Mark and Ara dashed across the halls of the haven using the crowd as a cover to evade Allan and his cohorts, who were hot on their heels.
'As I thought, something is indeed going on, the question now is, what is?' Mark thought to himself with a worried expression as kept on running, still trying to shake off their pursuers.
"Hey, Ara, what's the quickest way out of this building?" Mark asked Ara urgently, knowing she was a student of the haven and was bound to be more knowledgeable of its interior than he was.
"Huh? That would make us separate from the crowd. If we do so it'd give Allan and the rest a clear view of us, making their pursuit easier." Ara said, her voice filled with worry.
"Sooner or later we will have to separate from them, the pressing issue now is to get Allan off our tails somehow and see if we can find a way to reach either of Master Berg or Master Rodbar." Mark replied, his voice tense with urgency.
"But what about the civilians? they don't know their way around the halls, they are just running around indiscriminately." Ara protested, worried about leaving the civilians behind.
"This is not the time Ara." Mark retorted sharply. "Do you seriously want to start leading them through the halls? Besides if we keep running with the crowd we'll be attracting danger toward them, that's something we definitely don't want, do we?"
"Alright then." Ara conceded.
"There's an exit after that turn, we'll come out from the western side of the haven from there." Ara said, gesturing to a right turn ahead of them, at the end of the hallway, after a short scan of their surroundings.
"Alright, let's go." With a swift movement Mark hoisted up Ara off her feet suddenly and lifted her in a princess carry.
The action shocked Ara. "Hey, w-what are you doing?" Ara's voice stutterd. On another day Mark's actions might have caused Ara to blush, but the current situation didn't allow for that, she was just surprised.
"I'm sorry to say, but you're slow, and we need to get out of here as fast as possible." Mark explained simply, causing Ara's face to redden in embarrassment.
"You-" Before she could provide a retort, Mark's next word's shocked her.
"Wings of Air. Ur- ailr." Mark muttered. As soon as the words left his lips, a soft twirl of wind seemed to blow from nowhere and envelope his frame amidst the mass of bodies. The wind wrapped about him like two gigantic wings of air covering him in an embrace before dispersing.
After the strange process, there was a subtle shift in Mark's demonour, a soft light blue glow emanating from his body.
"Y-you know Arcane?" Ara asked, her tone tinged with a bit of surprise.
"Yes, just a little, it's no big deal, there are plenty of Arcanists around." Mark replied indifferently.
"I known, ju-"
SWOOSH!
Ara's words were cut short as Mark dashed away from the crowd with incredible speed, his form leaving behind gusts of wind, the glow on his body leaving behind a pale blue blur.
Mark reached the end of the hallway in no time. Immediately he took the turn that Ara had pointed out for him, he paused for a second as he saw a figure standing at the supposed exit.
The sight of the figure caused Mark to furrow his brows, a dangerous glint lighting up his gaze. Ara's scarred face began to itch as if affected by the presence of the person before them. Placing a hand on her face to ease her pain, she hissed through her teeth. "Romnwell!"
Romnwell, just stood In Front of both of them, unfazed by their glares with a hand in pocket, while the other rested by his side with a clutching a black dagger. "You both seem really close, more like a couple now." He said, a teasing smile playing on his lips, which made for a strange and eerie sight, as Romnwell wasn't one to smile much.
Hearing his words, Ara quickly released herself from Mark's carry before refocusing her glare at Romnwell.
"What? Are you shy?" Romnwell asked with a light chuckle.
"How did you know we'd be here?" Mark demanded.
"It's simple." Romnwell replied.
"Her." Romnwell added as he raised his dagger at Ara.
"Me?" Ara asked in confusion.
"You see, knowing you're also a fellow student like me, I obviously took your knowledge of the interior of the haven to account, and considering your line of direction, if you were to try to leave the building, it can only be from this side. So with all that I decided to come here and wait for you both." Romnwell explained with a smile.
"So you predicted where we'll be based on our movements." Mark spoke. "Do you think you have us cornered? It's just one of you and both of us." He added as he took a battle ready stance.
"I am more than enough to deal with both of you." Romnwell replied coldly as his eyes began to take on an eerie glow, his aura rising like steam off his body.
Hmph. Mark grunted, "we'll see about that." With that he covered the distance between himself and Romnwell in a flash, throwing a right at him.
Romnwell tilted his head to the side, avoiding Mark's blow, taking advantage of Mark's momentum from his missed punch, Romnwell brandished his dagger aiming to sink it into Mark's shoulder.
As if expecting Romnwell to dodge, Mark brought his left hand from beneath and threw it in for a punch. However, the punch stopped before hitting Romnwell, a strong gust of wind originating from Mark's left fist blew and propelled Romnwell upwards.
Romnwell figure flew upwards like a rag doll, his body hitting the ceiling with a bang. As quickly as his body went up it began to descend.
Mark waited for Romnwell figure to reach him again, his feet crouched, his right fist slightly behind him with his left over it, a pale blue glow emanating from his fist, ready to deliver another blow.
As soon as Romnwell's figure finally reached Mark's again, he threw in another punch, but Romnwell suddenly grabbed his outstretched hand mid-fall, and with incredible balance and deftness he shifted his weight and propelled himself behind Mark, all within the blink of an eye.
Mark's hand remained outstretched, his eyes widening in shock at Romnwell's athleticism.
Romnwell's figure landed deftly behind Mark, without making a sound he immediately brandished his dagger and swung it menacingly at Mark's neck.
Mark's body stiffened, unable to fathom the sequence of actions that just occurred. He could feel Romnwell's cold thirst for blood, his eerily glowing eyes shone behind him, making him seem like the devil that had come to reap his life. Unable to move a muscle, a single thought crossed Mark's mind as his life flashed before his eyes.
'Is this it?' Mark thought as he closed his eyes, resignation filling his heart.