She dived into a narrow street, Tan behind her. But they had already been spotted, and the pursuit began. They ran along the ragged walls of houses and debris lying along the road. Rats scattered in different directions at the sight of strangers at such an early hour. Following this, they heard the sound of whistles, signaling troublemakers. Tan knew that reinforcements would now be arriving in this area and that it was necessary to get out of it as soon as possible. The side was very sore, his chest was squeezing, his strength was leaving him. He had to stop.
“We need to hide,” he said.
– No, we need to run and quickly, said Una.
“We won't have time to run a couple of streets before they spot us, believe me,” he said with a breath in his voice.
– What to do?! There was excitement in her eyes.
He looked around, and suddenly realized that the houses around them were familiar to him. His feet were already walking along this cobbled street, and his nose breathed in the local smell.
***
The door flew open, and the first thing Athanasius saw was a long and well-polished sword.
– Hi Byrd! Pronounced Tan.
But the interlocutor was silent and only looked at him with an incredulous look.
– We have nowhere else to go, I'm sorry.
After a little hesitation, he fully opened the door, with a mute gesture, inviting them to enter. They immediately ran into the house.
Nothing has changed in the room since his last visit. Tan leaned against the wall to keep from falling. As soon as he caught his breath, he raised his head and, looking at Byrd, said: – Thank you. Most likely, you saved our lives.
Without answering, Byrd went into another room and after a while returned with two mugs of water in his hands, somewhere hiding his sword.
After drinking greedily, Tan wiped the cold water droplets from his lips with his sleeve.
– And so, maybe you can finally explain what the hell is going on here ?! Tan turned to Una. – Why did these soldiers need me? What are they? What about General Swann?
– These are the duke's men! They received an order to bring you to him, and if this fails, then kill.
“You’re also working for him, right?
– I got a job as a servant in his estate to watch and observe.
– For Erhard?
– Behind the origin of the birth of a new union! Extremely powerful. A union that will drown the earth in blood, and here you and I cannot prevent this.