When Alyze entered the house she found her father lounging back on a chair in front of the fireplace. Somehow his gray hairs looked grayer.

"I guess the mayor came to talk to you." She said, "Doesn't look like it went well."

Jarvus gave her a look that affirmed her thoughts.

She looked down the hallway to the pantry, "Is Umbren okay. I talked to the mayor just now, so I don't think that he was found..."

"Alyze this is getting dangerous."

Alyze looked back to her father, becoming more serious noticing the gravity of his voice.

Jarvus ran his hand through his hair, "If I hesitated even a little that boy would have been found, and who knows what would have happened."

Alyze sat in the chair next to him, "He wouldn't have done anything to us...but Umbren on the other hand..."

Alyze looked like she was interested in exactly what the mayor would do, angering Jarvus, "This isn't a game Alyze! I don't know why you wanted to take him in in the first place."

Alyze smiled, "Would you believe me if it was solely out of the kindness of my heart?"

Jarvus looked at her doubtfully, "Lately I've seen you with that same look on your face just after your mother died. There's also something else...A sort of eagerness. So just out of kindness, no."

Alyze stared at something far off, "None of that really matters now. If things are getting more dangerous and the mayor is starting to suspect...well some things need to change."

Jarvus laughed, "Like what? Are we going to hide him under the floorboards now?

Alyze shook her head, "No nothing like that. There is one thing that our relationship with Umbren lacks."

"What might that be?"

"Trust."

Jarvus' eyes widened, "Are you saying that you don't trust him? He is living in our home. Don't tell me that you still doubt we're safe with him here."

Alyze smiled, "Of course I don’t believe he'll hurt us."

"Then what about trust do you need to improve?"

Alyze leaned her head onto her hand, "We don’t know anything about each other. Like why did he even end up here? I’m sure he has similar questions like that for us. If we are to truly get out of this in one piece, we can't risk the chance of us being suspicious of one another."

Jarvus rustled in his chair, "I can't argue with that, but some things are better left in the dark. What if something like that comes to light? What would you do?"

"I'll deal with that when I come to it. It would be a lot easier if Umbren was actually here. When is he coming back?"

"I told him that he would know when to come back, so...I don't know. I didn't really have time to think at that moment."

"I think I know where he went, so I'll go and get him."

Jarvus looked out the window, which was being hammered on by a barrage of heavy rain droplets, "I would wait to do that. At least until the rain stops, but preferably I would wait until nightfall. We can't risk the mayor getting any more suspicious of us, or discovering that a Nocturnal is in town."

Alyze nodded, and the two sat in quiet, the only sound coming from the rain hitting the window panes. Even after the rain stopped, the two just listened to the birds celebrating the reappearance of their beloved sun.

Soon though something caught Alyze's attention. Many villagers were making their way to the square, some even running there. She took no notice at first, but more and more people started to join the group, and gradually they started to pick up their pace.

Alyze slowly went out onto the front porch and called out to the group, "What's going on."

From many voices she got a reply, "The mayor is confronting a holy one in the town square. Some even say it might get bloody."

***

Umbren sat at the fountain. The square was busy, despite it just having rained. Children ran and played near where Umbren was sitting. Some begged their mothers or fathers for a coin so they could make a wish. Men and women were buying gifts for their lovers, and some parents were buying food for their families from the few farmer stalls set up.

In front of Umbren stood an entity of malicious intent. A man who wore garments of a familiar fabric, with deeply tanned skin and hair up in a ponytail.

Umbren didn't know who he was, but his fight or flight instincts were activated the moment he saw the man's glare.

"You have some nerve coming here. I thought I made it perfectly clear that one of your kind wasn't welcome here."

The man's voice was filled with conflict, as if he was doing all he could to hold himself back from resorting to violence.

Umbren was in shock. His thoughts were frantic. How did the man in front of him discover what he was? Had he done something wrong. He couldn't think of anything on the spot. For a brief second Umbren even though the cloth wrapped around his face had fallen away. His vision was still through a green filter so that wasn't the case.

Nevertheless, he didn't know if he could deny what the man said. The man could easily rip the cloth from Umbren’s face exposing his crescent eyes.

"Oh! really...how did you find out," Umbren said, trying to mask his fear.

The man smiled, "You really thought that you could go asking around about them, without me figuring you out. I never took your kind to be so foolish"

The man paused and looked Umbren over, "You were smart not to wear your insignia, if you did you wouldn't have been let into the village, but in the end it only got you so far."

Umbren was dumbstruck. The man had mentioned an insignia. No member of the Black Crescent that he knew carried anything of the sort. So what was the man saying?

The man noticed his silence, and his glare deepened, "Looks like you don't have anything to say. Now I don't care if you're a holy man, I will force you out of Lucel if I have to."

Holy man? So he thought that Umbren was one of those people. He didn't see through the disguise? Then why did he want him to leave so badly.

If the man could see his face, it would all be over. Umbren was barely able to control his voice, "Mister I really have no idea what you are talking about. If my brothers and sisters are allowed to stay, why am I not?"

People in the square started to notice. Some whispered amongst themselves while others gawked at the scene. Isiks walking by looked as if they were about to get involved, but a guard stopped them, murmuring something to them that caused the group to watch on in silence.

The man motioned closer to Umbren, "I've made it very clear to your order that I don't want to see any members of Ceartas in my streets. But you already knew that, didn't you? After all, you went through the effort of hiding your insignia."

Umbren was grasping for anything to say to get him out of this situation, "Even if that was true, how would asking around about the blacksmith make you think that?"

Umbren sounded more cocky than he meant to, since he successfully came up with something to say, and thought it would make the man stop his advances.

However, it had the opposite effect, as the man reached out to grab Umbren with unbelievable speed. Umbren saw it coming just in time and launched himself off the fountain. If he had been even a millisecond too late the man would have gotten a hold of him.

A gasp went up from the crowd. As they watched the two figures stare each other down. The mayor next to the fountain, and Umbren now a little ways away from it.

The man smiled out of irritation, "So you're one of them, no regular Isiks would be able to move that fast."

Umbren involuntary eyed the Isiks who now stood behind the mayor.

"I've told your order that there are no dark worshipers in this town, so I'll warn you one more time: get out of Lucel," the man said.

Umbren thought he could avoid a fight, "What authority do you have to kick someone out of this village."

Heat seemed to emit off of the man, and many villagers gasped once more and most took their children and backed away from the two.

All of the anger the man had been holding back burst out all at once, "This is my town you bastard!!!"

"Shit."

Umbren only had a second to prepare himself before the mayor came charging.

He let out a relentless barrage of jabs and kicks at Umbren. All he could do was avoid the attacks. Umbren knew if he fought back that it would only worsen the situation. Even if he blocked the mayor's attacks, they would still harm him-especially those hammer strikes with his metal bracers-so all Umbren could do was dodge. He didn't even know if he could do that with the speed and velocity of the mayor's attacks.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

There was also the problem of the crowd of people, many were panicking and some were watching the fight as if it was the only bit of entertainment they had gotten in years. Though Umbren's worry was shortly put at ease as it seemed as if the mayor was actively avoiding getting them involved.

Umbren kept dodging the mayor's attack, and thought he had gotten a good read on him, but that was soon disproven by his opponent.

The mayor feinted, causing Umbren to jump right into his attack, and the moment it took him to realize this it was already too late. All he could do was watch as the mayor’s fist went into his stomach.

The wind was knocked out of Umbren; he could hear the crunch of bones under the mayor's fist. As Umbren went down on his knees, he instinctively turned his back to his enemy, and immediately regretted it. The Mayor approached Umbren readying to bring his metal bracer down on the back of his neck.

Just before that could happen, Umbren-with his left hand holding where the mayor had landed his attack-reached into his cloak with his right.

Before the mayor could bring down his arm, his eyes widened and he quickly jumped away. His arm still came down, but instead of on his opponent, on a flash of silver that flew through the air.

Umbren coughed trying to regain himself, "Dammit."

There was no recovering the situation now. He might as well have just issued his own death sentence. The mayor would not hold anything back now, if he even was from the beginning.

Now that the fight had evolved Umbren made a note of his other weapons.

Yorburn’s sword?

He couldn't bring himself to use it. He probably didn't even know how to use it well enough in this situation.

His kuki?

There was no chance of him using it. The moment he wielded it the secret would be out, and he would really be dead within the hour.

The mayor felt his bracer, "I was stupid to forget that your kind carried weapons." The mayors look darkened, "I don't want to imagine who they have been used on."

A call came from the group of Isiks, "Brother! Stop this foolishness. You're bringing a bad name to all of us in the order. Leave here at once."

The mayor looked over at the woman, "I'm sorry sister I can't allow that. If I let him go there's no telling if he'll come back or not. He is a danger to all of the people I swore to protect."

She kept her gaze on Umbren. He just noticed it was the same one that he saw leading the group earlier, "Please brother surrender at once! There is no need for bloodshed here today."

Umbren looked at her. Her pleads sounded convincing somehow. Though after thinking about it there was no way he could do that.

If he was imprisoned his true identity would be discovered. After torturing him, they would find out details about the Black Crescents mission. There would be no coming back from that. Mortis would really chop off his head at the sight of him. He really couldn't fall any lower than that.

Umbren turned towards the mayor with a ready stance, and a throwing knife in his right hand. He was still trying to figure out how he might be able to run away, but it wouldn't be easy with all the guards, so all he could do at that moment was fight.

The mayor gave a laugh, and Umbren saw the brass knuckles that he had on. That would explain the severe pain in his abdomen.

The mayor rushed in.

His attacks were as fluid as water, and yet compared to his last onslaught a blur. Umbren would be lucky if he could simply dodge any of these, but he did manage to do that for some of the blows. For the others he deflected them with the small knife in his hand, which was no easy task.

The two went on like this for what seemed like hours, but it really was only a matter a second, and the spectators in the crowd were in awe. Even the guards didn't want to get involved between the two.

Though what was in front of them could hardly be called a dance it was a battle. A battle of endurance and Umbren realized this. The first one to give out would fall. Umbren was stuck on the defensive, and he had no chance to strike back with his opponents' endless onslaught.

The crowd soon observed that Umbren was being worn down. His blocks were becoming more sluggish, and a few more punches would surely break his defense.

The mayor traded his speed for strength after noticing this.

The first jab:

Umbren's left hand fell that was aiding in his defense

The second strike:

Umbren was forced back a step, and he lost his knife

For the third and final attack the mayor lifted his hand to bring it down in the form of a hammer strike. His metal bracers would surely bring an end to this fight once in for all…

If the mayor could have seen Umbren's face he would have noticed the glint in his eye. When the mayor went in for this strike, it was the most powerful one yet. Meaning that it lacked the speed that the other strikes had. To the untrained eye it would have been a blur, but to Umbren it was a blessing.

Umbren had realized that his opponent would win in a battle of endurance, so his only option was to make his opponent think that he had won. He had intentionally acted more sluggish. It was certainly a risk, but his only choice.

Umbren's hand was a blur as he reached into his cloak and drew out another knife throwing it at the mayor simultaneously.

Unfortunately the mayor's prior attack still impacted Umbren leaving him unbalanced and the cloth around his eyes was also an impediment.

These factors caused Umbren to miss any part of his opponent's attack that would debilitate him. In the end the knife flew into the mayor’s left shoulder and after a cry landed a desperate jab with his right hand sending the unbalanced Umbren rolling on the ground.

The mayor jumped back to examine his wound.

Umbren knew that this would be his only chance to find a way out. His thoughts were frantic with solutions that he could only call fantasies.

Umbren had landed next to the stall of the young merchant that he had gotten information from earlier. His face was filled with pity but also panic, no doubt he thought the fight might move closer to his stall and damage his merchandise.

Umbren knew that this was his only chance though and laid all the coins he had at the man's feet. Surely even though he was being attacked, people still thought he was a holy man. That was the only way that he could get out of this. The merchant probably won't do anything for cheap, Umbren hoped that he had given him enough.

The young merchant looked at him in surprise and picked up the coins gingerly. Seriously, how much money did those people give me? The merchant looked at him with a face of understanding, and Umbren could just put hope in that.

Umbren got up and took a deep breath, taking out another knife. All he had to do now was stall for time. It was out of his hands.

As Umbren turned around he was caught by surprise as the mayor came in with a right hook.

Umbren instinctively jumped out of the way towards the fountain. Before he could regain his barring the mayor came in with a left uppercut, and all Umbren could do was brace for it with his knife held out.

His arm moved with blinding speed from Umbren’s left, but upon impact it passed right through him. As Umbren was in shock a blow came from his right. He was sent flying to the base of the fountain.

In a panic he blindly threw his knives at his opponent. Some completely missed while others were deflected by the mayor's bracers.

Umbren could see the blood trickling down his opponent's left shoulder. He couldn't help but smile at that. It also served to give him a little boost in motivation.

He jumped on to the walls of the fountain throwing more knives as he did so, but they were all blocked by the mayor.

The mayor ran at Umbren, and something looked off to him somehow. He was different and Umbren just couldn't place his finger on what it was.

Upon reaching Umbren the mayor aimed a left jab at his face, and Umbren acted accordingly, only for the same event to take place as before. The hand went through Umbren's defense, and he felt a jolt of pain in his abdomen almost exactly where the first strike had landed.

This made Umbren fall into the water of the fountain. The mayor followed and aimed a right hook at the vulnerable Umbren.

Umbren had realized his opponent's trick. Whatever way it seemed he would strike an attack would come in the other direction, so Umbren guarded his left side. Out of context Umbren would look like the dumbest fighter in the world.

The Mayor brought his fist down and instead of going through Umbren it landed true, and once again Umbren was left gasping for breath.

Umbren was in a completely vulnerable position. If the mayor wanted to he could land strike after strike, beating Umbren to death, but one of the gods must have been smiling on him that day.

A massive amount of villagers were now entering the square and it took the mayor's attention off Umbren for just a second, but that was all he needed.

Umbren threw a knife at the unprepared mayor, but it only cut his ear. The mayor clasped his ear in pain as Umbren recovered and jumped out of the fountain.

Many thoughts were running through his head, but three overpowered the others.

The first: I almost died

The second: When the hell is that merchant going to do anything.

The third: What is the mayor’s trick?

He had a way of manipulating the light around him in a way that he could produce fake limbs? That was all Umbren could determine at the moment. The only problem is how could you tell when they're fake and when they're real.

Umbren didn't have the energy to figure that out at the moment. All he could do was clench his throbbing side (well the one that hurt the most) and watch the mayor.

He now had a murderous glare in his eye, and his shoulder and ear were still bleeding. Those two things were the only thing that Umbren could really think about. They were proof that he had actually done something in the fight, however minor.

Though as the mayor jumped out of the fountain in pursuit Umbren figured out his trick. While he was fixated on his wounds they suddenly disappeared. It was as if they had never happened. He only had a hunch but it was the best thing that he could really go off of.

The mayor darted at Umbren his left fist balled going in for a jab. Umbren quickly held up a knife. Not to block the jab, but a little to the right of it as if he was going to strike with his other hand.

Metal rang on metal and Umbren smiled underneath his cloth mask.

A look of surprise ran across the mayor's face as he jumped back.

Umbren was now breathing heavily, "You could have done a better job at hiding that trick."

The mayor grimaced and slowly his wounds reappeared.

The two now had triple the amount of spectators they originally had, and Umbren didn't really care anymore. All he could hope for is that his opponent would be more careful because of them.

Umbren spotted the young merchant consulting others, and he hoped to Tenebrage that he would hurry up. He was already exhausted and didn't know how long he could keep fighting. The mayor on the other hand looked like he was barely breaking a sweat. To make matters worse Umbren only had four knives left.

Umbren didn't know exactly how the mayor’s trick worked, but what he did know was: man with wounds equals real and the man with no wounds equals fake.

With this knowledge he ran at his opponent. With his approach Umbren threw two knives. They were both deflected of course, but it was worth a shot. Upon reaching the mayor Umbren slashed with his knife, but the mayor dodged then went back on the offensive. Umbren had no choice but to go back on the defensive, too.

With the bigger crowd the two's fight had gotten more sounds of excitement. Umbren was growing tired of being used as entertainment. He wasn't doing too good himself either.

His side throbbed with pain so bad he thought he might faint. The only reason that he was still holding on was that his opponent, with his damaged left shoulder, was exclusively using his right hand. He did try his trick again a few times, but it never fooled Umbren again.

Just when Umbren was reaching his breaking point, he heard a high pitched whistle. All of the sudden the square was filled with a white cloud.

The mayor started to cough, "Is this...flower?"

The crowd panicked at the sudden surprise. The square was filled with screams and hollers

***

Alyze made her way through the crowd to the center of the square, where the mayor was sitting against the fountain.

Upon seeing her his face brightened, "Oh! thank Luxcian your safe! I don't know what I would have done if...After I saw that man...and when he was asking around about you."

Alyze rushed to his side, "What happened, your shoulders bleeding." She called for a doctor, or something to wrap his wound in to stop the bleeding. "What happened?"

The mayor furrowed his eyebrows, "A member of the Ceartas order is what happened. I thought I made it very clear for them to stay away, but they are a stubborn bunch..."

Alyze had stopped listening, as she looked into the distance, immersed in her own thoughts.

She didn't even notice the group of Isiks that arrived apologizing fervently as they started to tend to the mayor's wounds.