Having come up with a plan, or rather, the slight semblance of an idea that may or may not work out, we continued on, cautiously creeping through the dim alleyways as the shadows lengthened and the time before dusk shortened. While there were still several hours left of daylight I began to feel rather concerned by this; ignoring the present and very real danger posed by the tailors in pursuit of us, the thought of making the long trek through the woods at dark was one to give me pause.

It really cannot be overstated, but the woods in this world are dangerous, and even more so at night. Even woods in my home world, the mundane world, could be dangerous. As I spent time in this world studying under Mary, I learned that echoes of the monsters here can be found in the world I came from, lurking in the dark and wild spaces at the edge of reality.

Ghosts are one thing, but monsters and cryptids can be found waiting for prey foolish enough to go into the wilderness or abandoned spaces unaware. The nastiness of these creatures is not to be understated. They’ll imitate human voices, luring the unsuspecting people to their doom. They’ll parasitize someone who leaves their mental guard down, wearing their body as they spread their evil works. In the light these creatures tend to be subtle, insidious, and when night falls humans become nothing more than food to them.

Of course, the monsters here aren’t nearly as big on the “subtle manipulation” bit, but they’re much more prevalent, much bigger and I really don’t want to have to get in a fight with one at night. So I’ll begin to pick up the pace. The sooner I could get the guards involved and get out of here the better.

However, Murphy’s law is an absolute bitch, so it might be best to plan for contingencies. As we made our way through the back streets towards the gate, I reached in my bag, pulling out the broom and potion bottle. Elizabeth gave a start at seeing the broom, and fell in to thought.

We eventually made our way close to the wall, with the helpful guidance of the lords daughter who was born and raised in this city. Town. Whatever, the semantics of the whole thing still irritates me on some deep-seated level. Everything seemed to indicate we’d make it to the gate with plenty of daylight to spare, which was at least one thing that was going in our favor as I had begun to hear the footsteps of our pursuers hounding close behind us.

Then we hit a dead end. Of course. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Cursing, I turned around to face the oncoming threat.

And sure enough, four masked men rounded the corner, weapons drawn. Naturally I couldn’t make out their faces, but their eyes seemed to be grinning mockingly at us.

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“How convenient, running off to such a remote alley, with no witnesses. Any last words?” One of the men, presumably the leader, smugly asked.

“Hold on just a minute! Surely you recognize who this girl is!” I replied.

“...she’s wearing a hood, it’s not like I can see her face.” He stated, before slowly beginning his advance.

“She’s the daughter of Lord Porte! You wouldn’t dare harm the daughter of the local lord!” I proudly exclaimed. The man paused. Perfect. I should have realized from the start that namedropping someone important would have helped. The hesitation in the man’s posture showed he was reconsidering the whole “murdering us” thing, and he held an arm out to indicate to the other three to hold back. The plan really was working. Until…

“Rose, I don’t think they bought it. And you should know you shouldn’t misrepresent people as nobility like that.” My hooded companion said.

“What?” Came from a chorus of five mouths, the attackers voice joining with my own.

“Hurry, Rose, That broom should be enough to hold both of us, after which we can just pray they don’t report you to the lord for that!”

“What the fuck are yo-” but as the sentence left my mouth the men began to charge. Elizabeth threw up an arm and a wall of fire flared up, stopping the approaching men who reeled back. One of them was beating at a shirtsleeve that caught fire, and another feeling around for his now missing eyebrows.

“Rose, hurry, get the broom ready! I can’t hold them much longer!” She cried, sounding like it was taking all of her effort to put a strained air to her voice. I have no idea what the fuck she’s doing, but now isn’t the time to ask questions. I poured the potion over the broom. Rather than just sitting on the surface of the broom and dripping down to the cobblestones the potion was sucked up as if the broom were a sponge. Odd, but with my companion currently conjuring a flaming wall I really shouldn’t be acting too surprised by anything.

I straddled the broom and Elizabeth took no time in finding her place behind me. And then, I reached out my mana into the broom directing it to rise. At the first sign of motion my passenger wrapped her arms tightly around my waist. It was to the point where it was almost uncomfortable. I could clearly feel her face pressed against my back, along with the rest of her body. It’s better safe than sorry with the risk of falling, but this seems like a bit much.

As the broom pulled further into the sky, I could see the men gaze up, before they were lost in the slowly shrinking city-scape below us. Well shit. It’d really be kind of weird immediately coming back down over the city to drop Elizabeth off, and for all I know there’s some kind of point defense system for people coming in by air. What should I do?

I guess the only option that really makes sense would be to head back to Mary’s cottage. Pausing for a bit, I looked out over the land around me. Below I could see the town of Porte, with the river widening out to where it eventually meets the ocean. To the north was the forest, with rolling hills filled with farmland filling the space in between and stretching further out to the west and the south. Now that I think of it I really haven’t put much thought to the geography of this land, but it’s starting to seem vaguely similar to that of my home world.

I paused for a bit, until heavy breathing on the back of my neck brought me out of my thoughts. That’s right, she must be terrified of the heights. I myself am rather shocked at how well I’m putting up with it; I’ve been terrified by heights in the past.

“I-I’ll take us to Mary’s place.” I said to Elizabeth.

“That’s fine. I expected as much.” She replied in a breathy voice. Her arms tightened around my waist. She must be almost petrified in fear if she’s having that much trouble breathing. I should hurry. The sooner I get her back on the ground the better. With a shrug, I turned the broom northward and headed out over the forest, where a hint of smoke served as a beacon for Mary’s cottage.