Princess Skyla pulled the hood on her cloak up so that shadow would hide her face. Quickly, she cast another glance around the courtyard. She’d stolen one of the maid’s outfits so she would blend in. A plain faded blue dress and a brown traveling cloak. The only thing she’d allowed herself to keep was a small gem that she always wore around her neck. Otherwise, she was completely covered up. Though it was a shame she had to hide herself. Skyla was a beauty. Long white hair tumbled over her shoulders, and two white cat ears poked out from the top of her head. The heavy traveling cloak she wore forced her white tail into submission, so it was dragging along the dirt. Her eyes were a golden yellow and shone slightly in the moonlight.

Getting out of the castle was the easy part. All Princess Skyla had to do was get past the guards, who normally got drunk sometime after midnight and fell asleep. Skyla had always thought that this was a major safety hazard, but no one ever mentioned it. After tip-toeing past the guards, she’d slipped out one of the ground floor windows and into the blooming courtyard. Skyla always loved the courtyard. Though tonight she only allowed herself to linger for a short period of time. Flowers were everywhere. They spilled out of their pots and separate beds and into the cobblestone path that wound it’s way through the courtyard.

Skyla knelt down and stroked the petals of beautiful purple blossom. The petals seemed to glow in the moonlight, soaking up it’s pearly white beams as if it were sunlight. Skyla let out a soft sigh. “I’m sorry, but I can’t stay.”

Casting another glance around the courtyard, she ran towards the enormous stone wall that cut the castle off from the rest of the city. The wall was old and full of footholds. Years before, long before her birth, the king’s armies would hide in the courtyard of the castle then rush out to battle the attacking enemies. It wasn’t all that hard starting the climb. The footholds were easy to find, even in the darkness of the night. The hard part was continuing. As a princess, she didn’t experience much physical stress. She watched what she ate, but the most exercise she got was racing her older half-sister, Bella, down the golden spiral staircase. Her muscles ached and trembled, and her head became full of thoughts of falling. A fall from this height would surely cause her to hurt herself.

“Can’t back out. Don’t back out.” Skyla muttered to herself. Despite all her fears and physical pains, Skyla forced herself to keep going. Finally, when she thought for sure her body would give in and she would fall, she reached the top. Pulling herself on to the flat stone surface, she let out a sigh of relief. Her arms and legs were trembling and the cool night air stung her throat as she took in deep, gasping breaths. Sweat rolled down her face.

“The soldiers…make it look…so easy!” Skyla panted. Skyla allowed herself to rest. It was actually sort of pretty, being up on the wall. The city sprawled out around the castle in a circle. There were buildings everywhere. Far, far in the distance Skyla could even see a few of the farms that lay just outside of the city. The moon cast silvery moonlight on the city, a dim sun in the black sky. Stars shimmered like jewels against black velvet. When Skyla caught her breath, she started her descent. She’d thrown a rickety rope ladder over the side. Thankfully no one paid attention to those things. Plus the thing looked so old people would think it had been there for years. The ladder stopped short four feet above the ground, so Skyla let herself drop the rest of the way. Her feet hit the ground, but she lost her balance and fell back on to her bottom.

“Cat’s always land on their feet…yeah right.” Skyla grumbled as she got to her feet. Now, in addition to her arms and legs feeling like jelly, her tail was sore. Skyla flicked it to make sure it wasn’t seriously injured. It lashed weakly at the air, then fell again. The cloak made it difficult to maneuver, but it was still working. Skyla heard someone walking towards her. One of her ears twitched to take in the sound.

Skyla, careful to keep her hood up, ran off. She ran through the twisting and winding streets past grand buildings. The buildings grew from huge and spaced widely, to small and packed together. Skyla, however, didn’t care about this. She was tired and cold. As the sun began to rise, she curled up between two pathetic excuses for houses. The gap was barely five feet across and was blocked by a three foot high wooden crate. Skyla climbed over it, her body moving on its on now. The tiny alley went back for about seven feet before running into a stone wall. The last thing Skyla remembered was laying down in the very back, then realizing the alley was filled with mud.

Oh well. Beggars can’t be choosers. Almost instantly, she fell asleep.

xxxx

It was late in the afternoon when Skyla awoke. The night’s wave of cold air had passed. The sun beat down on the city without mercy. The heavy cloak only added to the heat. But Skyla was afraid to take it off. She certainly didn’t want to be recognized. Slowly, she moved out of the ally and into the busy street. Looking around, Skyla realized how far she was from the palace. She was in one of the poorest parts of the city, where the homes were packed together and disease spread fast.

Children in rags ran around, laughing. A grandmother cooked a meal just outside of her house, under a wooden overhang that provided some shade. Two men stood nearby, discussing how high the price of meat was. No one looked twice at her. Well…to be honest, she blended nicely. All the people that lived in these parts of the city were anthro. People with the ears and tail of an animal. Skyla reached up and touched her own cat ears. She’d cut holes in the hood of the cloak for her ears to fit through. Anthro were considered ‘low class.’ Angels, people with wings, were high above them. Skyla decided to risk showing her face. She pulled down the hood and started walking. No one stared. Everyone went about their usual business. Skyla couldn’t help but beam. She was blending in! Ha! Her! Princess Skyla!

Skyla spent most of her time walking through the poorer parts, observing the people. There were people from other countries living here, too. Wizards with pointed ears, fairies with large translucent wings, grey-skinned elves, pale vampires that winced as they worked, as if they were in pain. There were some people that were nothing like Skyla had ever seen before. She spotted two girls with brown skin and brightly feathered wings talking quickly to one another in a foreign tongue. There was an old man sitting on a rug just outside his home with entirely black eyes. As she passed, a forked black tongue shot out of his mouth and then back in. After that she quickened her pace.

“Wow…” Skyla whispered. Everyone seemed…happy. Skyla had always heard about how everyone here was always miserable. And yet there were tons of people out in the burning sun, talking and laughing and playing. There were people working, however. Skyla spotted two women weaving colorful rugs while a young girl mashed clay with her hands. A young vampire girl, wincing in the bright sunlight, was trying to herd three pigs down the narrow dirt road.

“Hey! Hey girly!”

Skyla didn’t look back. There were so many people there, the voice could be talking to anyone.

Someone grabbed her arm and spun her around. Skyla stared, wide-eyed and shocked. There were five men, all smirking. All of them were anthro. The one holding her arm laughed when he saw her shocked face. “Your new around these parts, aren’t you?”

Skyla, regaining her senses, jerked her arm out of his grasp. “Don’t touch me!”

The men laughed. The one who’d had her arm stepped closer. “Aw, come on, girly! Why don’t we show you around?” He grabbed her arm again and jerked her close. Suddenly the other men swarmed. One of them ripped off her cloak and began shaking it. Skyla heard the tinkle sound of her coins hitting the ground. The other men made noises of satisfaction as they picked the gold coins up off the ground.

“Hey! Those are mine!” Skyla yelled.

“Come on, girly.” the anthro said, pulling her closer still. “Why don’t we go back to my place and-”

“Don’t you creeps have anything better to do than harass a lady?”

The men turned and smirked again. A young wizard, maybe around Skyla’s age, stood nearby. His arms were crossed. From the clothing he was obviously poor. Then again, the only rich wizards were nobles from Witchery. At least, here that was. His hair was short and orange, his eyes the color of emeralds. His pointed ears had quite a few piercing in them, which was extremely common with young Witchan men.

“Get out of here, Witchan.” the one holding her arm laughed. “Before you get hurt.”

The wizard narrowed his eyes, his eyes filling with such ferocity Skyla wanted to run as far away from him as possible. He raised one hand in the air. With an earsplitting CRACK, a staff appeared in his hand. It was made of twisting white wood that had been smoothed to some degree. He pointed it at the anthro holding Skyla. “I suggest you let her go before you get hurt. Also, I’ll have you know I’m in a bad mood today. So don’t try me.”

Some of the people were looking. Most were shaking their heads and mumbling. No one else tried to help. Suddenly, the wind picked up, blowing Skyla’s hair in her face. Electricity hissed and cracked around the staff. Almost instantly, the anthro let go of her arm and pushed her forward.

“Give her back her money.” the Witchan commanded. Skyla winced at the sound of the order. He could be an army general!

The anthro looked at his buddies, who quickly threw the money they had in their hands down on to the ground. Skyla reached down and scooped up the coins.

“Is that all you had?” the Witchan asked, his voice growing softer. The wind slowly started to die down, but he kept his staff pointed at the anthro.

Skyla jumped at the question. She quickly counted and recounted the money. She nodded towards the Witchan, who glared at the anthro men.

“Is it fake?” he demanded.

“No! We swear!” one of the anthro cried. “Test it yourself!”

The Witchan lowered his staff, which no longer had electricity sparking around it. “No need. I believe you. Just…just get out of here. Go on, get!”

Skyla watched the men run off, clearly extremely frightened by this Witchan. Others were staring at him warily, as if he was a dangerous big cat getting ready to spring. She looked over at the Witchan, who had a strange look in his eyes. Something mixed with exhaustion and fatigue. The Witchan sighed. Then the staff disappeared with another CRACK. Skyla was frozen in place, stunned. She’d never seen someone use magic before. For a few moments she just stared at him, too shocked to speak. When Skyla found her voice once more, she opened her mouth to thank him. But he spoke first.

“What’s a beauty like you doing out here all alone?” he asked.

Oh great. Another rapist. Skyla was still grateful, though. She sighed. “It’s a long story…thank you for saving me.”

“It‘s a pleasure to help such a love la-”

That’s when he fell to his knees. Skyla let out a small scream. The Witchan tried to get back on to his feet, but he only fell back down again. This time, he didn’t get up. He didn’t even move. No one even rushed to help him. Everyone continued their work. Someone muttered something about the heat and some illness that was going around. Skyla rushed to his side and started shaking him. But whoever he was, he was out cold. Skyla yelled for him to awaken, but it was all in vain. Skyla looked around, desperate for help. But no one came to their aid. Skyla glared at a Witchan mother, who was holding a crying child.

“Aren’t you going to help one of your own?!” Skyla demanded. She gestured to the man.

“Miss, I have five children to feed and no husband. My concerns do not lie with a stranger.” the Witchan woman replied in a thickly accented voice.

So that was it then. Skyla had been out here for less than an hour and had been robbed. Then she’d been saved by some mysterious Witchan, who’d collapsed right after. She was starving and thirsty, as well as probably covered in mud. Great. Just great.

Could things get any worse?

xxxx

Skyla had somehow, by a miracle of the gods, managed to drag the Witchan into a part of the city so deep in poverty that most people didn’t have houses, just shacks made out of wood or tents. Some didn’t even have that. Vegetation was allowed to grow wild here, so it wasn’t hard for Skyla to find a nice shady spot. A cluster of trees and high grasses grew around a small pond. After laying the Witchan in the shade, Skyla sat down at his side. Skyla had put her cloak under his head so he could use it as a pillow. She’d also stripped off the faded blue cloak he wore so that he wouldn’t be as hot. Skyla tried many times to wake him. Splashing water on his face, shaking him lightly, anything she could think of.

Night settled around them. As the air grew colder again, Skyla struggled with a campfire. Finally, some merciful Witchan girl let the fire with magic before running off to go help her family settle in for the night. Skyla was amazed how awful the poverty was out here. Most of the people out here, however, were foreigners. People from Witchery and other far off lands. Skyla knew Witchans were oppressed due to the war between her country and their own…but still…

Skyla’s thoughts were interrupted by movement. She looked at the Witchan and saw that he was moving! She crawled closer to get a better look. He was waking up! Slowly, he opened his eyes. For a moment he stared at the sky, dazed. Then he sat up, looking around franticly. When he saw Skyla, he relaxed slightly. The Witchan rubbed his forehead and moaned.

“Ugh…what happened?” he asked slowly.

Skyla suddenly noticed the accent in his voice. It wasn’t heavy, but it was present. “You collapsed after you saved me.”

“Oh…” he said. He patted his pockets and nodded slightly. Had he thought she would rob him after he saved her from being robbed herself? He looked at her and grinned. “Heh. Lucky me. I got saved by such a pretty girl…thank you for helping me.”

Skyla frowned a bit. “What the heck were you thinking?! You scared me to death! I thought you were dying on me or something! I mean…really!” She sighed, the anger slowly fading away. “So…what do they call you?”

The Witchan smirked slightly, as if he hadn’t heard her yelling at him. “Shahar. And you are?”

“Um…Skyla.” Skyla replied. She winced slightly, wishing she’d had more time to think up a fake name. But Shahar only nodded. Skyla looked him over. “Why did you collapse? Are you sick?”

Shahar shook his head. Suddenly his eyes fell on the pond. He crawled closer and dipped his hands into the water. He slurped the water up before it could drain out of his hands, then wiped his mouth on his arm. Skyla must have been looking at him with disgust, because he grinned sheepishly.

“Sorry…no, I’m not sick. I was just tired…and hungry. And thirsty.” Shahar replied. “That last bit of magic I did was my breaking point. It was small magic, but it took the last of my energy…”

“Magic takes energy?” Skyla asked.

Shahar stared at her as if she’d just asked what color the sky was. “Um…yeah. See…I was always taught magic as three categories. You’ve got small magic, which is just little stuff. Magic you use around the house or to look intimidating, like I did. Big magic is duel magic, mostly. It takes a good chunk of energy from you. And dark magic…which depletes almost all of your energy instantly. Sometimes it even kills the user.”

Skyla shuddered at his words. She’d heard about dark magic. It was powerful stuff. And dangerous at that. Skyla had heard about a Witchan who’d come into their country who could use dark magic. He decapitated some poor child, then fled back to his country before he could be arrested. “Oh…”

“So, do you live out here?” Shahar asked, gesturing around them.

“No! I mean…um…no. I was just sort of passing through.” Skyla said, blushing a bit. “What about you?”

“I was on my way to the market when I met you.” Shahar answered. He suddenly tore his gaze away from her and directed it at the ground.

Skyla stared at him curiously. “Why were you going to the market?”

“Medicine.” Shahar answered. He still didn’t look up. “For my brother.”

Oh.

Skyla bit her lower lip. That was all she could think. His brother was sick, or had some sort of condition that required medicine. If she was right about Shahar’s place in society, he probably wouldn’t be able to buy medicine for his brother. “What’s…what’s wrong with him?”

“He’s sick. Really sick.” Shahar replied. “It’s probably too late anyways…I lost so much time when I got locked up…”

Skyla gulped. “Locked up?”

Shahar looked at her and nodded. “I got arrested.”

Oh great. A jailbird!

“What…what did you do?” Skyla asked. She shifted away from him slightly. She had been taught that all criminals, no matter how small the crime, were dangerous.

Shahar leaned away from her uneasily. “Are you a puzar?”

“A puzar?” Skyla repeated. She had a feeling it was a Witchan word, just because of how he said it. Whatever language it was, she butchered it. She'd tried to say it with the accent he used, but failed miserably at it.

“A snitch.” Shahar translated. He smiled again. “I don’t think you look like one. Too hot.”

Skyla frowned at the last comment, but she shook her head. “I’m not a snitch…what did you do? Steal food or something?”

Shahar hesitated, then nodded slowly. “I tried to steal medicine for him. I’m usually pretty fast…but the guards were slightly faster. And so I got locked up. They even sent me to a prison in an entirely different city...no matter what I told them, they wouldn't let me go.”

Skyla wasn’t sure if she could believe him or not. He could be a dangerous man, instead of this scared person with a sick brother. “How…how did you get out?”

“Sheer luck. About a week after being locked up, some prisoners broke out. Witchans. They let all of the other Witchans out…and I ran. I left the city and headed here, since I knew they'd recognize me and recapture me if I stayed where I was. I didn‘t rest most nights and I didn’t eat, either. Just drank. I was afraid of losing anymore time.” Shahar explained. “But I ran into a huge storm…it raged for days and I lost a lot of time.”

“Oh…” was all Skyla could manage.

“And as much as I enjoy talking to a beautiful lady such as yourself, I have to get going.” Shahar said, getting to his feet. However, he was still far too weak. He fell back down on to the ground.

“You aren’t going anywhere in the shape your in!” Skyla said, shaking her head. “Besides…everyone in the market has shut down for the night. You can wait until morning, at least.”

Shahar sighed. “I suppose. But at least I have you to keep me company, eh?”

“Has anyone ever told you that you can be a pig?” Skyla asked, sighing a bit. However she did allow a small, exhausted smile to play on to her features.

“Oh, frequently.” Shahar replied.