Imogen's pov:

Eryn Advika. Why, in the name of all saints, is she here?

"Don't you all have something better to do than arrest people for taking a hike?" I ask, switching to a Xiephirian accent instead of my usual North Varatian in hopes that my childhood friend won't recognize me. It's been quite a few years, hopefully she won't be able to.

Eryn raises an eyebrow at me, probably noticing the change in my accent. "In a mask?"

"It's a dangerous area."

"Dressed like that?"

"I was feeling cold."

"With a dozen knives on you?"

"Again, it's a dangerous area."

She pauses, and for a moment I fear I've given myself away from the way I speak. I can't afford to be caught or recognized. What is she even doing here in East Varatia? We're both from the North.

She decides not to say anything and flings all my weapons onto the ground out of reach. Still, she misses one in my boot and another two in my coat.

"We're taking you custody for suspicious activity, possible drug trafficking, and gang involvement," she says, completely ignoring me.

"I was going on a hike!" I insist as my stomach drops. If I'm caught, my group might not even bother to bail me out. I could be in there for years. And worse, if I'm unmasked, people might start to recognize me. It'd be impossible to trick or scam anyone again.

Not to mention if they find out I'm not from here they might contact other towns or kingdoms and realize I'm wanted in nearly half of them. Well, not Imogen me. That girl is supposedly dead according to North Varatia's records of me. They want The Shicer. The faceless trickster.

"Then why'd you run?" Eryn asks, raising a brow.

"I was just-" I start, completely forgetting my accent.

She raises an eyebrow, cocking her head slightly, knowing that I've been caught. "Take off the mask."

"It's a-"

"Dangerous area, I know," she snaps, cutting me off. "You're surrounded by five guards. You'll only be in danger if you don't take off that mask."

"You don't-" I try again, only to be cut off a second time. She's lot ruder than I remember.

"And what's with the accent?" she asks. "Please state your name and kingdom of origi- You're not shivering."

"Excuse me?" I ask, wondering how she's managed to cut herself off too.

"The ice has encased the entire lower half of your body and you're not shivering," she says blankly. "Your ankle looks broken, you haven't winced once. How are you-"

I let out an exasperated sigh, interrupting her. I've only got one choice now, one option that might just get me out of this alive.

"This is going to be very awkward if this doesn't work," I mutter, gathering my remaining energy.

"What's going to be-?"

I cut her off again, flicking my wrist in her direction and feeling a wave of energy go through my arm before it expels outwards. Eryn flies backwards, landing on the ground hard.

She tries to get up, but her hand and feet are seemingly glued to the floor.

"Yes!" I silently congratulate myself on successfully double-cursing someone for the first time, though admittedly both of those curses are far from advanced.

I let out a yelp as an arrow soars over my head, and I barely manage to dodge it as I'm practically tackled by another guard. A loud crack sounds from under the ice. Safe to assume that either the ice or my ankle finally broke. The downside of having a condition that makes me unable to feel pain is that I can't tell.

"Stars, you are heavy," I say through gritted teeth, shoving the guard off me and sending another hex their way that sends them flying.

Before I can even get up, the ice sorcerer from earlier freezes my left hand onto the ground in another solid block of ice, though she fails to notice that the ice around my legs has started to melt.

An arrow shoots towards me, and I try to move away but considering I'm practically immobile, it manages to scrape past my shoulder and tear a large gash open in it. Looks like it'll be one of those days where I'm thankful for my condition.

They seem a little puzzled that I barely react to my shoulder being sliced open, but at least that gives me time to think.

2 guards down, 3 to go. Two of the three seem to not possess any magical abilities. So I'll have to take the sorceress down first.

She send another blast of ice towards my other hand in an attempt to completely incapacitate me, but it collides with a hex I was trying to cast on her and both evaporate upon impact, leaving nothing but a light grey smoke behind.

I swipe a hand through the air, only managing to cast a weak hex on all 3 of them. It gives them all a coughing fit, hacking and choking on the air. That was actually the first spell I ever learned. Amateur magic, basically, forcing air down their throats.

I grab the dagger from my boot and stab it into the ice at my leg, careful not to strain my bleeding shoulder to prevent possibly passing out from blood loss. I don't feel anything yet, but it's definitely a possibility with the way it's soaking through my coat.

I stab at the ice around my left hand with as much force as possible, panicking when their coughing fits start to subside. One of them finally recovers and shoots an arrow towards my head. Luckily, his aim is completely off as he's still wobbly on his feet and it pierces my thigh instead.

"Oh just great," I grumble, finally stabbing through the ice around my left hand. I break through the ice a little too hard, however, nearly slicing off my own finger.

I try to stand but my ankle twists like a flimsy piece of paper. I wince despite not being able to feel it, knowing the damage should be big if it can't even support my weight anymore.

I hobble away as quickly as my feet will allow, throwing another hex at them when they attempt to follow me. I feel more strength drain from me, causing my knees to wobble and making me trip.

Between the injuries and having used the most magic I ever have in one sitting, I'm surprised I can even get back up and manage to hobble away before they can come looking for me.

At this point, I'm soaked with my own blood, clothes stuck to me and feeling a familiar numbness in multiple points of my body, suggesting quite a few bones are broken.

I try to stop the bleeding in my shoulder with my coat, but it doesn't do much. I'll just have to hope our group's healer will be able to handle this.

A/N: Now that took longer to write than I expected. Oh and ah- Imogen is the main character, if I failed to make that obvious... She's our main girl Shicer. Who else will there be? Hehehe.