It took a bit of time, and perhaps a quick cat nap, but eventually Valentina was awake and no longer looked deathly pale. Dahlia of course was still curled up into her but, frankly, that much should be obvious. It was probably about an hour later when the Archduchess finally moved on from lighter conversation and addressed the elephant in the room.
"So… first and foremost, the taniwha is dead. It was… difficult, but short lived. Unlike dragons that are notoriously difficult to kill off quickly, the taniwha certainly seemed to lack in its defensive capabilities and general survivability. That's not to say things were simple but… I don't know, there was always the lingering fear that we'd have to retreat in failure.
