Sky opened his eyes slowly.

He felt dizzy, like as if he had been drugged or something but he couldn't be sure.

When his head stopped spinning and his vision was much clearer he looked around.

Apparently, he was in a cage, and it was in a tent. It seemed to be early in the morning outside and he could hear constant noises, like as if people were bargaining over prices.

His first thought was that, perhaps the merchant was eventually able to get him past the border. But once he looked beside him, that idea was cancelled out.

Inside this tent, there were two other cages containing a child each. The one by his left had a little girl in it, and she was asleep with her legs against her chest. He guessed she was at most three years old. By his right was the other cage which held a boy captive. He looked a bit older than Sky.

From what Sky could see, the boy had been awake for quite sometime but his eyes were closed and his sitting position made it easy to realize that he was meditating. Sky, although confused at what exactly was going on, decided to also sit in a meditating position and closed his eyes.

Once that was done, he began thinking. Thinking about his mother.

His mother was the mistress of one of the Princes of the Emperor in the Phoenix Empire. At least, that was the much he knew.

From the moment he was born, he watched her being used and abused by the other mistresses they lived with in the common room the Prince provided in the outer sector of the palace. Obviously, she had been forced into being the Prince's mistress because of her unrivalled beauty.

He could remember feeling and seeing bruises on her body when she held him in her arms and cried by the corner of the room deep into the night.

Eventually, the other mistresses began harrasing him including the Prince himself. His mother feared that one day, they would really harm him beyond redemption so she decided to flee the Empire itself.

Her plan was going well as they were able to leave the outer sector of the palace and the surrounding community without being noticed. They met the fat merchant on the way and she paid him with the little money she had left, to take her through the border.

Before it happened.

His mother was humiliated even worse by that guard and burned in his sight!

Right now, there was a terrible frown on his face.

"Hey can you take it down a notch? You'll suffocate that little girl to death."

The voice distracted Sky and he opened his eyes. He turned to look at the boy who just spoke. His eyes were still closed in meditation.

Apparently, during his thinking, an aura flowed subconsciously out of his body, making the temperature in the room rise quickly. But the moment his eyes opened, the aura dissipated.

He studied the boy. The boy seemed calm and a simple yet noble expression was on his face. And though he was probably two years older than Sky, he was quite muscular and tall for his age.

"Why are you here?" Sky asked. "What is this place."

The boy opened his eyes. "Be respectful. One question at a time."

Sky didn't mind the boy's tone, afterall he was older than him and he was probably a noble. Arrogance was one of their traits. He'd had first-hand experience, but it was definitely going to change. Very, very soon.

"What is this place?" He asked again.

The boy sighed.

"I can't be sure of it's operations, but it seems to be a black market of some sorts."

Sky raised an eyebrow. "What's a black market?"

"It's where different items and in extreme cases, humans, are sold at extravagant prices to wealthy buyers interested in those items. Most of the time, they are obtained illegally and are normally banned from being sold on any counter." He said, and on seeing the look on Sky's face, he smiled faintly and added,

"I read about it once in my dad's library back at home."

"So what are you doing here?" Sky asked.

The guy humphed. "I should be asking you that. You don't look anything worth anybody's money. Well, except as a slave."

Sky still disregarded the tone of the boy and continued probing. What he needed was information.

"I was put in a cage while out of it." Sky replied. "By the way, my name's Sky Oden."

"Mine's Tecoy Ziek. But you can call me Tenny." Tecoy said, starting to like Sky because of the attitude he'd displyed. "I would shake you if this cage wasn't here."

"Me too." Sky said and turned to face the girl by the other side. She was still asleep. "So what about her?"

"Her? I don't know anything about her. They brought her in almost the same time you were brought in. I thought she was your sister."

"You've been alone in here for how long?"

"Seven days."

Just then, the tent was opened and two men in black armor came in.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"Get that one and I'll get this one." The first one pointed to the cage Tecoy was in before proceeding to lift the small cage Sky was in and carrying it outside the tent.

Now outside, everything looked different and even more lively.

People were everywhere, buying and selling, haggling and forking over prices. From what Sky could see, this place was large. The Sky was dark, but it was not real. There was a thin yet spiral dome-like bubble that enclosed this place. It could have only be done by a powerful Wizard.

Regardless, everywhere was lighted by magical orbs scattered around the environs.

Although a lot of people where present at this time, the black market was still an organized place.

Different magical tools were presented on different counters and so were some old relics and ancient artifacts. One noticeable thing about the people here was that, the buyers had black masks on, although of different designs while the sellers had white masks on their faces.

Like this, the security and identity of buyers and sellers could be kept discreet and it would reduce tailing once you where out of the market.

The guards carried them past several counters, heading to a large hall that had the name "Silver Fang" Nailed to the post.

The silver Fang family had been running the black market business for decades, making sure it was well severed from outside influences and knowledge. However, the prestige of the said market was just a cover up for the despicable things the Silver Fang's were running underground.

The great door into the hall opened and they entered.

The inside of the hall was exquistely grander than the outside. The lighting was still produced by the orbs but these orbs were much bigger than those outside, and shined brighter.

Thud!

The cages were dropped on the ground roughly in front of six people.

"Are you insane?!" Screamed a middle-aged man who held a folding fan in anger, and had a look of disgust on his face. He was wearing a long colourful robe, which made a striking statement.

"How many times will I tell you to handle the goods with care?"

The guards immediately bowed, although sneering behind their helmets. They both knew this man was an hypocrite. He was ten times ruthless than they were.

"Apologies, Mr. Gold Finger." They both chorused.

Whether he was a greedy and ruthless man or not, they had to respect him reason being he was the younger brother of Silver Fang and the one currently managing the whole black market's operation since his brother was away.

"Get out." Gold Finger said with a casual wave of his folding fan.

As they turned to leave, he spoke.

"Oh, and don't forget to bring the little girl over too. Quickly!"

"Yes, Mr. Gold Finger."

The guards left the building.

Among the six people standing there, only Mr. Gold Finger belonged in this place. The five men standing opposite him were from a different country. They all wore matching kits which made them look like assasins. On the upper part of their clothes was a symbol that took a resemblance with a cobra raising it's head to strike.

Their faces where covered by their personal masks which on one look could make a °black haired shiver in fear. They had black waist-long hair.

Their leader stood in the middle and he was the largest of them. His name was Drew, amd he was the one who spoke next.

"Just three?"

Gold Finger spread open his fan. "That's all we have to offer. But, I promise you they are not your normal gifted."

"Oh?" Drew replied, passively scratching his mask. "Tell me."

Just then, one of the guards from before came in with the last cage and this time, he dropped it gently beside the others and after bowing, left the hall.

"That one over there," Said Gold Finger, pointing towards Sky. "was able to control a large amount of fire and used it to attack one of the guards at the border of the Empire."

Drew took a good look at Sky who was perplexed at the scene before him.

"This scrawny kid?" He didn't want to believe what he just heard, but he knew that Gold Finger wouldn't dare tell him lies.

"Don't be like that Old Drew. You of all people know that the gift doesn't just favour certain people." Gold Finger said and continued his Exposition.

"The one beside him seems to be a *Kione."

"Seems?"

Gold Finger swiped his folding fan close.

"Well we haven't had the opportunity to test his skills, and you know that he is still a kid."

"I see." Drew replied. From his tone, it was evident that he was impressed with Tecoy than the latter. One good sign you could use to spot a Kione was their muscular body. And he could see that Tecoy had the brawns.

"If you take him and you are not satisfied with the results, you can return him." Gold Finger replied. It was obvious from his approach, that he had been in this business for a long time.

"What about her?" Asked the man standing immediately beside Drew, while pointing to the girl who was still sleeping in her cage.

Gold Finger had a crooked smile on his face as he answered.

"Apparently, she happens to be Mrs. Nature."

Drew's interest was immediately spurred.

"You mean she's a descendant of them?" He asked quickly. This would be the very first time he would actually see a greener.

"Yes. I'm sure of it." Gold Finger answered, happy that he was able to get such a reaction from The famous Cobra Guild. He had hit the jackpot for sure.

"Interesting." Drew nodded his head sagely. "We"ll be taking all of them."

"Great!" Gold Finger said and hit his folding fan in his palm in glee.

Drew signaled to the man ending the short line.

The man brought out a small red pouch and handed it over to Gold Finger.

Although he collected it, Gold finger had a suspicious look on his face.

"And this is?" He asked as he felt the pouch. It felt empty.

"A hollow. Inside it is three times the amount we pay for six. That's your reward." Drew answered, watching the reaction of the greedy man from behind his mask.

"Are you joking?" Gold Finger said, trying his best to hide the excitement and greed in his voice. If what Drew said was real, then he needn't worry too much about the funding for the Silver Fang's original business for a long time.

"Try me." Drew said.

With haste, Gold Finger opened the pouch and sent his soul's sense into the bag. And just as Drew had said, he could see an almost endless pile of gold coins within the walls of the hollow made by Drew in the pouch.

Gold Finger retrieved his soul's sense and stuffed the pouch into his robe.

"It's nice doing business with you all." He said and simply vanished from their presence.

Three guards came into the hall and stood beside the cages.

"How shall we package the goods?" One of them asked.

"Just take them outside. We'll handle it from there." Drew replied and the guards did as they were told.

Now alone in the splendid hall, Drew addressed his team.

"So, what do you guys think?" He asked them.

The tallest of them all, replied. " I don't see much potential in that scrawny kid over there, and I doubt Hector will also. I mean, they are all kids."

"All the better don't you think? Let's watch as it turns out uh?" Another said.

"Who would have thought we would actually see such a rare talent in a little girl in this age?" One said.

"And in this place no less." The last added.

Drew cleared his throat. "We've gotten an asset. Let's not waste it shall we?"

He began walking outside and the rest followed.

Now outside, they met the cages beside the hall with the kids in it.

Drew brought out a bead sized orb and smashed it. Out of it came a small speck of light which gently floated in front of them for a few seconds before expanding into a portal.

"Let's go."