At first, it was just the black faces of passers-by and a few mutters. A handful of townsfolk gathered at the doorway and on the corner of the alley, talking and pointing in whispers. A fisherman spat on the ground, his face furious.

"Give way, citizen." Gonza yelled. The man stepped out of the way, looking extremely reluctant.

Zitria was surprised. She didn't expect the Demacians to show such direct hostility, despite all the things that had happened in the capital.

"Tighten the formation." Gonza said. The soldiers reacted immediately, securing the mage and the two demon seekers in the center of the column.

A stone hit the side of a soldier's helmet. Another stone, thrown from another angle, grazed Caston's forehead and saw blood.

Zitria cursed the narrowness of the street with her breath. There was little room to maneuver, and their downhill path had gone too far to turn back. They had to continue walking to the pier.

"Shield!" Gonza shouted, and the shield chief apparently came to the same conclusion. "Forward, march quickly!"

The soldiers immediately picked up their pace and rushed forward along the street.

"The emperor is on top, who dares to stand in the way! Get out of the way! Gonza yelled. Most of the townsfolk gave way and stumbled out of the way of the soldiers, but a little further ahead, what Zetria saw made her blood cold.

Two carts emerged from the alley ahead, blocking their way. Angry townsfolk huddled in front of them. Zitria glanced left and right, the white stone walls of the storefronts on both sides getting closer and closer, and they felt like they were in a canyon. She suddenly found that all the doors and windows were tightly closed.

"It's a trap!" She hissed.

"That's right." Gonza said. He cursed with his breath.

"Stop! Turn back! The shield commander shouted. The soldiers reacted immediately and turned on the spot. They all raised their shields, but none drew their weapons.

The two Demon Seekers stood close to either side of the envoy. The three of them were protected in the center of the shield array.

"Not good!" Zitria shouted. "It's blocked over here, too."

Now they were facing the way they came, and saw the townsfolk quickly push out another cart, blocking their way out.

"Hand him over to us, and no one will be hurt!" A stout man said standing on top of the cart. He looks like a local blacksmith, wearing a thick leather apron and holding a hammer in his hand.

"Get out of the way!" Gonza commanded.

The blacksmith, who could have been the spokesman for the mob, remained motionless.

"It's not that easy, boy." As he spoke, he slammed the hammer into the palm of his other hand, a wordless threat.

While some fled the tense standoff, more townspeople gathered at opposite ends of the street. Many of them had farming tools, logging axes, and other things that could be used as weapons, but a few carried swords sheathed at their waists. Although their equipment was nowhere near that of the group of soldiers in front of them, they were not intimidated.

"I repeat, give way." Gonza said.

In response, a stone struck Zetria's shield. The soldier next to her—Buck—tried to unsheath his sword, and the blade hissed as it licked its scabbard.

"Don't show your sword!" Zitria shouted, holding her hand against the hilt of her sword. "These are the Demacians, the ones we swore to protect."

Buck, who was older and more senior than Zitria, shoved her away with a roar, but their shield captain stopped him with a stern order.

"She's right," Gonza growled, "and you are not to draw your sword without my orders. ”

The crowd became more agitated, noisy and aggressive.

In the midst of the noise, Zitria heard the words of several people.

"You're going to pay the price, pig!" A woman shouted.

"Take him, take him!" An old man in his twilight years yelled, and he behaved a bit like a veteran.

"We should hand him over." Buck muttered.

Zitria glared at him. "Special Envoy Arzhen is the one we swear to protect!" She snapped, "What's your honor?" ”

"He's just a mage." Another soldier said, but Zitria didn't see who was speaking.

A clay pot was thrown at the soldiers' lines, struck a shield and shattered to pieces. A large block of stone bricks used to build the wall struck another soldier's shoulder armor, causing him to fall to his knees as a result of the direct drop from above. His comrades quickly helped him to his feet, and Zitria looked up to see the crowds on the rooftops around him.

She saw something thrown by a man with a hood on the roof. Zitria instinctively raised her shield to protect the envoy behind her. A rusty horsehoe struck the shield's curved surface, and fell to the ground with a thud, hurting no one. If it hits its target, it's enough to kill someone.

The mage nodded in acknowledgement. Now he couldn't smile.

"We will take you out unscathed, and swear by my honor." Zitria said.

The townsfolk surrounded them, still yelling, but no one seemed to want to get too close for now. Even so, Zitria knew it was only a matter of time before someone rammed into the line, and she was more afraid of what would happen after she started ramming the line.

"We have to get out of here!" She shouted as more stones, bricks, and debris began to pound on the soldiers' armor.

"If we charge, there will be casualties." Captain Gonza said.

"Maybe that's the only option we have." Caston said. Zitria had to admit this fact. Unless......

"The door!" She shouted as she pointed to the main entrance of a nearby locked store.

"It's worth a try," Gonza said. "Take me as the standard, semi-circle formation!"

The soldiers smoothly changed formations, forming a curved shield wall, with their backs to the storefront.

"Zitria! Buck! Gonza ordered, "Knock the door open!" ”

The two stepped out of the array, Demon Seeker and Arzhen still protected by the defensive line, and Buck impatiently pushed and grazed the envoy.

"Get out of the way, mage." He said angrily.

Zitria saw Arzhen take a deep breath and calmly did not react. She quickly walked to the door, bypassing the mage, and nodded to Buck.

"Count to three," he said, "one, two, three!" ”

They kicked on the two door panels with great force.

"Come again!"

They kicked three more times, putting all their weight on their feet, and finally with a crisp crack of wood, the doors slammed open inward.

"Let's go!" Gonza shouted. "Take the envoy and the demon seeker and find the exit! We're here to stop them! ”

Seeing that their target was about to escape, the mob immediately burst forward and rammed into the shield wall.

"Come with me!" Zitria ordered, and entered the dark shop, with a shield in front of her. "There must be a back door."

It seems that this shop makes candles. The shelves were lined with hundreds of candles, and many floral scents attacked Zitria's mouth and nose.

"Here!" Buck shouted and disappeared behind the shop.

"Keep up," Zitria said. Abermark's envoy and his two witchers, one on the left and one on the right, immediately followed, and she followed Buck's direction into the depths of the shop.

He found a door to the storage room, which was filled with barrels, sacks, and stacked crates. It was pitch black in the room, and Zitria could barely see Buck's figure a few feet in front of her.

"If only there was a candle, huh?" Arzhen said softly, and Zitria snorted and quickly covered her mouth with her hand. Now is not the time for jokes.

Then, with the sound of wood cracking, light suddenly entered the storage room, and it was Buck who kicked the back door open. There was no one in the alley outside the door.

Buck stepped out of the door, motioning for Zitria and the others to go first.

"Let's go!" He said, "I'm broken!" ”

Zitria nodded, opened her way, and walked out with Arzhen and the two Demon Seekers. She hadn't taken ten steps out the door when a man stepped out of the shadows beside her, blocking her path.

It was a woman with russet hair and a heavy crossbow in both hands. As Zitria slipped and stood still, raising a hand to warn those behind her, the woman raised her weapon in their direction.

Time seems to have slowed down.

The snowflakes began to fall again, and heavy snowflakes fell silently. The noise of the crowd and the shouts of her comrades faded into a faint voice, and everything was quiet in this back alley off the main road.