Things kept going from bad to worse. I suspected that Alex was some sort of noble but to think that he was a member of house Smythe. I ground the fibres of my sleeve into a mangled mass, it was the only thing that brought me comfort as I lamented the mess I had created. She looked so young! I noticed their family resemblance immediately but I just assumed that she was Alex's sister. My assumption was proven horrifically wrong after she introduced herself. The only saving grace was that she only seemed interested in my singing. I couldn't afford to be drawing the eye of such important people. If I was adamant with Alex that I no longer like singing maybe I could fix everything.

I stared at the doorway of my Readorium all day but Alex didn't arrive. The one time I needed him to show up, he didn't. The day dragged on. Usually, I left just after the last customer but today I stayed far later than ever before. I felt physically sick, the stress that I'd successfully bottled up until now was starting to take its toll. Why was I such a stupid, shortsighted, idiot? All I needed to do all of this time was listen to Hann, I thought that I knew better, that I was so sneaky and now I was paying the price for my hubris. It was getting dark, I couldn't afford to wait for Alex anymore, if I didn't get home now then I would have to sleep here.

I poked my head out of the building and into the crimson light of sunset. If I rushed home right now then I could make it before the sands started moving. I sprinted through the empty streets, there was something eerie about how quiet it was. Random grains of sand were starting to jump around, reminding me that I was cutting it close. I got about halfway home when I realised my mistake. I was in such a rush to leave that I forgot to close the Readorium doors. If I didn't go back the sands would destroy everything inside, I would rather lose an arm than any one of my books.

I turned on my heels and ran back, so I could sleep in the Readorium overnight. I wasn't planning on stopping but a yell and a shrill shriek gave me pause, it sounded like the screams of a man and child. I still had plenty of time to get to safety, if someone was in danger I couldn't ignore it. If they didn't have anywhere to stay close by I could bring them with me. I ran towards the source and noticed that I was approaching the slums. The screams didn't stop, becoming more and more anguished as I ran, I pushed myself to run faster with every agonised shriek. Someone was in active danger.

I finally entered the slums and beheld a gruesome sight. A quivering man was hunched over with tied hands and feet, the man's back was torn to bloody shreds. I saw colours that I only knew from butchered animals, the yellow of fat, the off white of bone and the dark red of living muscle. Crack! The bladed whip struck fast, cleaving another chunk of flesh from the screaming man. A young boy was being restrained by another guard, forced to watch the display. Tears streamed down his face as he wailed, I had never experienced a cry of pure despair like that. The bubbling rage that welled up within, compelled me to move.

The whip welding guard leaned back for another brutal swing and I acted without thought. I snatched a rock from the floor and hurled it at the attacker, it barely missed his head and exploded against one of the cramped stone boxes the bladeless slept in. The man noticed something whizzing past his head and he turned to look directly at me.

"Aiding a criminal? Then you can join him."

Damn it all I needed that to hit, I had lost the element of surprise and I was now being advanced upon. He stalked towards me with his whip trailing behind, his eyes felt like the collector's, he was a predator eyeing up his prey. I didn't fancy my chances with a direct confrontation so I snatched a couple more rocks from the floor and flung them as hard as I could. Without blinking the man lashed his whip at tremendous speeds shattering the few stones that would have made direct hits. He was a monster, to hit fast and tiny objects with such precision required a level of skill that far exceeded my own.

He let a wicked grin creep across his face as he continued to advance. The worst part was that he could have easily avoided my stones, he was trying to intimidate me and it was working. At my current level if I tried to get close enough to land punches he would cut me apart. I let my eyes wander back to the man on the floor, he was bleeding out extremely fast, if he wasn't dead yet he would be soon. I hadn't taken my eyes off of my opponent long but he was now far too close. Before I had time to step back out of range I saw the glint of a whistling object approaching me. I raised my arm to protect my face and the whip wrapped around my forearm like a snake, cutting as it coiled. Blood poured from my fresh wounds and the blades cut deep troughs into me.

He probably expected me to scream or collapse from the pain but I used his momentary lapse in concentration to wrap the whip around my fist and yank. It cut into my palm and the back of my hand but I was able to pull it free from his grip. I had disarmed him but I wasn't necessarily in a better position, whips were notoriously hard to use effectively and the other guard still had the child. I retreated while trying to remove the whip from my flesh but it was buried deep, caught on my tendons and wrapped around my arm at least six times. It was stuck.

There weren't any more loose rocks around me so I stamped onto the centre of a red stone paving slab and it broke into large chunks. I hurled the debris at the man but he used very little movement to avoid each rock. This was going nowhere fast. I noticed the jumping sand around me becoming more active and I got an idea. I ran straight at the man and he adopted a fighting stance with both fists raised. Just before reaching him I swung my arm down and snatched a handful of sand before throwing it into his eyes. At this distance, I was too fast for him to properly react and he shouted and flailed around blindly.

The whip emitted no sound and was mundane, which meant that the guard hadn't yet manifested his blade. I didn't want to give him a chance so I hit him in the mouth as hard as I could and I felt his entire jaw shift accompanied by a crunch. The other guard saw what I did, he dropped the kid and screamed for reinforcements while running for a building. That forge burned scum was going to cause me a whole mess of trouble if I didn't get out of here now. I ran up to the boy and crouched down,

"Get on my back now!"

"Daddy! Help dad!"

He sobbed while frantically pointing at the bloody mess of a man.

"Get on now!"

The kid reluctantly hopped on and I rushed over to the father, I didn't have time to check if he was alive. I picked him up and the whip cut deeper into my arm, I could think about removing it when we were safe. I wouldn't waste time trying to find an unoccupied slum cube, especially with more guards on the way so I ran back towards the Readorium. I was cutting it close but I believed that there was enough time. I ran with the whip skittering across the ground behind me.

The guard that I hit was gushing blood from his mouth as he struggled to his feet. Even after having his jaw broken, he wasn't taken out of the fight yet. I ran past him and caught a glimpse of his hate-filled eyes. I rounded a corner and out of the corner of my eye, saw that he was giving chase. If I was unburdened I could have outrun him easily but I was carrying a full-grown man and a child, plus my dress was proving to be a hindrance while running. Everything added up so that I was only barely keeping pace with my pursuer.

I didn't have time to waste thinking, I just ran harder. This was about as physically taxing as tending for Alex, I found myself getting increasingly sluggish as the red sky turned dark and the white glow of moonlight served as the harbinger of death. The light glinted off of the grains of sand as they began to throw themselves through the air with increased ferocity. It was getting harder to see but I wasn't too far away from safety, we were only about two streets away.

I rounded the next corner and felt a tug on my arm, that was the only warning I received before the coiled whip tore through me like paper slicing straight down to the bone. I felt every tendon and muscle tear and my arm went limp. I dropped the man and tripped over him catapulting the boy off my back. I couldn't see the guard through the wall of sand but I could hear him let out a gurgling cackle. I didn't have time to waste, my skin was being rubbed red raw by the sands and small droplets of blood started to pop up in the least covered areas. It would be terrible for the injured man but I hoisted him under one arm and struggled over to the boy who was covering his face with his hands.

"You need to run ahead or you'll die, get up!"

I kicked the boy to get him moving, I was struggling enough trying to carry his father. Over the thunderous roar of falling sand, I could hear the cracking of a whip not too far away. If I was caught by one of those blind strikes it would be over. The kid struggled to his feet and held onto my dress, together we ran forwards towards the last turn before my place. I ran without regard for how much the boy tugged on my dress, as long as he held on tight I could drag him if need be.

As we rounded the final bend my visibility was reduced to almost nothing, I pressed against the row of buildings while moving forwards until I fell into the Readorium's open doorway. I threw the father to the floor with little regard for his safety as I struggled against the tide of sand stopping the door from sliding into place. I could hear the guard screaming as the sand elemental's wrath grew. Just before I could fully seal the door bloody fingertips poked through the gap and I could make out gurgling pleas for mercy.

Even if I wanted to help the guard we were out of time I slammed against the door and heard him scream as his fingers were crushed. My fear and desperation allowed me to ignore his cries. Over and over again I rammed into the door all while listening to the man begging for his life until his fingers were severed and the entrance sealed. I was shaking violently as I stared at the bloody fingertips and heard the man being slowly tortured to death. I pushed my body against the door and felt the vibrations of every desperate pound from the dying man.

Eventually, his guttural screams stopped and my life or death energy

faded, in its place was the sinking horror of what I'd done. I killed a man. There was a ringing in my ears and I found it hard to focus, my breathing became panicked and the full weight of my actions had sunk in. It almost didn't feel real. I always talked about killing like it was so easy but the real thing was heavier than I imagined. He was scum of the worst kind in my eyes but did he deserve death? Was he irredeemable? The Collector and Jon were beyond salvation, they needed to die. This man was no different, he needed to die right?

In my half-aware stupor, I staggered to the back room and grabbed emergency supplies. Hann had left some medicine at home and work but it was nothing more than simple first aid. I stumbled back into the main room and began bandaging the father and rubbing salves onto his exposed muscles and spine. Logically I knew he was long dead, I felt him go limp at some point during our escape. But I didn't want to believe it. My mind was fried by the harrowing experience, I couldn't accept that he was dead after all the effort I put into saving him. I just kept bandaging the corpse in silence while his son looked on.