CROWNS I: Of Desolate Hope | ✔

1. Elias the Boy

"Get back here, you rat!" screamed the bald, fat man in the yellow tunic.

"No thank you," replied Elias, evading his grasp, "I appreciate the offer though."

"I'll gut you this time, boy!" he yelled. "I swear it! I'll kill ya!"

"You'll have to catch me first," responded Elias smugly. He knew that he was much faster than the merchant and that there was no chance of getting caught.

The boy ran through the sandy streets as he kicked up dust onto the stalls. Most adults watched the chase in amusement, others called for the City Peacekeepers to be summoned. The children, however, laughed when they saw the merchant trip over a stray watermelon which had been strategically rolled by Eliza.

"Come on." said Elias stopping in his tracks, "It's just a banana. We gotta eat, sir." He whistled and a girl of a similar age appeared from behind the silk vendor, much to his surprise. "Good aim."

"Elias, please. Every time you and your band of thieves steal from me, you make it that much harder for me to support my family," said the merchant, scrambling up and falling back down again with a sob.

Elias looked around and saw the people murmuring to each other in disgust. He knew as well as everyone with a brain that the Saturday Market was the worst time to make a scene - the news would spread very quickly and very fast. The crowd hushed in anticipation of his next response.

"You're a clever man, sir," he whispered to the merchant, bending down, "The crowd may buy your false story but I, sir, won't. I'm sorry I have to do this...You really were my favourite to steal from." He brushed off the dust from his short, brown, woollen trousers and orange tunic, picked some stones out of his bruised feet and stood up to face the onlookers. "People! This person who walks among you is no man. He is a beast! A criminal!"

"Shut up, kid!" shouted one woman, "You don't know shit!"

Elias rolled his eyes as Eliza strolled over to the woman, straw in mouth, and punched her between the eyes. The woman fell like a sack of potatoes and landed with a thud. The crowd gasped and cursed but Eliza stood there spitting at them.

"That woman, who is now unfortunately unconscious, probably said what most of you were thinking but look at this!" shouted Elias trying to win over the crowd.

Eliza ran behind the silk stall again and pulled out a grey head with wispy blonde hair and eyes covered in dark, blue linen. The silk merchant feinted. The crowd cursed and gagged collectively and a few people ran as fast and far away as they could.

"Do you remember the kidnapping of the twenty Dune Row children?" he asked, rhetorically, "I do! They were my friends! It was he who planned it. This head was in the cellar underneath his house. Their bodies were mutilated and left there...rotting! He was selling them to the witches ...the witches and warlocks in Jados through his company!"

"You liar! I would never do such a thing!" the merchant said, grabbing Elias' throat, "Where's the proof then, rat?"

"Get your filthy hands off of him, demon!" shouted a man from the irate crowd. Unbeknownst to the merchant, Eliza had distributed a letter from him to a smuggler detailing a meeting place for the collection of the bodies.

The crowd edged closer to the merchant as he let go of Elias' throat. "You know I would never do that! He's lying. They obviously dug up a grave and forged the letter. Come on, guys," he pleaded as the crowd swallowed him whole.

The screams that ensued comforted Elias. He had been planning this day for weeks. He knew that the guards would never listen to an urchin and that the citizens had to take justice into their own hands. The Dune Row children had been his friends for ten years and he was fifteen now. That's enough drama for today, he thought as he grabbed Eliza from amongst the crowd and they walked past the dirty, sandy arches of the city square, "The mob can finish him off..."

Elias was grateful that he had Eliza with him. The two of them had worked together for nearly seven years underneath the bridges stealing and dealing. He didn't know what he'd do without her. Peculiarly, Elias had never heard Eliza speak, instead, she preferred to communicate through signs and whistling but despite this, they were still as coordinated as if they spoke to each other.

They approached the Old Bridge nervously, scanning the surrounding areas for the Peacekeepers. Great! No one! thought Elias optimistically. It wasn't too long until he heard the heavy footsteps that he had noticed twenty minutes ago behind him again. "Are you following me?" he asked, refusing to turn around and ready to flee. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of a blade concealed by Eliza's sleeve. "We don't want any trouble. So with that being said...leave...now."

"Oh please!" cried the voice in laughter, "Very intimidating as ever."

The deep and husky voice comforted Elias. "Dek, you old piece of ... of crap. You know you're not supposed to be here. If they see a Peacekeeper walking around here, you could get hurt!"

Dek laughed and touched the hilt of his scimitar. "As if a pack of street rats could take me down, boy." He patted Eliza's back so hard that she tripped and fell. Within a second, her blade was pressed against his throat, drawing a little blood. "As if a pack of street rats without her could take me down."

Elias dragged the ever-resisting Eliza off of Dek. "Somehow that second statement sounded a little different to the first." He then helped Dek off of the ground, "Anyway, what do you want?"

Dek had been almost like a father to Elias - almost...after all Dek was only twenty-six. Dek gave him clothes, kept him and Eliza fed as best as he could on his tiny wage and always managed to get their arrests reversed. He didn't know why Dek had helped him that day five years ago. It was something Elias would never forget.

"Well as you know. You're indebted to me for the rest of your life...remember Innesday."

"Yes, of course, I remember. That was crazy. The blood, the heads, the guts," replied Elias, reminiscing.

"Well, the Seran is in need of someone like you: quick; nimble; sneaky. It is a matter of urgency and you need to come now. The Seran...he had a vision that it was you who would deliver it."

"What do you mean?" asked Elias, anxiously, his light-brown skin losing all of its colour, "What is it? Why is an old man having dreams about me?"

"No time to explain!" exclaimed Dek hoisting Elias over his shoulder, "You're coming too, Silent! This is bigger than the both of you...please understand."

Eliza nodded, shrugged her shoulders and concealed her small but lethally sharp blade again.

What's going on? thought Elias. He had never been so scared in his life, "What does the Seran want with me?"

"You have a task. A very important one. Something is causing the earthquakes every week and you're going to help solve this problem," replied Dek, still carrying Elias, "You don't have a choice. You know as well as I do that the Seran gets who he wants and when he wants. Unfortunately, that is you."