Miro sensed motion to his sides. He ducked as a slashing sword cut the air where his head had been, and turned to face his assailants.
There were two swordsmen, both wearing black uniforms with the same emblem on the breast — a triangle bound by a circle. One was stocky, while the other was as tall as Miro, with broad shoulders and long arms.
Miro stepped back to give himself space, cursing when he saw the alchemist had departed the area.
He watched his opponents' eyes and legs, gauging who would attack first. The stocky swordsman on the left shifted his feet, but Miro didn't accept the feint. The two men watched him warily, circling around him, a mark of experienced fighters.
Then the tall man came forward and thrust twice in quick succession, aiming to pin Miro against the wall. Realising the trap, Miro dropped to the ground and rolled, coming up between the two men. He faced the stocky man but reversed his thrust behind him, feeling the point of his sword strike home in the tall man's chest. The stocky fighter's sword was extended but he barged Miro with his shoulder, knocking Miro to the ground.
Miro's sword came up to block, and the clash of steel on steel reverberated through the alley. He heard shouts and cries; someone had heard the commotion. More soldiers would be on their way. He had to end it quickly.
Miro swung his sword three times in quick succession, attempting to wear his opponent down, but the man was strong, and held the blows back, his face grim. The stocky fighter raised his sword to strike, and Miro saw his opening. He ducked and thrust, the tip of his sword grazing his opponent's sternum and continuing upwards to open his throat.
The two men were dead, and the alchemist was no where to be seen.
Miro wiped the blood from his sword on one of the dead men's clothing, quickly sheathing the weapon.
Miro saw the horrified faces of watching townsfolk. More soldiers would soon be coming.
Miro raced back to the guesthouse where he'd left Amber; thankfully it was in Maelan's backstreets rather than near the crowded harbour. As he ran he removed his blood-splattered jerkin and threw it to the side of the street. Finally he turned a corner and saw the battered front door.
"Amber!" Miro called as he yanked open the door and raced up the stairs. "We need to go!"
Miro was certain the decrepit guesthouse where they'd found lodgings had been a halfway house before the recent flood of refugees gave it a more profitable purpose. Some of the long-term lodgers had a strange look about them, and Miro had felt uneasy leaving Amber on her own.
He came to the thin door to their room and tried the handle. It was locked.
"Amber, it's me," Miro said.
A key rattled in the lock and Amber pulled the door open, her expression fearful.
"What is it? I heard you calling."
"We need to go. I'll explain later."
"I just handed over two silver crowns!"
"It doesn't matter. Come on!"
It took little time to gather their few possessions and soon they were running through the streets of Maelan.
Miro cursed when he saw a group of soldiers in the black uniforms of the Alchemists' Guild. "Back the other way."
They tried another street, and then slipped between two buildings into an alley. Miro thought if he pointed them away from the river they'd find a road. Behind a farmhouse he saw pasture. "This way!"
It wasn't until they'd crossed the field and come across a narrow path that Miro slowed. As the day passed into darkness, they left Maelan behind.
"What happened?" Amber asked.
"I was asking for directions to Wengwai when I saw another alchemist. I followed him, but — scratch it — he must have realised and led me around by the nose. Two men attacked me in an alley." Miro turned grim. "I fought them and was forced to kill them."
"Are you hurt?"
"No, I'm fine. But the alchemist got away, and the struggle raised a cry. I have no doubt they'll be looking for us in Maelan right now."
"Miro, we've just arrived in this country, Gokan, or whatever it's called. I just spent some of our last coins on lodgings. You went to ask for directions, and next thing you know you got yourself into another fight!"
"I was trying to find answers!" Miro protested.
"You need to think more," Amber said. "It'll take both of us, working together, to get this antidote and return home. We need to use our heads, as well as our hearts." Miro heard the fear in her voice. "You'll get yourself killed, one of these days."
"I understand," Miro said. Looking back, he still didn't know what he could have done differently, but he understood Amber was afraid, not just for herself but for him.
They walked in silence and soon a crescent moon shone down from the night sky. The narrow trail turned onto a road, and with no better plan they wordlessly followed it away from Maelan.
The road descended into a low valley with copses of thick trees to either side. Amber stopped. "What's that?"
"What?"
"Do you see it?" Amber pointed. "Light, there in the trees."