Ceres had heard the shout, and, hearing the hissing roar of fire moving fast, she simply grabbed the two guards that were standing upright, and pulling hard, she placed them between her and the open doorway, before she leapt backwards, her claws catching the windowsill and allowing her to hold on as the room erupted in flame.<br/><br/>The blast was quick, and weakened by distance and the fact that it had to travel Down a Spiral staircase, so it only sent a short gout of fire out the window, though the heat was enough to curl some loose hair that was too close to the windowframe. Slowly climbing back into the room, which was now nicely charred and dotted with still-hot embers, she poked the still-standing suits of armour that were only a few feet from the window. Both had taken the worst of the blast into the carapace of their platemail, causing them to be flash-cooked inside their steel plate.<br/><br/>The third soldier in the room, the one with the crossbow cradled in his arms, was still alive, having had much of the blast deflected away from him by the door, which had acted like a shield between him and the worst of the blast. Ceres, however, not too pleased at having taken a crossbow bolt in the first place, simply stalked over to the immobilized soldier, and, without a simple iota of pity, snapped his neck like a dry twig.<br/><br/>Then, tired, sore, and in no mood to be bothered, she simply sat down in the middle of the room, on the heavy oaken table that was scorched, but not badly burned, and began to slowly work the crossbow bolt free.