"What are you going to do first?" Ruciella asked. She walked and slouched against the parapet of the rooftop next to the staircase. The sunlight glinted off the top half of her hair filling the spaces between her ruby hues. If she was taller, Ada would be afraid that she might fall over the edge but given her diminutive stature, this was highly unlikely to occur.

"Simply put, let's see if we can turn him into a good man or at least someone who isn't going to report on us," Ada replied. Then, she turned to Leanne, "I'm thinking either using greed or fear to motivate him to pledge himself to me."

Leanne nodded. "That may work. Ruciella will probably know more."

"Why would you trust any promise he would make?" Ruciella asked.

"We have a method of Compulsion which ensures that he does comply," Leanne replied simply.

Ruciella inclined her head contemplatively. "Hmm, let's just say that is true but I don't think fear will work. He may be a pickled fish gill but he's going to find the Council's punishments to be way scarier than whatever you two have in mind. I guess we can torture him but that might take too long and I don't see any of us having the gumption to do that."

"Greed then?"

She shrugged. "Well, bribes are par for the course in this city but I think giving him a few coins isn't going to convince him to betray the Council."

"What about a lot of coins?"

"I hate to say it but even a pickled fish gill is smart enough to realize coins doesn't matter if you're dead."

"Yeah, you're right. Besides, I really don't want to give this jerk anything," Ada scowled.

"Maybe he has a particular vice which we can use?" Leanne frowned.

As if on cue, an echoing voice emanated from the hollow box. "Ajaki fajika rajis rojr?"

"Rajis suzki sadirka," Ruciella replied as she stood up.

"Nekab ari sadi!"

"Fajika rafjj faikl werra neart." Ruciella's face grew redder.

"What are they saying?" Ada asked Leanne quietly as the interchange grew louder between the two.

"Sçæaisøh asked if the little redhead is there and Ruciella said she's the little girl who loves to give them headaches. He accused Ruciella of being a traitor and aiding suspicious people. Ruciella is now saying some choice words back at him. Now he's saying..."

"Okay, this isn't going anywhere. Can't someone just ask him if he's into women, drugs, alcohol or whatever? We can give him that if he pledges his allegiance to me," Ada felt quite frustrated. Arguing with idiots was a pastime some people enjoyed but she never felt she wanted to expend the energy to do that.

Ruciella seemed to have heard Ada's frustration for Ada heard a shift in her tone. There was a moment of silence and then the sound of laughter. After the laughter died down, the man said a few words in between dying chuckles.

"What the hell?" Ada felt annoyed.

"He says the Council is much scarier than little girls. I should probably give him some credit for having somewhat of a backbone or maybe he's right that we just aren't threatening enough even if you two trapped him in a magical metal box."

"It's actually just an ordinary steel box," Ada said. "But anyway, we have to consider a different strategy and I think I have an idea."

"If you don't mind me suggesting ..." Ruciella started.

"Wait, do you hear footsteps?" Leanne interrupted and held up a finger.

From the staircase, there was a distinctive sound of someone or something rushing up the stairs. With every second, it grew louder. Ruciella pushed herself away from the parapet and straightened her pose. She took a few steps back to stand next to Leanne and stared warily at the dark staircase. Leanne didn't move. Ada, feeling a complete absence of fear, took several steps forward towards the staircase. They didn't have to wait long for the origin of the footsteps to appear. The scraggly furry head appeared first with a huge mouth which opened showing sharp fangs. Each fang was half the size of Ada's hand and there were several of them. The other teeth were smaller but appeared no less threatening. As the creature stepped into the sunlight, she saw that its clumpy paws would be adorable except for the long protruding nails which looked as sharp as knives. Its ice blue eyes glared at them in challenge.

"Uh, is that his dog?" Ada stared in shock.

"I did describe him as large," Ruciella said.

"Yeah, but I wasn't exactly expecting it or rather him to be a dire wolf."

"Dire wolf?" Ruciella inquired.

Ada decided that the explanation on prehistoric creatures and the Game of Thrones counterparts would have to wait for another time. Most of her scripts couldn't be used since Leanne or Ruciella were too close to take the risk of injury. She has to try something though.

...

...

There was a shout of glee which reverberated inside the box and the dog snarled at the girls as if on cue. The creature tensed his muscles and prepared for a deadly lunge.

"Take a bite of this, you mangy mutt!" Ruciella shouted.

Ada saw a glowing white translucent ball fly over her head and land at a spot a foot above the ground immediately in front of the dog. There were sparks flying within the ball but it made no sound. Fascinating was the word that came to mind in Ada's head. During the conversation with Ruciella, she has thought the girl didn't know what science actually meant. Now, it appears that maybe Ada didn't know what magic actually meant. If it's a self-sustaining entity, it may be an object of a particular class such as ball lightning, Ada mused. She would have to ask Ruciella what this thing is called and how the girl generated it.

The dog growled again. With the dog's size, the ball completely blocked his way forward. He didn't leap or step forward since that would mean touching the ball but neither did he back away.

"Pretty cool but can you make that thing move?" Ada asked.

"Bloody drunken fishblood!" Ruciella shouted. Ada presumed that fishy saying was the local equivalent of 'god damn it!'.

"Is something wrong?" Leanne asked worriedly.

"The ball lightning was supposed to hit and fry the mutt. Now it's just going to float there until it fizzles out."

"How long will that be?" Leanne asked.

"Half a minute at most."

"Thanks, Ruciella. That's plenty of time for me to do my magic," Ada said. "Here goes more of my money..."

...

...

A steel box suddenly materialized completely trapping the dog. This box had no top but it did have a small window through which everyone could see the dog. Ruciella gasped. Glad I could elicit that reaction from her, Ada thought smugly. She wasn't done yet. The creature made a sound which in human would be translated as "huh? what the hell?". Before the dog could respond in a more rational manner, Ada stared at a point just above the dog and activated other scripts.

...

Seven lit torches appeared inside the box and immediately dropped on top of the creature. With the tiny space inside the box, it was a futile attempt for him to avoid the fire that rained down. There was a rather disgraceful yelp and then whines of pain from inside the box. The fur didn't immediately catch fire but when it did, the flame started spreading rapidly across the creature's body. Ada didn't feel good burning a dog alive. She never wanted to be known for animal cruelty but she didn't want to be mincemeat either. Self-defense against a dire wolf shouldn't be considered animal cruelty, Ada justified half-heartedly to herself.

"That was simply amazing! You'll have to teach me your magic!" Ruciella exclaimed with excitement.

"Can you please put out the fire?" Leanne didn't look excited at all but rather looked quite sick. "The creature was merely following his master's orders. He does not deserve to be burnt alive."

Before Ada could respond, the man yelled out something.

"What did he say?" Ada asked as she rapidly activated a script in her mind.

...

...

The torches and another of her gold coins were replaced by a cubic meter of water which rained down on the dog. This time, it was literally rain. Leanne looked relieved to see that the dog was no longer burning. She translated, "He said he's willing to listen to our demands as long as we don't hurt his dog anymore."

Ruciella looked stunned again. "Holy mackerel! I can't believe this man actually cares about something other than his own skin. This day is just one surprise after another."

"Well, I think we know what can convince him now," Ada smiled.