Garrett and the girl had been walking at a rather brisk pace. The night was young, but in summer, also short. On the other side of the forest was a river and on the other side of that river was a farming estate where he had booked safety and privacy for a few days. There he had stashed equipment he wouldn’t want to carry in and out of the place behind them. Rations, tools, as well as clothes forthe girl. But first, there would be a small clearing he had chosen for a short break to throw off the hounds.

He kept her walking by tugging on the rope. Many times, the girl would stumble due to tiredness and weakness. A life mostly spent in a small room had left her clumsy and unsure on uneven terrain.

Neither of them talked the entire time. The girl could barely keep the head up, but at every sign of slowing, Garrett would get her back up and tell her “The hounds won’t rest and neither will we.” He didn’t know whether her former owner – a crime lord and mage called Doraleus – had the capacity to hunt them with hounds, or in fact any other way; his influence did not reach far beyond the crumbling walls of that dirt hole that called itself a “city”, but he had learned in his line of work that getting to safety without being chased is better than waiting to be chased. And he felt something observing them, following them. Numerous times he pulled the girl close and hunkered in the bushes. He put his hand over her mouth and listened into the silence.

But the moments passed and he could hear nothing. Not even spells allowed him to see, hear, or otherwise detect any pursuers. It could be a spirit of some sort, but his research had shown that no one with the ability to speak to spirits or demons was in Doraleus' service. Garrett would have to hurry along to Elissa. She’d be able to ward off anything.

Eventually, they arrived on the small clearing and Garrett finally allowed the girl to stop walking for a moment. He knelt down.

“I am Garetas, and I will be your Teacher. What is your name, girl?”

“My name is Fibi.” the girl replied shyly.

Garrett shook his head. “No. I mean the long name. The name your parents used when no one else was around.”

The girl was intimidated. She looked around, then cautiously said “Nannade.”

“Very good. Nannade. That is your name. From this day forth, no one will call you by your slave name anymore.”

The girl seemed to be astounded by that, as well as happy, looking forward to hearing that name from now on.

“Give me your clothes.” He said to her, but before she complied, she looked him in the eye and asked him. "I won’t see Mommy again, right?"

Garrett wasn't prepared as to how much of an impact this question would have on him. He was no stranger to death, killing or even blood magic, but at this moment he felt a pity for the scraggy girl in front of him like he had felt for no one ever before.

"Did she tell you what would happen?"

"No. But she said the same things when Pappy stopped coming back, it never came true, so this one won't come true, too." Tears welled up in her eyes, but her mouth remained shut.

“I'm sorry, Nannade. There was nothing I could do!”

She turned around and Garrett gave her a moment to regain her composure.

She turned back around and took off her dress. She seemed to be used to that but not afraid in particular. Underneath the ragged dress she wore a loincloth in horrible condition, dirty in all the worst ways. She took it off too and Garrett could see the shabby state the girl was in. Even in this darkness, he could see fleas, lice and other parasites crawl in her fur. He put down a piece of paper inscribed with a formula he had prepared beforehand and threw the girl’s dress on it. Then he imagined his fingers go SNAP in his head again and the paper together with the cloth went up in flames.

“NOOO!” The girl cried. She wanted to pick up the dress but she shrank back from the fire. She quickly turned to Garrett and tried to take the loincloth from him.

“GIVE! DON’T BURN!”

"Why? It's filthy and it reeks and it will lead the hounds right to us. And it's probably where those parasites breed!"

"NO-O!!" Nannade didn’t stop tugging on the loincloth. It was even dirtier than the tunica, Garrett was very careful to grab it delicately, with the tips of his fingers.

"Mommy made this for me. She tore it from her dress so I didn't have to be naked!"

"Calm down, I'll give you new clothes, for goodness sake!"

Still she held on to the rag. "But it's the only thing I have from Mommy!"

Garrett paused and let go of the cloth. The girl quickly grabbed it and held it close. Any normal child her age would have a stuffed toy they could hold on to, or maybe a doll made of straw, but all this girl had was a dirty cloth used to cover herself with. It was on the verge of falling apart and as crude as a piece of clothing could get. He knelt down to her and looked into her eyes.

"Your mother left you your freedom. And your life. Cherish that. Protect it!"

After holding much in for the entire night, Nannade finally broke out in loud, bawling cries. He held her close to his chest, hoping to muffle her cries to not be detected. By the time she finally detached from him, the fire had gone out. “I am so sorry. I wish there had been another way, but the sigils of slavery are cruellike that.”

She handed him the rags and he threw them on the rekindledflame. As he observed how intensely the girl stared into the flames, he suddenly remembered something. He went through his backpack and brought forth the small vial. It still had a drop of the mother's blood in it, preserved as fresh as it came out of the wound thanks to the vial's magical properties. The vial was about as big as his thumb and had a cylindrical, facetted cut. It was cut from a special crystal and he had used it in many rites. He showed it to the girl.

"I used this vial in the rite to unbind you from your collar. It contained your mother's blood. There is still some left inside."

She looked at the tiny drop of red liquid in this fascinating pure crystal vial.

"I gift it to you. It is her last and my first gift to you. When I have time and tools, I can turn it into a protective artefact for you, specifically for you, so your mother will always be with you, protect you."

Nannade's eyes almost glowed with curiosity. He took a leather cord from his backpack and tied it around the vial's neck to make a necklace. Then he gave her one of his shirts. He tied it together with a sash. If she rolled up the sleeves, it almost looked like a proper dress. This would have to do until they made it to his booked room, where he had stashed more for her. They got to walking again. Nannadeseemed determined to stick close to Garrett this time, but still stumbled quite often.

Still, Garrett felt watched;Nannade seemed distracted by something as well. Did she notice what was following them? Crolachans were said to have exceptional hearing and eyesight in darker conditions. Could it be this good? Or if it was a spirit, could she have the Mystic Gift? It would be an advantageous circumstance, but also worrying, since it meant that a spirit truly was following them.

“Did you notice anyone following us?” he asked her when she looked into the green darkness again.

“I don’t know. I heard there are animals in the forest!”

She was simply too naive to properly assess the situation.

They finally arrived on the edge of the forest; ahead of them was the river Trohr, and behind that the farming estate visible as a collection of distant lights in the distance, still further behind that, almost invisible in the darkness of the night, the heavily forested mountains of Sturreland rose up.The two of them wouldn’t arrive at the farming estate for a while and he was sure they could finally rest here to continue in the morning, they should get there by noon. Garrett put down his pack and got out some rations for them.

He gave the girl some bread with sausage and cheese and sat her down on a fallen log with a view of the farming estate. “We’ll go there tomorrow. You’ll have a bath and I'll take care of your coat. But more importantly, that over there is where Sturreland begins, a land where slavery is forbidden; you can be free there.”

“Are the people there good people?”

“They’re not bad people, but we must still be cautious. The person who used to be your master will probably hunt you. It is best you stay out of sight for a while.”

The girl waited for a moment. “And that is where I will live? To help there with cleaning?”

“No. Only stay for a short while. I will take you to a different place and teach you.”

“Teach me what?”

“You will know it good time. Just eat and relax.”

The girl did as she was told until she had finished everything. She once mumbled “I don’t like cheese.” But when Garrett looked at her, she seemed to be frightened, hushedly said “I’ll eat it.” and quickly took another bite. The girl was easily scared, unprepared to deal with people. Garrett knew he had a stern face, but he couldn’t be this scary, could he?

Eventually, Nannade raised her head and her jaw dropped open at the sight above. The stars hung above the landscape like a swirl of diamond dust and milk, and the lights of the farm estate were faint in the distance, flickering like stars brought down to this world. This could very well have been the first time she had ever seen something like this, an open landscape and an open sky. Even Garrett himself got lost in the view. When he finally decided to look around again, he saw tears welling up in her eyes. She wasn't even attempting to hold anything back, he could tell. He moved closer and put his cloak around her. Like this they sat until Nannade could no longer fight the urge to lay her head on his lap and fall asleep. Garrett looked at her tiny body and thought about all the things he would have to do to her to make her strong enough to survive. Endless beatings and injuries he himself had endured flared up from his memories. He took her hand; her fingers seemed like twigs compared to his, her hands were soft, even if the skin was dry in some places. He carried the frail little being to her blanket and rolled her up tight. He remained vigilant for a while. As he looked around, he could only see the green darkness of the forest, as if it was staring back at him.