His boots scuffed along the cobblestones as he shook out the last vestiges of unpleasant tingling from his arms. Peering around through his round spectacles, he noted the steep sloping roofs and neatly trimmed hedges beneath the windows.

“South of Pendar it looks like,” he sighed, then began tugging his crisp white shirt cuffs through his coat sleeves. He reached into the pocket of his vest and withdrew his golden pocket watch with intricate designs on its cover; it snapped open smartly.

“Half past noon, I should try and find my next cart,” he peered around to see if he might find a small tavern or cafe. A spot of lunch would be best before resuming his journey, but the architecture of that particular town was intriguing!

Continuing on toward the center of the square he found himself in, the stranger studied the fountain that stood proudly under the clear blue sky, and noted its worn limestone mermaids supporting the smaller basin near the top idly. Thoughtfully, he ran a hand through his short sandy brown hair, and at last noticed…

The entire square was silent.

The cheery storefronts sat darkened, the windows to the apartments above were shuttered. Not a bird whistled, not a child giggled.

He blinked with a frown and stared down the five streets that spread out from the center of the town, and noted that they were completely abandoned.

“What in Kir’s void is going on?”

He felt his heart begin to pound.

Taking his time, he strolled toward the farthest right road, his gray eyes sweeping over every nook and cranny he passed in hopes of seeing some lifeform. A mouse, a ladybug… anything.

He had just reached the edge of the square, when every hair on his body stood upright.

Freezing in place, his shoulders drooping and his fingertips fluttering against his palms, he turned back toward the crumbling fountain.

There he saw an older man with jet black hair, pale skin, and dark eyes, smiling coldly at him. His black coat and vest making his sudden appearance all the more ominous, though it was offset somewhat by the woman and younger man standing behind him.

They both had blond hair, and black eyes, but their clothes were far more elaborate in their lace and finery than the older man that stood as their leader.

“Finally caught you, Mr. Alvery Quinzel,” the elder man spoke with a triumphant grin.

Turning slowly while taking a deep inhale, the stranger who was in fact named Alvery, looked upward, squinting in the bright sunlight.

“Who might you be?” he asked casually, while slipping his hands into his pockets.

“The one who has been chasing you ever since you made a scene in Gherta.”

Alvery balked, then frowned as he cast his memory back. After a moment of wracking his brain, he stepped forward. “No, no. I’m quite certain the only one who would be chasing me from Gherta would be Angelie, and no offense, but she’s a bit more breast-y than you are.”

The man gave a cool laugh in response to the flippant remark. “Your father’s looking for you.”

Alvery’s face dropped and he felt his emotions begin to blur his concentration. “Why?”

“What do you mean ‘why’? You abandoned a perfectly good military position he bought for you. Don’t you know that it is your duty as the fourth son to a noble like him?” the man’s eyes were glinting, as though he were a wolf with his sights fixed on a juicy prey he intended to play with before devouring.

“I didn’t want that position in the first place. I’ve not asked anything from him. I’ll be on my way now,” Alvery began to step backwards.

That was when the younger blond haired man procured something from behind his back…

An old leather satchel that was bulging with papers.

“You’ll come with us, because we’ve found something that you normally keep well-guarded,” the black haired man was only a foot or two from Alvery, whose gray eyes had widened once he recognized the satchel with its multiple pockets and worn strap.

“Where did you… how-”

“Let’s just say, it isn’t only your father who is interested in keeping tabs on you, Mr. Quinzel.”

Alvery couldn’t move, his body felt as though it had been filled with lead.

“Ah… how rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Carval Gestov. In case you neglected your political studies, I am the Duke Carval Gestov. Behind me are my son and daughter Klein, and Izia.”

Alvery swallowed with difficulty. “I’m not going to go with you.”

Duke Carval Gestov leaned forward so that his nose nearly touched Alvery’s. “Oh? Even if I were to make you a deal?”

Looking behind the duke, Alvery Quinzel, son of Marquis Warren Quinzel noticed the unsettling hunger in Klein and Izia’s eyes. He couldn’t run, and he didn’t have any means of escape or defense…

“What kind of deal?”

Carval smiled, and without even hearing what precisely the man had in mind, Alvery already had the horrible sense that the decision he was actually making was either sentencing himself to a drawn out death at the hands of his father… or making a deal with a devil.

***

There were screams, and sobs as black smoke filled the alley’s and streets, ash still aglow drifted down threateningly as those passing by darted by the wreckage as quickly as they could. Children with soot colored faces and nothing on their feet fled the great factory that burned, men brandishing batons hollered after them, but weren’t able to follow very far before one of their own superiors hauled them back to help put out the blaze.

Amongst those that fled, two figures made their way from the chaos, the smaller one was half dragging the other as hastily as possible. Their faces averted away as they shuffled farther and farther down the road, while some of the local men bolted toward the scene to offer their aid in putting out the fire.

“T-This is as far as I can go,” the young man who was being carried gasped, his face dripping with sweat.

“Just hang on until I make it around that next bend, it leads to the mud banks.”

Despite the voice of the one carrying the young man being female, she confused most who saw her by donning brown sooty trousers and a gray shirt over her wiry frame. She then completed the visage by tucking her hair under a brown cap.

“Tia, I’m going to be deadweight soon.”

“Good thing I eat more than you then.”

He coughed, but gasped in pain as a result.

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Tia’s legs buckled, but she could see the bend they needed to disappear behind. Hardly anyone went there, especially that time of year, as the mud and snow mixed together into thick, shoe consuming guck, only that morning it had started to thaw. The state of the ground condemned any visitors that went to the muddy slope that drooped down to the dirty ice divet that appeared carved into the outer edge of the city of Pastrim.

Her knees were practically knocking together, and so when they finally stepped behind the final decrepit building of the street, she half collapsed with her friend.

Both were panting, though Tia was able to at least hold herself up on all fours, despite the fact that the trembling in her legs was rapidly spreading to her arms, and she was beginning to notice the stinging sensation in her back.

“Jackesh, how’s your side?” she asked while pushing herself to rest on her knees while ignoring the colored dots dancing in her vision no matter where she looked.

“Did you know you were going to do that?” he asked her instead of answering.

Tia looked to her friend whose complexion was turning an alarming shade of gray, his deep blue eyes appearing bright against his poor complexion.

“Did I intend to burn down the entire factory? No. Well… okay, yes. Do you think everyone got out quickly enough?”

Jackesh closed his eyes, as he leaned his head against the crumbling brick behind himself.

“I got everyone out. Do you think any of the white shirts died?” Jackesh queried with a half grin.

“Unlikely. The booth was reinforced and built for an event like that. It’s why I locked them in there. If I get charged for murder then it’ll be a lot harder getting out of Pastrim,” Tia could feel the searing pain in her back worsening.

“Pity,” Jack breathed while opening his eyes again. “You alright?”

“I’m sure I’ll live. How about you? Are you scheduled to meet with your god?”

“Hard to say,” Jackesh looked down at his blood soaked side that his right hand was covering in a feeble attempt to cover the wound.

“Right. I’ll drop you at the doctor’s stoop. Just say you’re a sailor.”

“I am a sailor.”

“That was three years ago. You aren’t a sailor anymore.”

“You never stop being a sailor just because you became the victim of human trafficking.” Jackesh tried to laugh but wound up coughing again, his face scrunching and contorting in pain.

“We don’t have long. I have to drop you off at the doctor’s and then find a place to hide myself.”

Bracing her hand against her scratchy worn pants, Tia started to push herself back upright, but let out a yelp and fell back to all fours as the pain in her back intensified.

“Tia! Tia are you alright?” Jackesh carefully leaned forward, and only then could see what ailed his friend. “Goddamnit! You should have said something! I knew that board hit you!”

“It nudged me at best. I’ll be fine. If we don’t move now they’ll catch us.”

“Tia we can’t get far enough like this, we-”

“We can, and we will. We did not live in that horrible place for three years for it to end like this.”

Closing her eyes, and taking a steadying breath, Tia listened to the softness of the air around them.

Everything was quiet… for now.

The crowds around the fire would lend itself as a distraction, and the white shirts were too soft to chase after them right away… though he was different. The snake in a man’s body would be after them the second he was free from the office box, and he would waste no time in devouring Tia whole for what she had done.

But she knew his dirty secrets would be revealed thanks to the fire, and as a result, she also knew it wouldn’t be easy for him to come after her once the courts caught wind of things…

She just needed to hide until it all settled down, and then…

And then she would go home.

She’d go back to the town she wished she had never left.

She shook her head free of the spots, and dragged her mind back to the task at hand.

“Come on. I’m sure my back looks worse than it is.”

Gritting her teeth, Tia pushed herself back up, and while she hunched her shoulders and her eyes watered, she grabbed Jackesh’s arm, threw it back over her shoulders, and with a grunt mixed with a cry, the pair managed to stand on their own feet once more.

The two trudged precariously along the edge of the mud banks, one rolled ankle would be all it would take for them to fall down the hill with no hope of climbing back up in their current state. Despite this danger, Tia could feel exhaustion and shock settling in her body; her adrenaline waning.

However when she glanced over her shoulder and noticed their muddy footprints following them, was able to rekindle some of her earlier fervid panic. Silently, for the first time in years, she prayed to her peri god… She prayed to Sarkal that it would snow again.

At long last, the pair reached the edge of a broken wooden fence that led to a back alley where they could make their way onto the main street…

Tia hoped the doctor was as discreet as she’d been told he was.

They set to wedging themselves through the aged slats, however the task proved to be far more arduous than Tia had originally realized thanks to their injuries.

Both she and Jackesh let out shouts as they bent and squeezed their bodies against the damp broken wood before crumbling back onto the alleyway.

Laying on the cobblestones, staring up into the cloudy sky, Tia swallowed back a cry.

The cold stones on her back were both soothing and painful… but at least she could hear Jackesh’s breathing begin to calm down alongside her own.

Closing her eyes, she felt tears of frustration and hopelessness begin to well in her eyes.

Could they really escape? Could they really be free? Laying there, on the ground with barely any strength left in her body, Tia, for a moment, let herself consider staying there. She thought about not rising again, and allowing them to be caught instead of wasting even more of her limited strength and energy on such a futile goal.

Then, she felt something cold touch her cheek.

Opening her eyes once more, she stared up at the sky and saw fat snowflakes drifting down to the earth, and for a moment, a ray of sun escaped the ominous, smothering clouds and brightened the dreary world.

Tia smiled dazedly, and then, well… she laughed.