The Night Rider

Chapter 37 - Loyalty

"You will do nothing. You have done enough meddling in our business. Take that grimoire of yours and leave."

Hawkins' mouth dropped open, visibly hurt by the quick change of attitude but then the cogs in his brain began to turn. Mantis' face popped into his mind, her earlier outburst hiding a lot of insecurities. 

What Hazard was doing right now was exactly the same. He was hiding his fear with brash comments and a tough facade but truthfully, Hazard wanted him to leave and try to save himself.  

"Not happening."

Hawkins turned on his heel in an attempt to go towards the direction Hazard had gestured with his tail. The black grimoire burned within his pocket as if guiding him towards the source while letting him know it was still glued to the hidden pocket near his chest.

It was both a foreboding reminder and a small comfort that at least the black grimoire was on his side. Hazard tried to follow him towards the emanating heat signature, his wavering voice still demanding to be heard.

"Did you hear me? You need to leave, now!" 

Hawkins ignored him, shrugging off his jacket and tied the two sleeves together and created a makeshift sling before wrapping it around his arm. It wasn't perfect but it would do. The worrying thing was, he had to take out the black grimoire and put it in his much looser trouser pocket.

"No, I don't. I promised Hack I'd do what I could. I promised Odi we'd get her healed and I promised Rin that she'd make a great Mediator someday. A Mediator doesn't lie. We protect the truth."

Just as he finished his tirade the Mediator staggered a little, his pace dropping but Hazard ran ahead and rerighted him immediately. Gruffly, the Firestep wolf swore intelligibly and helped support him regardless of earlier grievances. 

"You're insane. Your whole family is completely insane."

"Well, so is yours." Hawkins snapped, the sudden rise of anger towards his 'family' surprising even himself with his loyalty.

Hazard couldn't help but chuckle, not even denying Hawkins had seen through his fear. Hawkins smiled awkwardly, grateful he had emptied all his pockets otherwise the wolf would've been sprayed with all manner of decayed and burnt bits and bobs.

The rest of his stuff had been unceremoniously dumped, fallen out or disintegrated in the blast. At least he could attempt to file for compensation but the likelihood of him being refunded due to a mad Tinker Mole attack was...debatable.

"I guess the alliance still stands even after it's been blown to hell and back." Hazard said jokingly, sideling beside the hobbling Mediator.

It felt like a strange place for a casual walk, traipsing through a warzone avoiding death traps and debris. It was just like any other day off. 

He noted how the Firestep had deliberately moved in front, navigating obstacles and notifying him with a single flick of his tail. Hawkins' mouth tweaked upwards, he couldn't help but compare the surly wolf to a guide dog making him chuckle.

"Of course it is. Who else could survive such a thing?" Hawkins replied, his injuries becoming less and less nagging but still made him wince.

"Who else indeed, mon ami." 

As if the universe had overheard his initial annoyance over the situation, they decided to add another continuous problem to the mix. 

Gizmo looked a lot worse for wear than before, his fur now scruffy and his suit badly torn with his cane nowhere to be seen. It looked as if he was desperate to double over in exhaustion but was fighting back out of pride. He stood triumphantly on top of his mound of rubble like a child on a bouncy castle.