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	All those remaining outside stayed where they were. They all kept their eyes on the Dragon, all except the horse who continued to think that looking away from the little beast was a better idea. 

One of the two young men that had been walking down from the end of town, shrugged at Torn, as though he had no idea what to do. Torn pulled a face in response to suggest that he didn’t have an answer. He wasn’t an expert on Chilli behaviour. No one was, really. Everyone stayed where they were. They regarded the Chilli, they regarded each other. They were all too afraid to move. 

The Chilli, however, didn’t seem to care. Once Amber and Jack had retreated indoors, it lost interest in everything else but itself. It started to nibble at an itchy spot beneath its wing. Maybe a flea. 

‘Hm.’ Torn noticed this behaviour, and looked back over his shoulder at his wife standing on the porch. ‘Go back inside.’ He told her, keeping his voice at its standard tempo. Believing in her husband, she gave a nod, turned slowly, and went back inside their house. 

The Chilli continued to groom itself, paying no mind to what Torn said, or the fact that his wife had gone back inside. 

Everyone else watched Torn, to see what he would do next. 

But he didn’t do anything next. Instead, the guard made the next move, and accordingly, everyone’s attention went to him. Somehow, for whatever reason, the guard - previously too scared to get closer than 30 feet from the chilli - had now decided it was his lawful duty to do something about this situation. The hefty man was walking up the road as if walking a tightrope, one foot carefully in front of the other, and his sword held at the ready in front of him, as if to help him keep balance. He stopped beside Torn, lowered his sword just a little. 

‘Go back home,’ said the guard, ‘I will deal with this.’ He then looked around at everyone else, all of them still standing and staring apprehensively at him. ‘Everyone go home!’ He demanded. ‘I’ll take care of this. Nothing to see here.’ 

The Chilli didn’t seem to mind that the guard was getting closer, didn’t seem to mind that the guard had raised his voice to tell everyone to go home, either, the little creature continued to groom itself, now licking contently at a particular spot beneath one raised wing. 

Nobody moved, though. They didn’t give a shit what the guard had told them. They all just looked at him as though he was an idiot. 

‘Are you sure that’s wise?’ Torn asked the guard. ‘You are one man. Best that we all just walk away, one by one, including you.’ 

‘Nay….’ The guard narrowed his stare on the dragon as he replied to Torn, ‘It is my duty to protect Greenfalls. The threat must be removed.’

 ‘This is not a good time to play hero.’ Torn told him. ‘Turn around. Go back to your post. The creature only appears to care about the visitor, Jack. We should be safe enough for now. No reason to test fate.’

The guard ignored this and lifted his sword again as he continued to slowly approach the Chilli. 

‘Are you joking?’ Torn said, looking at the guard as if he had lost his mind. He then turned to the children and told them to run along home. The kids complied without question or hesitation. He then glanced around at everyone else, and told them to leave as well. Everyone listened to Torn, retreating the way they had come. Even Theolan stepped backwards through the doors of the Inn, but not fully. He remained in the threshold, doors open, wanting to watch the show.  

‘Have it your way,’ Torn said to the guard, and turned to walk away as well.