Chapter 1 The Kingdom Part 2

They continued up the main road toward the center of the outer keep. Then they turned left, and went straight into an alley. A market alley. It was fairly large for an alley, but that’s probably why it’s called a market alley and not just an alley. 

“Woah,” Will said, pulling on the reins to bring the horses to a stop. “We’ll set up the produce here.”

    “Ok.”

    They stood there for a couple of hours. The flow of customers was pretty even. They sold about a half of Dragon Heart Beats, almost all the Burning Bush Berries,  and a third of the coal oat. Practically no Boom Shrooms though. That’s odd. Most people bought lots of Boom Shrooms. I guess not this year. Maybe people are getting sick of them. No matter, that just means more for us when we get home.

    “Hey will, when are we going home,” Jack whined.

    “ We head home at the end of the day,” Will said, while handing a man 15 lbs. of Coal Oats. “Not as fun as you thought it would be?” 

    “Nope not at all.”

    “Welcome to my life,” he said, under his breath.

    “I’m gonna go look at that  guy’s book shop across the alley.”

    “Don’t get into any trouble,” Will said, pointing a knowing finger at Jack. “You tend to get in trouble, and it’s not gonna be too fun if you get in trouble with someone from the city.”

    “Fine, Dad,” Jack said,jokingly.

    He’s such a trouble maker sometimes, I really hope he doesn’t get into any trouble. There was one time he convinced our dad to let him go down the canyon alone. Five minutes later he came running out of the canyon with a whole herd elk charging at him. And that’s not a very easy thing to do. Will watched as Jack walked over to the shop, and started looking at the trinkets. He brought his attention back to the alleyway. It seemed to be thinning out. In fact there were hardly any people in the ally at all, other than the merchants selling. Something felt very strange. The streets were never this empty, especially at midday. 

Out of nowhere a force blasted Will over his cart. It was almost like wind, but the force didn’t come from the air. It came through the wall, not air but an actual force. They had to get out of there.

    “Jack!” Will yelled across the alley. “Jack, get over here, we need to go now!” Screams and cries started echoing over the entire city. Only being magnified by the alley in which they stood. Jack quickly dashed over to Will. 

    “Wil,  we need to hide.”

    “No, we need to run. There is nowhere to hide, we’re in an alley where can we hide?”

    “The old man said we need to hide now!”

    “The merchant was old, but not old enough to be called old.”

    “Not the merchant, the old man.”

    “Jack you don’t know what you’re talking about, let’s get out of here.”

    Right as Will said that, a person hopped onto the wagon and whipped the reins of their horse. Will and Jack immediately jumped into the back of the wagon. Will seized the person on the seat of the wagon. Grabbing the reins out of their hands. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing, this is my wagon.” 

    “Not anymore it’s not.” said the female voice.

    “Oh ya, says who?”

    “Says them,” She said, pointing behind them down the small street. Will saw five inhuman bandits charging at them, at an alarming speed. The one in lead looked half goat half man, with massive spiral pointed horns. “And if you don’t let go of the reins, we’ll all die.”

    Will quickly let go, realizing he had no idea what was going on, and was in better hands by trusting a person who did. The goatman’s left man hurtled a black spear straight at Jack, but slightly missed, piercing through the wooden boards of the wagon. The lizard-like creature gave a little grin, then disappeared leaving behind clouds of shadow. An instant later the creature appeared right above it’s spear, adn right next to Jack. Jack screamed as the thing grabbed his arm. But before it could do much else, the hooded girl flung her arm back releasing a small blade that broke the board holding onto the black spear. The spear dropped to the stone road. Then the monster quickly followed disappearing and reappearing again. Only Jack was right next to him. All of the bandits immediately stopped. Happily claiming their prize.

    “Jack!” Will yelled. “Turn back!” he said, pleading with the girl. “Please, he’s my brother, I can’t lose him.”

    “No,” she said, firmly. Will felt enraged. How could a person be so cruel. He grabbed the reins and tried to yank them away from the hooded girl. She yanked back, causing the horse to change direction. He countered with another tug, then shoved her with his free hand. She released one hand, then reached into her coat and pulled out a knife. Holding to Will’s neck. 

    “Fine,” Will said, letting go of the reins. “You win.”

    “Thank you. Now if you’ll let me, I’m going to take you to a safer place in this city,” She said, taking a sharp right turn into a dark alleyway. She pulled the horses to a stop, then placed the knife back at Will’s neck. “Don’t try anything funny, I don’t want to have to use this,” she said, gesturing to the knife.

    “Okay, okay,” Will said, in a soft voice. Trying to soothe the strange character. “I get it. I don’t listen to you, I die.”

    “Good,” She said, right before hammering him in the head with the pommel of the dagger. Everything went dark.