When the sun rose Kaylee was already awake. Even so, she did not get out of bed. Time passed and the flaming sphere climbed altitude but she never got out from underneath the blankets. One of the inn girls brought her a bowl of porridge for breakfast, which she chowed down before jumping back into bed. She did not feel like going out.

The reason had nothing to do with her health. She was feeling as healthy as always. Well, body-wise anyway. Her mind was not in the best state, therefore she was pretty unwilling.

It was after the undead left her that the full realisation of where she was hit her.

Yshta was the city she was born in, the city she grew up in and the city where her family lived. Yet, as she had looked around she had not felt a fraction of the warmth she usually did in Tiih. It was a completely different feeling from how others felt when they described returning to their birthplace.

She hated this city.

Now that she was alone she no longer felt the need to explore. She did not want to get reacquainted with this place. She did not want to know its people. And she definitely did not feel like doing what she had actually told her friends she would be doing in Yshta when she announced she would be taking a break.

Why did I come here? She asked herself for the millionth time.

Having already told her friends a lie, why had she felt the need to come to this city even though it was the last place in the world she wanted to be? The mere thought of being in Yshta drained her of all the energy and enthusiasm she had, which- for a while now- had not been much to begin with. At the moment her biggest wish was for her to wake up and realise everything had been a dream; or rather, a nightmare. While lying in bed she had lost count of how many times she had expressed regret for coming to this place.

Next time I meet that undead I’ll wring enough money out of her to leave this hellhole, she decided.

The frustration of having to deal with Sage must have addled her brain because it was only in her absence that Kaylee had finally realised just how much she loathed being here. On their journey to this city the feeling had not been so obvious. However, at the moment as she lay in bed she could not stop long-buried unpleasant memories from surfacing.

Laughter, mockery, disdain; the painful recollections assaulted her as she hid beneath the covers. Jeering cries echoed her ears as she remembered sneering faces and condescending eyes. To avoid any more bad memories from coming through she threw off her blanket and sat up on the bed, aware of the faint trickle a sweat that ran from her temple to her forehead.

Why are these memories only coming back now? She wondered.

So much time had passed since then. In the four years that she had been away from Yshta the memories had not plagued her once. So why was it that when she returned here they suddenly resurfaced?

The last thing she wanted at this moment, or any other, was to think about it. So when she realised she was doing just that she backtracked her thought process and shook her head. Then, she finally stood up from the bed. If she stayed in here she would be powerless to stop the unwanted memories and thoughts from coming. The best way to prevent herself from falling into the same routine was to keep herself occupied.

With what though? She thought while she freshened up and put her clothes on.

There was honestly nothing she was interested in doing in Yshta. If she were still in Tiih and her relationship with her friends was not strained she would have gone looking for them or gone to the Mercenary Guild to mingle with acquaintances. However, in this city she had no friends and those she was acquainted with she had no desire to meet; which was why she was going to avoid every place where she stood a chance of meeting someone who might recognise her. So the Brown and Grey districts were the only ones she could stick to.

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Before that though; she went down to the common room and bought herself a huge mug of ale before settling at one of the few empty tables and gulping her drink slowly. Even though it was a ways from night, the place was pretty much filled and the alcohol flowed. Laughter echoed across the tables- the joyous kind- not the unpleasant kind from her memories.

“Dammit!” She swore as she took a long draft from her mug.

Why did she have think about it at such a moment?

Trying to distract herself, she drained another mouthful and tried to listen to what was being said. After all, inns and taverns were the second best places if one wanted to hear the best and latest rumours. The only place that was superior to them in this aspect were the brothels; or so she heard. She never stayed in one long enough to confirm, although the previous night’s escapade was further proof of it.

None of the rumours she heard while seated at the table were of particular significance.

A famous playwright from Methos was in town; Kaylee could not bring herself to care one bit for this. She hated stage plays, the way they twisted narratives and beautified ugly acts.

Tensions were rising once again between Ysh and Lethia; she snorted at this. It was nothing new.

The Grand Court Mage had left the country to visit the neighbouring kingdom of Vian; she honestly did not care.

Young Lady Janeth Krayce was pregnant and the father of her child is suspected to be one of the guards of her family’s compound; this piece of news she took with ecstasy.

Good, she thought venomously. I never liked that bitch. Heh! The situation must be quite embarrassing for Count Krayce and his wife. Serves those pompous arses right!

Her heart went out to the one responsible for Jeneth’s pregnancy though. Chances were he was a corpse in a ditch somewhere now.

Other rumours she heard were too unimportant to take note of, although some of the people discussing at various tables took notice of her and sent invitations her way. Needless to say she declined them all.

After finishing her mug she ordered another one and continued to drinking, thinking maybe she should stay here and keep downing mugs instead of going out to do Gods-knew-what.

Or maybe I can go hustle more money from that undead bitch, she thought.

Maybe it was because she was now on her sixth mug that such a thought entered her mind easily. Also, the common room floor was tilting in a weird way and somehow the chairs, tables and people on it were not affected.

Her head felt lighter, as if it was floating in the clouds; a completely different feeling from the rest on her body which felt like it had increased in weight. Raising her mug to her lips now felt like a difficult task. In the process of doing so some of the contents of her drink spilled out and landed on her lap. The sight of her black leather pants’ stained crotch brought about a cackle from her.

“I look like I pissed myself,” she said to no one in particular, before bursting into laughs again.

She tried to get up from her seat, but a body that felt like it had been dumped into a river with rocks tied to it was not easy to control. She tripped and would have fallen to the floor if not for a hand that came out of nowhere and grabbed her waist. A second hand similar to the first roamed around her shoulders and, with the help of the first hand, steadied her.

“Are you okay Miss?” the concerned voice of the man who caught her asked.

Kaylee’s eyes darted to him. A young man in his twenties, above average looks; wearing a twisted smile that clarified the mockery in his eyes… just like Thelma, Elmer and Greggo; those fucking pieces of shit!

“Fuck off!” she screamed, shoving the bastard away with all her strength.

A crashing sound echoed the common room but she could not be bothered with it. Right now she had to get to the bitch with the stitches. She would wring the undead harlot’s neck until the she gave her all the coin she had. Then she would leave this piece of shit city and never look back!

She stumbled out the inn and was met with the sight of a darkening sky, not that she cared about the time of day. Her eyes darted in a certain direction and she could not help but smile widely.

“There you are you crooked bitch!” she hissed softly.

Thus she began her stumbling journey to her destination.

The experience was writhe with bastards and bitches with twisted expressions trying to cut her journey short by offering poisonous aid. She shooed them away with stern refusals, sometimes using fists for those who just could not get the message.

Finally, after stumbling through countless streets and alleys she was there. She could feel the bitch. All she had to do was pass through one more alley and she would be there. Just a few more minutes and she would be able to experience the satisfying feeling of her hands around the undead’s scarred neck. All she had to do was enter the alley. And that was just what she did.

She found the young girl seated at what looked like an outdoor restaurant with a plate of meat next to her. But she was engrossed in one of her books instead of the meat, allowing her Familiar to sample the dish instead. Not that any of it mattered to Kaylee. She was just glad that she had found the undead.

And so she charged forth.