"This is great" Nez said sarcastically. He tugged at the chains binding his wrists to the wall.

Maybe if that stupid beastfolk didn't take that long to lower his prices, maybe they could have avoided being captured.

Delilah, Bortheus, and Phisena were chained to the wall just like him. They even made sure to muzzle Phisena with a metal jaw mask so she couldn't cast any spell.

Their weapons were stripped from them and taken downstairs, and they were left in the empty room of Ulfric's base of operations.

Surely the big boss himself wanted to deal with them in a spectacular fashion.

Delilah sighed. “I'm sorry, Nez. If it weren't for us...”.

Nez scoffed. “Ulfric was just waiting for an excuse to get his hands on me. He never liked the fact that I acted independently”.

“But it's because of us that you ended up in here” Delilah said with anguish in her voice. “I should know better than to drag people into my problems. I'm a failure of a princess”.

Bortheus tried to comfort her however he could, unable to get closer to her. “My lady, please... Don't say that”.

“Mnf-mmmf fmhh”. Whatever Phisena said, nobody could tell.

“It's nobody's fault” Bortheus told his princess. “And like Nez said, he would have gone the same way for him anyway. That's just how it goes for a Devil Touched”.

“Hey!” Nez protested. “What is that supposed to mea- Actually, you're kinda right” he admitted halfway through his rant.

Bortheus gave him a strange look.

“What now?” Delilah asked. “Are we really in the hands of that scum?”.

“Absolutely not!”. Bortheus flexed his muscles, grunting loudly, and pulled on his chains. “We'll get out of here!”.

After being unsuccessful he flopped back to the ground, his face covered in sweat.

“I can't do much either” Delilah said. “I can surprise a couple of them, but if we don't get rid of these shackles...”.

Oh, so she had a trick up her sleeve... Interesting.

Delilah looked at Nez. “Can you do something”.

“Well... yes” he admitted reluctantly. “But it's very risky”.

The odds of success weren't high... But maybe he was thinking that because he wasn't used to work with people.

Delilah's eyes widened. “Really? That's good!”.

Nez stared at the ground. What if his attempted escape would backfire and make things worse for the other three? He didn't knew them very long, but he had taken a liking to them.

“I suppose I can try to get you out of here” he said. He wasn't keen on relying on his Devil Touched talents, but that was an emergency.

“Well, then do it!” Bortheus exclaimed. “We need to get the princess out of here”.

“Why don't you shout her title louder?” Nez asked with a side glance. “They didn't hear you across the street”.

Bortheus immediately bit his lips. “Forgive me, my lady” he whispered.

Delilah let out a laugh. “Will you be okay?” she asked Nez, genuinely worried. “I mean, after we get our stuff and go away?”.

Nez shrugged. “It's okay. I'm used to being alone”.

“What if...” she began saying with hesitation. “What if we hire you on a longer term?”.

The Devil Touched looked at her in confusion.

“We could use your expertise in our journey” she said.

“Do I look like the kind of person that goes on a journey with a princess to save a kingdom?” Nez asked, pointing at himself with his cuffed hands. “I'm not the hero type”.

Delilah raised her chin. “Well pay for your food and lodging, plus you'll receive a generous reward once we solve the issue with my kingdom”.

Nez was ready to object, but instead he said: “That's actually a good deal...”.

He needed to leave Yronburg anyway, and having a secure employment was nothing to scoff at.

“Are you really fine with traveling with someone like me?”.

Delilah didn't falter a bit. “You'd be welcome to join us”.

Bortheus didn't seem to share the sentiment, but didn't dare to contradict his princess.

Phisena looked to be fine with it.

Ah, why not?

Nez nodded slightly. “Alright, consider me on board”.

Delilah gave him a look that meant 'I knew you'd say that'.

“So, what's your great idea?” Bortheus asked with bitterness.

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Nez gave him a sharp smile. “Oh, don't worry about that. Just sit back and relax”.

He focused and tapped into his Devil Touched blood. His eyes started to faintly glow, and his senses heightened.

The vague feeling of blood lust that accompanied these talents arrived immediately. His face changed slightly to a more malevolent expression.

Nez made sure not to go too far.

His newfound friends looked at him with surprise, and just a bit of fear.

“I'm gonna have some fun with this” Nez said, winking at them.

He extended his fingers and pressed them together, with his hand's whole bone structure squeezing to an inhuman extent. It almost looked like his thumbs were disappearing inside his palms.

Sliding his hands out of the restraints was way too easy at that point.

“Piece of cake” he rejoiced with a happy voice. “I'll be right back”.

He went for the windows, and jumped out of it grabbing whatever ledges he could find to make his way down.

One he got to the lower window, he grabbed its frame and launched himself through the glass with a backflip.

The five men inside the room, who were relaxing, were caught off guard.

Nez landed in a shower of broken glass, with glowing eyes and a savage smile. Taking advantage of the surprise, he grabbed a shard of glass and launched it at a man's arm, wounding him.

As the thugs got ready, Nez moved faster than they could track him and got on top of a long table where the group's equipment had been place.

He swiftly picked up his gun and pointed it at the men, crouching almost like an animal.

“Who wants to die first?” he asked with a faint growl in his voice.

If they attacked him all at once, they'd eventually bring him down. But not before suffering heavy losses.

And they knew it.

The thugs, who didn't even have time to get their weapons ready, went pale and run away.

“That's a monster!”

“We need to call the others!”.

Having drove them away, Nez sat on the edge of the table. He blinked and his eyes went back to normal, his killer instinct fading away.

He congratulated himself for a job well done.

After merrily gathering all of their weapons and belongings, using Bortheus' shields as a handcart to carry everything, Nez made his way back up the stairs to the upper floor.

He opened the door with a set of keys he found in the lower room and walked in nonchalantly.

“Sorry for the wait” he said bringing their belongings to the middle of the room.

While he freed his friends from their chains, he got long incredulous looks that carried many silent questions.

“How did you do that?” Bortheus finally asked in astonishment.

Nez shrugged. “I'm a Devil Touched” he simply replied.

Once he removed Phisena's muzzle, she stretched her jaw with relief.

“Better?” he asked helping her get on her feet.

She run her pink eyes from his head to his toes. “You are much more interesting than I thought”.

Oh great, now she wants to study me too.

“We need to hurry” Nez said. “More of Ulfric's men are coming”.

They had just enough time to reequip themselves that two bandits came barging in the room, both with axes in their hands.

Delilah promptly stepped forward and raised her arm. “Lux” she said before unleashing a blast of light that smashed the two thugs.

They screamed and fell to the ground, stunned.

Nez, mouth wide open, turned to her. “You can use spiritualism magic?!”.

“Told you I had something up my sleeve” she replied with a graceful posture. “There's no time to waste... Phisena, if you please”.

Without needing further explanations, Phisena got to the window and started chanting in a similar way she did the previous day in Nez's hideout.

“Faster!” Bortheus yelled as he run to the door do slam a third thug with his shields.

It took longer than last time, but finally her ritual was complete and a bridge made of ice formed between the window and the roof of the building to the other side of the street.

Phisena quickly turned around and said: “Ardor”. She launched a flaming projectile to cover Bortheus.

They all got on the bridge in a hurry and began to make their way to the other side, careful not to slip.

“Couldn't you make a stone bridge?” Delilah asked, trying not to look at the twenty feet fall beneath them.

“It would have take longer” Phisena explained in a meek voice.

Once they got on the rooftop, Bortheus turned around to face the incoming wave of hooligans on their tail. Ulfric was looking at them from the window, bright red.

“The ice wasn't such a bad idea”. The royal knight raised both of his shields, and slammed them down as hard a he could on the bridge.

The ice cracked and immediately began to fall apart, sending a few goons down to the street.

“Goddammit!” Ulfric yelled, full of anger. “You're a bunch of incompetent fools!”.

Nez couldn't help but burst out laughing. “Oh man... I think I'm gonna like traveling with you!”.

He picked up the pace. “Come on!” he called to his friends. “We're not out of the woods yet. Let's grab our stuff and leave this place”.

Embarrassing Ulfric like that put him in an extremely good mood.

----------------------------------------

Bortheus threw the last bag on the cart, making it wobble a little too much. “We're all set!”.

“Finally!”. Nez hopped on and sat next to Phisena in the back. “I don't wanna be captured again”.

Delilah sat in the front, next to Bortheus who took the reigns.

The old, and maybe sick, horses began their march towards the closest city gate.

Nez was sure they were gonna find some trouble, especially considering the guards were corrupt.

Not to mention Ulfric's henchmen, who were most likely looking for them.

As a precaution, he kept his gun at the ready.

Even if they were all on edge, they managed to get to the city walls without any problem. The gate became closer and closer every second.

Looking carefully, Nez saw a couple of guard posted there making a weird face after noticing them from afar.

Not good.

“Hey” he said to the others. “There's trouble ahead. Just act natural, I'll follow you from the side”.

That said, he got down from the cart and kept up with it from the next street over, remaining hidden. He moved almost like a shadow, silent and swift, taking advantage of every cover he could find.

Once the cart got to the guard post, one of them signaled it to stop.

The two guards who recognized them got closer, spears in hand. Behind them, two more guards were already taking aim with their rifle.

“Well, well, well” one of the guards said. “Aren't you Ulfric's guests? Were you trying to slip away without making amends for the trouble you caused him?”.

“Wait a moment” the other guard told his colleague. “Wasn't there supposed to be a Devil Touched with them?”.

Right on cue.

Almost appearing out of nowhere, Nez rushed at the back of one of the riflemen, held him chokehold, and pointed his gun to the other one. “I'm here”.

The three remaining guards all turned to him.

“Now be good boys and drop your weapons. Let us through” Nez said smiling. “Or you'll have to explain a lot to your superiors”.

To drive the point home, he tightened the grip on the guard's neck just enough to choke him a little.

“Let them go!” the second rifleman ordered to the others. “It's not worth the few coins Ulfric gave us”.

The guards obeyed and dropped their weapons to the ground.

Once the cart was out of Yronburg, Nez let go of his captive and kicked away his rifle. He backed away keeping his gun pointed at the guards until he was far enough.

Getting back on the cart, Nez smacked his lips. “Ulfrick should have been less of a cheapskate, apparently”.

With a last goodbye to the city, the group made their way towards the countryside.