I skidded across the loose clay tiles, my heart pounding as I vaulted onto another low rooftop. Shouts echoed from the alley behind me, punctuated by the clank of armor. Guard 2 and Guard 3—finally free from the collapse of canvas I’d caused earlier—were giving chase. The sun’s last rays bathed the sandstone city in a fiery glow, turning every roof and wall into a patchwork of flickering shadows.

My lungs burned. Behind me, one of the guards shouted for reinforcements, his voice ragged but determined. I risked a glance over my shoulder: they were closing in. One slip, one misstep, and I’d be at their mercy in the cramped streets below.

“Why couldn’t they have just stayed tangled up?” I muttered through gritted teeth.

{Hardly their style,} Aurentum’s voice answered in my mind—calm, resonant, and maddeningly unruffled. {But it bought you time, did it not?}

I didn’t bother replying. Instead, I rushed toward a rickety scaffold leaning against a taller building, debris from half-finished renovations littering its base. The boards creaked underfoot, and for a moment, I thought they might give way entirely. But they held. I took the risk, ascending quickly.

Below, Guard 2 pointed, calling out my position. Guard 3 kicked aside a broken ladder to clear a path. Within seconds, they were following me up, their weapons clinking against the wooden supports.

{They are determined,} Aurentum observed. His obsidian crystal form hovered just above my shoulder, flickering with subdued luminescence. {You cannot simply outrun them forever. Turn this environment to your advantage. Disrupt them. Make them hesitate.}

“Yeah, I got it,” I hissed, trying to keep my voice down.

Reaching the top of the scaffold, I crouched low, drawing an arrow from my quiver. My arms ached from the day’s exertions—bowstring after bowstring, shot after shot—but I couldn’t afford to rest. Not with the guards practically breathing down my neck.

A gust of wind rattled the scaffold, sending dust swirling into the twilight sky. The city sprawled around me in a confusion of rooftops, market stalls, and winding alleys. Distant torches flickered, and the mingled scent of cooking fires and desert spice rolled in the breeze.

{Steady yourself,} Aurentum intoned as I nocked an arrow. {This shot should serve more than just injury—it should create chaos. Cause them to pause, to doubt. That hesitation might be all you need.}

I let my breath out slowly and peeked over the edge. Guard 2 was already halfway up the scaffold, and Guard 3 had paused to circle around from another angle, no doubt planning to flank me. Time was short.

I drew the bowstring back, aiming at a stack of old clay pots near the guards. If I could crack a few, the tumbling shards might buy me a precious second or two. With a silent prayer, I released the arrow. It flew true, striking the pots in a resounding crash of shattered ceramic. Fragments exploded across the planks, and Guard 2 flinched back, arms raised to shield his face.

{Not the most elegant tactic,} Aurentum remarked, a faint edge to his mental voice, {but it serves. Now, move.}

Taking that advice, I darted across the rooftop’s edge. A large wrought-iron bell tower loomed ahead—once a proud landmark of the district, now half-crumbling from neglect. The wind whistled through gaping cracks in its masonry. If I could reach that vantage, maybe I’d have a higher ground to fire from—or at least a place to breathe for a moment.

But even as I sprinted for the tower, a hiss of air near my cheek told me I’d been spotted. An arrow clattered off a worn chimney to my right, sending sparks and chipped stone tumbling away.

My stomach twisted. “They’re not giving me any room, are they?”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

{Then stop running,} Aurentum chided. {Stand and fight, or create a barrier. Anything but sprinting in a straight line. You’re becoming predictable.}

I ground my teeth. He wasn’t wrong. Halting near a sagging wooden beam, I slid behind an ancient gargoyle—one of many that ringed the bell tower’s perimeter—using its grotesque snout as cover. Through the corner of my eye, I saw Guard 3 leaping between rooftops, sword in hand. Guard 2 was right behind, flexing his injured shoulder. Neither looked eager to retreat.

“How many arrows left?” I mumbled, checking my quiver. I grimaced. Not enough.

{Then make each shot count,} Aurentum replied.

No time for another plan. Guard 3 advanced faster than I’d expected, weaving across the rooftop with surprising agility. I nocked an arrow and loosed it hastily. It nicked his upper arm, drawing a hiss of pain—but not enough to drop him. He ducked behind a low parapet, returning fire with a quick slash of his shortbow. His arrow clanked off the gargoyle’s weathered stone, inches from my face.

I swore under my breath. Another miss on my part. I was dangerously low on stamina and couldn't use aim yet. Another reminder of how close I was to failing.

The scaffolding behind me shuddered, and I realized Guard 2 was clambering up the bell tower’s outer ledge, trying to come at me from above. If I stayed pinned down, I’d be flanked.

{Do something,} Aurentum urged, his telepathic tone verging on impatience. {Your indecision is dangerously close to surrender.}

Snapping out of my paralysis, I launched myself away from the gargoyle and scrambled up a set of crumbling stairs toward the tower’s belfry level. Above, I could see the weathered brass bell swaying gently in the night breeze. Maybe I could use it as a distraction—or at least put some distance between me and the guards.

My boots slipped on cracked mortar, and I nearly fell. Catching my balance at the last second, I continued upward until I reached a narrow balcony that ringed the tower’s top. The vantage gave me a commanding view of the city: flickering lights stretched into the distance, and the faint cry of a muezzin floated across the rooftops.

I hazarded a look back. Guard 2 was mere steps below, scaling the last rung of a broken ladder. Guard 3 stood on a lower rooftop, leveling a drawn arrow at me.

{They have you triangulated,} Aurentum noted. {Break their formation. And quickly.}

“Easy for you to say,” I muttered, lungs burning.

I fumbled at my belt pouch and withdrew a small vial of Blaze—the same illicit powder I’d sworn I’d never use. But the city watch wasn’t giving me a choice. With practiced haste, I dipped a few arrowheads into the powder, then stowed the vial. A potent hiss of energy clung to the arrow tips, swirling in faint embers of orange light.

Just then, Guard 3 let his arrow fly. I barely managed to duck; it whistled over my head, lodging into the wooden railing behind me. The next shot would be fatal if I stayed in one place.

“Time to improvise,” I whispered.

I leapt behind the rotting beam that supported the bell’s ancient pulley system. With a quick motion, I notched a Blaze-coated arrow and aimed downward at Guard 2, who was hauling himself over the final ledge. My arms trembled from fatigue, but I couldn’t hesitate now.

I released. The arrow sang through the air, striking Guard 2’s arm. Blaze ignited on impact, flaring in a bright, searing glow. He howled, losing his grip on the ledge. For a moment, he dangled, face contorted in agony. Then he fell, clattering onto a lower scaffold in a cloud of splintered wood and dust.

Guard 2 defeated. There was a deafening explosion as the blaze ignited the corpse. The flames lit up the night sky.

{One down,} Aurentum remarked, that familiar condescending note in his voice. {But do hurry; the other is—}

A shape darted in my peripheral vision. Guard 3 had abandoned his bow for a short sword and was sprinting up the belfry steps to close the distance. I had seconds—maybe less.

I nocked another Blaze-tipped arrow and pivoted around the beam. Guard 3 saw the glimmer of the arrowhead too late. He lunged, but his momentum worked against him. My shot slammed into his

Chest plate, lodging itself under a leather seam. Blaze hissed, releasing a tendril of scorching heat. He staggered with a guttural cry, sliding down the last few steps until he sprawled on the balcony floor.

I stood there, panting, arms shaking with effort. Had I done it? Had I finally taken them down? Guard 2’s moans rose faintly from below, and Guard 3 wasn’t moving much besides ragged breaths. Even so, I knew reinforcements could arrive at any moment. There was no message from aurentum which confused me so I stared at the unmoving guard, uncertain.

{You should leave. Now,} Aurentum’s mental voice cut through, no longer holding the haughty veneer. {Unless you fancy being surrounded at sunrise.}

“Agreed,” I wheezed.

But before I could move, the night sky rippled with a strange hum. A glowing orb—roughly the size of a man’s head—descended, trailing faint arcs of bluish energy that crackled in the air. My heart sank. It was a memory core, shimmering like a caged thunderstorm. Its presence always spelled complications.

Aurentum’s crystal edges flickered in response, as though drawn by an unseen force.

“No,” I whispered, voice catching in my throat. “Not now… not now!”