Temiker kept to the shadows as he moved. Already the populace was stirring with shouts of fire and soon the streets would be crowded with the curious and those who sought to help. The wizard smirked as he thought of the invaders and how they would try to be inconspicuous in the milling crowd.

Temiker slid down an alley as the first onlookers started filing into the street. Some people leaned out of windows for a look, but their focus was far distant from the streets below and Temiker felt no fear of discovery from them. He knew the invaders would immediately try to block the exits from the city and time became his enemy. He cursed his years of inactivity and the extra twenty pounds he carried because of it. Already he was losing his wind and the magic became difficult when one couldn’t breathe. And magic was the only way Temiker was going to get out of the city.

He rejected the closest gate with the thought that the invaders would rush to secure it. The docks and any possibility of a sea escape were also ruled out because he would be seen too easily. He thought briefly of hiding in the city for a few days until the invaders thought he had slipped out, but quickly dismissed it when he realized that he did not know the reason for their visit and therefore could not trust anyone to know his whereabouts.

The only two people in the world he could really trust with his life was his brother Malafar and his wife Rhodella, but they were hundreds of leagues away, far on the other side of the country. Malafar still blamed Temiker for his son’s death and had not spoken to him since, and while he would certainly not be happy to see Temiker, he would hide him and protect him. Tears welled up in his eyes as he thought of Malafar and Alfred. He loved his brother dearly and had treated Alfred as his own son. Malafar could not accept that one of Temiker’s students had killed Alfred in a botched assassination attempt on the Katana, Holy Ruler of Omunga.