Atzi returned to the inn and waved to Marco before heading upstairs. At the very top of the stairs, she heard the entrance open. Peering down, she saw Paulina stomp in. I'm too tired to deal with this jerk.

  Atzi quickly slipped off to her room, hoping Marco would keep quiet about her.

  ===

  When she woke up in the evening, Atzi decided it was time to find those magical gems before the chicken got to them.

  Atzi got up and got dressed before heading out from the inn. She was closest to the southern gate, so she went out that way. Going through the northern gate would require her to get into the college first, anyway. She circled around the outside of the walled city, trapezing along the makeshift muddy road that wound its way through the swamp.

  There has got to be a better way to reach this bird, Atzi grumbled to herself as her clawed feet slushed through the mud.

  Finally, after hours of walking, she reached the final bend before the northern gate, hearing the galloping of hooves in the distance.

  She rounded the corner and saw the gate. It was closed and locked, with two guards on either side of it moving to unlock it in a hurry. A horse-drawn cart charged towards the gate from further north. Atzi recognized the driver, Octavia, wearing thick grey robes and a leather wizard hat. The aspirant was flanked on either side of the driver's seat by her two companions. Phyllis the apprentice, her appearance as regal and beautiful as the last time Atzi saw her, and Weston the Mage, looking like he might kill someone. Two guards, armed and armored with steel, peered out either side of the back.

  Octavia screamed. "Catch it! Catch the chicken!"

  The guards at the gate pushed open the gate with all their might.

  It was barely fast enough for the cart to make it through.

  Atzi looked around, but didn't see a chicken.

  Which meant she was too late. It already ate the gems! Damnit. Even if she could get some out of it still, she wanted enough to get magic of her own. Besides, in the college she wouldn't be able to move around unless she had a pass.

  Atzi grumbled as she headed back to the southern gate. "Stupid chicken, stupid gems."

  It was already late by the time she got back, so she just went to meet up with V. Again, the guards took her dagger and let her in. She took a seat across from Aelia in V's living room, wondering if she should say anything. Hey, I'm the prophet of your goddess? The priestess only glanced at her once before pointedly ignoring her, stretching out the silence between them.

  Atzi waited a few minutes for V to arrive.

  "Were you successful?" they asked. They peered down at Atzi, a threat implicit in their gaze.

  The silent threat made Atzi think about the thugs who had killed Hemm last time. "Two houses I found something written down. Third had nothing, though, and I checked pretty thoroughly..." She shared the codewords she had found in the prior loops. Remembering was pretty easy for her.

  "Yes," said Aelia, and reported on her own keywords.

  V wrote them all down on a sheet of paper. Then they wrote them again, on a second one. "Good, that means we should have all the necessary keywords. Memorize the new ones as well." V handed them each one of the sheets of papers with eight keywords on it. Each keyword was paired with a different word or phrase, their meanings, for the guards to communicate with. She wondered why they went through so much trouble. They should make it easier to steal from them!

  After she was done looking at the list, she passed it back. V arched an eyebrow, but otherwise said nothing as they took it back. Aelia passed her own back a moment later.

  Atzi asked, "Um... when do you need me back for the final preparations?"

  "Tomorrow at the tail end of evening, just before night. We'll put everything together, and then head out," V said.

  "Cool." Then she remembered she was supposed to act nervous. She laughed awkwardly. "I mean, um... yes, I understand."

  Aelia glanced at her, before turning her attention back to V. "Do you have means by which we will be able to spend this gold without being caught?"

  "If you require gold laundering, I will provide the service at a discount. Otherwise, you could always leave the city and no one would know where it came from, anyway."

  "Well, I'll be back here tomorrow then," Atzi bowed awkwardly - on purpose - and slinked out.

  "Good," V said, not stopping her from leaving.

  -

  Atzi was again left without much to do, so she decided to just go back to sleep. Come afternoon, she wandered around idly, eating stall food and listening in on conversations.

  "Did you see the Dragon arrive this morning?"

  "Yeah, it was… scary."

  "I'll say. Glad she's on our side."

  So the Dragon arrives in the morning.

  "Oh! Also I overheard some people talking. Apparently there's a bunch of snakes going crazy in Artaxta. Bit a bunch of people."

  "Ominous times."

  Strange. The Serpent should have a lid on that. Maybe she'd know why? I could ask her when I hang out again.

  After filling her time with more trivialities, she headed back to the inn. I bet Hemm could make me a better meal.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  The inn was packed with people. Tons of people.

  The same people.

  The last time this happened-

  Shit. Shit.

  Some rough faces looked up at her. One with a scar under his eye.

  No, I'm not letting this happen again. …But this means it wasn't V. It wasn't my fault. If I'd known I could have set something up to save the inn, maybe. I don't have time to go running around looking for help right now, though.

  "Hemm. Hemm." Atzi rushed past the thugs staring at her, towards Hemm at the counter.

  "Hey Atzi. No time to talk." She set down two drinks in front of someone who would soon try to kill her. "I've never seen it this busy!"

  "Hemm, this is important." Atzi didn't wait for her to say anything. She grabbed her by the hand and dragged her off to the kitchen.

  Hemm was briefly stunned. Then she said firmly, "Atzi I don't have time. What's so important?"

  I need to bullshit this. "I overheard these guys before, don't you recognize them? They were the ones causing trouble outside here before! They're not... they're going to do something really bad, we need to get out of here."

  Hemm's one big eye widened. "Oh no. That's… Oh no! What do I do?"

  "There's no guards around, they're useless. Just grab Marco and get out of here, I'll... I have a connection that can maybe help."

  "Okay!" Hemm came out of the back, shouting across the inn floor. "Marco! Come here! Spill!"

  Marco rushed over.

  Atzi quickly explained the situation again. Marco began shaking. "O-okay," he said.

  Hemm said, "Okay. Let's head out the side, through the kitchen exit."

  Atzi nodded.

  Hemm rushed over to the door. She quickly pulled out a key from her apron and unlocked the door with a click. Then she pushed.

  It didn't budge.

  "It's stuck!"

  "Shit."

  "Did they... bar the other side?" Hemm asked.

  "What's taking so long!" one of the thugs called from the front.

  Atzi shouted. "Front door! Just run for it!"

  They ran into the serving area. Immediately, thugs all through the room stood and moved to block their escape. Atzi was the fastest, weaving around multiple grasping hands. She reached the front door-

  Hemm screamed.

  Atzi looked back in time to see her grabbed by a large man. He lifted her up with a roar and slammed her down onto a table. A loud snapping noise rattled through the building as the table broke into pieces.

  Fuck. No, no, not letting this happen!

  "Hemm!" Marco shouted, having made it just behind Atzi.

  Atzi unsheathed her dagger. Her only thought was saving Hemm. She rushed back into the crowd. Again the thugs tried to stop her, trying to push aside tables and each other for the chance to swing at her.

  Atzi flowed through the blows, ducking and juking as she needed.

  The blade of her dagger slipped into the back of the thug who held down a still-struggling Hemm.

  He cried out in pain and stumbled forward, causing the blade to slip further down his back. He hit the ground with a thud. Blood poured out, pooling around Hemm. She screamed, scrambling up.

  "... Oh fuck..." Atzi whispered.

  The man on the floor didn't move. His blood spread further.

  Everyone paused as they stared at the corpse.

  Atzi took a shaky look around. T-this is my chance to save Hemm. "Th-that's what you get! I'm... I've seen your faces. I c-come back and the place isn't still standing, I'll make sure you're all hunted down!"

  For a moment, no one said anything.

  Then one of the thugs grabbed a bottle. "Oh no you don't!" he roared. He smashed it against the table, and held up the makeshift weapon.

  A few more stepped forward from the sides.

  Hemm ran.

  The man with the bottle rushed forward. Atzi stood with her weapon held out, even though she knew she couldn't win the fight. She just wanted to hold out long enough for Hemm to run. She ducked under the blow and then swiped out with her now bloodied dagger. The tip of the dagger made a small cut on his stomach.

  He drew up his hand to the area, grimacing as he tried to stop the bleeding. "Bitch!"

  Then more thugs were pressing in from around her, fists already in motion. Atzi stepped around two of the clumsy blows. The third caught her in the scales of her back, but the blow did nothing against her natural sturdiness.

  "Atzi," Hemm called, clearly out of breath. "Marco!"

  Atzi looked over. Hemm was nearly out, but had stopped at the doorway. Another one of the thugs had grabbed Marco, bringing him back near the center of the crowd. Others grabbed bits of wood from the broken table.

  ... Shit. I don't want to die here. I have somewhere I need to be, too! Argh. Atzi tried to think of a plan. Maybe the book! She shouted "Let him go and fuck off forever and you get one hundred gold! Split between you!"

  "Yeah right, bitch!" the man with a bottle grunted.

  "You've seen the posters for that spellbook? I know where it is!"

  "And my dick knows where your mom is!"

  Rude. Atzi gave up on trying to reason with them. She rushed towards Marco. "Hemm! I'll get him to safety! Run to the temples!" She sprinted under a table along the way, a heavy thud above her.

  Atzi rose up and swept her dagger at the arm of the man holding Marco. He let go as he cradled his wrist in pain.

  "Run for it already!" Atzi yelled at Marco as she turned towards the stairs, closer than the exit.

  Atzi waved her dagger wildly in front of her as she ran. Some of the thugs blocking their way stepped back. She shouldered past another, only to be shoved to the side into a waiting fist. The blow disoriented her, but she continued to run. She heard Marco cry out. Something heavy raked across her back, her scales chipping away as she felt the slickness of her own blood.

  But she made it through, forcing them to follow.

  At the base of the stairs, she got a look at Marco. His nose was broken, already discoloring. She ran up the steps beside him, the thugs muscling behind them to follow.

  "You ever jumped out a window before?" Atzi asked as they tried to make it up the stairs.

  "Wha?" Marco asked, voice congested.

  "Just roll when you land! Don't fuck up your ankles!"

  Atzi rushed into her room. As soon as Marco was in, she locked the door, then lifted up a loose floorboard and slipped her clawed hand inside, pulling out a sack with the spellbook in it.

  Then she opened her window and leapt.

  Jumping out of windows was something she was already used to. She rolled as she landed, hissing in pain as bits of debris dug their way into her injuries.

  When she stood back up, she saw Marco still at the open window, hesitating.

  "Break it down!" came a voice. The door thudded.

  "Jump!" Atzi called up. "I'll try and catch you, just jump!"

  Marco looked behind him, then back down at Atzi. He took a breath…

  The noise of a door splintering sounded out.

  …and jumped.

  Atzi held out her arms. He dropped into them. Marco was really light, despite how tall he was. He took shaky, rapid breaths in Atzi's hold.

  "We gotta find Hemm and run, alright?" Atzi set him down.

  "O-okay." His legs shook like crazy, but he stood.

  "I ain't jumping out a window!" came another call.

  "Go back down! Get them!" someone shouted back.

  Atzi ran around the building and up the street, hoping to lose the thugs in the crowd.

  Hoping to find Hemm. That she was alright.