his left arm and placed it across her back in
an awkward fashion before looking back to Nora.

She flashed him two thumbs
up, “nailed it big guy,” she said through a laugh.

Morrigan giggled as she let
go and took a step back looking up at the white Saurian.

“Thank you, Xol-Tau.”

Xol nodded respectfully
before taking his leave, giving both women privacy.

Nora stepped up and grabbed
the sack, realizing the Saurian had gone out of his way to over fill it.

“Come on precious, let’s get
you cleaned up,” she said smiling as she took Morrigan’s hand in hers.