The three of them jumped out of light, with Nortze being the only one who hadn’t crashed on the floor. He didn’t bother helping any of them to stand. Instead, he dug his hand inside his pocket to get the key which Rudolph had handed over to him after Saer's teleportation.

His hand was in the pocket when a paws held his shoulders from behind. Nortze could feel the animal's breathing and it nails on his skin.

Nortze spun back with his sword. The sword sliced air, almost hacking Trov in half.

You. Nortze sighed and put his sword down. But the scared dog ran to Gisella and leaned against her. Nortze did not bother petting him either and took out the key.

Nortze pulled Gisella's palm and placed the key on it. But, she did not wrap her palm around it. Instead, she made an eye contact with him, holding his other arm.

Nortze gave him a hard stare for a while until he realized he neither could convince nor intimidate her. Moreover, he felt he was the one being most anxious among them.

He removed her grip, "Go inside the house."

"No." she said.

"I said go."

"Never."

Nortze gently closed her palm, not matching eyes with her as he was no longer strong enough for it. Regardless, he couldn’t escape the glare as soon as he looked at her face.

"Don’t look at me like this." Nortze said, "This may be the last time I will ever see you."

Amidst their conversation, Rikilda stood up and walked towards them. Gisella took her eyes away from him for a second just in order to check how injured she was.

A roar from the end of the archway put a halt to their non-verbal dispute. Before the voice could amplify more, much bigger werewolves in armors dashed to the Calajhans.

Gisella saw her husband's hand rise, leaving her wondering what might have kept him away from getting his sword. Nortze aimed his open palm at their direction then clenched his fist.

Blood and viscera splattered everywhere as the werewolves exploded within their armors. Warm drops of blood painted their faces following the burst.

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Nortze wiped his face by his arm, making his white beard turn red.

He thumped at Gisella with a change in mind. He forced her hand open, snatched the key and tosses it at Braden quietly. Braden, who had not courage to deny him, didn’t make a sound and walked between the space between the husband wife.

He put the key in the keyhole and unlocked the door as Gisella watched.

"Please." Braden said.

"No." Gisella swung away the hair on her face by motion of his her head.

Braden's jaw dropped. It wasn’t the rejection which had startled him but was Gisella's response. Unable to comprehend anything, he watched Nortze, waiting for his final say. But he did not seem like he was about to say something.

His face changed. Braden saw Nortze's hair move. So was Gisella's. Then came the cold along with the slight breeze.

A circular haze emerged from nowhere. The three of them stepped backwards when the fog started to become dense with every time wisps of snow revolved its core.

Icicles shot out from the portal and hundreds of those pointy objects propelled at their direction.

Old Calajhan rotated his sword.

The shards hit his blade with great force, creating a sound of ting as the collided. Some icicles broke but some glide past his sword in full velocity, slicing flesh from arms and shoulders of those behind.

When the attack ended, Norte exhaled a thick cloud of vapor. He could see hair standing on his exposed skin. He glanced back at the portal and saw a tall man with his staff. His dragged down eyes, pointy cheeks along with stick like hands made him shiver.

Wernh'An neither talked nor blinked. This time he required no name. What he required was infront of him. Three of them at once.

The head of his staff glowed and glowed until its brightness obscured him altogether. More icicles charged at them from the light. Unable to bear the brightness, everyone except Nortze closed their eyes.

They heard wind pass by them, numbing their senses and ringing their ears.

When the light faded, they discovered themselves in their home. Everyone except Nortze.