Three creatures emerged from the labyrinth. They were roughly humanoid in appearance. Hidden in the shadows, from a distance, they could be mistaken for large, hunched humans. The impression, though, faded once daylight revealed their features.

Their skin was grayish and wrinkled, like that of a desiccated corpse, but unlike a cadaver’s, it was abundant, sagging around their joints similar to cloth. They had inhumane faces, more like maws filled with needle-thin teeth that sprouted directly from their jaws in multiple rows. Their front limbs, equipped with a set of three curved claws each, almost touched the sand, giving them a seemingly clumsy appearance. By the smooth way they were moving, Nua could see it was a deceptive impression. Right now, they didn’t need to hurry. They saw carrion and they were pleased.

Once again, Nua attempted to infuse her muscles with ether to carry Hessa away from danger. The pain almost blinded her, and the power dispersed. She steadied her breath, then looked for Hessa’s saber. No choice, then. Anyway, even if she succeeded, her reinforced strength wouldn’t be enough to run with an adult in her arms.

Anki was floating nearby, unable to stay still.

“Leave her and run to the cliffs!

“If I leave her, she will die.”

“Nua, this is your only chance at survival.”

“I’ll think of something.”

“Nua!”

“I am not like Flavius!” she didn’t realize she was shouting. “I don’t let people die for me when I mess up! Not Hala, and not Hessa!”

The ghouls were approaching at a steady pace.

All of a sudden, there was a shape moving at the corner of her eye, and then, she heard a guttural growl. She turned her head to see a very familiar drake thumping across the plateau, spikes bristled, front paws raised. There was a mangled creature dangling from Shadow’s mouth, a sleek, scaled body of a reptilian the size of a large dog. Nua recognized the sniffer – a sorcerous animal used for tracking ether, that accompanied the killer before.

The musushu stopped midway, facing the ghouls, threw her prey at the sandstone ground, and gave out a furious roar. Nua gasped, only now realizing she had been holding her breath.

“Shadow, you big idiot!”, she cried. “Come here! Don’t fight them!”

The steed glanced at her, then at the ghouls, then took a longer look at Hessa. The monsters were hesitating, sniffing at the new corpse put in their way, and uncertain if they should take Shadow for a serious threat.

“Shadow! Come!”

A forlorn moan filled the air. Then, in two jumps, the mount was beside them. At a glance, she was not seriously injured. She still had all their supplies, too. There was no sign of the arrow in her hind leg, which meant that she got rid of it on her own. Nua didn’t have the time to check if the wound was deep, or if the arrowhead remained stuck inside. She gritted her teeth and reached for the ether, only a tiny bit to get Hessa on the saddle. She felt as if something has torn inside her, but she succeeded. Then, she settled herself behind the huntress, wrapping them both in her shawl. She wasn’t sure she could hold on to the reins without assistance.

“Run, Shadow”, she croaked, her throat dry. “Run like the wind.”

And so they ran.

Nua did not look behind, although she was tempted to. For a few heartbeats, she heard wet, crunching sounds and groans that told her of ghouls abandoning pursuit in favor of an easier meal. She asked Anki to keep an eye on them. Right now, she was only focusing on holding on to the reins and the saddle and keeping Hessa from falling. Shadow chose her own direction.

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“They are not following us, and there’s not much left of the killer,”, said the king, at last. “Are you sure I still need to look? If I had a body, I’d be nauseous. Also, we need to seek help.”

“Shadow knows where the caravan is.” Sweat was accumulating under Nua’s shawl. Her throat was dry. Faintly, she remembered that her mentor always told her to drink water in the desert before she actually got thirsty. “How is Hessa?”

Anki circled around, focusing on the huntress.

“I think she’s running a fever,”, he said. “It looks worse than it should.”

Nua tensed.

“Could the wound be poisoned?”

“Perhaps. I don’t think we should aim for the caravan even if it’s not.”

“How so?”

“We’ve been traveling for almost a whole day. I have a bird’s eye view; the city is much closer. And if she needs surgery, she has a better chance in the city than out in the open. I’m not sure if the aid she’d receive back there would be sufficient.”

“Lead on, then”, Nua said, then pulled the reins, trying to make Shadow listen. The drake puffed and trilled, but she obeyed.

It was challenging to keep them both in the saddle, the huntress barely conscious and almost laying on the drake’s back. Fortunately, Shadow was not just any musushu. She had a light, even gait of a race track steed, and she traversed the rocky, mountainous desert as if it was a smooth paved road. Even then, Nua’s arms almost went numb before she passed the hill behind which a wall emerged.

It made sense that Azure Falls, adjacent to the ancient ruins and the desert where ghouls roamed, was surrounded by a defensive structure. At the moment, though, Nua did not like it at all. The wall meant gates, the gates meant guards, and the guards usually wanted money. As Shadow slowed to a trot, the girl fished out Hessa’s purse. She had no idea how much the toll was, but she expected an extra tax when they notice her eyes.

Right now there were two of them, both clad in lamellar armor and shaven in the Tiberian manner, sitting on a bench in shade under the bronze gates. They looked exactly like the vigiles, the terror of thieves and Nua’s natural enemy. She would be scared senseless if she hadn’t just survived a clash with an assassin and fled three ghouls.

She stopped the mount. Or more accurately, Shadow stopped on her own. She growled.

“Easy there,” Nua croaked and coughed. “Easy, girl.”

One of the guards got up and strolled towards them with a clay tablet in his hand.

“Name, profession, the reason for arrival.”

“I’m Nua,” she coughed again. “And this is Hessa, the scout of Ashraqat Belshatzzaryan’s caravan on its way to Azure Falls. We need help. We’ve been ambushed by ghouls.”

“She’s dead, then,” said the guard. “And you’re beast-eyed. Why should I let you in?”

“Because if you don’t, Ashraqat’s going to be unhappy,” the girl said. “And you don’t want to make her unhappy.”

The guard raised his eyebrows.

“Are you threatening the vigiles?” he asked in a mocking tone.

“I’m also paying them five silvers,” Nua said, thinking that if he tries outright robbery, she will let Shadow attack.

The guard reached for the coins, then pocketed them without another word.

“You’ll find the medic near the city hall,” he said when they were leaving. “Though if I were you, I’d head right to the temple.”

“At least he did let us through,”, Nua remarked. “Gods, I just threatened a vigile. I think I’ve run out of fear for today. How is she?”

“Very pale. We need to hurry,” Anki said. “I’ll scout ahead.”

As the streets crowded, Nua had to dismount. Usually, she would take in the surroundings, look for threats and opportunities, and try not to get noticed. Now she only focused on finding the physician’s house. A few impressions got through, regardless. At the first glance, Azure Falls reminded her of the merchant district of the Overlord’s Mercy, although it was obviously much smaller. Unlike in Overlord’s Mercy, the houses were made of brownish sandstone bricks. There was plenty of sandstone in the desert and none of the orange clay, which was mined near the riverbed. The road was paved, too. This place was much more city-like than she expected. She remembered that she saw no orchards or farms on her way to the wall, no sign of anything being grown here. It made sense; if they grew food, it was probably near the source of water, maybe those Falls that the place took its name from.

The streets merged into a square, and the square gave way to the central market. There was probably a city hall down there, and shops, and whatever, but Nua was not interested. Leading Shadow by the reins, she headed in the direction of a small, two-storied, square building with the Tiberian symbol of a snake wrapped around the chalice. She climbed the porch and gently took Hessa off Shadow’s back, allowing her to lie on the floor. How she managed to do that, she had no idea. If she used ether, it did not register. Her whole body hurt anyway.

Then she knocked on the door.

After a while, she heard steps, and the door creaked open. An old Azurian man with a wispy beard looked at her and frowned.

“Beast-eyed?”

“I’m only her servant,” Nua showed him Hessa. “She’s injured. Please. We can pay.”

The man squatted next to the huntress, then took a good look at her. He nodded at the sight of bandages and checked her temperature. Then he lifted the eyelid of her right, good eye.

“I’m sorry,” he grumbled. “But I cannot help you.”