As we ran through the sewers, which were thankfully dry at this time of the year, Gael turned to me. “Do you even know where are we going?”

I should have said the truth, but I didn’t want to admit that I’m completely clueless.

「 Jacques just let the other man lead them for the time being. They couldn’t teleport straight out of there together - at least not unless Jacques wanted to use Reyc’s blood to cast the spells. But the human seemed knowledgeable enough. For now.

Jacques really was getting too soft around him…

“You should have let me kill them.”

“You can’t solve all your problems with violence.”

“Is it even worth calling a ‘problem’ if I can solve it with a single spell?”

Reyc didn’t say anything, only studied walls as if they held the secrets of how to get out of this maze.  」

The book didn’t spend much time on the descriptions of sewers. If it did, I honestly don’t know if I would be able to read it entirely. But trying to think about it logically, I knew that the direction Gael picked at first led towards the north-

Wait. Why I even knew it?

I shouldn’t know which wall of Reyc’s house faced which direction - it wasn’t my home! But I knew it now, inherently, and I could now more or less point us in the right direction. Maybe it was part of Reyc’s magical powers? I wasn’t sure how would that work, but for now, it was the best explanation.

We slowed in the middle of the intersection of a few corridors.

“Reyc?”

“I’m thinking-”

“If they’re chasing us…”

I looked behind us, but the corridor was empty and quiet. “They aren’t. At least not for now.”

Worst case scenario I guess I could go all out and use some of those very destructive spells. It was already too late to keep the low profile.

“I have a cart,” Gael was leaning on the wall breathing deeply. “Hidden. A half-kilometer or so, outside of the western gate.”

I was surprised to hear it. It is not how I remembered things from Seventh Lord of Mindsna. “Wasn’t the West Gate locked by the Exalted?”

Gael grinned at me with all his teeth. “Oh, it still is.”

“How then?..”

“I climbed the wall.”

“You climbed?”

“Yeah. I looked at it, it looked climbable, so I climbed.” And then he added seeing the look on my face, “Don’t worry, I have a rope with me to help you get down.” He patted his backpack.

I laughed. Truly Gael was just like in the story. It was such a weird feeling to interact with a character I have been reading about…

We took off taking the corridor leading west. I hoped that eventually, we will be able to exit the sewers somewhere close to the city wall, or maybe even beyond it. That’s how in the book Jacques and Reyc left Fonyas even though they went north not west.

The passage was dark and had multiple branches, so we were forced to slow down and be more careful with which corridors we choose.

Eventually, we saw the sewer turning from a narrow corridor into a big, two-stories room with a basin in the center. We were on the upper level, hiding in the shadows and watching the floor below filled with people.

“Fuck, a cartel,” I heard Gael cursing by my side.

It was a big group, around twelve people, mostly humans. They had four carts pulled by the raptors and packed to the brim. No colors or symbols were displayed that would indicate to which gang they belonged, but I knew anyway. I recognized their leader.

「 Character Name: Felicia Zaleglowicz

Agnomen: Child of Fortune

Age: 119

Status: Enchanter [Human] 」

Even without his hint taking over my vision I would immediately recognize Fela. Just as she was described, she was a tall and fearsome woman, with a mouth made for cruel smiles and twisted smirks. Her hair was woven into a beautiful blonde braid, and thrown on her back has a big package containing the most desired magical instrument in the whole Saov.

Enchanters were one of the classes of mages, along with the arcanists and gates - not all magic users had the same abilities or understanding of the arcane. There was a passage in Seventh Lord of Mindsna that stuck with me for longer.

「 Arcanists go to the Academy to learn how to cast with reason and understand the nuances of the magical mysterium. Enchanters learn to cast instinctively and understand their place within the world of the arcane. Gates in turn need to be trained to not use their magic instinctively and destructively. 」

The mentioned Academy was unfortunately destroyed almost a century before the plot of the book even started, meaning that any arcanist or enchanter that was still around was truly dangerous. They had to fight tooth and nail to survive, and in the meantime learned more magical secrets. Like how to stay young looking and healthy after so many years of being alive. Or how to create and operate prismatic oscillators like the one Fela had on her back.

I was surprised to see her here and so early on top of that. In Seventh Lord of Mindsna she was introduced when Reyc joined Jacques de Asper’s “court”, not before. Running into her now could only end poorly.

I motioned to Gael that we need to stealth away and look for another passage. However, he didn’t move, just stood there motionless, his expression terrified. Then from the shadow behind him leaned out one of the gangsters, knife in their hand, immediately pressing it to Gael’s exposed throat.

In theory, I had a few options for what to do now. I could run and abandon Gael or fight and put him at risk… He was just a character and his fate was already sealed by the book, so maybe nothing would happen to him. But at the same time, he was one of the characters that I liked, I didn’t actually want him dead…

Before I could do anything at all, I heard a loud snap, as if someone whipped at the air, coming down from the basin. And right behind my back, I felt disruption, as if the air was pushed away to make more space for something. Then a low woman's voice whispered in my ear.

“I could feel you heading this way for some time now. You really thought that you could escape, little mage?”

I tried to turn and look in Fela’s face, but she hit me in the head. And I lost consciousness.