With one last look at her tiara, Li’Kai tossed it into the water, watching the river sweep it farther and farther away. She undid her tight bun, and her long, long dark hair swept downwards as she stared at her reflection. She was no longer the younger Lady Pan. She was finally free.

Li’Kai could not afford to waste time. O’Brien would be here soon. He’d get her to the Capital before her father returned in a day. There was no way anyone would recognize her there.  

“There you are,” a voice chuckled from behind her.

“Greetings, sir,” Li’Kai turned around. The trader O’Brien stood a few paces away, his bulky figure towering over Li’Kai’s.

“You have the money, girl?”

Li’Kai winced at his tone before she remembered that she would be nobility no longer, and that this is how regular people spoke. “Yes,” she stated clearly. Her left hand reached towards the sword sheathed at her side. Ever since they had met in the marketplace, Li’Kai had gotten a feeling that O’Brien might not have bought all of the goods he had for sale.

“Now, now, there’s no need to draw your sword. You’ll get much practice with the apprenticeship you’ll surely get in the capital. Should we get going? One of our riders already has gotten your wyvern.”

“My endless gratitude,” Li’Kai dropped her hand from the sheathe and stuck it out, waiting for him to shake it.

She didn’t know what happened next.

One moment, she was shaking O’Brien’s hand. The next, his foul breath whispered against her cheek and the cold blade of the knife was against her neck.

“You seemed smarter than this,” O’Brien hissed. “Now, you are going to do exactly what I say, okay?”

He was fast. She was faster. Li’Kai lurched forward, her foot landing solidly on his. Even his boots couldn’t protect him from the heel of a woman who had worn high heels since the age of six. Her sword was soon pointed at his neck.

“Where is Amara?” Li’Kai hissed. Damn him, she should have trusted her instincts.

“Who?”

“My wyvern. Where is she?” Her breath grew ragged. Would she actually be willing to end his life if he refused?

“Our camp is a quarter mile to the north east,” O’Brien whimpered. “Please, spare me!”

Her father would say O’Brien was a typical commoner; valuing his life over loyalty.

“Pathetic. You expect me to forgive you? Only the gods know what you were going to do with me!”

If she let him go, he would do this again. Li’Kai knew she couldn’t be the only lady seeking an escape from an arranged marriage, and most women wouldn’t know how to use a sword if they were blessed by the great God of War himself.

She closed her eyes as she delivered the slice across his neck. She refused to look when she heard the thump of his body hitting the ground.

“First kill, huh? Not too shabby.”

Still wielding her sword, Li’Kai turned around. A man stepped out of the trees, followed by a leopard with far more intelligence glistening in its eyes than a normal animal would have.

“It’s okay,” the man said. Li’Kai guessed that he must been nearing the end of his late teens, only a couple of years older than herself. “My name’s Owen.”

“Stay back, fiend!” Li’Kai held her stance.

“I’m with the Guild,” the man said.

“Do you really think that a honneko would work with barbarians?” The cat yowled.

Li’Kai did the only thing one could do when a cat talked in Astoria. “Ah, my apologies.” She lowered her sword.

“Do you need any help? It’s not safe for a lady to walk outside of town at night,” Owen said.

“She can obviously take care of herself. She’s probably a freelancing sellsword, you know,” the leopard rolled its eyes.

“Sellsword. Yes, I freelance,” Li’Kai stammered. It was the lie she had practiced over and over in the mirror, but now that the time had come, she stumbled at the answer.

“And that was your first kill?” Owen looked at her strangely.

“No, he took me by surprise.” Li’Kai was surprised about how collected she was with that statement. It was the truth, after all.

“That makes sense,” the leopard said. “My name is Kessie, and this is Owen- wait,did he already introduce himself? I can’t remember, see, the moments kind of blur together. You’d be surprised how hard it is to remember everything when you’ve lived centuries. It’s…”

“Kessie,” Owen sighed.

“Oh, yeah, right,” the honneko sighed. Her figure glowed as she transformed into a humanoid silhouette. As the light faded, a young girl who barely looked ten stood before Li’Kai. Her black ringlets sprung everywhere, and dirt smudges were visible on her cocoa skin. “We work for Ruinfire, the twenty sixth best ranked legion of the Guild!”

“There are only thirty two official legions, am I wrong?” Li’Kai asked, curiosity infiltrating her voice. It might not be an apprenticeship, but working in a low ranking legion would be perfect. No attention would be drawn to her, and she could hone her skill with the sword.

“And everyone always brings that up,” Kessie rolled her eyes. “You wouldn’t be interested in joining, would you?”

“We can’t afford another member,” Owen said. “However, I’m glad you were able to save yourself. Barbarians are getting more and more daring, going after a sellsword…”

“Wait!” Li’Kai shouted as the two turned away. “I have a mission for you!” She grabbed the bag of coins from the ground.

“Money?” Kessie and Owen turned their heads at the sound of the coins.

“I need your help,” Li’Kai said. “That barbarian’s band of vagabonds has my wyvern. I can’t take all of them on alone. I’ll give you my help and all this gold.”

“MONEY!” Kessie jumped up and down, her tail waving wildly. “Oh, the sweet smell of money! I can finally buy some nice, smoked salmon!”

“It’s not an official mission from the Guild, but we do need the cash,” Owen sighed. “We’ll help you, uh, did we ever get your name?”

“Li’Kai.” She silently cursed herself for giving her real name away, but it was done. Besides, Li’Kai wasn’t that uncommon of a name.

“Nice to meet you, Li’Kai,” Owen said. “Hmm… Oh! I’m really li-king your name.”

“That’s a bad pun, even for you,” Kessie rolled her eyes.

“I’ll think of a better one later. I’m really sorry, I think I’m owen you an apology.”

“I swear, if you say that one more time…”

“Pardon me, but we don’t have much time,” Li’Kai interrupted. This was an interesting bunch- hopefully the rest of this Ruinfire was a bit more normal.

:”Ah, right,” Owen said. “Enough chatter. We’ll go back to camp and we’ll discuss what we do next.”

Li’Kai considered her options. Once she got Amara back, she’d take her wyvern and leave straight for the capital. With any luck, she’d be on her way to the Capital by evening.

And her past would slowly dissipate into a mere, half forgotten dream of a memory.