The snow had transitioned to hail, skittering off the still settling rocks behind Jadon. He, however, was standing still, as if frozen, considering all his options.

The guards in front of him, at least ten, soon to be much more. The collapsed mine behind him. The unstable rock was not a viable route for running away, who knows what could set off another landslide, this time killing him. He could fake ignorance but the guards would still take him in for questioning and eventually pin him even if they decided he didn’t do it. They would need a scapegoat for something this terrible. No, he needed to get through them somehow and before the worse ones arrived.

Being so close to the mines meant that Jadon was just on the edge of the Ranks, the portion of the city that housed their city guards, their small army and their garrison for training all these troops. This meant that he likely would have Frozen Scales appearing any moment. If he saw one of them, he could say goodbye to any hope of freedom he still had.

The Frozen Scales were a better trained force of fighters than any this side of Eazrik. They had magically enhanced combatants and others who were just physically better than normal people like Jadon.

“Crazy night, huh fellas?” Jadon called out to the guards, walking towards them, his hands raised.

A couple guards stepped in front of the others.

“Slowly.” One of the guards warned, pulling out deep blue manacles. All the others kept their hands on their weapons. Jadon could see most of them had swords, but a couple held halberds. They had likely been on duty somewhere close by, which meant someone important was in the area, which meant even more guards than usual. Great, he thought. Despite the situation, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of excitement for what he was about to do, mad as it was.

“What do you think happened down there? I was just asleep in my bed, right? Floor? Blown out from under me. I fall out of bed, bounce and go right out the window. Luckily my closet was by my window so I was able to change out of my pajamas before I hit the ground. You know how it is.”

“Can you please shut up,” the guard with the manacles, walking the distance to Jadon to make the arrest quicker. A couple of the others stepped forward to be closer in case Jadon tried anything, which was exactly what he wanted.

As the guard leaned forward to slip the manacles onto Jadon’s outstretched wrists, Jadon shifted so their hands were hidden from the other guards, slapping the manacles out of the man’s hands and pulling his dagger up to his throat.

Jadon then marched the man towards the guards, with his back still facing them. Jadon peered around his to the others to see how they were lining up. Good, still staggered, this could work.

“I have your ally. Let me pass and no one gets hurt,” he said in as tough a voice as he could muster, even though his jaw was unrelentingly chattering from the cold.

Once he closed his mouth and pulled himself back behind the guard, partially out of sight, the others charged him, as he figured they might. In High Morr, when a dagger touches a throat, it never leaves the target alive. Until tonight.

Jadon pushed the guard away from him. The guard slipped on the icy cobblestone and fell backwards into the closest man, sending them both sliding onto their backs. Jadon ran towards them, sliding to pick up the dropped sword, dodging a swing from one of the halberds in the process.

Jadon would have had no chance of escape if the guards had kept to their training and formed a simple line across the street. Instead, they had broken ranks to bring him in, ruining their chances.

Jadon held the sword upright as he ran, trying to give off the effect of actually knowing how to use one. He had never trained with anything larger than a knife and even that wasn’t really training. Still, him holding a weapon made a couple of the guards hesitate in their pursuit. He jumped and dove, spring-boarding himself off the windowsill of one of the buildings at the side of the street, vaulting over the swing of one guard and rolling underneath the next.

He had passed most of them, however the other one with a halberd and two with swords had stayed back, forming the line Jadon had worried about. They had him boxed in. If he didn’t break out now, they would likely kill him now, or make him wish they had. He charged the halberd-wielding man.

The man braced himself, crouching slightly and pointed the halberd down to spear Jadon before he had a chance to get close and swing his sword. Jadon, had no intention of swinging his sword. He got as close as he could and threw it at the man, who lifted the base of the halberd to try and block the sword, ducking at the same time. Jadon ran by the sharp end of the halberd, kicking it whilst the man still held it so that it swung in the direction of the guard to the Jadon’s left, as Jadon tackled the central man, putting the guard’s body between him and the swinging sword of the final man.

Jadon rolled back into a run, sprinting as fast as the icy stones allowed him to.

He was free.

He looked back through the snow at the collection of guards that had no idea what had just happened, picking themselves up from the ten second whirlwind that Jadon had been. His joyful smile froze, cracking in fear. He saw white rounding the corner on the opposite side of the street to the one he was running down. It wasn’t snow. He had spotted a Frozen Scale. The Scale had spotted him. If it wasn’t before, now it was a race for his life. I’m dying tonight, Jadon thought, not breaking stride as he watched three Frozen Scales, in little more than sleeveless vests, baggy trousers, belts and boots, all white, come running into view. They weren’t as quick as Jadon had been expecting from the stories. However, when he turned back to them, they had already gained on him more than he thought anybody could.

He heard a whip-crack and turned back to see one of them pop out of thin air, in a similar way to the man had scaled the mine wall earlier. Now that he was closer, Jadon could see the bright blue glow just beneath the man’s slick, ice-like skin. His empty eye sockets were misting like Jadon’s jagged breaths. At least it’ll be a cool death.

Jadon kept track of the footsteps and breathing of the man closing in on him as they ran down the winding streets of the Manlain Maze. Jadon could see curtains twitch every now and then as the two charged down the streets at full speed.

Just as he could almost feel the man’s hands grabbing at him from behind, Jadon spun on the run and whipped his dagger out behind him trying to catch any part of the Frozen Scale. The man instinctively threw an arm up to protect himself and the blade cut right through his forearm, chipping into bone. Jadon left it there as the man cried out in pain and slowed his run to pull out the knife, leaving Jadon to run on ahead.

Once Jadon was out of the eye-line of the maimed man, he took off up the side of the nearest building. He was better on the roofs. He regretted his decision immediately as he pulled himself up and saw the other two Scales closing in on his position, apparently lying in wait for him to go up to them. They must have been told about the chase earlier, Jadon thought, cursing himself and his non-existent luck. They weren’t teleporting closer to him, but they were both glowing like the first Scale. One of them scooped up a clump of snow and hurled it towards Jadon, who had to leap to the side to avoid a spray of arrows formed from ice. They shattered across the tiles, taking chunks of the tile with them.

Jadon scrambled back to his feet and got to running. The longer the chase went on the more desperate he was getting. Then an idea occurred to him, taking into consideration where he was in the city and how fast they were covering ground. It was a long shot but at this point, it was his only one. He took a sharp left turn as the rooftops forked yet again.

He was closing in on his destination and his plan was looking like it might be coming together, all he had to do was pray that the Scales didn’t catch up to him before he made it there.

They weren’t as fast as the one that had chased him on the ground, but they were keeping him from running at full speed too, by flinging projectiles at him almost constantly, so he had to keep moving side to side as well as forward, all the while keeping an eye on where they were and where the latest ice arrow was coming from.

He spotted the roof. He was nearly there. It was just across the next street.

Jadon stumbled. He looked down to see a fist sized hole had just punched its way through his right thigh, taking muscle, skin and bone with it. His leg collapsed under his weight and he fell off the tiles, straight towards the cobblestone.

He managed to twist his body so that, whilst still agonizing, the fall did not kill him. Thankfully, the snow helped to soften the impact a little.

He was freezing. The ground was trying to cling to him, even as the snow settled over him.

He was on fire. His right leg was quickly going to make him bleed to death, as it was attached by threads and lying at an impossible angle. His shoulder blade and collarbone were likely broken from the fall.

Even with darkness pulling him in, he refused to let it take him. If he fell asleep, he would die. Or the Scales would take him in, interrogate him, and then he would die.

He dragged his corpse-like body towards the wooden door across the street. The building he had been aiming to reach. So close. The Temple of the Triplets. He would be safe in there, as long as he could convince the priests within that he wasn’t a threat and needed medical attention. That wouldn’t be difficult, given his current condition.

Blood pounding against his ears and likely being spread across the street, he managed to get to the door and slammed a fist on the base of it, unable to reach the knocker above.

No response.

He slammed again, as hard as he could.

“Alright, alright.” A young man with pointed ears and pointier features opened the door, looking out into the night. He then looked down and gagged, running back inside. He returned a moment later with a couple more men and then pulled Jadon inside, lifting him up and into one of the back rooms, so as to not have someone with an injury like his on full display to the rest of the temple, should other visitors arrive.

Jadon had picked this temple as holy ground is exempt from the law. This temple specifically was dedicated to The Triplets, the three gods of nature. Their priests made sure to value the life of people and beings above all else. This meant that, as long as Jadon not killed anyone whilst procuring his injury, they would keep his presence there a secret to the authorities.

The priests got to work on covering Jadon’s leg, shoulders and eyes with a thick blue paste. One held up a silver amulet with three overlapping triangles within a circle imprinted onto it. The amulet glowed, at first matching the shade of the paste, before both the paste and the amulet flashed with a piercing white light.

It was quiet within the temple, in comparison to the events Jadon had gone through since breaking into the shop. Three loud knocks broke the tension. If Jadon did not have paste covering his eyes, he would have seen the two priests working on him share a knowing glance.

An older priest, the Temple Elder, cracked open the main door, allowing the three Frozen Scales entry into the temple’s main room. Jadon could hear their introductions, but he fell unconscious just before they explained why they had come. The younger priest that had let him in was listening intently from the corner of the main room.

“Good evening gentlemen, how can we be of service this evening?” The older man asked, indicating to the pews for the men to sit if they wished. They did not.

“We are looking for someone dangerous. We believe he has taken refuge with you,” one of the scales said. Now that they were not mid-chase, all their eyes had returned to solid, nearly normal eyeballs, with ice blue irises. Their skin was also not glowing or icy, however they did have noticeable blue veins below the surface.

“You know our rules. Even if someone dangerous had arrived, we could not in good consciousness release them to you.”

“You felt the tremors earlier, I presume?” The Scale said, expecting the priest’s line. As the older man nodded, the Scale continued. “Those were caused by the Zekhalite Mines collapsing. Likely not the entirety of the mines, but enough to level multiple streets. This person we are searching for was the only one found at the scene. He has attacked numerous guards, including my colleague here.”

“Did the individual you seek kill anyone?”

“He collapsed a mine and multiple buildings with it.”

“Do you know for a fact he killed anyone? Or that he even committed the act you hunt him for?”

“If he was innocent, then there was no reason to fear and no reason to run. His innocence is now a thing of the past.”

“I’m sorry. I cannot break my vow this night. Innocent until proven guilty.” The priest raised a hand. “No, no. Please hear me out. You chase down a man with no proof of his innocence and he possibly attacks in self-defense. You will not find your suspect within these walls, I’m afraid.”

Jadon blinked awake once more. His pain was still overwhelming, but his eyes were no longer scratching at his sockets and his shoulder felt better already. He looked down at his leg and his breath left him. Whilst some healing had been applied, it was a long way from being fixed. It looked mangled beyond belief and he could see the blood-stained sheets of the bed through it. The priests were in the middle of applying a support to it. One put a finger to his lips as he indicated to the door. The Scales were still in the building. He must not have been out long. He strained to pick up the conversation.

“Whoever did this, it is tantamount to an act of war.”

“Possibly, who am I to judge on the affairs of politics? All I do is tend to the minds and souls of those who call this place a haven. Speaking of, unless there is any further business, or soul-searching you wish to do, I must request you leave. It is rather late after all.” The priest got up off the pew and walked slowly over to the front door, bracing himself for the rush of cold air that burst in once he opened it. The Scales nodded and walked out one by one. Not even they would tempt the wrath of the gods. The Scale that had been slashed by Jadon paused at the front door, looking into the priest’s eyes and not breaking off until the old man looked down and indicated for him to leave.

Jadon, hearing all this, was somersaulting in his mind right now. His plan had actually worked. His ridiculous gamble had paid off.

“Wait.”

The Scale turned back and looked across the room to the young man perched in the corner, on a pew.

“Yes, pious one?”

“You say he really did all that?”

“We wouldn’t lie.”

“I’m sorry father, but whilst you cannot in good faith release a man in pain, I cannot-”

“Don’t do this, Ephin,” the older man said sternly.

“I cannot, I will not live with myself if someone who had done something like that, as life threatening as that, escaped justice.” The young man pointed to the door, behind which Jadon was lying on a bed, listening to some little brat throw his life away, unable to argue his case without giving himself over in the process. Slimy little snitch, he thought, furious.

“He’s in there.”

Those were the last words Jadon heard before the door slammed open and all three Scales rushed him. Damn, he thought, so damn close.