This was definitely the right place, Jano thought as they walked through the rows of shiny and lethal looking objects. The room was brightly lit and little sparkles of light were reflected from the gold of the candelabra which dangled from the ceiling. The room was wide with several brightly coloured rugs dotted around the wooden floor. Jano walked softly, still trying to dampen his steps. Though he wasn’t sure if anyone would actually hear them all the way up here.

They walked around a corner. Thankfully, there wasn’t anything else to open or move. Jano could feel the sluggishness which came with having used so much of his power. It felt very similar to how he felt most of the time when he had his power restricted; slow and useless.

The next part of the room was filled with yet more lines of trinkets. There were rows and rows of shiny objects: round, thin, tall and small stuff. Jano looked down at the row next to him, running his hands over the random objects which were now at his side. The rows were nicely placed at around hip height, though Jano was a little too tall to read the plaques underneath.

A dagger caught his eye a little way down and he moved to check it out. He looked at the inscription which sat underneath the items.

‘Dagger of eternity - imbued with the essence of the Divine Sky’.

“What is all this stuff?” He asked.

Nara was quickly pacing up and down the rows, paying him no attention whatsoever. She was clearly looking for something specific. Hopefully whatever we were sent for is actually here. He thought still waiting on the reply from Nara, and we can get out without getting caught.

“When Mages graduate, they’re allowed to select a weapon from here. They can’t use it until they’re Class Two or above though. So they’re largely decorative, as there are only about ten or so people in the City who that actually applies to. It’s basically the Emperor and his cronies' personal weapons store.” Gods, that’s it. I’m going to die simply for being here.

She didn’t look up as she spoke. Her eyes combed the rows. “Do you want me to help look for whatever it is you’re searching for?” He whispered. No response came. I did just help her break into this place...

A little annoyed by the rejection. He tried to put it out of his mind as he looked at some of the items. It was like a very expensive market, just with no traders. Something caught his eye to his left. A scythe was laid on a large plinth, he couldn’t read the inscription underneath as it was made up of symbols which looked a bit like really complex runes. Perhaps they were. He wouldn’t even know where to begin with trying to read it, but it had a big red stamp. That had to be some sort of sign. Certainly looks dangerous. Shame I’d never be able to actually wield one of these things. He thought as he continued to peruse the personal cache of the Emperor.

He passed various weapons and dusty, ancient books with worn leather spines. ‘Dark-Fire Demons: A Hunter's Guide’ his eyes skipped quickly onward. Fire demons sounded like something he’d be better off avoiding, he passed one of the thickest books he had ever seen, ‘The Rise and Fall of the Dukathi Empire’. I’ve never even heard of the Dukathi people. He couldn’t help but wonder what lay in this room, or in the University more widely. The Slums weren’t exactly known for their store of great books and knowledge. Seeing these resources laid bare before him, made him a little angry.

The Emperor had so many interesting resources that he never used. Instead, he locked them away in a building he never visited. Meanwhile, the Slums barely had working drains and waste pipes.

He passed more weapons, books and stones. Getting slowly more annoyed as he did so. Something crashed onto the floor. He looked over to try and find the source and he saw Nara’s head peeking over one of the rows. A solitary hand held up in apology. “There’s no way nobody else heard that.” She was moving back towards the door. “Fortunately, what we were looking for was directly underneath that big crashing sound.”

“How fortunate..” He mumbled under his breath.

He heard murmuring in the distance. Like multiple newly awakened voices in the stone halls below. “Grab a weapon and run.” She said, louder now that it didn’t really matter.

Jano pulled out his dagger. “What about my dagger? I was told to bring it.”

Nara started running and stuffed whatever she had been searched for in her pack. She then drew both of her swords. “If I was you, I would grab something bigger. It’s not like there isn’t a treasure trove currently surrounding you…”

“I thought you said we couldn’t use them.” He said, still keeping his voice a little low out of habit.

“Just cause you can’t use their magical properties, doesn’t mean you can’t use one with a big sharp pointy end.”

He laughed, at himself mostly, and he started surveying the rows. There was undoubtedly danger ahead, yet he couldn’t stop chuckling.

He looked for anything sharp and pointy, just like she said. They scythe drew his eye once more and it wasn’t far away from him. Little bit impractical. Not exactly easy to carry. Then again, it looks cool. He didn’t have too much time to think about it and now that his eyes had focussed on it, he gravitated towards it. There was also something about that big red stamp which made it more attractive for some reason.

“Hurry up!” Nara shouted, she was already nearing the door, and considering she had been towards the back of the room, she had covered a lot of ground. He grabbed the scythe and ran.

It was lighter than he thought. It felt as though it was biting his skin as he held it. Nipping and pinching. The handle was a dark purple and as he glanced again, it looked to be moving slowly, like clouds might on a mild day.

“Come on man!”

Running with it was a bit of a change. He nearly cut off his toes on a badly judged downswing. His heart jumped and he changed his hand position. The shaft still nipped, but less than before. Satisfied that the blade wasn’t going to accidentally dismember him, he began running towards Nara’s voice.

They reached the stairs and Jano could see a number of robed figures heading towards them. Investigating the noise, they started to point and shout as they saw the two of them standing at the top of the staircase. At least they were still wearing their robes, so they didn’t immediately think they were necessarily a threat. They could have simply been some truant students.

Nara quickly looked at the window, deciding that wasn’t an option, she looked at Jano. “There’s only one way down. Stick very close to me.” She said.

She began to run down the stairs, towards the Mage’s coming up the stairs. Quicker than he had seen her move before. He darted after her, but he struggled to catch her, never mind stick close. As she moved, it looked like a warm light was starting to surround her. It was almost too light to see at first, but it began growing stronger as she moved.

She hit the first few Mages before they could have known much about it. She knocked them against the railing and carried on as they crumpled on the floor, not slowing whatsoever. Jano stepped over awkwardly but kept trying to catch up. The other Mages, on seeing their felled comrade, started flinging bright fireballs towards them. They were mainly aiming for Nara but a few narrowly missed Jano. She kept flying towards them, the light now a deep gold. It deflected their attacks with ease. Like a shield.

She knocked through the other Mages on the steps like they were nothing. They reached the bottom of the steps quicker than Jano could ever have imagined, considering how long it took them to climb. The Mages had mostly gathered themselves once more and were aiming their strikes at their backs as they ran. Jano kept dodging in different directions, hoping to avoid them, but they were still mainly focussed on Nara and her glowing shield.

They couldn’t run back the way they had come. It would take too long to remove the stone in the supply cupboard. Nara seemed to know this as she smashed through one of the glass windows on the bottom floor. Jano followed obediently, thankful that the hole was big enough and he didn’t have to do any smashing of his own.

They found themselves in a courtyard. Lights were beginning to spring up all around them in the buildings as the alarm was raised. Nara was heading for the main entrance and there was already a small group formed to stop the pair. The light grew brighter and Nara stopped dead in her tracks. The golden light which had been surrounding her as a shield continued onwards to the guard at the entrance. It took Jano a second to realise that Nara had flung some sort of attack at the guard. It moved even quicker than she had. A crash came as the golden light collided with the obstacle and the guard went sprawling backwards.

Nara took off running once more and Jano followed. As he pushed himself to run, he could hear voices shouting behind them. He felt ridiculous with his massive scythe, so far, he hadn’t needed to do a thing. He was swinging it as he ran and it made small whooshing noises. It made him feel like he was running extremely fast.

It took only one look at Nara for him to realise that wasn’t the case. They exited the courtyard and left the massive building behind them. The streets were still deathly quiet. “Split up. Disappear.” He heard Nara shout as she sped up and the gold light started to glow once more. Had she been holding back? Jano didn’t know how much longer he could run for. He only had to make enough space for him to break into a building somewhere. That was probably his best hope. It certainly wasn’t outrunning any potential pursuers.

He looked over his shoulder and panicked as he saw a few robed figures running after him. If he was caught now, he would be truly fucked. He’d be knocked down to the Criminal Class. Forced to work outside the City walls and split up from Alsace. That was probably a best case scenario. He took off in a separate direction.

He turned down a series of streets. The voices behind grew quieter. They were clearly more interested in finding Nara. Who was glowing bright in the distance. Even still, they wouldn’t just let him off. He turned down another cobbled street: right, right, left. He noticed the houses were slightly less palatial this way. Maybe I’ve found the Northern Quarter.

“Oi. Stop.” He heard the clanking of metal plate armour. The Guard.

How did they know it was me? Jano thought as he ran. It was probably because he was one of the only people in the street and he was running away from Mages. And he had a ridiculously obvious scythe. A dead giveaway really. But he didn’t have time to come to that conclusion. There were more Guards in the richer parts of the City, so he was expecting some company. Even still, his heart raced. He had already been before the Lesser Court once. They would not be lenient twice.

He ran down a stone side street, the clanking of the Guard getting steadily louder. He made a quick decision to go left. It looked darker down that path, hopefully the worse lighting meant he was near one of the entrances into the Middle. Hopefully, it isn’t a dead end. In more than one sense of the word.

It took him to a crossroads. He followed the darker path once more, into the growing darkness. The lamplights were definitely less frequent. The armour sounded louder than before. He glanced behind to see another Guard had joined the chase. He was faster than them in their full armour. But they at least knew where they were going.

He passed smaller houses, much closer together than before. He kept glancing into the side streets, for a nook or something to hide in. He saw nothing but blurred grey stone.

He took a sharp turn left and he could see an archway in the distance. A long cobbled street lay between him and the Middle. He was exhausted, he could feel his heart beating in his mouth but adrenaline was coursing through his veins. As he ran towards the arch, the clattering of the plate metal chilled him. They’d be drawing more attention.

He looked at the cobbles beneath. Smaller rocks glued into the pavement beneath for decoration. His power was almost spent. But these smaller rocks wouldn’t take much. He focussed his will on the stones and threw one or two palm sized rocks behind him. He glanced behind to see one of the Guard knocked to the floor. A loud hollow bang came from the other as it hit his breastplate and sent him sprawling.

He thought of the rune he had practiced with Darrel. He pictured it in his mind and tapped on the stone essence in his spirit. He didn’t dare stop running. Sure enough, he felt small bits of stone gathering. He looked over his shoulder and concentrated his will towards his pursuers. He released it and he heard muffled shouting. The Guard stopped, taking cover behind the corner of a building. He evidently didn't want to end up like his friend. Jano bolted through the archway. Checking either side of the wall briefly as he passed through. Mercifully there was no one there.

He raced into the Middle. If he could make it to the stone house without being followed, he would be safe. He was fairly sure that Darrel could sort out any stragglers. He ran another hundred or so paces and rounded on the stone house at the end of the street. There was nobody else on the street and the corner should have blocked the view of the pursuing Guard. The door was already ajar, so he didn’t have to knock. Inside he saw Darrel sitting in his chair. The light was dim. He was watching the door expectantly.

“Wasn’t Nara with you?” He asked. His voice was calm, but laced with worry. “Could you close the door behind you?”

Jano didn’t need to be asked and he already shut the door and ducked down in a sort of squat position.

“We split up…. I don’t know… where she is now.” He said, panting heavily as he did so. He lay down on the floor to catch his breath. He placed the scythe down carefully a couple of strides away from him. Darrel’s eyes flashed towards it, before looking back to Jano.

“Ah good. If she didn’t have to worry about keeping you alive then she has more than likely escaped.” The Mage said. His face tightened into a wry smile. “You’re welcome to lay low here for the night. It should reduce the chances of you being caught. As long as you weren’t followed of course.”

Jano shook his head. “I...don’t…. think so.” He said, through ever slower intakes of breath.

“No, I should think we would know by now if you were. Get some rest now. I’ll stay on the lookout for a while longer.”

The Mage looked out his small window and relaxed when he confirmed that there was nobody there. “Do you know if Nara got what she was looking for?”

Jano stretched out on the floor. “She didn’t tell me what it was. But I think so…I’m not going back if she didn’t ” he tried a laugh but the Mage was silent. Jano’s breath was finally returning. He put one of the cushions under his head and reached for a small blanket.