The city of Stilag was far worse than Ocheon had been. There were people everywhere - loud, unwashed, often rude people. And these weren’t the locals. Locals were pushed off the streets by the unending tide of reinforcements heading towards battlelines.

Well, that and the more ‘useful’ refugees, which is to say - they had enough money to bribe the guards at the gate to get inside the city’s walls. This could also mean they were robbed until they had nothing if they were weak.

And Mortimer had been right. The beasts did shit everywhere. With the midday sun frying the air, it was barely breathable. And as the horde of people walked, they stepped into the excrement and smeared them all over the streets, alleys and even shops.

Mila carefully stepped around a particularly big pile of crap, which was easier said than done. She had to push a rather fat lady to the side to accomplish the task.

“Ah, shit.” Andrew wasn’t as attentive, and as he had followed right behind Mila, he didn’t course correct in time.

If talking didn’t involve taking more of the rancid air, Mila would have relished in Andrew’s misfortune. As it was, she only sent him a meanspirited smirk. A short one, anyway.

After all, it was partially Andrew’s fault they were here, on this particular street, where the number of beasts was way higher than in any other part of the city.

Mr Crow shyly cooed in wonder as a larger, older specimen of his kind flew over them, followed by a few other birds of various colours and sizes. “Yeah,” Andrew nodded. “There is a lot of them.”

Mila stepped back from a large dog who growled at her and slipped behind Andrew. “I don’t like this place.” She could not help but remark. “It stinks.”

“It’s not that bad.” Andrew dismissed her while pushing past the dog creature, who didn’t as much as bat an eye at the man. “There is a lot to see here.” Mr Crow chirped in agreement.

Which didn’t Improve Mila’s mood. She eyed something that could only be described as an overgrown horse as it nibbled on an unfortunate lady’s hair.

Everywhere Mila looked, there were more beasts. Small ones, big ones, flying ones and crawling ones. There were horses, dogs, felines, birds, large insects and much more.

At least Isabel wasn’t here to suffer with them.

On the flip side, Isabel wasn’t at Mila’s side.

“Why did I agree to do this?” Mila wondered as she kicked a small rodent scurrying beneath everyone’s legs as it had stopped to look at her. She hated those things and never understood how people found rats cute.

“Your own logic, my dear,” Andrew shouted over the loud snarls of a couple of wolves contesting over a piece of meat.

Ah, yes. Mila remembered now. It was her damn brain that had conjured this fucked up situation. Except, she hadn’t expected the city to be in such a sorry state.

Or for Isabel to stay behind to guard Vatim and Mortimer. Mila had underestimated how effective a kid's tears were at pulling at heartstrings.

Well, the thugs were there as well - neatly tied up to not allow them to run away and tattle on them. Isabel was tasked with watching those guys, as well as Mortimer. Mila didn’t particularly trust the guy.

But after Mortimer had explained why the license of beast ownership mattered, they had decided Andrew had to get it.

It wasn’t even all that far from where Mortimer lived. Which still meant almost twenty minutes of a tiresome trudge. If the smell and heat hadn’t gotten to her, then the constant noise of people trying to go about their business would.

It was terrible.

As for why? The damn paper would allow Andrew to bring his damn wolf into the cities. It would give their group a semblance of legitimacy as well.

All Andrew had to do was prove he could control his bonds. It shouldn’t be an issue with Mr Crow listening to his commands without complaining. They didn’t need any identification on them either, as plenty of people crawled out of woodwork to avoid or join the war. It was a mess to the point that many previous restrictions were loosened.

They finally reached the place. A large building that had once been a tavern was now repurposed to accommodate the influx of the people who wanted to register themselves and their beasts, the mentioned beasts, buy specialised food, items or any other necessity a tamer would have.

The inside was packed, with everything but a large counter and chairs along the walls removed. At the side of the entrance, a sign denoted the purpose of the place.

Mila found a somewhat empty spot beside the wall and stopped. “Go get it then. We still have other places to be.”

To which Andrew raised an eyebrow. “Not coming in?” He let a group of people exit the building before trying to walk in.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“No.” Mila turned her head away. Inside the building, animals were outnumbering the humans. They constantly bumped and ground against each other. It wasn’t a place to wait.

Still, it wouldn’t take too long for Andrew to be done. It left Mila with too much free time on her hands. She glanced around before gagging when a very hairy and sweaty pair of humanoids walked past her. They were probably humans, but it was hard to tell.

This was too much for Mila. “I am taking a short walk.” She called after Andrew, who momentarily stopped to listen. “Wait here when you are done.”

Andrew shrugged and nodded before vanishing inside the building with Mr Crow sending her a condescending look.

There was another purpose for their walk. After talking with Mortimer, Mila decided to take a look at the place he had once called home. Andrew has joined her not only for the permit but also to have Mr Crow had a look at the mansion from above and see what he could glean.

But for now, Mila walked to the side while keeping herself close to the wall. She rounded the corner and blended inside the flowing crowd. It would likely take Andrew about an hour to be done before they could continue.

It was a pity they couldn’t drag Mortimer with them. Apparently, the man was not welcomed anywhere near his previous home - a rule reinforced by guards and thugs alike, by his words.

In fact, the city's guards and underbelly had taken it upon themselves to make Mortimer’s life as miserable as possible. It was the reason he was a thief now. No one wanted to employ him.

Why go to such lengths to torment one man? Mila couldn’t say, nor did she care.

For now, Mila tried to keep her eyes and ears open to work out how the city of Stilag worked. And she was not impressed.

The streets were uneven and full of holes. The local populace was twitchy and easy to anger. Several times, Mila saw people get extorted in the open with guards walking past or, in one case, greeting the perpetrator. Many buildings needed a new coat of paint. A fountain in the middle of a square was broken and covered in what looked like seaweed.

And there were beggars everywhere. Young and old. Men and women. Disabled and healthy. They all called for help and tried to get anyone to notice their plea.

Mila knew it would only get worse. Perhaps Stilag was worse off than other cities, but war was never kind to civilians. This would spread to cover the kingdom. She pulled her cloak tighter around herself and hurried past a mother with two children begging for scraps.

A small silver coin landed in the hands of the tiny, malnourished girl.

There was nothing else Mila could offer. She only had her dagger left on her. Her steps carried her further, from where the mother realised what had happened. The woman grabbed her children and pulled them away from the street, lest someone would notice their fortune. Too much wealth for them would be a curse.

And it was an experiment of sorts to gain a better understanding of herself.

Mila repeated the same steps while passing several other families with children until she had nothing else to give.

While standing at the end of one of the streets, Mila looked up at the cloudless sky. She let the hot air, tumult and smells wash past her.

There wasn’t much use for money to them, but it still felt somewhat wasteful to leave all Mila had on her on these overflowing streets. They would have to find a new source of it somewhere. Most likely taking from whichever unlucky enemy would cross their path next.

For a moment, Mila tried to remember the legend of a man who had robbed the rich and given to the poor. She just couldn’t remember his name. “‘Robing Hood’, was it?” That didn’t sound entirely right. However, it did conjure an intimidating picture of a hooded man facing a rich kid who had just sauntered down a street.

Mila’s imagination aside, they needed to buy food and perhaps find shelter. They needed to find suitable clothes and weapons. There was always more. It was much easier done with money.

Yet…

Mila looked at her hands. It would be lying if she didn’t feel like it had been the right thing to do. The look on the children's and parent's faces had left her heart feeling lighter. It wasn’t much. The feeling itself was rather vague.

Even with her help, Mila knew it would only help these people for a day or two. Maybe less. The practicality wasn’t there. She couldn’t change the situation in the kingdom. Not even the city. Neither could she do it just for this street.

It wasn’t a pleasant feeling. Not at all. And Mila felt like giving in to it would lead to rather heavy repercussions to the stability of her mind.

“Bewildering. Unpractical.” Mila muttered. Perhaps with time, she would.

But for now, Mila had to think over what these actions and reactions meant for her.

And the city kept getting worse. Mila noticed a young woman was pulled towards a back alley. A single soldier tried to help her but was blocked by two men. He gave up. “Sickening.” She evaluated.

Perhaps this part of the city was worse than the others, but here it was hell. This city was rotted to the core. Mila hesitated for a moment. If she helped the woman, she would gain nothing, only endanger herself and others.

That is why Mila turned to the side and started to walk.

After all, men were guarding the entrance to the back alley. Mila couldn’t just head right towards them.

There had to be better ways to approach the location. At least Mila was suited to subtler methods of solving problems. Isabel would have no other choice but to charge right towards the problem.

Still, Mila didn’t have much time if she wanted to help. Her feet carried her towards one of one of the buildings on the side. The two-story living quarters would serve as an excellent point from which to gain a high-ground advantage.

Without hesitation, Mila opened the doors leading inside the building and ran up the stairs. There had to be a roof access somewhere. If not, a side window towards the alley. A couple of people milling inside the place called after her as she passed.

Mila ignored them. A part of her regretted doing this. It would be just another tiny drop of compassion in the ocean of rancid selfishness and putrid apathy. Hardly anything.

And yet, Isabel and Andrew would help the woman. For now, Mila chose to use that as the guiding line for her actions.

There was no access to the roof. But Mila found a window. She hurried to open it and looked down. There still was a moment for her to act. She had not been too late. The young woman had resisted valiantly and earned herself a chance to escape untouched.