I was lost in thought as we entered the waystation. There was no way they were going to let me go. I had to get away, and soon. I spent some time looking around as we entered. There was one worker at the desk as we came in. He was a man, no aura, even if I shouted for help and he believed me he'd just die, right before I did. There was a map though, and that was certainly useful.

This waystation was at a crossroads, each road heading very roughly in one of the cardinal directions, the north one went a bit east, the south a bit west. If I had to guess by the size of the dots the nearest decent sized cities would be north or west. That was a bit useful to know too. We were also quite far from my home, a week or two depending on conditions.

"Hello there sweetheart, how are you today?" The clerk had gotten the orders for the rooms, and turned when he saw me looking at the map.

"I'm alright I guess," I lied. I'd fixed up my face where I'd been punched, but if he could see under my sleeves he'd notice the rope burns that stood out bright and angry there. I could have easily healed those at any time, but they might be useful.

"First time staying at a waystation?" He could obviously tell I was a bit nervous, so I nodded. I didn't want to get this man's skull crushed.

The clerk patted my head before I left with the troop.

Lady Gwenna had a room to herself, of course, and a rotating guard through the night. The rest of us stayed in twos. I was placed with Jones, as he was supposed to be my father, but as he was attending 'Her Ladyship," Crusher and I were unpacking the room. I was glad to have a chance to talk to him. He wasn't particularly bright and might tell me something useful.

"Where are we going anyway?" I asked. I didn't really expect lots of info, but let's fish and see what we catch.

"Lady Gwenna's got a cousin or summat a bit west. Gonna stay wit' him." Now that was great to know. I knew where they were heading, and where I didn't want to go.

"How long till we get there?" I tried to make my best impression of 'Are we there yet?' to see if he'd tell me.

"Dunno, few days? Week? Cap'n will tell us when we get there." That was less useful information.

I pouted, quietly grabbing a few extra pillows and blankets as I formed up my plan.

Jones joined us a bit later, just as it was getting dark.

"Go to bed. I'll be just outside and the door will be locked. Knock if there's an emergency." He always took first watch. I guess he liked his beauty sleep.

"Yes sir." I said as I hopped into the bed, turning to the wall and pulling the covers up over me like a shawl.

I waited for a few minutes after I heard him close and lock the door before beginning.

Now, the thing about a cliche is, that it's only cliche to someone who's seen a hundred movies and T.V. shows. Would stuffing a bed with pillows and blankets have worked on anyone from Earth? Probably not, no. What about a knight from a magic fantasy land? I'd give it seventy-five, eighty percent tops. Those odds I'd take far better than mine if I stuck with them for even another day.

After a few minutes my bed stuffing looked... eh, passable, and I moved over to the window. Once I got it open I was forced to look down. Oof, it was going to be a ten or twelve foot fall easy. Stuffing my mouth with my hair so I didn't yell when I inevitably broke something I lowered myself out, dropping.

Ankle, it was my ankle that twisted sideways with a jolt. Note to self, do not try to land in future, let your legs buckle. It took me a few moments to stop breathing hard and hum a little tune to fix that up. Then I took a few more to use my old friend the movement spell to close the window.

Once I'd recovered a bit and caught my breath I began to run. The ground was soft and a bit muddy here from recent rain and I went straight for the southern path, pumping my legs as hard as I could against the smooth cobbled street. I went this way for a couple of minutes before stopping and looking behind myself. I checked to see if I had any footprints near me.

There were none. I sighed in relief and removed my slightly muddy shoes, chuckling a bit. Then I began to jog north. I could keep up a jog much, much longer than a flat out run, and hoped that those jerks would either take the bait, or not care enough to try and find me. I was a bit jumpy as I passed the waystation again, but there was nothing for it. I just had to hope that nobody saw me fleeing.

After about fifteen minutes I got my shoes back on. If they found me this far away I'd take the extra speed from having shoes over any semblance of stealth. I fled for the whole night, alternating jogging and walking, not sure how far I could make it.

I could tell that I was getting close to a village from the worked land. Much like that at home it was not being worked to its full potential. It was nearing dawn and I wanted to sleep. I also wanted not to encounter any people, just in case. I saw what looked like a hay barn and decided it wasn't getting better than that.

Hidden as best as I could manage, I began to take stock. I still had most of my stuff, save my belt knife. I was another day, perhaps two depending on the time I made from the city I'd seen. Would the noble girl's guards come after me? I doubted it. They might look a bit, but I just wasn't much of a threat. Sure, they'd have killed me to keep me from causing any future problems, but they had a job to do.

Reassured, I drifted off to sleep.

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Blood. There was blood everywhere. It was all over me, all over my hands. I could feel it, smell it. I looked up and saw the corpses strewn everywhere. A man with a sword loomed, raising the blade to strike.

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I awoke with a gasp. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as I sucked in air. Trembling I reached up to wipe the tears from my face as I tried to calm myself.

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For the first time in awhile now I had time to mull over my actions in Orsken. We had killed those men. Had we been provoked, certainly, but was there a better way to respond... I was unsure. I had taken a life for the first time. I could not undo that. There was no bringing them back; no returning to the past to try and find a new path.

I thought on that for a long, long time, but found little peace. It disturbed me to my core, and I never again wanted to walk down that path.

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While I sat and thought, I worked a few stitches out of my belt to free a few of my coins. I did this until the sun was fully set, then pulled myself up and returned to my run. All through the night I traveled. It was easy to follow the road, and I had all the supplies I needed through magic.

I made decent time, and as the dawn broke I saw the walls of the city. As I walked towards it I had a few other questions to answer. I needed to decide what to do now. It was likely I could find work here, and stay the winter. Or I could try to return home. What if I got home and there was nothing there though, or if our village was declared in revolt and I had to flee again?

By the time I made it to the gate I'd decided that I would spend the winter here. I could send a letter when the roads opened up in spring. At least I could get news of what had happened to my home.

The guard at the gate looked at me strangely, his eyes went up the road as I walked up. It was still early and the gates had apparently just opened.

"You alone kid?" That didn't seem like the standard question on who I was and what my business was.

"Um... yes."

"Where are your parents?" He seemed worried, that was nice at least.

"My dad got called by the kingdom to the war. My mom and I got separated."

He nodded. "You got family in the city then? Come to stay with an aunt or something?"

I shook my head. "No sir, but I need to find some shelter before the snows start."

He sighed, "Come with me." I was motioned into the gatehouse as the other guards took up his position.

I was a bit nervous as I was led in. The room was small, but had a table and some simple chairs.

"I'm not in trouble am I?" I asked.

The guard chuckled a bit at that, "No kid, we just gotta sort you out. Normally I'd offer you a bit of soup while you wait for me to get somebody, but things are a bit tight right now."

"Oh... okay." I had not considered this possibility.

I was unsure what was going to happen, but there were too many guards outside for me to just run off easily. I did faceplant into the table a few times. This would certainly be a massive headache.

It took a bit before a new guard led a woman in robes in. I easily recognized the medallion she was wearing. We both blinked as we recognized the auras surrounding each other.

"Greetings," she said, "I'm Abigail, what's your name?" She spoke so kindly, just like someone used to dealing with frightened children. Had I been a frightened child I imagine I would have been very relieved. Guess I'd just have to act a bit.

"Um... Alana, it's nice to meet you." I gave a nervous reply.

"Well Alana, I'm going to take you somewhere where you'll be safe until we can find your family okay?" She reached out a hand.

"I was... going to go and try to find some work in a tavern or something." I explained the gist of my plan to her, keeping my hands back.

"We can discuss that later." That sounded suspiciously like a 'no'.

I considered for a few moments the potential repercussions of telling her to take a hike. Then I got up and followed. I knew that at the very least I'd be safe if I went with her, and safe was something I'd not been too much recently. I pointedly didn't take her hand, which got me a scolding frown.

She took me through the city, called Istlan. It was very much like Hazelwood. We went up towards what I guessed would be the edge of the merchant's district, near the entertainment district. Until we came to a large gray building.

Unlike many of the temples and churches on Earth this place was almost austere. It could have been any public works building, save for the icons of shields on the doors and a small sign near the entrance. Once inside she took me over to a smallish hall and gave me a little bowl of thin soup.

"So, how did you come to Istlan Alana?" That seemed an innocuous question. It also gave me a good chance to badmouth the people who'd taken me from my home.

"I was kidnapped, and escaped."

"I don't suppose you've any proof?"

I undid the buttons keeping my sleeves in place and rolled them up. Her eyes furrowed deeply when she saw the rope burns from where I'd been bound for around a week.

"I would like to know who did this to you." Her voice sounded as if she were trying to contain her anger at this point.

"A group of soldiers. They wanted someone to heal them in case they got hurt."

"Were these men soldiers of the kingdom?"

"It sounded like they were in personal service to a noble." That much was the truth. I could tell it wasn't a truth that would make this woman happy though.

"Will you behave and eat your soup while I go and speak to some people?" Her voice was sickly sweet. Even I could tell that this was more of a command.

"I-I can do that." Something about the way she went from looking mad to looking almost saccharine made every hair on my neck stand up.

I did munch on the soup after she left, staying where I was as I'd been bid. It was some kind of light broth with barley and small chunks of vegetables. For a meal it would be considered quite poor, but there was a food shortage. I really liked it as it was a refreshing change from bread.

Abigail returned not too long after with two others. A male caster, who I assumed was another priest, and a woman. The woman was not a magic user, but had a matronly look about her. I had little doubt that she could organize any group to within an inch of their lives.

"This is Father Mannory and Gabbi. They work with me here and we'd like to hear your story from the beginning."