[center]Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon [/center]

[u]Emily[/u]

After Valor faded, the world seemed to spin around her. Around and around, it all turned into a blur of dark fur, gritty sands and rustic blood crowding in on Emily. Immediately she found herself dropped to one knee and struggling to remain upright, her other leg tucked underneath as adrenaline pulsed through her veins by her heart, her head was pounding in echoes. It felt like each breath was inhaling rustic nails instead of air, her body nothing but dead weight now. Settling upon her hands and knees, locked there by the dying surge of energy, her head casted downward for a moment to manage some sort of strength left. 

Emily's wounds mingled with the sands and darkening the grains slightly, the little pieces stuck into the painful wounds exposed to the arid air. The familiar bow gone had vanished into thin air, now leaving her hand splayed against the ground to prop her upright. Just barely. 

Her eyes turned to the others for a moment, checking their status. About the fittest one was Diane as bit Vignar and herself had taken quite a bit of damage. Finally her eyes turned to Fran. Uncertainty lingered in her dark eyes as she looked past, seeing the cage fall away and the prowling shapes of the werecats stalk closer. An instinct within her shouted for her to rise but her limbs were too heavy, weighed down by the battle, blood loss and sense of a hollow victory. A younger werecat feigned a lunge at her only to dart away back to a distance, tugged by the scent of blood but repelled by something. 

Cerberus's words reached her ear then. 'If you don't get up, your teammates will perish. Now stop being weak and stand up.'

Emily glared at him yet forced herself to stand, her legs wobbly as a new born and every few inches gain threatened to being her right back to her knees. She hadn't even gotten out her gauntlets when the shadow arrived. In moments the sun was lost in it while it drifted over the dunes, large and frightfully familiar. Her fine neck hairs stood erect when she lifted her head to see the large form of the mother Dragon. Sands whipped about sending Emily to shield her head with her arms, ignoring the stinging pain, then fight to stay upright against their fury. 

It was an epic fail from the start. 

The gusts easily sent her body to the ground, flat on her side, like the dead weight it was. Unable to hold her ground or remain standing, Emily was sent skimming across the sand and plowed right into Vignar. At least if he hadn't moved. 

Either way, her position near Vignar or only a short distance away, she had landed in a half balled up posture while memories flashed in her mind. They flickered like some twisted side show starring her last mission here causing her to tremble slightly. She saw her claws buried into a Drake's skull, the dragon's roar echoed in her head, the blaze of her fire and finally the caravan's screams while many burned. Even the stench of burning flesh rose to her senses making her stomach twist into knots. Emily couldn't help the guilty stone wedged within her stomach or the sudden flinch at hearing the beast utter Latin, Cerberus's betrayal brought to her waking awareness. The sensation of vomit edged at the back of her throat. Slowly she swallowed it down but didn't move. Part of her shamefully wanted this to be some horrid nightmare where she would wake any moment, the rest of her knew better. This wasn't a nightmare. It was made even more real when the beast's eyes loomed over them and Emily found herself unable to meet the dragon's derive gaze. 

While Emily grappled with her fear Cerberus could only see the unfocused sight of the claw and the old woman, transformed from the werecat. Since he was limited by Emily's position, he instead focused on listening to the Mother Dragon's roar as she questioned their presence, in a tone he suspected was similar to a person talking to a disgusting rodent. Not that he was surprised. His very holder had ended up killing one of her children, directly, just to save another holder's filthy hide. Under his breath he cursed Ramza for putting Emily in this position as well as Lux for his absence in this mission.

His eyes shifted, for a moment, back to Emily. He couldn't understand why she risked so much for those who fell so short of her own strength level or her resentment to make the sacrifices. He mentally sighed when his attention was snagged by the translating werecat, partly relieved his role could be limited now. 

Speaking to Vignar's and Diane's spirit, Cerberus made it clear Emily wasn't in the best of shape. At least in the case they couldn't see it themselves. 'One of you might want to tell the Mother Dragon why we're here or I will...' 

Emily could managed to whisper softly a single word, her tone slightly pleading, "Cerberus...don't." 

Cerberus leaned closer and replied. 

'Then stop shaking and swallow that guilt, before you die and allow me to make good on my promise.'