Azoth was fully prepared to go charging at Ruby without stopping, but surprisingly, Aamu's shouted warning gave him pause. He glanced down to see Joe flat on the ground and reared back in surprise, exhaling the flames in his throat on reflex. However, the flames went up and only grazed the ceiling, then dissipated, shedding hot cinders onto the ground below. Azoth wobbled as he attempted to step back, but he finally managed to land firmly on the ground with hooves safely away from Joe.<br/><br/>Without stopping to check if Joe was actually all right, Azoth moved closer to the others and listened to their brief conversation. He knew of fusing, but it was something he had never attempted with Eve- they had never needed to, and it always seemed unnecessarily risky. He wasn't even sure Eve knew of it. "Can we stop them?" Azoth asked, already ready to attack again.<br/><br/>But then before the question was answered, Salem charged.<br/><br/>For a moment, Azoth was too surprised to react- he hadn't taken the boy to be anywhere near that brave. Then he laughed. "Might as well join him, then!" He said, beginning to move forward to begin another attack.<br/><br/>-<br/><br/>"Oh," Eve said a little quietly, flinching as the axe nearly slipped from Mary's shoulder. "Er-" she reached out, attempting to correct the way Mary was holding the axe, when she let the axe fall behind her as she walked past Eve. She winced as it fell on the floor with a clank, and watched silently as Mary laid on the table. Eve stared in silent bewilderment. The table couldn't be comfortable, could it? It was hard and wooden. The girl could be getting splinters in her face right now.<br/><br/>"Um," she managed. "Good job." She crossed, uncrossed and recrossed her arms, uncertain what to do with herself now that they weren't in a combat situation. Weakly, Eve asked, "are you all right?" Of course, she had no idea what she would do if Mary wasn't all right, but she felt like she should ask. She really had done a poor job at this whole protection thing. To give herself something to do, she picked up the axe and leaned it against the table by the handle.