The fight roared out from the tavern, attracting the nearby patrol of the night officers. Oleander barely had a moment to collect herself as she stumbled out of the rear entrance, avoiding the barrels and boxes that littered the alley behind the building. She could already hear the two men yelling for her to stop. The same two who were at the table behind Darcy.

“Like hell I will…” She coughed, choking a bit on the freezing salty air of the nearby waterfront, “Gaoth.”

The moment that word left her lips a cyclone burst forth around her, made up of blades of air so sharp they cut the cobblestone road at her feet. It followed her as she moved, blasting away anything not nailed down near her. The only trouble with this spell is that it wouldn’t last long.

As the vortex pulsed around her, harmlessly whipping her cloak about in the center of its winds, she raised her arms towards the tavern while speaking another single word, “Bogadh.”

Like before the magic was instantaneous as soon as she finished speaking the word, faintly glittering wisps joining the cyclone and pushing it towards the tavern. The cost was that the blades of wind were no more, though the force of the wind was still there as it slammed the backdoor shut on her pursuers. It was a trade she was willing to give, the loss of any lethality suiting her just fine.

With the heavy footfalls of the night officers getting closer Oleander tightened the strap of her messenger bag, holding it tightly against her with one hand as she started sprinting once more. There weren’t many ways she could go down the branching alley from the tavern already, save the snaking narrow paths between the mix of old and new buildings. Claustrophobic as they were, they made for a good way to hide and escape.

Her only disadvantage was she didn’t know any of these alley’s all that well. Not that she even slowed for the thought, her legs carrying on with her flight away from danger down those very pathways before her.

The city sprawling out in a maze-like way didn’t help much either, and she only really knew her way around the market district in the north end. That area was connected with the main road that snaked through the city, and the city gates. It was also littered with many of the skyline landmarks for Colchester, making it much easier to navigate.

As she kept taking the narrow turns before her, watching her step over the garbage that littered the unkempt alley’s, her thoughts were stuck on her revealing her magic. Being known as a magic user, casual or otherwise, around humans always led to trouble. More so if they even got a hold of her. It was a thing they liked to moderate, to control, and limit. Like a commodity.

Obsessing about this right now won’t help me, that’s what she repeated in her head to quash them for the moment. She’d just deal with it if she had to face it.

Skidding out onto one of the wider roads, a few blocks away from the tavern, she looked up to the skyline to get her bearings. The buildings around her, being only a couple storey’s high at best, gave her a decent view of the dwarfing towers towards the city center. Those symbols of pride for this trap of a city, the lures of it.

“Who's there?!” A young man's voice rang out.

Startled by the sudden call, Oleander stumbled out of the light of the already dim and struggling streetlamp. She’d been so focused on finding her bearings in the skyline she already forgot about the rest of the night patrol. Now she was caught with two of them hurrying towards her, hands on their batons. Being shrouded in darkness now wasn’t doing her any favors either.

Playing up an act of some scared or innocent young woman was the first idea that popped into her mind. She could divert them towards the tavern by spinning a story that made the fight there the priority. There was also the lingering concern nagging at the back of her mind that these might be some of the officers that were already in Darcy’s pocket.

Just stay calm and make no sudden movements, that’s what she learned worked the best.

Turning to face them slowly, she took a tentative step back into the light as they got close, “Yes, gentlemen?”

“Oh, it’s just a woman.” The young man blurted out, looking to his more grizzled partner for direction.

“A young lady, out alone near the ports. Nothing but the scabs from the slums and sailors down this way, so…” The older man was quick to correct, his gaze practically burning through her, “Any reason for why you’re here, Miss?”

Oleander put on her best act for the men, averting eye contact to appear more sheepish, “Apparently getting very lost. I was looking for an inn but I’m assuming I missed the mark?”

“Very much, indeed. All the inns are located in the central and northern district, Miss.” The older officer still had his eyes fixed on her, the judgment behind them becoming more than clear.

“Should we escort her to the nearest one, sir?” The younger officer spoke up, causing the older one to stop looking at Oleander.

Already from this little exchange she couldn’t tell much from either of them. The younger one seemed to be a greenhorn in the care of his senior officer at a glance, but that was all surface level. She didn’t know if she could chalk up the older man either being wary from experience, or knowing her.

It was all making her nervous, and she was only barely hiding the fact as she gripped her bag tightly under the cover of her cloak.

“That won’t be necessary, officers.” Another man's voice rang out from behind her, butting into the conversation with a nonchalant tone, “She’s with me.”