A cold air gently slithered through the streets, the snow falling slowly over the mostly darkened buildings. The only light was that of the local guards who held torches as they made their rounds. Like a shadow came to life, the cloaked man darted across the white covered snow. The form moved with purpose as it made its way.

Place to place, he shifted his eyes jumping spot to spot trying to see if any other took notice of him. His hand sat always on the knife, his breath calm. No sound could escape less he found himself. Yet it was not the guard he played this dangerous game of cat and mouse with. Whether he was the first or the latter was unknown to him at the moment.

A bit of snow slipped from the roofs above, his eyes shot up. All that met him was the black sky. One moment and he was moving again. Each foot fall trying to hit upon the spots empty of the white powder. Pausing at the edge of a building, he watched as the orange light reached past the street edge. Then a white fluttering caught his eye.

Across the road, up high on the shingles, a ghostly figure stood with horns and a tail that ended in a horrid blade. It floated there, red dots glowing in it's eye sockets. The man's breath caught as it slowly began to smile an evil look. Slowly he turned, the darkness greeting him with a pair of grey eyes. As he went to pull the blade, a transparent, dark blue chain shot out. It rapped about his wrist. A soft gasp escaped his throat and he was yanked towards the form.

With his other hand he reached for the blade, but a pain shot through him a foot away from the living form. Looking down, he saw the shimmering blue form a spear. His eyes turned to the face of the attacker as the chains and spear dissipated. The man's hands formed a sword, already in mid swing, blood lust in those unnatural eyes. The man let out a grunt as he realized it didn't matter if he was mouse or cat when the other person was a hound. In the next second the winter air met his blood.

The guard turned onto the road and wore a tired, bored look on his face. Then, it turned to confusion as his light hit red stained snow. His skin turned to the shame tone as the freshly fallen powder as he turned to see down the alley. He let out a yell, "ALERT! THERE'S BEEN A MURDER!"

The tunnels under the city were older than the structures above. They snaked deep into the earth and fit the term "labyrinth" well. When I had asked about them, I was told they had first began as an old dwarven city. Why it was abandoned was rather unclear, though the monsters who lived in the deeper areas may have been a clear cause. As some point there was some attempt to turn them into a sewer system, but the half finished remains of the attempt remained. Now it remained nothing more than the dark underbelly of Shalecutte.

I had to admit a certain admiration for Lady Lura'mi's forethought. One of the many side chambers had been turned into a safe house. It had been the base of operations for the last half year or so and I couldn't imagine where we'd be without it. Still, we had barely been managing to stay afloat.

As I moved quickly through the damp, dark corridors, Veline guided me as she held onto my shoulders. Once at the entrance, hidden as just another part of the wall, I tapped out a rhythm on the stone. There was a soft sound of movement and it slowly slid open. Azuro looked at me with a frown as I entered and the door swung shut.

The, now former, guard shook his head and said, "Su'Galo got back before you."

I walked over to the dining table, where the pursed lipped elven woman sat staring, and dropped the messenger's bag on the table. Salvester stood at the small kitchen, cooking happily with Martin trying to keep up with the old man's instructions. Veline leaned fully on me as she floated barely, tail flicking back and forth, as she said, "When food? Hungry. Want food."

I shrugged off the pale deamuri, her token covered chains clattering as she continued to float in the air. Su'galo muttered, "You barely didn't get caught. Now the entire town is in an uproar."

I merely grunted and noted that Misana was there. She was likely already asleep, or at the least, pretending to be. Azuro sat down and began to sift through the bag and read through the many papers. Su'galo didn't stop giving me that librarian-like glare as she continued, "We may be forced to sit for a long time. There aren't many exits out of these ruins the guards don't know about. They'll be swarming like ants. Idiot."

I merely gave a dismissive sniff and looked to Azuro, who was reading through various papers. He said, "The guy was carrying a lot of nonsense. Will take a bit to see which ones are coded, which are decoys, ect. Hopefully it will tell us something. Betting they won't know about where that elven lady went, either."

Su'Galo grabbed some of the papers and said, "At least you brought back a lot for us to do while we wait for them to calm down."

The tan skin man looked up at me, set down the papers, and said, "Now, for the second step. Alexander, did you give any thought to which two you think would be better?"

Salvester interjected with the statement, "Food will be done here soon."

Frowning, I sighed. Step two was supposed to be an excursion to start spreading rumors to try and get Lady Lura'mi's attention. That wasn't something I thought I should do myself, but Su'Galo refused to leave the group to go do any such thing. So I was forced to choose between two different cities.

I muttered, "Get the map out."

Veline shot off the shelf, grabbed a rolled up paper, and slapped it in front of me. She was feeling an excitement that was barely being contained as she said, "Port. Ocean ocean ocean. I want to see the ocean!"

I rolled it out and stared at the map. I barely had learned to read the language, but memorizing the map enough to know which cities were which wasn't that hard when looking at it. The port city was past the mountains known as the Greyribs to the north. Falstshore was a common trade port for the kingdom, meaning any rumor that one could get going would go far.

The other city was Pactalgon, along the border of the Ordi'min Elven Confederation. The place was said to be full of all manner of mages and magical workshops. To get to it, I'd have to go through the massive forest known as the Shade Spires. The route used to be to go around, but that was no longer possible for most. My eyes landed on the road that passed through Garnalt. A sour taste filled my mouth as I remembered the red pillars.

Azuro was staring at me and looked down at the spot I was staring at, a frown forming on his face. Carefully, he reached over and patted me on the shoulder, saying, "Don't dwell on it. We'll have our revenge on that bastard eventually..."

I nodded and followed the path that went through the forest the other way. It snaked through the area between the forest and the mountains and passed Sintalia, the capital, and the lake nearby it. With a grunt, I said, "The port city will probably be the safest bet."

Veline suddenly hugged me from behind saying, "Yes. There. We go there. See the ocean. Please please please please."

Auzro sniffed dismissively at my pact partner and said, "Agreed. Do you plan to wait for the swarming to finish?"

Su'galo chimed in, saying, "Go tomorrow night. In case they find the entrance we are using. I'd rather not have to work on these papers AND find you a new escape. I'm not jeopardizing the one I use most."

I gave the thin woman a sneering look but nodded all the same. Martin began bringing over the plates of food asking, "Do...you have an idea for what the rumor should be?"

I glanced at the younger man, who smiled awkwardly. He had been trying his best to be positive still. I nodded at him and said, "Graffiti."

The three stared at me and I realized they didn't understand the word. I realized at that moment it was one of the few words I had ever used from my own world. I said, "it's when you scrawl something across the wall."

Su'Galo nodded and said, "Not a bad idea. You have a word for that though?"

She was looking at Azuro, who replied dryly, "No. That one from your old world is?"

Nodding, I rolled up the map and handed it to Veline, who spun away to put it away as Martin put food in front of me. As Salvester brought the rest of the meal, I said, "It's a common act in my homeworld's cities. Criminal groups, random artists, and such."

"Right. So, Falstshore then?" Su'Galo asked, leaning over the table and looking at the map. "Safer to not go through the forest."

I ran my finger along the road from where we were. It forked off between the mountains and the forest, but the one I'd be taking went around them. I could outright feel Veline's excitement at the prospect. She'd have to stay away from me most of the day during travel. If she didn't, it'd draw attention. Azuro then asked, "Slip out tomorrow night?"

I took a deep breath, nodded, and began to eat. My mind danced with all the ways it could go wrong, but we had to not delay more than needed. The more days we took doing nothing, the more days our enemies got further than us.

I woke to Veline's hand smacking me lightly on the head. I grunted and grabbed her wrist, opening my eyes slightly to see her sharp toothed grin. Slowly she stuck out her tongue and said, "Time to wake."

I sat up, gently letting go of her hand and flicking her in the forehead. It was something we both felt, but that didn't stop me at that point. Her only response was to stick out their tongue again and spin away slightly. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as I asked, "Did you spend the entire night staring at me again?"

Veline turned her eyes back to me and just winked as she went out the door. Even being deeply linked by the pact, there were aspects to her that I still didn't quite get. With a sigh, I pulled myself from the bed and began to get dressed. I wondered vaguely how she managed to keep track of time so well as exited my room.

I stopped as Misana stood there staring at me, a deep frown forming on my face. Her blonde hair was a mess. Without a word, she shook her head and grabbed my hands again. I asked, trying to not show her any discomfort, "What is it?"

We were alone in the hall but some of the others were no doubt still asleep. I had been waking up early to practice magic when Azuro or Su'Galo were not teaching me about fighting. She whispered, "D-do you r-really plan to l-leave tonight again?"

A soft woft of cooking food caught my attention. Salvester was probably in the main room trying to cook something of a breakfast out of what was there. He somehow managed to always be the first up. A small distraction from the situations that gave me a moment to recompose myself.

Looking back to Misana, she held that same look she held back the estate months ago. Yet even if I could tell the exact emotions to it, I knew why she wore it. That pleading sort of stare haunted me long after she was no longer in my sights. I said quietly, "I'll be back. You have everyone here to protect you, too. You know I must do this."

Her mouth fell to a frown as she muttered, "I wish y-you'd tell m-me wh-what's wrong."

I didn't speak another word and she slowly let my hands slip from her own. The half elven woman's face momentarily shifted to match my own emotions before being overwhelmed by her own. That was a stinging reminder that there was no hiding what I felt from her. My eyes slowly looked at the eyepatch and the scare against my will.

She looked down and away, gripping her hands together till her knuckles turned white. I could just make out the many scars around the areas that were not fully covered by her sleeves. She shook lightly as she said, "Y-you n-need to r-return to m-me."

A frown formed on my face. Misana trailed off as she looked up to me with wet eyes. I let out a soft breath as I stared into her sapphire eye. I felt the ripples of that old, unwanted memory nibble at the back of my mind. My own hand shook as I reached out. Carefully, I patted the shoulder of the half elven woman and said, "I'll keep my promise."

She shook her head and said, timid and shivering with my own emotions, "Th-that isn't i-it. Y-you need to...u-understand. I n-need you, y-yes...but...I'm here...for...y-you too."

I gently nodded, feeling unsure what to even say to the delicate woman. I gave her what smile I could bring and said, "I know."

Misana gave me a light smile, but her eyes didn't brighten. I didn't want to burden her with my own emotions more than required. I could never hate her, even if I admitted who she once was. Yet that pitty no doubt hurt her more than any hate could. I couldn't even hide it from her, given what she was. My jaw gripped tight as Misana leaned in suddenly, resting her head on my chest. She muttered, "W-when it's all over...w-will you..."

Again she trailed off. There were two things she wanted from me and she couldn't ask for either at that moment. My eyes drifted down to her neck and I couldn't help but remember that night. The feeling of the soft flesh held in my fingers and her pleading. The sight of her horrid decades of suffering marked upon her skin. I had felt more like a monster in that moment than I had ever when killing. Remembering that whimpered plea of "kill me," and that temptation to obey out of anger. I reminded myself of the lie that let me not feel that hate. *Misana is not that woman.*

Gently I patted her head, trying to feel something pleasant instead. She and Veline were the two people I had made promises to. I repeated why over and over in my head as I stood there. This moment was the sort of peaceful one I would create for them both.

I let it merely add itself to the fuel of my determination. After a few seconds she pulled away, wiped her eyes, and walked away without another word. I watched her go, making a silent reaffirmed promise. I turned away and walked down the hall to the washrooms. There was much to prepare for.