The Elf Thief

Chapter 21: A Familiar Face

            “Outrageous!” Nyx slammed her fist on the table, making things shake and fall to the ground. “I could buy ten daggers for that price! I just saw a vendor that had them half the cost for two!”

            “Ah, yes,” purred the fat peddler, “but this is a rare piece indeed. It was stolen from the Vault of War and will make the wielder indestructible.”

            Dearekk managed to hide his snort with a cough. Anyone knew that the Vault of War was cursed, even if a thief had managed to sneak in, he would be dead before he could take two steps with the dagger. Not to mention the Vault of War…changed anyone who tried to wield its weapons.

            Suddenly, something caught his eye. A lone stand set up a ways into an alley. Nyx was clearly occupied at the moment, explain to the shopkeeper just how inconceivable his price was, she surely wouldn’t miss him. Sneaking off towards the side, he headed for the strange looking stand.

            As he stepped in front of the shop, an old woman looked up. Wrinkles adorned her face, and hair was pure white, not a streak of grey in it. “Why hello, my boy,” she cackled, “Would you like to buy a wasp’s eye? They are quite useful for escapes.”

            Dearekk took a step back. “Uh, no thanks,” he said quickly, “just looking around.”

            The old woman looked him over. “Hmm, not a normal customer I see, but you do have some of the traits,” she said more to herself than him. “You carry something old with you. Give it to me and I will give you something you desperately need.”

            Dearekk took a step back. She was obviously talking about Ventar, but what could he need more than Ventar? “What do you mean?” he asked carefully.

            The old woman grinned a full-toothed smile. “Something you need,” she said in a singsong voice. “Something you can’t live without!”

            “But I can’t live without Ventar either!” he snapped back, getting frustrated. “What else could I need?”

            “Ventar?” the old woman scowled, “I have no use for the Sword of Mist and Flame. Why would I want that? No, I want something else, something older than the fay’s totem.”

            “What do you want?” Dearekk asked, bemused at the sudden turn of events. “And what would you give me?”

            “What would I give you?” the old woman shrieked, then said in a whisper, “I will give you your past.”

            Dearekk eyes widened. Could she really do that? As far as he knew, no one knew his past except for the King…

 “What do you wa-“ he was cut off when someone called his name.

            “Dearekk!” turning around, Dearekk’s eyes landed on Nyx as she threw a small marble-sized ball. It collided with the old woman with a wall of smoke and she began to scream, cracks running across her skin, until she shattered into dust, a black shape coming out of her and flying away.

            Dearekk let out a yell, and turned to Nyx. “What did you do?” he roared in anger.

            Nyx coldly walked up to him. “I saved you,” she said icily, “That was a dark spirit, did you make a bargain with her?”

            Shaking his head, Dearekk said, “No. She told me she could give me my past, and I asked her what she wanted. What would she have taken?”

            Nyx let out a sigh. “I don’t know,” she admitted, “your heart, one of your dreams, perhaps even part of your soul. Whatever it was, you would have regretted giving it up later.”

            Dearekk looked over the fay princess’s shoulder to see the Seer, Zabin and Sonya running towards them. “What happened?” Zabin called out. When his eyes landed on the pile of dust and the small sphere that had mysteriously found its way back into Nyx’s hand, he let out a sigh and said, “I always miss the cool stuff.”

            “Yeah, sure,” Dearekk muttered and turned to walk away. He had barely taken three steps when he felt something barrel into him from an intersecting alley, knocking him over. He rolled a few times on the dusty ground, and when he looked up he was stunned to see whom his attacker was. A head of reddish-brown hair and piercing blue eyes awaited his gaze. She looked different this time, instead of wearing her white dress like before; she was wearing men’s clothing and brown leather boots.

            “Enoka?”

            Enoka didn’t answer. Instead she just jumped to her feet, and hissed, “Go! They’re coming and they won’t be long!”

            “What?” Dearekk replied. “Enoka, what’s going on?”

            Suddenly, about fifteen humans, their faces covered, surrounded them, as if they had stepped from the shadows themselves. Each of them carried a sickle-like weapon attached to a chain in each hand. Laughter sounded from above them and Dearekk’s head jerked up.

            A young man, in his early twenties was sitting on a rooftop, gazing down at them. He had long blonde hair and sharp blue eyes. Laughing again, he jumped down and landed nimbly on his feet.

            “Enoka, Enoka, Enoka,” he tsked. “Did you really think you could get away that easily? You’re in my world, girly. And here, things go my way.”

 (A/N Yeah, I know. The title doesn’t really come in until the end. I was meaning to make this longer, but then I got lazy and decided this was a good place to end. The picture on the side is of Enoka. Does anybody care that she is back again? In case you forgot, she was the one who helped Dearekk with his injuries back in “Through the Fog.” Well, we will probably meet another new character in the next chapter, and he will be cool. :D Oh, and I know you silent readers are out there because my reads don’t go up massive amounts at a time. Instead they go up like two at a time. So if you are a silent reader, BE SILENT NO MORE!!!! Comment and vote pleeeeeeeaaaaasssseeee!!!)