Allyna panicked! It was the second time, on that same day, that she found herself at the strange doctor’s house and, for the second time, someone knocked on his door just moments after she came in. She was visited last night by some red haired assassin named Lia, warning her to stop asking questions and that she would be followed for as long as she was in the city. That second knock was tieing her fears together. Maybe that challenge was a bit too much for her.

“She’s Marte! Oh dear, Dragon! It’s Marte!” – Little Hannah meant to hold the sound of her voice, but not her words. Allyna read the little girl’s lips as the sound of the opening door filled the silence. “She’s the pretty one from the D3 trio! She’s Lia’s associate! We’re in trouble!”, the little girl went on.

Allyna felt her heart race and pound in her chest, as if it wanted to break from her rib cage and run away ahead of her. She felt like she was about to die for the second time in a little over a month. And with that feeling, she lowered her head, placed one knee to the floor and clutched her hands around her necklace, and brought it to her lips. She now had something that she lacked before: faith. She whispered softly, a prayer into the old medallion, asking for guidance at that moment…

“Oh child, did you learn nothing?” – Allyna heard that sweet voice kissing her ears again, and it felt like magic – “If it is death that stalks you, trick it! I’ll be always with you. You have to trust in it… Trust ME.”

As the sound of steps and small talk came from the hall, Allyna came back to the world. Marte’s voice sounded soft and seductive, almost hypnotizing. She could not see her, but the sound of her voice carried beauty and danger with it. She needed to do something in order to break Marte, something she would not expect, that would giver her away, and make some time for the doctor to react. Either Allyna would be sure the doctor was on her side, or she would have evidence that she can not trust him, and find the opportunity to run from there. She had nothing to lose.

“If it is death that stalks you, trick it!” – Tymora’s words came back to her. ” – The ultimate trick, is to cheat death. So may I be the trick…”. Allyna murmured those words into the medallion before pushing the floor with her legs, rising from her kneeled position. And as she did, she could feel Tymora’s power flowing through her. Her hair growed to her shoulders, becoming red as it came down. Her cheeks and lips tickled for a moment and she watched her clothes change and turn into something familiar from the previous night. She was only sure of what happened after the startled little girl that was hiding across the room watching her said it through her breath: “Lia…?”. Allyna now looked exactly like her last night’s visitor.

It was hard to hide her emotions. Her heart still pounded in her chest, except that now it was not only fear. Excitement with what had just happened took over her. Not even in her dreams she could have ever imagined something like this. She could disguise herself previously but this…? This was on another level. This was magic! Allyna took a deep breath and looked at little Hannah. She was frozen in place. If it was fear or amazement, it was impossible to tell. Before going to the hall, the Lia-looking Allyna winked at the young girl, giving her a quick smirk: “stay hidden, Hannah”.

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Image credit: [could not find the author – here’s the Pinterest link: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/324751823100705099/?lp=true%5D