• A pale sickly looking boy with startling blue eyes came crawling forward and wrapped his arms around the legs of my attacker. He began to cough violently, and tiny specks of dark blood appeared on the dirt floor in front of him.

    Panicking, I sprinted blindly towards the door. A tall, dark skinned boy stood in front of me blocking my path.

    “Where are you going, coward?” he growled, picking me up by the back of my shirt.

    “I didn’t do anything, and I would appreciate it if you’d let me go.” I said bravely, staring him coldly in the eyes.

    He set me down roughly and looked away. “Go help Stade,” he ordered, pointing to the blue eyed boy.

    I calmly walked over Stade and picked him. He looked to be slightly older than me, but was surprisingly light.

    “What do I do with him?” I called to the dark skinned boy.

    “Put him on the bed,” he grunted, swinging my attacker over his shoulder.

    I found a small, dirty bed in the corner of the room. There didn’t appear to be any blankets or
    covers, so I lay Stade gently down on top of the mattress. I pulled down my sleeve and wiped the blood from his mouth. Stade’s eyes fluttered opened.

    “Thank you Miss,” he whispered.

    I nodded.

    “Is there anything else I can do?” I asked, more out of politeness, than the fact that I actually cared.

    Stade thought for a few seconds. “Would you please go outside and ask Dryden how Gabriel is?” he asked anxiously.


    I sighed, wishing I had never asked, and headed out the door.
    ---

    I found the dark skinned boy sitting on the grass outside the pawn shop.

    “Dryden?” I ventured.

    “What?”

    “What’s wrong with that kid?”

    Dryden turned to face me. “You mean the one who did that?” he asked, pointing to the gouge on my shoulder.

    I nodded and sat down beside him.

    “I don’t think it’s any of your business, but Gabriel has epilepsy. Dryden sighed. “He did nothing wrong, you have no right to blame him,” he finished threateningly.

    Dryden stood up and pulled me up by my injured arm.

    “Gabriel will probably wake up soon, and he’ll want to know what happened.”

    My eyes watered. “There are two things you should know about me;” I hissed coldly, “firstly, I don’t obey you out of fear, but because it is logical, and secondly, I fight to the level of my opponents.”

    Before he could respond, I hooked my leg around his right knee and pulled. Dryden grunted as he fell to his knees.

    “You’re just a useless cripple,” I sneered, as I walked back into the shop.