[4]

"Hey Fen," Cyril smiled as she cuffed his large ear as he bowed to her. "No more hunting for today."

"As you wish," The wolf replied before his silver eyes turned suspiciously to the man following her. "Will the insect be following us?"

Bishop Luis tried to smile but found his lips quivered to much in the wake of this over-sized wolf. That had made the wolf grin.

"Leave him be, Fen," Cyril through the words over her shoulder as she reached the bottom. The wolf's grin slipped off and he padded after her. The Bishop sent a prayer for strength to Alistair when Cyril yelled at him. "You don't need strength to deal with Fenrir. Just talk to me like a normal fucking person."

Bishop Luis flinched like he'd been pinched. It was easy to forget that the girl could hear prays. She often took offense if they were about dealing with her, or her wolf.

"I apologize," Bishop Luis said when he caught up to them. "It's a habit."

"Whatever," Cyril let out a fed-up sigh.

The housing was visibly more empty, and it still reeked of death. A few blood splatters here and there had spoiled, marking the spots were a few servants died. A single child in ill-fitting armor, a surviving squire, had been posted there. He fumbled an uneasy salute that was rewarded with a tired smile. Despite that, it dazzled the child. Cyril patted his head, nearly a third her height, as she passed. Fenrir nodded and allowed the boy to pet him.

Bishop found that this wolf was surprising good with children.

They entered the large connecting corridor where most of the servants had been killed. A few old ladies scrubbed hard at the stones with rags, accompanied by a few orphan girls to haul their bales. All of them were quick to throw themselves aside as the "Angel of Death" waltzed by. Cyril had learned quickly that they would never speak to her. The old were too stuck in their ways, and the children they worked when followed suit.

A few children added as guards had no such escape from her, and found they liked the goddess. She never hit them like their leaders, and never spoke. This meant they didn't have to hide, nor fumble with polite responses. And when the Bishop was with her, he never spoke to them either. It was an overall stress-less encounter for them.

They stepped out of the corridor a minute later and entered the worship hall. The dying and the sick were kept here, under guard by most of the surviving watch and their new brothers. With Cyril rampaging throughout the streets, they had been relegated to keep an eye out for infected townsfolk. This there was plenty of still. Cyril was just one firing throwing goddess, and the port two was several miles long. Their population had been nearly a hundred-thousand.

Only half had survived that. Those who could fight and those who could hide, all while not freezing on the first night. Everyone outside the walls had perished either to the cold or the infection. Fenrir and Layla had killed the turned while Cyril's blessing coursed through them. A major had died to exposure though. Before they could've been turned by the draugr, he'd been killed.

Cyril stopped on the top of the steps outside the cathedral and turned to the Bishop.

"Then who's running the show here?"

"Lady Gulley, the deceased lord's wife," Bishop Luis replied. "She survived in the Keep along with her children and wards."

"How come I haven't seen her?" Cyril asked. "I figured I was making quite the mess out there, that someone would come to say something."

"On the contrary," Bishop Luis returned his business smile. "We've already sent a runner to the castle. Lady Gulley is aware of the situation but asks that you try and keep the damage to a minimal."

"Asked?" Cyril set her jaw.

Bishop Luis meant he needed to explain. "Lady Gulley is aware of lingering threats. She nor I have the arms to deal with them, nor the coin. You doing it on your own accord is a windfall, even if it's just kicking the costs down the path. As a matter of fact, that reminds me. Lady Gulley wanted to know how much you wanted for your 'services'?"

"Nothing," Cyril shook her head before looking out over the half-burnt town. The damage had been kept to the eastern part of the city, Fenrir had told her of their battle. She had burned down the suburbs during her hunt before it widened to involve that entire part of the city. "I did it because I wanted to spite those things. Not for a reward."

"If I may add," Bishop Luis cleared his throat. "If you refuse a reward, it'd be slighting Lady Gulley's honor."

Cyril looked at him, chewing on the several ways to say "Fuck her honor" and deciding how much she felt like offending him. Then, she dropped it altogether. She'd read enough stories to know offending a noble was a surefire way to start problems. So, she just took the path of least resistance, in the way she wanted.

"Don't want it," Cyril huffed before she turned away and down the stairs.

"Your Grace!" Bishop Luis followed after her, panicking. "Her Ladyship is quite lax in her customs, but honor must still be kept!"

"Do you want to die?" Fenrir growled. "Cyril has said she did not want it. There is nothing more to say, or should I kill you where you stand?"

Bishop Luis froze on the last step, Fenrir's snarling maw towering over him.

"Leave him," Cyril tugged on his tail, to which Fenrir turned away reluctantly from the Bishop. "And Luis?"

"Y-Yes?" Bishop Luis replied.

"A lot has happened," She said as she raked her fingers through her hair. "I'll say this once. No means no. "

"As you say," Bishop Luis bowed respectfully. "No means no, I apologize."

"Good," Cyril nodded. "Now, why are you following me?"

"Excuse me?" Bishop Luis looked at her for a moment. Then he remembered why. "Ah! Yes. It's regarding me actually."

Cyril's eyebrow rose slightly with interest.

"I wanted to tell you that I've told my God about you," Bishop Luis stated, but Cyril still looked at him as if she waited for the point. "I was told to get on your good side to find out what you wanted. However, since you did save me, I believed it to be a disservice. So I wanted to let you know, and ask you."

"Right now?" Cyril shrugged. "I want to kill the asshole that hurt Priscilla. Seeing as I was talked into letting his soul go, I can't have that. So, as of this current moment, I'm going to settle for finding a way to cheer Priscilla up. Afterward? I haven't gotten that far. Fair enough?"