A few of the Blue Vultures understandably murmured among themselves in reaction the Iloryn’s statement. Nobody thought keenly of waltzing into a burning city. Voicing their concerns, Ekram said, “It is not exactly in our best interests to let you go down there.”

“I understand,” Iloryn replied, her slender fingers curled into fists, “but, my family was not among the people fleeing the city. I need to see if they got out, but I do not ask that any of you come with me, either.”

Ekram sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Shaking his head, he challenged, “How do you propose to pay us if you end up getting killed?”

In response, the elf briefly opened her mouth but then closed it, unsure what to say. A whirlwind of emotions swirled over her constantly changing facial expressions. Worry. Fear. Anger.

Eventually, Kael spoke up and asked, “I hate to be the voice of bad tidings or anything, but what do you plan to do if your family is no longer alive?”

The other mercenaries fell deathly silent. Even Liam couldn’t help raising his brows at the bold comment. However, Iloryn’s face darkened in response. Words left her completely.

Standing off to the side with hands shoved in his pockets, Liam said, “I doubt there’s no way to get in and out without issue.”

“Yes! It’s doable!” Iloryn exclaimed, eyes widening while pointing at him. “Could you escort me through?”

Dammit… How’d it come to her asking such a thing? Liam thought.

“Ah, sorry, nevermind. Shouldn’t have asked,” she muttered in apology.

“What did you have in mind?” Ekram hesitantly inquired.

“I know barrier magic, so I would only need someone to go with me in case the Zhulisians reach land before I reach my home,” Iloryn explained, though her voice gave a hint of desperation.

“Well, we don’t have the luxury of giving out free help,” Ekram said.

“I’ll double the individual reward for anyone that escorts me.”

Sighing, Ekram offered, “I suppose I can send a few guys with you, but,” he faced his men, “it’ll be by volunteer. Any of you up for it?”

Both Conor and Kael raised their hands, followed by Cairnech. One of the younger guys started raising his hand, but the guy next to him warned against it by saying how they had never been near war and there was no reason to needlessly put his life in danger.

While the men murmured amongst themselves and wondered if anyone else would volunteer, Nora stood on her toes and whispered in Liam’s ear, “Can we go, too?”

Liam’s eye twitched. Venturing into a bombardment did not sound pleasant in the least. However, the elf woman did heal him before. Ruing the fact that he actually felt somewhat indebted, he closed his eyes and answered, “Fine, but why, exactly, do you want to go?”

“I’ve… got my reasons…”

“Mhm… Well, whatever. If there is more reward, I guess it’s worth it,” Liam said while raising his hand.

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In response, Ekram raised a brow and asked, “You sure about that, friend?”

“Yeah. It’s fine.”

“Alright, then… Conor, I’ll need you to stay here.”

“Are you serious?” Conor immediately asked.

“Absolutely. After what happened during the last job, I don’t think I need to explain my reasoning.”

In response, Conor cursed under his breath. A few of the men chuckled, especially Kael.

“Just so you know,” Ekram declared, “we’re staying right here to wait for the five of you to return. In other words, get walking.”

* * * * *

Liam, Nora, Iloryn, Kael, and Cairnech approached the city gates. However, before reaching them, a guard posted on the wall above it yelled, “Halt! Who goes there?!”

In response, Iloryn stepped forward and replied, “Iloryn! Of House Wynnelis!”

The heavily armored guard leaned over the wall in a futile attempt to get a closer look. A moment later, he leapt over the railing and dropped to the ground several meters below. Upon hitting the ground, he rolled forward and hopped to his feet in front of Iloryn.

“Hi,” he greeted, a silly grin showing below his steel helm. A tuft of red feathers protruded from the crown of it. Despite a lack of knowledge concerning armor, Liam couldn’t help thinking that the shining plate armor served best as decorative equipment.

“Stefan?” Iloryn asked, brows raised in surprise. “Why are you posted here?”

“Well, they needed someone to watch the western walls, so here I am.”

“Won’t they need you on the pier?”

“My sister happened to be here on business, so she volunteered to help, and the magistrate basically put her in charge.”

“Ah, I see. Kind of disappointing for you then...”

“Nope. Not at all.”

“Okay, then… uh… can we go in?” Iloryn inquired.

“You know the Zhulisians have been firing mortars at us, right? I’m sure your, um,” the young man glanced at the ragtag party behind her, “guards won’t be too pleased to wander in.”

“We’ll simply do what we were hired for, lad,” Cairnech said.

“There you have it,” Iloryn declared, placing her hands on her hips.

The young man understandably sighed and replied, “Fine, but take care of yourself.” With that, he raised his right hand and waved it in a small circle. Shortly after, the iron gates slowly rose just enough for people to pass under it.

Before entering the city, Iloryn asked, “You didn’t see my family leave the city, did you?”

“A lot of people left and the situation has been hectic, to say the least. So, even if they did evacuate, I doubt I would have noticed,” Stefan answered.

“Thanks,” she said, bowing slightly. Then, she waved for the Liam and the others to follow and advanced toward the gate.

The four hired hands followed. However, Cairnech briefly stopped in front of the young guard and quietly asked, “You refrained from saying something. What is it?”

“Ah… um… nothing.”

“We won’t tell her, but knowing will let us do our jobs better.”

“Um… well,” Stefan whispered, “her family’s land was one of the first areas to be bombarded…”

“Isn’t there a magic barrier to protect against such things?”

“It was sabotaged. We got the guy who did it, but the damage was done…”

“I see,” Cairnech replied. “You are a friend of hers?”

“Yes. Sort of. Our families were close.”

Cairnech placed a steady hand on the young man’s shoulder and confidently said, “Don’t worry, lad. We’ll do our jobs right well.”

“You coming, old man?” Kael called out from the gate.

“Aye, one moment, you impatient scoundrel,” Cairnech answered, removing his hand from Stefan’s shoulder.

Having heard the short exchange, Nora whispered the contents in Liam’s ear. Honestly, he was not surprised. During the trip across the flatlands to the west of Azgara, he easily scoped out the damage. Most likely, Kael and Cairnech did so as well. Finding their client’s family would certainly be a wonderful thing, but none of them kept their hopes up.