Outside, the hustle and bustle of the city continued, unabated.
Thomas walked along an alley, followed closely by a happy, playful Spring. It probably wasn’t his actual name, but he had been carrying a large spring onion in his mouth, so the name came quite naturally. He had wondered about that for a while, maybe he had picked it off a market stall or something. Regardless, it had started following him around, almost, well, dog like and he had to keep him outside wherever they stayed until Mari had finally let him keep it as a real pet.
That had been a good idea after all, he thought. Considering what had happened back at Zephyr, and now come to think of it, that’s when those two had started acting weirdly...
He shook his head. He didn't need to be thinking about that right now, in fact Mari would probably tell him off if he did, and he'd have to run quite a while before Garas stopped chasing him again. Besides, there were more important things to be thinking about, such as how nice and warm the sun was after being in that cold, stuffy room and how peaceful the hum of the city was far away from the main streets, and why there was a large number of armed guards running towards him.
He stopped and blinked a few time to make sure he was seeing what he had thought he had seen.
Yes, those were armed guards, and yes, they were running towards him, very, very fast.
He was just about to turn and run, an instinctive behaviour, and one which had carried him away from danger many times, though often into newer and often more awkward situations, when a figure robed in black streaked by him.
He stood there, frozen to the spot, not quite sure what to do next. He wasn't stupid, he knew that if he did run, he would find himself drawing the attention of at least some of the guards, and he didn't much fancy being caught and thrown into another dark and grimy cell and once you had seen one, you didn’t really need to see another.
As the cloud of dust approached, he had to will his legs to not move, fighting every instinct to flee.
The guards reached him, and then, ignoring him, ran around, leaving behind a cloud of dust.
Spring had turned round and started barking at the rapidly disappearing chase while Thomas coughed and tried to rub the dust out of his eyes.
Thomas walked along an alley, followed closely by a happy, playful Spring. It probably wasn’t his actual name, but he had been carrying a large spring onion in his mouth, so the name came quite naturally. He had wondered about that for a while, maybe he had picked it off a market stall or something. Regardless, it had started following him around, almost, well, dog like and he had to keep him outside wherever they stayed until Mari had finally let him keep it as a real pet.
That had been a good idea after all, he thought. Considering what had happened back at Zephyr, and now come to think of it, that’s when those two had started acting weirdly...
He shook his head. He didn't need to be thinking about that right now, in fact Mari would probably tell him off if he did, and he'd have to run quite a while before Garas stopped chasing him again. Besides, there were more important things to be thinking about, such as how nice and warm the sun was after being in that cold, stuffy room and how peaceful the hum of the city was far away from the main streets, and why there was a large number of armed guards running towards him.
He stopped and blinked a few time to make sure he was seeing what he had thought he had seen.
Yes, those were armed guards, and yes, they were running towards him, very, very fast.
He was just about to turn and run, an instinctive behaviour, and one which had carried him away from danger many times, though often into newer and often more awkward situations, when a figure robed in black streaked by him.
He stood there, frozen to the spot, not quite sure what to do next. He wasn't stupid, he knew that if he did run, he would find himself drawing the attention of at least some of the guards, and he didn't much fancy being caught and thrown into another dark and grimy cell and once you had seen one, you didn’t really need to see another.
As the cloud of dust approached, he had to will his legs to not move, fighting every instinct to flee.
The guards reached him, and then, ignoring him, ran around, leaving behind a cloud of dust.
Spring had turned round and started barking at the rapidly disappearing chase while Thomas coughed and tried to rub the dust out of his eyes.
