[center][h1][color=Goldenrod] Noah Griffin [/color][/h1][/center]
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Noah’s eyes noted the foxlike creature trot proudly up. In his one arm, an exhausted woman beat her fists and wiggled fruitlessly over his shoulder. Her pride showed clearly in her refusal to give in. It was admirable but a waste of energy. At least, that was what Noah thought. 


Silently he continued to study the exchange ahead of them. The fox-like creature easily snagged the abusive man and dragged him toward the Naga for an offering. 

Noah’s insides twisted into knots. It seemed his assumptions were correct. Money wasn’t the toll, but a human life was. 

As expected, the offered man panicked then darted back the way they came. His clumsy movements echoed in the cavern system even after he vanished from sight. A spark of pity entered Noah’s heart then faded. No one, terrible or not, deserved being hunted like some wild animal.   

Noah watched the serpentine woman chuckle and her off-handed comment. Her glance, hungry and predatory, traced the man’s path before it shifted. This time to the fiery woman upon the fox’s shoulder. Her greed showed when she asked about a second offering. 

Noah’s hand clenched tightly at the scene. He bites back the urge to follow the panicked scumbag back to the known entrance. A life for a life… the words surfaced in his simmering mind.  

Distracted by the interaction between the fox-like creature and the Naga, he failed to notice Erin had left. The younger woman moved through the crowd toward the only fae that could understand her: the Naga. 

When they began to march into the city, his eyes caught the unsettled sight of the residents within. A few individuals were elegant and alluring. Their appearance marred by a cruel aura that was almost haunting their gaze. Others seemed to be the opposite. Their vicious nature showed upon the surface and for all to judge. If Noah hadn’t known better, he would’ve believed his feet carried him through hell itself. 

When Noah’s eyes scanned the group for the woman’s location, his ears caught a scream. His dreadlocks snapped behind him as he twisted in place to see a bloodied, and an injured man burst into the street. He rushed into the crowd until he found and clanged to Melinda. 

On the outside, somehow, Noah kept his composure. He seemed unfazed by the display on the outside. Inside was completely different matter. Anger, fear, and need for action stirred in his soul. Each one churned and boiled into the surface as he moved. 

His vision tunneled for a moment due to sheer focus on separating the pair.

Noah’s left hand reached out and roughly seized the man’s wrist. His fingers wrapped around the wrist in a move he had seen multiple times in movies. Then he applied painful pressure. With any luck, it would loosen the strength. The other hand began to peel the fingers off a few at a time. When man’s grasp seemed to loosen, he would give a sharp tug and the arm would push Melinda back into Vae’s direction. 

[i][color=goldenrod] ‘So much for staying unnoticed…’[/color][/i] Noah lamented within his head afterwards.