''Oh? What is it?'' The shopkeeper asked, walking up next to Elain and Eric and peering out the window. ''Oh, it's the city guard! That's funny, I haven't had them show up at my door before....,''.

Elain was already moving for the door, one hand closing around Eric's wrist and dragging him after her. ''Let's go let's go let's go let's go.'' she rambled, a panicked expression on her face.

They hadn't managed to make it to the door when it was opened from the other side, the two guards from earlier stepping in. Up close, they looked pretty intimidating. They both were wearing similar uniforms, a combination of chainmail and leather, sheathed swords at their belts.

''Excuse me, miss,'' One of them began, moving so that he blocked the door, ''Could you please come with us? And you too, sir.'' he nodded at Eric politly.

Elain froze, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Eric was sure he had a similar expression on his face. Than, after a moment of hesitation, Elain nodded.

''Right, yeah, sure.'' she slowly lowered the staff in her hand. Behind them, the shopkeeper had backed up a few steps, watching the scene with what appeared to be curiosity on her face.

The two guards exchanged glances, before one of them slowly approached. ''Drop your staff.''.

Elain nodded again, slowly lowering it to the ground. However, right as the staff touched the ground, she suddenly moved, faster than Eric would have though possible for someone like her, and touched the guard in front of her.

''Sleep.'' she said, her face knit in concentration. Eric saw the man's eyes close, and without further ado, he slumped over, out cold.

The other guard backed up, surprise on his face. ''Damnit!'' One hand went for the sword at his belt, and he pulled it out with a rasping of metal, before backing out the door. ''Help!'' he called, ''Violent criminal!''.

''Ah, great,'' Elain muttered, ''Come on Eric, we need to leave. Now.''. She grabbed Eric's arm again, and yanked him towards the door.

''R-right, yeah.'' Eric sputtered out, following her out.

They bolted out the store, passing the guard standing outside. He yelled out, swinging his sword at them, but Elain responded by whacking him in the face with her staff. The man cried out and staggered back, allowing the two of them to flee.

As they fled, Eric risked one quick glance back. He saw a small group of guards turn the corner, moving their way, as well as the shopkeeper, now standing at the door to the shop, watching the two of them run off, a strange expression on her face.

''Can't you run any faster?'' Elain muttered, bolting down an alleyway. Eric had no idea where they were. He was too busy focusing on keeping up with Elain to try to take in his surroundings.

''N-not r-really, n-no.'' he panted, his steps faltering.

Elain sighed, giving him a quick look. ''Fine. Looks like we lost them anyways.'' she said, before leaning against a wall in the alleyway. Eric, meanwhile, chose to lie down on the ground. It was probably extremly dirty, but he was too tired to care.

''C-couldn't you have used y-your magic to get us out?'' he asked, panting for breath.

Elain shook her head. ''I don't exactly have an infite store of Mana. I already used up a lot of it earlier on today, when I kidnapped you. I used Silence Field and Sleep, than. Than I used Sleep again, to take out that guard. Both Sleep and Silence Field cost me a lot of Mana to cast. I have enough Mana left for one spell, and I'm going to be honest here, it isn't one that's going to be very helpful here.''

'"Great.'' Eric muttered. It was than that he realized he was still holding the black stone from the shop. He unclenched his fist, studying the stone. It was small enough to fit in his palm, and pure black. It felt ice cold to the touch.

''Still holding that?'' Elain noticed, sitting next to him. Eric nodded. ''Yeah. You mentioned earlier that this kind of thing is dangerous. Why?''

Elain frowned. ''The stone spoke to you, right? That's usually not a good sign. Sentient magic items are rare, but they're almost always not good news. They'll could try to manipulate you, and even end up killing you. It's usually a good idea to just toss it.''

''Right....'' Eric idly turned the stone in his hands, ''But still, something like this could still be useful, right?'' . Elain nodded slowly. ''Maybe. Let's focus on getting out of here first, before we deal with the stone.''. She got to her feet, and, after a moments pause, extended one hand out to Eric.

''Thanks.'' Eric took the hand, letting her pull him up. As he stood unsteadily, he paused. He could hear the faint sound of footsteps, coming closer to their location.

''Hey, do you hear...footsteps?'' He asked. Elain frowned, than her eyes widened. ''Crap.'' she looked around the alleyway. It was narrow, about five feet wide most, strewn about with trash. Up ahead, it turned right. ''Alright, let's move.'' She pointed down the alleyway. Eric nodded, and the two took off.

Up ahead, however, they found themselves looking at a very unfortunate situation. The alleyway abruptly ended at a tall wall, blocking their route. Eric groaned. ''Now what?''.

Elain studied the wall for a moment, than nodded. ''Alright, I got it. Boost me up to the top of the wall, and I'll pull you up with me.''

''You serious?'' Eric asked in disbelief. Elain nodded. ''I am. Now hurry up, we don't exactly have all day.''

Eric nodded. ''R-right.'' he moved to the wall, his back to it, distinctly aware of the footsteps, increasingly growing louder. ''Alright, come here.''.

Elain nodded. ''Stick your hands out, I need a foothold.''. After Eric complied, she walked over, putting one foot on his clasped hands.

''Now boost me up.'' she ordered, ''In 3....2....1.''. At those words, Eric pushed upwards, as hard as he could. Unfortunately, he had underestimated how heavy Elain would be, and barely managed to get her a few feet high. ''Y-you're kind of heavy.'' he muttered.

Elain ignored him, and managed to use the momentum he gave her to jump a few inches higher, grabbing the edge of the wall, pulling herself up. ''Alright, now hurry up and take my hand!'' she exclaimed, sticking one hand out.

Eric nodded, and after a moment to catch his breath, reached up to grab Elain's hand. He missed by a good inch, and landed back in the alley.

''Shit!'' Elain swore. Behind them, the footsteps were getting louder, and Eric could hear voices as well. He desperately looked around the alleyway, trying to find a spot to hide. Unfortunatly, there wasn't any. Aside from a few shadowy corners, there wasn't a single place to hide.

''Step into the shadows'' A voice spoke in his head, like the one back at the shop, cold as ice. Eric froze in surprise.

''Eric?'' Elain hissed from her spot on top of the wall, arm still outstretched. ''Hurry!''

''Step into the shadows'' The voice spoke, again. Eric swore he could hear a hint of annoyance in it's voice. In his other hand, the black stone had suddenly grown ice cold.

''Right...yeah, okay.'' he muttered. Behind him the footsteps were growing even louder, and he had only a few seconds left before the guards would round the corner. Elain continued to crouch above the wall, hissing at him to take her hand.

Ignoring all this, Eric decided to listen to the voice, and stepped into the shadows at the base of the wall.

Nothing seemed to happen to him. Or so he first thought. As he entered the shadows of the wall, he heard Elain let out a gasp of surprise from above him, just as four guards rounded the corner. Eric froze, his breath caught in his throat.

The four guards paused and looked directly his way, but seemed to look right through him. Than they flicked their eyes up. Eric followed their gaze, and found that Elain must have dropped to the other side of the wall, because she wasn't there anymore.

''They aren't here!'' One of the guards called down the alleyway, ''Come on, maybe we took a wrong turn.''. Without wasting another moment, the four men turned and left the alleyway, leaving Eric standing there.

''You're welcome'' The voice said in his head. This time, there seemed to be a note of satisfaction in it's voice.