45 From Above the Hill

Above the town from the hillside, the young boy Belze watched the misty town. The silver merchant stood occasionally glancing in the direction. It had only been some time since Nia left to investigate Jaeden town, but Belze was already worried. He had no way of seeing what was happening in the town, but he watched anyways hoping that Nia would come back soon. The clouds blocked any presence of the sun. Only few slimmers of sunlight pierced through the cracks. The two horses grazed while still being attached to the wagon.

The boy needed some way to get his mind off of the town. Belze rocked back and forth. He tried to draw in the dirt. He started spitting down the mound. But his mind still wandered back towards Jaeden town and Nia.

The silver merchant gathered some sticks and created a small campfire by shooting a small ball of fire from his fingertip at the pile of sticks.

"Hey, child! The airs not going to get any warmer. You might as well sit next to the fire," the silver merchant said.

Belze walked over next to the fire and sat down. The silver merchant sat next to him. The young boy still shivered, but the silver merchant didn't even budge from the cold.

"Do you think that Nia is safe?" Belze asked.

The silver merchant looked back at the misty town.

"Do you want my honest opinion?"

"Of course! She's like a big sister to me. And she promised that she would rescue my parents and the rest of the villagers."

The silver merchant didn't react to anything that Belze said.

"I see. Well, honestly, she might bite off more than she could chew," the silver merchant said.

Belze looked in fear towards the silver merchant and asked, "Why is that?"

"You can feel it, can't you? The chill in the air isn't natural. This whole fog isn't natural. It's magic. Everybody in that town is probably already dead or worse. That is what she'll find, but not just that."

Belze looked back at the town in horror. Horror that she went in there alone.

The silver merchant continued, "Your big sister will find something else in there. A monster that hasn't been around for ages. However, she does have a good chance of getting out alive."

Belze didn't feel any sense of relief. Only discomfort.

The boy shook his head and got himself up. He tried to rid himself of his fear and began walking towards the town.

The silver merchant stood up and asked, "Where do you plan on going?"

Belze stopped and looked back at him. He pointed straight to the town. "I'm going to help her."

"You? Help her? The monster in there would break you like a peanut the moment you walk into that mouth of fog," the silver merchant replied, "And besides, I was told to watch and protect you."

Belze smiled. "Exactly," he said as he began descending down the mound and towards Jaeden town.

The silver merchant sighed and shook his head. "Aghh. Fine," he muttered under his breath and followed Belze.

As soon as Belze saw that the silver merchant was following him, he began to sprint forward. He thought that his big sister Nia might need help, so he'll be there just like before with the bandit. And with the silver merchant there, he didn't feel any danger running straight into Jaeden town's mouth of mist. He picked up rocks from the ground as he ran forward.

The silver merchant conjured with the snap of his fingers a patch of fog that would blend with the fog inside as they entered.