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After all, fortune tellers back home tended to find fortunes in the pockets of the gullible.
How strange it was for both Aksumi Mystics and Ayuri Paladins—not to mention a Cathayi half-elf—to be in the same, otherwise ethnically homogenous city. This was either a strange coincidence, or the start of a bad joke with an equally awful punchline.
“Aren’t you worried about tensions between the Mafia and the Signores affecting business?” While Sameer’s glare bore into her, the women laughed. The redhead winked. “Nothing loosens a man’s belt faster tonight than fear of death tomorrow.”
They didn’t even have the surly half-elf; not like she could do much more than pick their pockets.
Brehane’s stomach heaved, and it took all her willpower to swallow the rising bile. She’d been totally useless in this fight. Couldn’t even remember the words to an easy spell that could’ve protected Teacher Dawit. Performing rote patterns in combat drills or warding off Makeda’s dirty tricks didn’t begin to compare to using magic when there was a real threat of harm.
Heavens, what kind of idiot used fire as a weapon in an enclosed space full of wood, with only two exits?
Cassius shuddered. The idea of dying, unable to draw a breath…he added smoke inhalation to drowning and hanging on his list of ways not to die.
Which also meant… Brehane gasped. Cassius saw her as a conquest.
You don't say?
At the top of the hill, she paused and caught her breath. Whoever had decided to make a road over a hill instead of around it needed to experience Black Lotus torture.
Up ahead, a single figure strode through the otherwise empty street, sun at his back. The scene was reminiscent of the popular novels which depicted showdowns between a single hero and single villain.
It all overwhelmed Jie’s senses, burying Brehane’s smell. She turned back to Cassius. “I’ve lost her scent.” He stared at her, wide-eyed. “Have you been following her smell? What are you, a bloodhound?”
