The giant certainly had friends; a curiously blank faced woman knelt on the ground beside his prone form, and a short time later another joined her, checking on the behemoth as if to make sure he was still breathing. They both looked in Darren's direction, the first with barely discernible curiosity and the other with something akin to apprehension.<br/><br/>When asked by the latter about how long the giant would be out of commission, Darren could only offer a shrug and a nervous, rasping bark of laughter.<span style="font-weight: bold">"I'm ah… not too sure. Usually they… you know. Die. But he's big so… I really have no idea."</span>Too late, he realized that his hood was out of place - he hurriedly fixed it, wondering if anyone had noticed the scaled skin underneath. Luckily, only a small portion of it had been visible, and any observers would likely have attributed it to a trick of the light.<br/><br/>He was spared the need to further demonstrate his cluelessness regarding Rock Hammer's condition when the situation with the guards continued to escalate; while Viktor's group had swollen thanks to some new arrivals, an angry group of townspeople and guards with itchy trigger fingers was amassing in a hurry. The worst part of it was that they clearly had every right to be furious. Things most definitely did not look good.<br/><br/>Darren watched with bated breath as the crowd considered Viktor's words; the rock that cut open the skin above his eye had made Darren wonder if things wouldn't just boil over immediately, but thankfully that wasn't the case. Still, the situation was balanced on the edge of a knife, and any kind of retaliation, no matter how small, would potentially plunge everything into chaos.<br/><br/>Mercifully, after some time had passed, guns began lowering and a path cleared ahead of them. Darren watched, feeling somewhat guilty, as Viktor's men worked to haul the giant mutant out of the area. There was no telling what would have happened had he not knocked him out, but he definitely didn't envy those charged with moving his weight. There would be some sore backs later, of that he was certain.<br/><br/>Not wasting any time, Darren snatched up his quarterstaff and fell into step behind the others, limping along as he regarded the market for the last time. It wasn't the most amicable of splits, but he was still happy to be on his way out.<br/><br/>He missed the cold.