There were a million questions inside the children's minds. It was not difficult to come to a conclusion as to what happened there, but none of it made sense. Glavas' mental health never showed any signs of wear and tear. At least if one does not count his obsession with food. And yet, it could not be denied that whatever happened in Rotler struck a deep blow into his heart and mind.

"Glavas!" Alma shouted almost immediately and both she and Surdi rushed over to his side.

"Don't rush him!" the young dragon shouted, forcing the girl to stop in her tracks. [Take it easy. You could make it worse.]

The hunter's eyes finally turned to them. They were red and swollen. Tears had been flowing out of them almost the whole evening, and even now they did not seem like they were about to stop.

"Is it you? Are you even real?" he whispered. They did not recognize that voice. There was not a speck of happiness in it. Not a drop of life. Just words, as bland and blank as they could be.

"Yes, we are." Alma crouched down and approached him more slowly this time. Her eyes were flying all over him, looking for any signs of discomfort. Should her close presence alarm him, she immediately planned on backing away. Yet, fortunately, the hunter seemed to react in the exact opposite way. He nearly leaped at the girl, grabbing her with his arms and pulling her closer, into the tightest embrace she ever felt. "Glavas?!" she yelled out, but let herself be pulled closer.

"You're here... You're actually here..." the man sobbed on her shoulder. He seemed like a completely different person, and yet, something about the way he behaved felt precisely like him. As if the essence of Glavas the hunter could never be concealed, no matter the number of tears and sadness.

Surdi did not wait long to join them. The moment he got too close and raised his arm toward Glavas, he got grabbed and pulled in as if he had approached some carnivorous plant. The young dragon did not know what to think at first. The whole situation was confusing and did not make much sense, but one thing was crystal clear - Glavas needed them, right there and then. And so just like Alma, he returned the hug. They could both feel Glavas' body relax a bit more the moment Surdi joined in.

"You're okay... You're both okay..." the hunter whimpered, unable to say anything else. For the next few minutes, a near-complete silence filled the warehouse. Only a muffled crying could be heard here and there. Neither of the children wanted to let go. He was there for them before. Doing the same for him felt as natural as breathing. Without even realizing it, Surdi's tail gently wrapped around Glavas, as if the boy was instinctively looking for another limb to hug him with. Alma was well aware of her strength. She knew that it wouldn't be difficult for her to crush almost anything with her arms, but even though the idea passed through her mind, it did not scare her one bit. Many uncertainties filled her head, but one thing she was absolutely sure of was that she would never hurt Glavas. It was like an instinct. A hug both gentle yet firm. Reassuring, yet not suffocating.

The sun had set even further down, drowning the whole city in darkness. Only a few of the stray magical stones still illuminated some parts of the ruined streets. After so many hours, the children finally noticed that Glavas stopped crying. They slowly let go, yet kept close to him. Alma quickly grabbed his hand, wanting to let him know that she is still there, not having any intentions of leaving.

"Can you tell us what happened? This thing..." she wanted to continue, but upon touching the wet blood slowly dripping down the hunter's arm, she froze for a moment. "You're hurt. Let me look." She pulled at the jacket wrapped around Glavas' arm, but he pulled it away from her and scrunched up his face.

"No no no, that is okay. I just want to see if it's still bleeding and help treat it. Nothing more, okay?" She carefully extended out her hand. "I promise it will be alright." With a lot of hesitation in his eyes, he slowly turned back to her and put his hand into hers.

"Thank you," she replied and carefully undid the knots in the jacket, taking it off. Her heart skipped a beat when she noticed a series of slashes across his arm. "Did the Rotlians..." she asked but Glavas immediately closed his eyes, pulling them shut at much as he could, yet a few tears still managed to spill out.

"It's okay," Surdi assured him and carefully wiped the tears away, making sure to keep his claws as far away from his face as possible, just in case. [I'll look for something to stop the bleeding with,] Surdi told Alma and stood up, finally leaving the hunter's side. Glavas was watching him, his eyes suddenly wide open.

"Don't worry, he will be right back," Alma assured him. "We just want to make sure you are safe now, and for that, we need supplies." Glavas did not say a word and only pointed with his other hand to his bag, tossed on a crate at the other side of the room. Surdi did not waste time and went to grab it. A quick search through its numerous pockets yielded quite positive results. A good hunter would always be ready to receive a scratch or two, so bandages and medical supplies were things that he would never leave without.

[Is this disinfectant? It's... what language even is that?] Surdi signed as he pulled out a thin bottle with unknown symbols and a picture of a flower on the label. Glavas completely ignored the latter question and only nodded to confirm that it could be used to clean the wound. Every fiber of his being was telling him that it would be pointless anyway, but he was too tired to even listen to his own thoughts. For now, he just wanted to go along with whatever the children were doing.

"Okay, this is probably gonna hurt a bit," Alma warned him as she took the bottle, but her words didn't seem to receive any response from Glavas. He simply sat there, staring into the ground. "Here it goes..." she warned him again and poured the tincture over the cuts. Despite the pain, Glavas did not move an inch. His face was like that of a stone. Something inside him was telling him not to move. Not to show any emotion. That such pain was well deserved for someone like him.

"There, that should be done," Alma exclaimed when she and Surdi finished wrapping up bandages over the arm, hopefully stopping the bleeding. "Are you hurt anywhere else?" Glavas shook his head.

[It's probably going to leave a scar.]

"Yeah, Surdi is right. We are no healers or doctors. There will probably be some marks," she repeated when she noticed that the hunter was not paying any attention to Surdi's hands. Finally, after hearing it, he raised his head.

[Don't worry though, we all have some scars. It's not that bad.] Surdi lifted his leg, which still sported a massive pink patch after the burn wound he received when facing Peldo.

"Yeah, I won't be an exception to that," Alma joined in and waved her casted fingers.

Glavas rolled his eyes and with his other hand, he lifted up his shirt, revealing a set of scars on his chest. "It's part of my work."

Meanwhile, the moon dragged itself high into the starry sky, drowning the ruins of Rotler in near-complete darkness.

"Maybe we should stay here?" Alma threw an idea into the room.

[Here? In this terrible place?]

"Everything here is dead and I bet animals will stay away from it for a while. Not to mention that here, we have at least some roof over our heads."

Surdi briefly looked around the room. [Okay. Glavas, is it okay if we stay here for the night? Can you handle it? Or we can go to the hill you told us about.]

Glavas shook his head and whispered: "Here it's fine."

[Okay, I'll get some fire going.] The young dragon turned to the rope hanging from the ceiling and with a fire incantation mixed with a well-time exhale of his magic, he set it ablaze. There was no way he would risk the thing staying here, with Glavas being well within its reach. Then, he turned his sight to the boxes around the room. Some of them were empty. With a few kicks, he was able to reduce them to nothing but planks to toss into the fire. In the meantime, he always gave Glavas and Alma a glance or two. She stayed by the hunter's side, holding his hand and gently patting him on the back. None of them said a single word. Surdi sometimes flicked his head up slightly to ask Alma a nonverbal question. He always replied with a slow nod, letting him know that everything is okay on Glavas' side. Young dragonling then eventually piled up the fire underneath the missing part of the roof, which would allow the smoke to freely leave the warehouse. With another word of fire, "neho", he ignited the makeshift campfire and with a wave of his arm, he invited Alma and Glavas to join him beside the warm flames.

"You see that fire over there? The one that Surdi made?" Alma asked Glavas. He briefly lifted his head and turned it to the side.

"Yeah."

"Then we're gonna try to get over there to the other box right next to it, okay? It will be warmer there." Glavas' expression clearly made it seem that he does not feel too good about moving around. "It's gonna be easy, you'll see. Let's go together." She slowly helped him stand up and walked beside him without letting go of his hand. The way he shuffled his feet across the floor was unlike him. The energy with each step that was so common for him now seemed to be long gone.

Once they were all comfortably seated once again, Surdi carefully put his hand onto Glavas' back, to let him know he wishes to talk. When he saw the hunter's eyes slowly turn toward him, he started to sign. [Is it okay if I ask what happened?] Glavas shook his head. "Tomorrow." He replied.

"Are you gonna feel better tomorrow?" Alma asked, seeing that his eyes were once again sliding towards the floor.

"Hopefully," he muttered.

"Is there something we can do for you?"

"Stay. Please," his voice shook and changed in pitch. A few stray tears glistened in his eyes.

"Shhhh... We will don't worry, we are not going anywhere," Alma reassured him and along with Surdi's help gently wiped the tears away. "Can I ask if you're going to be okay? In time, I mean."

"Definitely."

"Good, good." Alma briefly glanced over to the sky and the stars that were shining bright on it. "Should we perhaps go to sleep? It's getting quite late." The moment she said that Glavas' head shot upward and to the side. His pupils narrowed, yet he did not say a word.

"Don't worry! I will stay with you." Alma gently patted the wooden crate they were sitting on. "See? We can both fit here." He seemed a bit calmer now, but with still some panic in his eyes, he turned toward Surdi.

[I will be here too, don't worry,] he signed and pushed a similarily-sized crate beside theirs.

The children slowly began preparing everything for the night. They took turns, one always staying beside Glavas, making sure he was handling the situation well. Alma barricaded the entrances to the warehouse with some of the boxes. They were relatively light, but should something or someone try to enter, at the very least they would make some noise and hopefully wake them up. Surdi then helped put any soft material he could find onto the crates, making them at least a somewhat comfortable bed. It was not the worst place where they slept by far, but one could not exactly sing praise regarding its comfort. Still, they were all so tired after the day that no amount of discomfort and hunger could not keep them awake for too long.

When they finally lay down for the night, sleep took them under its wing sooner than ever before. The last thing Alma and Surdi remembered from that night was Glavas' arms pulling them closer and them almost instinctively cuddling beside him.