In the abandoned house’s basement, all the kids were lying around on the ground, patting their bulging bellies in satisfaction.

“Ah, this is bliss, I never ate so much before!” said Jordan.

*Burp*

“That’s right! Meat is so good!” said Lars.

While the children were rejoicing, Eliot was walking around eating any leftovers. There wasn’t much, the kids had been thorough. The only place he found a good amount of food was on Ben’s plate, who didn’t manage to eat much because of his nerves. Eliot didn’t let that go to waste.

Sounds of footsteps came from the stairs and soon Popis appeared alone. Seeing everyone plopped on the floor and patting their bellies in happiness made her smile. A disembodied voice came from thin air, somewhere to her right.

“I’m glad you guys enjoyed the meal. Let that be our farewell present, may we meet again in the future kids! Eliot, Ben, it’s time, let’s go.”

Some children got up slowly, finding moving a bit difficult, trying to look for the speaker. Others, finding that too hard, just rolled around in the floor trying to face the right way.

“Oh, she really is invisible! Cool!”

“I’m sad you guys have to go, but thanks for everything!”

“Yeah, you guys are the best! Good luck!”

“We’re rooting for you!”

“Hahaha, thanks! You guys take care now! And no need to get up, just lay down and enjoy yourselves,” said Liza.

“I’ll guide them for a while longer, be right back folks,” Popis complemented.

Eliot, Ben, Popis and an invisible Liza made their way out of the basement and stopped in what would be the foyer, had the construction of this house not been abandoned. They were still out of sight to anyone on the streets, hidden by the half-built walls, the debris and the clutter lying all around the place.

“All right, Popis, scout for us please. Remember, we need at least two,” said Liza.

“Okay. Be right back.”

Popis quickly moved out and soon she was nowhere to be seen.

“Give me your hand Eliot, here hold Boro for a second. Ben, give me the rucksack and the other stuff, I’ll carry on my back.”

Boro appeared in mid-air and was laid on Eliot’s arms. Some of his scales were cracked and damaged, but his bleeding had almost stopped. His expression was normal however, like such wound was no big deal. Ben held the rucksack in the air, which soon disappeared. He was marvelled.

“Wow, you told me before, but seeing is believing! How does it work?”

“Argh, not now. I need to take something for the pain on my shoulder and bandage Boro. He’s bleeding almost stopped, but there’s no room for error.”

“Oh! Sorry, I was so amazed I didn’t realize! Are you guys alright? Do you need me to do something?”

“Not now. I need you to be determined and ready for your part.”

Ben gulped. After searching in her satchel for a moment, Liza took a medicinal pellet with a helpful swig of booze from an iron flask. She wasn’t much for drinking alcohol, but sometimes you just needed to.

Afterwards she picked up a small wooden box filled to the brim with a greyish paste. Scooping some of its contents with her fingers, she smeared some on Boro’s wounds and some on her cloak where blood had fallen. Finally, she dressed Boro’s scales with a bandage.

[Such waste, using the paste on my clothes. I hope it’s enough…]

Popis emerged from the ruins silently, it was amazing how stealthily she could move. She approached them with a smile on her face.

“I’m back! You won’t believe what I’ve found! Exactly two guards walking around aimlessly. They seem to be purposefully staying out of the way while everyone else's is converging to surround the Thegass residence.”

“Oh, that’s really convenient. Take us there.”

-

Two guards were walking painfully slow, zigzagging around the most remote backstreets, taking their time and being careful to not be seen.

“Are you sure this is ok Bret?”

“I’m telling you Carl, we were lucky! Blessed, even! The guy who jumped us was a monster, but he didn’t kill us! Then, because we’re understaffed right now, we were let go with only a verbal reprimand.”

“You’re right, that could have gone a lot worse. Still…”

“What do you think will happen at that place? Uh, Carl? He will escape again, mark my words! All the guards there will be toasted once they let him get away! We can’t afford to be there when it goes down!”

“But…”

“We heard the call! We’re going there, but we’re just taking longer because… because… right, because we were farther away!”

Bret stopped, putting his finger theatrically against his temple and tapping a few times, a smug smile on his face.

“It’s like those wise men say, ‘Out of eye, out of head’, right?”

“You mean, ‘Out of sight, out of mind’?”

“That, that!”

Carl sighed and decided to go with it. Bret wasn’t the most intelligent person he’d ever met, but he was surprisingly smart and creative when it came to save his own skin.

Further away, hidden around a street corner and watching them from behind were Popis and the rest of the group. Seeing the two men and their shenanigans, Ben almost smiled despite his nervousness. It was the most beginner’s act of someone pretending to be working he’d ever seen. Maybe they weren’t tough, maybe he could do this after all.

“Okay, remember, you need to do this alone. If I attacked it could screw up the invisibility and Eliot would straight up kill them and mess up the uniforms. Kick them in balls and punch them in the chin! Knock them out! By doing so you’re saving their lives… and yours,” said Liza.

Ben nodded, but he was clearly not ready. Liza sighed and looked around. The backstreets were empty. They needed to do this now. She patted his shoulder and offered him her iron flask.

“Take a sip of this and go. If it looks like you’ll be in mortal danger we’ll intervene.”

With trembling hands, Ben took the flask and gulped a mouthful of the liquid within. It tasted like cheap, low quality wine and it did nothing to appease all the butterflies in his stomach. He gave the flask back and walked towards the guards, his legs unsteady.

Looking at him moving even slower than the guards were, Liza felt worried about the situation. [Shit, will this work? Ah~ what a headache.]

Popis was also uncertain, but she focused on watching the back alleys and making sure the coast was clear. That’s when she saw a lone woman coming their way from another path.

“Damn! Someone is coming, we need to get rid of them! I’ve an idea, follow me Liza.”

Liza hesitated, but looking at Ben’s pace she figured they had some seconds to spare. She quickly followed after Popis who approached the woman, barring her way.

“Miss, don’t panic, but you need to go to a temple,” she said.

“Huh? What nonsense is this kid? Move out of the way please.”

“I’m serious, you’re being haunted by a vengeful spirit! I can see them.”

[Oh? That’s a good way to do it,] thought Liza. She approached the woman and whispered softly in the wind.

“Pain! Suffering! Kill! Kill!”

The woman palled instantly and trembled.

“What’s this? What are you doing?”

“I didn’t do anything, I’ve just made it so you can hear it too. Don’t scream! Don’t panic, it will agitate the spirit. It only latched onto you recently, so if you turn back now and go spend a night on the temple it will be gone by the morning. I’m just trying to help ya.”

The woman opened her mouth and closed it a few times. She nodded her head and made a gesture of thanks to Popis, turned around and walked away speedily. Liza accompanied her for a few steps, whispering things at a lower volume each time before stopping completely.

They returned to the street corner and this time they were the ones to go pale. They got back just in time to see Ben close in on the guards and land a good kick in the balls as a surprise attack, but the guard only grunted. He turned around and socked Ben in the face, knocking him on the ground.

“Not again! This time I’ve got a protector you little shit!” said a livid Bret.

“Assaulting guards, that’s not smart. You’re going to spend some comfy time in the dungeons,” added Carl, readying some length of rope.

“Dungeons? Nah, I’m dicing this one up!”

“WHAT?!” said both Carl and Ben’s ethereal voice.

-

Panicking, Liza grabbed a stone from the ground and put it on Eliot’s hand.

“Five stones Eliot, there! Shit, I can’t point, point for me Popis!”

Popis pointed to the guards, but Eliot put the rock down and dropped his head, like he was ashamed. In different circumstances Liza would be proud, but right now she couldn’t believe this was happening. She picked the stone back up and put it on his hand again.

“No, Eliot, it’s okay, I’m asking you this time! Do it, five stones, five stones, five stones!”

“Yes, right there Eliot, you can do it!” said Popis, pointing frantically.

-

Bret and Carl looked at each other.

“Hey that voice, don’t tell me!”

“Right?”

They turned to look at Ben, who was pushing his feet against the ground, dragging his ass across the floor to gain more distance.

“Hahaha, right into our hands!”

“Wow, I can’t believe it!”

They both approached Ben, ready to immobilize and bind him with ropes, when a whooshing sound reached their ears. A stone crossed the air in front of their faces and hit the near wall, raining shrapnel on the three of them.

A fragment pierced Carl’s hand, one perforated Bret’s eye and two lodged on Ben’s thigh. The three of them howled with this burst of unexpected pain. A harsh disembodied voice reprimanded Ben.

“What are you doing, now is your chance! Knock them out!”

Ben mind snapped out of it, but his body wasn’t responding fast enough. It was Popis that, with another, more hefty stone in hand, advanced towards the kneeling Bret who was hugging his face in pain. She pummelled him repeatedly on the head until he dropped.

Carl, the one with the lightest injury, drew his sword and took a few steps back. His blade was shaking due to his hurt hand. He was surrounded by Popis, Ben and Liza (although none of them could see nor know she was at his back). They all looked at the small Popis with some astonishment.

“What? You guys never used a rock-fist in a fight?” she asked casually.

“What was that voice just now? Who are you guys? What do you want?” asked a somewhat rattled Carl.

Liza whispered in the creepiest way possible “wE’vE CoMe FoR yOu!” and immediately retreated. Scared by the sudden voice at his back, Carl turned around and slashed the air. Popis took the opportunity created and bashed his stomach with her rock. Ben needed a few more seconds to respond, but he too soon joined. Together, they dropped Carl to the floor and started beating him into unconsciousness.

Eliot was still standing at the street corner, watching the fight with interest while he stroked Boro’s scales. The dragon, on the other hand, apparently didn’t find the scuffle anything worthwhile to be looked at. His eyes were closed while he enjoyed the feeling of being patted.

Sweating and panting for breath, Popis brushed her sleeve against her face.

“I guess we can’t do as clean as Rodney, huh.”

“Who’s that?”

“The guy I work for sometimes at the guild, the one that gave me the invisibility potion you drank.”

“Hum. Well, considering it was a small girl and a coward against two guards, I would say you guys did well.”

Ben didn’t try to contest the claim. He was sprawled on the floor, together with the guards, his heart ponding with all the adrenaline. Popis just shrugged her shoulders at the situation.

“Alright, get your ass off the ground right now Ben. We don’t have time to lose. Start stripping the guards of their stuff. I’ll go grab Eliot, we need to get you guys changed in a hurry.”