[center][h2][color=DarkKhaki]Wolfram[/color] & [color=Magenta]Vera[/color] & [color=007236]Vernon 2.0[/color][/h2][/center]
[center][@Letter Bee] [@Crowvette] [@Dezuel] [@AtomicNut][/center]
[hr]

Wolf stood there, stock still, as Bertrand turned into dust and shattered clay. Had he...? No... he'd been careful. Careful enough. He hadn't meant to... He shook his head as Vera's words echoed in his mind. No. He couldn't worry about that right now. Andras still needed him.

When Celine threatened to hurt Andras, there was anger, yes, but also something else. The situation was rapidly deteriorating. They weren't even listening to William's offer to help. Bertrand's death had severely hurt the negotiations. He also felt fear. Fear that he couldn't control this. Fear for Andras.

Fear enough that his hammer faded away and was replaced by a bow. He drew the massive, curved weapon back, an arrow more than a foot long with a broad head nocked in it. Before too long his arm began to ache with the strain of holding it. As he focused his fear to summon the bow, he lost touch with some of his anger. The armor, and thus the strength it granted, began to fade.

When Darla ran, he let her. He considered firing at her, or chasing her down. He could use a new hostage of his own, but surely Celine would leverage Andras the second he made such a move. Regardless... he didn't want to. He'd messed that up once already.

And so they were at a standoff. For a moment, silence reigned... until-

[i]Whoosh![/i]

A chunk of ice flew deftly between Andras and Celine, just nicking the tip of Celine's nose. The silence was then fully shattered by uproarious laughter. Vernon.

[color=007236]"Now this is just getting ridiculous! Look at you all!"[/color] Vernon cackled madly. [color=007236]"You really are a little stargazer, aren't you, William? Trying to save these husks!"[/color] He was nearly doubled over at this point. [color=007236]"But really, you lot of fools made a right mess of this, didn't you?"[/color] He was now speaking to Celine. So focused was she on Wolf that he'd had no trouble getting the perfect angle on her from the side. That said, he didn't seem to be making any further moves to attack just yet.

[color=007236]"You are just [i]so[/i] scared of them but I don't get why!"[/color] Vernon continued. [color=007236]"I mean, William there, bless him, is more concerned with raising the dead than adding to their number! Your little friend there, I'm pretty sure she broke herself, not the other way around. And then Wolf here... sure, he looks a bit scary, but look closer!"[/color] he spoke excitedly, taking a few hurried steps toward Celine as if he had the world's best secret to tell her. [color=007236]"See that girl there, pissing blood like a faucet down her face? That was my handiwork, and she's Wolfy boy's girlfriend. I had to actually goad him into getting mad about it! He's just another naive child like William deep down! Full of empty threats, that one."[/color] Vernon told her, hands now pointed at Wolf and Vera rather than her.

He then pulled back a bit, though still closer than he'd started, [color=007236]"But I [i]know[/i] what you're thinking! My poor... brother? Friend? Whatever he was... He's been killed!"[/color] He slapped his hands to his face as if in shock, but then went deadpan. [color=007236]"Nah, darling. I was watching. I'm mostly certain he did that to himself. Blew himself right up! Wolf doesn't have it in him, certainly! For fuck's sake, you fools have been kicking your own asses since you got here!"[/color] He shook his head. [color=007236]"Just look at him! He's all shook up! A guy just turned to dust in his hands, he's gonna be having nightmares for at least a month."[/color]

He wasn't wrong. If anything, the shaking got worse when Vernon said it. Wolf took a breath and forced his hands to steady, but of course Vernon saw.

And laughed.

A lot.

[color=007236]"Did you see that!"[/color] Vernon pointed and guffawed. [color=007236]"That was fucking hilarious!"[/color] he told Celine. [color=007236]"No. Look here."[/color] He held up his own hands, and in a burst of cold a chunk of ice appeared, spinning perfectly atop his index finger like a top. [color=007236]"Rock steady."[/color] He stared into her eyes. [color=007236]"I'm the one you should be afraid of. Were it up to me, I'd have already punched a hole through those crumbly heads of yours."[/color] And just like that, he was suddenly all business. [color=007236]"Still might."[/color]

And right then, if Celine was distracted for even a moment by Vernon's little show, Wolf would release the arrow. Passing close enough to Andras for the feathers to tickle her cheeks before tearing through Celine's shoulder. A fleshier being might have just had the projectile stick fast, but for her it would most likely mean ending up like Darla -- one limb down.

Hard to break a neck with only one hand, Wolf figured.