Boggy looked at the Market with awe. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He’d spent his entire time in the city either in the uninhabited alleys or in the streets when nobody had been awake. This was the first time that he’d seen so many humans gathered in one place. And they were all looking at him.
The humans all stood in the middle of the building, in a large, clumped, group, staring at Boggy.. They were dead silent, their eyes aglow with curiosity and just a hint of fear. Boggy looked at them the same way.
Truth be told, he wasn’t even that scared of them. Something about them was so… beautiful, so exotic. Boggy, who had seen beasts of all kinds in the Grove, found one that he loved to look at for the first time.
Bik looked on at the crowd with an unreadable expression.At least, Boggy wasn’t experienced enough at reading expressions to figure it out. He tried to follow the boy’s gaze, and found it landed on a smaller, older woman in the middle of the crowd. She stood on a rickety wooden stall, likely as old as her. Beside her stood two very familiar people.
One of them was the guardsman that Boggy had met at the front of the gate. The one who had tried to argue for him, at least.
The other was Ingy. Anger sparked from within him, but he smothered it quickly. Of course they were trying to lay a trap for him; they were humans, after all. He reminded himself that no matter how interesting the species was, they were evil.
This standoff dragged on for far longer than anybody was comfortable with. Boggy, engrossed in studying the various details of the humans, was startled by Edie’s whisper.
“Come on, do something.”
Taking a deep breath, he took a step forward. The crowd in front of him parted ways to accommodate him, with the same kind of stumbling as a prey trying to get away from their predator. He took another step, then another. They continued to move away, creating a convenient path to the stall that the old woman was standing on.
The silence broke, the tense air filled with murmurs and whispers as Boggy started to walk towards the center of their group.
The older lady, seemingly unfazed, walked off the stall with surprising grace for her age. She shoved her way towards him, moving the unaware bodies in front of her to the side. As she drew closer, Boggy realized that something was a little bit… off about her. As the woman stomped closer, he recognized it.
Boggy had never thought of eating a human, but something about her was decidedly unappetizing.
The human said something, translated by Edie to mean, “Well, well, well. If isn’t the troublemaker who’s been making such a scene around the city. Now, if you could go ahead and explain yourself, I’m sure that all of us would be very pleased.”
Edie, in her human voice, said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, really? First you frighten my boys, then they accuse you of stealing? And not just from anybody, but from Matthew?” She gestured towards Boggy’s cloak with disgust. “I mean, could you have picked a lower target?”
Edie paused. Boggy could have sworn he heard a silent, ‘I told you so’, from Darkness. The fish cleared her throat, and said,“You misunderstand. We just want to buy some magic.”
The lady rolled her eyes. “Oh, I’m sure that you do. How are you going to buy my amulets if you have to steal from the homeless?”
A larger human, the guardsman from before, approached the scene. “If he wants to buy magic, then I’ll give him some money.” Boggy felt a wave of relief, but maintained wariness. It was hard to believe that the human was just going to give him something through the kindness of his heart. Not even Boggy was naive enough to believe that nothing was wanted in return.
The older woman snorted. “Really, Teeger? Giving the cash that fell into your lap to a complete stranger, and not spending it on food? Or on your daughters?”
Teeger flinched. “Kelfy, I’m indebted to him. He’s the reason I have the money in the first place!”
“He’s the reason that you lost your job!” Kelfy’s voice was heated. “And if you had any common sense you wouldn’t bother with him at all.”
Boggy was completely lost. Even though he had the translation, it still felt like they were speaking a different language. To Edie, he whispered, “What’s going on?”
He received no response to the question, instead hearing a quiet, “Here’s what I’m going to do.” The boglet listened carefully to the instructions that Edie told him, his eyes widening in surprise. The plan seemed… simple. And also stupid. “Are you sure?”
“I’m positive.” Then, to the humans, she said, “Calm down. I’m not a thief, and I’m not a hero. I’m just your average, everyday traveler looking for some magic. I heard I could get some here, and I wanted to see what you have.”
According to plan, Boggy raised his hands in the air, feeling a little bit silly. According to the fish, it was a way of signifying that he meant no harm, but he couldn’t help but feel it was a ridiculous gesture.
“We-- I mean you no harm. I can pay you, as well.” This was the hard part of the plan. Boggy reached into his cloak and pried one of the golden rings from Karla’s talons. It was a hard battle. She fought back, thankfully silently, but after a prolonged struggle, Boggy managed to take it off her. He held it up into the air, letting the sun’s red light glint off it.
It drew an “ooh” of appreciation from the crowd, most of whom were too poor to afford such an expensive piece of jewelry. Compared to the jewelry of the Market, it was certainly of a higher quality, although it lacked the magical glow that adorned the pieces in the area. Edie, not willing to lose her momentum, said, “I’m willing to trade this for any of your magic items. Any of them.”
Kelfy paused, clearly unsure of herself. She stood up a little bit straighter, narrowing her eyes.“Pardon me for saying so, but that seems too good to be true. What’s the catch?”
“There is no catch. We just need magic that badly.” Edie managed to sound desperate, a difficult tone in the raspy, dangerous voice that she took on.
The woman was calculating. Her eyes flickered from the ring to Boggy, as though trying to figure out if he was telling the truth.
She reached a conclusion soon enough. Hesitantly, she said, “...And you’ll leave after I give it to you?”
“Yes.”
Darkness stirred underneath the cloak, anxious and excited. Boggy grasped the cloak with his free hand in an attempt to reassure him. It was exciting to be so close to their goal so soon.
An unexpected voice sounded. “You can’t do that!” It was Bik, who had shaken out of his stupor. “He’s evil! He uses dark magic! He-- he--” Bik was on the verge of tears, pointing at Boggy with a shaking finger.
Kelfy sighed, and moved to embrace him. “Come now, Bik. I know he’s scary, but be reasonable. We need it.” She looked up at Boggy, with a hint of reproach in her eyes, and more than a hint of greed. “I’ll get it to you. Just stand still and don’t do anything.” She bustled back to the little wooden stall, and grabbed a small silver necklace.
She brought it back to Boggy, and tossed it to him. The throw was not the gentle arc of a prized possession, but fast and deadly, like that of a spear. Still, Boggy managed to catch it, and looked at it as it sprawled across his palm.
It was not the best necklace ever made. It was silver, tarnished in some places and worn down in others. The craftsmanship was awful, an intricate design attempted and clearly failed. Indeed, on its own the only value that could possibly be attributed to it was historic.
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As a magical item, however, it was more incredible than anything else Boggy could have imagined. It emenated a gentle cerulean glow, as calm as a tranquil pond. Just looking at it made him feel a little bit more relaxed, despite the strained situation.
With a sigh, he tossed the golden ring over to her, and turned around before they could change their mind. As he walked out, he held the necklace up the light, admiring it once more. Truly, only one word could describe it. “So colorful.”
Darkness echoed the word with envy and wist. “Colorful.” Boggy smiled at the thought of his friend looking onto the piece of jewelry.
Apparently Edie had a different word in mind. “So shiny.”
As if on cue, a loud screech erupted from Boggy’s torso area. “Shiny!?” A great bulge grew on his chest, much to Boggy’s disgruntlement, and he realized too late what it was. Before he could do anything to stop her, the bulge grew and grew, until it burst out of the cloak into the shape of a rocky bird.
Karla soared out into the air, a beautiful brown blur to the bystanders. Until she was on top of them. That was when the humans started screaming. She ripped anything vaguely shiny off of the market stands, targeting the magical items with extreme prejudice.
But Boggy wasn’t worried about the havoc-creating bird. The tear in the cloak was large, and it had punched through the cape as well. Darkness, who had been living inside the cape for the longest time since he’d left the cave, seemed to leak out of the cloak. Dozens of pitch-black tentacles spilled from the hole, despite Boggy’s best attempts to stop them from leaving.
As soon as the red sun’s light touched them, they burned with a black flame, only adding to their unholy appearance. Accompanying it was a scream of horrendous pain.
“Darkness. Darkness, calm down!” Boggy tried to scoop his friend’s essence back into the cloak, but it was no use. His hands passed uselessly through the blackness.
Darkness, in a panic, began to struggle harder, despite Boggy’s attempts to calm him down. More and more tentacles burst through the cloak, reaching with desperation for shade and comfort. Boggy turned around, trying to hide Darkness from the sun with his own shadow, but it was too little, too late. He looked up, hoping to see something that would help him.
All he saw were humans looking on with fear. For the umpteenth time in his life, Boggy realized that he didn’t fit in.
###
Kerfly watched with horror as the black tentacles danced into the air, waving this way and that. The mere sight of them froze her legs, and her heart skipped a beat. They swayed and swiveled, as though dancing to a silent song.
The rest of the audience also seemed to be paralyzed. Kelfy, who had seen her fair share of nightmares come to life, managed to snap out of it after only a couple of moments. Still too late, it seemed.
The tentacles stopped in mid-air, as the stranger, or hero, or whatever he was, grappled with them. They seemed to sprout straight out of his chest, but there was no blood or dismembered body parts on the ground, which Kerfly took to mean that the man was alright.
With shaking legs, she moved in front of the crowd, using her hands to push them back. “Get away from it, all of you! Stay back!” Some of the bystanders were less receptive to her voice than others. In response, she shouted louder. “MOVE!”
That got some people, but most were still transfixed by the rapidly unfolding scene. Kelfy opened her mouth, ready to yell in distress, but was interrupted by a loud screech above her.
She looked up, and saw a rock headed straight for her head. Covering her head with her hands, she ran away from where it was going to land, moving closer to the black tentacles than she liked. When she turned around, the rock opened up its wings, revealing itself to be a bird, and began to attack the crowd.
Kerfly squinted her eyes as it seemed to just skim over its victims, not so much as a scratch on any of its presumed victims. There was a colorful glint coming off of its talons, and with a start, she realized that it was only stealing from them, not actually hurting them.
That didn’t do anything to calm people down, though. In fact, it only riled up her elderly rival even more. “Get back here, you avian idiot!” yelled Bleak Berney. “That’s worth more money than your rocky hide!”
Despite the circumstances, Kerfly couldn’t help but smirk a bit at the sight of the smug bastard chasing after the bird, screaming. Then she straightened her face, and put on a stern face. The world was ending. This was no time for petty revenge.
She looked around for somebody, anybody who could help her. In front of her, closest to the mass of tentacles, which seemed to be receding back into the “hero”, was Teeger. Kelfy ran towards him. Maybe she could exploit his size and actually make people get out of here.
The former guardsman was kneeling on the ground, slack-jawed and wide-eyed. Kelfy yelled, “Teeger. Teeger!”
No response. Well, it looked like she was going to have to do things the hard way. She wound up her arm, and slapped him across the face as hard as he could. The sound resounded across the Market, and Teeger’s head snapped to the left. “Ow!”
“You deserved it. Calling whatever that is a hero.” Kelfy yanked him to the feet. He rubbed his face, looking hurt. “Don’t argue with me. Anyways, we have bigger problems. How are we going to get everyone out of here?”
Teeger took a look at the panicked crowd behind him, and gave Kelfy a defeated expression. “We’re going to have to calm them down first, if we don’t want half of them trampled to death.”
Kelfy rubbed her eyes with her palms, and racked her brains for ideas. She’d been through worse. She could do this.
An idea hit her. “Wait. This could work.” She grabbed Teeger, and started pulling him towards one of the exits.
“Woah, woah! Aren’t we going to help these people first?” Teeger didn’t yank his arm away, but he didn’t let himself be dragged away either.
“We are.” Kelfy could feel her mind overclocking, thinking of all the different things that they could do. “I have an id--”
She stopped in her tracks. Across the market, near the main entrance stood a small boy. An awestruck boy, right in front of the many-tentacled monster.
David stared right back at her. In a quiet voice that she shouldn’t have been able to hear, he said, “Mother?”
###
“Wait, David.” Belle managed to gasp out in between breaths. She trailed behind the boy, legs shaking from effort. She’d run more today than she had in the rest of her life. “I swear that I’m going to start jogging from now on. Every morning.”
An empty promise, but not one that she was worried about right now. She concentrated on getting to where her small guide had gone, hoping that she hadn’t lost him. Not a moment ago he’d zoomed down the alley, and she’d only caught the tail end of him. She was pretty sure that he’d turned left.
A loud group of shrieks came from the left. Filled with more confidence, Belle turned left, and continued to half-walk half-run down the alley. Thankfully, this one was a straight shot, and she could see David standing right in the middle of the entrance to some sort of abandoned building.
It was large, perhaps a storehouse in its previous life. It probably also sounded peaceful back then. Now it was filled with the screams of terrified humans, and that shook Belle to her core. She ran to join David as fast as she could, and screeched to a halt next to him.
Running had been a mistake. She doubled over, heaving for breath and feeling incredibly nauseous. She scrunched her face up and looked up, ready to apprehend whatever criminal was around. Without magic. Somehow. “Where’s the thief, David?”
It only took her a second to realize that the culprit was very, very visible, and that this situation was far beyond saving. A pitch-black monster stood strong in the middle of the building, although it seemed to be growing weaker. The crowds were in chaos. And was that… a Kanmi?
The sight was an information overload. Belle used the trick that her mother had taught her. She closed her eyes, and counted to ten. With a somewhat clearer mind, she examined each element of the scene.
First the black, tentacled monster. She had no idea what it was. She skipped that for now.
Next, the Kanmi. She had no idea where it had come from, or how it had gotten here. Another skip.
The magical artifacts. This wasn’t that much of a surprise; she knew that David was using them, it wasn’t a surprise that he had connections to other magic users.
Then the human that the monster was apparently attacking. Now, this was something that she knew. He was a human that was burned into her memory. He was the first person that she’d ever killed. Yet there he stood, in the middle of a human city, looking as spry as the day he died.
He saw her, as well. And recognition flickered in his eyes. All doubts to the contrary fled her mind; this was the same man that had trespassed onto the Grove.
All in all, Belle was more confused than she had been. She ignored all the questions that were building up in the back of her head and formulated a plan of action.
She needed to capture the man who was being attacked, and find out how he survived. Just as she was about to run onto the scene, however, the black tentacles seemed to calm down. They shrunk down, and the man from the Grove stuffed the pitch-black monster into the remains of his cloak, which he fashioned into a scrunched up sack.
Now was her chance. Belle prepared to walk into the fray, and confront him, but then she heard a voice behind her, not too far away. “Hello? Burner lady? Are you around here?”
She stopped in her tracks, eyes wide. “Oh no. Oh, no no no no.”
The priest turned around the corner, and his expression immediately brightened. “Ah, there you are! You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to…” He trailed off as he took inventory of the scene.
The black monster, still barely peeking out of the cloak. The bird. Then, his eyes fell on the magical items that were scattered throughout the building. His face went red. Belle opened her mouth to say something, but she was too late.
As loud as he could, he shouted, “HEATHENS!”
All eyes turned to him, and everything seemed to stop. Even the Kanmi stopped midair, falling in a graceful arc.
The chaos turned to silence as the crowd registered this newest development.
Then all hell broke loose.