[Ahah! Whoa, Gold! You joined in too! XD Yay! Yeah, there was also a post in the Military Academy where a guy was sent to bring in a soldier. Hope this is okay! I promised to bring in a Mordecai! ^_~ And remember...Mordecai are considered the stuff of folk legends! Some people might believe in them, but they're secret! XD And I hope this makes sense. I edited a lot because Gold beat me! Haha! XP]
Unfortunately, despite those that thought of the creature as an angel, there were still those that feared that she was a demon, and those voices carried a lot of weight. One of those voices had even made it back to Connlaoth's military academy, and the word had spread up through the ranks. There was an injured demon in an inn located in Reajh, the Black Ram, and something had to be done about it. It didn't sound like a big job--one injured demon, with its magical abilities repressed, would be easy to dispatch. All it would take was a bullet or two.
Not that the demon woul be killed here, though. No, it would only be killed on the spot if a fight broke out and there was no other choice. Right now, it was only a matter of "collecting" it. It would die in the end, of course, but not yet.
Beatrid actually volunteered for the mission. After having been wounded in that last one she was on--her own fault, too, kind of; she'd had to go all noble and defend another Mordecai she absolutely hated--she'd been going somewhat stir crazy as she hadn't been allowed to do too much until her injury was properly healed and she had recovered. Even after her side had scarred up, she hadn't been allowed to do anything because it was "weak scar tissue". Bah!
So of course she had practically leaped at the chance to finally do something.
Beatrid was soaked by the time she got to the Black Ram, her brass and green button up uniform plastered to her body and her brown hair matted, though it was pulled back into a tight braid that reached down to the middle of her back, save for her shorter bangs. Aside from her long hair and feminine face, she could have probably passed for a girly boy if she put on a deeper voice, because her chest was flat--she had taken up the habit of binding it, which was probably also a good thing right now since she was cold, ergh--and she was a bit taller than the average woman.
A pistol rested in the holster at her belt, and a large red doberman strode beside her, obviously well trained because he didn't strain at the leash she held in her right hand. No, no one else had been sent with her, since it seemed a simple mission and there was no need to draw a lot of unneeded attention, but she'd been ordered to take a dog with her just in case. Not just any random dog, of course; this one was one she'd been working with for a while, though a group of other soldiers had done the training.
So, it was okay. She didn't mind bringing Red with her, because she rather liked dogs and animals were intuned to magic. While her abilities canceled out the magical abilities of those in her range, she couldn't sense it. That was where the dogs came in, they had been trained for this purpose, and aside from that, they were a good source of protection.
She really wished Hek could have come with her. The guy was so inexperienced...this would do him some good, be good for him to see. He needed to be broken in eventually, and as his friend, she preferred to be the one to do it. Oh well.
Blue eyes scanned the signs that hung over each establishment as she walked, her free gloved hand shielding her eyes from the downpour, and finally she spotted it as she rounded a corner. Which wasn't a hard thing to do, because people were pouring out of the place, clearly distressed. Great. So it probably really was a demon...and there was a good chance it wasn't as weak as had been estimated if everyone was reacting like that. Then again, she'd just been desensitized and nothing phased her much anymore, so the thing could have been completely crippled and the masses would probably freak out. Alright, then, time to get this over and done with. Weak or not, there was no time now to go back and ask for back-up, and besides, it had been a long time since she'd had a good fight.
And there was still the chance that it was just some weird creature that everyone was blowing out of proportion. That had happened before. Yeesh.
"C'mon, Red," she ordered, yanking the dog's chain before jogging off across the street, shouldering past people and pushing inside, Red following. No sooner had they entered the building than the dog began to act up, strong body stiffening, ears perked forward and alert, and nose working overtime. His lip began to curl, and a low growl rumbled in his throat, and he began to press forward toward the staircase, licking his lips. That did it. There was no misunderstanding here. The dog had felt magic.
It was the nail in the coffin.
Beatrid wasted no time. She unchained the dog and let him bound up the stairs ahead of her as she also followed, taking the stairs two at a time, drawing her pistol from its holster. The dog wouldn't attack unless ordered or endangered, but he would lead the way and point her to the correct door, since she assumed there were rooms above.
She had nearly reached the top of the staircase when she caught sight of the man at the top, and she also wasted no time in aiming that pistol at him, coming to an abrupt halt a few stairs down from him. The dog, on the other hand, had ignored him completely, lunged past him, and was instead snarling at the door. It didn't matter. The dog was trained to ignore civilians unless the command was given, but it was her duty to be wary. Beatrid's eyes momentarily moved to the door and then back to the guy standing there suspiciously, and her eyes narrowed.
"You best get downstairs and out of this tavern, sir," she began levelly and bluntly, just wanting to get to the point. "Or someone might think you're involved with the creature behind that door. You're not, are you?"