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3rd of Holi 12424 / 3rd of Holinki 387 / 185 Days

Telyn gasped for breath, ducking into an alleyway and flattening herself against the wall. She heard the thunder of a dozen footsteps racing past, but didn't dare breathe out a sigh of relief. Okay, so maybe coming to Industria hadn't been the smartest idea, but Telyn wasn't exactly familiar with the countryside of Elysia and didn't like the idea of getting lost and wandering in circles for days. So here she was, ducking past windows with posters of her likeness taped to them; bolting from the ever present guards that stalked the city in groups, their dark blue capes swirling behind them. She had stolen a Keleken from a farm on the outskirts of Temperantia, which was no easy feat considering the size of its vicious beak. She just thanked every single one of her ancestors that Sira had taught her how to tame the beasts with her voice, or else she might have ended up with more than a nipped finger.

She dashed out of the alley and across the road, ducking into the next alleyway and making her way along it until she found a quieter avenue. Her stomach gurgled unhappily in her stomach. She hadn't had much of a chance to eat since she abandoned the Keleken in the middle of a busy street to flee from an entire company of soldiers. Sneaking along the avenue she got a whiff of something delicious cooking in a street cart and her mouth began to water. All her money and property had been taken when she was captured. Telyn debated with herself for a moment before deciding that her fugitive status made it acceptable to steal what she needed to survive. Sticking to the shadows as much as she could, Telyn darted out at the last second to grab a fresh - and hot - pastry from the cart. “Thief!” cried the cart's owner, and suddenly the entire street was in chaos. Guards thundered up from one side of the street, so Telyn ran in the opposite direction, her fingers clutched around the boiling hot pastry.

She'd made it about a hundred meters before another group of guards ran into the avenue the way she'd been heading. She froze, looking around frantically, until she noticed someone waving to get her attention from a second storey balcony. “Quickly,” the girl hissed, throwing a rope ladder down from the balcony and beckoning her inside. Telyn threw the pastry aside and leapt for the edge of the ladder, scrambling up as fast as she could. “Follow me,” the girl whispered, running through a corridor and leaping across the gap in the alleyway between another building. Telyn's eyes widened but she didn't stop running, throwing her arms up for balance she vaulted across the gap, breathing heavily. The girl ahead of her rushed through an empty bedroom then down a set of stairs, Telyn followed as closely as she could, almost running straight into a wall as the girl made a sharp turn.

Ducking under a low door frame she froze when she found herself in a room full of women. They all looked up from what they were doing. Telyn absently noted the dough being kneaded and glaze being applied and realised she was in a bakery, before she felt a hand being clamped around her wrist. Her mysterious saviour tugged her forwards towards a cupboard, flinging the door open and pressing a spot on the backing. A panel slid aside, a mechanism whirring to life, revealing a dark space. Before she even had time to open her mouth Telyn was being dragged forward and into the room. The girl slapped a spot on the wall and the mechanism whirred into place, blocking out the light. Telyn heard the cupboard door being slammed. For a long minute she couldn't hear anything except their ragged breathing, echoing around the tiny space. “Who-?” she began to ask. “Shh,” the girl said. Telyn shut her mouth. Not even a moment later she heard a rapid pounding, echoing throughout the bakery. The voices outside were muffled, but Telyn could tell they were guards, coming to investigate. Trying to find her.