When the sun crested the trees they'd managed to clean up most of the village, it was hard, but luckily none of the homes were destroyed, mostly... The bodies were forced to be burned, they couldn't bury them all, It was Galus' idea and it didn't make him many friends, but when he told them to get digging, they found by the third grave that it wasn't viable, not only was it hard work, but there wasn't enough room to bury them all without covering the entire village in grave stones. They clearly didn't like that he was right and if Galus was honest he didn't like it either.

Galus finished piling up the bodies, he'd forced Gideon to help a disc point, it's been following him around, he didn't care that his leg was snapped out of it's socket, maybe crawling around on his knees will give him a much needed dose of empathy for the albinaurics, he doubted it though.

He stood next to the pile of bodies, some of which were already burned by the omen killer.

Galus turned to address the very small crowd maybe thirty out of two hundred. "This was a grave tragedy, I am on pilgrimage to the Haligtree, I'll send a contingent of soldiers here to ward away further attacks, I'll be back later today, tomorrow at the latest. I'm going to rescue Lattena, then we'll be off to the haligtree. Albus, I assume you're in charge here?"

Old Albus nodded. "I am..."

Galus nodded. "I'll defer to you any details when I return."

Albus nodded in appreciation.

Galus tossed the torch on the bodies, and they ignited surprisingly fast. "Let their souls find a safe place, far from those who despise them." Galus said under his breath.

After he said this he walked off to get to his horse, Edgar followed him to wish him fairwell

but when he got to his horse, he had another idea, he rode around the pool of water beneath the village, and he found Gideon's cane, he picked, and then created a golden duplicate of it, it was clearly a Glintstone staff and not the dumb mace the game made it out to be, he dismissed the second cane and summoned his discus of light, and sheered into the original cane, he raised an eyebrow when it didn't immediately get sheered in half instead it took a couple seconds for it to cut. Either way it wouldn't be used against him again, he dismissed the disc and resummoned his staff of the all knowing or whatever the hell Gideon called it. Luckily it didn't fall in two pieces, then again if that was the case his spear from earlier would've had it's head fall off. Galus felt a familiar rumble in the lake floor and a crab erupted from behind him. He turned and held a hand up to it using the bewitching power Miquella gave him, he didn't feel bad about using it on Ensha, nor did he feel bad about using it on a giant crab thing, though his horse attempted to run off. He guessed his strength score wasn't too shabby because he managed to not get dragged off by the reins.

The giant crab lowered itself and Galus stepped up onto it, he led the horse as he rode the crab and Edgar to his relief was just then leaving the shore. "Edgar!" He called, look Edgar had when he turned around was priceless. He handed the reins to Edgar, and the terrified horse gladly went with him.

Edgar took poor tempest into up the path while Galus rode off on the giant crabby boi. If he remembered right this one spewed sleep mist from its mouth.

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Lattena was fighting for her life, the bloodhound knight was relentless in tracking her, only now did she realize that she'd cornered herself when she rushed into this cave on Lobo, there was little room to ride her wolf and the hound knight seemed to be doing just fine, it didn't speak a sound but it Lobo's ears seemed to twitch as if hearing something, and growled. She rode around the crystalline chamber firing arrows as her wolf rushed around, the unique magic known only to her people caused the arrow to trace the knight as it rushed around at blinding speeds, even still it managed to keep ahead of her at every turn, Lobo jumped onto a large Glintstone outcroppint and she fired a few more arrows at him, before Lobo jumped off just as the hound knight sheered the crystal in two with it's oddly shaped sword. Although luckily for her she'd infused some of it with her power and the as soon as the Glintstone broke it glowed a violet light and exploded in the hounds face with violet flames of slumber, they turned to see the hound knight was moving more slowly as the purple flames wore off, and it's mind was clearly in a haze but it still pursued her. She took the chance to get out of there. Lobo jumped from crystal outcropping to outcropping of stone and eventually rushed out of the cave, only to nearly be run over by a giant crab as it rushed past her with a man on it. He seemed to be struggling for control over it and it finally threw him off of it's back, and he rolled on the ground as he tumbled down. She looked behind her seeing the hound knight was moving faster again, three gashes in it's arm, it caused itself pain to jolt itself awake. The man got up and started forward, she was sure he worked with the jackass in the armor with ears carved into the metal.

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But when he moved past her giving Lobo a pat on the head and a scratch behind the ear she was confused as he went on over to the knight and summoned a spear of glowing pale gold. The way he used it was unlike any soldier shed known but she saw an opening and shot her arrows at it. They hit it in its flank as the man moved to the side, then backed up chucking the spear and unsheathing an exact replica of the hound knights sword, it saw it and stopped. Lobo's ears twitched and Lobo gave a high pitched whimper, she patted it on the neck before knocking another trio of arrows and shooting the knight.

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Galus was thrown off the crab, he'd noticed his control had started waning about a mile back and by the time he got to the cave I threw him off it's back and ran off the way it came. He looked into the cave and was face to face with a bluish wolf, it's hair the same color as his own, he found that interesting and on the wolves back was an albinauric woman, Lattena in her blue chainmail, he gave the big doggo a pat on the head and a scritch on the ears, the wolf thankfully didn't fucking rip his throat out and just looked over it's shoulder, Galus heard something move and turned seeing something moving toward them, he walked past the albinauric woman without a word and summoned his spear, he thrust it forward before intentionally missing beneath it's armpit he brought the bladed polearms up and it cut into the heavy armored armpit as he pulled it back and retreated a few steps, it howled silently and it rushed forward Galus backing up further and slashing it with the blades end before bringing the pommel up into it's chin, he danced to the side just in time as a volley of three arrows pelted it in the side as it turned toward him.

He attacked again slashing as he danced around it putting himself between the knight and the albinauric, he'd have to play his role as Frontliner well, he backed up and he threw the spear which hit it in the leg, before unsheathing his hound sword and he saw it stop in front of him, he heard a whimper behind him, he spared a glance over his shoulder and saw the dog shook it's head and it's ears were down. So, these hound knights spoke at too high of frequencies for humans to speak, like somekind of dog whistle. He turned and saw it was breathing heavily either tired or angry, probably the latter given there's no way I didn't kill a hound knight or steal it from them to get this.

He heard a whistle and ducked to a crouch as the thre arrows collided with the knight, before Galus used his hound step to attempt to attack it, he saw it do the same, and Galus realized this was his first time fighting someone with superior mobility and the knowhow to use it effectively. He turned and blocked it's strike with it's sword but it's claws dug into his hide, he summoned a second bloodhound fang sword the replica to this one and used that to strike at it, he tuned out the pain as he spun the curved blades clashing against its own, before a triage of arrows impacted it in its rear. Apparently one of them collided with it's dangle berries because it seemed to frieze and clutch at the arrow in it's crotch and Galus could feel that by association, and winced before quickly slashing at it's face, it seemed to be all it could do to move, but the second blade managed to hit it's mark right below it's helmet and a liter of blood spilled to the ground, it struggled back toward the hound knight, as its legs quivered and it's arms barely supported it's weight, stopped when an arrow struck it in the eye hole of it's helmet, it fell to the floor with a clatter of it's armor.

Galus cleaned their sword with the cape of the hound knight, and walked over to the albinauric. "Lattena?" Galus asked, although he knew it was her, because how many other albinauric wolf riders were in Liurnia? Far as he knew she was the only one.

Lattena looked at him with suspicion, and she had an arrow knocked, though luckily it's string wasn't pulled back, he understood why she was suspicious, and he took the fact she didn't have the arrow drawn on him as a good sign. "One more step, and I'll shoot you on the spot."

Galus casually sheathed his sword and raised his palms to her, the symbols on hands giving a soft pale gold glow in his right hand, and a soft violet in his left. She lowers her bow at the sight of the symbols. "You follow Miquella's teachings?"

Galus shrugged. "And Saint Trina's."

She sighed. And scooted up on her wolves back. "If lobo allows it, you may climb up on his back, as your... Mount seems to have ditched you." She looks at him a mirthful look on her face. "How were you riding a vicious predator anyways?"

Galus thought about his answer for a few seconds before realizing Miquella might not want his secret of bewitching minds to get out to the public, so he dodged the question. "How are you?"

Lobo chuffed in response, but he let him get on his back. And they rode back to the village.

Galus saw the village in the horizon, and wasn't on fire or surrounded by poison, so he took that as a good sign that things were okay.

Lobo padded up the cobbled path to the village, he saw the crab back at it's nest, it was laying on in the mud. though now he saw something moving beneath it, a bunch of smaller crabs, which were big enough to eat but miniscule by comparison to the massive creature, he watched the creatures playing in the mud, and he had an idea that gave him a smile.