"I was sent to Dorcastle to kill a Shadow carrying strange blades." The Mage stated simply.

"That is rather vague." Galen smiled, taking a sip of wine. "How do you know that I am the Shadow? There isn't another who carries strange blades in this city?"

Asha shook her head, not knowing why he was denying being the man. She could not even see a trace of fear on his face. But he had once been trained by a Dark Mage, so perhaps he could hide his feelings.

"The swordsmith said that you had killed both Mages and Mechanics."

That caught his attention. "The swordsmith? Not the Shadow who made my knives? And you acknowledge Mechanics being killed is equally important as Mages being killed?"

"Yes." She agreed without hesitation.

He studied her for a few long moments before speaking. "That is why you were sent to kill me?"

"Yes." She repeated, before continuing. "The past few months, I have begun to see others as not just Shadows, but being real. I have two friends, both of which the Mage guild seeks to kill. One was a Mage who was contracted to help Raiders in the Northern Ramparts, but the Mage Guild sent him alone, then contracted myself and several other Mages to assist the Imperial Legion to ambush them. Through the efforts of the Mage, he saved many of the Raiders, who saved him in return. I was unaware of what happened at the time, but I sensed him hiding while returning to Umburan, and we sought each other out. He told me of what happened and introduced me to the Mechanic that ended up saving him."

Galen had been listening intently, putting the pieces together from the stories he had heard. "Master Mechanic Mari and Mage Alain. You actually know them?"

Asha nodded. "I do. They are my friends."

Giving her a suspicious look, he asked, "How do I know that I can trust you? You may be on assignment from the Mage Guild to find someone who seeks to be the Daughter's ally, and get close enough to kill her."

Asha felt an inexplicable surge of anger at his words, causing her eyebrow to twitch. "I would never hurt Friend Mari." She said, in a voice that perhaps another mage would recognize as straining, but a Common would only hear the same emotional flat tones. Then again, this man wasn't a normal Common.

He continued to study her face, his own expression was hard in deep thought. He then slowly nodded. "Yes. That was real anger; you don't like your friendship and loyalty questioned. I think I can trust you."

"I am… Glad… is that the right word?" He nodded, encouragingly. "I am glad that you feel so."

"As am I. I didn't want to kill one as pretty as you." He said this in all seriousness. She couldn't see any humor in him at all.

"Why do you kill?" Asha asked, rather impulsively. She still did not entirely see Shadows as being real, but she also knew that Alain did, and Mari refused to kill unless given no other choice.

He took his time to answer, staring at her as well as nowhere in particular as he composed his thoughts. Finally, he started to speak slowly, "I have no desire to kill." He furrowed his brows as his mouth poised for the next word without knowing what it was. "But if someone tries to kill me, I will not give them the chance to do it again."

Remembering what her uncle told her, Asha pushed, "But no commons have died by your hand."

He nodded understandingly. "Only the soldiers have tried to stop me in trying to make the Guilds happy. But I have no desire to kill soldiers who are not given a choice. I would kill their commanders, but they protect themselves too well. I was trained for survival and practical swordplay in immediate combat, not assassination."

"The Daughter only kills when given no choice." She said it more as a warning for meeting Mari and what to expect than anything else, but to him it sounded more like condescension.

"I may lack mercy, but I act in practicality." He said firmly while giving her a sharp look.

Realizing that she somehow offended him, Asha struggled for words. "I am only warning you how the daughter will feel when you meet her. I pass no judgement." She saw him relax at those words, his body tense a moment before, now seemed relieved.

"I am sorry. I have left men alive before, and came to regret it. So although, I do act in probable necessity, it is something that... Bothers me."

"You feel guilty over their deaths?" Asha asked, not realizing how sensitive of a question that was.

"You mages certainly don't know any tact." Galen muttered under his breath, before answering properly, "Some, yes. Not all. I do not regret or feel any guilt for taking the life of the mage who brought all of this attention to me." Then quietly, he added, "But those afterward, I wish I avoided."

"Why did you stay in Dorcastle?"

"It didn't happen in Dorcastle. It started in Edinton, then I fled to Debran, then Danalee, and now I am in Dorcastle. The Mages follow me, seeking my death, and the Mechanics initially tried to kill me just to do what the Mages could not, but then after I killed the first Mechanic, who actually expected me to let him take my life just because I was a Common, they wanted revenge as well."

"You fear not the Mechanic weapons?" Asha asked, curious.

"Providence has kept me safe from snipers, and my speed has kept me alive from close quarters shooters. As long as you don't give them the time to aim, it is difficult for them to hit you." Then pulling his collar aside, revealing a blotchy, round, scar in his shoulder, he added, "But not impossible."

Asha nodded. "You have many scars."

"Most of them are from training with both the dark mage and my master. A couple of these are from mages' knives." He added. "I will give your guild that; few in Dematr can handle a knife like a mage."

"Not many mages are powerful enough to use spells in combat, so we are trained to use knives when we kill Shadows. Since mages are also not allowed to appear weak at any time, we must be able to defeat anyone in combat."

"Makes sense." He nodded, thoughtfully. "I have seen and fought fire and lightning mages, but the majority just turn invisible and try to stab me."

"You said before that you can sense spells, is that how you have survived?"

"In part." He confirmed. "I cannot do it as well as an actual mage, nor can I see you when you turn invisible. But when I sense a spell, I know to have my guard up. It is easy to see the signs of an invisible mage when you know to look for it. I also know very well what the sound of a blade cutting through the air sounds like." He said the last part while running his fingers along the scars of what had been deep gashes along his arms. "The closest I came to defeat by mages, was when one placed a hole in the ground beneath me while I was walking and I fell into the sewer where four other mages were waiting for me. The only reason I survived was because they didn't know exactly where I was going to land, so weren't able to surround me in time."

Asha was about to ask another question, when she suddenly felt a spell being prepared. She noticed that Galen was looking intently in the same direction. "You feel it as well?"

"Yeah, but I don't know what type of spell it is. Do you?"

"Definitely a spell creature." She replied immediately. "Definitely not a Rok. Too close for a Kraken, and it does not seem like a Dragon."

"So a Troll then?"

"Most likely."

"What do you think we should do?"

Asha thought about this for a moment. The big question was who was the actual target of the Troll. She was sent to kill him, but had not used a spell since before arriving in the city, so they could guess that she was not fighting her target. They probably knew that Galen frequented most of his time here, and sensed her presence as well since she had not been concealing herself. So they probably had been watching her and realized that she had no intention of even attempting to kill Galen and was now sending in the Troll to kill them both. "Run." She said simply. "We cannot fight a Troll."

Galen nodded, though Asha felt that there was something odd about his agreement. "So if we run and sneak away successfully, what will the Troll do?" he asked.

"He will most likely destroy buildings around the area until he finds us, or his power dissipates. The Mechanic guild or the Free Army may step in."

He nodded again, with the same fake feeling. "And how many will die?"

Then it hit Asha. "Many. Possibly a few hundred depending on how powerful the Troll is."

He looked at Asha with a very stern expression, "I may kill those who attack me freely and without mercy, but I will let a Troll crush my head in its fist before I allow innocent people to die. If you want to live, I will not hold it against you. But if preventing it from randomly killing innocents means that I need to fight it so its destruction is confined, then so be it."

"Have you fought a Spell Creature before?"

"Nope." He smiled. "Surprisingly, this is the first one they have sent against me."

"At first, they wanted a Mage to kill you to show that mages are not weak, but you have killed too many. They do not wish to risk anymore, and will now most likely send spell creatures after you rather than have you kill mages."

Standing up, he grinned, "So I'll piss them off and kill more mages. Want to join me?"