Upon arriving at the camp, Nero could still make out the corpses of Fallow and Johanna.

The skeletal frames of their hollowed out corpses was quite terrifying to look at.

Nero glanced at Lucy. She let out a sigh as she walked forward and bent to glance down at her sister's corpse.

There was a long stretch of silence as no one said a thing to Lucy whilst she completed her mourning.

Then she rose to her feet,

"Does any one have a lighter?"

Nero cleared his throat,

"Well, I have a fire starter. Will that work?"

Lucy turned around and flashed him a grin,

"That will work perfectly."

Nero frowned, "Are you going to..."

Lucy nodded with a smile,

"Yeah. I'll burn the corpse. I'd rather have her body be completely destroyed than for some evil being to further defile her."

Obed huffed then added, "Do it quickly. We don't have a lot of time left."

Lucy grinned as she quickly picked what was left of her sister and dragged it towards a corner.

There, she began work, digging a shallow put, then throwing in the dried out bones and flesh into it.

She turned, "I'm going to gather some twigs."

Obed frowned then sighed,

"Sure. But make it quick."

As Lucy headed into the forest, Obed turned to Nero,

"I don't trust her."

Nero frowned, "This..."

Obed's expression was serious,

"I'll be blunt with you, Nero. Fallow's party did not have the best of reputations amongst we Hunters in Liedenstorm. The only type of person that can be associated with a dude as terrible as Fallow, is something that's just as bad, if not worse."

Nero frowned. Then he threw an accusatory look at Obed,

"You really aren't one to speak on the character of others, are you?"

Obed grimaced as he fell silent.

Geor who had been listening in cleared his throat,

"Calm down, you two. Now is not the time to have that argument."

He turned to Nero,

"There is no denying that she is dangerous." He said then turned to Obed,

"But there's little she can do against the four of us."

Geor's eyes turned steely when he said this, causing Nero to reevaluate his opinion in the larger man.

Sure, he did seem docile and generally positive.

But he seemed to be hiding something far more significant under all the wool.

A rather frightening look, it seemed.

"We need to work together with her. There's still a lot of forest to cover before Liedenstorm, you know..."

Obed sighed deep and exhausted.

He remained silent, simply running his hands over his face.

"Alright. You both win!"

Nero nodded, pleased with himself.

While he also didn't trust Lucy, he absolutely didn't trust Obed as well.

They both were guarded about their own interests from what he could tell, which was not a bad thing per she, but that meant they were not very reliable to him as is.

However, with both of them suppressing one another, he knew he would be able to slip away if needed or simply make use of their distrust.

The first thing he needed to do was locate the spear.

However, when he glanced at where he believed he had dropped it the night before, not seeing it there made him feel a strange feeling of foreboding.

The sky suddenly turned a huge darker. Grey clouds settled into it and a frigid wind appeared from the north, bringing with it the scent of rain.

The heads of a few corrupted worms poked out of the groove as they senses the changes.

Nero's demeanor was dark as he closed his eyes and tried to feel for the spear.

Obed noticed the change,

"What's the matter?" He asked with a frown.

However, Nero remained silent.

Then, his eyes snapped open,

"Shit!" He cursed and began running in the direction Lucy had disappeared.

Geor yelled after him, but he simply ignored him.

The remaining three exchanged puzzled glance s.

Obed had a dark look on his face as he clicked his tongue and cursed,

"I'll go ahead as well." He said as he shot forward.

Nero dashed through the underbrush, thorns and hanging branches cutting at his feet and his face.

A sudden feeling of danger overwhelmed him.

His eyes shot in the direction. A faint twinkle. Like the glint of metal as the morning light bounced off its surface.

Nero felt something sharp and painful stab into his arm. If he hadn't turned in the last moment, it would have penetrated his heart, killing him instantly.

The pain sharpened his senses, allowing him to vividly observe everything around him.

What he saw filled his heart with coldness.

Garrick's terribly vicious grin was aimed his way. He had his arm firmly wrapped Lucy's throat, with one of Johanna's crossbows pressed against the side of her head.

"Nero..." Garrick growled.

"Garrick." Nero cursed, the rage in his eyes slowly building up.

Garrick sneered and spat out a thick blob of saliva then gestured behind himself,

"Your damn spear is behind me. But for some reason, I can't lift it up anymore, Nero. What the hell did you do?"

The sound of thunder rumbling in the heavens served as the perfect backdrop for this confrontation.

Nero deepl

Nero stretched his arm forward.

A low hum came from behind Garrick and Gungnir shot forward right into his grip.

The familiar weight of the spear oddly brought him a feeling of comfort.

It was strange, and yet, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Garrick's expression was furiously bitter,

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

Then he gritted his teeth,

"Give me the damn spear, or I'll put a hole through her head."

Nero shook his head.

Seeing that, a sad look appeared on Lucy's face.

She let out a self-depreciating laugh.

Then she gazed into Nero's eyes.

Her eyes widened.

Nero's eyes reflected something she had never seen before.

In that moment, she seemed to completely forget everything as she was lost in his gaze.

Without any hesitation, Nero leaned back.

His frame was rather lithe and slender. But it contained a tremendous amount of energy.

Garrick's eyes widened,

"You—!"

Without a beat of hesitation, Nero threw with all he had.

A bolt of lightning struck as the first beads of rain began to fall from the heavens.

To Garrick the world slowed down...

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