The moment their eyes met, Lila’s mind was overwhelmed by fear and panic. Another beggar was watching her. They finally found her. She berated herself for relaxing her vigilance. How could she forget that they were still after her? Her eyes were jumping at shadows, expecting a dagger-wielding arm to pop out at any moment. Grabbing her hat frantically, she prepared to rush back to her room, hoping for some safety.

"Calm down," Crystal's voice echoed in Lila's mind.

"They're coming to get us! We need to get out of here. Forget that, we need to get out of this city right now!" Lila said. In her panic, she forgot to keep the words inside her head. They spilled out loudly, grabbing the entire restaurant’s attention.

Seeing that Lila wasn't going to be able to calm down before drawing even more attention, Crystal shined with an easily missed, dim light. Calm Spirit was made to be cast on panicked horses to prevent them from throwing off their riders but it was also handy in situations like this. The spell instantly took effect and suppressed Lila's temporary insanity. As the ability to think rationally returned to Lila’s mind, Crystal continued.

"Okay now listen, sit down and eat your meal. We should assess the situation first."

"But…" Lila paused for a moment, looking back at the beggar. He was no longer looking in their direction. "Alright, let’s try that," she finished.

She did as Crystal instructed and started to nibble on her meal while carefully watching the poor man with the side of her eye. He definitely felt different than Nure, that much was certain. Although she did not catch him eyeing her again, she could feel how unpleasant he was just by how his face looked. It was full of wrinkles and lines, which were filled with filth. Even though she was nowhere close to him, she could easily imagine the stench he probably gave off, making her retch at the thought. He was glaring at every passerby who didn’t toss some pittance in the cracked bowl sitting in front of him. By the time she finished her meal, only a handful of people went over to him.

“He is definitely one of them, Crystal,” Lila thought.

“I can feel a little bit of malice from him but it is not directed at anyone in particular. He feels like just a normal beggar. It’s probably nothing, girl.”

“You couldn’t feel Nure either. I felt him first. I don’t think I’ll listen to you this time.”

“You know what? Fine. Have it your way oh mighty ‘Wizard’,” Crystal replied in an exasperated tone.

With that, Lila took a deep breath and mustered her strength to get up, putting one foot in front of the other. She went to pay for her meal first. The owner was still giving her a weird look due to her small outburst but nonetheless, he did not ask any questions and quietly gave her change. On her way out, she saw a man walk inside the restaurant, someone who gave money to the beggar outside. Color withdrew from her face as the magically enforced calm started to fade. She did not stop in her tracks despite the trembling that started in her legs. Getting out of the restaurant, she took off in the direction of the carpenter in a hurry, until the beggar and the restaurant were no longer in sight.

When she came back, Roland was about to go on a rant for being able to be late to work twice in one day. Seeing her pale skin and dim eyes, he swallowed his anger to ask about her well-being instead.

“What happened to you? Did you get sick or something?”

“I think it’s the food… I don’t feel well,” Lila answered weakly. She was getting quite used to lying.

“Ah, you went to Lucky Shot, haven’t you? Their mystery meat is the reason why they’re so cheap.”

Lila looked at Roland in horror,

“What do you mean ‘mystery’ meat?”

“You know… Horse, bird, rat, chicken, beef, you name it. It depends on your luck whether you’ll get sick or not. Why do you think they named it Lucky Shot?”

“Oh my… I think I’m going to puke…” Lila gagged.

“If you do that here, I’ll find a new apprentice faster than you can start begging,” Roland continued, “Here, this is half of today’s wage. Go take the rest of the day off.”

Lila’s sick expression softened a little bit from Roland’s kindness. He might be grumpy and strict, but he was a good person at his core. She took her sweet time getting back to work and she got ‘sick’ but Roland was still being fair to her by paying for the morning’s work. It was gut-wrenching for Lila. She had no choice but to turn down his offer because she knew she couldn’t stay here any longer. What if the ones after her attacked while she was working? From the looks of it, they wouldn’t shy away from using him as a hostage, or much worse.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

An image flashed in her head, one she was familiar with from her nightmares. There was one more head on the pikes now, joining others to gaze at her in blame. She shook herself to get rid of the thoughts, focusing back on Roland who was in front of her. She took a deep bow towards him.

“I never thanked you sincerely, Mr. Roland. Please, accept my thanks. For everything you’ve done for me.”

“Get your head up high, greenhorn. You’ll be back by tomorrow morning. Thank me after you buy this place.”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen, Mr. Roland,” Lila answered, her tone was grim.

“Did you hit your head or something, girl? Go get some rest, I don’t want to see you being late tomorrow.”

With that, Lila bid her farewell to Roland, perhaps for the last time. So many great moments, things, memories, so many possibilities, so many brave ambitions, so many proud accomplishments, and a future so splendid; In a moment, a twinkling, all utterly ended.

Her heart heavy, she closed the shop’s door. Before going back to the tavern, she had to check if the beggar was still there or if he was tailing her, so she decided to take the longer route. His stench hit her first, as foul as she imagined. He was still sitting across the Lucky Shot, glaring at anyone who bought food from the shop.

She was confused by this turn of events because he wasn’t tailing her. He didn’t even bother looking at her when she was right in front of him. Did he realize she noticed him or was she simply being paranoid? Troubled by this, she finally reached the tavern, exhausted and nauseous. She dragged herself upstairs, locked the door, and pushed the drawer in front of it as a makeshift barricade. Throwing herself onto the bed face first, she let her tense shoulders finally relax.

After a brief moment, Lila asked,

“Do you think that’ll be enough to keep someone out, Crystal?”

Nothing but silence. Crystal ignored Lila’s question.

“I’m not in the mood for games… Tell me what you think.”

“As I said before, ‘Wizard’, they aren’t going to knock your door down, that would bring too much attention on them,” Crystal answered in kind.

Crystal was probably right. Unless they wanted to alert the entire tavern and the city guard, they wouldn’t try something like breaking and entering through her door. And if they tried entering the room through the window, her glowing friend had it guarded. She had nothing to fear as long as Crystal was there to look after her. It would still be there for her no matter what. It would help her and guard her… and she had been a massive twat to Crystal today. Anxious or not, she had no right to be mean to her only friend and mentor.

Crystal unexpectedly spoke up, answering before she could even form the words.

“Don’t worry about it, you’re stressed and nervous. Apology accepted.”

“Thanks…” she continued, “So, about the beggar. Do you think he’s with them?”

“Could be but it doesn’t seem very likely. Still, we certainly overstayed our welcome here. Maybe not today but they’ll catch up to us soon if we continue to stay in Cimia,” Crystal said.

“But what about Roland’s offer?"

“You yourself were thinking about how risky it would be. You even said farewell, remember?”

“But…” After pausing for a moment to think, Lila continued, “Then, I should go to him tomorrow and decline before we leave. How does that sound?”

“On that, we agree,” Crystal concluded.

“Good. Good…”

After that, Lila fell asleep on her bed. Neither her mind nor her body was strong enough to handle what happened today. Unfortunately, fate was not done playing its cruel game with her. That evening, a loud banging followed by an even louder shout woke up Lila from her sleep,

“Open up! We know you’re in there!”

Before Lila could comprehend the situation, the voice shouted again,

“This is your last warning! Open the door or face the wrath of Cimia’s guard!”

“Crystal, what’s going on?” she thought as she sprang up to face the door, still unable to grasp the situation.

“A couple of ants with a death wish. Don't worry, I'll take care of them in no time!" Crystal said with its disturbing glee.

"No! We talked about this. No going overboard. They are just guards doing their job, like Aranth."

“Who?”

“Really? No, forget it. We don’t have time.”

Crystal somehow managed to convey a sigh through telepathy,

"Alright, fine. Hide me, they're most likely here for me."

With that, Lila unbuckled the rope that held Crystal on her hip and began looking for a hiding spot. Now, where could she hide a glowing crystal… Wardrobe? No, too obvious. Drawer? No, still obvious. Hold on… the one place they wouldn’t bother looking would be... Lila smirked as she went over to the chamber pot and held Crystal on top of it.

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Bye-bye Crystal, have fun!" Lila said with a smile.

"I will murder you once this is over! Do you hear me?! I will—"

Plop, bullseye. But just as Lila closed the lid, an axe broke through the thick wooden door. She quickly moved away from the door as another hit followed and a hole large enough for a head to fit in appeared. One of the guards poked his head inside.

“Here you are! Cease and come quietly!” The guard shouted, his eyes seemingly bulging out of their sockets.

“I don’t know what’s going on mister. Am I under arrest?” Lila asked.

Ignoring her questions, the guard pulled his head back and another axe strike followed, widening the gap. They struck the door until it broke and pushed through the debris to get to Lila. They quickly tied her hands behind her back and tied a piece of cloth around her eyes.

“Sir, what’s happening? I didn’t commit any crimes, why are you after me?” Lila asked again, clearly scared.

“You are under arrest for the murder of Roland the Carpenter!”