Griffon Kingdom, Remana region, city of Lamonia, later that same day. Frynn Aekis cursed and thanked the gods at the same time as she cut through the crowd of Lamonia's market day. On the one hand, all those people hindered her escape, but on the other hand, they were her best bet at saving her life. "I'm sorry! Coming through! Please, move!" Her eyes darted back and forth, searching for a guard and checking how much distance she had gained or lost on her pursuers. Sadly, there was no soldier, militia, or Constable in sight, and the men chasing after her were getting closer despite her best efforts. She was barely 1.61 meters (5'3") tall and looked like a scared cat, whereas her pursuers were bulky and had faces only a mother could love. People made way for them, afraid to draw their enmity, and looked at her in annoyance for bumping into them. Some even tried to grab Frynn to stop her and reprimand her for her rudeness, which only cost her precious meters before she managed to slip away. 'Gods, why are you doing this to me?' Frynn wanted to cry, but a blurred vision was the last thing she could afford. 'I haven't done anything wrong to deserve this.' To be fair, she was right. Her only crime was a questionable taste in boyfriends. The last one, Alfas Rond, was as handsome as he was terrible at gambling. 'I should have dumped his sorry ass the first time he asked me for money to pay his debts.' Frynn griped. 'I knew he was bound to get himself into trouble one day, but I never expected that bastard would run away after putting me as collateral!' Again, to be fair, Frynn had no way to know that just the previous day Alfas had a great hand at cards that he assumed couldn't lose. He had bet everything he had on it, even a few things that didn't belong to him. When fate proved his assumption wrong, Alfas gave the loan shark every coin he had on himself and the address of the house he had used as collateral, offering them everything inside to cover for his debt. Then, he had left Lamonia, changed his name, and disappeared. Which had left Frynn in her current predicament. The men of the Mazark cartel didn't care Alfas didn't actually own the house. The moment she identified herself as his girlfriend, they demanded to be paid in full. When it was clear that Frynn didn't have the money and her house wasn't worth enough to cover the debt, those men had decided that since she was inside the house, she was collateral as well. A pretty girl like her could earn well on the streets or if sold to a noble. Frynn had been grabbed and shoved in a stagecoach before she could understand what was happening. Fear paralyzed her body as much as confusion kept her mind blank. For a few minutes that had seemed to last hours, she had remained frozen in denial, trying to dismiss the events of that day like a bad dream. Which had turned out to be a good thing. Her captors had lowered their guard, and when a traffic jam caused by the market had forced the carriage to a halt, Frynn had managed to get out without anyone stopping her. She didn't have a plan, nor did she know where she was. 'A guard! I just need a guard. An officer, a clerk, anyone with an amulet and can contact the authorities!' Alas, luck seemed to have turned her back on Frynn. There was nothing but merchants and customers as far as the eye could see. Lamonia's market was famous because almost anything could be found on its stalls, if one knew where to look. From fruit and bread to antiques and enchanted objects. All things that had been thrown away by people unaware of the true worth of the trinkets they had found, stolen, or inherited. It was the reason Lamonia's market day was often referred to as "Cheap Treasure Cove". 'Fuck!' Frynn cursed, her pursuers were so close that in a few seconds she would be within their arm's reach. With no other option, she resorted to a desperate gambit that had saved her in the past, albeit under much less dire conditions. She looked for the biggest, tallest, meanest guy she could find and clung to his arm like a lifeline. "I told you I know no Alfas! Stay back or you'll answer to my husband!" The stranger blinked in confusion and surprise several times, looking at Frynn like she was crazy. "Your husband?" The criminal laughed. "Nice try, but he seems more surprised than me. Also, if you are the kind of slut who has a boyfriend like Alfas despite having a husband at home, I'm doing this guy a favor." The mean-looking stranger was 1.84 meters (6') tall with dark hair and eyes of a brown so deep it was easy to mix the iris with the pupil. He had wide shoulders and the lean but muscular physique Frynn had only seen in soldiers. 'Please be a soldier. Please be an elite soldier.' She inwardly prayed. "Hands off, pal." The stranger had a voice as friendly as the deep frown on his face. "She is my wife, and whatever she did, she's not coming with you." "Are you sure about that?" Horvath Starn, the criminal, replied with a cruel grin that missed a few teeth. He was over 1.95 meters (9'5") tall, and despite his round belly, he had thick arms and callous hands that one could easily picture spending a lot of time around the neck of those weaker than him, which meant almost anyone. "Pretty sure, yeah." The mean-looking stranger shrugged, unimpressed by the bulk of his opponent or the arrival of the rest of Horvath's gang. Some were lanky men who barely reached the stranger's shoulders, but a couple were as big as Horvath. "Then answer a simple question, friend." Horvath gave the stranger his best mean look, but a nagging thought kept him from focusing. "If she's your wife, what's her name?" The stranger looked oddly familiar. Horvath was certain to have never met or talked to the man in front of him, but at the same time, Horvath could swear to have seen the stranger's face somewhere in the past, and many times at that. "My wife's name is Kamila." The stranger gave Horvath a reptilian smile that sent a cold shiver running down his spine. Horvath had seen that kind of expression many times, but always reflected in a mirror. It was the kind of smile Horvath reserved for those dumb enough to think that learning a couple of moves in a gym made them fighters or that being in the right meant something in a brawl. "Wrong. Her name is Frynn." Horvath repressed the unease gripping his stomach and extended his arm to grab the girl. "Count yourself lucky I'm in a rush, or I'd teach you a lesson." 'Even if this guy is a famous fighter, there are five of us and only one of him. Also, there's no time to waste. We've made too much of a commotion, and it's only a matter of time before someone calls the guards.' He thought.