Footfalls echoed down the cobblestone alley. Two men skidded to a halt at an intersection and frantically searched up and down each path before them, their frustration evident on their faces.<br/><br/>"Did you see where he went?" One asked.<br/><br/>"No." the other replied.<br/><br/>"Did you at least hit him?" The second mad hefted his crossbow onto his shoulder before replying<br/><br/>"Of course! I'm sure I hit the bastard."<br/><br/>"But where did you hit him?"<br/><br/>"His shoulder maybe? I think I got a wing." he replied, glancing up.<br/><br/>"If you did, he wouldn't be up there. He can't fly now." the first said, "Unless you're not sure."<br/><br/>"No, I'm not." he replied. The first sighed heavily.<br/><br/>"Well we came from that way," he said, pointing behind them, "You go left, I'll go right and circle around these houses to meet at the front. He can't have gone far." The other nodded and ran off down the alleyway, leaving the intersection vacant.<br/><br/>Sain gave them a thirty count, as long as he could last, Then exhaled as he faded back into view, the empty bottle that once contained an invisibility potion fell from his fingers. He stepped away from the wall he had been pressed against and limped over to a nearby door, knocking heavily.<br/><br/>"Anyone home?" he called, "Sorry to bother you, but I am in need of urgent medical aid. I can pay if you have any bandages." He winced as he tried to keep his left arm and wing steady, as the bolt from the Tover's crossbow still penetrated both his shoulder and wing. He waited for a minute before he realized no one was home. With a wave of his hand the door unlocked and he quickly ducked inside, pulling his large scythe in behind him and shut the door once more, moment before the two Tover assassins returned looking for him. They seemed to argue again, then both went down the only remaining path they hadn't checked, then Sain knew they would return to start checking doors.<br/><br/>He racked his brain trying to come up with an escape plan. He couldn't fight them, his powers would become noticed by more Daemon Tover in the area, his Demons would also attract the same sort of attention, and he couldn't run at the moment either. He needed a way out. A place to hide until they gave up. A place they couldn't get to.<br/><br/>An idea struck him. He dug around in his pockets trying to find the thing, but to no avail. Cursing slightly, and only able to look with one hand digging in pockets, he slipped his hand in a particular pocket in his robes he had forgotten about. One that had been enchanted to be bigger on the inside, and nearly went up to his elbow inside a sort of breast pocket. Inside he felt the cold metal key and pulled it out, it's golden sheen catching the sunlight through dirty glass.<br/><br/>"Perfect!" he exclaimed.<br/><br/>Sain opened the door and quickly checked both ways before stepping outside. Leaning on his scythe, he closed the door behind him and turned to put the key in the same door. He could hear the Assassins coming back down the alley so he quickly turned the key.<br/><br/>The door suddenly lit up and a bright light poured through the cracks around the edge of the door. It began to slightly shake in the door frame and Sain once again pocketed his key before opening the door and ducking back through, bathing the alley in a bright light for a moment before going dark once more. The two men ran to see what it was, throwing open the door, only to be met with an empty room.<br/><br/>------------------------------------<br/><br/>*Squeak*<br/><br/>Donta sighed and placed the pristine glass back on the rack and shook his head to bring him back to his senses. He had been drying the same glass now for five minutes and daydreaming. Today has been a very slow day. It's actually been a slow week, or year, or decade...<br/><br/>He couldn't remember now when the last customer was. It's been a while. He looked up to see his only employee still wiping the same table she was cleaning an hour ago.<br/><br/>"Wolfcub, dear. We're going to have to replace that table again. I think you've wiped the varnish off of it. It was clean the first time you wiped it down." he joked. She straightened up and gasped. Now that she had moved, Donta could see the large bare patch in the middle where she had indeed wiped the varnish clear.<br/><br/>"I'm so sorry, boss!" she exclaimed, "I will fix it!"<br/><br/>Donta sighed. It was getting a little boring. Even his playlist of music he was playing in the background was getting old. Mostly old Earth jazz that fit the atmosphere of the place.<br/><br/>"Just leave it." Donta said, "Why don't you..." he began, but stopped when the front door suddenly lit up and opened, with a tall winged man rushing through to slam the door behind him.<br/><br/>"Ah, a customer!" Wolfcub exclaimed, "Welcome to the Wandering Wolf Inn! What can I get you?" The man finally turned around after sliding a large black scythe into the weapon rack beside the door, "Ah, Sain! You've returned!"<br/><br/>"Welcome back, sir!" Donta called from the bar, "Had a bit of trouble, have we?" Sain nodded as he limped forward to sit on a stool at the bar.<br/><br/>"Yeah, I need a bit of help." Sain grunted. Wolfcub was already at his side, her delicate fingers touching his wounded shoulder.<br/><br/>"Don't worry. It missed your Demon Stone here." she said, then ripped open his robe a bit more to show the wound, "I can fix this."<br/><br/>"Wolfcub, before you touch that man, promise me you will be gentle and do not make a mess." Donta warned. She seemed to hesitate and then nodded.<br/><br/>"Yes, Sir!" she said. Donta placed a tall glass of mead before Sain and smiled.<br/><br/>"Don't worry. She'll fix it." he said. Sain felt a small pinch in his shoulder and his arm suddenly went dead, along with his left wing, which seemed to just fall and cover the poor girl's head. She crawled out from under it and retracted what seemed to be a sort of needed into her blue gauntlet, then a small saw like tool came out. Sain tried to occupy his thoughts with the drink as he heard her saw through something, hoping it wasn't a part of him. He heard squelching sounds, felt her pulling on him but in a moment, she had let him go and slapped odd bandages on both sides of his shoulder and patches on his wing.<br/><br/>"There all done." she said, "Now excuse me as I go clean up." Donta watched as she left to the bathroom to wash the blood off her hands and smiled.<br/><br/>"Not bad, eh?" he said with pride, "So, how have you been? It's been a while since you were here last."<br/><br/>"It has." Sain replied after a sip of his drink.<br/><br/>"Twenty years." Donta added.<br/><br/>"It's been that long?"<br/><br/>"Yes. I'm a little offended that you didn't come back." he said, crossing his arms, "I gave you a key so you can come and go as you please. It's not a one time use item, you know. You can come here as many times as you want."<br/><br/>"I know. Sorry, but I've been busy." Sain replied.<br/><br/>"So you're trying to lay low for a while then? I assume that's why you came here this time. Injured from something. Just need the free health care?" Donta asked.<br/><br/>"I came for the good food and drink." Sain said, "And the company. The treatment is a bonus. I thank you both for it."<br/><br/>"Of course. You are welcome." Donta said, patting Sain's good shoulder, "Stay as long as you like. This place is a sanctuary. Use it well." He left the winged man to his drink and grabbed a mop at the end of the bar to start cleaning the blood and dust off the floor that his new customer had just brought in. Perhaps things will start to look up for business...