Darius walked through the city, he knew he couldn't enter his home, so he was forced to leave with no money or even spare clothes.

Behind him walked the witch.

He picked up his pace, the witch did the same.

Under the cover of the night's darkness, he rushed through the streets, dodging carts and crates alike.

"WAIT UP!" the witch called out, gasping for air.

Darius turned back seeing the witch propped up against a wall, breathing heavily.

"Slow down!"

"I could go way faster..." Darius remarked.

"HOW!?" demanded the witch.

Darius shrugged, "Exercise?"

"..."

"Fair point..." remarked the witch,

Darius pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Why are you following me?" he asked.

The witch took a second to collect herself,

"You said you wanted to find the index, I want to see it too!" she exclaimed.

The bag of reagents on her back looked extra full.

Darius crossed his arms.

"The index... a list of all essential NPCs in the world..." he remarked.

The witch nodded.

"I want to see my faith," she explained.

"If I'm really going to become some raid boss locked away for hundreds of years I'd rather just die while that's an option," she continued.

Darius went over the scenario in his head.

"Sorry, can't help you," he replied coldly.

"What?! Come on! I resurrected the king for you!"

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Darius planted his palm on his face. "Don't say it so loudly!" he exclaimed.

The alley they stood in went quiet.

"The gods and the kingdom will be after me, you're too slow to come with me," he explained.

"That's not true! I can keep up as long as you're not going to sprint straight to the index!" she argued.

Darius' eyes darted to the side.

"...don't tell me... you were going to sprint straight there!" the witch exclaimed.

Darius didn't comment.

"Come on! This is really important for me! Be a good person!" she exclaimed.

"Aaaaaaaand they're here," Darius sighed hearing the heavy footsteps of the kingdom's soldiers coming from all directions.

The witch looked at Darius' face and saw his expression shift to a more serious one.

"I suggest you leave, witch, unless you wish to fight against no less than fifty men," Darius said grabbing his blade.

Despite his words, the witch didn't seem phased,

"You're not getting rid of me that easily!" remarked the witch as she pulled up her sleeve revealing blackened skin wrapped in dirty bandages, she was ready to cast the spell.

Before Darius appeared a mage, light-furred.

"Captain!" he exclaimed.

"It's him again!" Darius thought realising it was the wolfman from the battlefield.

"Quick, come with me!" exclaimed the wolfman as he began making his way through the alleys, seemingly heading in the opposite way of the exit.

Darius chose to follow the wolfman, the witch did the same.

"Did you really do it, captain? Kill the king I mean..." asked the wolfman hesitantly.

"I did," Darius replied,

"And resurrected his head!" the witch butted in.

"Don't go telling people that!" Darius exclaimed.

"OH BUT REGICIDE IS OK!" the witch exclaimed sarcastically.

"We heard that you were going to be captured, not killed - so a few of us soldiers waited in the dungeon," the wolfman explained.

"The city is going to be searching for you soon, you need to get out as fast as possible, a cart will be waiting outside to smuggle you as far west as possible," explained the wolfman.

"You realise that's a death sentence for you all?" Darius asked.

The wolfman clenched his fists.

"Yeah, we're all aware, but knowing you I'm sure you have some grand plan we can't ask about lest we get killed by the gods!" exclaimed the wolfman.

"You're right, I do..." Darius remarked.

"As if the murderous captain would go off and hide for the rest of his life!" laughed the wolfman.

They reached a small inn standing against the wall of the city.

"Head inside, the owner is my uncle, he'll guide you to the secret exit," the wolfman exclaimed, turning to face the captain and his breathless companion.

"I wish you good luck!" the wolfman said, reaching for the staff on his back upon seeing the large group of guards and mages charging at them, with just a glance, Darius could tell several of them out-levelled him.

"Hold on, I can h-" Darius was reaching for his blade as he felt himself being pulled back by the witch who was dragging him towards the inn.

"Don't be stupid, at least he bought us some time!" the witch exclaimed,

Darius breathed a sigh.

"You're right..." he agreed as he dragged the witch into the inn for a change.

As soon as they made it inside, the owner, also a wolfman, albeit a noticeably larger one shut the door, propping it with tables and chair.

"Quick, follow me!" exclaimed the owner as he lead the two into the basement.

He began picking the crates up and moving them around.

"Why are you all helping me?" asked Darius.

The large wolfman didn't look at the captain as he continued pushing the boxes away.

"Mathew, my nephew, the man who lead you here was destined to be in the army at the age of fourteen, he was probably meant to be a casualty of the first fight he was in," the wolfman began.

"He couldn't disobey the gods so he was forced to join, apparently he got badly injured one time, he was about to go off and let himself get killed when he saw a black-furred wolfman, younger than himself tearing the enemy forces into bits, fighting fang and claw to stay alive,"

"I guess you could call it motivation, or maybe admiration, either way, it's thanks to that wolfman that my nephew lived this long, so its only right I repay the favour," the owner said with a smile, finally reaching the end of the box-hill and uncovering a tunnel leading out.

"This will lead you to your cart, good luck, captain," the wolfman said with a thumbs-up as he heard the sound of his front door being pummeled with swords and magic.

"Hurry!" he exclaimed, waiting for the two to get inside before covering up the hole with boxes and heading back upstairs.

The witch and Darius walked through the tunnel and out into the open where they were met with a small, discrete cart, two horses standing at the front and a handful of soldiers, most not wearing their trademark armour in favour for less attention-grabbing clothes.

"C-captain! You made it!" one of the guards exclaimed.

"Why does he get a fanclub?!" thought the witch, she was getting pretty pissed about how many people celebrated his presence.