Alyssia stared listlessly at the wall across from her. Existence meant nothing to her and time meant only pain. Every time she began to think, her memories of recent events assaulted her. Memories she ran screaming from in her mind.

She didn’t know how long she had been sitting in her apartment room. Hunger had long since come and gone, even the various food items sitting on the table next to her didn’t tempt her anymore.

She vaguely remembered Madam Tully visiting several times, but she couldn’t remember anything the women had said. It was too much, the sorrow, the pain. She had endured so much over the years, but to have happiness within her grasp then so ruthlessly ripped away. She just couldn’t muster the will to live anymore.

So she sat in her apartment that James had gotten for her and waited to die. James… His name was at the root of every piercing torment that assailed her mind. It was driving her mad.

She felt sleep nagging at her, but she dared not close her eyes. The things waiting behind her eyelids scared her more than anything. She forced herself to stare at the wall, keeping her mind as empty as she could.

Suddenly the wall began to distort, twisting, and changing shape. As she watched, it became a dirty brick wall. The light around her dimmed into twilight, the sounds of a faraway city began to encroach on her hearing.

Blood began to ooze out of the wall before her. Gurgling like a flowing spring it covered the wall and began to pool at its base. Alyssia tried to step back, to close her eyes and deny the images before her. She could do neither.

Out from the bubbling flow of blood, a face began to emerge. The face of the only person she had ever loved. Covered in bright red blood, the face stared at her accusingly and said, “Why Alyssia. Why didn’t you save me?”

“No please!” begged Alyssia. “Please James, I tried.” She began sobbing, great tears falling from her eyes, but still, she couldn’t close them.

The grotesque face came forward, only a thick strand of dripping blood connecting it to the wall behind. “Why Alyssia?” it said.

Alyssia screamed, she screamed as long as her lungs held air, and then she screamed some more. Horsley and still sobbing, she said, “Please James, kill me. I don’t want to live without you. Please!”

The face took on a twisted sickly smile and inched closer to hers. “You failed me,” it said. As it spoke the last word, the entire world snapped into blackness, the final word of the twisted creature echoing in her mind.

Still sobbing, Alyssia floated in the blackness. At least here there were no memories to torment her. Maybe she could finally die here. As she waited for the nothingness to consume her, she noticed a small spark of light floating near her.

She almost ran from it, anything other than nothing was only pain to her. But the spark reminded her of something, something she didn’t want to forget. Somehow she drifted closer to it. Suddenly the spark jumped to her and the blackness shattered.

She was standing in a field of flowers, a cool summer breeze blowing across her cheeks. The smell of the flowers was like ambrosia for her soul. She knew this place. It was a small garden James had brought her to once for a picnic. It hadn’t looked nearly this nice in reality.

Something told her to turn, and doing so she saw him. James was standing amongst the flowers looking at her. His bright smile instantly warming her heart. With that thawing though came more pain.

“James,” she choked out, tears again beginning to fall down her cheeks.

Smiling, the James that could not be was suddenly standing directly in front of her. Reaching out his hand, he wiped away the tears on her cheeks.

“Please don’t cry for me, sweet Alyssia,” he said. “You made my life so happy while you were in it.”

Hearing his voice again only made her tears fall harder. Stumbling toward him, he caught her and held her close to his chest. She could feel his warmth, smell his scent. Her mind whispered that this was a dream, but she didn’t care.

She held on to this illusion and cried. Pushing the thought of its unreality as far away as she could.

“I love you Alyssia,” James said. He gently pushed her back slightly and looked down at her face. “I don’t have much time, please listen. You can’t give up, not here, not now. You have more to live for than you realize.”

“I can’t,” Alyssia said, trying to choke back some of her sobs. “I can’t go on without you James. Please, let me go with you.”

Smiling and brushing her cheek again, James said, “Do you remember your promise?”

“James… please,” Alyssia croaked, not able to look him in the eyes.

Placing his hands on both sides of her head, James gently lifted it up until their eyes met. Alyssia looked into the pure black eyes of the imaginary James before her, she could see the bright light of a million stars of an infinite universe within them. “You promised, Alyssia,” James said gently. “Live for me, find happiness. Get away from this planet. Otherwise, my death will have been for nothing.”

“I… James…,” Alyssia couldn’t bring herself to say more. She had so many things she wanted to say to him. Nothing would come out though. All she could do was stare into his kind, forgiving, infinite eyes.

“For me, Alyssia,” James said again. Leaning forward, he kissed her. Not the brief peck they had shared just before the end, but a deep meaningful kiss.

After what seemed like far too short of an eternity, James pulled away. A look of sadness now mixed with his kindness. “I have to go now,” James said.

“No! Please!,” begged Alyssia.

“I’m sorry,” James said. “So sorry. I wish I could have been with you forever.” Reaching out a hand, he lightly brushed her cheek again. “I love you, sweet Alyssia. Please, forgive me. You will find another, one that will fill your heart, that I promise. If you don’t find him, he will find you.”

With those words, he began to fade. The bright flowers behind him showing through his ghostly form.

Alyssia reached her hand out and whispered, “James.” But he was gone. Only the field of flowers remained, dimmer and monotone without his presence. The tears flowed freely from her eyes now, she couldn’t stop or even slow them.

The field faded out below her, the blackness stealing away her precious happy memory. As the anguish of reality took hold once more, she felt something hard pressed into her side.

As consciousness seeped back into her, she found she was laying on the floor. Opening her eyes, she realized she must have fallen asleep and fallen out of the chair. She wearily pulled herself into a sitting position and looked at the traitorous wall that had failed to keep her awake.

Feeling wetness on her hand, she realized she was still crying. Reaching up she wiped the tears from her eyes, but fresh ones just kept replacing them. She remembered the field and James. She had never had a dream so vivid before. And his eyes...

The crippling grief was still there, but something warm and bright was trying to intrude on her desolation. James. She had promised him anything. He had asked her to keep going without him, to find happiness and get off this depressing planet.

She wasn’t sure she could do the former, her heart was broken beyond repair she was certain. But leaving this desolate rock, she could do that at least.

Standing, she wiped her eyes once more, noticing that the watery flow was finally slowing. Stumbling, she realized that might have been more due to dehydration than any control she had over her emotions.

Glancing at the table she remembered the several plates of food and cups of liquid sitting there. Shuffling over to the table she found a plate of food that was still warm amongst the collection. As she began to eat she suddenly found she was starving. Apparently, she wasn’t used to long fasts anymore.

Devouring the contents of several plates of food, many of which were stone cold and noticeably aged, she sat back for a moment. She had no idea where she was going to go. But she knew where she had to start.

Standing, she went through the apartment collecting what few possessions she had. She packed them into her rucksack the old couple had given her what seemed like a lifetime ago. Taking one more look at the now mostly empty apartment, she shouldered her pack and headed down to the lobby.

As she approached the bottom of the last set of stairs, she glanced briefly at the counter to her right. Madam Tully was nowhere to be found. Alyssia breathed out slightly at that, she wasn’t sure if she could face the old woman right now. She reminded her too much of the person she had just lost.

As she reached the door at the other end of the lobby, a soft kindly voice said behind her, “Leaving without saying goodbye dear?”

Alyssia froze. Just the sound of her voice caused tears to prickle at the corner of her eyes. Without turning around, Alyssia said, “I have to go, Miss Tully. I can’t stay here, everything…,” reminds me of James, she finished in her head.

“I know dear,” Madam Tully said gently as she moved up behind Alyssia. “I understand. But please, let me help you, at least a little.”

Sighing, Alyssia turned to face Madam Tully. Just looking at the woman made the tears standing in her eyes begin to fall.

Madam Tully stepped up to Alyssia and wrapped her in a motherly embrace. “Oh dear,” she said. “I know it hurts.”

For awhile Alyssia just stood there in Madam Tully's embrace and let the tears fall. Every time she opened her mouth to talk, her voice hitched and she couldn’t get the words to come out.

Eventually, Madam Tully said, “I understand if you can’t stay here. But please let me help you get to wherever you're going.”

Taking a deep breath, Alyssia said, “I… I don’t know where I’m going. To the spaceport I guess. James—,” her voice caught on his name. Swallowing hard, she forced herself to continue, “James made me promise to get off this planet. To find somewhere happier.”

Nodding, Madam Tully said, “I understand. This planet has always been the backwater underground of the galaxy. A good place to hide, but not a good place to find happiness.”

Stepping back, Madam Tully patted Alyssia’s shoulder and turned back to her small desk. “There's something James wanted you to have,” she said. “I was going to wait until… Well, here.” Pulling a small silk pouch from behind her desk, she handed it to Alyssia.

“You don’t have to open it now,” she said. “Wait until you're ready.” Pulling a credit chip from her pocket, Madam Tully passed it to Alyssia as well. “He also wanted you to have this,” she said. “He had wanted to give it to you earlier but I talked him out of it.”

Alyssia looked at the credit chip’s static display. The number was so huge her mind refused to accept it at first. There was more money here on this one chip than she had ever seen in her entire life combined and multiplied several times over.

“Money never meant much to James,” Madam Tully said, “and he didn’t want it to be a source of stress for you either. But I told him a proud woman like you wouldn’t accept a hand out like this. So I promised to keep it for you, in case… you ever needed it,” she finished after a pause.

Alyssia knew what she was going to say. In case anything happened. Looking at the credit chip, the tears that she had almost managed to bring to a stop renewed themselves full force once again. James had never stopped thinking of her, it seemed. After all he’d done for her though, all she had done was gotten him killed.

The pain and self-hatred came storming back. The world blurred into a fuzz as the tears flowed from her eyes. With the soft silken pouch in one hand and the credit chip in the other Alyssia stood there and once again wished she could die on the spot.

Once again wrapping her in an embrace, Madam Tully said, “I’m so sorry dear. I didn’t mean to…” Sighing, Madam Tully just held Alyssia for a while. Eventually, she said, “You made him happier than I’ve ever seen him in the eight years I knew him.”

Stepping back slightly, she said, “Here, it’s far too early for you to be walking the streets. Why don’t you come have some tea with me and we’ll talk.”

Three hours later, tea had turned into breakfast and Madam Tully had insisted that Alyssia do more than just pick at the eggs, toast, and sweet tarts she had prepared. To be honest, Alyssia wasn’t starving anymore after finishing off several full leftover meals earlier. But she still found the space for some of the extra food. Distant memories of little to no rations and the sucking empty feeling associated with near-starvation drove her to eat perhaps a little more than her fill.

Despite Madam Tully’s warm disposition, or perhaps in some part because of it, Alyssia still felt the driving need to leave this place. Her promise to James was perhaps the only thing still compelling her to move. She wasn’t certain what she would do once she was gone, she hoped she would find some other purpose beyond simply trying to stay alive. Now, even finding the will to stay alive was difficult.

Standing by the door, she gave Madam Tully one final hug. Turning, she faced the darkened streets, still shaded from the early morning light by the tall buildings surrounding it.

Madam Tully had given her the name of a shipping company that usually ran a daily route to the city that contained the planet's only spaceport. She warned Alyssia to be as careful as she had ever been in that part of the city. Dock workers tended to be some of the least reputable and roughest individuals in any city. And this city was one of the least reputable and roughest cities on the planet.

Walking down the nearly deserted streets, Alyssia kept a careful eye on the scant traffic. Never having forgotten her first frightening encounter in that city, she also kept plenty of space between her and the entrance to every dark alley she passed.

Alyssia shifted the weight of her rucksack slightly, trying to keep her right arm free. She tightly gripped the pistol tucked away beneath her dress. She would never hesitate to use the weapon again. She knew what death looked like now, and she was not afraid of its grisly visage. But she had a promise to keep, and that meant staying alive.

As she approached the docks at the far end of the city, the foot traffic began to pick up. Large burly men in tattered clothing stumped around hauling containers of every shape and size from the docks to waiting ships. Other men, generally smaller and certainly better dressed, directed the orchestrated madness.

Alyssia looked at the various small signs and billboards that hung from poles or were plastered to the side of crates. Finding the one in particular that she was looking for she moved down the docks towards the far end. A sign hanging from a large thick pole planted at the foot of the wharf stated “ExanCo Shipping”.

As she neared the wharf a large burly man not wearing a shirt stepped from behind a large stack of crates almost directly in front of her.

“Where ya headed in such a rush, little thing,” the man said with a slight slur. With a sickly leer on his face, he stepped towards Alyssia, his hands beginning to stretch out towards her.

Taking a quick several steps backward, Alyssia pulled the pistol from her dress and pointed it directly at the lecherous fools head. Alyssia watched the scene unfold as if floating above it. She felt detached, she was only slightly surprised by how steady the pistol was in her hand. The man stopped and looked at the pistol, his expression quickly turned to mild disappointment. As his eyes met Alyssia’s however, his expression slowly changed to one of uncertainty, then fear.

Taking a step backward himself, the man said, “Didn’t mean nothing by it… Ma’am…” Taking a few more steps, the man quickly ducked back behind the crates he had appeared from. Alyssia could hear fast footsteps fading into the tangle of shipping containers sitting beside the wharf.

Replacing the pistol in her dress, she glanced around quickly. Anyone else who had noticed the altercation had apparently decided they had more important business somewhere else. Most of the docks and wharves near her were now deserted. Unfortunately, that also included the one she was interested in.

She briefly wondered what it was in her face that had convinced the thug to leave her alone. He had only seemed slightly deterred by her pistol until he had looked her in the eyes. Mentally shrugging, she moved on to the wharf of the ExanCo shipping company. There was only one ship docked at the wharf at the moment, so she figured it was a good bet she might find the people she was looking for there.

As she moved up to the starboard side of the ship, she noticed furtive movement through some of the portholes she passed. Towards the rear of the ship, she found the gangway and the currently closed hatch to the ship’s interior.

Walking up the short gangway, she pounded on the closed hatch and waited. Although Madam Tully had recommended this particular shipping company, Alyssia wasn’t going to wait forever. If she couldn’t find the captain and get him to agree to take her, today, she would find someone else.

Pounding again on the closed hatch, she waited impatiently. Just as she was about to turn and leave, she heard a loud creaking sound followed by a solid sounding thunk. The hatch swung slowly inward, revealing a short, shabbily dressed man who was nervously holding his hands in front of himself.

“Ca...ca...can I help you,” the man quietly stuttered?

Raising an eyebrow, Alyssia eyed the man up and down. He was wearing a faded blue jacket which was missing half of its buttons. His pants had stains and patches in almost every color. In contrast with the rest of his clothes, however, his shoes looked to be in good shape. Alyssia didn’t really care what he looked like though, the only question she cared about was whether he could get her to the spaceport in Harthade.

“I’m looking for passage to Harthade. Madam Tully recommended you,” Alyssia said briskly.

The man stared blankly at Alyssia for a few seconds, then said haltingly, “I uh… I… I don’t um… have room… for uh… passengers.” The man was staring at his shoes, with only occasional glances up at Alyssia. He seemed mostly interested in her chest, however.

Alyssia was mildly disgusted at first as she saw the man sneak furtive glances at the bust of her dress. It’s not as though she had very much to show off, yet this man was still intent on leering at her. She was about to storm away when she realized that the look on his face was fear, not lust. And also that she was still tightly gripping the pistol just inside the front pocket of her dress.

Alyssia had a brief, irritating thought, about how impractical the dress was. She had wanted shirts and pants, it's what she was accustomed to wearing. But she had never gotten around to purchasing any, always wanting to do her best to catch James’ eye. She had nothing but dresses when it came time to leave.

Slowly removing her hand from her dress pocket and letting it hang by her side, she said, “Madam Tully was quite insistent that you were the most trustworthy captain here, are you certain you can’t make room?”

The man stuttered for a moment, saying, “I um… well… see…—“

“I’m not asking for charity,” Alyssia interrupted. Madam Tully had told her before she left what to expect to pay for the short voyage to the spaceport. Reaching back into her dress, she grabbed the small credit chit she had already pre-loaded with the appropriate amount, plus a little extra. As she reached for her dress pocket, the man raised his hands to cover his face and ducked back into the ship.

Holding the credit chit in front of her, she said, “I don’t bite.”

Glancing cautiously around the corner, the man saw Alyssia holding out the credit chit. Stepping back into the open hatchway with a nervous, forced chuckle, he glanced quickly at the credit chit.

Wringing his hands slightly, the man said, “I um… perhaps… perhaps you could um… I think I could uh… find room for you. Somewhere.”

That somewhere turned out to be a small cramped cabin near the bow of the ship. The room contained only a small hard cot attached to one side of the room, and a short three-legged stool attached to the floor behind the door. It was no worse than many other places she had been, and she didn’t expect to be here for long.

The captain, his name was Smith he had said, insisted that the door to her cabin had to be locked from the outside during the night. Certainly, she would understand, he had said, still glancing nervously at the front pocket of her dress.

Once the captain had left, Alyssia sat wearily on the cot and looked at her hands before her. They didn’t shake in the slightest. Despite having been accosted at the docks and now looking forward to the prospect of being locked in her cabin at night. She didn’t fully understand it, but after such an enormous outpouring of emotion over the last week, the only feeling she had left now was… apathy.

She had no idea how long she had been sitting there staring at her own hands when the ship lurched suddenly. It seemed they were finally on their way. The journey was only going to be a short three-day trip. As long as the captain brought her to Harthade and let her off the ship without any issue, she didn’t really care if he locked her in the cabin for the entire ride. Three days wasn’t that long.

And yet, three days turned out to be much longer than she had thought. The one thing she hadn’t counted on was being motion-sick. Every fifteen minutes or so for the first few hours of the voyage she had to rush over to the small porthole in her cabin. There she proceeded to heave up a good part of the breakfast Madam Tully had insisted she eat that morning.

After a few hours, the heaves didn’t produce much other than saliva, yet they still came. Sometime around noon, just as she had started to get a handle on her quivering stomach, someone knocked on her door.

In an unfriendly tone, she said, “What.”

Opening the door timidly, captain Smith held a small plate with potatoes and some kind of meat on it. “I uh… brought you some lunch… Ma’am.”

As the smell of the cooked meat hit her nose, Alyssia’s stomach decided to gear up for round two. She quickly bolted off of the cot and proceeded to heave up her toenails into the uncaring waters outside her porthole.

“I’ll uh.. just leave this… by the door…,” the captain said, slowly closing the door behind him as Alyssia continued to worship the porthole she was hanging onto for dear life.

By that night she had almost managed to gain sufficient control over her stomach to at least look at the stone-cold plate of food the captain had brought earlier. Reaching over she picked up one of the cold, cooked potatoes and nibbled gingerly on it. After a few hours, she had managed to finish off most of the potatoes on the plate without rushing to the over-used porthole.

The captain had knocked earlier, however presuming it was with another plate of stomach-churning food, Alyssia had just told him to go away. Given that he had left her alone without protest it couldn’t have been all that important.

For the next three days, Alyssia nibbled carefully on cold tasteless food. The captain helpfully supplied her with all the bland tasteless food and water she asked for, instead of the meats, stews, and wines that her stomach had flatly refused to even consider. By the time they reached the seaport of Harthade, Alyssia felt like an old wrung out rag.

Stepping off the wharf the ship had docked at, she took her first look at the giant spaceport city of Harthade. She had only ever heard descriptions of the place before. Her only other vague memories of the city were from when she was hustled through it as a child in the dark.

The docks where she now stood looked much like those she had left in Tressin. Only the scale was different, everything was bigger. Beyond that, however, stood a sight, unlike anything she had ever seen. Six, seven, even eight-story buildings dotted the area just beyond the docks, with narrow roads or alleys between each one. Beyond those, stood massive skyscrapers ten, twenty, or more stories tall. They were all clustered together, packed tightly as if they were one single enormous sprawling building.

And there, in the center of them all, stood the enormous spaceport. Towering hundreds of stories tall with dozens of landing pads and docking bays. The structure dwarfed the city around it much like the city itself dwarfed Alyssia.

As she looked at the starport, a large red ship shot over the city, then nimbly turned and flew back to the spaceport it had passed seconds earlier. Slowing, it descended to one of the larger docking pads and gracefully settled on it. Looking at the lithe looking ship, she wondered if she could get passage on that one. It looked so much more advanced than the others docked at the spaceport.

But then, she really didn’t know anything about ships. She had no idea what she was doing. Staring at the immensity of it all she began to have doubts about her plan to get off-world. She wasn’t even certain if she could figure out how to make it to the spaceport itself, nevermind find someone to take her away from this place.

Closing her eyes briefly, she let despair wash over her. The apathy had been good, but it wasn’t helping her move forward. The despair hurt, but with it came a reminder of why she was here. She had made a promise, and even if the best she could find was a frozen grave in space, she would at least get that far.

Sighing heavily, she opened her eyes and began making her way into the city. She was hoping she would get lucky and find some kind of markings or directions that would lead her to the spaceport. If she managed to make it that far, she would worry about the rest then.

As she made her way past the warehouses and offices near the docks, the traffic on the narrow streets began to increase. Despite all the people on the streets, however, almost no one bumped or jostled her. These city folk seemed to have some innate skill that allowed them to flow past the other people on the streets.

Or maybe it was just her. As she walked she noticed that a small pocket had formed around her. It seemed as though no one wanted to get too close to the strange girl with the haunted eyes who was desperately clutching a pistol-shaped object in the front of her dress. Alyssia almost chuckled to herself, or she might have if she could have scrounged together enough emotion to bother feeling amused.

Continuing to move in the general direction of the towering spaceport, she did start to find signs and direction posts. She also realized they were almost entirely unnecessary. The spaceport was impossible to lose sight of, even in the narrowest streets.

Eventually, she found herself amongst the towering skyscrapers packed around the spaceport itself. She could hardly believe how long it had taken just to get this far. The spaceport hadn't looked so far away back at the docks. The choices here became a little more complicated as some streets doubled back and many of the smaller alleys were dead ends.

She was standing at one such intersection, hoping she could make it to the spaceport before dark and trying to decide which way to go next. Suddenly she had a distinctly uneasy feeling, as though the world dimmed around her. Looking around her she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Other people were still walking around her as though she had the plague, but they all kept their heads down and didn’t look at her.

She shrugged, it must have been her nerves finally reacting to where she was, she thought. Choosing a direction, she started down another featureless street with enormous skyscrapers hanging over both sides.

Several streets later and she thought she must have been getting close to the spaceport itself. She had thought that earlier, but distances were deceiving due to the differences in scale of everything she was looking at.

Glancing around briefly as she considered another set of streets, she noticed a small group of well-dressed men who she thought she had seen before a few streets earlier. She couldn’t imagine why a group of well-dressed men would be following her, they seemed to be talking amongst themselves though and none of them looked in her direction.

Deciding she was being paranoid, she chose another alley that seemed to go in the correct direction and started walking again. As she came to a bend in the alley she couldn’t help but glance over her shoulder briefly.

To her dismay, she noticed one of the well-dressed men from earlier peering down the alley from its entrance. She wasn’t certain if him or any of them were actually following her, it certainly didn’t make any sense. But, her paranoia got the best of her and she decided a little caution couldn’t go amiss.

As she finished rounding the bend, certain she was now out of sight of the man, she moved her brisk walk to a jog. She would have preferred a flat out run, but there were just too many people even in this small alley. That and as short as her dress was, it was still a dress.

As she came to the next set of intersections she only spent a split second deciding on a direction, not even slowing down as she bolted down the next alley. Two alleys and three streets later, she found a small alcove set into the bottom floor of one of the tall skyscrapers. Ducking into the alcove she tucked herself into a corner and stood with her back to the wall, breathing heavily from the exertion.

Waiting for several minutes, she watched the traffic pass by her dark alcove. No sign of the well-dressed men. After the better part of ten minutes, she finally had her breath back.

Hugging the wall of the alcove, she carefully moved to the edge and peered one eye around the corner, back the way she had come. All she could see were the usual roughly dressed street traffic. Moving back into the alcove she hunched down on her heels and waited a bit longer.

She still wasn’t certain if she was actually being followed or not, but she thought it best not to take any chances. After twenty minutes, she figured they had either lost her or didn’t really have any interest in her in the first place.

Standing, she was about to move back out into the street when the hairs on her neck stood up. That uneasy feeling of the world dimming had returned and was gone again just as quickly. Once was paranoia, twice stretched the limits of coincidence.

She looked at the part of the towering spaceport she could see from here, it honestly didn’t look that far away. Glancing at the deepening shadows in the alley, she realized she would run out of sunlight soon. She had no idea if she would be safer there than here, but she decided to get there as quickly as she could.

Ducking out of her alcove back into the moderate traffic of the street, she moved with speed and purpose towards the spaceport. She didn’t bother to carefully consider intersections anymore, she just chose the one that looked the most likely and relied on luck for the rest.

She glanced carefully over her shoulder at every intersection as she went, and so far there was no sign of the well-dressed men. Despite that, she couldn’t shake whatever it was that was making the hair on her neck stand up. She maintained a white-knuckled grip on the pistol in her dress, even going so far as to thumb the safety off.

Luck, it seemed, had no interest in helping her that day. But then, it never had, it seemed. One of the alleys she chose at random had substantially less traffic than most of the rest. That, apparently, had been a mistake. Just as she reached the first bend in the nearly deserted alley, she glanced back and caught sight of one of the well-dressed men from earlier.

They didn’t seem to be trying to hide their intentions any longer. Just before she lost sight of the man she had spotted she noticed the rest of the men behind him, all of them moving down the alley with purpose. In her direction.

Turning back to the alley itself, she bolted. Running with a hand tucked inside the front of her dress was awkward but she managed. The nearly deserted alley was completely deserted now, and piles of debris and trash were starting to show up in the corners. She began to have a very bad feeling about this alley, completely aside from who was in it with her.

As she bolted down the alley, she was becoming convinced it was going to be a dead end. The trash was quickly becoming large mounds that she had to jump over or dart around, no small feat in a dress. Just as she darted around one particularly large mound of trash, however, she came to an intersection. Perhaps luck hadn’t totally abandoned her after all.

Picking the one that seemed to have less trash, she darted down it. Luck it seemed, had a cruel sense of humor. As she rounded the first bend in this alley, she saw a massive wall blocking her path forward. Glancing around quickly she didn’t see any doors, windows, or other openings she could try.

Taking a step backward, she wondered if she was far enough ahead of her pursuers to get back to the intersection. Suddenly she felt the same feeling as before, the world dimmed around her. She heard movement behind her.

“Turn around slowly with your hands up,” a loud authoritative voice bellowed behind her.

She stood stock-still, her hand still on the pistol in her dress. She didn’t know who these people were or what they wanted, and she was fairly certain she didn’t want to find out. But what could she do? She had only heard the footsteps of just the one behind her, perhaps…

“This is the Conclave Enforcement Division,” a second loud voice said. “You are under arrest as an illegal Mage.”

Alyssia’s heart sank through her feet. The Conclave.

“Don’t even bother,” a third snide voice said dismissively, “I have this area locked down.”

Alyssia’s earlier apathy returned in full force. This was it. She wasn’t going to make it off this planet after all. At least, not of her own free will anyway. She knew, to some degree, what the Conclave meant. She remembered what her foster parents had said, just before they had turned her out on the street. She knew what she was.

Closing her eyes briefly, she said a silent apology to James for not being able to keep her promise. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes. In quick succession, she pulled the pistol from her dress, spun on her heels while simultaneously ducking down. She would not be taken alive by these people, and if she had to die, she was taking some of them with her.

As her eyes swept over the scene behind her, she noted that the four men she could see seemed contemptuously confident that she had no ability to resist. None of them were holding a weapon. The man in the lead was holding his hand out before him as if he held one, but his hand was empty.

As she completed her spin and brought her weapon to bear, she pulled the trigger. She had almost no time to aim, she did her best to stop her spin with the weapon pointing in the general direction of the lead man.

Both her and the lead man were stunned in shocked surprise. The man most likely due to the blossoming bloodstain spreading out over his chest, and Alyssia mostly for the same reason. She could hardly believe she had managed to hit him. As the man's legs gave way and he slumped to the ground, his companions shook off their shock and reached for their weapons.

Alyssia chided herself for not continuing to move. Jumping to the left and back she continued to crouch low while sprinting towards the only open ground available. Moving quickly towards the blocked end of the alley, she continued to fire blindly behind her. She knew the pistol had a very limited number of shots, but she had not thought to count them earlier. She hoped it was enough.

As she reached the halfway point between where she had started her maneuver and the end of the alley, she suddenly felt a sharp burning pain sear through her left side. Stumbling slightly, she tried to regain her balance but went down hard on one knee.

As she continued to fall she twisted slightly so she could see behind her. The movement caused the searing pain in her side to blossom into agony. Gritting her teeth, she kept the pistol steady. As her vision once again swept behind her, she saw that one man had been left behind, clutching his shoulder. The other two, however, were almost on top of her and they both had pistols drawn and aimed in her direction.

Gritting her teeth with everything she had, she swept her pistol across the path of the two men, pulling the trigger as fast as she could. She wasn’t certain if she managed to hit either of them as her momentum continued to carry her around in a full circle. Using the circular momentum to her advantage she continued the swing until she was roughly facing the dead end of the alley again.

Putting all the strength she had left into her legs, she pushed off and managed to make it back into a stumbling trot, heading back across to the other side of the alley and towards the far wall.

She had managed to kill one of them and wound another. Perhaps she had managed a third if she was lucky with that last maneuver. She knew she was wounded herself, but perhaps if she could just…

Pistol fire had been cracking back and forth in the small alley from the time the battle had started, but this last crack was particularly loud. It sounded like an explosion. It was the last thing Alysia heard before darkness consumed her in an instant.