Casting Shadow Step, I reached a clearing away from the execution site and began running in the opposite direction. Just as I was about to take my fifth step, a fireball spell hit a few meters away, its impact sending me flying to the left. I crashed through a few lamps and into a wall, landing with a loud thud in the living room of a house.
The elderly couple living there quickly got to their feet and fled through the big hole I made.
"Ugh… shit. That hurt."
"He went there!" A guard shouted. "There!"
"Apprehend him!"
"Don't let him get away from us!"
"He was wearing strange armor! Catch him!"
I got up and left the house through the kitchen window. A guard waiting there slashed at me, striking my stomach. The armor absorbed most of the damage, but I still felt a sting.
I shouldered him aside and continued running, entering the back alleyways. I could hear the thunderous footsteps of what sounded like fifty guards behind me.