After returning to our quarters in the Voyager Post, we discovered it was precisely as Leif had warned. Men wearing uniforms lined at the Voyager reception desk. Their uniforms were emblazoned with a serpent, maw wide ready to swallow the sun of Dulcrois. We slipped past while the group argued about registration fees.

Gemma had returned a short time before us and was halfway through receiving a scolding from Berthold when we entered.

"Maybe if anyone in this group planned half as much as I did, we wouldn't have to make these sloppy exits every-" Bert stopped mid-lecture as we entered the room. "Grab your stuff. We need to go."

Our bags had been neatly packed and waited for us on the large oak table that occupied most of our living area.

"Wow, thanks, Bert," I said, hoisting my bag onto my back.

"No lecture this time?" Nev asked.

"No time," Bert replied. "I'll save it for the road."

From our balcony, we could see dozens of Aramaz followers flooding into the courtyard, spreading out to the rest of the property.

"I just checked the city's exits. They're stopping anybody trying to leave," Leif said while descending from above on a cloud of smoke.

Leif touched down on our balcony and grabbed his belongings that, for once, were packed up neatly.

"What's the plan?" Nev asked, looking toward me. The rest of the group followed their lead.

I looked toward Bert, who immediately scoffed at my delegation.

"Regardless of what we do, we can't stay here," Bert answered. "We'll head toward the southern exit and figure something out before we get there."

As we headed to leave our quarters, we heard a loud thud against our door, followed by aggressive knocking.

"Open up!" A voice demanded.

Our group collectively groaned at the minor inconvenience.

"Leif, smoke them out," I said, gesturing toward the door's keyhole.

Leif took a long drag and exhaled through the keyhole.

"What the," the voice managed in between coughing fits.

I reformed the door, splitting it down the middle as my team moved quickly through the smoke. By the time I could walk through, the smoke had cleared, and three Aramaz followers lay unconscious by my feet.

As we passed through Reinmont, businesses closed shop at the signs of oncoming conflict. Voyagers and merchants pooled at the city's exits in an attempt to flee from either Aramaz's followers or the wake of the destruction they would leave behind.

Before the fall of Dulcrois, the only concern from Aramaz was her Fangs. Now with the financial and technological backing of the most powerful city in the world, Aramaz and her followers posed a much more significant threat. Simple cultists traded in their robes and daggers for plate mail and longswords. The strongest among them were equipped with arcane weapons and artifacts plundered from every square inch of the city. Aramaz was prepping for war, and it didn't go unnoticed.

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People slowly shifted forward as Aramaz soldiers allowed merchants and Voyagers to pass through the southern exit. We waited patiently, each trying to find a way to escape without notice.

"Gemma? Is that you?" A voice called from a cart slightly behind us.

"Oh no," Gemma glanced back, then quickly spun, pointing her head to the ground.

"Gemma, that is you!" The young man hopped down from his cart and rushed to her, scooping her off her feet in an embrace. "I was worried you had already left. But, unfortunately, you ran away so quickly before I didn't really have a chance to say goodbye."

"I-uh-well..." Gemma's face turned bright red as she stumbled over her words.

The young man set her down, turning to face our group.

"You must be her friends I've heard so much about. Carter Raine, it's a pleasure." He approached each of us with a firm excited handshake.

"Nice to make your acquaintance, Carter," Berthold smiled, glancing toward Gemma. "And how do you know our friend here?"

"Oh well, I suppose you could call me Gemma's paramo-" Carter started before Gemma's fist collided squarely with his sternum.

"He's a friend," Gemma continued as Carter hunched on the ground attempting to catch his breath.

"Sorry, Carter, but as much as we love making new friends. We're kinda dealing with something here." I said, gesturing to the mass of people gathered at the checkpoint.

"Say no more," he replied, lifting his hands up and facing Gemma. "Will you be back soon? I finally found a buyer for all this wicker west in Freesport, so I should return here in a week."

"No, I'm not coming back. I think we need to end thi-" Gemma admitted before Bert quickly covered her mouth.

"I think what Gemma is trying to say is we would love a ride to Freesport if you don't mind helping friends of your paramore," Berthold said, causing both Gemma and Carter to glow red with embarrassment.

"Of course!" Carter agreed, lifting the canvas covering the back of his cart.

"They're still searching carts, but this should help. All we need now is a solid distraction." Berthold said, sliding wicker baskets aside.

As I took Nev's hand to help me into the back of the cart

I spotted a fellow Voyager towering over the rest of the crowd.

"Hey, Puiz!" I shouted out, getting the Voyager's attention. "You wanna make some easy money?"

Puiz smiled in response.

"Why exactly are you leaving the city in such a hurry?" The Aramaz soldier asked.

"I have a buyer in Freesport," Carter explained. "I have no quarrel with Aramaz or her followers. My departure is simply circumstantial."

"I see," the soldier replied, unconvinced. "What are your wares?"

"Wicker, nothing special, I'm afraid. But I'll earn quite a substantial return if I can make this sale on time."

"Don't move," the guard ordered, moving to the back of the cart.

"Understood. Feel free to inspect the back. I'm not hiding anything!" Carter laughed, shooting a pained expression to our group cowering behind wicker baskets.

The soldier pulled back the canvas allowing light to pour in through the back of the cart.

"They can't treat us like this!" A voice shouted from the crowd, causing the guard to drop the canvas sheet.

"Voyagers!" A gruff voice called from deeper in the line. "Why should we listen to these snakemen? They do not rule this land."

Murmurs from the crowd began growing.

"They do not fill your bellies or drain your balls!" Puiz continued.

"He's right!" Another voice chimed in from the crowd.

"They can't stop all of us!"

"People of Reinmont," Puiz called out, lifting a man by his side celebrating the uprising.

"Yea- hey, wait! What are you doing!? Put me down!" The man shouted, now fully horizontal above Puiz's head.

"Rampage!" Puiz shouted while shaking the stranger up and down.

The line turned into a frenzy. Half of its occupants were trying to flee to safety into the city while the other half tried overwhelming the Aramaz soldiers.

"Stay where you are!" The Aramaz soldier ordered Carter.

Carter nodded in shock. As the soldier turned back toward the crowd, he immediately folded as the man formerly being held by Puiz collided squarely with his chest. Puiz smiled like a man that just bowled a strike, then ran into the city away from his created chaos.

"You don't have to listen to him now. You can just go," Berthold advised Carter, who drove out of the checkpoint turned riot.