The first thing he did was to make sure his broom was secure. "Entrez dans la pochette." The broom shrunk as it entered a small pouch on his belt. Then he turned his attention, to the incoming attackers. At this late in the night it was likely a patrol that spotted him, but why wait so long to attack. Odd. He could sense at least eight, coming in from all directions. "Only eight, I got off my broom for that many?" he gritted his teeth, "Annoying bastards." He aimed his guns in the direction of the closest one he could sense. "Detruire".

A bright blue light instantly appeared at the tip of his gun and disappeared just as quickly. "Seven more." Two bodies later a sudden realization hit him, he didn't have to fight. The patrol may have come here, but he still could have left quick enough for them to not notice at all. The darkness helped cloak him, so there was no reason to fight. "Dammit, not again. I got too worked up after losing that fight with bounty hunters. At least they don't have any mages that can let see in this darkness." They did.

A moment later, he spotted flashes of orange light. Fire mages. "Fuck." He aimed his pistols at the remaining enemies but narrowly avoided an attack from behind, some kind of weapon was being thrown. Seconds later he saw a wave of fire coming towards him. He however easily dodged it and shot at the mage who he sensed threw it. "Detruire." It hit, as he could sense a body falling. Suddenly he felt large amounts of heat coming his way. How many fire mages do they have!

More waves of fire came, but he easily wove his way around them before sending a flurry of shots towards his assailants. Three more down, one left. But right as he fired towards them, waves of fire came in from all directions. "Explosion Verte."

A large flash of green light blew away the fire. Wanting to get this over with, he moved towards his opponent with incredible speed, catching them entirely off guard. He jumped at his enemy, bringing his pistol up to their head. He managed to make out a little of the opponent's face, it was horrified. "Detruire." A flash of light and the lifeless body fell over the broom. Zarrin felt a little bad, having seen the guard's face. "Shouldn't have come for me then, if he wanted to live." He looked at the broom left behind. "Would be faster on this than some bounty hunter's old sweeper." He was right. Later on in the night, he figured there were no more patrols out this late, looking for him at least. So he gripped the broom tightly and closed his eyes as he went to sleep.

He awoke at the crack of dawn and got moving. Looking at his compass to make sure he was on the right path, he got a move on. An hour later he landed in another clearing for breakfast. "Rabbits again, if only I took some pans in that pouch," he said longingly, dreaming of chicken. Could probably eat with some people as well. Getting back in the air, he started to wonder whether that demon had lied to him or not. His doubts were quelled has spotted the walls of a small city in the distance. Breathing a sigh of relief, he started thinking about how to enter the city.

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Should be out of the Empire at this point, though my horns are famous enough to get me recognized anywhere near it. The broom docks would be too dangerous, but luckily the city looked like it had a shanty town. If this Nemo was someone who could help a fugitive like him, then he'd probably be hiding somewhere there. He'd have to go in at night, however, so he needed to find something to do for the whole day. He decided on practicing his swordsmanship. After finding a clearing far enough from the city. "Sortez épée." What seemed to be a big stick slowly rose out of the pouch. Taking it, Zarrin unsheathed a blade, about 30cm long. Tossing the scabbard aside, he faced a small tree. He didn't need to use a blade, as he had guns, but in close quarters, they were useless.

He slashed diagonally at where the head would be, before bringing down to slash the torso, then horizontally at the hips. He repeated this exercise many times, before moving on to others. After a few hours, he grew tired and hungry. Using his expert sense, he deduced there were a few rabbits nearby, and one bear. Why couldn't a chicken wander off into the woods?! Dammit, rabbits again. After eating he went to sleep. Waking up in the dead of night. He got back on his broom and headed to the city.

Entering the city would still be difficult, or so he thought. The walls weren't even lit up and there was a disturbing lack of guards. Feeling as if he wasted an entire day, Zarrin landed in the middle of a quiet street. Covering his head with a hood, he navigated through the shantytown with extreme caution. It felt like a trap, every street he moved through was empty. No sign of life. I remember seeing people going in and out of the city, so where the hell is they. Did that bastard trick me?

"Lost, are you?"

Zarrin whirled around with a pistol aimed directly at the face of a stranger. Whoever it was didn't seem fazed at all. Rather they just smiled.

"This used to be a busy city, even these streets used to be full of life, well until the neighboring empire descended into a civil war. So I'm curious, what are you doing here?" said the stranger, "Hiding? Are you a deserter?"

Startled by the monologue, and the stranger's calm demeanor, Zarrin collected himself. Whoever this was might not be a guard. They wore no armor, at least none that he could see. So trying out his luck, "I'm looking for a man named Nemo."

"Ahh, Nemo huh? Then I gauge that you are the Horned Assassin?"

Zarrin quickly stepped back and prepared to fire, before the stranger hastily said, "Wait, WAIT! Don't shoot. I'm the man you're looking for. I'm Nemo."

"How do I know you're not lying?", Zarrin asked.

The stranger then proceeded to disappear, No wait, he shrank? Indeed, the man before him had shrunk, and then immediately grew taller than before. "See, I'm a shape-shifter. I can change how I and others look. So I can help you disguise yourself."

"Alright...I believe you." Zarrin said with great doubt. "Though it's on you for sneaking up on me like that, lucky I didn't shoot. How did you even move that quietly?"

"Small feet, now come with me. I can change your appearance quite easily, but your horns are a different matter. In the meantime, you can kick back and relax."

"Why are you so eager to help me, won't it be in your best interest to hand me over, or alert the guards of my presence?"

'Given my line of work? No. Also, you aren't the first horned man I've come across."