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She turned his way snarling, until recognition lit her eyes Then she s like a cat that had just laid a dead rat at its owner’s feet

Renna rolled off the corpse, struggling to regain her feet before the other deh already she felt the flow decreasing as her stolen an to knit the wounds Still, she felt in no state to keep fighting

She snarled, refusing to give in, but when she raised her eyes there was only Arlen there, glowing brightly with ic like one of the Creator’s haloed seraphs He was clad only in his loincloth, and he was beautiful, paleacross his skin He wasn’t tall like Harl or bulky like Cobie, but Arlen exuded a strength those other men lacked She beamed at him, flush with pride in her victory Three wood deht?" he asked, but there was sternness in his voice, not pride

"Ay," she said "Just need a moment to rest"

He nodded "Sit down and breathe deeply Let thethe deep cuts all over her body beginning to close Soonbut thin scars, and even those would fade quickly

Arlen picked up the charred rerunted

"Thanks," Renna said, even the sih her

"But clever wards or no, that was stupid of you, Ren," he went on "You could have set the forest on fire, not toon three wood demons at once"

Renna felt like he’d punched her in the stonorerock demon by yourself," Arlen scolded "And left your cloak back at the keep"

"Cloak gets in the hen I hunt," Renna said

"Don’t care," Arlen said "That last deainst it was terrible A nie’Sharum could have broken that hold"

"What’s it ht "I won"

"It matters," Arlen said, "because sooner or later, you won’t Even a wood de as you feel when theas they are Forget that, cease to respect them even for an instant, and they’ll have you Thatinvisible to de one"

"Then why don’t you use it?" Renna asked