It is important to note that while the Rantiavums were generally known to be mentally unstable tyrants, they were not totally mad. Perhaps a tad crazier than the rest but not bat-shit insane; hence Ellen was not delusional enough to think she would survive a twenty foot drop unscathed. Her actions were still unprecedented and borderline suicidal but there was sufficient reasoning behind it.

She was close enough to the watchtower that the wall perpendicular to her position was not entirely out of reach, and she was able to make out the outline of an open window on it. However there still was quite a distance to the other wall, and the window was a ways lower than was comfortable so she did not quite think she would be able to make it. Hence she did not think.

Her fingers caught on the window sill while the rest of her impacted the wall and she felt something inside her snap. Everything hurt - her shoulders most especially - but her grip was rather loose and so she pushed past the pain, dug her toes into whatever divots and imperfections on the wall she could find, and scrabbled into the window.

She fell into an empty corridor and sprawled onto the ground, taking a moment to breath and gather herself. Mere seconds later she pushed herself to her feet and stumbled down the hallway. Blood flowed steadily down the side of her face from where her forehead had met the floor, and she ended up tearing out a strip of cloth from the bottom of her gown to staunch the bleeding, tying it around her head.

In little time she came across an embrasure. She put an eye to it and found people swarming out of the gates and into the city streets below. The number of razatches there seemed to be rather lackluster and were quickly overwhelmed.

Footfalls reached her ears and she spun to find Camilla and Gabriel emerging from the shadows of the corridor.

"Are you all right?" Camilla asked worriedly as she strode up to the Maeser.

"I'm fine," Ellen replied, nodding at her. "Let's get going."

They didn't dally, instead running down the hallway and bolting down the tower. Something in Ellen's chest twinged uncomfortably as she moved, but she disregarded it in favour of moving.

They burst out of the tower, and Ellen caught sight of Galdis atop a wall scrutinizing the crowd of people streaming through the gate below him.

She ducked back inside and grabbed Gabriel by the arm.

"Lend me your outer robes," she requested.

"What?" Gabriel asked, nonplussed.

"My hair would catch the moonlight," she explained, gesturing at Galdis.

Gabriel had a multitude of questions but, considering their situation, chose to forego them and instead shrugged off his coat and tossed it to the princess.

Ellen muttered a quiet thanks and covered her hair with the coat, using it as one might a scarf. Without further delay they pressed into the throng of bodies moving past, going with them toward the gate and into the wider city.

Camilla could only pray they had made the right choice.

......

Valerina fled down the moonlit street, hee legs pounding frantically to get her further, her lungs straining to draw in air as she ran. Lynica sped alongside her, equally as tired if not more.

A razatche chased after them, slinking seamlessly from building to building, and while they had been able to outrun it all this while, they were flagging and it was finally catching up. That was unfortunately not the worse of their woes, however, as even further back - though not as far back as they would like - the very path they ran on crumbled speedily into the dark sewers, creeping ever closer to them. It was chasing them - the girls and the razatche both - and that was all the motivation they had to avoid it.

A form shot out of the depths of a building to their right as they ran, aiming for Voscov who was slumped over unconscious Lynica's back. Lynica made a split second brake, tensed, and threw out a leg in a roundhouse kick. A block of stone emerged from the ground, following the arc of her leg closely, and slamming into the razatche, sending it behind them.

Out of the spot of shadow behind the trio jumped a razatche, - the very one that had been hounding them from the inn - its mouth clamping shut around the neck of airborne razatche in a matter of seconds and ended its life with a sickening crunch.

Desperation clawed its way up Valerina's throat at the sight. If things did not change, she was well aware that she would be unable to leave Sealarios alive. She heard Lynica sigh softly before the aide slammed into her, yanking her satchel up and over her head, and taking it from her. Then she stuck a foot out, swept it swiftly from front to back, and took Valerina's feet from under her.

Valerina crashed to the ground but rolled to her feet almost immediately, having expected something of the sort. She sprinted after Lynica but the aide twirled sharply and planted a solid foot on her chest, sending her sprawling backwards.

They were at the ends of their wits; no, they had been at the ends of their wits for a long time, and Lynica had promised Valerina she would be fed to the dogs if the need ever came.

She fell into the razatche's path, taking it down with her. Panic consumed her and she struck out with her fist reflexively, catching the creature in the jaw. It reeled back and she scrambled to her feet, pushing off it to get a head start. The razatche grabbed her ankle, however, and she crashed to the ground.

Valerina kicked at it, her feet striking its face and chest with reckless abandon and she watched, horrified, as the crumbling got closer and a ponderous groan rumbled in her ears. The girl cursed, her chest tightening when the razatche refused to let go. She felt about quickly with her fingers and when they alighted on a chunk of stone, she hefted it and brought it down on the razatche's head.

The razatche screamed and blood splattered onto her face. Her features twisted into an mask of desperate anger, she raised the stone once more and slammed it down ruthlessly. Her victim screamed again and she kicked against it and pulled herself free. She scrambled to her feet, set to race forward, but it was already too late.

She felt the ground below her give, heard the razatche scream miserably as it entered the darkness below, felt the bricks right behind her turn to powder, and she fell backwards. She stretched out a hand as she fell, calling out to the moon up above for help.

She saw the night sky beyond her, the multitude of stars dotting the inky canvas above her, she heard the grind of bone against bone, and knew without a doubt that this was her end.

Then something slammed into her from behind. A palm, or a shoulder, or something similar. It pushed out and threw her upward. She sailed through the air briefly, sound and light blurring together confusingly, and felt whatever it was slink around her and a pair of hands grabbed her arm from above, drawing her upward and forward for a spiel before swinging her forward.

Valerina was flung through the air, all her senses blurring together into static darkness. Contact with the ground was jarring, and she skidded across it, a dozen abrasions opening across her arms and legs. Her breathing came in ragged gasps and when she opened her eyes, found herself staring up at Lynica.

"Impressive," the aide commented stolidly.

"What... What happened?" Valerina asked, getting to her knees.

"You came flying through the air like a rag doll," Lynica stated, stepping around her to jog forward. Valerina got to her feet and followed after her. The fact that she had been effectively used as bait to buy time hardly negated the fact that being together was still better than the alternative. Valerina was also able to view things rather objectively and could acknowledge that she deserved every bit the treatment she received. She was the one who placed them in the situation in the first place.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"You said I flew over? Did you see how?"

"I was occupied." Lynica braked and peered into the darkness ahead.

Valerina did the same and glanced about them cautiously, entering into a loose combat stance.

"What is it?" She whispered.

"Dead end," Lynica replied, her lips pursed.

"Dead end?" Valerina repeated.

Lynica jogged forward wordlessly. Valerina hesitated before following after her but kept some distance between them.

As they moved forward a towering wall of rubble came into view. It slanted backwards at a rather steep angle, with wooden beams peppered throughout it. To both sides of them storied buildings loomed over the street, all of them tall enough that climbing to their roofs was impossible. To worsen matters, they could make out movement from within the buildings themselves.

"Shite," Valerina muttered, eyeing the wall before them. It did not in any way look stable.

Lynica shrugged Voscov off her back, lowering him to the ground.

"Take care of him," she told Valerina, moving the prince into her arms.

Without waiting for a response, Lynica darted off, speeding toward the barrier blocking their way. She neared the pile of rubble in seconds and jumped. She landed on an outcropping and propelled herself upward, her manipulation rising to her call as she felt out the layers of rock beneath what she could see, trying to pinpoint places that could take her weight - and a lot more punishment - without giving. She was trying to feel out a viable path forward, not wanting the precarious structure to collapse in on them when they tried to make their way over it.

Valerina watched as Lynica moved quickly up the wall, jumping from foothold to foothold in quick succession, not lingering long on any particular one. No matter how quickly she moved however, the spots she left behind were visibly breaking apart, sending little clouds of dust and stone rolling down. Valerina had a sneaking suspicion that Lynica would not get far - and her suspicion quickly turned into a fact.

A bit over halfway to the top Lynica slipped, the stone beneath her coming loose. She dug her toes in and jumped sideways for a beam sticking out from a haphazard pile of bricks. The beam snapped in half as she alighted upon it and she went slidding down the incline, shorn bricks and plumes of dust and rocks racing down with her in a roar.

Valerina held Voscov tight - because she suspected Lynica woud have her head if she did otherwise - and covered her head and face with an arm as the cloud of dust rolled past them. Lynica returned to her side, panting, as the dust settled.

"We have to use the buildings it seems," Valerina said, running a dry tongue over chapped lips nervously.

"How... How good are you in a fight?" Lynica breathed.

A limp form crashed through the window to their right and fell at their feet, badly bloodied and barely breathing, drawing their attention. They turned to their right in time to see a girl lean out the window and peer at them.

"Oh, wonderous wonders," Ellen exclaimed breathlessly, her silver locks shimmering underneath the moonlight. "Who would have imagined meeting you here?"

She shot them a refreshed smile as her gaze scanned their forms with an almost lazy crawl and Valerina had the unsettling feeling that the Maeser recognized her.

"Maeser Ellen," Lynica greeted, lowering her head and Valerina followed her lead hurriedly.

A curse and a crash came from within the building but Ellen disregarded it and waved a hand at them dismissively. "Leave aside the formalities and such," she said. "If you would put a blade through the neck of the man at your feet, that would be most welcome."

"Who are you speaking with?" Someone called from within the building. Ellen shuffled to the side as Gabriel made his presence known.

"Hello," he said, nodding politely at them. He looked to the side, watching as the cobblestones farther down collapsed into the sewers. "While I would like to sit and catch up as it were, perhaps it would be better to get moving? You lot can come in, it's safer inside."

It was surprising, the way a solution seemed to have fallen from the sky, and while Lynica might have loved to dither a while just to make sure, Valerina was hardly as cautious and took Gabriel up on his offer, offering a word of thanks and climbing through the window.

Lynica followed her lead, carrying Voscov and jumping in. They met Ellen's companion within the building and a round of quick introductions went past and they decided to keep heading toward the city lord's manor as a group.

For the next few minutes they ran through the city, getting closer and closer to their target. They meandered their way through the high end district, the towering walls and buildings making it harder for moonlight to reach the streets.

Gabriel led them through the wreck that Sealarios had become, doing his very best to avoid the hotspots littered around them. They occasionally got into fights - because this deep in, nowhere was truly safe - and the difficulty of said fights were rising steeply. Screams and inhuman snarls rent the air periodically, many of which came from right beside them. The earth rumbled and heaved, structures falling and crashing with wild abandon all around them.

They were getting through the truly terrible stuff by the very skin of their teeth, and they were very well aware. The how hardly mattered - not as much as the fact that it was happening.

They glimpsed Raoul in a desperate fight against something covered in shadows and with a dozen plus legs as they darted across a street, orange flames hot enough to melt the very stones he stood on pouring out of him in waves. They didn't call out to him, leaving him to battle while they took the chance to slip onwards. And that was not the only time something of the sort happened.

The way Gabriel led them was unnatural. He seemed prescient, knowing when to stop and when to move, using others to clear their way forward and abandoning them immediately the path was clear or whatever was before them was sufficiently distracted. He was cold blooded and intensely rational in his decisions, doing what needed to be done at each turn. No scream made him flinch, no crash ruined his composure. He knew what was going on in all around them - and he was prepared to an unnatural degree.

And while those following him would normally have been appalled at the sheer ruthlessness, at the boderline villainy he displayed, they were in a rush to secure their own lives. If they noticed it they did not speak out.

It took almost an hour of running and short rests before they finally arrived at the city lord's manor. The sight that greeted them stunned them senseless.

They stood facing the walls of the residence, all six of them staring in stupefaction from across the street as the very air above the walls burned silently. Eerie white flames licked around the walls silently, casting neither light nor heat to the surroundings. The ward layered over the compound cracked and shuddered, buckling under the tongues of flame and struggling to hold.

"The Withering Wisp," Voscov said solemnly, having woken up sometime during their sprint. He stayed slumped over Lynica's back, his injuries making it nigh impossible to keep up with the group's speed on his own. Gabriel nodded, his face a grim mask.

"So? What's up with it? We just need to use the damn portal don't we?" Ellen asked, clueless why the two princes were silent.

"It is trying to get in," Voscov explained. "The Withering Wisp burns along esoteric..." He paused, gathering his thoughts and trying to get the main point across and not delve into the nature of the Oldflame. "Put succinctly, if someone is actively working toward keeping us here then when the ward collapses, it is likely the portal would be next."

Ellen hummed, distressed, and her eyes strayed to the gate hidden behind the burning ward. The cracking and snapping of the wards was less than discreet and there were a dozen plus groups of people clustered under overhangs and within buildings around the entrance waiting for the ward to crumble. She would not appreciate rushing in with the lot of them once the ward came down.

Her eyes skimmed across the people gathered and she brought Gabriel's attention to the squads of cloaked natives standing within the restless crowd.

Gabriel's lips thinned and not for the first time he considered abandoning Ellen. A group of people, who Ellen suspected to be working under the orders of Galdis, had been harrying them nigh constantly. On the way to the manor, this group had been consistently trying to lock them down or lead them away from their destination after a full on confrontation earlier on had failed. While Ellen had pulled her weight in every conflict so far - entering every one with an almost manic fervor - he never did think that canon fodder would come with its own share of problems.

Thankfully Vit had managed to lead the way rather expertly, performing way better than Gabriel would ever give him credit for, but the consequence was that the avatar was run ragged and had returned to rest.

"I suggest we go around," said Voscov, eyeing the crowd gathered before the gates too. "Not only is the portal room closer to the back, we would be able to avoid struggling to enter with them and also avoid Maeser Ellen's pursuers."

"This is the only gate leading inside and whatever advantage gained would be lost scaling the wall," Valerina said. She had staked out the residence for two days and was rather familiar with its general layout.

"We would make our own entrance," Voscov replied. "Lynica should be able to manage it."

Gabriel glanced at Lynica. She sighed softly and nodded. The six skirt around the walls, heading further back. They took care to avoid the few fellbeasts prowling about and eventually ended up at the western wall.

They watched on in silence as the ward bucked and strained, the Withering Wisp licking around it with phantom tongues. Lynica put Voscov on his feet and began rotatibg her wrists and loosening her joints for one last desperate sprint.

A few minutes later the ward shriveled, groaning and straining as it did so, before splintering into pieces with a snap. A thousand ethereal shards hung in the sky for a solemn moment, shrouded in eerie flames of white. At the very next moment it was all gone - shards and flames both - however while the ward was gone, the flames trudged onward with an ear grating whine and a roar that was more felt than heard, burning along esoteric lines deeper into the manor.

Lynica stepped forward immediately it was gone and stomped a foot, her manipulation flaring. The earth before her rose into a menacing block of stone and she sent them speeding toward the wall with a light kick. The rocks slammed home and the wall crumbled, revealing the yard within.

Razatches - all of them standing peacefully shoulder to shoulder - turned toward them with unsettling synchronicity.

"Do stay close, your highness," Lynica said. Eyes gleaming, she stepped forward.