"Oh, Ivana. Didn't expect you to . . . be here," Zane said, trying to avoid her dark green eyes.

Zane and Mira slowly began walking up the stairs, to Ivana who stood there, her arms hanging down and her mouth twitching. When they reached the top of the stairs Ivana began hitting Zane who did nothing to defend himself.

"How dare you! How dare you! How dare you! Who allowed you to just leave like that!?" Ivana said, tears beginning to roll down her face and drop onto the floor.

Her hits became weaker and weaker until she sank to the ground.

"I'm sorry," Zane said.

"You think a simple sorry will fix everything!?" Ivana shouted.

"No . . ." Zane said.

"I loved you! I loved you! And you! You just leave me! You didn't even think about me when you left, did you!?" she shouted.

"I did . . . I just-" Zane began.

"I don't want to hear your excuses!" Ivana shouted.

She grabbed one of Zane's guns out of its holster and pointed it at him.

"I don't want to hear your excuses!" she repeated, louder than the first time.

"I was about to tell you that I didn't care," Zane said calmly.

The look on Ivana's face was terrible. As if she had just seen her entire family being killed in front of her.

"Why? Why? Why? Why? Wasn't our time together special? Was it my fault? Was I not good enough for you? Do you want more than just one woman? I'm fine with that, please just . . . just tell me that what you just said isn't the truth," Ivana said.

"Sorry . . ." Zane said as he grabbed the gun out of her hand and put it back into the holster.

Ivana stared down at the large door leading to the wedding hall. Shouting came from behind it. At that moment the door was thrown open and guards stormed out, following behind them many of the bodyguards, among them Veral, Igarem and Lovana.

Some friends you are . . . although for a hundred thousand gold coins . . . yeah I'd do the same.

Zane grabbed Mira's hand and began running, running out of the mansion, down the stairs, over the platform and down the ramp. They ran along the street, every guard and mercenary that saw them began running after them, shouting at them. While running Zane put a hand in one of his satchels and rummaged through it.

Where did I put it . . . ah there it is.

He grabbed a small ball and pulled it out of the satchel. It was a small dark grey ball with a button on it. Zane pressed the button and dropped the ball. As soon as he pressed it smoke began surrounding them, it spread throughout the entire main street, covering all of it in a cloud of thick smoke that completely blocked the vision of everyone there.

"What are you doing?" Mira asked.

"Trust me," Zane said.

He closed his eyes and began opening his mind up to perceive the aura around them. There it was, the presence of the witch along with the faint aura emanating from her ingredients. Zane almost perfectly turned around the corner leading to the witch's store, only slightly bumping his shoulder and just kept on running. They quickly reached the tree, which was in a place where the smoke didn't reach.

"What . . . what are we doing here?" Mira asked, out of breath.

"Just follow me," Zane said, looking down the alley they had just run through.

Really hope no one followed us here.

Zane took Mira by the hand again and led her into the witches store.

"Oh Zane, how can I he- Lady Vermillion," the witch said. "I'm terribly so-"

"Doesn't matter, open the tunnel," Zane said quickly.

"W-What?" she asked.

"The tunnel, you know what I mean, we need to get to Boriam," Zane said.

"Why do you want to flee, and with one of the Vermillions with you? Did you kidnap her?" the witch asked jokingly.

Zane drew one of his guns and aimed at the witch.

"Open the tunnel, now!" Zane demanded.

He saw the witch gasp. She slowly walked over to a dark door and opened it.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"F-Follow me," she said.

Zane led Mira into the room the witch had opened. It was a small storeroom with a large bookshelf at the back wall. The witch pulled one of the books out slightly and the bookshelf began moving to the side, revealing a stone tunnel lit by torches.

"Thanks," Zane said.

"Just as a warning someone entered just a short while ago . . ." the witch said.

Why would someone go there . . . the black market isn't open until next year . . . I have a bad feeling about this.

"Alright," Zane said. "And don't tell anyone about this . . . although you would probably be thrown into prison if they figured out that you kept a secret like this."

"Yeah, yeah I understand," the witch said.

"What is this tunnel?" Mira asked.

"Leads to the black market and the Boriam region, one of the best ways to get out of the city without anyone noticing," Zane said.

Mira nodded and Zane led her into the tunnel, the witch closed the hidden door behind them. It was dark, the torches hanging from the stone walls were only dimly lit.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Mira asked.

"I am, this tunnel is just like the one back in Alva," Zane said.

"And what is this about a black market? I've never heard of it," Mira said.

"Neither has Holvin since it still exists," Zane said. "Some members of your oh so great family are heavily involved with it."

"Can we please not talk about my family right now, I'm still trying to process what you idiot did back in the hall," Mira said.

"Right, sorry about that. But it felt really good, should have done that a while ago," Zane said.

For a while, they kept on walking through the long dark tunnel until they reached a massive open area, lit up by many sorcery crystals that were placed on beams, inside of lanterns hanging from the ceiling or just lying around the ground. It almost seemed like a city in a large chamber. Wooden buildings with small stands in front of them were stacked on top of one another all the way to the ceiling, connected with bridges and stairwells.

"Is this the black market?" Mira asked.

"Yep," Zane said as he led Mira through the narrow main path that led to an exit on the other side of the large chamber.

"How come no one is here?" Mira asked.

"The market isn't active right now. Usually opens on the first two and the fifth and the sixth month of the year," Zane said. For a second he began concentrating, again feeling all the presences around them. Somewhere to their right was a presence. "Never knew why tho. Also, there is someone here."

"S-Someone else? Where?" Mira asked.

"Right here little miss!" someone shouted at them.

Zane stepped back, dodging the sword that was swung at him from above.

"Hugo, how nice to meet you here," Zane said.

"Yeah, finally got out of prison. Told me I'd be a free man if I kill you and I'd get tons of money and any wife I want!" Hugo shouted as he lifted his greatsword up.

Guess this guy is incapable of learning.

Zane drew his katana and pointed it at Hugo who jumped at Zane, his greatsword over his head and ready to bring it down on Zane. Zane again channelled aura into his gauntlet and blocked Hugo's swing. Despite the sword being completely blocked by the air shield Hugo still managed to force him down by putting all of his weight behind the attack. Zane felt one of his knees hit the ground.

"Got you now Reaper!" Hugo shouted as he landed on the ground.

He pulled his sword as close to his body as he could and then thrust it forward. But again the sword was blocked by the air shield.

"What is this!?" Hugo yelled as he stepped back again.

Zane smiled at him as he got off the ground and began charging at Hugo. He tried to swing his greatsword at Zane again but with a quick strike of his katana, he repelled the sword, bringing Hugo out of balance. Zane used the opening to kick Hugo to the ground, put one foot on his chest and the tip of his katana against Hugo's throat.

"You know what, for old times sake I won't kill you, so fuck off!" Zane said as he stared down at Hugo who had a scared look on his face with tears already forming in the corner of his eyes.

"F-Fine, you win. B-But . . . don't think this is over!" Hugo said loudly.

"Yeah, yeah," Zane said as he took his foot off Hugo's chest and sheathed his katana.

As Hugo was about to stand up Zane stepped on the hand he held the greatsword with, causing him to let go. Then he kicked it as far away as he could. Hugo glared at him.

"What'd you do that f-" he began but Zane glared back, making him quiet down.

Hugo began running away from them, towards the tunnel that led back to the witch's shop.

"Are you okay?" Mira asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Zane said.

"Are you sure he won't tell on us?" Mira asked.

"The guy won't tell the guards about this place," Zane said. "He'd get all of the black market officials on his bad side, and in this city that's worse than a death sentence."

Zane and Mira continued walking down the main path towards the exit on the other side. Their shadows danced across the walls as they got closer and closer to their goal. The only noises in the large chamber were their breathing and the sound of their footsteps along with the occasional small rock they kicked away while walking. After a while, they reached the tunnel and went inside. The walls started to become mossy and a few small plants, some of which were glowing in the dark, grew out of cracks in the ground and ceiling.

It took them about an hour until they finally saw light, other than that coming from the torches hanging from the walls. They had reached the end of the tunnel and stepped out of it onto a high platform. A few trees with hanging leaves, similar to weeping trees, were growing at the edge of the platform, their leaves hanging down. Flowers were growing all over the ground and hanging between the platform they were on and another was a wide wooden suspension bridge, vines growing along the ropes that held it in place. The tunnel they had come out of had a small wooden roof above it which cast a shadow over them.

"Where are we?" Mira asked.

"Boriam Region," Zane said as he looked around.

"A-Are we save here?" Mira asked.

"Yup, there's no way any of the guards would find us here. And the ones who know about the tunnel aren't stupid enough to tell anyone about it," Zane said with a smile on his face as he breathed in the fresh air and listened to the wave crash against the cliffsides all around them.

The land around them looked as if someone had given a child a map and a pencil which the kid had used to randomly draw some lines on the map. Just that the map was the real world and that the lines were canyons, rivers at the bottom, steep stone walls on both sides with trees and other plants growing all over them. The platforms between the canyons were connected by bridges, some built by humanoids, others made by nature.

"Good," Mira said as she approached Zane, her long wedding dress dragging across the floor.

Once she had reached him she tried her best to get up to his face, but she couldn't.

"Would you lean down a little?" she requested.

"Why?" Zane asked with a confused look on his face.

"Just do it!" Mira said.

"Alright, fine," Zane said as he leaned down to her.

He suddenly felt pain on his left cheek. Mira had slapped him across the face, with tears running down her face.

"What the hell was that!?" she shouted.