"Around about seven years ago, the Aku'andans invented a spell locator." General Makon said. as they walked down the dark and abandoned street. "I was one of the first people to read the paper when it came out. It basically allows you to locate anyone in hiding, if they cast a spell. They just pop up like a bright spot on a map you've imbued with the spell."

Roe was astonished.

"The spell was incredibly complicated and difficult, like most spells of its kind, it was a field spell, you see. do you know what that is?"

Roe shook her head. "I've heard of it once or twice, but I don't really know what it is."

"yeah, just know it was complex, and it wouldn't work under a spell dampener anyway." General Makon said. "But..."

"But what?" Roe asked.

"I can't shake the feeling that Ganz has a spell that can do it under a spell dampener, or something." He said. "That's why I don't want to cast a spell. I'm too weak to fight, I don't even have many attack spells, and I can't even run because I have to take care of you. I cannot risk anything."

"So we have to go without magic?" Roe asked.

"for now, yes."

"I'm sure many people have been trying to reach you." Roe said.

"It's best they think me dead for now." Makon replied. "I underestimated Ganz only once and paid dearly for it."

"What did he do?" Roe asked.

"He crushed five ribs in my left chest." he replied. Roe's eyes widened in shock.

"yes, it still hurts." He said.

"Sorry." She said, looking at his barrel sized chest. it was covered in clothes, of course, but it seemed fine to her.

"How do we leave here though?" She asked. "Odan has tall walls all around."

"We will climb the walls." he replied.

"you're going to climb a three meter tall wall at this size?" She asked incredulously. "Also my arm is broken, I can't climb!" he chuckled.

"Just relax. let's get to the wall first." he said.

They walked for about 2 more hours, which was slightly longer than they should have, because they avoided city areas with activity, sticking to the shadows and lonely places.

Odan was a unique city in this regard, it had once been a large and densely populated city, but it had since lost up to half of its population as they went to other cities and even kingdoms for opportunities, and those left had moved towards the city center, so the outskirts of Odan were often filled with empty buildings and stretches of land that felt eerie at times.

There weren't even criminals here, there was nobody to steal from.

After a while, they arrived at the wall. it loomed over them, Makon walked close to the wall and observed it for a while, then he moved slightly to the left and used his fingers to pull out a loose piece of stone from the wall. He pulled out another piece of stone a bit higher up, and did that over and over, until he had a neat column of stones that could act as climbing holds that popped out just a bit from the wall.

"Those don't... look stable." Roe said, with a concerned look on her face.

"Haha, then we should probably not spend too long on them eh?" He replied. "Now, I'm going to piggy back you."

"I only have one arm, how am I going to grab on?" She asked.

"Use your one arm and your legs. hold on like your life depends on it." He replied.

She looked at him with a sour face for a few seconds then sighed. The crouched and she got on his back and held on tight, realizing just how ripped he really was under those clothes.

He stood up, and casting away the feeling of the two breasts on his back, took a deep breath, ran towards the wall and grabbed on to the holds and launched himself up as fast as he could. grabbing on to the battlements, he pulled himself and her up to the top of the wall, she dismounted and they both caught their breaths.

"You're probably the only Mage alive that could have done that." She remarked. "By the way who put those stones there?"

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"The holds? Those were from some criminals we caught a few months ago. They were trafficking some.... dangerous substances." He replied. "They built a whole infrastructure to scale the walls. We had everything else removed, but I found this one kind of interesting, so I had it left behind. Lucky me."

"Yeah, lucky us."

"Now we just have to figure out a way to get down on the other side." He said. "There are no holds on the other side."

"What? so how are we going to do it?" Roe asked.

"I'm thinking of jumping down." He replied. Her eyes widened in shock.

"Are you crazy? that's a three meter drop! even if you could do it with your freakish body, I will absolutely break every bone in my body!"

"Relax Roe," Makon said. "I will hang down from the battlements on the other side first, then it will only be a meter high drop."

"That's still too high!" Roe whined. "What if I fall off when you land? or what if I land on my butt?"

Makon thought for a moment. "Okay what If I go first, and then I grab you leg first and put you on the ground."

"Will your hands even reach that high?" She asked.

"Possibly." he shrugged. "Let's try it."

"Okay..." She said.

Makon then got down from the other side of the battlements, hanging down first, then releasing his hold and landing down. Then he stretched his arms up. They reached just high enough for her feet to step on.

"It's too far!" She cried.

"You can do this, Roe!" he encouraged.

"Noo this is terrible idea...." she squeaked, even as she lowered her self down further and further. he grabbed her ankle.

"Oh shit! Oh shit!" she cried in fear. her one hand lost its grip and she fell off screaming. he grabbed her falling body and stabilized it, lowering her slowly on to the ground.

"Oh shit! I survived." she gasped, Then she noticed the general grabbing his left chest and wincing.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I pushed myself too far" he replied. "Anyway that's all over now, it's astonishing how easy life was with magic."

"Thanks for getting me out." She said. "But what do we do when I heal? My source of income is destroyed."

"You were making money from street racing?" He asked.

"From transport!" she objected. "My hovercoach is bust! those things are pretty expensive, you know?"

"I'll get you another one." Makon said. "Only a standard version though, not the kind that can turn into monster carriages."

"Well obviously they don't sell those. I'm a tinkerer."

"Wait, you made that?" Makon asked, a shocked expression on his face.

"Yep! it was originally a fifth edition Blue beetle" she said with a large grin.

"you turned a blue beetle into that? by yourself?" He asked, wide eyed.

"yea." she said. He looked at her in awe for a few seconds.

"Well, hmmm. Alright." he said eventually. "let's go."

They walked away from the city and into the forest. According to Makon, they could walk about 2 miles and link up with a road that led directly to the capital of Navon, a city which was called Kamado. He planned to hitch a ride. They walked in silence for the first mile through the forest, that buzzed with life, insects chirping, a few birds still singing in the night, and a couple of frogs singing. The flies were also active, and with one of her arms in a sling, fending them away was not easy.

Eventually she got bored and struck conversation.

"So, can I call you by your first name?" She asked. He stopped abruptly and looked at her.

She shrunk away. "I'm sorry...General" she squeaked. He laughed.

"How were you such an active criminal when you're this much of a coward?" he asked.

"Look I'm just very vulnerable right now okay?" she protested "Why don't you try walking in an unknown forest with a broken arm and some guy who's... a foot taller than you!"

"I'm more than a foot taller." He said. She shrugged with her one good arm. "That's exactly my point."

He took a deep breath. "No, you can't call me Rubric. It's a name only my mum called me before she died. Only my future wife will ever get to call me that once more."

"Oh wow we got a romantic over here." She laughed.

"I am a man of strong passions." He said in response.

They walked a couple of feet further in silence.

"Hey I hope you don't mind me asking, but who is Ganz exactly?" She asked.

Makon took a deep breath. "Who is Ganz indeed. I wish I knew."

Roe laughed. "What do you mean? the man is clearly an Elite Mage, you people have records right? can't you just check if there's any missing mage or something?"

"He's not an Elite Mage." Makon replied. "He has a Pirun accent, that much is clear, but he has no pedigree of any kind. His name is not even a real name. He claims his name is 'Ganz Lara' but 'Lara' is a woman's first name, and 'Ganz' appears to be some perversion of Gan."

"So nobody knows where he's from?" She asked incredulously.

"No one that I know of." He replied.

"But he has elite mages helping him?" She asked.

"Neither Ganz nor his minions have any footprint we could trace." He said. "I found it extremely disturbing, which is why I wanted him out of Pirun as soon as possible."

"So what are you going to do about him?" She asked.

"Finish what I started." He said. "I will either break that demon's neck or run a long sharp object through his heart. He must pay for his crimes."

"Wow..." She said.

"That will happen eventually, but first I must figure out how to evade him." He continued. "He is clearly after my head as well, may the best man win."

Roe exhaled. "Wow, You warfare mages sound intense."

"Maybe us Sungans... You should see the Aku'andans." He spat. "They literally sent spies to watch us when they should have been helping us win the war, And even when we won they criticized us and tried to block us, disgusting."

"Maybe the Aku'andans are sponsoring Ganz?" Roe suggested. "maybe they're behind it and this is just a plot to reform the old empire with themselves at the helm?"

Makon seemed to consider it for a few minutes.

"Well, isn't that something to think about." he said quietly. "There's a possibility, it's unlikely, but you raise a good point."

he paused looked up at the night sky and then sighed. "Now I have to hide from them too. Bloody hell."

The rest of the night wasn't every eventful, they soon came in view of the road, and then camped in the forest next to it.

Roe fell asleep under the starry sky. When she woke up few hours later, she was already in a hovercoach headed for Kamado, with Makon seated right next to her, the light streaking in through the coach windows from the early sunrise, and the dull pain in her arm caused her to wince.

"You sleep like a log." He said, offering her some dried beef.