[center][@Oh no my soup][/center]

	Cain has followed Gillian. He arrives on the opposite side of her desk when she turns to him. He watches her with intense suspicion as she retrieves the catalog from the drawer. He is aware of her deception, it is clear within her eyes, the window to her soul, but does not voice his disapproval for sounding the alarm. 

	Keeping his eyes fixed on hers, he places his fingertips atop the catalog, caressing it softly in a way that a blind man would read braille.  As his hand moves from the catalog to remove a small pouch from his cloak, Cain's pupils dilate while his telepathic response enters Gillian’s mind. The words sound like grating metal piercing her thoughts…

	[i][color=a36209]Solon 3000[/color][/i]

	In the closing of his this act, he drops the small pouch upon her desk. When it lands it spills open, exposing a range of precious, antiquated gold coins. They are undoubtedly of immense value. 

	“Payment.” 


[hr]


[center][@Dartbored Fairy][/center]

	Was a silent, swift return. Dnias, present once more, focused by the beacon on Mili’s neck, now stands behind Pirila while she strokes the child’s hair. 

	[i]Such tender, futile love.[/i] 

	There is, however, not a moment to spare. Pirila’s mind is filled with a scream like that of a premonition to Mili’s future pain, yet the child remains on the couch without uttering a word. In the same instant, Pirila is seized from behind and is flung with enormous power across the room. Before Mili is able to react, Dnias is on top of her, shrouding her small body with his. The Vector Pathol on his arm simultaneously expounds a blinding light that envelops the pair, if yet for another instant before they both vanish. All of the above events took place in less than a second. It is over.

	Mili has been taken. 

[hr]

	Mili discovers herself in a cave of an unknown location. The cave is relatively small, damp, and lit by the orange light of crude, freestanding flame torches. Mili is bound and suspended in the air at the center of this cave in a star formation, her arms and legs restrained by rope to the roof and floor. She can view her surroundings. Her one mysterious eye remains covered by a bandage, her normal eye has not been covered. 

	Dnias is present in this cave and standing before her. He is quiet. He stares at Mili from the depth of his hood. There is a large knife in his right hand.

	The marks on Mili’s neck are no longer felt, their effects are dormant for now.