As he ran through the street- lit up by the yellow light from the moon, flickering oil lanterns and glow berries on stalls - he pushed across the crowds of people trying to buy stuff. Apples leech carcasses and only god knows what else - hitting the cobble-stone street from frightened vendors and peoples cart.He looked behind to check and..yep they were chasing him.
"These god damn collectors just dont know when to give a break, do they?!"
Ulrian cried out , trying to catch his breath while sprinting full speed across the crowded streets looking for somewhere to lose them.
Where else,Where Else,Where else-his thoughts coming in lighting speed trying to figure out what to do.
Why the fuck did they have to find me on a goddamn discount night?!
He then hit himself shoulder-first into a vegetable cart, carrots tomatoes falling and getting squashed underfoot of people walking .the vendor cursing at him - being drowned by the yells from the collectors saying
"Give us back our money u thef!"
"If i had any why the fuck would i borrow any from you bums!?"
Ulrian yelled back at them, half defensive,half tired
It isnt even theft.he thought, They gave it to me when i asked them too...and told me to pay them back like-umm? Three–ish months ago?.Maybe?
He shook the though off his mind, not the best time for moral reflection.
Ulrian ran ,his lungs on fire,legs screaming in pain –He cast's a small explosion under his feet launching him a few feet further. A desperate attempt in trying to gain distance- his boots skidding on the cobble floor and he barely balances on the landing. He starts levitating items at himself from the stalls nearby , a crate ,apples,even a mop– and starts throwing them behind him hoping they'll hit the collectors
One apple hit a collector straight in the face.Ulrian chuckled a little at that–The collector didn't tho.
"Alright, you little shit!" Yelled one of them in visible rage.
"You left us waiting three months, you bastard! Interest's racked up, and so has our patience. The boss wants the money not your well-being."
Now they were shooting and throwing stuff towards him – the usual stone darts and basic fire charges , whatever elementary magic they had in hand they shot it at him.
Ulrian trying to dodge and push people away tripped on a crate and a stone shard grazed his right arm. And he hit his head on the ground.
"Use me…"
That voice again—velvet-smooth, curling around his thoughts like smoke.
"My sweet little flame… why do you keep running from me? You were made to burn with me. Let me in. And then u can make them vanish. Their screams, their faces, gone in an instant…"
"Shut up!". Ulrian said in anger.
" I dont need your help". Ulrian stood up again fast and started running again and full speed, or as fast as he could go. A saw a water pipe leading up to a house slightly leaking– He shot two blasts at it to make it erupt. He the ran through the water and as the collectors were coming too–immediatly froze the spilled water under their feet watching all of them fall face first .
He then immediately pulled out a small yellow crystal, an enhect– threw it far above the streets and shot it. Immediately the entire street was bursting with blinding lights people all around screaming and covering their eyes, the collectors screaming curses as their eyes burned red– trying to cover them.Ulrian used this short time to look for an escape and saw a narrow ally–the light stopped so he booked it for the ally.
Dead end.
"Shit".
He tried running back– the collectors already at the mouth of the ally.Their eyes blood red from the light, still furious, still coming.
And they were not in the mood to talk.
Ulrian started scanning the alley for an escape
No ladder, No door– The windows were too high up. The back wall was too tall to climb out.
Completely cornered.He thought to himself as the collectors were slowly closing the gap between them. Each had a small grin on their face and sweat dripping down their foreheads.
"Really, I almost feel ashamed just looking at you," one sneered.
"Ulrian, last blood of the caster lineage—one of the top families of this world—and you don't live up to a single line in the books. What a disappointment. Your family would weep."
They Clearly trying to mock him–but the words still stung ulrian.
But he wouldnt break right now.
He didn't have time for that.
Thats when he saw it:
A loose brick on the left wall.
His eyes lit up.
He saw his escape. He put his left fingers into the cut on his right arm , hissing through his teeth. He used the blood on his fingers to draw a sigil on the left wall, quick, sloppy and desperate
As soon as he wrote the last symbol.
Loose bricks starting flying from the wall– hitting one of the collectors straight in the face and making him unconscious the other two went to grab their friends–Ulrian ran straight at the flying bricks jumping on each of em till he reached the rook
"An old Smugglers trick!" He yelled from the roof top with a grin plastered on his face.
But he didn't stop their–He leapt from roof to roof like the thieves from old children's tales, until the shouts from the market were just echoes—and only then did he let himself breathe.
A few hours later, as early morning light crept over the city, Ulrian walked through the streets, blending into the shadows. His eyes landed on a train pulling out, bound for Greyforn. The ticket was cheap.
Maybe it's time to leave this shit hole behind, he thought, the weight of the night still lingering in his bones. Find somewhere new. Somewhere they won't recognize me just by looking.
He smirked, shrugging off the thoughts of his past.
"Yeah, fuck this place. Heard an important figure died there... could be interesting to look into."
With that, he walked toward the train, ready to leave behind the mess he'd made for himself and face whatever came next. But he couldn't shake the feeling that the collectors would find him again, no matter how far he ran.