Back in their room again, Aaspaelwin told Sekafi what he and Lady Ileena had agreed upon.

'The Lady will see what she can find out about those fishy people. The ones Malwi spoke of. I think they might be... well, religious people. From that sect, following the goddess of disease.' He didn't want to mention the goddess' name, just in case. Releasing the clasp on the belt, he dropped it and sucked in a deep breath. Finally able to breathe again!

'We'll head to Yaarpa tomorrow to...,' he huffed and pulled the evening robe over his head, '...contact that mage. Then we meet back with the Lady's contact in Toin Caas six days from now.'

'Six days?' Sekafi sputtered. 'That's too little time!'

Aspen grinned and wiped away strands of hair that had spiderwebbed across his face. 'We'll make it. We've had time constraints before. Besides, the Lady insisted we hurry.'

'Well, yes, but it's a two days' march to Yaarpa from here, not to mention we have no idea where to even find this woman.'

'I'm sure she's easy enough to find. If not, I think Lady Hennaja would have given more directions. Don't you?'

Sekafi grumbled something and stole a glance out the shutters. He followed her gaze. The sun had already set. They'd have to wait.

'We have to get provisions for the trip before we leave.' Aspen hung the robe back in the closet and folded the towel back as it had been. They'd need to head back to Toin Caas to buy food and water before the trip. But getting there would take a full three hours. They'd had to start at an ungodly hour. He kicked off his boots and sat on the narrow bed in the room.

'For what money?' Sekafi looked back at him, her ears flicking in annoyance. 'We don't have much. Most of it was spent on this room.'

He understood her anger. It was mostly her money after all. 'It'll have to be enough. In the worst case, we'll make do with water.'

'You'll die, elfling.' She smirked.

'Well, yes. Remember to bring my corpse with you though.'

'Sure thing.' She snickered. 'I've gotta eat something, right.'

He covered his mouth to smother his laughter. 'You animal.'

They readied for bed and soon fell asleep after the eventful day.

Aspen woke with a start from a loud bang. He sat up and stared towards the sound, confused and with a fluttering heart. The banging came again and again. He couldn't see in the dark. What was it? The monster? Suddenly, he couldn't breathe and the darkness grew around him. The wind howled and cool air flowed into the room. The shutters! Groaning to himself, half in relief, he carefully climbed out of bed to not disturb Sekafi and padded across the floor towards the faint grey square of the window. As he reached it, he stood still for a moment, letting the cool air caress his face and stinging eyes. Looking up, no stars showed. Cloudy. No wonder it was so dark. The storm was approaching fast. Cursing softly, he reached out to pull the shutters closed again. Then he turned and met two green points of reflected light. Uncanny, he thought. But reassuring as well.

'What's going on?' Sekafi mumbled.

'Just the wind,' he whispered, wondering how she hadn't awakened before.

'Crap, the storm's gonna slow us down,' she growled.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

He nodded, though she probably couldn't see it, found the bed with his hands and slipped in under the warm sheets again. He wanted a little more sleep before morning.

* * * * *

Sekafi woke to Aspen's voice talking softly. She opened her eyes and looked around, spotting the half-elf sitting on a chair by the window, talking into a green stone-ball. The goblins. She got up and readied herself for their trip, her ears perked, listening. When he finally quieted and stood, she was ready to leave.

'The goblins have agreed to help us,' he said, his face a shade paler than usual. Probably from lack of sleep. She'd felt him toss and turn through the night.

'Great. But how?'

'We haven't exactly decided on that yet, but I believe sneaking into the city after nightfall might be a good idea. I don't think the guards will simply let them in, unless we can bribe them with a hefty sum. And we can't.'

'Maybe the goblins can.' He'd told her they had found lots of treasures in the areas the monster had inhabited for so long.

Aspen nodded, glanced around the room and walked over to the door. 'Ready?'

She nodded. Rain drummed against the shutters and thunder rumbled. This trip would be fun. But she welcomed it. The heat and dust had overstayed their welcome. They left the room and stepped out into the downpour. The street had become a shallow river and the wind buffeted them and slapped rain into their faces.

'This is wonderful!' Aspen shouted over the roaring weather.

'Indeed,' she agreed, gritting her teeth as water got into her ears.

Several hours later, Sekafi and Aaspaelwin plodded through the mud towards the main gate of Toin Caas, their packs filled with food and water, and their money spent. People hurried from place to place around them as the rain pelted the city. Sekafi suddenly grabbed Aspen by the arm and pulled him sideways. He gasped in surprise and turned to ask what she was doing when a samandar and a half-dwarf ran past, a small group of humans chasing them, shouting and waving clubs and knives. Aspen stared after them, wondering what was going on. He'd been too preoccupied to do much else than stare at his feet and the rushing mud-water.

Here and there, people righted toppled wagons and picked up spilled goods. Some argued over broken boxes and released animals running for shelter. Drenched to the bone and tired, Aspen and Sekafi simply stood and looked around for a while. But as people took notice of them and gave them threatening glares, they continued on their way. As they neared the palisade, shouts and metallic ringing rose ahead, drawing their attention.

A small but unruly crowd had gathered by the square inside the gates, and many had drawn weapons. City guards and humans stood to one side, while a mix of humanoids had holed up on the other. Some barrels and wagons lay toppled between the groups. The friends stopped, glancing uneasily at the unfolding scene ahead.

'What in the abyss is going on?' Aspen said as loud as he dared in the roaring rain.

Sekafi growled, her hackles raised. 'Rebellion? They're probably resisting being thrown out of the city.'

Aspen nodded and clenched his fists around the straps of his bag. The city had gone from bad to worse in such a short time. He supposed many were furious after the forced registration. Those who didn't have any homes, hadn't lived here long enough, or who were without jobs had to leave. But with nowhere else to go, some people were bound to resist. He estimated the group behind the poorly built barricade to around ten people.

'Reinforcement is on the way, scum. Either you leave peacefully, or we'll have to force you out. Regardless, you're leaving our beautiful city,' one of the human city guards hollered above the rain.

'Drown in the abyss!' a large minotaur bellowed. 'This is our home!' A small figure beside her threw a broken wheel spoke at the guards.

'You're the ones to blame for all this,' the guard shouted again. 'You're the ones causing sickness and killing people in our streets.'

'Lies! And you know it,' the minotaur roared, backed up by the others shouting and hollering.

As Sekafi nudged him, Aspen looked around. She had pulled the hood of her travelling cloak forward, and backed off from the confrontation. He followed her without question. Probably best to stay away from this. They didn't want to get involved in a fight when they were in a hurry to Yaarpa to help these very people. If they got stuck here, gods only knew what could happen. Still, he felt like a traitor leaving them.

They skirted the square, walking fast with their heads bowed to avoid attention, going as far away from the commotion as they could. A high-pitched scream followed them as they hurried down the last street to the gates. Aspen glanced back and spotted a guard through the sheets of rain, a bow raised, looking in their direction. The humanoids threw rocks towards the guard, yelling and cursing. Someone lay on the ground. Had he shot someone? Cursing under his breath, Aspen hurried his steps. They had to fix this, and soon.

They walked up to the glowering guards by the entrance to the city. Getting out should be easy. But would they be allowed back in, six days from now?