The outlines of several humans could be made out from the remaining dim sunlight.

I shifted my neck so that I could see around some more trees to view the whole scene. They shouldn't be able to spot my scruffy face in this dim lighting at this distance. There were about 50m, gap between us. 

There were seven men who were standing around a carriage. Well, surrounding what should of once been a carriage. There were several pieces of rock sticking out of the carriage all over and the roof seemed to have partially blown off. Another man stood on the carriage driver seat. The curse seems to have originated from him as he quickly let out another curse as a small fist from within struck him. Looks like they had yet to subdue everyone as a small figure could still be seen struggling on the carriage. Or so I thought until I heard the people around the carriage laugh raucously as the man on the carriage threw out a vicious punch. The struggle had ended.

There was signs of magic and a big fight breaking out, supported by the magical traces, explosions and scorch marks that littered the ground. What looked like pieces of human bodies lay splattered all over. There was so much blood, yet I couldn't smell it...it looks like there must have been some sought of isolation barrier put in place. Probably to stop any monsters from being attracted here.

Another carriage lay slightly further away, crashed into the side of the road. The wheels had been blown off, the cogs and spokes broken, making it look more like a square box. The horses attached to it were sprawled across the tree trunks, one with the head struck in, the other still neighing in pain, legs broken. It was still mainly intact, so I decided to take a bigger peak.

Yup, I recognised the carriage. It was the same one as the one that passed us before. Suddenly I heard a sentence that chilled me. One of the men surrounding the carriage had called out with a foreign accent. He was a serious looking man, in his early twenties. He had well trained chest and big legs that were threatening to burst his dirty trousers. His face was sharp and I noticed he carried himself with a military discipline I only ever saw in high-ranking officers in the military. Even the city official didn't have his amount of dignity. I couldn't work out many details as the sun was setting, but his eyes looked like darkened pits, sucking you in.

But his statement was what scared me. Because he didn't shout it, I'm not sure if I heard him correctly, but I think I heard "Search the princess! The artefact must be on her!"

I slowly withdrew my head front the extended position. Yes, slowly. Big movements nearly always attracted more attention the slow subtle ones. This was something that I had gradually understood over the years of spying and peaking. It was much more easier to notice that objects were in different positions then to discover the outline of a human, silhouetted.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

The path I had taken previously rattled, as the grass underfoot was crunched. I whipped around in shock...

...only to find Shiara standing there half bent over, pushing her way under some branches. What was she doing here?! I sent her a furious glare, but she unblinkingly just stared back at me with an unyielding gaze...looks like she wasn't willing to back down. My bag of provisions also hanged over her shoulder. I wouldn't be able to make her go back by herself, short of making a ruckus or forcing her back so I just decided to let it drop.

The barrier that prevented the odour leaking was probably some sort of barrier that prevented smell and mana leakage as apart from the initial mana wave, nothing else was detected. It covered us somewhat, but it was still risky to stay here too long. Although they seemed quite complacent, I decided to withdraw with her. I tugged on her arm and we pulled back together.

After putting about another 50 meter gap between us, she finally couldn't take it anymore.

"So what did you see?-And don't you dare ditch me again without an explanation!"

I couldn't help but smother a laugh. She was trying her hardest to keep her voice down, but her mixture of curiosity and anger in her voice ended up making a hilarious combination.

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry....but you know, I didn't ditch you. You ditched me. See ditching refers to saying you will go somewhere or do something, but not following through and thereby leaving someone or some group behind. " I had originally decided to placate her, but something in her look just wouldn't allow me to do just that. Besides we were both too tense, I needed to lighten the mood before I broke it to her. "I told you I was leaving you and then left. Yet you didn't tell me anything and then decided to stay behind. Now that's what you would call ditching-"

"That's pure fallacy!! And weren't you the one who told me to stay?!?!" -I should probably leave the joke at that. Her screaming was starting to get a bit loud and hysteria was creeping in. We couldn't allow ourselves to be found by them. The guy who shouted previously should be their leader, but he didn't look like a leader for just a small band of thieves. There was probably much more to the situation then what I just saw- and working off half-baked information always ended badly.

"Yes, yes. Ok but seriously, do you want to hear what I saw?"

"Of course! What did you see?" A worried look was plastered on her face.

"Have you ever overheard a soldier or high ranking official mention the dual-"

"No. I don't eavesdrop like you."

"-jewels of Fei. Ok...how about the three treasures of Fei?" A blank look. Looks like explaining will take us some time. The climate around here was quite moderate, so even though the sun had set and it had begun to get chilly, it was nothing we were too used too or couldn't bear. This was why so many people survived in the slums. We both sat down, as I started my long explanation on what I saw and heard. It would be a long night and there would be no fire tonight.