The Written Works: Black Market Traders

Now, as Jordini trekked around the continent of Euthawal in search of them, the characters she was in search of were on their own, separate journey. There was many a time in which their paths would come dangerously close to one another, only for fate to keep them apart for some unknown reasons. 

The five of them sat together, in the woods, around a fire (except for Staerrlingg, who stayed far away from it due to a fear of fire, pretending to be busy with something). Evanora was telling them a random story, which they had all come to expect from her by now. After all, she had been a nomad for an entire decade, which came with lots of stories to tell.

“So, then, Kory and I started swimming back home, when we saw this shadow over us. I looked up, and there was this massive shark!” She then began to stretch her arms out to show just how long it was. “It was MASSIVE!”

“Oh? And how did you escape?” Azia asked.

“Well, in a moment of pure genius I-”

But, just when she was going to tell the best part, the story that Evanora was telling was interrupted by the sounds of horses clomping somewhere nearby. It was a familiar sound to some of them, while to others, they became very confused (mainly Azia and Evanora).

“What’s that-”

Magnolia then covered Evanora’s mouth, eyeing the forest carefully. Kayne poured a bit of water on the fire to extinguish it, and the five of them gathered around each other.

“What is that?” Azia asked in a hushed whisper.

“I fear that they are slave traders.” Magnolia responded, finally taking her hand from Evanora’s mouth.

“Uh, so what do we do?” Evanora asked, mimicking their whispering to the best of her ability, but failing due to her natural loudness.

“I say fight them.” suggested Kayne, unsheathing his sword.

“I say that we hide.” Staerrlingg said, twiddling his thumbs and appearing very afraid.

“Agreed.” Magnolia added. “It would be entirely unnecessary. Come, they are close.”
So, all five of them scrambled to find bushes to hide in. Evanora, being herself, nearly dived into brambles several times, before Magnolia simply pulled her in the same bush as her and covered her mouth. Azia, instead of hiding in a bush, flew up into the canopies of the trees, and sat on a well-hidden branch, concealed by the many leaves. Staerrlingg hid in a bush nearby the three of them, while Kayne hid in what he would call a “vantage point”, which was really just another bush in a slightly more open position.

And they found their spots just in time. Four men on sleek brown horses came clomping through, swords in hand, talking to each other in a foreign language. Likely from the Fire Kingdom, based on their red clothes and the red accents on the saddles. It took every ounce of self-control for Kayne to not jump out and attack them, or for Evanora to not move at all. It was a rather hard task to remain hidden for all of them though, as they watched with bated breath and widened eyes.

But then, the men began speaking in the Common Language: “Where do you think they are? Boss told us they’d be around here.”

“Maybe his report was wrong?”

“Nah, there was a smoldered fire back there, they have to be here.”

“I heard that they’re all young, perfect to get in the workforce early.”
“Shut up.”

“Hey!”

Two of them then began having a quarrel with each other, while the other two rode on, looking unamused. The five hoped that this quarrel would distract them from finding them, but they were entirely wrong.

“Idiots, shut up.”
The two men then turned to the man in the back, who was very tired of them. He seemed the oldest out of all of them; perhaps the largest of them as well. His hair was graying, and he seemed very done with life in general.

“Hey, let’s just burn the forest so they’ll come out, okay?”
There was a long pause before all three of them agreed, and a spark formed in their hands, as they shot the flames at nearby trees. Magnolia winced, feeling the earth around her being charred (which was not a pleasant feeling, considering that she was connected to the very earth beneath them).

Kayne then had enough of sitting around and waiting to roast, so he jumped out, startling the horses. They all bucked and reared, squealing in fear of his screaming and anger. All of the riders fell off onto their backs, nearly trampled by the horses as they scrambled to run away. The riders stood up and immediately began directing their attacks on Kayne.

That was, until, Evanora took some water from her flask and put it over the hands of the riders, essentially rendering their powers useless. Their hands began to steam, so it was obvious this was a temporary solution, so this got the job done.

Meanwhile, Staerrlingg, Azia, and Magnolia were more concerned about the burning forest. Azia came down from the treetops, joining the others, as Staerrlingg and Magnolia frantically tried to put the fire out with a passion. But the fire continued to spread. It was obvious that it wouldn’t work until Evanora could come and cover the fires with water.

So the three agreed to start to attack the riders as well, going from behind and grabbing at them the best they could. Staerrlingg then, in a show of impressive strength, began levitating the four riders by the collars of their shirts, which allowed Magnolia to wrap them in vines (more specifically, poison ivy, to prolong their pain).

“We’re calling our boss!” the riders began to cry.

“He’s on his way!”

After this brief interaction, the five of them ran back to their camp, grabbing their things and running away. They ran to the north, towards the great northern mountain ranges, their hair and clothes flapping in the wind as they did.