CoE The Last Shapeshifter

Chapter Thirty-One

Nicko pulled her half mask up her face as she walked with purpose to the market place. The torches were few and far between, making Nicko feel even more uncomfortable. Her blonde ponytail moved around behind her like it had a mind of its own and she resisted the urge to cut it shorter with Ardis. She pushed her hands into the pockets of her trousers, bare arms exposed to the warm weather despite it being after dark.

Her soft footsteps on the cobblestone street was the only sound to be heard. She walked quickly to the market place. The torches were becoming more frequent and better quality and she could see the tops of the market stalls through the side alleys.

She cracked her neck before entering the market place. It was almost the same as last time, the torches casting an orange kind of light onto the stalls and their owners. Posters that captured Nicko's face as well as Jack and Faya's likeliness were still on the walls surrounding the stalls. People still milled about like before, buying and selling what they either had or needed.

But it was not the same as last time. Not all was well.

As Nicko turned her head back and forth she noticed the little details that were the evidence of trouble in her home. Stall owners were always scanning the crowd nervously, as if something would pop right out of the shadows. No children played around the market stalls. Normally the sound of their laughter would fill the gaps left by the stall owners calling out their stocks. But not even the stall owners raised their voices. The few people that milled through the stalls were quiet, hiding their faces and jumping at every little noise. No one went through the alley ways, normally one of the safer ways of getting to and from the market place.

Nicko hurried over to the produce stall, for one she needed apples from there, and secondly she knew the stall owner since she had been a child. She swerved her way through the street, at least that hadn't changed in the past month. Her eyes searched the poles above the market place for the one with the basket and sprouts. No one bought the sprouts and the stall owner had always just put them above his stall. For they stank too.

She found the stall quite by accident. To be more precise she ran into the stall owner, who of course didn't recognise her.

"Sorry miss! Someone's in a hurry." The thin stall owner said, pulling Nicko away from his bony frame. She looked up at his shoulder length light brown hair and dark red eyes and sighed in relief. She panted a couple of times, pulling her half mask down with one hand in the air. Thankfully he didn't move, probably rather concerned if he had injured the young blonde before him.

She stood back to her full height, her stance confident, and their height nearly exactly the same. The stall owner looked straight at her, his expression thoughtful. Nicko rolled her eyes before subtly moving her blonde fringe from her right eye. The stall owner's eyes widened before he practically dragged her to the back of his stall.

"Nicko what are you doing here?" He demanded, his voice rough and soft.

"Nice to see you two Joshua." She said, her hands on her hips. "What on earth is going on here?" Nicko said before Joshua put his hand over her mouth and pushed her head downwards and out of sight.

An older couple walked up to the produce stall and nervously asked for some vegetables. The man stood behind his wife, eyes scanning the crowd as if he was guarding her. The woman stuttered out a thank you as Joshua handed them their order and Nicko could see her hands were shaking as she handed over the appropriate amount of coins. Joshua thanked them before returning to his stool, just in front of Nicko. He turned his head to both sides before sliding off the stool and down under the table where he had pushed Nicko.