The city of Ash bustled as the moon rose overhead. Despite the senseless ambling of the screamers, a serene quiet encompassed the city. Were it not for the smokey haze from the Manor, one would have been able to see millions of stars. Eevi stared above, wondering if she was the only one left who would appreciate such beauty.

Eevi stood atop a lone brick house, once a trading post for cotton. She had moved slowly to avoid the ire of the screamers. She was more than stealthy enough to pass through undetected. Still, all that moving did little to relieve the pain in her shoulder. Whatever herbs Eevi poured on her wound did little except leave her with a lasting stinging sensation. Climbing would be a pain, but one she could fight through.

Scaling the Manor would be a whole different matter, though. The walls were at least three meters tall, not too out of reach to lasso with her rope, but it wouldn’t be easy. Besides the contingent of guards patrolling at all times, they had previously laid several rows of wooden spikes along its edges. Even with a working shoulder, it would be a tough climb.

“Can’t be too upset,” Eevi thought, hoping to keep away from the growing number of flayed corpses. If even they were there only to intimidate, it was a very effective one.

Eevi slithered down her building and crossed the row along the street. She knew the Manor was more than just a gated wall. It surrounded the large courtyard, but the Manor itself combined with the wall with no space in between. Eevi hoped that with another look, she'd find a breach somewhere. She'd even take a sewer, if she could find one.

Eevi knew one misstep would attract the attention of the screamers. Even if she could escape, she'd lose her chance forever. The one advantage she had was that the guards likely were not expecting anyone living trying to break in.

The back of the Manor revealed much of the same. No easy windows, no ledges to climb. Not even so much as a grate. It even seemed that the second story of the Manor jutted out a few meters, making it an impossible ledge to reach.

“Wait,” Eevi thought. There had to be a reason for such an odd design. But it would require Eevi to get off the building and look for herself.

After spending several minutes looking around her building, Eevi climbed down and sprinted to the Manor. As she threw her back against the wall, a putrid stench overwhelmed her senses. Eevi looked over the ground, recognizing the clumpy clay-like mounds that lay across the side of the wall.

“Shit,” Eevi thought. Literally. She repressed her urge to barf, realizing with horror that the mounds rose to her waist.

Eevi held her nose, looking up above her. She spotted three holes: second-story toilets that filtered shit out to the streets. They were just wide enough for someone to crawl through.

“For fuck’s sake,” she hissed to herself.

The mounds took up most of the wall. They weren't fresh, but Eevi kept her distance. The guards would surely follow her scent if she stepped in it. She lassoed her rope and threw it around a small outcropping just below the hole of one of the toilets. After tightening the rope, Eevi held her breath and leaped up, swinging across the mound of excrement. Her shoulder cried out in pain, but her fear of falling into excrement was stronger for the moment.

As Eevi reached the top of the rope, she squeezed her legs around the outcropping. Only then did she consider the possibility that some of the waste had landed on it, but there was no going back now.

Eevi climbed into the waste chute. She desperately breathed through her mouth to no avail. The smell was inescapable here. Fortunately, the chute was wide enough to climb, and Eevi extended her legs and arms to get in a stable position. She looked up, seeing a crack of light through the toilet lid only two meters above her.

“If anyone dares open this lid, I’m stabbing them in the ass,” Eevi thought bitterly.

Eevi reached the top of the chute, lifting the lid slowly with Jere’s knife. As far as she could tell, no one was around. At least, if there were, they were keeping quiet about what must have been a disturbing sight. Eevi climbed through and opened her mouth, finally allowing herself to breathe. Jere had better appreciate all that she was doing for him.

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She peered around, finding a hallway illuminated by a single torch. She pulled out her crossbow and turned a corner, passing into a room that contained multiple tables and slabs all crowded with bodies. There were at least six within burial sacs. The two on the table were recently deceased. She had not expected this many to be dead, even considering everything.

Eevi unzipped a few of the burial sacs, expecting to be greeted by familiar faces before realizing that they would be more likely to be hanging outside the walls. Still, she recognized none. It was a relief all the same.

“Bring him in!” a voice called from outside the hallway.

Eevi panicked. She needed to disappear fast. There was only one way to do that: she ran around to the pile of bodies, grabbing one of the empty burial sacs and sticking her feet inside. Her only hope was that whoever ran this room had not kept a hard count of the bodies.

As she placed her feet inside one of the burial sacs, Eevi looked up to find an old woman staring directly at her. It was Eanna, the caregiver whose hut Eevi had just come from. All Eevi could do was stare back.

“Wait,” Eanna called outside the room, her eyes not leaving Eevi. “Get Harran. I need his opinion on something.” The footsteps behind Eanna halted before receding. It left the two of them alone in the room, Eevi awkwardly sticking halfway out of her burial sac.

“You should probably hide,” Eanna said, grinning. She had no reason to help her. Still, Eevi tossed herself in the bag, throwing it over her head and placing herself in the pile of bodies. She could not tie the sac together, and hoped that whoever was coming wouldn't bother to check.

After thirty seconds, footsteps returned. Eevi closed her eyes, feeling her heart pound against her chest as the room filled with several men.

“Place him here,” Eanna said. “Move the other to the pile. There’s nothing else I need to see.” Eevi braced herself, waiting for a limp body to be tossed on top of her, but it never came.

“Another death so soon?” answered a direct yet meek voice. “What happened?”

“Who do you think, Harran?”

Harran sighed. “That boy… Was it a prisoner?”

“Oh no,” Eevi thought, repressing her squirms within the sac.

“One of Urash’s men. Juddken caught him walking about, it seems.”

“Ah. At least it’s not another guard.”

“Okkan would disapprove of your nonchalance."

“Careful. Say that to the wrong person and you’ll end up on this table yourself.”

“Inform Boah if you’re so inclined. Just bring me bodies when they come.”

“Eanna,” Harran’s tone fell to a whisper. “There are murmurs amongst the others. Murmurs concerning your… abilities.”

“Oh? I wouldn’t have the slightest idea.”

“If I were you, I’d keep quiet. With the Ati worshipers gone, the others are getting restless. They’ll be looking for anyone who steps out of line.”

“I appreciate your pressing concern,” Eanna said mockingly. “Anything else you need?”

“No. Thank you for the update. I’m going to get some sleep… As much as I can in a place like this.”

“Blessed dreams to you, Harran.” As Eanna said this, the multitude of footsteps receded. A moment of silence passed before she spoke again. “Okay, stranger. You're safe.”

Eevi certainly didn't feel safe. She rolled the sac over, opening the flap. As she rose from the bag, she found Eanna staring at her with wide eyes again. It was deeply uncomfortable.

“Were you at my hut?” Eanna asked. “Perfume like that is scarce in the desert.”

Eevi cursed herself in her mind. No wonder she felt like shit. “I thought it was an elixir.”

“Not the worst you could’ve used. There was plenty of poison in there. You would have been dead in a heartbeat.” Eevi hesitated to ask why Eanna would have poison on her person at all. But there had long been rumors she was a witch. From what Harran suggested, it seemed like it was a more open secret than Eanna hoped for. But all that was beside the point.

“I’d offer a Corps outfit,” Eanna continued, “but they undress at night and they take a head count. You may have better luck in the mercenary outfit. They don’t talk to each other from what I’ve seen, and you’ll have the benefit of wearing a mask. Just stay away from the other guards. I’ll tell you where to go.”

Eevi didn't stop to ask why the woman was helping her, but she had a question. “There were two prisoners taken here earlier today. Would you know where they are now?”

Eanna, focused on undressing the mercenary, didn't answer the question immediately. “Underground.”

“Oh. You mean to say they’re-”

“Ah, that’s not a metaphor,” Eanna corrected herself. “They’re being kept underground somewhere. You find Urash, you’ll find the prisoners. Even then, I’m afraid there’s not much you can do. Other than join them, if you’re lucky.”

“If I can rescue them, I can. Otherwise, I'll be on my way.”

Eanna furrowed her brow before her eyes suddenly widened again. The faint wrinkles on her face seemed to fade away into her skin. “Why do you tell yourself you’re not in love?”

“Excuse me?” Eevi repressed her desire to finish her sentence with "bitch."

“You’re in love. I can see it in your eyes. Why don’t you just say so? Who else would do what you did if you weren’t?”

“You’re reaching, witch,” Eevi spat, close enough to what she wished to say. “What does it matter to you?”

“You don’t climb through a ladder of shit for friends,” Eanna laughed.

“I… Just tell me where they are.” Eevi had no reason to explain herself to this person.

Eanna’s smile lessened, and her wrinkles filled her face again. “Very well.” She reached over to the recently fallen mercenary, removing the rest of their clothes.