"Run the first chance you get," Elira said, hushed, knowing full well that the new arrivals emerging from all directions must have heard her. Vara certainly did, giving her friend a nod, determined to stand by her side and do her duty. Seeing that sure bolstered my faith in the city guards. But it was utterly annoying at the same time.

'How could they ask me to leave the pack?'

A small disgruntled growl escaped my throat as my beast pride made its displeasure with the idea known. Stupid. Both the notion and the growl. Running away while the two stall the thugs seemed only logical - not so much doable, though.

[Master Fire Mage: ₪₪ sigils]

Albeit quite a bit stronger than those two, if it was just the Harcon guy, then maybe. But there were five others, if you didn't count the little round man who ordered his goons to deal with us, to be mindful of. Worse, they were by no means weak.

[Bouncer: 89 sigils]

[Workhand: 84 sigils]

[Fighter: 101 sigils]

Even the one with the bald head and whip in his hand, whose look was giving me pretty nasty goosebumps, had so many sigils I didn't even want to imagine how many lives he ruined to get them.

[Slaver: 95 sigils]

The main problem, however, besides the mage guy, was Bruiser. I had to look twice to make sure the hulking figure with short-cropped hair belonged to a woman. But it did.

[Bruiser: ₪ sigils]

Despite the rough facial lines, no doubt the result of her life as a bruiser, and the muscles making her feminine curves almost indistinguishable, when my growl drew all the thug's attention to me, her feminine voice confirmed my assumption.

"Is that the bitch? I expected a little... more."

"Same. Disappointing, a lot. Had quite a few finer ones pass through my hands over the years."

The shudder that Slaver's comment sent down my spine drowned out any displeasure with the attack at my prowess as a female; the following crack of the whip then made me wince in pain.

"None of them was worth as much as her, though," Fighter argued.

"True. Makes one wonder, doesn't it?"

"Vara, Elira, please," the mage guy growled, ignoring the thugs, his plea unexpectedly sincere. "It's just about the chick. Put down your weapon, and I promise..."

"Do you realize what you are about to do?" Elira raised her voice instead, so that everyone could hear. "Attacking the Castiana City Guards is the same as attacking a soldier of the Sahal Empire..."

"...and therefore attacking the Empire itself," the Master Fire Mage finished for her. "Yeah, I know, WE know, but the Empire leaves me no other choice - you leave me no choice..."

"Enough!" yelled a little round man, standing out of reach for the Lattice to tell me the info on him. "Bring me the wench!"

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At his command, the five thugs moved. The first was Fighter who, with a few quick steps, crossed the distance between him and Elira, swinging his sword. Though wounded, the blue-eyed guardswoman parried his attack, following it up with a quick lunge of her spear, screaming, "Now, Grey!"

'To flee or not to flee?!'

Despite seeing that there was no way those two could make it out of this with or without my help and my instincts screaming at me to run away like everyone was telling me to, from Alley, the cat, the guardswomen, to Lieutenant Blaine, my stupid beast pride wouldn't let me. There was no way I could abandon someone who was trying to help me; I simply couldn't leave the pack behind. Yet, just as that huge bruiser woman slammed into Vara, my resolve took a complete turn. For in the little round male's hand, an all-too-familiar object flashed under the magical light of the street lamps.

'Slave collar.'

Seeing the damn thing, something inside me broke. Before realizing it, I turned on my heel, finding myself running to the gap between Workhand and Bouncer, hoping to escape through the street behind them.

"Don't let her escape, you idiots!" yelled the little round man, as if those two were not already trying to get in my way and stop me from escaping. Not a foolish hope. There was still a chance; I was fast and nimble, while the two were slow and clumsy.

'You can do this, Korra!'

My hopes, however, were snuffed out when the wall of fire blazed between me and them.

'Shit! No, no, no...'

If it hadn't been for my wings, the flapping of which fanned the flames, I would have rushed right into it. A stupid reaction, considering that in my domain, the wall of fire seemed to be no more than half a meter thick. That was something I could jump through - albeit with singed feathers and fur. 'Why the hell did my instincts stop me from doing so?'

I didn't have to look hard for the answer when it was burning right in front of my cheeks. The flames, not much different in appearance from those over the campfire, had little in common with those. They burned hotter, fueled by magic.

"Go!" My ears twitched at the shout of Elira, who, after fending off Fighter, threw her spear at the fire mage with all her might. It may have broken his concentration and forced him to defend himself, but it left her just as vulnerable to an attack from the Slaver's whip. With dying flames, the tip of it wrapped around her leg.

One yank from Slaver and she went tumbling to the ground. I, on the other hand, jumped over the vanishing firewall, slipped past Bouncer, and ran in the opposite direction from Master Fire Mage without looking back. At least, that was the plan. I barely made it two steps before Workhand literally tripped, falling in front of me and making me stumble as well. Not even my beast instincts nor [Equilibrium] managed to keep me on my feet at the sudden tripping. On the bright side, I did a somersault that would put experienced gymnasts to shame and jumped right back to my feet. Unfortunately, it didn't matter that much, as the small delay gave Bouncer a chance to catch up with me.

"Stop… fucking… still, bitch!" the man shouted, throwing himself at me. Of course, not stupid enough to pause for a heartbeat, I fairly easily managed to avoid him. And thus, instead of gripping me in his massive arms, he ended up on the ground, splattering scalehoof shit under his chest.

"Balls! You incompetent idiots?!" Although now much further away, the shrill voice of the little round man still stung at my ears. Much worse was the familiar undertone behind it - the way he saw me as nothing more than an object to be used to achieve his ends. "For the fuck sake! Stop staring at me, Harcon, and get her!"

"Then make sure she doesn't die. Neither of them."

"Huh? The guard wenches? Fuck! Sure, Brenwen will keep an eye on them. Now, go!"

While it was a relief to hear that the guardswomen were still alive, albeit guarded by the bruiser female, the mage's stare burning into my back sent a shiver down my spine so strong I almost tripped. His full attention was on me now.

'No! No, no, no!'

Panicking, I put all the strength I could muster into my legs. Irritatingly, something Master Fire Mage didn't need to do. All he had to do was raise his hand, and I found myself facing a wall of fire again.

'No,I can't... I can't let them put the collar back on me!'

Having that thought echoing through my mind with the force of thunder, I didn't stop this time, and with my hands covering my face, I jumped into the flames.