Year 2904

The air is dry, bitter, and still. I slightly dig my nails into the red brick wall but I stop due to the fact it crumbles away. Leaving red dust in my palm, and little chips under my nails. How distasteful. This is a rather old building I'm hiding behind, all things considered. The region La Bobo Cree is mostly stainless steel nowadays, with sleek white sky-scraping towers and homes powered by solar panels. The only time you need to be next to a thing so unpleasant, rotten, and dusty is when you're in the dark shadows, hiding. Or in my case, waiting for the moment where I finally decide to step into the black market for the first time. Only my minuscule amount of confidence accompanying me. Just move one foot after another, it's not that hard. Truthfully just being on the back road of an ancient city gives me the feeling of uncertainty and sends goosebumps throughout my body. An empty sand path blowing over, leading to nothing but trouble in my perspective. Even though I'm only 5 miles away from the main street. It's so different from modern La Bobo Cree. This is old and impoverished living. If this was on the grid still, it would turn into a red light district. You know, just the icing on the cake of what is already despicable. Deep breaths Audrey. You can get through this I tell myself.

I pray to the gods of Alfralon “Juku noe pleu.”

God give me strength and courage. Don't look down on me for stepping into the unknown territory. I must do this for everyone's sake, mostly my own but still. I watch the creatures fly, walk, and slither around the market as if this is completely normal. Almost as if it was some small open produce market for the public, and not some run down shabby criminal area on a back street. Which by the way, you could be sentenced to death if you're caught shopping in. Even though this small corner of La Bobo Cree technically shouldn't exist.

I pull my light weight tanzanite colored coat closer to me for comfort. Why did I think I could do this again? Oh right, because if I ever wanted to actually break into the lower chambers of the planet's capital Bagoa, and save the people of Xyron. This is the where I should start. I must see if the stories are true. If I don't find out. Nothing will change among the 6 regions. Well eventually everyone will die…every human, every Opius, every creature, dropping one by one. The stacks of corpses building daily. All forms of life eventually vanishing before my eyes. Something that couldn't be allowed to happen in my lifetime. Peeking out from around the corner I scope out the marketplace to see if there is a specific stand I should head over to. I'm not able to waste another minute. While looking over the two rows of 12 tables one seems to stick out the most. It's most likely to have the items I need.

The table was made of a burnt redwood and looked unstable from the way it was slightly swaying left to right. It's merchant facing away from the table, tall in a dark-colored velvet cloak hiding them self almost completely. The table decorated with artifacts and idols of the 6 regions and the unknown. Skulls and creatures staring at you making you want to turn away because you can almost hear the screams still lingering. Live mice wandering on its table top. Eye catching would be an understatement. Somehow it was only the 2nd creepiest table in the entire black market. However, the most likely to have a venomous specimen.

Something heavily tugs on my cloak behind me. My heart jumps a bit when I turn around to see what is pulling at my cloak. A NiCamon is looking up at me with its white blue-tinted eyes holding a jar filled with eyeballs. They shift around in the container, the blue, green, and gray eyes looking at me as I just wonder. Where did he get all these eyes? The Trogonese war in Belfrite was about 400 years ago and yet there were so many well-preserved eyes in this single jar from the fallen victims. I bent down staring in the fascination of this once in a lifetime opportunity. I tapped the jar lightly. He pulls away wrapping his pale white arms around the clear jar and bares his little razor sharp teeth.

“Bhu gunfa lact beh te lu.” he says in a stern voice in NiCamoNay giving me the evil eye.

“I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you,” I say genuinely.

His origins are from the south from what I can tell. Only the Alfralon gods know why they are so touchy and easily upset. Though to be fair standing around on the outskirts of a black market, for all he knows I might be trying to steal it. These eyes are quite the commodity. They'd be lovely to own and dangerous to have. After all, in the Belanox religion, these eyes are deemed sacred. The eyes of the native people and comrades in the Trogonese war had these eyes. When the war ended the people almost extinct and the eye colors rare.

“Na bri. Con ku.”

I apologize once again.

He steps back and looks me up and down.

Great, I've gone and caused trouble. This is also taking up too much of my time I have scorpions I need to buy. Deadly scorpions. If this continues to go on we'll be here for a while and that will be time wasted and not an ounce of progress made. I smile at the NiCamon.

“Twu, con ku. Ku qu ma?”

“Bi bunga wa!” he says happily as he lowers his guard “Bi bunga wa, Alfies.”

I dig in my brown leather pouch and pull out 35 Alfies. Which apparently is all I have left. God darn him. But truth be told, had I just walked in the market and bought what I needed and left. We wouldn't have crossed paths. So it's my own fault. Now I've caused him trouble and inconvenienced myself. I pay the NiCamon. He hands me the jar of sacred eyeballs. He recounts the money and reminds me that there are no returns. I tell him that I'm aware of the terms of purchase. He begins jumping for joy and doing a happy dance. I smile but think to myself well at least one of us is happy. As he should be, 35 Alfies is a lot in Xyron's economy today. He spits at my feet and leaves with pleasure. Then I truly begin to smile because he has done the NiCamon gesture of “pleasure of doing business with you. I will say good things about you to many people.”

Alright now that the transactions over with back to the original goal. Buying my deadly scorpions. I stand up straight and put my new rare assets in my bag and straighten myself out. Starting by closing the bag, making sure my cloak covers me as much as possible, pull my white hair back, and putting on the hood of the cloak. Alright, it's now or never. I walk into the market.

When arriving at the dreadful stand with the mysterious merchant I observe the contents of the table more clearly as if for the first time. The tribal whistle beads from Crowel, a goat's head from Zovoe, singing bowls from Bolyen. This merchant has been around the world and must have gone to hell and back to get these items. The years it took to acquire such things is beyond belief. Focus Audrey, focus. We are looking for deadly scorpions I tell myself repeatedly. My hands wander over every item barely touching them and it catches my eyes. A closed black box with illegible green hieroglyphics or just extremely strange scriptures. I reach out for the box ready to buy it on the spot.

At that very moment, a heavy-handed fuzzy paw comes down and grabs my wrist. It's 6-inch onyx pointed nails reaching almost halfway up my arm. Making me freeze in my tracks. Hesitantly I tilt my head upward to look up at the merchant. Long fur like a terrier dog but you can still see the wrinkles through a few of the lighter areas of fur. I've never seen this type of creature before in La Bobo Cree which is another terrifying thought.

“Go gyn nala ju. Paq de veh yin? Sed twa mah?” she says to me.

“Sed twa?”

“These are very rare and poisonous serpents, not a toy. These are for people who wish others harm. You must be very careful if you are to buy them. As well as extremely careful. NOT for children.”

“I'm 23,” I state to her clearly giving her a firm look “I can handle it.”

“So be it,” she says “they cost 80 Alfies.”

Venomous snakes were not a part of my plan to restoring Xyron to peace. But it will do. Not to mention I just gave away all my money on my last unplanned transaction. Well, I guess there's only one thing I can do. I pull my hands off the table silently scraping a few beads for sale on the table into my hand and reaching for my bag as if to pull out money. I whisper to myself la craz vu. A minor illusion trick, my grandfather Lycrane taught me as a child. Before he was deemed dead that is by Neelia, one of the council members who helps run Xyron. I'd like to say I've perfected it since then but it only last five minutes. I quickly hand the money to the merchant who in return gives me my weapons for later. A deadly sting of poison.

I turn away quickly and walk through the crowd. While I was making the purchase it must have turned into rush hour in here. I can hardly see which way I'm headed and who I'm passing. I run into something hard and tall. I look up and my hood falls from my head. Oh no a Poldano. A species half polar bear half human. I see all her distinct features no mistaking it. She has long wavy white hair, smooth black slick skin, and extremely dark navy blue eyes. She grabs the wrist of my right arm and holds it above me and then snatches the box from my grasp.

“You have stolen from me! This is mine.”

I look around frantically in every direction hopelessly. When I hear a table flip over. Soon I realize it's the merchant I bought the box from. She destroyed her own table. She hightails it out of here before she can get dragged into this. Lucky son of a bitch. Getting off scotch free for selling me the stolen goods. Just my luck. This can't be happening. Please don't say it. Please just let me go.

“I, Goona Tocra, Declare by the law of Xyron that this Opius is my new slave. Does anyone object?” she announces.

She looks down at me and smiles. She's proud of herself I'm sure. Though I am dangling from her grasp and dying of public humiliation and am now in debt to her for my entire lifetime. She as a Poldano in the Belanox religion has just moved up in ranking. The Belanox religion is known for slavery and having 600 is a goddess. So I'm sure she feels quite lucky.

She whispers through a smile “No owner I see.”

Taking out her whip from her belt loop she doesn't hit me with it but ties it around my wrist. Tightly at that for someone who did it with only one hand. She then finally lets me go letting me drop to the ground on my knees in front of everyone who is watching. Dragging me through the sand my knees burn and tears begin to form in my eyes. Rocks and bits of sand engrave themselves in my knee. And after a bit start tearing skin, in turn, causing me to bleed and let out whimpers in pain. I scramble to get on my feet never being able to get it quite right. Every time I get close to holding myself up with dignity she pulls tighter on the whip. I end up a stumbling mess all over again. Do the Alfralon gods have any mercy?