The streets emptied the further Lucia fled from the mercantile district. Those that remained on the darkening roads gave her a wide berth or otherwise ignored her completely. She darted into side alleys, backtracking and obfuscating her path as best she could. The longer the shadows grew the more effective [Fade] became, and Lucia flitted between buildings and cover, all but invisible during the brief moments her pursuer may have been able to spot her.

She ran along a wall, only for the man to emerge from an alley several metres in front of her. Lucia cursed and sprinted in the other direction, juking around carts and between barrels. She vanished into the shadows, then pivoted, dashing to break line of sight, then altering her path to stay unpredictable.

Lucia ducked into a doorway, sweat beading on her forehead as she fought to regain her breath. Her shoulders and back ached from carrying her burden, and if it wasn’t for her [Light Footwork] skill her legs would be trembling. Her racing heart slowed as she recovered, and she strained her ears to pick up any sound. The street seemed to be silent, but Lucia knew better than to believe she was safe. She didn’t think her pursuit had any stealth skills, but she also hadn’t expected him to keep up.

She carefully peered around the wall, only to curse under her breath as she saw a figure walking down the street towards her. It was hard to make out their appearance, and what evening light filtered down into the city between the terraced buildings wasn’t enough to make it any easier. Her hand tightened on the hilt of her sword, and her body tensed, ready to make the first strike.

Footsteps echoed on cobbled stones as she shifted her packs off her shoulder. They were close, ten metres, then five. Their approach slowed, then stopped, and it took every ounce of self control she had not to burst out of cover and attack right then and there. Something rattled, then light bloomed just out of sight, followed by the sound of a metallic latch shutting. The footsteps trailed away moments later, and Lucia let out the breath she hadn’t realised she had been holding.

A lamp lighter, of course, that made sense. She glanced out of cover briefly, but didn’t spot anyone else. Re-gathering her newly purchased belongings, Lucia left her hiding spot and made for where Leif would hopefully be waiting for her. If she was too late, he might come looking for her, but that would only increase the odds of them passing like ships in the night. Lucia half jogged, half walked, her head on a constant swivel as she approached the rendezvous. The side street in question came into view a minute later, and Lucia picked up the pace, using [Fade] once again to flitter across the street, though the sharp stab of pain in her soul made her wince.

“Leif? Are you-” Lucia said as she rounded the final corner, only for a hand to smother her words as a figure lunged forwards with alarming speed. She tried to tug away but her attacker grabbed her by the arm with an iron grip.

“Shhhh! Don’t yell, I’m sorry, but both of our safety relies on this. Please don’t fight.” The man hissed, pulling Lucia into the side-street. “Where’s the masked man you were travelling with? Wait, don't answer… I mean, you can’t… Stop struggling! Hey, cut that out!”

Lucia twisted and threw herself out of his grasp, and the man cursed, grabbing for her but missing. She hopped back, both packs falling to the ground, then she kicked her foot under the strap of one of them and flicked it into the man’s chest.

“Get away!” She said, drawing her wooden sword, the sharp blade glowing with a faint golden light. “Don’t touch me. Take another step and I’ll kill you!”

“I’m not going to hurt you girl, honest. I’m Slayde, we met at the fort. I… I need to take you to my boss. He… they… I don’t know what's going on, but they need the masked adventurer for something.” Slayde whisper-yelled, stumbling back a step to avoid the pack. His words were jittery, and one of his hands twitched by his side. In the subtle radiance of Lucia’s sword she saw that his eyes were sunken, and the veins in the side of his head were enlarged and blackened.

“How did you find me?”

“I’m a [Scout], my perception is good. I saw you enter the city. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have told them anything. I didn’t realise this was what they wanted!”

“You mean your boss and his woman? I knew they were rotten! I knew it!”

Slayde winced. “Quiet, I don’t want to restrain you but I will if I have to.”

“Try it, I’ll gut you like a fish.”

“Shit, shit shit shit.” The sellsword said, rubbing his palms against his trousers. “I was never good at this. Please come willingly, it’ll be so much worse for everyone if you don’t. You’re not going to listen, are you?”

“No shit.” Lucia spat.

Slayde groaned, scratching at the side of his face as if trying to scrape off his skin. He sighed, licked his lips, then rushed forward. Lucia stepped to the side, her sword flashing, and the man danced back, not eager to let himself get cut. Lucia noticed a dagger at his side, but he didn’t draw it. Instead he lurched forward again, this time faster. She cut for his head but he ducked, grabbing her by the shirt. Lucia’s fist drove into his groin earning a hiss of pain, but he didn’t let go. Dull light built in Slayde’s forearm as he raised it to block the pommel of her sword.

For several seconds they grappled, Lucia using every trick and desperate idea that came to mind to break free, Slayde using his increased size and weight to try and hold her down. She managed to cut into his leg, but then he struck her wrist, the sword tumbling from her slackened grip to clatter against the cobbles. She reached for the weapon, but the man kicked it away, but it was a faint. Her other hand found the hilt of his dagger and drew the weapon from its sheath. Slayde released her and scrambled to evade as she stabbed forward with the much shorter weapon.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

The sell-sword fell back with a cry, his footing disrupted as he tripped over one of the packs she had discarded earlier. In less than a second Lucia pounced, driving a knee into the man’s stomach as she fell down onto him, the dagger aimed at his throat. Steel rang against stone as he jerked his head to the side, his eyes wide, almost manic.

“Wait!” Slayde gasped, his voice a ragged wheeze. “Wait! Don’t kill me. I’m sorry, please!”

“You came after me!” Lucia hissed, reversing her grip on the dagger. “Actions have consequences.”

He bucked once, then twice, managing to throw her off, but not before a quarter of an inch of steel plunged into his cheek. They both rolled to their feet, and circled one another. Blood flowed down Slayde’s face like a river, staining his shirt and dripping down onto the road. He backed off with a limp, one hand raised to his cheek to stem the bleeding, the other palm out as if gesturing for peace. He tried to say something, but the sound came out as more of a muffled gargle than audible words.

The man suddenly stiffened, his already pale face freezing in a look of strangled horror. An intangible weight flooded into the side-street, slamming the sell-sword into the ground while wrapping around Lucia like a blanket. It was regal, powerful, and practically bubbling with rage. It took every ounce of energy Lucia had left not to slump to her knees in relief. Her hands shook and her vision blurred, but she wiped her eyes before she could lose sight of Slayde. A hand fell onto her shoulder, healing energy flooding into her, chasing away every fatigued ache and replacing it with an energetic thrum that ran through her entire body.

“Are you alright?” Leif asked, though his blazing amber gaze never left the trembling figure all but plastered to the cobbled stone.

“Y-yeah.” Lucia said.

“You made a mistake today, mercenary. I recommend talking, and quickly.” The scion said, Lucia’s fallen sword flashing through the air to land in an ivory fist.

“I had no choice.” The man blabbered, tears and snot mixing with blood as they streamed down his face. “I told them to leave you alone, that it wasn’t worth it. But the people in red were throwing around so much money. I couldn’t not do what they ordered, I need to do what they say!”

“People in red?”

“With the symbol of the broken mirror.” He sobbed. “The one that looks like broken glass. They were looking for a masked healer who goes by ‘Leif’, and for some reason they didn’t want to go to the guards. I don’t know why. I think they’re guilders from the capital.”

===

“Fracture.” Leif said, his tone flinty as he pressed the tip of Lucia’s sword to the back of Slayde’s head. “How many?”

“Ten or so. I’m not sure where they are right now. I think most left the city to track you down when you didn’t show up.”

“They got here so quickly.” Lucia said, stepping behind Leif with a shudder. “How did they know where we would be?”

I should be passively blocking most scrying attempts due to the strength of my aura. Conventional tracking is more likely, but how did they overshoot us? Was this a team already located in this region, or did they travel up from the south to hunt us? Leif thought, mind racing. He hadn’t been this angry in… he wasn’t sure, maybe never. He had almost killed the sell-sword outright when he saw what was happening.

Leif exhaled, the sound coming out like the hiss of steam. Slayde flinched, but otherwise didn’t move. Suppressed as the man was, Leif was surprised he could breath at all. “What were you doing? And don’t bother lying.”

“Kurt and Maline wanted a piece of the bounty the guilders were willing to pay out for any information. I wasn’t in the meeting, but afterwards they told me to watch and see if either of you arrived in the city. When I spotted you enter I reported it, and they wanted me to grab the girl so they could use her as bait to lure you into a trap. I didn’t have a choice, I can’t not do what they say.” Slayde whimpered, his whole body shaking.

“No choice? Seems like an easy excuse.”

“It’s true, honest. I… If I don’t get the cure, I’ll die within a handful of days. Maline can use her skills to make it, but she withholds it if I don’t do exactly what they say. After the refugees and speaking out against their plan for you… I’m on my last legs, man. I have less than two days before withdrawals tear me apart.”

“What happened to the refugees?” Leif snapped.

“They’re alive, mostly. Safe here in the city, but they’re indebted because their leader man refused to pay. I don’t know what Kurt did with him after he made the guy take out a loan on behalf of his family. I don’t know where the body is.”

“I knew there was something off about them. I just knew it.” Lucia said, her expression one of outraged disgust. She glanced over her shoulder, checking to see if anyone else was nearby. Satisfied that nobody was lurking she turned back, her expression slightly less hostile. “So what? You’re an addict? Trying to make us feel pity?”

“Hallow root. I was dumb and tried some as a kid. Shit makes your teeth fall out and clouds your judgment something fierce. The worst part is that your body devours itself from the inside if you stop taking, and if you take too much of the stuff over a long period of time the withdrawals are all but guaranteed to kill you. The local authorities managed to round up the local suppliers and distributors a few years back, but they didn’t do anything for the users. If I didn’t find Maline and Kurt, I’d be dead for sure.”

“And Maline is… what? Making the drug and feeding it to you?” Leif asked, sensing the sincerity in his words. The anger lessened, replaced by worry. They needed to leave the city.

“No. Not really. She can replicate the effects of certain substances. Poisons and toxins. Her doses trick my body into not killing itself for a few days.”

“Would you leave them if you could?”

“I… Yeah, they’re horrible people. But I have no choice but to work for them.”

“Get up.” Leif said, pulling away the blade and handing it back to Lucia. “This doesn’t excuse your actions, but we can’t stay still if we’re being hunted.”

“Th-thank you.” Slayde stammered as he got to his feet. “I have to get back.”

“No. You’re coming with us.”

“But-”

“I’m a healer. I can keep you alive through whatever happens next. Do you know a way out of the city?”

“What are you doing?” Lucia asked. “We can’t trust him.”

“Well, the alternatives are killing him or knocking him out and taking him with us. We can’t let him report back, and I think Slayde here is capable of making the right choice.” Leif looked into her eyes for several seconds, watching her own anger and fear faded into grudging acceptance.

The man in question swallowed hard, then nodded. “I’ll owe you twice over. Whatever you say, I’ll do it. And I know how to get out, there’s an unguarded gate by the western canal.”

“Fine. Lucia, did you get everything you needed?”

“Everything but rations.” She said, scampering over to collect the packs. “So I guess everything important.”

Leif huffed. “Good. You did well. Sorry for not being here, the cartographer kept trying to convince me it was a good time of year to go to the beach.”

“Did… did they know there was a war going on?”

“I don’t think they did actually. The old man was definitely teetering on the edge of lucidity throughout our interaction.” Leif said, then paused. “I’m not sure if I trust the map I bought.”

“Ugh.” Slayde said, hopping from one foot to another. “Should I lead the way?”

“Don’t try anything stupid.” Lucia said, glaring with enough intensity to bore a hole through his skull.

The former sell-sword glanced between the girl and the masked man. He wiped at his cheek, only to blink in surprise to find that the bleeding had already stopped. “You’re both terrifying, you know that?”

“Better friends than enemies.” Leif said, placing a hand on top of Lucia’s head. “Do the right thing, and we’ll see about changing you from one to the other. Let's go.”