Just a few minutes away stood a series of shops on either side of the street. It was always a popular area due to the allure of a well-known local magic store. Erzo had to pass it every day to reach the inns and taverns that had the best leftovers to eat. If there were any.

  Since his hideout lay underneath the magic store in a large drainage duct he had to be careful with when he would leave and come back. If people found some demi-human orphan escaping into holes under important stores it might create an uproar.

  As he approached the corner wall of the magic shop, Erzo heard footsteps behind him. He definitely couldn’t enter now.

  “You live over here?” A familiar voice innocently asked.

  Erzo turned around only to find Mel innocently standing behind him with a small bread roll in her hand.

  “Why are you following me?” He said, slightly disturbed that he didn’t notice her following him.

  “I figured you would have been hungry considering you tried to steal from the butcher like that.”

  The amount of concern he could feel from her big blue eyes gave him pause. “Thank you,” he said hesitantly as he softly retrieved the bread roll from her. He noticed her cheeks redden once he had begun to happily munch on the food. “So, I guess you have a place to go where you can get food like this?” He continued in between bites.

  “Sort of,” she said. “My brother and I grab food scraps from an inn on the other side of the district. The owner said she was willing to do that much for us but no more.”

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  “That sounds sad,” Erzo said quietly before sitting down on the cold cobblestone street. Mel copied him.

  “It is. We want to leave the city and live elsewhere.” Mel wrapped her arms around her shins and looked towards the darkening sky. “I want to live in the forest just outside of the city.”

  Erzo looked at her silently. Mel took notice.

  “I know, I am far too weak to live out there.”

  “But why there?” Erzo questioned.

  “Because it is beautiful and away from - this.”

  Erzo took a moment and looked around. As one that spent the last year on his own, he realized at that moment he hadn’t really paid much attention to the city. For him, it was all about survival, and now figuring out how to assassinate the butcher. Despite some shops being in good enough condition for the inner district, the majority of the outer district slums were in ruins. He couldn’t care less why though, all that mattered was getting even with his attempted killer.

  “I would leave,” Erzo said, “but I need to get even first.”

  “But why? He is huge and unless you know magic or something you wouldn’t be able to stand a chance.”

  Erzo scowled and ran his fingers through his hair and onto his pointed ears. “It would be nice if I knew I had the affinity for it. My mother could use it.”

  “How did she die?” Mel asked.

  “Some man named Ziro killed her for having me,” Erzo said in disgust. “That is all I know, but all I needed to know. If the answer to anything is violence in this world, then I will surely kill him next. I am tired of being weak and having everything taken from me.” A few tears rolled down his eyes.

  Mel could feel both his anguish and intense anger, “I am sorry,” was all she could say.

  “Don’t be.” Erzo stood up and wiped the crumbs from his tattered pants. “I will see you around.” He turned and walked around the corner of the shop into the side alley next door before Mel could say anything.

  As soon as Mel gathered the courage to chase him around the corner, Erzo was gone.