|
|
|
The marketplace of Syon seemed a different world compared to the dark dungeon I had walked out of just moments earlier. It scared me, the feeling of something poking my subconscious...I didn't feel safe. I felt so out of place, Humans were staring daggers and rocks at my back as I passed.
I sat on a small bench at a bakery to rest, asked for a roll of bread and ate it quickly. "Sixteen Kale," I faced the baker and realised I had no money.
"I'm paying for her as well," A man, an Elf, sat down next to me and smiled. The baker seemed offended, but accepted the four small coins anyway. "I haven't seen a Rhitel around here in ages," The Elf spoke without looking at me.
I nodded and started to leave, but the Elf stood and stopped me. I didn't realise he was so tall until he stood inches above me. "Thanks for the food, but I'm sorry I can't repay you," He grabbed my hand and in it placed a small bag of money. "From a friend," He looked like a bounty hunter, most likely a war veteran.
I noticed he had one blue Human...no, Rhitel eye and one green Elven eye that went well with his straw-colored hair. A long, deep scar ran down the left side of his face across the blue eye. I decided not to ask about it. "I cannot take this." I gave the bag back to him and left him standing in the doorway.
"Thank you, come again!" The choreboy said with a cheerful smile that didn't reach his eyes.
Out of the corner of my eye I watched the Elf sit down and drink, replacing the bag into his pocket.
As I walked, a tall boy stopped me and pointed to the ground at his feet, saying, "Excuse me, Miss. Did you drop your handkerchief?" He bent over and handed me the cloth. "No, I'm sorry, it's not mine," I replied, handing it back.
"Ah," said the boy, and he walked toward the woman in front of me, asking the same question. As the boy distracted the woman, a girl about the same age as him carefully grabbed and untied the bag of money at the woman's belt and backed away. "Hey," I called.
The boy handed the handkerchief to the surprised woman and ran off, the thief-girl trailing behind. I followed.
The chase led me to an alleyway. There were plenty of barrels and boxes filled with what seemed like gunpowder. I kept my eyes on the children. They were pacing back and forth, whispering to each other. A man walked up to the children. He was large and wore a maroon claok.
"I see you've got the money, eh?" He grabbed the bag from the boy's hand and inspected it. "A'right," he admired the gold for a moment. The girl stepped forward.
"So we got your money, now bring her back!" the man was taken aback. "Patience, love. 'Ere she is." He snapped loudly twice and two more men came. Behind them, a woman was dragged by handcuffs.
The girl ran to her crying, "Mam!" The boy stayed, staring at his feet. "Please, let her go!" The girl stood up and pleaded. "A'right boy, you 'eard the girlie, let 'er go." One of the men uncuffed the woman and threw her at the girl's feet, just before he shot her.
"No!" The girl fell to her knees at the dead woman and watched as the pool of blood coming from the woman's head soaked her skirt. The boy spoke for the first time since we arrived. "Rha, she's dead, leave her peace." He turned toward the man. "You promised my sister you would give her back and-"
"That I did, and that I did, son. I gave 'er back to you, being alive was not part o' the deal, as I recall." The boy scowled and reached in a small back about his waist, pulling out a knife that he hid behind his back.
"Oi, you, fatso!" Wow, that sounded wimpy, the poor kid. The man walked forward with death peering out of his eyes, distracting the boy from seeing the man with the gun. The boy, not noticing the danger he was in, gripped the knife at the same time the gun was being cocked.
"Hey, don't you see the man with the gun?" I yelled. I ran out of my hiding place only too late. I put everything I had into trying to push the boy out of the way in time, only to see my efforts fail. I stood just a few feet from the surprise-stricken boy, waiting for the bullet to peirce its target. I must've stood there for at least a minute until I heard a chuckle.
I opened my tighly shut eyes only to look straight across the alley into the laughing eyes of the Elf I met just an hour earlier. He lowered an oversized gun and stepped forward at the sound of two bullets falling, one the man's, and one his own. I stepped back, and the boy ran behind me, all the rage in his eyes turned to fear. The portly man turned around and shot the man who had fired the first bullet with his own handgun. "No mistakes, I said."
As the man fell from the bullet in his heart, the Elf raised his weapon once more and pointed it at the man who just spoke. "You...scum." His blue eye glistened in the dim light, putting even more emphasis on the scar that ran across it. The man on the other end of the gun smirked, and that look held even after a large red bullet shot through his forehead and fell out the other side, leaving a slightly sharp clink as it hit the concrete, followed by the thud of the man's now-dead body falling to the floor. The man who came in with the other, dragging the woman turned and ran away, incoherently bumbling to himself.
The Elf slung his gun on his back and clipped a buckle to hold it in place. "Always did prefer bows, but you have to admit, that was pretty cool." He stepped toward the girl, Rha, and I followed, the boy still clinging to my shirt. Rha pretended not to notice and went back to crying over her mother's death. "There, now."
I stepped toward the girl and she turned around and hugged me. The boy spoke. "Curse that man," he gritted his teeth, holding back tears. "He kidnapped our mom after our dad died, and demanded that we bring him a ridiculous amount of money to get her back. And then," I let Rha back away, and leaned over to close the woman's eyes. "May Mikhail be with you."
"I'm glad I followed you when I saw you running," the Elf turned and started to walk away. "Wait," I called. He turned only for a second to say, "You need not thank me." I hesitated. "Your name," I asked. He stopped once more. "Shaunt."
Shaunt left and Rha went over to her brother. "Zess, what do we do now?" The boy, named Zess, bent over and picked up the knife he had dropped. "We know who he was working for, I'll kill him!" The girl tensed, clearly afraid of her brother's words. "Hey, you can't be but about thirteen. What will a boy of your age be able to do? Do you even know how to wield a weapon?" He corrected me. "fifteen and two-thirds." I sighed. "still too young. Who was it he was working for?" Not that I'd know.
"King Rhan." The tone in his voice sent a chill down my spine. My eye started to ache terribly, and I fell to my knees. The girl ran to me. "What's wrong?"
 Asheill · Sat Nov 15, 2008 @ 09:04pm · 3 Comments |
|
|
|
|
|
