Before long, Talia and Gerhart found themselves at the last stop before the town wall, their target. However, they had to be careful before moving. Talia had to stop and rest a little since she was suffering from heavy blood loss. And, since there was a stretch of flat land between their current cover, the shadows of a few houses on the outskirts of town, and the wall, it would be very easy to spot them when they ran to the wall.

Talia and Gerhart were close to at least temporary safety. But the same step that could take them to freedom could also lead to their doom. But staying still for too long was a surefire way to get caught by the knights since a few of them were still roaming around town, looking for traces of the three kids behind Michmond’s murder.

Talia and Gerhart exchanged a resolved look before nodding. Talia grabbed the bone tightly, and Gerhart put his hand back around Talia’s waist to help her run. Talia held onto Gerhart’s shoulder with her free arm and did her best to keep up.

They crossed the grass, leaving bloody footprints behind. Their panting quickly grew loud enough to drown out the distant clanking of the knights’ metal armor. But the smell of fire started competing with the stench of blood clinging to Talia, and Gerhart whipped his head back to take a glance.

It wasn’t quite a sea of fire, more like a pond or a small like. But a large part of the town had started burning, probably because most of the houses were wooden ones with thatched roofs. Not exactly fireproof, especially if Ritzy had spent some time preparing this pyromantic stunt.

Ashy grey smoke billowed into the sky as if the town had turned into a giant’s pipe.

The orange lights reflected in Gerhart’s eyes, and he could only look on in wonder and horror as the town he had grown up in was steadily consumed by the flames.

“Hey! Stop dawdling-!”

“Hey! You two over there, stop right where you are!”

Talia was about to urge Gerhart to get moving when a stray knight saw them and shouted at them. It was difficult to tell details from a distance, and with the rampaging fire dying the town in orange and red hues, confirming features was only more challenging. But with one person, a shirtless guy, half-carrying another person, someone that looked like a young woman covered from head to toe in blood, the knight felt that he had caught two of the culprits responsible for Michmond’s murder.

The knight unsheathed his sword and began running toward Talia and Gerhart.

“I said stop moving!”

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Talia and Gerhart naturally didn’t listen, and they hurried to a patch of grass close to the wall while the knight, slowed down by his heavy armor, tried to catch up. Despite the knight’s not-particularly outstanding speed, he was quickly gaining on Talia and Gerhart.

Since the two people refused to listen to the knight, it was obvious they were the culprits, and the knight ran after them, sword raised, with the intention of cutting down two of the people responsible for his liege’s murder. But then, a thought struck the knight.

“If you stay still and tell me where the white-haired kid is, your lives may be spared!”

“Fuck off, tin can!”

“Go jump in a lake, pushover!”

Talia’s and Gerhart’s taunts infuriated the knight, but he didn’t let go of his objective that easily.

“If you refuse to give me the answer I want, I’ll take it by force!”

“Ugh, that’s making my skin crawl.”

“Yeah, who the fuck spouts that kind of line without dying of embarrassment?”

Talia and Gerhart cringed in sync as they heard the knight’s threat. But they didn’t have time to dwell on it more than that since they were at the wall.

The two scanned the ground and the stones for the markings they had left behind. It would have been great if the wall was just a little bit lower and less smooth and if Talia hadn’t been injured since they would have been able to jump up and climb over the wall.

But as it were, the three-meter tall brick wall was too much for them at the moment, so they had to rely on the tunnel they dug when they were younger.

And after a while, Talia found it.

“There it is, Gerhart.”

Gerhart dashed to the ground, letting Talia keep herself standing by leaning on the bone like a cane, and began digging through the ground until he found what he was looking for.

But even after finding the cover to the tunnel, he had to dig and scrape away the dirt that prevented him from opening it while the knight was steadily approaching.

“Fucking hurry!”

“Fucking get over here and help!”

Despite her injuries, Talia hobbled over and crouched down to help Gerhart lift the grass-covered cover that Rtizy, Talia, and Gerhart made to hide the tunnel they had dug.

The knight was still a dozen meters when Gerhart managed to pry a few fingers under the cover and fling it open.

“Huff!”

Gerhart grunted as he threw open the cover and revealed the dirty tunnel that was hopefully still big enough for them.

Talia threw her bone down and dove into the hole. It could have collapsed, or it might be too tight. The tunnel could also have gotten a few roots crossing through it that would block their path.

But Talia couldn’t care less and pushed her way inside and forward, not caring about her injuries and the pain they gave her either.

Talia heard Gerhart grab and fling a fistful of dirt at the knight since that fistful of dirt contained a decent-sized stone that clanked loudly against the knight’s helmet. She hurried to shimmy forward as she used the bone club to clear the way. Before long, Gerhart followed her into the tunnel and slammed the cover shut hard enough to shatter the rotten wood.

Darkness enveloped them.