“We lost,” Ikiru said, I could feel his hold on my body start to slip. “It’s over now, we won’t be able to stop them in time.” He sunk to his, or rather, my knees.

Give me my body back. We have to get out of here. I thought and strangely, without objection he complied, I felt myself slipping into every inch of my body once more. Shi Fan, or Izanagi, or whoever he was had said that I would be blamed for this, so I had no time to waste, I had to leave. I figured that the fight had alerted guards and I was confirmed in my assumption when the sounds of footsteps drew close.

I looked around for another exit, but there was none… except for the window. I rushed toward it, the storm was raging outside, I noted how something like this must have been super expensive as the one in Shiro’s home must have been, as I smashed it with my sword. As soon as it broke, the wind from the storm came crashing into me, almost blowing me off my feet. I looked down and could see the sloping tile roof the castle below. Guards appeared in the doorway and saw the murder scene just as I jumped out and onto the roof.

It was slick from the rain, and I began to slide rapidly downwards. Quickly I pulled out my shortsword and jammed it into the roof to slow my descent. It worked just enough for me to slow my slide until I reached the roof below and aimed for it carefully. Down I went. The cries of the guards above me drowned out by the storm. The entire castle must have been on high alert now, and a gong repeatedly sounded over the wind and rain. I was just focused on making it to the ground alive as I reached the last tier of the castle and lept to the paved ground below breaking my fall into a roll. I slipped, however, and ended up in a pool of mud and water.

Lovely. I was alive at least, for now. I got up and rushed to the gate. There were guards, but they must not have been able to recognize me at first glance due to the mud covering my body.

“I just got away from him!” I yelled at the guards. “He’s running for the north gate. He just killed Shi Fan.” I did my best “injured” impression, which honestly wasn’t that hard based on how badly I felt, but with the adrenaline coursing through me I gave it my best shot.

The guards nodded, and one rushed off while the other stayed. “Do you need help?” He asked, spear at the ready, as if the escaped prisoner, me, little did he know, would come rushing in to attack at any moment.

“I’ll be ok, I’m going to get help,” I mumbled as a lame excuse and began to walk past him out the gate.

“Wait!” He yelled. “No one can leave yet.” He was about to go on, but I swiftly knocked him up the side of the head with my sheathed sword rendering him unconscious.

“Sorry about that,” I said as I ran as fast as I could away from the castle. More guards would be along soon, and there was no way I wanted to be here. Now I just had to find Shi Fan.