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Chapter 13: Burn
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Chiri tapped on the door to Director's office lightly with the back of her hand. Receiving no reply, she entered without an answer.
The empty leather desk chair he usually occupied left askew, papers and open books lying in wait for his return. Curtains drawn across the windows there was only the feeble light from a few sconces to outline their forlorn pages. Cazer's absence immediately apparent, Chiri skirted the room idly running a finger along the spines of a few books displayed.
The room was square in shape. Wide on each side, it was able to accommodate floor to ceiling shelves, a sitting area, and the workspace. A parlor table and chairs were even provided to partake in simple meals to the left of the door. Stacked with reference books, this area was mostly wasted on Cazer. If he did eat, it was usually done so unceremoniously hunched over his desk out of necessity rather than enjoyment.
Positioned to the right was a solid door connecting into a space
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Frantically looking around in the dark, Horus leapt into a defensive stance. Alarmed when he did not immediately see Chiri, he called out “Chi?” The sound of his voice pulled Chiri from the daze of her ruminations. Realizing she had fallen behind. Chiri paused, momentarily stumbling as if the lack of light had only just begun to affect her. Separated by some seven or eight paces, Horus stepped in her direction. Only to freeze mid stride, too terrified to progress further. The gap between them remaining, Chiri turned slowly to regard what had provoked such an extreme reaction from her brother. There, like floating lanterns, were two angry yellow eyes. Its pupils, merely thin slits, they darted between the intruders. Decidedly, coming to rest on Chiri, its eyes narrowed with a threatening hiss. Becoming painfully aware of her heart rate quickening, the giant serpent was very near to Chiri. Careful to take a few calm breaths in order to slow its tempo, she star
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Hurried steps and panicked voices arising from outside the Dawn Gate, the source of their alarm was indeterminate from what corner of the empty ward Chiri occupied. Disinterested by the distant sounds of their mingled unease faded into a buzz of unrest as she closed her eyes against the persistent pain which plagued her. Clutching the saturated fabric more closely to the gouge at her side, Chiri grimaced as blood oozed out from between her fingers and onto the pestine floor beneath her. The wound, not having cut deep enough to touch any vital arteries or organs. It only posed the immediate threat of blood loss as she remained a solitary entity amongst the empty cots of the infirmary. The injury’s presence, no less vexing in the least, this was to be the reward Chiri enjoyed from another one of Ryker’s misguided assignments. Reclining against the wall slowly, she hissed an embittered curse through gritted teeth, “Sodded slug suckers!” Fortunate enough to find that no one else should b
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