The guards, too, were surprised that he had the nerve to hide the orb, instead of giving it up now that he was surrounded. But Ryan knew what he was doing - or sincerely hoped he did. This wouldn't be the most daring thing he had ever done, though, and he had always pulled through, so why not now? One time had cost him his arm, however, and in a sense his freedom as well. Well, no time to reminisce now, these guys wouldn't let him free even if he had given the item to them.

He tripped one of the guards, so breaking the circle, but doing so, became visible for a moment and one of the spears pierced his left shoulder, or rather, attempted to. Although there was a cut and blood came out of it, tip of weapon simply broke in two against the harder structure of his shoulder. Next moment, he had half jumped, half rolled out of their reach and disappeared, hidden by his invisibility shield once more.

Although now the archways leading out of palace yard were guarded, it was rather chaotic formation and with hearty push, he got two of the men out of his way. If there was anything that he could thank Zofies for, it was decent food in large amounts they gave to him, giving him both body mass and more stamina. He still had enough energy to find a hiding spot remaining hard to notice.

Man picked a small street that, as far as he knew, was leading to city wall. There, he'd find some nice roof or spot behind boxes. Preferably second. Well, Ryan found neither but pile of old boxes, sacks, boards and even light furniture would have to do. Apparently, people of this city piled their thrash that could be used as firewood here. He didn't have time to think about why, he just pushed some boards aside and squeezed behind a frail shelf, placed board in back and crouched there. His shoulder stung slightly, but he couldn't take a look at it now. There was barely any breathing room here.

Soon enough, guards ran by him, shouting and arguing. He waited for a while, to make sure that they really were gone, before getting out of his tiny hideout and moving further, using darkness as his aid. Finally, he found the small alley (or one identical to it) where had had taken nap earlier and as quietly as possible, moved the boxes to recreate the pile into another spot, making a small hideout and fortress. Besides, in a moment of dire need, he could clamber on them from there on the wall. They'd never find him in desert with his invisibility sphere fully active.

Now it was time to focus on the real thief and his own shoulder. As expected, she had moved onto next dimension. He could track her, but currently was unable to follow her. The machine needed full 24 hour recharge this time and the 'signal' was unclear here, even with needed energy he wouldn't be able to open a portal here. More than annoyed, he went to bandage his shoulder lightly and settle for night's rest. He was careful to not bring out the orb, in case it did another firework trick.

Time to rest... As much as it was possible. His stomach didn't quite agree to the idea, and the muesli bar he dug out of his backpack didn't help much either. But that's what he had been given for this mission and that he would have to do, until morning when he'd manage to steal something before moving onto next world to hunt Sophie. Was she hungry, too? Probably had thieved something someplace. Besides, why would he have to worry if she had eaten or not!? The girl was more trouble than she was worth, for sure.

Finally, he slipped into uneasy sleep and woke with first sunlight. His left arm felt sore all over and he didn't feel much more rested than last night. Maybe if he was in more familiar surroundings, he would feel better, as sleeping while being on the run on its own was nothing new to him. But it wasn't like he missed anything about that damn city he called 'home', or even the whole world.

His first stop was market where he stuffed pockets and backpack full with fruits (and hurriedly devoured some in back-alley), of course, without the owners of these goods noticing. He also filled his canteen with water - who knew how long he'd have to wander desert for good 'reception' of the signal? All this realm travelling business seemed to get more and more ridiculous with every detail that popped up.

Next step was getting out of city, but much to Ryan's dismay, the gates were locked and well guarded now. That meant there was only way out - over the wall. He waited out for one guard patrol to leave guard house and sneaked in, quickly moving up the staircases that led on city's wall. There were many men stationed there, it'd be tricky to sneak by them and find a spot where sand dune was higher so he could more easily land there. Of course, he could 'fly down', but with risk of revealing himself which would make such a big hassle.

Luck was not on his side that day, however, and one of the guards was far more attentive than others, noticing that slight breeze Ryan made passing him by and faintest blur. He tackled unsuspecting albino, shattering his concentration and the two began a struggle on the wall, with more guards approaching very quickly. What wouldn't Ryan give for a good distraction right now!