The sky was gray today. The sun had decided to not reveal itself and instead stay hidden by the covering of clouds. It was a befitting sight to accompany the soured mood he possessed since waking up hours ago.

What haunting memories. He much preferred the dreamless sleep he had nearly every night compared to the few times he experienced dreams that felt real. This dream from his past stayed with him throughout the morning and into the afternoon.

Being granted the privilege of experiencing painful memories from, presumably, his past life was an odd feeling. He had learned that his name was Raelle but that name did not suit him. He would not accept that name for himself. Even if those memories were his, he was no longer that person. From his perspective, he was his own person divorced from that past life.

Lar began to brush her paws on his left leg brushing it up and down in an adorable manner. “Shouldn’t you be inside working?” she said telepathically. Neither of them wanted to make it obvious that they were speaking to each other, especially out in public so they spoke telepathically while out in the open near the front of the inn.

“I’m taking a break. Why do you ask? I thought you’d prefer me to do other things than work at some inn anyhow.”

“I was just curious is all. You’ve got quite the irked look on your face so I thought something must’ve happened.”

“I received some memories from my past life.”

“Oh?”

“They weren’t entirely pleasant.”

“Old memories do tend to have that effect.”

For the longest time, he wanted to have those memories back. As they slowly came to him however, he thought maybe it wasn’t ideal to gain insight into his past if the memories would be like those ones.

“Hey, um, I think we might have a bit of a problem.”

“What is it?”

“There’s somebody who can’t keep their eyes off ya. I’m thinking they might be spying.”

“Where are they?”

His eyes darted around the street and nearby buildings to try to uncover this potential spy.

“Wait, don’t go trying to find them in such an obvious way. I already know where they are. Just act naturally for our sakes.”

He crossed his arms and leaned against the inn’s west corner wall acting as he was just seconds ago. “What should we do about them?” he asked from within his mind.

“I’m going to stalk them and see what they’re up to. I’ll let you know what I find when I get the chance. Expect me to return by nightfall.”

Lar began to walk away casually leaving him alone. While she stalked the one who had taken an interest in him supposedly, he decided to go back inside to continue his shift.

Unlike the previous day, business was a bit less intense. Some of the same patrons came in but it appeared as if half the amount of patrons appeared in total by the end of his shift.

After a day of work, he always enjoyed a nice warm meal. He sat at a table in the inn with a bowl of hot steaming stew and a big loaf of bread that Della’s mother had made specifically for him. She added a few herbs to it giving it additional flavor.

As he took a part of bread and tossed it into his mouth, he wondered when his companion would return. She had been missing since she decided to stalk that fellow hours ago. He just hoped they were safe. It had only begun to get dark. He tried not to worry about her and just enjoy his meal.

After finishing it and intermingling with Della’s family for a bit, he resigned himself away to the basement to lay down in his temporary bed of sorts.

He decided to stay up to see whether Lar would ever come. He tried calling to her telepathically but he never got a response. The more time that passed, the more concerned he got. And the more concerned he got, the more his mind raced to conjure up worst-case scenarios.

Sleep would take him regardless or make its best attempt. His mind and body began to tire forcing him to bend to its will. As it attempted to take him from this world, his heart began to race.

He thrust his body up and thought he could sense Lar trying to reach him in whatever capacity she could as a warning of sorts.

Without delay, he stood up and went to Della’s quarters. He went inside her room where she slept in her own separate bed near her other family members.

He carefully grasped onto her shoulder. “Della,” he said in a whisper trying to not wake the others. She motioned beneath her covers only to open one of her eyes.

“Sorry for waking you, but I need you for a minute.”

She met him outside in the dark hall of the inn. She rubbed her eyes and let out a yawn. “What’s the matter?”

“I need a cloak or something to hide my appearance. Do you have one I can borrow?”

“Um, sure. Just wait out here.” She went and found him one. He put it on and pulled the black hood over his head. “Is something the matter?”

“I’m not sure. I just know I have to go. I’ll try to be back before dawn.”

As he prepared to go, he stopped as he felt her grasp onto one of his shoulders.

“Wait,” she said. Bells began to resound within the city. Even indoors, they could be heard clearly. “Those bells ringing means no civilians are allowed to be out on the streets.”

“I don’t have a choice.” He could stay but he could still feel his heart pounding and sense Lar encountering danger. He had to go and find her.

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He left the inn in the night while the bells resounded throughout the city. As she had suggested, no one was out in the streets at least not for long. A few people were rushing to get to wherever they needed to be while the bells tolled.

By the time the tolling stopped, he was the only one out on the streets. He headed towards the northeast thinking that was the right direction. Although his senses were murky at best in regards to Lar’s whereabouts, he thought that he needed to head in that direction if he wanted to find her.

Come on, I have to be faster. Air flooded into his lungs and evacuated at the same pace. He sped through the emptied streets full of buildings that had their shutters closed and doors locked. A pair of guards began to motion up ahead. He ducked into an alley to his right entering its darkness and running further down it to avoid them from spotting him. He entered another street and headed up it. Where are you Lar? His heart pounded against his chest as he wove through street after street. He could tell he was getting closer, but he was still not finding his companion anywhere.

He tried contacting Lar telepathically, but she wouldn’t respond.

As he reached a nearby bridge and stopped to look around, he noticed some stairs near the bridge leading down under it. He decided to take a chance and go down the steps. He went beneath the bridge and saw an entrance to what must’ve been the sewers. He chose to enter it as his instincts told him that he would find Lar down there.

The smell in the sewer wasn’t particularly pleasant but he had other things on his mind. He walked through the darkness of the sewer on the parts that were raised and would allow him to not step into the gross water.

A fuzzy creature, likely a rat, motioned between his feet and scurried away as he walked further down the path.

A pained scream echoed down the sewer tunnel up ahead.

Another scream erupted.

And then another.

And another.

Until eventually, the last pained scream erupted and reached his ear.

He slowly approached the corner that led rightward. He could see a figure’s shadow on the sewer wall being cast out from what he figured must’ve been a torch.

As he turned the roundish corner, he noticed a naked woman with their back turned to him. Long white hair ran down her back and there was noticeable blood across their body. Her feet were submerged in the sewer water with a pile of corpses all around her.

He took a step forward and she turned her claw-like hands towards him ready to charge forward.

However, she stopped once she realized it was just him. Lar calmed down slightly allowing for her arms to dangle at her side and not be lifted up ready to maul whatever she could get her hands on.

Lar kept breathing heavily. She was still on edge after having killed what looked like half a dozen people with some who had worn armor and others more leather-like attire. Whatever they used to protect their bodies had failed in doing so considering that their bodies were all strewn around in the sewer water with limbs missing and flesh torn from their bodies.

Lar’s appearance whenever she shifted in her human form was always surprising in a way. She possessed truly the appearance of an otherworldly person while still maintaining mostly a human appearance besides maybe their slightly catlike pupils and yellow irises. He was not ashamed to admit to himself that her human form was quite attractive to him, even though in this instance she had blood covering her body from head to toe making him somewhat averse to this appearance of hers in this instance especially considering where they were.

“Do you uh, want to explain what’s happened here?”

“I was lured into a trap,” she said. “And so they happily followed me down here to kill me as I ran from them.” She looked down at their bodies and grinned. “Or I should say, tried, to kill me.”

Since arriving in Liall, he hadn’t seen her change into her human form. She had done so a few times during their travels out in the lands covered in fog but otherwise, she kept to her cat form the majority of the time.

She noticed him staring and began to possess an evil grin.

“What?” he said.

“Oh nothing. I just merely notice you can’t…” she coughed, “…seem to keep your eyes off me.”

“Admittedly, yes,” he said fully acknowledging her observation. “I am but a man after all.”

Lar smiled and walked over towards him. “I did not intend for such violence to occur here but certain…problems arose forcing me to take to this dramatic violence as you see here. I can assure you that the spy who was observing you is dead. It’s also possible that whoever they’re working for is not yet aware of you but I cannot guarantee that. With them dead, it’s likely that whoever hired them will grow to suspect you even more. And judging by those bells tolling earlier, they’re very much on edge.”

This was always a fear he had. He just wanted to live in peace for a little while. Maybe a year or more if possible. But it was like he wasn’t allowed to be given that opportunity. He was to live life on the edge and be forced to face conflicts that he did not deserve to have. That was the way of life for someone willing to involve themselves with a familiar in a city like this.

“That girl you are so adamant to be with, you ought to avoid returning to her. You’ll only be putting her in danger now that it’s quite possible the queen or her people have their eyes on us.”

He didn’t have to live at the inn anymore if that was what was required. He could still make something work out however to continue to see her. Surely that could be a possibility.

“We’ll figure things out. For now, let’s leave this sewer.”

Lar shifted back into her cat form and they both left the sewer. The streets were still emptied and he wondered where exactly they could go. “You have any ideas where we can stay hidden for a while?” he said telepathically. “I’ve been told civilians aren’t allowed on the streets when the bells toll so we need to figure something out before long.”

“You remember me saying how I’ve been making friends while you’ve been busy doing menial work?”

“Sure I do.” He led them into an alley so they could enjoy the benefits the darkness provided in obscuring them from sight.

“Let’s just say, that they’re the kind of people who won’t take issue with you or I. They’re also quite fond of familiars unlike the queen and her supporters. If we were to associate with them, I believe we will be able to keep living within Liall. And considering how bad it is outside of this city, it’s far more ideal than to return to that world outside here.”

He agreed. At least in Liall, he could eat a warm meal. Out there in that green fog-infested land, he could only dream of a hot meal or a bed to rest in.

As they exited the alley, they entered into an open square. The interior lights from nearby buildings made visibility a little better, but he wasn’t eager for that so he led them away quickly to the other side so they could get out of sight.

Before they could manage that however, he felt a shove against his back.

“Watch out!”

With his body propelled forward, he avoided a direct hit from a flaming sword’s tip that penetrated the ground causing it to crater. The flaming sword bearer wore silver-toned plate armor with a green cape running down their back. Though the helmet they wore hid their face, he thought he knew who this person was due to the fact that their sword was on fire.

They took up a defensive stance as they pulled their flaming sword free from the ground.

“What did I tell you before?” Their voice was a bit muffled due to their helmet covering their entire face. “If we ever crossed paths again, I would slay you. That’s what I told you isn’t it?”

“Is that what this is about?” he said nonchalantly. “You know I’ve been trying to avoid you since I got here.”

She let out a chuckle. “If you think your kind will be allowed to exist here, then you’re mistaken. Prepare to die!”

A rush of blood carried its way through his body and his eyes widened as he realized he had no choice but to fight.