Villiano had taken the first watch that night. He sat pensively on the grass and honed his Silenquedea in the pale light of the moon.
The terrible night in Jissele had already been several days. Since then they had hiked a good bit to the south-west, in the direction of the Mist Mountains, and had seldom stopped. Ghiauna's ankle was completely healed again, thanks to Maya's medicinal herbs, otherwise they would probably not have made this long distance behind them so quickly. The danger that the soldiers might have noticed their escape and were now chasing them was still great, so they were always on their guard.
A cool breeze made him shiver. In Gaze, the land of forests, it was usually a little colder at this time than in the surrounding countries, as the dense cloud cover rarely let some sunlight through. Quite different from Sanderith - the sun was always shining there, so the story goes here in the north.
He put the whetstone aside and looked at his work with satisfaction.The blades were sharp again, they would cut meat as easily as if going through soft butter. Villiano let his gaze wander around, which stopped at the sleeping figure of Ghiauna, which lay a few meters away from him.
She looks pretty when she sleeps, he thought and smiled, her features are then no longer so hard and unwelcoming.
Her lips moved slightly, she whispered.
He slid closer to her and bent his head down to understand what she was saying.
"... Shi ... rai ..."
Shirai? He had heard that name before, who was it?
Amazed, he sat up again and before he lost his thoughts again, he saw the damp trace of a tear on her cheek.

"We should get other clothes. The soldiers saw us, if they chase us, they will surely be on the lookout for such a clue. Do you know how far it is to the next town?" Asked Ghiauna after they had left again.The tip of his left ear twitched slightly, as it did almost every time he thought about it.
"Well ... I think Gorca is very close. Half an hour east of here."
"Well."
They walked on in silence.
Villiano hadn't slept half the night, he had been so upset when he heard this name again.
"Ghiauna?"
"Yes?"
"May I ask you something?" He asked, although he wasn't at all sure whether he really wanted to hear the answer.
"Yeah sure, just ask."
Villiano took a deep breath. "Who is Shirai?"
Suddenly she stopped. Her pupils narrowed.
“How do you know about him?” There was suspicion in her voice.
"You whispered his name in your sleep last night - who is he?"
"I don't know what that has to do with you," she said coolly and wanted to run on when Villiano took heart and asked: "Is he the one who's waiting for you in Sanderith?"
There was silence for a moment, then she answered without turning around."... Shirai and I grew up together in the streets of Mangolth, in Sanderith. He and my best friend Ink taught me to fight. When I was fifteen I confessed my love to him. We were happy together for three years until A year ago a slave driver caught me and broke up, but I promised him to come back to him as soon as I could, since I could never love anyone but him ... - is that enough? "
He stared after her in amazement as she started walking again - he hadn't expected such a detailed answer.
You ... loved him? ...
He felt a slight sting and it took a while before he could breathe again. Then he sprinted off and hurried to catch up with her again.

Already from a distance it could be seen that Gorca was a lot bigger than Jissele. The trading town was located in the middle of a vast valley and dozens of travel routes led directly to it. There were little shops all over the side streets, but most of them stood along the huge street called Compra, which crossed from north to south and east to west.Ghiauna and Villiano stood in a small deserted alley and stared at the shop in front of them. "Grappa's clothing equipment for all occasions" was written in large, curved letters on a wooden sign above the shop door, to which a note was attached with the inscription "Closed".
"We're lucky, the owner doesn't seem to be there," said Villiano, who had drawn one of his daggers and started fiddling with the point in the lock.
Ghiauna looked at him skeptically and with raised eyebrows at his work. She toyed with her earring, bored.
"Are you sure that this will work? ..."
“Sure!” And as if to confirm the door swung open with a soft creak.
Mildly surprised, she looked first at the door, then at him. "How did you do that?"
He replied with a slightly smug smile and shrugged.
"Professional secret."
You entered a medium-sized, diffusely lit room with an old wooden floor.Several large cloakrooms that were hung full of clothes stood against one wall, opposite a simple partition. Behind a small counter, a staircase led upstairs - apparently the owner lived there, but nothing was heard from him.
Ghiauna had already gathered some clothes and marched behind the partition, where she began to undress. More to pass the time, Villiano also decided to look for something suitable and, as if by chance, moved closer and closer to the partition. Grinning mischievously, he wanted to take a quick look behind it, but before it came to that, he had Ghiauna's strongly stepping foot on his face.
"Do not even try it!"
A little meekly he shuffled towards the counter, from where he sighed and looked at her dark silhouette behind the screen.
It took a while until she finally stepped around the wall and showed herself to him. She wore a short, light beige cotton dress with a wide, simply decorated yellow collar that merged into a button placket at the front and a pair of matching cowhide boots."Why don't you say anything? Doesn't it suit me?" Said Ghiauna and uncertainly brushed a strand of dark red hair from his face.
"Oh ... oh yes!" Villiano assured her hastily, who only now noticed that he had been staring at her the whole time, "... you know ... that's just ... well ... hui just..."
"Hui ...?," She smiled, "Thank you. Find yourself something too, the owner could come back soon."
With an effort he averted his gaze from her and began to rummage through the cloakrooms.
It wasn't long before he had decided on a new wardrobe, which consisted of a dark green, short-sleeved leather vest with a sheepskin collar, as well as simple, knee-length trousers with a double-belted belt and black goatskin boots.
Ghiauna nodded towards the stairs. "Let's go upstairs, maybe we can find something useful."
When they reached the top, their mouths stayed open.
"A ... a gun lover ...," Villiano said and gave a small whistle in appreciation as he looked at the opposite wall, which could almost be described as a small arsenal.Ghiauna spat contemptuously into the corner. "People enjoy killing! But ...," she took a solid metal rod from its holder and weighed it in her hand, "the man has a clue, I have to give him that."
"Do you want to take him with you?"
"Of course. I've been looking for something like that all along. I can finally fight again like Shirai and Ink taught me."
Suddenly the door to the shop downstairs was pushed open.
"Strange, strange, I thought I locked it ..." an old man could be heard muttering.
Immediately, Ghiauna turned to the stairs in a fighting stance.
"Don't," Villiano whispered, gently squeezing her shoulder. "Let's get over the roof instead."
For a moment she stared blankly at him, but then she turned, albeit reluctantly, to the window and followed him.

When they entered the forest again after a while, Ghiauna glared at him.
"Why did you do that?!"
"It wasn't necessary."
"Shirai told me to take the chance if the enemy is careless - I could have killed him!"“Oh!” Shouted Villiano, staring at her with red-hot eyes, “and that one should only fight when it is necessary and one should respect the lives of innocents - even that of the enemy - that one should only kill then when you have no choice ?! Your Shirai probably forgot to teach you that, didn't you? "
Just as Ghiauna was about to bark back, there was a loud scream in the middle of the forest. Birds flew up with a croak, then there was silence.
Silence. The word evoked the memory of Jissele in Villiano - silence meant death!
Without thinking he ran off, straight through a thick undergrowth, with Ghiauna on his heels. When they arrived at a clearing, they stopped abruptly - because there was a Neko lying motionless on the ground.
She had long, dark brown hair that covered her face in a stringy way and wore an airy, short top that, like the long skirt, which had a long slit on each side, was purple.
"Oh Lunetta, don't let her be dead!, "asked Villiano with a look to heaven, before he sat down next to Ghiauna, who was already kneeling next to the Neko and gently lifting her head
Laceration on her forehead became visible.
"She's alive. I can feel her pulse."
As if to confirm, the Neko took a hesitant breath. Her eyelids opened trembling.
"Who ... who are you ...?"
"That's Ghiauna Armadeo," replied Villiano with a smile, "and I'm Villiano. Villiano Capellone. And you?"
She knitted her eyebrows skeptically and said nothing.
"Don't worry, you can trust us. We don't bite," he glanced at Ghiauna, "at least not always ..."
"... Ryu ... just Ryu," she added with a hint of a grin, which disappeared immediately.
"You ... they took her ... Nagusame, my sister ... I have to get her back."
"Who are" they "?" Asked Ghiauna.
"Slavers ... will you help me?"
They both nodded in confirmation."Tell us where you are, you will stay here as long."
"I won't, she's my sister and I ... come with you to free her!" Shaking, she got to her feet and immediately started walking. "Follow me, you can't be far!"

Before long, Ghiauna picked up the smell and footsteps of people.
She gripped her staff tighter and quickened her pace. At the next bend in the road they came into view - there were five men,