A great spectacle occured in the Honean capital as a figure obscured in black ran down the streets at full speed, pushing through people and jumping over obstacles as he went. Vanemar was greatly shaken, he had lost his chance at a peaceful farewell from a single mistake and had nearly paid with his life. Sweat covered his body due to his dark apparel and he was beginning to find it unbearable. Finding an alleyway after running a reasonable distance from the tavern, he laid his hand against the wall to allow himself to breathe. Pulling down his hood, he shook the sweat off of his short brown hair. "That was… too close." He thought to himself before rapidly pivoting his head to check both ends of the alley. The lack of pursuers slightly relaxed the nerves. “Straight for the ship, that’s the only thing I can do.”

After killing the duke a few months before, Vanemar had used his massive amount of funds to purchase a ship. A small merchant ship repurposed to be a home on wings, perfect for a fugitive like him. Fortunately, he was taking the road that ended close to where he had docked. As he got off the wall, a single woman entered the alleyway forcing him to pull down his hood once more. She immediately turned back around as soon as she noticed him. He watched her nervously leave before continuing. Looking out into the crowded streets, a sudden idea sprang to mind. All wheeled modes of transport in the city either went two ways, the harbor or their drop off location. If He were to take a wagon moving in the direction of the harbor, it would absolutely end there. Wagons and coaches usually only moved through the center of the road so he moved himself to the very edge of the crowd to be right next to them as they came by. An almost empty wagon cart coming from behind caught his eye. People were crossing through an intersection up ahead which meant that it would need to slow down. He kept his head forward, using his ears to make out when he should start moving. As soon as he heard the trot of the horse pulling it he went into a run, leaping straight for the wagon. He landed with a loud thump on the wooden bed and his body rolled widely before slamming into a small stack of goods. The driver cursed, looking behind and muttering in frustration as he discovered nothing was wrong. Vanemar had managed to hide behind the boxes before being caught. A smile appeared on his face "You've still got it." He layed back down on the bed as the world around him began to blur, it was nice to rest for a moment in the cool wind after the hectic events that had just occurred.

As he rode, Vanemar closed his eyelids and let himself think of what he would do next. All of his plans of owning a nice home in the Lowlands had been hampered. He would have to go somewhere far away with his ship and hope that some foreign nation would allow him to buy property. His ship would have to be sold for that property or he would have to face the misfortune of having to earn coin in some way. He sighed greatly, There was too much stress accumulating on the day which he believed for weeks to be when he would become free of all the poor decisions he had made in his life. Leaving his mother in the care of his brother, killing for coin, buying a ship. All things that could cause him to cry out if not for the predicament he was in.

As things were getting comfortable in the wagon, a sudden duo of hoofbeats and clinking metal alerted Vanemar. He peeked over the rim of the bed, quickly enough so he could just be seen. The sight of mounted guards nearly made him smack his head against the wood. “How lucky am I?.” He thought as he heard them approach the side of the wagon. Their voices made him sink deeper with the rest of the items scattered about.

"Be vigilant kid.” Said the deep and rugged voice of a man, “he may blend in with the crowd but he's the only one with a hook on his waist and the look of a man who’s being hunted." Vanemar reached for his sword, he needed no further explanation to know what would happen if they saw him.

"Why would he carry a hook sir? If you don't mind me asking." Came a timid voice farther back.

"From his description it'd be climbing. Nothing to worry about, he’d be doing us a favor by getting to higher ground anyway. I imagine being on a roof by himself would make him an easier target for an arrow." Vanemar's heart beat dramatically as things went silent. Leaving his sword partially unsheathed, he braced himself as one of the horsemen got close enough to be visible. It was a man in full plate and a spear in hand. His open face helmet showed his eyes which went over Vanemar as he tried to make himself smaller. Vanemar began to hold his breath, exhaling only when the guard looked away. Sheathing his sword, his hand went towards the hook at his belt. The talk of it had reminded him of an old trick he had used when he was caught off guard. "Don't get too close to the wagon kid, your horse might crash into it if you don’t pay attention.”

"Alright, sorry si-" As Vanemar finally exhaled in relief the guard managed to take a final look into the wagon bed, his eyes going directly towards the object of interest. It was a man, concealing himself in a black cloak with fearful eyes looking back at him. The guard experienced many different emotions before his mouth began to open.

"No you don't." Vanemar thought as he forcefully latched onto the railing of the cart to pull himself up. The guard had failed to distance himself before his helmet met the grappling hook. Vanemar swung powerfully, the hook slamming into the guard's head created a sound that mimicked the tolling of a bell. The man was thrown off balance, the attack causing him to tumble off the horse in a painful manner. As the other guards reeled their mounts, Vanemear leaped off the wagon. His fall was softened by a group of pedestrians, the unforeseen obstacle caused him to fall over and bring those around him with him. “Sorry!” He blurted before going into a full sprint. As the guards began to pursue he went for a straight path to the outer edge of the street. The recent rest had caused him to notice the numbness in his legs and he began to feel the limitations of his body. Doing nothing for the past few months had done him no good. There was no way he could stop though, as horses were much better suited for running than he. People stopped to watch the spectacle, even looking out of storefronts to see what the horsemen were chasing. The silent onlookers only added to Vanemar’s fear, making him paranoid that one of them would catch him and display him to the guards. His sword managed to dissuade them though, as he waved it around for all to see. There was no point in appearing sane when he would be put to death either way.

The sight of an alley caused him to push his legs to the limit. It felt too far away, his lungs were getting ready to burst from how much he was exerting himself. Checking if he could catch a breath, he looked back. The elevated position of the guards easily split the crowd apart as their horses galloped towards him. Their spears were forward and ready to strike, not even a second could be spared. Each footfall became shakier as the gap began to close. Everything was working against him, the heat, the wind, and worst of all the body. The pounding of hoofs against stone felt like an explosion of sound. His fatigue made him feel as if he were being chased by some otherworldly beast.

He flew down the alleyway like a sprinter on his first lap. The further down he went the darker the world around him became. He could see the path he would take, the way split into an intersection with turns too tight for more than one horse to fit. All he could feel was fear as his body was on the edge of giving out. Before he could fall, the wind was knocked out of him. A strong force had taken him from the sides and pulled him into darkness.

The right half of Vanemar’s body slumped as one of the arms that now held him up went to close the door. His vision was fuzzy, too fuzzy to see the face of the man preventing him from falling face first onto the wooden floor. "Seems the raven has gone for too big of prey." Came a voice quietly as Vanemar managed to stumble onto his two feet. "You are lucky to have passed my place of living. I managed to catch a glimpse of your misfortune while out drinking, I came running home as soon as I could." The voice came again, this time Vanemear managed to recognize it. He looked up to find the face of one of his old clients.

“Sao?” He said as memories of his previous work had returned to his mind.

The man smiled. “Good to know you remembered me! I imagine that that doesn’t happen very often.” Vanemar looked around the place, he had spoken to the man before on multiple occasions but never been inside of his home. It was quite nice on the eyes. They were in a small dining room lit by a single magic lamp that glowed a faint white from the roof. "Need something to drink? You seem to be on the verge of death.”

"Water." Vanemar responded simply as he found himself a chair. He slumped into it slowly, giving out a barrage of breaths as his body began to regain its remaining strength.

“You can wait there, the kitchen is right next to us.” He spoke loudly as his figure exited Vanemar’s view, "The guards will likely be chasing false clues for a while. That gives you a moment to wait until they end up far away from here. From what I’ve heard, the trick is to leave right before the patrols harden. That way you can make a getaway while the least amount of guards are scurrying around.” Vanemar exhaled comfortably as he sank into the orange pillow of the chair, he wanted to cherish the last amount of relaxation he would get before the final push. The man quickly returned with a small glass of water in hand.

"Thanks." He said before downing the water in one go.

"So, has the Raven been reborn? Or is this the last time that I will ever see you?”

Vanemar frowned at the question and prepared an answer that would reveal little. "Sorry to break the news, but I'm retiring. I probably won’t ever be able to come back. The guard wants my head badly."

"Retiring? I understand that things here are getting difficult but do you really have enough coin for the rest of your life?"

"My last job paid me a very large sum, that’s all I’ll say on the matter."

The man raised a brow. “Now you have made me curious. Could you at least tell me what caused your current misfortune?”

“Can’t say anything else I’m afraid.”

“I see, so I’m guessing this is the last time I will be seeing the Raven.”

Vanemar frowned, “I’ll be leaving Honea permanently today.”

The man shook his head in disappointment, “A shame. Vigilantes such as yourself should not have to face such punishment for dealing well deserved justice.” Vanemar nodded his head but could not say the same. He was ashamed of his choices, he had no business killing men. “I guess this is a farewell then.” The man said, offering his hand.

Vanemar shook it limply. “Yeah, do me a favor and don’t tell your buddies this happened.” He waved back as he went for the door, leaving as suddenly as he came.

Sao’s advice had been surprisingly accurate. As Vanemar lurched his aching body to the harbor, there was not a single instance of resistance in sight. The harbor was directly at the end of the road, a massive thing that covered the entire outer portion of the city. A large airship could be seen from where he stood. A massive ovular balloon filled with magic was what kept it from falling. It was a merchant ship the size of three houses. Vanemar decided he did not want to meet the port guards yet and took a turn at an intersection. His ship was still a ways away and he could no longer rely on his legs if he got into a scruff.

When Vanemar had first chosen a place to dock his ship he had not paid any mind to the brick watchtower nearby. Now that he had reason to, it was causing too much unneeded stress. As Vanemar looked down the long row of ships in front of him, he cursed. His own tiny ship was nearby, placed under the eyes of the tower. “You coward, it’s just down there!” He thought as he forced his legs to move. He could see two guards watching from above with their bows at rest. Since it was late midday he knew that they had their full attention on the crowds that were less dense at this time, especially since there was no doubt a messenger had arrived to alert them of his presence by now. To keep himself out of sight, he hid within a large group that moved in the direction of the ship. He glanced upwards towards the tall and menacing tower. The guard inside was hidden beneath the shade, making it impossible to see what they were looking at. Vanemar quickly averted his gaze, hoping that they had yet to take notice of him.

A combined army of soldiers marched by, pushing the crowd to the side as their long line moved down on either foot or horseback. Unlike the guards that had been chasing him, they were dirtier, and wore chainmail instead of plate. The lack of any defining colors made it obvious that they were mercenaries. They all wore the company patch on their left shoulder, two flaming swords crossed. Vanemar could not tell if they were after him. Mercenaries were more common than soldiers in Honea due to the nation’s loose laws on the matter. The thought that they somehow already knew about him made him want to run to start running. He slowly made his way to the other side of the crowd. Mercenaries tended to be more chaotic than ordinary guards, attacking a man that looked similar to him wouldn’t be an unexpected occurrence.

Vanemar quickly scuttled to his ship as it came into view. He breathed a sigh of relief, he had made it past everything the day had thrown at him untouched and alive. His ship was a small thing with a living arrangement built into the bottom cargo hold. It was a plain vessel held up by a white balloon which had not seen use in over a month. A testament to his poor financial decisions. He had thought that it would act as his mobile home but soon realized that he would have much rather have a larger immobile home in the Lowlands below the floating cities that he loathed. The site of the lowered ramp against the stone port walk made him nervous, had he left it down the day before? Or was it something worse? He investigated the questions thoroughly when stepped onto the creaky deck. The lack of anything out of norm made him even more uneasy. He pulled out his weapon as a cold sensation crawled upon his skin. His eyes slowly went to the engine room under the quarter deck. The doors were wide open and the hatch that led to the floor below was as well. For a second he questioned how anyone had managed to find his ship. It was obvious, they found his name on the docking register and tracked his ship from there. The ship's name “Gentle Finch” was clearly etched portside so that the guards could easily identify it if they needed to. All doubts left his mind as he quietly began his descent. Each step filled him with dread but fleeing was inconceivable. His entire wealth was within this ship and he did not intend to leave without it. He would make quick work of whoever had gotten into his ship. This was no longer a matter of his honor, this was personal. The steps obscured him from the lower level, a straight path down that made a right angle turn to the left and right before reaching the bottom. He chose the door that was already open and found a most terrible sight ahead. At the very front of his ship where he kept his wealth was a group of five men, the same mercenaries he had seen outside. The most intimidating one was dressed in full plate, casually holding a warhammer at his side while he ogled at Vanemar’s wealth. Vanemar trembled in both fear and anger. He gripped the hilt of his sword with great strength as his mind processed what his body would do next. No, he had no need for honor any longer.

Slowly dropping his pack on the ground, Vanemar reached for two things he would need. A buckler and a smoke bomb that he had kept away for over a year. The mercenaries joked to one another as he quietly snuck from behind. All of their backs were to him, all he had to do was get close enough that they would not be able to turn around to face him.

In a matter of seconds he had thrown the smoke ball at the group and charged them. Their heads were quicker to turn than their bodies, giving Vanemar a straight shot to the neck of the first man he saw. He swung, cutting his target open in a single smooth motion. Then he went on to the next one, the mercenary had raised his spear but could only give an uncoordinated thrust that was easily blocked by Vanemar’s buckler. Vanemar took advantage of his position and thrusted at the man, the blade went straight for the man’s face and sent him down as quickly as his other comrade. The space was now covered in a thick cloud of smoke that obscured everything beyond reachable distance. “Get out of the smoke!” Yelled a commanding voice from afar. Vanemar charged towards the voice and encountered another mercenary, more prepared than the others with spear and shield at the ready. The man’s eyes widened as they met Vanemar. His first thrust was blocked by the buckler and his next missed completely as Vanemar snuck into the smoke. Vanemar went around the man and lunged from the side. The mercenary gave an opening as he turned, his shield was facing away from Vanemar giving him a chance to strike. Spear met buckler once again but this time without a shield to protect from the sword which went straight for the man’s neck. The man tried to save himself, tripping over in an attempt to get away from the blade but Vanemar pounced on him like a wolf and went straight for the neck once more. His anger had turned into a rage that would continue until he was the last one on his ship. His head quickly swiveled around as he tried to locate the position of his next target. The room was now completely silent. Vanemar moved slowly to hide his steps and continued to do so until he exited the smoke.

"You finally came!" Said an excited voice to his left. Vanemar quickly turned to meet the two escapees of his bloody rampage. It was the man dressed in full plate who spoke, he managed to escape with another mercenary who watched him with a patient gaze. The man gave a quick bow and lifted the visor of his helmet when he realized Vanemar would not charge him so easily. He had a young blond face covered in scars and a cheeky smile that only added to his opponents anger. “I’m honored to finally meet you Dukeslayer. You seem to be just as skillful as the stories say, killing three of us is no small feat fellowman and you did it within only a few moments no less!” He gave a mock applause, “I must say, that is an exquisite bounty you managed to earn yourself. Just imagining that a single man’s head could support me for an entire life.” The man exhaled in delight. “If only you could partake in such a thing my friend!” He lifted his warhammer as his face turned into a frown. Vanemar lifted his own weapons in response. He had never faced a man in full plate before, things would go badly very quickly. “Could you do me a favor, Sir Dukeslayer? Could you let me be the one to ki-” A sudden pair of footsteps at the staircase caused the mercenary to groan in frustration.

“What are you still doing down here Hubah?” Ask one of the two mercenaries who had just appeared. They both immediately looked at Vanemar, their eyes widening surprise. “Is that him?”

“Can’t you see I’m busy!” Hubah shouted at them. All heads turned to him as he shook in anger. His head shot straight to Vanemar who was attempting to formulate a new plan. “Fight me Dukeslayer! Fight me and die like a man!” The last thing Vanemar wanted at that very moment was something unexpected, but his prayers remained unheard as Hubah began to charge straight towards him like a bull.

By the time Hubah had swung at him, Vanemar had already begun his retreat towards the stairs. The others soldiers cursed and began to pursue when they saw that he was managing to get away. Vanemar had taken this into account and went for the staircase door opposite to theirs, frantically trying to open it as Hubah screamed for his blood from behind. He scrambled up the steps just before the man could get close. His nerves were once again in overdrive, all of his anger washed away by the fear of an unstable man dressed for war. "Get back here you pathetic little coward!" The man yelled up to him as he began to drag behind.

As soon as he reached the top Vanemar nearly fell over at the sight of the deck. It seemed the whole mercenary company had brung itself up there to get him. Realizing that the man behind him was still meaning to fight, he jumped out of the way as the warhammer was swung in his direction. The man let out a scream after realizing he had missed.

“Need some help with him?” Asked one of the plate wearing mercenaries on the deck in a cheerful tone. An older man, with a full beard and a large scar that uglied his cheek.

The man who had just tried to bludgeon Vanemar spat towards the ground. “He’s mine.” he said, unable to contain his shouting

His senior shook his head. “You’ll let him get away with your false sense of chivalry. I’ll take him.”

“Shut up!” Hubah said, causing the senior to scowl. “I said he was mine, I’ll kill him. Kill him right now in fact.”

"No thanks." Vanemar said tensely as Hubah charged at him again. He looked over to the neighboring portside ship. It was a large merchant ship filled with many dock hands moving supplies into the cargo hold. There was only time to act now, he grabbed his grappling hook and with a strong running throw launched it from his ship to the other. He held the rope with a strong grip as he propelled himself over the ledge, flying through the air at a speed too fast to be safe.

"Where do you think you're going!" The mercenary yelled as he helplessly watched him leave.

Vanemar braced himself as he slammed into the other ship painfully. He was dizzy but without a break climbed faster than ever before. "Get that bastard!" The mercenary captain ordered as their target continued his ascent. He was nearly to the top before the sound of a ricocheting arrow head nearly put him to a full stop. He needed no further incentive to go even faster and grabbed the rope with all the life he had, not giving in to the day’s combined wear. An unending volley of arrows came at him until a jolt of pain shot up his leg. He squeezed his eyes to hold back tears and cursed as he forced what was left of his body to move. The arrow had cleanly lodged itself into his leg and it would be his entire body if he stopped. More arrows came towards him, another hitting him in the back before he could reach the top. He grunted as he pulled himself over the ship and onto his stomach. Trying to get back off the ground, two pairs of hands shot towards him and held him where he was. He squirmed with all of his strength but it was not enough, there was no fight left in him.

"The bastard is still alive!" Came an enthralled voice from one of the hands that held him down.

“And who is this peculiar fellow who fell into my ship?" Came a voice from directly above. Vanemar looked up, a brown man in a flamboyant blue suit looked at him in fascination.

"Keep him down!” Called the distant voice of a mercenary. “The man’s dangerous, we’ll be sending a team to get him in a moment.”

"I don’t think so! He fell on my ship, therefore he is under my jurisdiction!" The merchant said, crossing his arms.

"What do you intend on doing with him then?"

"Same as you gentlemen, I’m going to turn this man in and claim his bounty.”

"You do not realize how dangerous that man is! Give him back to us before you get yourself killed!"

The man looked towards Vanemar on the ground and harrumphed before looking out again. "He seems to be of no danger to me or anyone else at the moment. Actually, he seems quite unable to do any harm at all!"

"You'll regret this mistake!" The mercenary warned.

"Regret what? This man has presented an amazing opportunity to me by falling into my ship. I believe having him here will be a most pleasant experience."

“You damn Tavraneans always have to get into our damn business don’t you? If I had my wa-”

“I believe I have heard enough from you sir! Don’t even think of sending any ruffians into my ship either. I saw how one of your friends acted only a few moments ago, that gives me enough reason to point my arbalest at any of you who try to get within a meter of me!”

The mercenaries suddenly became very quiet and Vanemar shot a glare towards the man who turned towards him with a grin. "I am Sir Theson, merchant and owner of this beautiful ship. And you are?" Vanemar did not speak as he continued to stare at the man sourly. "Fine, it is not as if I need to know your name. You Honeans have always been so irredeemably contemptuous. Take him... Take him to the empty storage closet we have, and patch his wounds. Make sure he lives, that is quite important." He looked towards Vanemar blankly as the two guards began to haul him away.

Vanemar grunted in pain as he was thrown face first against the hardwood floor of a poorly lit room. It was almost empty except for the few boxes inside that hid in the corner and the glass, magic lamp that was slowly flickered above, nearly running out of fuel. One of the guards brought the lamp near as the other left the room. "That went quite deep." The man commented as he held the lamp over the leg wound. "Couldn’t stand up even if you tried." He began to take Vanemar’s belongings and placed it within one of these boxes. The other guard finally returned as he was stripped bare.

"Know how to treat these kinds of wounds?" The returning guard asked as he came closer. He had brought some medical supplies with him as well as a knife.

"Yeah, saw this kind of stuff often during the war." The other guard nodded intently as the man got to work. The one who would perform the treatment handed the lamp to the other man as he crouched down towards the wound, knife held steady in his hand. "Don't move, I don't want to get blood all over the place." Vanemar squeezed his eyes shut as a burning pain shot up his leg and as his consciousness finally began to fade.