The group gathered in Piotr’s room. The room was sparsely furnished. In the center of the room stood a round wooden table crafted from Bourne wood, one of Barakat’s largest imports. 

A wardrobe of the same material hugged the wall furthest to them. A full length mirror was pressed tightly against the wall beside the wardrobe. 

Candles sat upon sconces were placed sporadically around the dimly lit room. In the corner a large double bed lay alongside the window overlooking Valence Street, the main street. 

Accompanying the bed was a lamp, perched atop was a lightbulb. Piotr reached into his leather satchel bag, the leather was distressed, stretching across the surface of the bag were scratches and scars. This old bag had experienced its fair share of adventures. 

With some light foraging he withdrew a rolled up map that had seen better days. Piotr unfurled the diluted gray scroll and spread the wrinkled map of Barakat and the surrounding area onto the low stout table, subsequently he leaned over the map to better study it.

Christi’s eyes wandered, She noticed Ratchet studying the dimly lit lamp, of course he was intrigued by it. After all Piotr had pieced it all together, his affinity was nothing short of impressive. Especially considering the abundance of metallic elements present nowadays. 

Piotr began to lightly etch markings on the map with a small but sharp needle; he particularly focused on the mountain ridge where the bull had retreated to.

“From what we’ve gathered the bull seems to erratically attack nearby signs of civilization, that it resides within the nearby Yharnam mountains and that it stands about twenty feet tall weighing possibly over 500 pounds.”

He paused

“This won’t be an easy beast to fell, our best course of action would be to tackle this monster away from Barakat, we can’t risk allowing the beast a chance to rampage freely here.”

“With your affinity you could topple it easily, am I wrong?” 

Ratchet’s gruff voice interposed. Piotr turned to face the man, he straightened his back and met his gaze. 

“My affinity allows me to do many things, yes, some extraordinary things even but toppling a monster that size and weight would prove difficult even for me.”

Ratchet folded his arms.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what is your affinity?” 

Behind Ratchet he could hear a series of low rattles, before he could discover the source numerous metallic pieces whizzed past him, came to a sudden halt and hovered above Piotr’s hand. 

The pieces danced about in Piotr’s palm.

“I suppose it’s best for you to be knowledgeable on it, magnetism my dear friend, I possess the affinity to produce and manipulate magnetic fields. However the larger the object the harder it is for me to produce a magnetic field capable of manipulating said object. Think of it like puppetry for example, my magnetic fields act as the strings that manipulate this small marionette if you will. However the heavier and larger the puppet, well then it becomes significantly more difficult no matter how many strings I possess or produce.”

Ratchet nodded. 

“I see that makes sense.” 

With a snap of his fingers the pieces fizzed back to the bedside table. A whistle escaped Ratchet’s lips, that affinity sure was something. With that concluded Piotr once again took up his position overlooking the map again. 

“With the speed the bull moves at I would estimate it could cover the distance between Barakat & the ridge in ten minutes, on average it would take us twenty five minutes on foot. Like I mentioned earlier we want to avoid the bull rampaging through Barakat so we should keep this in mind if we fail to defeat it swiftly in the mountains.” 

His finger traced along the sketched mountains on the map. 

“The Yharnam mountain pass consists of steep veering cliffs, our monster ascended the only cliff face that doesn’t feature veering rock formations.”

He pointed towards the Orton river located just beyond the first ridge the bull had disappeared over. 

“The Orton River that lays at the bottom here is shallow, about ten feet deep to be precise, I’m sure our monster would face no issue wading through considering its height. Just about here stands the Toril Cave, if I were to hazard a guess I would assume this is where the bull retreats to after its little escapades. The cave is large and deep enough for a creature of that size to comfortably reside within. If my assumption is incorrect however I firmly believe we still have the capabilities of luring the creature inside where ideally if nothing goes awry we can trigger a cave in and bury the monster inside.” 

Piotr turned to Christi seeking her approval. 

“I understand you wanted to deal the final blow personally but I believe this plan promises the most success with the least casualties.” 

Christi gave him a nod of approval. 

“It’s a reasonable plan, as long as the monster’s dead I find no fault.” 

Piotr clapped his hands together, the sound reverberated around the room.

“Fantastic, are we all in agreement then?” 

Everyone nodded. 

“Then we shall retire for the night, scout the Yharnam Mountains tomorrow morning and begin preparations.” 

Soon after Ratchet and Christi had exited the room Sam quietly approached Piotr. In a low tone he asked, 

“Why did you lie to Ratchet about your affinity’s capabilities sir?” Piotr’s fingers twitched as he looked outwards from his window 

“You know why.” 

“I understand sir, goodnight.” Sam departed discreetly, leaving Piotr to his thoughts.

As Ratchet and Christi returned to their rooms Ratchet thought to once more reach out to Christi. 

“Christi you don’t have to tell me everything straight away but I just want you to know I’m here for you when you’re ready to share.”

Christi came to a standstill, she didn’t pivot or turn around, she clenched her fists softly. I feel like that scared little kid again in Chrodrift she thought to herself. She drew in a breath, held it for five seconds then exhaled. 

“Thanks Ratchet… I.. just.. I can’t talk about what happened with you right now but I do want to… just not right now.” 

“I understand.” Ratchet began to leave 

“Also” Christi announced, Ratchet paused. “I’m sorry about the way I treated you earlier downstairs, I know you were just trying to help. I don’t hate you, I never could.” 

Giving Ratchet no time to respond, Christi briskly entered her room, the lock clicked into place behind her. A smile reluctantly spread across the man’s face. It felt strange, in these last four years he found little to smile about, for now he was content with her answer. Maybe they could be a family again, in the near future he hoped. 

Christi approached the sink in her room, she ran the tap, let the cool water run. She untied her hair, swept it back out of her face. Submerging her hands in the water she cupped the liquid, brought it to her face and splashed it. 

She craned her head up to the mirror only to be met with eight crimson eyes glaring fiercely behind her. Her body jolted around, there was nothing behind her, to her relief nothing was amiss with the reflection in the mirror when she turned around. 

Breathe in, 1 2 3 4 5, Hold, 1 2 3 4 5, exhale, 1 2 3 4 5. 

“You’re okay, you’re okay" Christi reassured herself. 

She returned to her bed and tried her best to sleep, not that it mattered even if she could doze off, nightmares eagerly awaited her. What would it be tonight? 

After about an hour of tossing and turning, Christi finally managed to nod off to sleep, unbeknownst to the sleeping youth the lock on her door clicked, the door creaked open and a masked man quietly slipped inside her room.