The Mountain Squad trio arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild building just as their suits ran out of energy completely. They hastily unequipped and folded their suits back into their suitcase form before going inside the building. Their steps came to an abrupt stop when they saw Elana standing in the middle of the main hall, arms folded and sporting a stern face.
“C-Captain!” Lillie stuttered as she saluted and the other two followed suit.
Elana let out a small sigh before speaking. “I have many reasons to reprimand you for letting your guard down and almost getting yourself killed, but we are in an emergency situation so we shall save it for later. Follow me.” She turned around and walked away.
“Y-Yes, Captain!” Lillie said, immediately following Elana without question.
The group went upstairs and into the guildmaster’s office. Billy was already there along with Luke the guildmaster who was still wearing pajamas. They both looked worried beyond their wits.
“More bad news, isn’t it?” Luke said while wiping his sweat.
Elana turned her head to Lillie. “Now explain what was happening in the south gate area when you left.”
“Alright.” Lillie nodded. “Something was trying to ram the wall. We haven’t seen it directly, but Lory is facing it as we speak.”
“Lory? Who’s Lory?” Luke asked, but then his eyes went wide. “Wait! Did you mean THAT Lory? The hero?”
“Yes. Lorheimdast the wandering hero.” Lillie said. “But we need to help him! If the thing’s really the Probe Drone he might be in trouble!”
“Keep calm. Panicking isn’t helping.” Elana said before turning to Billy. “Billy, you got spare batteries for them?”
“Only one.” Billy replied. “I had two, but I converted one for the communication device downstairs. Before you ask, no. I can’t revert the conversion quickly enough.”
“Got to make that one count then.” Elana said.
“Hey.” Luke spoke up. “Billy had told me a few things about this drone you spoke about so I can picture it a bit in my head. My question is, does it have any kind of weapon?”
“No, it doesn’t have any.” Elana shook his head. “But its hull is very tough. Even without weapons it can just ram things with reckless abandon.”
Lillie chimed in. “And the thing possessing it already knows, probably. It already rammed the south wall twice.”
“Okay! So...” Luke said. “When you said very tough, how tough exactly?”
“Saying that it is indestructible might be not too far-fetched.” Elana said. “You could drop a mountain on it and it won’t even get a scratch.”
“What!? What should we do then?” Luke asked with more fear and worry written on his face.
“First of all, have all citizens evacuate north.” Elana replied. “The south gate will eventually fall if that thing keeps ramming it, and monsters will pour in when that happens.”
“Hey, Lillie.” Billy called with a battery device in his hand. “Who’s gonna use this?”
Elana replied in Lillie’s stead. “That would depend on whether we will use this plan I have for going against the possessed drone.”
“What’s your plan, Captain?” Lillie asked.
Elana pressed some buttons on her watch, and then it displayed a holographic image of the Probe Drone for everyone in the office to see. Guildmaster Luke, the only native of the planet among all the people there, was naturally astonished seeing it. Nevertheless, Elana paid no heed to Luke’s amazement and began speaking.
“Despite the threat, destroying the drone outright is not an option because we still have no information on what the corruption possessing it would do when its vessel perishes. Therefore our main objective is to immobilize it.” Elana said, pressing some more buttons on her watch. The wings and tail of the drone image began flashing in red. “The drone’s anti gravity modules are located on these parts, so we need to concentrate fire there. With enough damage the modules will malfunction and the drone wouldn’t be able to fly anymore.”
“Pardon me, but..!” Luke spoke up. “You said that it’s indestructible, so how are you going to damage it?”
“That is where they come in.” Elana replied, turning her head to the Mountain Squad. “Listen up. The drone is nearly indestructible because its hull is entirely dualomium. Therefore the only way to damage it is by cutting it down with a weapon made of dualomium.”
Lillie’s eyes went wider, along with the other two. “Captain. Are you saying that...?” She asked, to which Elana responded with a nod.
“Yes.” Elana said. “I know I’m putting a huge responsibility on you, Lillie. But you are the only one among the squad who could rival Victor when it comes to using that weapon.”
“Pardon me, Captain!” Ulysses intervened. “Leader’s just recovered from a grave injury! Please reconsider!”
“I am fully aware of that.” Elana said while looking straight at Ulysses. “That’s why I leave the final decision to her. If she decides not to go with that plan, we shall think of another way.” She turned her head back to Lillie. “Regardless, we are pressed for time so better decide right now.”
“I’ll do it.” Lillie nodded with determination on her face before turning to Billy. “Gimme the battery.” She said with her hand reaching forward.
“Captain?” Billy asked.
“Lillie, I want to make sure you were not deciding on the spur of the moment. Are you sure about your decision?” Elana asked.
“Yes, Captain!” Lillie replied with a firm nod. “The potion Lory gave me somehow put me back in tip top shape! I can do this! No, I feel that I must do this!”
“All right. I can see your resolve.” Elana said, and then she gave a nod signal to Billy. Soon, Lillie got the spare battery and replaced her suit’s battery with it.
“As for the rest of the Mountain Squad, helping citizens evacuate from the southern part of the town is your top priority. Your suits are down, so leave them here and avoid combat as much as you can. Now move!” Elana clapped her hands once upon speaking out the last part.
Without saying a word, the Mountain Squad trio stormed out of the office. Lillie was right at the door when...
“Lillie.” Elana called.
Lillie stopped and turned around. “Yes, Captain?”
“Godspeed.”
Lillie’s sole response was a second of determined smile before she left. Half a minute of silence commenced before Billy spoke up.
“Are you sure about sending her out alone?” Billy asked.
Elana sighed. “It’s the most sensible course of action. The drone is... was ours and we have to take responsibility for the mess it is causing.”
“You have a point, but can’t we like... recharge the squad’s batteries, or... call for aids from other squads instead of sending Lillie alone?”
“There’s no telling what kind of havoc the drone will cause in the time it takes for us to do either of your suggestions. It would be best to stop the drone here and now, and Lillie is the only one who can utilize dualomium blades.”
“If only Victor was still- Ah!” Billy gagged and averted his eyes from Elana. “S-Sorry...”
Elana took a deep breath. “Anyway! That doesn’t mean we aren’t going to do the other plans. Go downstairs and see if you can get in contact with the others through the device. Also, start recharging the empty batteries while at it.”
“Right away, Captain!” Billy said, taking the packed suits belonging to Gregory and Ulysses along with Lillie’s empty battery before leaving the office.
Guildmaster Luke spoke once Billy disappeared from sight behind the door. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Two things.” Elana replied while raising two fingers in front. “One, recruit more adventurers to help bring citizens to safety.”
Luke wiped his sweat. “We’re severely short handed but I’ll do what I can. What’s the other one?”
“I need you to see Sir Brid.” Elana said, and Luke’s eyes went wide.
“What? What for?”
Elana sat down on the nearest chair, let out a small sigh, and replied. “To negotiate.”
***
Lillie was once again clad in her exoskeleton suit. Using the suit’s jet thrusters she hopped quickly towards the south gate against the flow of people running away in panic. The shrouds of night limited the range of her sight, but the constantly occurring flashes and flying fireballs in high altitude far ahead already implied that the south rampart had turned into a battlefield. Knowing that, Lillie hurried up and hopped from roof to roof instead of the streets.
Crash! Drrrd!
The loud crashing sound echoed through the town right at the moment Lillie arrived near the south gate. She looked up and immediately saw, to her horror, a huge piece of the wall coming down along with a terrified scream of multiple men. Lillie’s first instinct was to get out of the way, so she jumped back and braced herself as a horrible feeling crept up her spine.
Everything came crashing down and kicked up a massive amount of dust and rubble in all directions. The dust had not settled yet when Lillie rushed to the resulting pile of debris and began moving them aside.
“No, no, no! Please be alive, please be alive!” Lillie murmured with a tense look on her face. Her work came to an abrupt stop the moment she saw a motionless, bloody hand with the rest of the body still buried underneath. She quickly but gently grasped the hand and waited for a second.
“No sign of life detected. This person is gone.”
Lillie let go of the bloody hand and desperately looked for the other person, hoping with all her heart that he was luckier than the other. However, she soon found a half-buried leg which was motionless and bloody like the hand she had previously found. She grasped the leg and waited for a second.
“No sign of life detected. This person is gone.”
Lillie lowered her head and gritted her teeth. No matter how many times she had seen death as a soldier, she had never gotten used to it. She didn’t know who the two deceased men were due to the rubble, but the fact was undeniable that people died because of the drone. The drone which belonged to her people.
Without saying a word, Lillie stood up and hopped through the stairs leading to the rampart at the top. When she arrived, she immediately noticed that all adventurers and guards were frantically shooting arrows and magic at a flickering light which was swiftly flying around beyond the parapet.
“It’s really you..!” Lillie gritted harder the moment her sight focused enough for her to recognize that the flickering light came from none other than the Probe Drone.
Now that she had confirmed the fact that the Probe Drone had become an enemy, Lillie pulled out a pair of massive katanas which were almost as long as Lillie’s height. Their edges were sharpened to the measure of atoms, which made them extraordinarily sharp but also less durable.
Lillie glanced at each blade and the stat parameters displayed into her sight. “Force field coating... OK. Jet thrusters ready, and... go!”
With her suit’s thrusters, Lillie made a huge leap from the rampart to the flying drone. Her primary targets were the drone’s wings and tail, so she went down straight to the predicted trajectory of the drone and slashed with all her might.
She missed.
The drone swerved and evaded at the last second, thus Lillie slashed merely at thin air and fell down with her back facing the ground.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“Hah!” Lillie shouted and her suit’s thrusters flared up, pushing her against gravity. Her falling trajectory turned sharply into a leap back to the drone. The sudden change in momentum made her begin to feel nauseous, but she brushed the feeling aside and pursued the drone with multiple massive bursts of her thrusters. She closed in on the drone, locked on to her target, and once again slashed at it with all her might.
This time her attack made a clean hit. However, it was not fully at the intended target because once again the drone had attempted to evade at the last moment. She had only managed to slash off half of the drone’s left wing.
“Alright! Next is-“
Smack!
Lillie suddenly felt a hard impact on her back before she could continue attacking the drone. She had no idea what had hit her at first, but she quickly realized that the drone had performed a normally impossible maneuver and smacked her back with the tail.
“Warning. Energy pack compromised. Activating impact dampener.”
“Ah, dammit!” Lillie shouted in frustration. Of all things, the drone had managed to hit her in the worst possible spot. Her thrusters no longer worked and she once again fell down from a height which would be normally fatal to an unprotected human, especially without the built-in impact dampener in the suit.
However, halfway to the ground below, something caught Lillie and slowed her fall down. Before she knew it, she was already being carried like a princess as they touched the ground. She looked at the person who had supposedly saved her from plummeting and immediately knew that it was Lory.
“You alright?” Lory asked as he put Lillie down.
“Yeah.” Lillie replied. “You actually didn’t need to save me. But still, thanks anyway.”
Clang!
The sliced off piece of the drone’s wing hit the paved road, creating the metallic sound of heavy impact. Lory glanced at the piece and then upward.
“Was that your doing?” Lory asked as he turned to Lillie.
Lillie nodded in response. “Yes, though I failed to slice the entire wing.”
“How did you do that?” Lory asked. “Everything I’ve tried so far didn’t even put a dent on it.”
“These blades are made from the same material.” Lillie replied as she showed Lory her dualomium katanas.
“I see. Think you can do it again?”
“Sadly no. My suit’s energy pack got damaged.” Lillie replied, sounding audibly upset. “I screwed up after Captain trusted me with a spare battery. Dammit!”
Lory put his hand on Lillie’s shoulder, surprising her for a bit. “Your effort was not for nothing.” He said while turning his head to the fallen wing piece. “Tell me why you went for the wing.”
“Umm, the drone’s anti gravity module-“ Lillie said before she halted. “I mean, the parts that make it fly are on the wings and tail.”
“Anti gravity... Like, Gravity Weave magic?”
“Yeah, I guess...? Sorry, I’m not from around here. Anyway, where’s that drone? We’ve been talking like this for some time and I still can’t see it anywhere!”
Lory looked straight up. “It was going up the last time I sensed it.”
“Is it high up in the sky right now?” Lillie looked up as well. She noticed just now that the weather had cleared up. The moon dimly illuminated the sky with its bluish light along with twinkling stars all around. It would have been a pretty good time for stargazing if not for the murderous corrupted Probe Drone lurking somewhere up there.
Beep! Beep!
Lillie immediately picked up the call and heard Billy’s voice from the other side.
“Finally I’m in range!” Billy said with his breath running short. “Lillie! You alright over there?”
“Yeah! For now, at least.” Lillie replied. “What’s the matter?”
“New information!” Billy said. Lillie glanced at Lory, who was looking at her with a slight curiosity. She decided that he deserved to know as well, thus she put the call on speaker.
“Alright. Tell me.” Lillie said.
“We got a call from Keith. He said that the lake near Arstjipta was now clear according to the report he received. No corruption detected in the water or in the sky! At all! In fact, the perpetual cloud above the lake was gone!” Billy spoke in a hurried pace.
“So that means...” Lillie said.
“Yes! Keith believed that it’s highly likely the corruption possessed the drone in its entirety and moved with it, and I concur!”
“So, should we immobilize the drone according to plan, or destroy it outright?” Lillie asked.
“Change of plan. Destroy it.” Elana chimed in through the call. “That way at least no more corruption or anything else related to calamity beasts are going to make use of it ever again.”
“Ah, Captain!” Lillie said. “I’m sorry to have failed you, but my suit’s down. The drone struck right at the energy pack and it’s now compromised.”
“I see. Can’t be helped then.” Elana said. “Return to Billy for now. Maybe he can do a quick repair.”
“Roger that, Captain!” Lillie said.
Billy spoke out before Lillie ended the call. “One more thing! I got words that reinforcements from the capital are taking the short route and should arrive by morning.”
“Good to know. Let’s hold the fort until they arrive!” Lillie said.
“Yes, Lillie. But first you must retreat.” Elana said.
“I’m on my way, Captain!” Lillie said, and the call ended.
“Did you let me listen in on purpose?” Lory asked.
Lillie nodded. “Yes, we have the same objective so you deserve to know as much as I do.”
“So the flying object used to be yours but the corruption took it over...” Lory folded his arms and lowered his head. “And the corruption is that one... Watch out!” He suddenly pushed Lillie away with his right hand.
A split second after Lory pushed Lillie away, while the latter was still in midair from having been pushed with a great force, something large came crashing down on the spot he stood on. The impact produced a massive shockwave and kicked up a lot of dust and rubble.
Lillie rolled on the ground and fell into one of the flooded farm fields, kissing the muddy submerged ground with her face. She had a hard time getting up with the depowered suit weighing her down. She had to do something or else she would drown.
Therefore, with all her remaining strength Lillie reached her hand to a specific spot on her suit near the left armpit and pressed the button placed there for a couple seconds.
“Engaging emergency ejection.”
The exoskeleton suit immediately detached itself from Lillie and folded into its suitcase form. Lillie, now free from the weight, rose from the flooded farm field and gasped for air the moment her head was out of the water.
“L-Lory!” Lillie called the moment she remembered what had just happened. She looked at the spot where he had stood and immediately saw that the particular portion of the paved road had become a large crater. “Lory!”
“Easy. I’m all right.” Lory replied as he suddenly landed next to Lillie. “I evaded just in time.”
“What just happened?” Lillie asked, being relieved that Lory was fine but wary about the sudden attack she had no idea about.
“The drone went straight down at us for a dive bomb attack and flew away immediately.” Lory said as he helped Lillie out of the flooded field. “Or maybe just at me.”
“Only at you? Why?” Lillie asked as she pulled her suitcase out of the muddy water.
“If the thing inside the drone really is that particular corruption, we go way back.” Lory replied. “I’ve been a thorn on its side for a very long time.”
“Wait, a corruption can hold grudges?”
“Anything related to Calamity; beast, corruption, you name it, never makes total sense. This corruption never changed its behavior for over a decade, and now suddenly this happens.” Lory sighed. “Anyway, get back to safety and leave this to me.”
“How are you going to do that?” Lillie asked. “You said everything you tried didn’t work.”
“Everything I tried so far.” Lory replied, looking up. “I haven’t used my trump card yet.”
“Hey, you think you could use my blades?” Lillie asked. “Maybe they still can be useful in your hands.”
“Those blades made from the same material? Yeah, they likely can come in handy. Where are they?”
“Still under the muds there.” Lillie looked at the spot where she had almost drowned a minute ago. “I fell down there still holding them after all.”
“Alright.” Lory said, then he approached the spot and stared at it for half a second before crouching and inserting his right arm into the muddy water. Merely one second later he pulled his arm out and Lillie saw both of her dualomium katanas in his grasp.
“W-Wow! How did you do that?” Lillie asked in astonishment.
“I have the magic for it.” Lory replied before dual-wielding the katanas and trying them out with a few light swings. “Hmm, pretty heavy but still workable. Are you sure you’re lending me these?”
Lillie nodded firmly. “I can’t use them without my suit after all. I’ll feel relieved knowing that they’re in the good hands of a hero!” She said. However, she soon noticed that Lory became visibly depressed upon hearing her words.
“Hero... good hands... hah...” Lory mumbled as he began laughing somewhat maniacally. “When will they ever learn that I’m just a good-for-nothing who couldn’t do one job when it mattered.”
“Umm, Lory?” Lillie called. “I don’t know exactly about your troubles, but... this isn’t the time to be lamenting, is it?”
Lory’s face reverted to a straight expression within half a second as he looked straight at Lillie. “You’re right. I should get a hold of myself. Thank you.”
Lillie put up a wry smile seeing how fast Lory could change his own mood. “Anyway, I need to warn you about those blades. Without the aid of a powered suit like mine they’re only good for one hit against the drone, so make them count.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Lory nodded. “Now get away from me. I sense that it’s going to dive bomb again at any second.”
“Alright! Good luck!” Lillie said as she carried the suitcase behind her back and ran off back to Bailey.
***
“Alright...” Lory murmured with both large katanas in his grip. He then looked up with his senses focused and immediately knew that he was right. “Come here, bastard.”
While standing still, Lory reversed his forehand grip on both katanas, making their cutting edges face up. The possessed drone closed in on him with an even greater speed than the previous dive bomb attempt, but Lory remained still. He didn’t show any sign of evasion against the definitely deadly attack.
However, in the split second before the drone made contact, Lory leapt backwards just enough to avoid a direct hit while putting one sword forward in a way that the drone dove right into the blade.
Once again, a massive shockwave occurred as a result of the impact. Stone pavements of the impacted road flew up and out to all directions along with dirt, dust, and Lory himself. He performed a somersault as the shockwave launched him away before landing on his feet. He took a quick glance and saw that the katana he had used to trap the drone had broken apart with only less than a third of the blade remaining attached to the grip.
“So this is what she meant.” Lory said as his left hand let go of the broken katana and looked forward at the drone which was still stuck on the ground seemingly struggling to lift off. Its right wing had been almost completely sliced, and its cut off piece was hanging by the remaining uncut part with the broken off piece of the katana stuck on it.
“Then in that case...”
Lory’s left index finger wrote a pattern in the air and then he gripped the other katana with both hands. The blade of the katana began glowing in yellow, and he charged forward at a blinding speed.
The moment the drone was in range, Lory performed a flurry of slashes at the drone’s entirety with the glowing katana. Nobody else other than himself could count the amount of slashes he did within the single second. Afterwards, Lory turned away from the drone and flicked his fingers.
Click!
The drone shattered into little pieces and crumbled in the crater its dive bomb attack had made. The pieces of its remains were as small as pebbles, thus it would be virtually impossible to put the drone back together, at least impossible for the corruption. Soon, the glow on the katana faded out and the blade also shattered into little pieces like the drone.
Lory dropped the katana’s handle and unsheathed his gunblade as he turned back to facing the remains of the drone. Despite having destroyed the drone, he knew that the battle was not over yet. The mere destruction of a possessed vessel wouldn’t make the corruption perish.
As expected, a dark miasma began manifesting all over the pieces. The little particles floated up and gathered, to Lory’s interest, into a visually humanlike shape.
“So now you’ve decided to show your true self.” Lory said while pointing his gunblade at the pitch black figure. “Are you going to tell me something, or perhaps you want to fight me directly this time? Either way, I’m ready.”
Bang! Crackle!
Out of the blue, Lory shot a bullet out of his gunblade, and the figure was suddenly encased in a large ice crystal.
“But never mind.” Lory said. “Anything related to Calamity isn’t to be reasoned with.”
While loading another bullet into his gunblade, Lory maintained an undivided attention at the frozen miasma and its immediate surroundings. He didn’t sense anything similar to it outside the crystal, and the miasma itself remained still inside the ice crystal, not showing any sign of movement.
“Heeey! Lory!” A familiar voice suddenly called from a distance. Lory kept his eyes on the ice crystal, but he knew that the one coming was the same girl from before. There were faint sounds of machinery and jet bursts along with her voice.
“You got your suit repaired already, Lillie?” Lory asked the moment Lillie landed with a heavy thump nearby.
“This isn’t mine.” Lillie replied. “My spare battery still worked so I borrowed Uly’s suit. Anyway! Are you alright? Did you destroy the drone? And wait! How did you know my name!?”
“Mentioned once in the call back then.” Lory replied. “Also yes, thanks to your blades. Though sorry that I broke both of them.”
“It’s alright! You made them count after all!” Lillie said in delight before noticing the frozen miasma. “What’s that... thing?”
“Condensed calamity ardor.” Lory replied. “The source of this turmoil.”
“It looks... human. Why?”
“No idea.” Lory shook his head. “When it comes to anything related to Calamity, your guess is as good as mine. Not to mention that this thing seems to have developed a mind on its own.”
“Can you destroy it?”
“You came from a faraway place so I’ll ask this: Can you destroy energy?”
“Well, no! But all the magic here defies our common sense, so there must be a way, right?” Lillie asked, sounding audibly worried. “You defeated Calamity back then after all!”
“Tch!” Lory clicked his tongue and gritted. Lillie was startled noticing that.
“Did I... say something I shouldn’t have?” Lillie asked while looking overcome with guilt and worry.
“No, you’re not wrong.” Lory said while taking a deep breath. “But what we did back then came with a heavy price. We can’t... I can’t afford to do that again.”
“Alright, it’s out of the options I get it.” Lillie said. “So what should we do about this?”
“Only two options.” Lory replied. “We contain it in a secure place somewhere, or we disperse it thin. But both options require transportation.”
Right after Lory finished speaking, an RV came over from the direction of the town. Lory was unfamiliar with the vehicle, but he quickly assumed that it belonged to these foreigners. A woman in Belmott-like military uniform then stepped off from it.
“Ah, Captain!” Lillie said, which confirmed Lory’s assumption. The woman then approached Lory.
“I am Elana Mayer, the acting leader of the foreigners you have met recently.” Elana said in her introduction. “Thank you for all your help so far.”
Lory shook his head. “Don’t thank me yet. It’s still not over.”
“Yes, I heard everything you told Lillie.” Elana said, folding her arms while looking at the ice crystal. “Think we can transport it with our vehicle?”
“Yeah, that can work.”
A few minutes later, the group finished strapping the ice crystal on the roof of the vehicle and they set off, returning to Bailey. Lory sat in the passenger seat next to Elana, while Lillie followed by hopping with her suit’s thrusters. The load was quite heavy on top of the road going uphill, thus the traveling pace was not much faster than walking on foot.
“Are you sure about bringing this into the town?” Elana asked while driving.
“There’s nowhere else we can bring it for the time being.” Lory replied. “I’ll personally keep it in check until we know what to do with it.”
“Alright.” Elana nodded a bit. “Perhaps you could tell me the pros and cons of each option?”
“In short, containing is risky and expensive, while dispersing means increasing the overall calamity ardor density throughout the land.”
“Am I correct to guess that it would mean more monsters roaming about?”
“That’s correct.” Lory nodded. “But that thing has developed a mind of its own, so we don’t know if dispersing it would work.”
“I surely don’t want to risk increasing the intelligence of all monsters.” Elana said. Lory didn’t respond right away, staring at Elana with his mouth slightly open. She glanced back and spoke. “Did I say something funny?”
“I... didn’t think about that risk.” Lory replied. “Now that you mention it, it’s starting to make sense. Calamity ardor that has its own mind and intelligence might spread those properties to the beasts.”
“So we should contain it after all.” Elana said.
“Most likely.” Lory said. “I must thank you for bringing that up. Otherwise I would more likely choose dispersing.”
“Why would that be?”
“On top of it being risky and expensive, there’s only one person in the kingdom who can provide a suitable containment device and... I’d rather not see him.” Lory lowered his head. “But I guess now I should.”
“If you need it, I shall accompany you.” Elana said. “Is this person a hard one to deal with?”
“No, it’s just me.” Lory said with a sigh.
“Well, alright then.” Elana said as she kept driving, and then she glanced right. “Oh look, the sun is coming up.”
“Yeah.” Lory said with a slight smile as he gazed at the distant horizon.
***