“Hey, shorty, where you going?”

 Jack kept walking down the dark and narrow alley. He immediately regretted the decision to take a shortcut away from the busy main street. He ignored the voice behind him. He’d heard it all before: shorty, little man, runt. 

 “Oi, short stuff. You deaf?” 

 Jack slowly turned around, trying his best not to show weakness.

 This was one of the reasons he liked the dark and alleyways; he was always in shadows and nobody else was around to call him names and make fun of him.

He looked around to see who called him ‘short stuff’, however, he saw absolutely nothing.

 Not a single soul was around. He frowned and shook his head, hoping that maybe he just misunderstood who was calling his name.

He glanced back, expecting his shadow figure would still be standing there waiting for him but there was nobody there.

 Jack shivered in fright; the shadows were supposed to be there, they were supposed to follow him everywhere, they were supposed to be there to protect him.

He took a step forward but stopped when he heard the sound of footsteps coming towards him. 

He quickly turned around and ran, but the footsteps followed him. 

They were getting closer and closer.

He ran faster, but not fast enough. 

Suddenly he felt a hard blow that came out of nowhere hit him.

It sent him stumbling to the side, right into another solid punch coming from the Shadows. 

This blow landed right between Jack’s eyes.

His vision blurred, as he stumbled backwards, lost his footing and fell. 

He crashed against the ground and slid on it, his legs tangling up with each other and he couldn't stand up due to his limbs being tangled. 

His ears roared and his heartbeat increased.

The Shadows surrounded him, closing in on him, blocking any light and leaving darkness around him that scared him.

"Oi, Oi, looky here boys,  it's a shorty!"

"Yeah, I think it is,"

"Aww, he looks pathetic."

They laughed amongst themselves.

Jack could barely hear them, he only caught glimpses and bits of their voices, all the noises seemed like whispers but also screams.

And then the pain started.

A sharp piercing pain, like needles stabbing him, piercing his skin and muscle and bone, burning through his veins.

The pain intensified and spread its way throughout Jack's entire body.

A hard kick to Jack’s ribs distracted jack from the other pain,  but the pain continued to build, and build, and build.

The boy cried out in agony.

"Oi, Marv doesn't kill it, if Ye do it might bring the cursed sheriff down on us" 

Hearing the voice of reason, Jack tried to capitalise on it and whimpered out a 

"Please...

but before he say more than one word another blow landed on his shoulder blade 

" Shut yer gob shorty, 'aren't ya heard of manners? Now shut yer mouth."

More kicks and punches and kicks to the ribs and stomach.

Another one landed on jacks cheek.

"Enough, Marv check his person for coin and let's  go," a wet gurgly voice said 

Jack was too weak to fight back, but he didn’t need to.

The Shadowy men held him tight and lifted him up, he was dragged across the dark, cold dirt.

Jack's blood was dripping down his face.

As they carried him down the alleyway.

rough calloused hands began to trace patterns on the sides of his torso, Jack's clothes were torn apart to reveal his bruised skin, revealing his thin frame beneath.

The Shadowy men shoved jacks arms forward, forcing them to move forward.

And as they did so Jack felt the pressure on his arms lessen.

"Nothing Marv, not even a lick of a metal on him"

"How is this possible, Ah saw the old old weebly witch down by the street give him three gold coins,  how could he have taken them without us seeing it?"

"Yeh well, I bet the old witch is a bad luck charm or something like that; she makes him disappear, ah don't trust her."

One of the men laughed as he walked. 

He was shorter than the others, yet somehow still bigger than them.

"Check his boots" the wet gurgly voice came again 

"Why should Ah touch his stinking feet, Utah should do it not ah" 

then the shadowy figures broke into an argument, about why should Jack's feet be touched and who will be joining it.

Jack groaned and winced in pain as he felt their fingers on the sole of his bare feet; he tried to push the fingers away but failed miserably as he felt their grip tighten.

Then finally a finally sound suddenly roared and broke the silence, a sharp piercing whistle that could only come from guardsmen whistle scarred out all around.

"Oh no, it the blood arms of the sheriff let's go" 

"But the gold, the stumpy still has it, Ah want mah gold"  

"We didn't find any bloody gold Marv now if you want to lose a hand and want to be turned into a slave stay here and check the boy's arse for all I care" 

"Ah don't  believe yeh, Ah'll go and check it anyway"

"Nyeh, yeh, come on let's leave, it's freezing outside"

"No! Don't yeh go!  the boy has coin I swear! Yeh can have the money but  go and check the fucking kid's feet" 

There was silence and the sounds of feet shuffled over the dirty cobblestone and soon the heavy steps of a guard were heard, followed closely by the loud metallic clanking oof swords.

Jack wanted to laugh and smile at the exact same time. 

when they heard the footsteps they too ran whilst they cursed jack's parent and the sheriff's mother. 

Jack’s world went dark as he closed his eyes and his body slumped.

*  *  *

The guardsman watched as the three boys ran away. 

Experience told him that chasing street rats was a foolish endeavour, but he did have a duty to inspect the situation.

 He walked down the alley until he arrived at the scene of the altercation. Standing above the body of Jack, he frowned as he decided whether to attempt to chase down the boys or see if the lad on the ground was alive.

 He reached down and shook Jack’s body. “Ye alive?” 

Jack woke to the hard shaking the guardsman was giving him. He groaned as spikes of pain hit his ribs every time the constable roughly moved him. 

“Get up, lad,” the man said, as he grabbed Jack by the scruff of his collar.

 He pulled jacks body up and sat him up. 

“Can you walk? Do you know what happened to you lad? answer me, lad, Ah am a constable for the sheriff of Grendar" The constable asked.

Jack opened his mouth to answer but nothing but air came out.

With the forced assistance of the constable, Jack got to his feet. He shook his head, trying to free his brain from the boot-induced cobwebs.

 The constable didn’t let go of Jack’s neck.

 “What were you doing? Why’d they attack you?”

“I... don’t know..”

“Lads, get him some water, quick!” the man yelled.

Several of the Shadows jumped forward, grabbing Jack by both shoulders and dragging him away.

Jack tried to resist them but the darkness came for him again.

*  *  *

when Jack finally came to,  he was lying on his stomach.

His entire upper body was completely numb, his whole back was hurting, his knees hurt so badly that they were throbbing, his back ached and he could feel several bruises forming around his body which made it difficult to breathe.

when tried to get he found he was unable to do so, as he found his hands and feet were bound with iron chains that were locked securely in place by iron bands.

‘So they are going to keep me tied up till morning’

he thought with a sigh, this was not the first time this had happened to jack, pride and prejudice always made jack the one who had done wrong, instead of the locals.

He could not see anything in the darkroom, as there were no windows or lights except for the candlelight far away from him illuminating the room.

A shadow suddenly entered Jack's field of view.

It was the constable. he had seen the gruff huge man just yesterday when the troupe had visited the sheriff.

Jack froze when he saw him and swallowed a lump in his throat.

“You awake now?” The constable asked.

Jack looked up with widened eyes.  

“Yes sir,” he answered, looking away.

The constable's eyebrow creased and his frown deepened.

“Are Ye  going to tell may why ye carrying three gold coins in your boots, lad" 

Jack licked his lips in an attempt to moist them but his tongue was just as dry as his lips.

"They are payment, for potions from a client of my master" jack croaked

 

“A likely story. Ah’ll bet Ye were up to something sneaky. Ye and Yer kind always are.”

 Jack bit his tongue. He knew talking back to the constable would serve no purpose other than to get him another beating, or worse,  a knife in his back, which would lead to a quick death, but he couldn’t help but feel that way, because he had been tricked again.  

"Olright Las, who is Yer master and how could Ah find him" 

Jack slumped down in defeat and told the constable where and how he could mind master Faust.

there was no way he could avoid a beating today, already he was beaten with master Faust Madams Ester might heal him.

I had promised David I would show him how the best place to eat. thought Jack 

I will do it later 

* * * 

"But why can't I stay?" the 6-year-old Jin whined as she twirled the limp dangling black cat in her embrace.

it took every bit of will power, I had not let out an exhausted sigh

what was it now the eighth time she had asked me the same question?

"because sweety I will be leaving, don't you want to come with me to see the wonderful city" 

Jin brows furrowed and then she began glaring at the cat 

"Will blacky come?" 

the goddamed cat can do as it pleases I thought 

"of course sweety" 

Jin pouted as she hugged the cats neck tighter

"But whyyyyyy," she whined, throwing herself onto the floor

"why must I go?" she huffed.

I lost I thought.

"Because there us a lot of good food in the city,  the best food you ate sweety. "

Jin's face brightened instantly.

She jumped up from the floor and held on to my arm, her big brown eyes sparkling with hope.

then she frowned again as concern clouded her face 

"Brother no lie?" she asked uncertainly 

"Brother no lie" I agreed 

"No veggies?"  she demanded.

"No veggies," I lied

"pinky promise," Ji said as she raised her pinky 

 finger in front of mine.

I hesitated slightly then wrapped my own pinky finger around hers.

‘I cannot afford to let Ester find out, or David, she will never let me hear the end of it and I don’t want to have to deal with that right now. So no veggies, I can’t have anyone finding out about this…’

“Okay sweetheart we are leaving now, follow me and stay close.”

Jin nodded enthusiastically as she skipped along next to me and grabbed onto my hand.

As we exited the house cum wagon.

coming out I found the trio allegedly packed and prepare 

"Ready," Isabella 

 asked

"Yes," Jin and I answered simultaneously.

Isabella sighed as she turned to look at the horse.

"Horses are such a waste, aren't they," she stated

'Especially since your wagon runs on mana instead of the horse'

just we got Jin slipped sway and ran toward the cluster of children.

I quickly caught up to her and she grabbed me, as I wrapped my arms around her waist and hugged her to me.

just as she began to whimper and cry 

‘Oh please don’t cry. You will make me cry and then I won’t be able to leave and that wouldn't be very nice would it.' I pleaded this girl would be the death of me 

"We are going to the city remember, tasty food remember" 

that soothed her down as she buried her face in my shoulder 

"Still not happy about leaving is she?" Anabella asked as she came and patted jun's back.

 

I gave the buxom blonde an apologetic smile. "Sorry kid, it has to be."

Jun nodded understandingly and smiled, “you take care of Jin okay. I love you big brother"

I smiled and leaned into the child “love you too Jin" 

As was I was coaxing Jin, Ester approached the magical wagon and waved her hand and a blue translucent mist appeared and we circled the wagon and soon the wagon disappeared leaving behind Mary the black snake.

I began to look around the encampment of wagons, this was the last town before everyone entered the Port city of Varnis, it was here that they had to be separated from the rest of the troupe as they were not under that patronage of some lord called Ronald.

the rest of the permanent members would go and report to the lord while the rest were dismissed until another caravan of performers would be assembled,  to travel through the Lothian ducal lands that were controlled by Varnisian high council.

Even though the journey was fabulous, frankly I was fed up with the road travel, even with a. magical house I wasn't joining to travel anywhere if I could help it. 

Jin tugged on my sleeve

"Come on brother, let's go see the city!" she exclaimed excitedly

I shook my head, "No, not yet honey” I assured the 6-year-old.

Jin frowned as she looked down at the ground, disappointed.

just as we were preparing to leave, a scream filled the air.

seconds later a clear sound of the whip flashed through the air followed by another scream.

I immediately handed n to Isabella as Annabella and I ran toward the place where the horrid screams were coming from.

the sound and screams led us to the centre of the encampment and as we arrived we saw jack who hand-tied to a wooden pole being whipped by that Faust fellow.

rage instantly boiled over me and I immediately conjured a whip made out of cold streaming water as the man raised his whip to land another blow, I reacted. 

before he could accomplish or complete his action my whip landed on the man like a  bolt of lightning.

Alchemist Faust let out a horrid scream, that surpassed jack's in every way possible. 

as the man collapsed on the ground, his three-piece luxury suit tore open revealing a nasty scarred chest with blood trickling down from it.

Faust writhed in pain and screamed again, but I did not stop to pity the man, 

I once again brought my whip around and connected to the man's chest sending a torrent of freezing cold water that froze his wounds on contact as well as made him scream like he had been burned by fire.

which in all honesty wasn't far from the truth.

before I could land my third strike a dark brown barrier disrupted to protect fast and thin rapier appeared right at my neck 

these actions announced the arrival of the troupe master Ken and master Ryu.

"Whoa! what are doing here?" Ryu gasped as he looked at the man who was lying on the ground, unconscious.

Ken stood next to Ryu with a scowl on his face and a rapier in his hands.

Ryu stepped closer to the man and examined him carefully.

"He is alive, thank the merciful lords," he said  

Ken looked at me with clear hostility and anger 

"What is the matter with you, do have a death wish boy?" he asked as he pulled his sword away from my neck.

Faust groaned loudly as he lay on the ground still in pain.

"What the hell happened?" Ken asked.

Ryu shrugged his shoulders, "I am not sure master Ken, but I think it has something to do with this."

he said as he pointed, beaten and bloody jack who was now limply dangling from the wooden pole.

I sighed again, what is it with people getting themselves beat up whenever I least expected them to?

Ken looked around the encampment and frowned as he did when he spotted Ester.

he walked over to Ester and placed his hands on her shoulders, "are you alright?” he asked

Ester reverently avoided the ken's hand as she sidestepped around him and went straight  Jack's body.

she kneeled down and touched the wound on his torso.

with a gasp, she lifted her head to look at the troupe master Ken.

"It has become infected."

Ken frowned as he looked at the wound then back at the girl and then down at Jack.

"What exactly happened? Who did this?" Ken demanded

my anger boiled over to rage this was the height of their hypocrisy, this arsehole knew well enough who had done what.

The only problem was, no one would tell him

Ester didn't answer.

Ken took a step towards her

then she moved back

then back again

then Ken moved forward again.

this is the fourth time he tried to touch Ester.

Ken glared at Ester

"Let's go," I said out loud this was not going to go anywhere if the past had been any lesson for me 

Ester nodded and picked the now unconscious boy and began to follow me and Anabella 

"where do you think you are going?" Ryu shouted as he appeared in front of him with a great of wind 

"leaving," Anabella said colly 

Ryu shook his head in a final, 

"Are you tell.me we can't leave master Magus?" ester asked her tone as cold as the winter winds.

"of course, you can madam but the boy can't, he is...

before he could finish that sentence I let go of my soul force and pressure of a silver force pressed down upon him.

as I was progressing in my soul cultivation I had begun naming the different stages of cultivation base of soul 

there was Iron, Silver, gold, unity and divine, as I had firmed my soul core I had reached the silver stage as I had begun to refine the spiritual liquid energy into solid to build and awaken a soul spirit allowing me to enter the gold stage.

{In the iron stage the practitioners awaken his soul sense and forge his iron body that resonates with his or her soul, in the silver stage they form a soul core, in the gold stage, they refine and cultivate the soul core to awaken their soul spirit and in unity stage, the soul is merged with the body and in the divine stage the soul is transformed into the divine soul by merging it with divine laws of the universe}

as my soul pressure ignored the physical body and straight-up attacks the very soul of the person, so if it was used against someone who was not a true practitioner they would have been destroyed by the pressure of soul force. 

but even if you were a practitioner it was still as if some red a thousand-kilogram weights to your body.

so, ken buckled as he fell to the ground on his face and I turned to Ryu and looked him straight in the eye and colly said 

" We are leaving, any issues?" 

Ryu wisely moved out of our way.