"...Mr. Rutledge, if I go any faster, I won't spot the rocks on the road in time."

»That one not so stupid.« Remarked one of the scalehoofs.

"Idiot. If you want to end up behind bars, get off!" growled my so-called master, only to stop short. "You know what, just shut up and do what I tell you. Your mother would kill me."

'His mother again. Who was she? One of the thugs?'

"May I at least light the lamps, Mr. Rutledge?"

"I swear, if it weren't..."

What he wanted to say he didn't finish as the wagon jolted wildly.

"See, Mr. Rutledge. Rocks."

"Just drive. The sooner we get Castiana out of sight the better."

"I'd say the sooner we get out of Sahal the better," corrected him the fire-wielding male, just as he ran up to the wagon.

"Ah, Harcon. Where the fuck did you go... for a moment I thought..."

"I was just watching to see if the guards would raise the alarm or not. Unlike some people, I have no problem catching up with the wagon."

'Huh? Did he mean those thugs gasping for air or me?' He couldn't have known about how I'd barely caught up with Scoresby in Esulmore, could he? Unless... they captured him and made him spill everything he knew about me.

"A-About that," the gasp of the shitty illusionist sounded from behind a wagon somewhere. That deceitful bastard was barely able to catch his breath. Quite a relief and gratifying. First, it was he of whom the fire-holding male spoke and not me; second, to hear him suffer, if only from a short breath, made me bare my fangs in a grin. "...how much f-farther we're gonna run? Are there any scalehoofs ready s-somewhere? Because I don't think I can run for much longer."

"You will," barked the big female that battered Vara so badly. Even her voice betrayed her lack of breath. She wasn't as winded as the illusionist, though, not yet.

"N-not sure about t-that."

"You should, Mr. Phantor - be sure, I mean," chimed in the flower-scented male, Ward. "Surely you will understand that we cannot leave someone in your, shall we say, position behind..."

Perhaps not fully stated, but the threat was clear to all. There was no way out of this but death.

"I... I d-do. But the scalehoofs..."

"Ready," the floral-scented male cut him off, his voice a mix of aloof and irritation. "But on a different road, I'm afraid. My men will pick them up once they get out of the city. Until then, you’ll need to use your legs, same as the rest of us."

"W-What about..." the illusion-wielding man stammered out, falling silent for a moment. "What about the... the wagon? Why d-don't we ride it?"

"Be my guest, Mr. Phantor, but a word of warning. The only way you're riding on that wagon is inside the cage."

"What? But... with that beast?"

The flower-scented man chuckled, I could have sworn without a hint of any shortness of breath. "If I were you, I'd be more worried about my neck than Miss Grey."

"My neck? Wait! You would...?"

"Excellent. I see you understand."

So did I. Easy enough to picture the illusion guy reaching for his throat. Unlike me, though, he didn’t have a collar around his neck - not yet, anyway.

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"Harcon says," Elira spoke out of the blue, whispering even though she didn't have to. Relief softened both her voice and her blue eyes. "... that as far as he could tell, none of the guards were made into thralls. The - the mind mage obviously got to them, but... they just put simple commands into their heads."

"Oh, th-thank the... cough... tits. Wait!" Vara sighed, the relief catching in her breath before she stopped short. "Are you sure he wasn't lying?"

"No. Hold on! Do you wish him to lie? For Elias to be brainwashed?"

"What? For tits no, El. Elias... cough... he is a moron, but he is our moron. You... you know I wouldn't wish him any harm. Well... cough... I would. Not this, though. For the love of... cough... you know how I dig war stories about thralls," Vara spoke her mind through the pain gripping her ribs. "I wouldn't wish being brainwashed by a mind mage on anyone - except Ward and his entire Shadowbreakers, that is. Th... those fuckers deserve a lot worse - like having their tits and balls cut off..."

"That's enough, Vara. I get it," Elira stopped her, regret in both her voice and her eyes. "Sorry, I'm just worried about him - and us. I'm scared, Vara."

"Good. That makes two of us." Vara laughed, making her ribs ache even more, then looked at me. "H-How about you, Korra? Scared, too?"

'Of course I am. You have no idea how much.'

»Fear? That's for prey.«

Somehow, they understood - or maybe they didn’t at all. Either way, they found it amusing, and I laughed along with them. Why resist? There was no point. They meant no ill will. Besides, I found my bestial urge to cling to my pride just as ridiculous, and even the beasts knew that shared hardships forged the pack stronger.

No doubt, that laughter represented our hardship, our pain, and the hopelessness of the situation. Yet, it was a good laugh. One that I needed - to stay strong.

"Harcon wants to talk to you, Grey," Elira said after a moment, handing me the Union Ring.

"You there?"

Just like before, I froze. Having someone else's voice in my head was just too weird - unnerving.

"Y-Yes?"

"We didn't get to finish our talk. The mind mage, the Cognizant, You said your former master worked for them, right?"

"Yes, he did."

"Who are 'they'?"

'Huh? What did he mean? Who else...?'

"The mind mages?"

"Fuck! So there's more of them? Have you met them?"

"Err... one more. Her mate. B-but she threatened to give me as a pet to her daughter. And she promised that deranged asshole, I mean my former master, that she would send more to help him when she ran away."

"Fuck me! That's what I was afraid of when I heard the title. They still function as an organization."

"I... guess. I mean, they were supplying the bastard with materials and slaves. She also mentioned that they have other alchemists working for them," I blurted out, straining my memory for any other details I could recall. The fire wielder didn’t seem to like the idea of a mind-mage organization. Good. He needed to know how things really stood.

"I see," he said, then paused for a moment. "And I assume Rayden knows all this."

"Yes."

"She used you as bait?"

He really used to be a former Master Guard.

"Yes."

"And you knew about it? Agreed to it?"

"Yes."

"Damn. You got guts. Not everyone would be willing to do that."

"What choice did I have when I had mind mages on my tail. Wait for them to catch me?"

"Good point. Which brings us back to the real question - why are they after you? What's so damn special about you? What made Deckard interested in you... ah, just a ruse, wasn't it? Rayden trying to push us. Clever move."

'Shit!' For whatever reason, I felt a little safer when they were afraid of the guy.

"I HAD arranged a lesson with him, you know."

"Of course you did. Otherwise, it wouldn't work. I wouldn't be surprised if he's still down in Fallen's Cry."

'Shit! Shit, shit, shit! Did that mean no one was coming?'

"On second thought, it's more likely that the ruse wasn't a ruse at all. Fuck! So that's her plan. She can't leave the city, so she sends her right hand after us."

'Right hand? What the fuck did that mean? And why was he telling me all this?'

"All the more curious to know what's so special about you?"

"A-and why the hell should I tell you?"

"Hell?” he paused at my choice of words. “Whatever - you want to know why? Because I don't fancy ending up a puppet of mind mages, brainwashed or not. If what you say is true - who am I kidding, we've already fallen into their game. Anyway, depending on what you tell me, I might be willing to help you."

'Oh, my G... what was it Vara always said? Ah, yeah - fuck my tits! It worked, I convinced him.' Elira was right all along. He really might have been our way out.