After exploring the city for hours, getting a view of important landmarks such as the lord’s palace and the Vestravan cathedral, Isaac decided to end his tour and return to the phantom. It was not something he was happy about, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Not that the thought of escaping the witch had not occurred to him, but he was not foolish enough to not know that the outcome of such an attempt would be disastrous. As the two of them were bonded, not only were her whereabouts clear to him but the opposite was true as well. No matter where he went, she need only pay attention to the bond in order to find him.

It was this act of paying attention to the bond over the last couple of hours that informed him that Sage had not been idle after their separation. She had been going all over town doing whatever; he did not care to know. It was probably something sinister that he would not be able to stop. In his current state, it would be wise to accept that there were certain acts he was unable to prevent where the witch was concerned. Knowing that fact did not make him feel better though.

He tracked the phantom’s presence to a tavern on the rich side of town; the undead witch was likely inside delighting herself in unnecessity. There was no need to enter and watch the spectacle, so he chose to stay outside and wait.

It was not long before Sage emerged. Her attire was different from the one she wore when they had parted. Instead of cotton clothes, she now wore leather ones; hide armour. She no longer donned the full facial mask but had replaced it with a leather type that left everything above her nose exposed.

Trailing her was the child Mylah looking completely different from the last time he had seen her. She wore actual clothes instead of rags; a woollen jersey with cotton shorts and hide boots on her feet. The phantom had actually done something to clean the child up; which was not that surprising if he thought about how the phantom always tried to avoid attention. Lugging a dirty child around was a definite eye-catcher.

“What brings you here Isaac?” she approached and asked him.

“Take a look at this,” he said to her, not bothering to beat around the bush.

He unfolded the sheet in his hands and showed it to her, making sure she could see it clearly.

The child next to her gasped, her eyes widening as she juggled them between the phantom and the paper. The person who the sheet concerned though, did not have too much of a reaction.

“Oh,” was all she said before turning away. “Is that all?”

“Is that al-” he cut himself off and looked around, making sure there were no pedestrians close by. After confirming it, he leaned in and whispered; “this is a wanted poster of you!”

All this did was make her shrug. “So? After the crap in Tiih, there’s no way they don’t have it out for me, especially the Sheans.”

Definitely the Sheans. If Isaac had not been consigned to his current fate, he would definitely have joined the Church in hunting her down. Unfortunately, it had not turned out that way. The most harm he could inflict upon the the witch was to sneer at her whilst wishing she met a horrible end in the near future.

“Besides,” Sage continued. “It’s not like they will be able to find me. I am a phantom. Tracking spells don’t work on me, divination is useless and even if I’m found I can simply disappear.”

So that was why she was not panicked? There was no way to catch her, Isaac did not know whether to feel disappointed or relieved.

“Where did you get this anyway?” she asked, snatching the paper from him. “I’ve been all over town and I’ve not seen one of these sheets.”

“The Mercenary Guild,” he responded softly, bracing himself. It was a shame he could not lie to her.

“And just what were you doing there?” she asked, her eyes narrowing in on him.

He took a deep breath, then released it, spotting chilly fog leaking through his visor. Luckily, it was still autumn and relatively hot. Out in the sun, the fog was not thick enough to be seen by anyone who was not in close proximity.

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

“I was returning the badges of the mercenaries who perished,” he replied before falling silent. Then he waited for her response.

It began with an intake similar to his own, though hers was done in conjunction with closing her eyes. When she released her non-chilly breath into her mask, her eyes viciously shot open and glared at him. The voice that came out of her mouth was measured, as if trying to determine whether to pounce or not.

“What, did you say was the cause of their deaths?”

“I told them I found their eaten corpses on the road, near the inn.”

This time she simply sighed before turning away. He spied her hands clench and unclench, dropping the paper to the ground. Although he could not see her eyes anymore, Mylah who had been trailing her could and from the child’s expression, it was not good. Or maybe the child was just jumpy; she definitely looked the type.

“I should have known you would do something like this the moment I left you to your own devices,” she said after a while, releasing a sigh. In a softer tone, she complained to no one in particular; “why is everyone I travel with a dumbass?”

Surprisingly, after saying this, no more words left the phantom’s mouth as she began to walk away; with Mylah panickily looking between the two of them, trying to decide whether to follow Sage or stay with him. He made her choice easy by rushing after the phantom.

“What are you going to do?” he asked, though hesitant to hear the answer.

She paused to look at him. “I’m not going to destroy the Guild if that’s what you think. There’s nothing to gain from doing something so stupid, especially since they don’t know anything yet. However, it won’t stay the same for long. Once they get to the burned-down inn and investigate the scene, they will immediately know that you’ve fed them a load of bullshit and come after you.” Another pause, then; “why the fuck did you have to do something so idiotic Isaac?”

“The deaths of those people had to be reported,” he replied. “It would leave a terrible taste in my mouth knowing that somewhere out there, their families were anxiously awaiting their return. The sooner those families are informed of their kin’s tragic fate, the better sooner they can mourn and heal.” He looked down at Mylah, seeing that she was not truly paying attention, before returning to the phantom and continuing. “Everyone who died in that nightmarish inn deserves to be honoured.”

“I fucking honoured them by burning their corpses!” Sage hissed, a little too loud. She looked around to make sure there were no eavesdroppers before turning back to him. “That’s how Vestravans send off their dead!” She paused and took another breath before exhaling and resuming. “Couldn’t you have just stayed your hand and left it to fate? Someone would have eventually walked that road and found the smouldered remains of the inn. After that they would have made their own conclusions… which would not have involved you!”

“I-” he wanted to say something but got cut off.

“Save it, I don’t care anymore.” Then she resumed her march.

The finality in her tone brought an involuntary sneer out of him as he followed her; the little girl breaking into a short bursts every five seconds to keep up. After minutes of silence in which their destination remained ubiquitous, he decided he had had enough of it and posed a question.

“Where are we going?”

The phantom harrumphed, but she did not deny a response. “You putting yourself in the crosshairs of the Guild ultimately shines a spotlight upon me. Since that’s the case, I’m going to get all my affairs in order so I can fuck out this city before the mercenaries the Guild likely sent out by now, return.”

“Is there a need to rush?” he asked. “The journey by regular horse takes a couple of days. Even if they leave today, it will take them at least five days to make a full trip and back.”

“That would usually be the case,” the last word was said pointedly. “But, one can never be too sure. The Mercenary Guild will definitely send out their fastest party, who might or might not have faster means of transportation. Maybe that party has a secret senior mage capable of using [Teleport]. Perhaps they have already gone and come back and are currently delivering their report. Either way, I’m not sticking around to find out.”

With that, the phantom led them around town to all sorts of stores. Bookshops, where she bargained her non-magic books for new ones; a weaponshop, where she picked out a shortsword and buckler for herself; and finally a clothing store. The last one, instead of entering it, she turned to him and gave him a fistful of gold and silver.

“You can’t be seen in that armour anymore,” she told him. “Get yourself some normal attire. Meanwhile, I think I saw something that can cover your eyes without arousing suspicion. I’ll retrace my steps and go get it.”

Then she pushed the child towards him and was gone.

Isaac was no fashion specialist; it only took him a little over a dozen minutes to pick out his clothes and leave the shop, grabbing Mylah’s hand and leading her in the process. The two of them were on their way to back to the inn when the phantom caught up to them.

“You’re finished right?” she asked, her eyes on the pile in his hand. She did not wait for a response. “Great, we’re done with this place. Follow me.”

As usual, Isaac was unable to disobey while his legs carried him in her direction. She led the them into an abandoned alley, where she grabbed their shoulders and cast a spell. The world turned dark for a moment. When it was bright again, Isaac found himself surrounded by dying straw, with the city of Rupheus in the distance. He did not get a chance to react to the annoying cat jumping out of Sage’s shadow and landing on her shoulder; at that moment he was distracted by the sight of the phantom’s shadow enlarging and expelling a carriage.

While reaching over her shoulder to scratch the cat, the witch’s eyes fell upon him.

“Call your horse.”