"Let him be, girl," a voice said coldly from behind Liya. Breathing hard, she looked back at the speaker--he was very tall, like an overgrown rooster, but with acrid yellow eyes and a wound-up neck like a snake. He wore a black shirt over his feathers, and uniform pants. The other soldiers ranged on either side, arms tucked neatly behind their backs. "There's nothing more you can do."

Liya suddenly felt very small. She clung to Hawk's side, and could not keep the tremor out of her voice. "You s-stay away from me," she said.

Gunfire sounded from beyond the fire again; the snake-rooster-man turned towards it, but one yellow eye stayed trained on Liya. For a long moment he said nothing, but then he started to step lightly towards the fire, brushing the shoulder of the soldier to his left (bony, with odd grey skin.)

"Restrain her and let's go," he ordered, just loud enough for Liya to hear him. "Leave the dead."

"Sir," the soldier answered. Liya's hand found Hawk's and held it tight. She was horrified to see the soldiers around her begin to move towards her, the firelight sharp on their edges.