Faira shouted and stumbled away as Joshua appeared by Rosaline, nearly stumbling over her own feet. By the time she righted herself, their captor had disappeared. She looked around frantically for him as Marianne addressed the group.
	Faira snorted at her “almost” sympathy.
	“And you’re [i]not[/i] doing that?” she muttered under her breath.
	She took a backwards step closer to Rose and raised the sword defensively in front of her as the spidery monster forced Adriane from it. The unnerving squelch of its movements made Faira’s stomach churn from where she stood between Rosaline and the monster.
	Her head tilted toward Marianne as the woman threatened them over the child's well-being. Fara glanced between both the young and older Marianne curiously before looking back warily to the threat at hand as it impossibly reached out to attack Conna’Cel.
	With her wary gaze still on the monster, a large ball of flame formed above her free palm as Marianne spoke again.
	“What’s with you and payment?” The orb of flames intensified with her bitter words. She looked angrily to Marianne. The flames died down slightly and flickered out of shape as Faira shifted uncomfortably at the grin the woman gave her. She swallowed and looked quickly to the floor in front of her, her fist tightening around the sword’s hilt as she scowled.
	Taking a deep breath, she tried to turn her frustration and fear instead on the creature. She felt the sensation of her abilities eagerly rise to the emotions. At her thought, a spiral of flame sparked to life and wound harmlessly down her left arm and twisted around the glowing blaze hovering an inch above her skin. The new strand spun around the orb, a gentle [i]buzz[/i] emanating from it.
	Not wanting to draw its attention quite yet, she held the elemental ball at the ready in case the new foe turned on her and Rosaline.
	“If it doesn’t matter to you, then just [i]do it,[/i]” she muttered to Marianne. She glanced to the top of the stairs where Marianne and Joshua had had their little confrontation. “Unless the Collector’s too powerful for you,” she added quietly, hoping to bait Marianne into helping. “I mean, you [i]did[/i] basically just run away from him.” She held her breath as she awaited Marianne’s response.