Outside the tavern, the streets were just as empty as they were before. Following Azuro, we went by a small stone building that looked to be some sort of garrisonor guard house. Azuro went in, leaving Martin and me standing outside. Veline, floating ever so elegantly about, said in wander tongues, leaning on my shoulder with one hand, "Two watchers. They are watching."

Martin jumped a little from hearing the odd language and shook his head. He said, "You really are an odd one. Like some character from one of the legends bards sing about."

I looked to Martin with a tired glance. He then cleared his throat, putting on an attempt at a friendly smile, saying, "I mean that in a good way, of course. You must have been very interesting before you lost your memories. Able to understand some of that wander speak, having a magical servant. I bet you have some real powerful magic somewhere locked away in your head. Strange you can't write. Not that I know much about memory loss, I guess."

I let out a sigh and shook my head. He was trying to be nice to me, but I could practically tell he was scared of just being anywhere near me. I said, "I would love to remember some kind of powerful magic. I might even be able to just avoid all this nonsense and have a nice peaceful life. Maybe if I did, I could magic up a haircut and a shave."

Martin gave a small, forced laugh and said, "Look for the positives. It can't be all that bad if you can make jokes right? Stuff may not look good, but there is always a silver lining to it all."

I looked at him for a moment, scrutinizing him for some insight to his mind. Veline, who was grinning a big dumb smile leaned heavily on my shoulder with her arm. My eyes turned to scan the few people out and about. I wasn't going to be caught off guard if the churches were out to kill me. I said, "I feel a bit overwhelmed. So much I don't know and the thought that I have enemies I don't even know? It's starting to wear on me. I just want things to calm down enough for me to think."

Martin nodded and said, in a hesitantly cheerful tone, "I'm sure they will."

Azuro returned with a messenger style bag slung around his shoulder. He let out a long sigh and said, "Alright. I think we can return back home now. Gods, I hate running these. At least they didn't tell us to hurry this time."

The next stop was at the stables next to the stone building. Martin walked over to the groom as Azuro looked to me and asked, "Do you know how to ride?"

I shook my head, but as soon as he began to say something else, Veline grabbed me with her tail and held me in the air. She said, with a threatening tone, "I'm good enough."

Martin came back leading two standard looking horses. Azuro, who's face had tightened into a frown, stared at Veline. I said, "Veline, please, I don't -"

Veline turned a narrowed eye glare to me as she said, "No. I don't care. I will do this."

Azuro shrugged and took the reigns of one from Martin, who had looked between us with a raised eyebrow. Veline followed, floating with me in her tail's grip beside her. It was awkward, but surprisingly less harsh than she had done when I met her. It was a smooth ride, if not somewhat humiliating. When we had gotten out of the village away from the fields, Azuro said, "Alright. So, you creature. Are we being followed?"

Martin looked shocked and Veline giggled lightly. She said, "Dumb question."

Martin was looking at us with confusion, but Azuro just ignored him and said, "So, I got a few theories. They probably didn't realize I knew them, but I did. Those people were agents of the shattered one's clergy. Seen them a few times in the temple. So, what do you know?"

Veline, whose giggling began to become a tad bit more dark, asked in wander tongues, "Want him dead?"

I reached out and put my hand on Veline's head, which somehow caused her to stop giggling suddenly. I said, "I don't know what you are talking about."

Martin was looking at everyone clearly beginning to catch on, but not willing to ask. Azuro said, "Captain Haline thinks the Shattered One's Order had killed you. Told me we'd likely not see nor hear of you again. He's a sharp man and has his job for a reason. Nor is he much for such methods. Nor am I. Yet, if you are some sort of threat, I won't help you."

Veline was dead quiet, her mouth's corners turning down, and Martin turned his attention forward. Small beads of sweat formed on his face. I said, after a few moments of continuing, "If you try to stab me in the back here, I guess you'd have no ability to stop Veline from ripping you to pieces." Martin made a sharp inhale and Veline shifted lightly, her frown turning to a smile. "I saw the Sorrow Penitent after I had died. She sent me here. I don't know why. Nor do I know why the church would want me dead."

Azuro's stare was on me for a good couple of seconds before turning to the road. He muttered something and said, "I see. I guess you can guess what they think you are then."

Martin was still not looking at us, but he was failing to keep a calm face. The look of fear in his eyes disgusted me. I said, "I don't. I am not lying about having no idea why anything happening is beyond having met her."

Azuro said, a serious tone, "Listen, if you are lying to me-"

I growled out, "If you think I am, ride along and it'll be no issue to you."

He fell silent, eyeing me with a side glance. I removed my hand from Veline's head, who was quiet but swaying madly enough that I was worried I'd become motion sick or hit some tree limb. Martin was looking forward with his face a good few shades paler. I eventually said, "I just want things to be peaceful and calm. I don't care for this stress. I've had enough of it already."

Azuro let out a sigh and said, "That we agree on. The Captain had suspected something, but I was hoping he wasn't right about it. Champion or not, the part that I want to know about is how you are alive. Do you really not know?"

I shook my head and the man frowned. Before he could say even a full word, Veline let out a bloody murderous scream, thrashing. My view of the world went wild for a moment and a pain shot through me as well. From ahead of us, a man in a hood stepped out of the bushes. Veline steadied and let out a line of cursing as my own body pulsed painfully. Martin was rangling his horse and Azuro came to a stop as several robed men came out of the grass around us.

The man held a bow and my eyes looked to the spot that pulsed in pain on my body. Confusion crept into my mind at the sight of nothing being out of the ordinary. Slowly I looked at Veline, causing a shock to jolt across my skin. There in her shoulder was an arrow shaft sticking out as the dark red stain took shape. Looking frantically about, several more hooded figures stepped out of hiding. They were all armed and the first had already notched another arrow.

One shouted out, "Guards of the city, step aside. The writ must be filled."

Azuro's hand was on his sword. Martin was calming his horse, his eyes wide as he kept glancing at the people around us. I felt a pain in my shoulder, but also an odd sensation boiling up in me. Veline was doing little more than growling like a dog at the people. Azuro asked, his eyes fixed on them, "What writ and by whose authority?"

Suddenly I was dropped to my feet, barely managing to not buckle completely as I struggled to keep up with what was happening. I watched in shock as a body of a robed man was thrown over us and came crashing down onto the ground motionless. Veline let out yell, "Again! I want your damn corpses broken!"

I took a few small, shaking steps to be fully next to Veline. Her eyes gave a spark of concern as she caught me with her own arm. I leaned on her to keep her from flying into a murderous rampage on the men. They all held different weapons and I couldn't see us managing to survive this by fighting. Azuro's hand had never left his sword. If nothing else, that was my own personal measurement of his intent. As long as he held it there, I assumed he wasn't about to abandon me. Even then, none of the attackers seemed willing to outright fight, especially after that one was so easily killed. Still, they didn't back down.

Eventually after a few moments of the stand off, Martin had steadied his horse. Azuro looked at them all, looked back to Veline and me, then back to Martin. The younger man shook as he gave him a fearful, short nod. I still felt that odd feeling boiling just under the surface. Azuro turned his attention to the one who had shouted and asked, impatiently, "Well?"

A few moments of silence more and Azuro letting go of his sword. My gut sank in that moment and my mind began to rush through numerous ways to run away. The assailants seemed to relax lightly and one stepped forward, saying, "My good man, I see you are smart."

I felt Veline get rather close to me, her hand brushing past my back. Azuro then suddenly grabbed his reins, gave a hard snap, and Martin did the same. I hadn't time to be confused by the act. At the same time I felt Veline's arm grab me and lift me up and she took forward herself. Azuro looked back and shouted, "Put him on!"

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Suddenly, without hesitation, Veline lifted me up and dropped me behind Azuro. I quickly gripped onto him as we were charging through the line of people. Veline, flipped herself around and began to laugh hysterically as that odd energy seemed to sit fully in my body. She threw out her hands as a flash burst forth from her hands.

Caught off guard and blinded, the lot couldn't respond fast enough to stop us, and we were taking off. Veline was beside me and Azuro, laughing hysterically. Martin shouted, "Damn it, we've done it now! We're so fucked!"

Veline, still laughing, shouted, "Yes! Fun!"

Martin gave me a defeated look as we rode on. From behind some bushes came three men on their own horses. Both men pulled the swords from their sides and Azuro shouted, "Creature! In Front!"

Veline flipped around as one came up along Martin's left side, who clumsily blocked a downward swing from the hooded rider. I felt the energy rise suddenly as she pointed to the attacker. Azuro let out a hiss as he suddenly swung his own weapon. Turning slightly I saw yet another rider on our left, his weapon already coming back to strike. Azuro met blow with blow, but was struggling.

Looking to the others, Martin's attacker was suddenly unseated when he deflected an attack and instead swung across the horse. The beast freaked and threw the man clean. Yet another man, with a spear was not far from him, trying to get in range. Veline whipped her head to look to me, let out a sneering growl at the man attacking Azuro. She flew over, only for the 3rd man of the original to take a jab at her.

It grazed across her back, causing her to screech. I could practically feel it scrap across my own body she threw her hand back to the man. A gout of flame erupted and it continued as the man flailed. Yet, as it continued, I felt an odd ache forming in me as it happened. It wasn't till the man's horse collapsed did she stop.

Suddenly Azuro pulled away and I looked to the one he was fighting. I let out a yelp as I shifted away, barely catching the blade near my own head. With a sudden thrust into the man's throat, Azuro yelled at me, "Pay attention!"

The man with the spear lunged as Martin. The thing struck the young guard in the arm. He let out a howl as he dropped the sword. Azuro let out a curse and pulled the reins suddenly to the side. Veline suddenly picked me from the horse with her tail again, letting out a breathless laugh. Azuro didn't look back as he pulled at the reins again, dropping his down weapon.

The dark skinned man grabbed the attacker and the spear. In less than a second, he leapt from his own horse and pushed the man with all his might, causing them both to tumble. Martin reared his own horse and turned as the two sat on the ground, trying to gain the upper hand. I said quickly to Veline, "Help him!"

Her eyes darted to me a second and the two. As Martin came riding back, gripping his bleeding arm, she suddenly dropped me on the saddle of Azuro's horse lightly. She then flew over to the two struggling men. Azuro had wrested the spear from the man only to get punched in the face forced onto his back. The assailant pulled a dagger and was about to bring it down when Veline's tail slapped the weapon away. Azuro took the chance and kicked the attacker off him.

He hopped to his feet, but Veline had already taken the chance to drive the end of her tail through the man's neck. With a huff, he saw me on his horse.He ran over and said, "Damn it, let's get going before more show up!"

Veline took that to mean she could pluck me off the horse and, once he had reseated himself, we took off down the road as fast as the horses could manage at that point. The horses sounded ragged by the time we finally slowed. Martin held his wounded arm, looking like he wanted to just go to bed .Veline was floating along with a certain new lethargy to her movements. The arrow was still stuck there in her shoulder.

When the city was in view, Azuro let out a long sigh and said quietly, "Shit."

He looked down to his horse, shaking his head. They had been rode hard for too long and were barely even able to trot. He said, "Good thing these are hardy horses, but I don't think they're ok to continue."

Martin was patting his with a sad look on his face, saying, "We're really going to get it now. Captain Haline will have both our heads."

Veline gripped me slightly with her hail, but I could feel the pain. She looked at me somewhat pleadingly. Azuro, looking off to the city, which was still a fair distance, gritted his teeth. He looked to Martin who, still having his untreated wound, shook his head saying, "I don't think we'll make it there yet before night. Horses can't take much more."

Veline gently touched the arrow and looked at me. She gently grabbed it, eyes not moving from me. I felt a pain in my shoulder and braced. She quickly pulled it out, which caused my shoulder to flair up in pain. I let out a yelp of my own. She let out a hiss, Azuro looked at us and quickly pulled out some bandages and threw it to her. Azuro's face was a bit swollen, but didn't seem to be bothering him much as he said, "Whatever the case is, we need to just get back."

Veline caught it and began then handed it to me, giving me a stare. I did my best to help her, noting that now that we had slowed, Martin was tending to his own wounds. After a moment, Martin fell back to be next to us and began giving me instructions. The most awkward part was the back wound on her. She nearly took the entire dress off right on the spot, but stopped when I told her to.

The grass and shrubs slowly became much less thick as we continued on. We kept up as best as a pace as the horses could manage, even if we were now too close to the city to be attacked outright. The fields were in sight and, more importantly, we were in sight of those people who were out in them still.

Martin clicked his tongue and said, "The horses won't make it the rest of the way. We already rode them hard for miles."

Martin said, concern etched in his face and clear in his voice, "Then we'll have to go on foot."

Azuro stopped, got off the horse, and said, "We'll leave them to rest as best as they can. I doubt The Captain will be so mad about them given everything else."

Martin got off his horse, patting it on the nose, and let out a sigh. He said, "Hopefully they'll be ok and can be retrieved later."

Veline didn't put me down as she wobbled, despite my attempts to. She said, sternly, "Pain? Not enough to stop."

I wasn't going to argue with her at that point. She looked at me with too pleading of eyes for me too. Azuro checked his bag and motioned for us to follow. He said, "I don't think we'll be attacked on the way, but it's still possible. I hope this earned me some trust, Mr. Moores. I think they'd kill Martin and me at this point, anyways. So we are in the same boat yeah?"

I stared at him for a while, tired and sore. With a nod, I said cautiously, "I'll believe that at least."

Martin said, with a nervous laugh, "Well, I guess this will make a great pub story one day."

We had then made our way down towards the city, unable to not be seen as we went. I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched by more than just farmers off in the distance though. Once we hit the first of the fields, Azuro stopped us. Clouds had moved in, causing the now setting sun's light to be stifled. His eyes were on a man who ran forward from the fields to meet us. He asked, "Good gods, what happened to you lot?"

Azuro shook his head and said, "We need to get to the city. Matter of great importance."

The farmer looked at us, his eyes darting to the way we came and asked, "Is it Abnaltis?"

The dark skinned guard shook his head and said, "Saw no indication of it being people from there. We were jumped on our way back. Do you have anyone who can cart us to the gates? We are in a hurry. We also left our horses down the road, if you would be so kind as to take care of them."

The man nodded, turned, and shouted, "Henry! Go get your brothers and grab those horses they got off of!"

The man then led us to his barn, where a cart loaded with goods was being readied to move. They startled at the sight of us, but the man with us quickly snapped his fingers at them. It was enough to get them back to work.

Martin tried to give me an assuring smile. Veline was leaning on me, floating barely off the ground. The farmer who had led us jumped up to the driver's seat when it was ready. He nodded to us but seemed wary of Veline, but I felt that was more comforting than if he didn't care at this point. Azuro motioned to back as he climbed up the front. Veline set me gently onto one of the boxes before carefully seating herself next to me. The farmer said, "Lucky timing. We were just getting ready to take this stuff to the market."

The man stroked his beard and was eyeing Veline and me. Azuro said, "Some good luck is appreciated right now. Martin, in the back corner there. Try to not break anything when you climb on."

Martin went to climb onto the back, but faltered lightly as he winced. Getting up, I held out my hand and pulled him up as best I could. The farmer looked to me and asked, "Some sort of magic user then? I heard the city had some odd people in town lately. Lady Lura'mi showing back up always brings in such sorts."

Martin looked relieved to finally be getting back to the city. As the cart began to move, Azuro said, "Yeah, he's that sort. That's his pact creature."

The man, looking to the sky, said, "I see. Some comfort to know that such powers are on our side, even if you look like you barely made it. You said it wasn't Abnaltians?"

Azuro, his eyes scanned the fields as he said, "If they were, they didn't wear any signs of it. I suppose it could have been, but sinse we aren't in our armor? I suspect bandits thinking we were easy targets. Too bad they hadn't seen our mage friend's pet."

The farmer chuckled grimly and said, "Well, better bandits than them, I guess. Least this shipment will earn my family some nice extra bit of coin. Could use some new clothes and what not. My daughter is also getting to that age where suitors will start showing up too."

I looked back to Martin who was watching behind us intently, but showed no sign of seeing anything bad. Azuro leaned back and said, "Alexander, when we get to the city, we'll get to the guard barracks. From there, Captain Haline will see to some of the other stuff and get the creature's wounds seen to."

I nodded. The old man looked curious, but apparently knew better to ask about that stuff. He looked at me and back to the road, asking, "Guess the life a guy like you is just as dull most of the time as anyone else, eh?"

I let out a somewhat bitter chuckle, and said, "I prefer if it'd be more dull right now."

The man gave an amused huff and Azuro kept looking about. He then said, "I do hope you get that want."

Martin sat quietly as he watched behind us. There was a certain oddity to his expression, almost like he was angry about something. I couldn't do much but hazard to guess why he'd be, but it just struck me as weird in that moment. Azuro said, "We'll have you compensated for taking care of the horses and for giving us a ride."

The farmer nodded and let out a small relieved sigh. He said, "Aye, much appreciated."

Azuro continued to lean back against the seat, clearly trying to be more relaxed. He said, "Hopefully I never have to report sightings of those southern bastards."

Veline's head tilted onto my shoulder as best as it could. Her horn kept getting in her way, though, so she kept shifting about trying to find a proper spot. When she finally got comfortable, she muttered, "Fight over silly stuff. Mortals die. Dying pointlessly for stupid things."

The cart went quiet onwards. The ride, while somewhat uncomfortable and bumpy, was uneventful. The sky overhead threatened to start raining at any point. Eventually, darkness had fallen completely. We managed to reach the walls some time in the night. The farmer had lit a lantern that was hanging next to him.

We arrived while the gate was down. A guard looked down from the battlement and shouted, "Who goes there?"

Azuro looked up and shouted, "This is Corporal Marn! I'm with Martin and three others! This cart is a local farmer’s, who is with us, and is taking goods to market! The two others are a friend and his companion!"

The gateman shouted back a confirmation and after a moment the gate was risen. We got off the cart inside the gate where some other guards were waiting, looking a bit shocked at our condition. The farmer bid us goodbye as he rode off down the street. Once gone, Azuro said to the on duty guards, "We're heading straight to the main house. I got documents for Captain Haline. We were attacked on the road."

The lot nodded and two joined us as we headed straight for the main guard building. Martin made some half hearted joke by asking me about how it felt to be escorted like someone of importance. Veline tried to terrorfied him when she told him that I was important enough that she'd burn the city to the ground. She wasn't that scary, though, having thrown her arms around me and was propping herself up by leaning on my back. The other guards found that disquieting, but Azuro reassured them that I was in fact in control of her. The annoyed look on his face apparently gave Veline some amusement as she snickered lightly.