Ben scrambled out of the small pile of pillows and got up with an agility that didn’t match his physical appearance.

“Look, you can get mad at me later, but right now we are in this together and we need to get out of here!” his ethereal, magically produced voice said.

Liza was staring daggers at him. It was getting darker, but up close he could see her face much better. A thin nose, rosy cheeks, pointy teeth, long black hair and big black eyes.

[Wow, she is beautiful… even with all the grime.]

Their staring contest didn’t last long. The sound of rushing footsteps and the brightness of lit torches around the corner were always good stimuli for those that were being hunted.

Liza didn’t answer back. She grabbed Eliot’s hand and started to run towards the meandering lanes, creating distance between them and the pursuers. Boro nested around Eliot’s shoulders, he could feel that it wasn’t time to be cheeky due to the current atmosphere. Ben ran after them.

A few seconds after they had disappeared into the backstreets, a small group of guards turned around the corner of the mansion, rushing along.

“After them! Spread out in small groups! Cover all the alleys!” one important looking guard said in rage as he kicked a pillow furiously.

They didn’t see where the rats had escaped to and it hadn’t rained recently, so there were no tracks to follow on the hard ground.

“The curfew will start soon, so there won’t be many people in the streets. Follow the noise and the commotion, we should be able to get them soon enough. I will report to the lord,” he said to his second in command.

“Aye! We will get them!”

-

Liza’s group was dashing at full speed in those small and tortuous back roads. They were making good pace, but it was not a straight path and they didn’t have a clear destination. All Liza (and Ben, who was trying his hardest to keep up) was hoping was that they didn’t ended up back at the lord’s mansion by running randomly. That would be just sad.

Their movements were followed by the curious eyes of the population of Starfall, who were peeking out of their windows. Their interest had begun when Liza shouted with all her might and intensified when they saw the lord’s troops bustling about.

Some people just looked, others spat at the fugitives from the safety of their houses and many shouted to the guards. It was the most excitement they had in a while.

“Over here, guards! Guards!”

“The curs are going this way, guards!”

Not long afterwards, there was the light of torches and the clanking sound of metal coming from behind, forcing Liza, Eliot and Ben to do a mad sprint to increase the distance, only for the same thing to happen again a few moments later.

Liza and Ben were growing tense, there wasn’t much point in running aimlessly, specially if your current position kept being revealed all the time. Eliot was unconcerned, like he usually was, and was keeping up with the running effortlessly.

“Damn, those bastards,” said Liza and Ben at the same time.

A few meters ahead, a small cloaked figured appeared from a corner of the street.

“Over here, follow me,” the mysterious person said, before going off running in another direction.

There was no explanation, no franticness, no promises. Only the calm and confident attitude of someone who knew you had no better options at the moment, so there was nothing to discuss.

They didn’t think twice and followed that small figure. They weren’t running as fast as before, but their route became much more convoluted, if that was even possible. They traversed in an out of alleys and galleries, making Liza and Ben’s head spin. Their enigmatic helper navigated the streets with ease and purpose.

Soon, the shouts revealing their position stopped, because the people that were now peeking out of their houses still didn’t know what was going on. Eventually there were no more people on the streets or watching them, because the turmoil hadn’t reached that far yet.

Liza thought about stopping and asking questions now that things had calmed down but thought better of it. This person had helped them in a pinch, it was only fair to see it through the end.

They went from running to walking and soon were in a rather dilapidated part of the city, with many run-down and abandoned houses. Their guide stopped before a big unfinished house, full of debris all around.

“Thanks for helping us back there. Could you tell us who you are and why did you help us?” asked Liza.

“I am Popis. You helped Nicola yesterday and even gave him a full meal and a comfortable bed to sleep at night, am I right?” said the small figure. “He was so happy and excited he wouldn’t shut up about it, especially regarding Boro.”

“Oh, so you are friends with Nicola! Thanks again for saving us back there,” said Liza, but inside she was thinking [Damn! Later I need to remind them to not spill out anything about Boro being able to fly!]

“Just repaying the favor. Let’s get inside before we continue talking. This house was abandoned during construction and since there is no roof not many people squat here. What they don’t know is that there is a basement hidden beneath the debris, so we use it as our base.”

Popis looked around, making sure there were no observers and headed inside. Liza was about to follow, dragging Eliot along, when she heard that ethereal voice again.

“I can’t believe we escaped! That was a really crappy situation…”

“YOU! I almost forgot about you!”

Before Liza could say anything else, Ben rushed past her, his omnidirectional voice hanging in the air.

“Popis is right, let’s talk inside.”

Liza’s chest was moving up and down in anger. She huffed two times and followed them.

-

Back at the lord’s mansion, inside a lavish dining room.

“You lost him?! YOU LOST HIM?!!” bellowed the rotund earl Frederick. He threw his goblet on the ground in rage, the metallic ring echoing in the room.

“We were following them with the help from the citizens, but after a certain point they suddenly vanished. We don’t know how they did it. Magic perhaps?” said the guard that was kneeling by the door.

“Magic? That man didn’t have any mana inside his body! How could he have used magic then, I ask you?!” roared the earl, covering the food in front of him with spit.

The guard recoiled from the verbal lashes, staring firmly at the floor and not daring to look up.

“He had help from a young couple. They carry a weird serpent monster with them, probably a mutant variation. We are interviewing the people to get their description,” said the guard who, right now, hated the fact he was made captain.

“Help? He didn’t know anyone! Who would help him?” still looking bright red from his fury, Frederick Hampshire imposing stance was starting to deflate. He seated back down.

A calm voice interrupted their dialogue as Hanna, the earl’s daughter, addressed the captain.

“You will soon know the fugitives’ likenesses, that is a good start captain. Send word to the gates that they are not to open tomorrow morning and take as many guards as you can, without compromising security, for a thorough search. If you cannot find them today, you will find them tomorrow or the day after. In any case, they are trapped in this city and we shall find them.”

“I will do as you order, my lady. Please excuse me,” said the captain.

After he was gone the earl turned to his daughter.

“Do you think we should ask the adventures’ guild for help?”

“No, papa, we should not. We need to keep our relationship with the guild master in balance and Barnabas, the one who manages the guild branch in our city, is a wily old fox.”

“You are right my dear, as usual. But how could this have happened? Who would have known about him? And what would they have gained? His body has zero mana, the mages guaranteed it. If not for the myths about outlanders he would have being killed on the spot for being useless and wasting all our preparations!”

“Maybe we weren’t as careful as we thought and someone found out about the world traveler. We need to investigate this thoroughly.”

-

*Aaatchooo*

“Bless you, sir.”

“Thank you, Rodney. I guess someone must be badmouthing me. Now, what did you find about those curious fellas?”

The jolly old man sitting behind his desk surrounded by copious amounts of paperwork was Barnabas, the manager of the Starfall branch of the adventures’ guild. He was the one that, one day earlier, helped Liza out of the aggressive buying offers for Boro.

“They were exploring the city today. The girl, Liza, kept asking about sightings or rumors about elves. The boy, as far as I can tell, really can’t talk, like she said. They didn’t bother to hide the monster, it caused quite the hubbub everywhere they went,” replied Rodney.

“Elves, why would she be so concerned about them?”

“I think is because she is a half-elf, sir. Her hair hides it most of the time and she is really careful about it, but after following them this morning I could see her slightly pointy ears, a characteristic of their kind.”

“A half-elf huh, that is rare. Is she looking for her kin, perhaps?”

“I couldn’t say for sure, but it is what makes the most sense, sir.”

Barnabas drummed his long, thin fingers on the table. His eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.

“A half-elf. A mysterious young man who can’t speak. A strange serpent-like monster that I’ve never seen before. What a fascinating bunch!” said the old man with gusto.

“You will probably be even more excited when you hear this… I just found out that they have something to do with the chaos that occurred not long ago at the lord’s mansion.”

“What?! Did they escape?” asked a scowling Barnabas.

“Apparently, they did. It is all a mess for now. I’ve left shadowing them in the afternoon to someone competent, so we will be able to learn more details later.”

“Capital! Hahaha, that is some fun news!” said the guild manager with glee as he played around with a quill in his hand.

“What should I say if the Hampshires come asking for help?”

“I doubt they would look for us, but if they do, say that I am indisposed and can’t see them. For now, focus on finding more about our fugitives and discover where they are hiding.”

“Will do, manager.”