I was almost surprised by how easily my dagger slid in. Was it really this simple to kill someone? Just a sharp tool aimed at the right spot with a quick thrust? Something about it never truly hit home until that moment.

Susan's hands pushed against me weakly. It was as if she thought that if she could just push me off and run away that somehow everything would be alright. Soon her struggles ended and she slumped to the floor. She lay there limply with an unseeing look in her eyes.

All three of us stood there frozen in silence for a moment at the shock of what I'd just done. It wasn't until I remembered the danger of the situation that my mind allowed me to react.

I gave a quick look into the hallway. Thankfully no one had been stirred from their slumber due to the commotion. I quickly closed the door.

[Skill Gain: LVL 1/10 Assassin]

[Level up: LVL 4]

[Level up: LVL 5]

I guess killing makes for good experience. Well there's no time to think about any of that now. I gave a look back to Susan to see the blood was quickly starting to spill out of her, and a red circular pool was stretching across the floor. At this rate some would leak into the halls.

I grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the corner of the room that was furthest from the door. I took my knife out and wiped it off on my bed sheet, then I put the same sheet over her, hoping that it would absorb at least some of the mess.

I gave myself a quick look over. I was surprised to see I somehow managed to avoid getting almost any blood on me. That was very lucky, I wouldn't have to spend time cleaning myself off.

I put my knife back in it's scabbard as I turned my focus entirely to the girls.

“I had no choice, you heard her. If she had her way none of us would ever have been able to leave. She even said she would have us lamed and flayed. What else was I suppose to do?” I wanted them to agree with me, but instead they kept silent. I noticed then that they were actually afraid of me.

In my mind I clearly knew I made the only logical choice there was to make, but I still wanted someone else to tell me that they thought I did the right thing.

Madeline was the first one to snap out of her state of shock. She ran her hand over her face and nodded in agreement. Lameria stood there for a moment longer with her hands bunched up in front of her mouth. Madeline was finally able to speak.

“You're right, she wouldn't have let us go. We need to get out of here as soon as possible.” She scooped up her bag and started getting her breathing under control. It wasn't until then I noticed how hard I was breathing too.

I looked down at my hands to see them shaking. I forced myself to stop. Somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered how an excess of adrenaline had that effect. Madeline rubbed Lameria's back and I too went to comfort her.

Lameria gave a small nod to show that she was okay after a few moments. I found it odd that with all the violence she had to endure in her life by this woman's hand, seeing her now like this would cause such a reaction. I guess she was numb to violence inflicted against herself, but not to others.

Once everyone was ready and in control of themselves we all gathered by the door. We did one last check to be sure that we had everything we needed. It turned out Madeline also put some food and a pouch of water into the bag that i hadn't noticed before. Seeing everything was in order and that we were ready to go, I quietly opened the door and we began our escape.

We walked down the hall and towards the stairs. We had to keep forcing ourselves to slow the pace to keep the noise we made to a minimum. After climbing to the top of the stairs we hugged the left side of the wall.

We got there just in time to see a guard was turning the corner away from us. His pace was slow and relaxed. I guess that means Madeline and Susan managed not to tip off anyone. Madeline came right up behind my ear and whispered.

"We have 2 minutes before his rotation is complete. We should go now". I nodded and the 3 of us lightly walked towards the back yard garden area. It was were the security would be the most lack as well as where the stables were located.

We exited through a little used small back entrance and then kept to the shadows as we made our way towards the woods. Another rotation passed which Madeline had warned us about. Just as we were about to make a break towards the woods Lameria grabbed us both by the arm and pulled us down.

A rogue guard on a random patrol passed by us. This was the trickiest part of the security. Every night a few guards were told to take random routes throughout the property. We would have been caught just then if not for Lamaria. It's nice to know that those ears weren't just there to look cute.

As soon as he passed we made our break into the woods and slowly made our way to the stables. The stables were not heavily guarded at night with only 1 guard who occasionally checked on them. There were easier and safer ways to steal a horse so it wasn't seen as a high priority.

We quietly took 3 horses out and walked them slowly into the woods. I could barely see in the dark without any torches but Lameria ably led the way without the slightest bit of trouble. It must be that foxkins had good night vision. As our distance increased from the property I was finally able to let some of the tension out.

A million things could have gone wrong and thankfully nothing did, besides Susan walking in on us that is. Once we were far enough away Madeline and I picked up some thick pieces of wood. I quickly took off my clothes and put on the ones that Madeline had brought for me.

Madeline didn't mind much as she couldn't see, but I was pretty sure I heard Lameria nervously face the other direction. While I wasn't any kind of exhibitionist this was not the moment to indulge notions such as modesty.

Since wearing my old clothes out in public was all but impossible I tore strands of them off and tied them around the sticks. Madeline took out a flint stone from her pocket and soon we had 2 torches lit.

Madeline and I quickly mounted our horses while Lameria held the torches for us. Once we were on she passed them back and I held out my free hand to pull her up. With the reins of the other horse tied to mine we set out.

It was actually better than I imagined. She was so nervous that she gripped tightly around my chest and I felt every part of her front push hard against my back with her soothing breath on my neck.

It would have been more efficient if I told her to hold on with one hand and hold the torch out with the other. But I wasn't about to give her a reason to hold me less tightly.

We rode through the night. We stopped every now and then to give our horses sometime to rest and to have Lameria switch from me to Madeline to give my horse a break.

On one of our short breaks we managed to find some large boulders to sit on. Now felt like a good time to talk about the future as aimlessly running away with no direction in mind didn't hold much appeal.

“So what are we going to do now?” Asked Lameria in her typical 'not being experienced in making choices' way.

“I don't know about you two, but I'm going to find my sister and after that I aim to be an adventurer.” Lameria nervously gave her thoughts to my response.

“Being an adventurer sounds dangerous. I don't know if that's a good idea." It crossed my mind that she might be thinking I would try to push her into being one.

“Even if you want to stay with me, I don't plan to make either of you do anything you don't want or take any risk you feel are too big.” Madeline gave me a sideways look.

“What do you mean 'even if we want to stay'? Are you saying you don't want us around after were done with our escape?”

“I'm not saying that. I'm just saying I won't try to force either of you to stay with me. Of course I want both of you to come and help me with this. I doubt I could pull it off alone. But like I said, that's up to you.”

I didn't really doubt that I could pull it off alone. Maybe just a little, but not that much. Sometimes when I don't know what to say I think to myself 'what would the male lead say to the heroine in this situation if it were a movie'? Then I say that. It works out a surprising amount of the time.

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It can sometimes feel a little over the top, but I've found it to be effective in times like these. I knew I said the right thing when I saw Madeline perk up immediately.

“Of course you need me. You're probably useless on your own anyway. Frankly your fighting skills are still crap and I doubt you could tell a well made weapon from a bad one. You'd probably end up getting scammed and sold cheap goods to fight monsters. How do you expect to survive like that?” Lamaria seemed happy too, in her own hesitant way.

“I'd like to stay around, If it's okay with you. I don't know if I'll be a good fighter but I'll try to be useful.” I saw the way Madeline looked at Lameria. I had a pretty good Idea of what she was thinking.

She didn't know how to handle her. If she playfully got mad at her for being a push over; it wouldn't be fun as Lameria would instantly surrender and ask for forgiveness. If she was comforting and gentle with her, that wouldn't be interesting either. I saw her focus on me. It seems if she wanted amusement I was her only option.

“So this is the kind of woman you go for William? You didn't come off as the traditional type, but you seem to like them meek and obedient. Just remember to be gentle with her or I won't forgive you!" She walked up and put her arm around me as if giving advice in confidence when it was right in front of the intended target.

To her delight Lameria and myself both blushed heavily. Lameria for any mention of such a notion and me for the potential accuracy of said notion. I wouldn't say I truly had a single type though. I pulled her arm off my neck and retorted.

“She's just a friend Madeline, and we should get back to moving, we have no time for this kind of talk.” That was all correct of course. But something being correct doesn't mean it isn't a total and complete lie.

Judging from the way Madeline was acting, you wouldn't believe she saw someone murdered a few hours ago. I was surprised by how little I'd thought about it. I guess in our desperate bid to escape it had been pushed to the background of my thoughts. I looked down again to check my hands for blood and the metal cuff caught my eye.

“By the way, do you know how to get this off?" I showed it to Madeline. She gave it a quick look over.

“No idea. But I’ll give it a try. We can't have you keep them on forever.” She took out her knife and grabbed my arm. Well, this was going to be a blast.

After some experimentation and a few cuts my cuff fell to the ground; with my hand still attached to my arm I should add. She was able to do Lameria's much easier and faster without giving her a single cut after all the time spent practicing on me.

We got back on the horses and continued riding until we finally came to a town as dawn broke. I had no doubt that by now people knew that the three of us were gone. Riders would be out looking for us as well as birds being sent out with messages attached to their feet.

Assuming that was happening just now would be the absolute best case scenario. I gave the hooded cloak to Lameria and made sure it was covering her ears and tail. I also told Madeline to put on her hood too. It was possible some people in the nearby towns may know her on sight alone.

We rode into the center of town and made sure our horse tracks mixed with the other tracks that were already on the road. There were a few signs that pointed to other towns which were close by. We rode in circles a few times to try to get our tracks mixed in with the others and decided on a whim to head to a town that was westward.

We rode for an hour until we reached it. This time it was only Madeline and I who made an appearence before meeting up with Lameria on the outskirts and headed north to another town.

At that town it was the 2 cloaked girls who mixed their single horse's tracks in with the others before they met up with me and we headed north east. We did this a few more times with different combinations of people and a different amount of horses as we tried to throw off any trackers.

The towns people didn't take much notice of us, but even if they did none of the stories would completely match what they were looking for.

I was confident that they would track us to the first town we came to. But I hoped the confusing situation would give us a little extra time. Now we needed to make a hard choice. As we rode to yet another town it was coming up on noon. As I thought over the situation we were in I was coming to a decision. I turned my head back towards the two girls who were riding together.

“I think when we get to the next town we should sneak our horses into their stables and continue on foot.”

“What are you talking about? If we sell our horses we'll lose a lot of our mobility." Madeline was right to point this out. It was a big downside to the idea. But somewhere in my mind I felt a strong certainty that if we didn't do something irregular their trackers would find us eventually. I gave Madeline a smile.

“I didn't say sell them. I said sneak them in. If we sell them it would all but announce we were here. If we just put them in and leave there's a good chance no one will notice for a few days. People are concerned about their horses being stolen, not someone sneaking any in for free. I heard that stables often loan out horses for rent and keep a careful count.

Any incorrect count as a surplus would probably be seen as a horse that was loaned out and wasn't picked up or one that was put back and not recorded. It's a move no one would suspect, which is why I think we should do it. If they don't know what we did they will continue to focus on horse tracks. While they waste their time we can escape on foot. Hopefully by the time they realize what we did it will be too late."

Was I sure about anything I was saying? Absolutely not. I did hear that stables rent out horses constantly but besides that it was all conjecture. I wasn't an expert tracker and had no idea if I was making the right call. But It sounded like a good idea and I was confident the way to beat these people was to do something that put them off balance. Just like Timothy and that pebble.

In the end they agreed with my plan. Lameria would have agreed with anything I said of course, but Madeline still had some reservations. Once we got into town I was worried that we'd need to wait for an opportunity. It was actually much more simple than I dared dream.

We simply walked them into a few open stables and closed the doors behind them. As we walked out i half expected someone to ask us what we were up to, but no one took notice.

I thought about buying supplies but decided against it. I was hopeful we would reach another nearby town before nightfall on foot and I wanted to hold out until then to talk to anyone. The less contact we had with these towns people the better.

Even as I knew it was probably the smart thing to do, I felt badly that I didn't at least buy any traveling boots for Lameria. I hoped she wouldn't be too uncomfortable. If she was then I would happily carry her in my arms. You See? Chivalry's not dead after all. At least not when it comes to her.

We walked for about an hour and rested. We kept repeating the process until the sun started to set. I guess we weren't going to make that town today. Lameria and I started to set up camp and started a fire. Madeline took out a pouch of water and prepared food she had taken. It was only enough for 1 meal so we would need to buy supplies from now on.

After we ate all the food and finished nearly all the water we curled up in our tiny shelter using some of my former clothes for a blanket and pillows. I laid in the middle with Madeline to my left and Lameria to my right. Initially we all had a little space between us but in the cool night without blankets or a well made shelter i felt them huddle against me.

That had more than 1 benefit besides the warmth but being the gentleman i am I didn't take advantage. We could have been warmer if we made a larger fire but all of us knew that was a bad idea.

Even a medium sized fire can be seen a long way off in the night. We only made our fire large enough so Madeline and I could see the immediate area.

I wasn't able to sleep with these 2 pressing their bodies against me, not to mention the fact I gave them the most comfortable pieces of fabric to lay their heads on, so i told them I would keep watch.

They were happy for that but vetoed the notion of me getting up and sitting outside the tent near the fire to do it. Nothing much went on that night so I spent much of my time laying there and watching their sweet sleeping faces.

Lameria was always incredibly beautiful no matter what, but when Madeline slept I oddly noticed she somehow became more attractive. Maybe it was just that her scheming eyes, trouble making smile and smart mouth comments were gone now. Her usually severe beauty turned girlish and soft.

During the night with just the breathing of the girls and the occasional noise of an owl to keep my company i finally had time to think about everything that happened. I remembered the face Susan made when i stabbed her and the desperate look in her eyes. She was both afraid of me and beseeching me to help her at the same time.

I always had a morbid curiousity when it came to the question of what it would feel like to kill someone. It felt like I lost something. Not so much a sense of innocence or humanity. It was more a sense of security. Everyone always tells you how fragile life can be, but until you see it and take it first hand you never really get it.

I looked over to Madeline and Lameria. I felt the dagger on my side and thought of the implications. They just put their lives in my hands so willingly without even a thought. Didn't they realize how dangerous that could be? How many times have i done that without even thinking? Looking back now, i felt so foolish.

We would need to be careful with that from now on, especially in this world. We could trust each other but everyone else was a question mark until proven otherwise. My arms which were around them for warmth now took on a more protective meaning in my mind.

That was only one part of what I felt since I killed Susan. As for the other things I'm feeling; Sorry, I'd rather not talk about it.

As the first hint of dawn started to break Madeline woke up. I asked her if she would be willing to stay on watch for a while so i could get a few hours of sleep. She was crabby from just waking up but said she was willing. I may have only got a few hours but it was well needed after being awake for nearly two days.

Soon the light would not let me sleep any longer. I woke just a few moments before Lameria. She rubbed her eyes and looked around the woods giving the air a sniff. She had a normal looking human nose but perhaps it was a bit more sensitive than ours. Smelling nothing of concern, she went back to the job of packing up everything and dismantling camp. Better to leave no traces behind if we could help it.

Just as we were finishing up I leaned over to Madeline. “I'm glad we didn't have any issues last night. I was worried about maybe a monster or bear stumbling into our camp.” She didn't seemed too concerned by the thought.

“There aren't any bears in these woods. As for monsters, outside of dungeons they are exceedingly rare and moderately weak. We would have to be very unlucky to stumble across one.” Soon we were all packed up and ready to depart. The three of us finished the rest of the water Madeline brought along. We were still thirsty but the town couldn't be more than a two hour walk away.

Unfortunately It didn't take more than 20 minutes into our journey before Madeline's words came back to bite us. What else would we come across but a lone monster in the woods feasting on a deer.  It's blood covered head turned upward from it's meal as its eyes found us.

Dammit, I knew we should've brought our swords.