After making that decision, Kael moved without rushing. First, he pulled himself back until he was completely away from the edge of the roof, then turned carefully, crawled several feet, and rose into a more balanced posture. From there, he began moving from one rooftop to another with measured steps, never placing his foot without first testing the surface, never shifting his weight without first making sure it would hold. His eyes were not fixed only on his destination, but also on the spaces beneath him, on the open windows, the corners from which someone might appear, and the roofs that might make a sound under pressure. He moved slowly, but his progress was not random. It was regulated by the rhythm of the woman and child's movement below. Whenever they moved, he moved. Whenever they slowed, he slowed. He kept a steady distance between himself and them, never close enough to become dangerous, never far enough to lose them. Inside, he tracked all of it with care. He did not want to repeat the mistake of the previous moment, nor allow himself to be seen again.
"Stay higher... and farther... and do not rush."
he told himself as he shifted his foot to the next roof, then added,
"Every step now... has a price."
He continued moving, and the alley that had been cramped and crowded only moments before began gradually to change. The walls were no longer as close together as they had been, and the roofs no longer touched in the same way. The open space began to widen, and the air grew lighter. With every crossing, Kael felt that the place over which he was passing no longer resembled what lay behind him. At one point, without stopping, he glanced briefly back and saw the alleys farther away now, tangled and darker, as if they belonged to another world already beginning to close itself behind him. Then he turned his gaze forward again, where the scene was clearly changing.
On the other side, the woman was walking with steady steps, the child beside her, but he was no longer as strained as before. Instead, he began to move more freely, stepping ahead and then returning, waving his hand, picking up some small thing from the ground and then dropping it, as if the curiosity that had once been fixed upward had now shifted to whatever was around him. Meanwhile, she kept her course without stopping, watching him from the corner of her eye whenever he wandered a little too far.
"Do not go too far."
she said without raising her voice.
"I won't."
he answered, running a short step ahead and then coming back.
Above—
Kael continued, but became more cautious, because the rooftops here no longer concealed him as they had before. The more open spaces meant a broader line of sight, and any mistake could be seen from a distance. So he lowered his body more, approached edges more carefully, and avoided standing in exposed places, until he reached the last roof that could carry him without exposing him. There he paused and looked down. The distance was not great, but the ground below was no longer hard stone as in the alleys, but scattered grass and soft earth that would swallow sound.
"Here... is better."
he said inwardly, then lowered himself slowly, avoiding any impact until his feet touched the ground and his body settled almost without a sound. He stayed there for a moment, listening, making sure, then moved.
He no longer walked as he had on the roofs. Instead, he chose his path among the grass, stepping lightly, avoiding dry branches, moving between the trees, drawing nearer when he vanished from sight, stopping when the space opened up, making use of the shadows and of the natural stretch of land that had begun to surround him. The trees were not very dense, but dense enough to give him cover. The air here was different—cleaner, wider, not carrying the echo of footsteps the way the alleys had.
He looked around for a longer moment this time, as if truly recognizing the change in the place. The ground was no longer narrow, no longer imprisoned by walls, but spread out in low hills, threaded with green patches, low plants, and small scattered flowers that gave a light color to the scene. In the distance, a higher line appeared—a hill rising a little above the rest of the land, with a small hut on top of it. Simple, but clear, as if separated from everything around it.
"This place..."
he said to himself slowly.
"It is nothing like the alleys... and nothing like the market..."
He stopped for a moment, then added,
"Not even like the village."
He went on, using every tree as cover, every bend in the earth as a shield, until he had come close enough without entering direct line of sight. Then he crouched behind a tree, fixed himself in place, and lifted his gaze carefully.
Ahead, the woman had reached the hut, opened the door, and gone inside. The child followed her, but paused for a moment at the threshold, looked around quickly—a normal glance this time, without the previous tension—then went in and closed the door behind him.
Kael remained where he was, unmoving, watching, listening, making sure that no one else was there, no guard, no strange movement—only the stillness of nature and the soft sound of air moving through the trees.
"Far..."
he said inwardly.
Then added,
"From the guards... and the market... and eyes."
He fell silent for a moment, then breathed slowly, as if something inside him had finally settled.
"My choice... was not wrong."
He did not move immediately. Instead, he remained behind the tree, watching the hut, studying the place, fixing its position in his mind, because he was no longer simply fleeing now. He had reached a point he had chosen for himself, and now he had to decide what came next.