He came out of the tavern and saw a person walking in an unstable fashion. Something kept Aile's attention on her as she walked towards Siren's Song. She looked familiar, after analyzing her, he noticed it was Hazel. She had lost her beautiful countenance. Her purple eyes were dim, while her hair was dishevelled, and there was a blood trail coming out of her upper left waist. The same area as Sara was holding before she passed out.
Aile approached her and said curiously, "Are you ok?" Obviously, she was not, but he did not know what to say to her at this time.
Hazel looked at Aile with eyes full of worry and said, "Sara... Is she ok?"
"She is fine, what happened?"
"We need to get out of here, we cannot trust anyone..."
Cough
Cough
"I will find a healer for both of you!"
"No, we need to leave now. Do not trust anyone? If you can save Sara, I promise you anything you want."
"But Sara... She is in pain! How can I let her remain like that."
"She will be fine as long as I am alive."
Cough
Splat
She vomited some blood.
She became weak, Aile carried her inside the other tavern. Laila and Leia became scared, seeing Hazel like that. Aile opened up her clothes and applied the healing cream on her wound and then told Leia to quickly check if she has another injury as he left for Siren's Song.
He sighed if he had listened to his senses, this would not happen. It seems someone is making their move. He went to Siren's Song and put fire gather runes in each one of their rooms. If anyone opened their doors, then it would be triggered; creating a fire.
He also went to Hazel's room and did a quick search not to leave anything behind. Then he left the tavern with a change of clothes for Hazel. Her clothes were full of holes and damaged, it seemed she had been in a fight.
He came back, and with the help of Leia applied one whole jar of healing cream on Hazel then changed her clothes. She and Sara both calmed down. She opened her eyes and asked, "Where are we?"
"A safe place for now."
"We are leaving now."
Hazle blushed, "You changed my clothes?"
Aile just nodded at her, then said to Laila, "Get on my back."
"What?"
"I will give you a piggyback, get on my back."
"Ok."
Laila got on his back while he carried Hazel in a princess carry.
Leia made Sara stand then put her hand around her shoulder and carried her downstairs.
There the two mounts were available. Aile helped Sara, Leia and Sara on the first mount.
Aile then put Hazel on the second mount and then put the stuff that they will need for travelling behind his mount. He then rode with Hazel.
They left calmly to not attract unnecessary attention. However, the fact that three people were riding one mount in the inner town made them quite unique. After all, only rich people stay here, and only a maximum of two people would ride in that case.
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They were not too far away when they saw smoke rise behind them. Aile knew that someone opened their rooms in Siren's Song. He only hoped that it was not Jake.
He did not have enough time to wait for him. He left a message for him at the barn where he put the two mount yesterday, that something was wrong and they would be journeying out of town.
They moved towards one of the exits and realized that there were a lot more guards there guarding the gate. Although it seemed that the majority of them were observing the outside for something. It still was not a good sign to Aile.
He thought of how to get out. He looked around and noticed that the area seemed familiar. While he was planting the fire runes around the town, there were a few compromising places here.
He then told Leia, who was sitting at the front guiding the mount to wait here. He got into the alleys close by and came back in a few minutes.
Then four fires started once Aile got back to his mount. They went towards the gate.
The guards looked back and saw the fires and a lot of them scrambled, and each group rushed towards the directions of the smoke. Leaving only two guards to guard the gate.
Aile, with a calm expression, went to the gate and told them that they were leaving as the princess's birthday celebration was over. They got out, and after a minute they heard, "Stop!"
Aile shouted at Leia, "Rush ahead." Leia made the mount go faster, and Aile brought his mount behind hers. Making them less of a target from far away.
Behind was a few tall creatures somewhat resembling a camel, only they ran very fast. Aile leaned to the side and opened a pouch. It was full of sharp-edged stones.
Once in a while, he would throw a few stones back at them. He managed to hit one of their mounts, making it lag behind. Like this, the chase continued for a while, and Aile noticed that their mounts were getting tired. After all, they were carrying more weight.
Aile then told Leia, "You guys carry on, I will catch up. Catch this!"
He threw a rope to tie the two mounts together.
Leia failed to catch it in the first attempt.
But somehow it was caught by Laila. The mounts were tied, he then took some of the ropes and put it around Hazel. She was knocked out at some point, the ropes stopped her from falling as Aile was not there to hold her in place.
Aile was not worried that he would lose Leia and the others. He had given her instruction of which direction to go beforehand and gave the three distinct locations that she should rest at before nightfall. Thus after dealing with these people, Aile planned to catch up with them.
Of course, he could catch up to them easily if he used his cultivation, he was now at the peak of the 2nd level. It would have been better if they met with these people in the afternoon. This is because Aile believed he can collect enough energy to be considered a 3rd level practitioner by then. But life does not wait for people.
With the blade in his hand, he jumped from behind the mount. Of the 6 people that followed them, 3 of their mounts were ahead of their pact. As soon as they got close enough to Aile, he threw a stone at the head of their mounts, injuring them and making them fall down.
As they were very close now, Aile could accurately hit them in the eyes. This way, even if the mounts were not fatally injured, an injury to its eye will make it unable to chase at top speed. Then the other three arrived. He did the same, now all of them were dismounted.
After all the mounts heavily rely on their eyes. Once their sight was imperilled, they would not function properly. Then the 6 people angrily got up and looked with a lot of hostility towards Aile. They were dressed in a stripped green-yellow camouflage like clothing. Their faces were covered with a mask. Aile was not in a position to fight them 1 against 6.
They seemed to have a few third level practitioners, and one of them, he was not sure he could defeat even if he was alone. He was close to the 4th stage of cultivation.
Aile then held his blade into his hand, it all depended on his skill with it now. He wondered if he can get out of here. He was prepared but 6 people at the same time were just too many.
It was a classic standoff. At one side stood Aile a 10 years old on the other side stood 6 people in camo clothing and very sturdy builds. Seeing the situation like any sane person Aile turned around and ran.
Then he heard something and cursed. It was too late.
"Damn it!"
Clip-clop
Clip-clop
Clip-clop
He had forgotten about the rider that was delayed because he had injured his mount. Then came a painful rush of pain from his left shoulder as he was sent flying towards a tree.
Bam
He was just kicked by the rider.
"Follow and kill the one's on the mount, we got this runt," came the commanding voice of the one with the highest cultivation.
Clip-clop
Clip-clop
Clip-clop
Aile took a deep breath that usually quick kick had caught him by surprise, and now he had lost all the air from his lungs.
He thought he was better at fighting, but one kick has almost incapacitated him. He got his bearing and decided to gamble on something. He placed the stones next to him, then pick up some dry dirt.
The 6 camouflaged persons came to him, and the leader said, "Where did you learn how to throw those stones, kid?"
"If you teach us, perhaps you will not have a bad end."
"There is nowhere to escape."