39 The Silver Merchant and the Toll road

The wagon rocked up and down along the dirt road while Nia and Belze slept. The merchant in silver armor continued driving on the trail towards Jaeden town.

The trail followed through down a thick forest drowned in a layer of fog just above the dirt. Dusk began to set upon the three travelers. Snakes slithered along the trees. black rabbits hopped away.

All while the two slept, the merchant continued holding the reins of his horses, but his attention was directed towards the road. He noticed a group of ruffians in the middle of the trail they were headed. And the ruffians noticed him and his wagon of cargo. There were four of them in total. One was big with a war hammer. One held a sword. One carried daggers. And one with a crossbow. They all wore cheap and scuffed leather armor. The big one had a helmet equipped with the visor down to hide his face.

He slowed down thinking that he would be able to handle some bandits. He felt more than capable of dealing with them one way or another.

The bandit holding a sword held out his hand to halt the wagon. The merchant slowed down the wagon to a halt.

As he did so, Nia and Belze began to awake from their slumber thinking that they have arrived at their destination. They began to rub their eyes open while the merchant began to speak with the ruffian.

"Well, look what we have here? A traveling merchant without any bodyguards. Very bold of you, good sir," the sword-wielding ruffian said with a charismatic smile as he approached the merchant.

The merchant still holding the reins of his horse replied calmly, "I have no need of bodyguards. But perhaps you'd like to buy something. I have many wares that you gentlemen may want. A new sword. Some actually decent leather armor. I could sell them to you."

"How kind of you, but I'm actually in the middle of work right now. You see, this road belongs to me and my boys here. I can let you pass for a small fee."

"Oh? I don't remember there being a toll on this road, before? How much is the fee?"

"500 gold coins to pass... and, now that I think of it, how about some of that equipment as well."

The merchant didn't show any reaction, but instead replied as if he had the situation under control, "500 gold coins? Sounds very steep. And you want some of my merchandise. You highwaymen are the ones who are getting quite bold."

The ruffian pointed his sword at the merchant and as he did so, the crossbowman pointed his arrows towards the merchant, as well. Nia heard the noise outside of the wagon and took a peak outside. She saw the four bandits. Belze also looked outside. None of the other bandits noticed them.

"This is bad, Nia," Belze whispered, "Looks like some bad people."

Nia nodded in agreement. She readied herself and held her hilt without unsheathing the blade.

"Stay hidden here," she whispered back and slowly got out of the back of the wagon. None of the other bandits noticed her as she hid behind looking around the corner.

"What about 1000 gold coins, old man?" The ruffian said to the merchant.

"I'm not that old. I only existed for a little less than the existence of time and space."

He laughed and replied, "I don't really care, you crazy old fool. Either pay the toll or turn around. Or maybe, I should just kill you and take everything. But I am feeling a tad generous today, so I'll give you a choice."

As he finished his sentence, Nia rushed in, unsheathed her blade, and pointing it directly in front of the bandit's neck.

The swordsman froze in place and only raised on hand while the other still pointed his sword at the merchant. The other bandits were shocked. The crossbowman changed his aim towards the woman. The other two bandits readied themselves and took a step forward. Belze hopped out of the wagon and watched from behind the wagon. His jaw dropped in astonishment.

The merchant shook his head. "I guess we'll do it this way, then," he said. He let go of the reins of his horse.

The swordsman smiled giving off a charming aura.

"Well, miss. I don't think I've had the pleasure. You should really put the sword down before somebody gets hurt."

Nia looked directly at the swordsman's eyes with fury.

"You threatened to hurt someone. A human like you. Somebody that can't even protect himself."

"I can protect myself just fine, maam," the merchant interrupted.

The swordsman continued smiling and replied, "A human like me? I don't know even know what that's supposed to mean. But if you put that sword down, I think I can give you a pass. You are a pretty looking girl. Why don't you come with us. I'm sure we can give you a good time. Maybe, we'll even pay you after."

Nia didn't understand. She has killed monsters, before. But bandits never came to Kyte village. Monsters, she understood. They were like animals. Only pests. She would occasionally need to kill them, but a regular human. Her home with the forest dragons and Kyte village was taken by human dragonslayers. The guy in front of her didn't look anything like the armored dragonslayers. He looked like an average person that could have been a villager. Nothing out of the ordinary, except that he was holding his sword against another. Then, she recalled back at the village. The one dragonslayer threatened to kill Nera and Nia back at the river. The dragonslayers hurt Nera and took the villagers as prisoners. Humans harmed humans just like any other monster. And monsters, she believed, were the same as what she was. Humans thought of dragons as monsters and hunted them all the same.

She's just never realized it before. Humans. Monsters. Dragons. They were all one and the same. They were all creatures that did things to satiate themselves whether it be their hunger or pleasure. She recalled the wasp moth feeding on the corpses of dragons. She remembered that it was only hungry and wanted to eat like any other animal, but it also felt pleasure in doing so. It felt pleasure in seeing a fresh meal. It was the same for the dragonslayer that wanted to kill her at the river. Humans. Dragons. Monsters. They were all the same in her eyes.

She looked at the bandit in front of her. His face twisted and peeled back. His skin turned blue with veins of red. The face twisted itself into the face of the wasp moth. It was just another monster, she thought. Another monster.

"Just a monster," she whispered quietly to herself as she looked down.

The swordsman began to open his mouth once more, but before he could, Nia thrust her red blade through his neck in one clean movement. His eyes shocked by the sudden attack thinking that he could stall for time or distract her. Her furious eyes directly stared at the eyes of the swordsman.

The crossbowman instantly fired a barrage of arrows directly at Nia, but she grabbed a hold of the swordsman's body and used it as a shield. The arrows only hit the back of the swordsman

Suddenly, the bandit carrying knives flung himself forward. He grabbed two knives and jolted upwards. The crossbowman started to reload his weapons with arrows. Nia pushed the body of the swordsman off of her blade and onto the dirt ground.

As the bandit with the knives dashed from midair down towards Nia like a hawk flying down towards its prey, the merchant said, "What a pain."

Nia braced herself and readied in a battle position, but in an instant, a beam of light shot through and around the knife-wielding rogue. Its body transformed into a pile of red mush. it splattered on the ground like pudding. Nia looked towards where the beam of light came from which was where the merchant sat. She looked at the merchant in surprise as his hand was up as if it had just casted a spell. His silver armored hand was protruding smoke.

"I may have put too much power in that," he said.

The crossbowman saw the power and as he finished reloading, he aimed directly at the merchant. Nia noticed the crossbowman about to fire, but was immediately struck to the side by a war hammer. She hit the ground away from the wagon, but she instant got herself up. She spit some blood out, but she could still fight. She looked up and saw the big ruffian wielding the hammer. He was big, but slow.

She was caught off-guard by the big bandit, but she quickly got her bearings together. Her robes and clothes became torn and ripped. She ran straight at the big man with a scream hoping that she would be able to swiftly finish him.

As she did so, the merchant watched the two fight seemingly unaware of the crossbowman. The crossbow shot one arrow, but in that instant, the merchant grabbed it without looking as soon as it was in front of his head. He threw it to the ground and stared at the crossbowman who began to sweat and fear for his life. He tried to fire more arrows, but the crossbow was stuck. The trigger wasn't working. He looked at the trigger and noticed that it rusted. He thought that it must have been some kind of mistake. As he looked at the crossbow in astonishment, it began to rust and the arrows started to turn to dust. He looked back at the merchant who was just shaking his head as if he was disappointed.

The merchant threw the arrow to the ground and held out his hand. From thin air, particles of light would appear. They looked as if they were fireflies but they were completely white. The particles of light melded together and formed a short sword. He threw the sword straight at the crossbowman. The bandit closed his eyes, but he didn't feel anything. The sword went straight through him and broke apart back into small particles of light. He opened his eyes again. He looked down at his hands. They were frail and bony. His nails grew at an alarming rate. His body became weak. His clothes heavy. Hair grew out and turned white. He looked back at his hands and they were only bones. His whole body decomposed in seconds. The crossbowman was no more. Just a pile of bones. The merchant looked back at the two fighters and decided to watch the fight unfold.

Nia continued to fight the huge man. She wanted get a good hit, but was unable to get close enough.

Belze watched from the corner and was amazed at Nia and the merchant. He continued to watch in amazement, but as he saw that Nia was having difficulties, he wanted to help. With courage, he ran over to a pile of rocks that he could pick up.

Nia continued battling looking for an opportunity to hit without getting hit. She was being pushed back. Even though the man was huge, his swings and reaction time were fast and strong. She already got hit once and it still hurt. Her ribs were broken but she couldn't instantly feel it. Now, as her body began to slow down, her pain started to become increasingly a hindrance.

One swing and another and another, without any sign of slowing down. The man's endurance was far beyond any normal human.

Soon enough, one swing came that she wasn't fast enough to dodge. She saw it coming and instinctively blocked with her sword, but it was no use. She was pushed back. A visible gash on her forehead. Blood bled down over one eye. But she was still standing. Still standing and holding her red sword in a battle position. She breathed heavily.

The man didn't seem to tire. He was ready to keep swinging his war hammer.

Nia wiped off the sweat and blood from her face. As the man moved forward ever slowly towards Nia, she realized that she could easily outrun the man. However, she wouldn't even think about leaving the merchant or Belze here. She needed to defeat this bandit and continue onward towards King's City.

The merchant continued to watch without any sign of trying to help.

As the man moved closer, a small rock hit the back of his helmet. He stopped and turned around. As he did so, another rock came hurdling at his visor. It hit and caused the giant to stumble back. Nia looked over and saw Belze throwing rocks at the hammer-wielding bandit.

"Hey, bucket-head, you're mother is a cow!" Belze taunted and continued to hurdle large rocks at the colossal man. As the man turned his back from Nia and directed his attention towards the boy, Nia dashed forward. She couldn't allow Belze get hurt. She wouldn't let that happen.

Her eyes turned green and as she prepared to strike at the man, he turned back around and swung his hammer at Nia. She dodged under the hammer and stabbed straight through the man's armpit.

It was a swift strike. Blood gushed out. Nia held the blade tightly and cut the arm clean arm.

The man lead out a bloody scream of pain. Blood gushed out of his wound. He dropped his hammer and held to where his arm used to be. He knelt down in pain.

Nia kicked the large man down to his back. Her eyes reverted to normal.

She looked back at the boy and Belze jumped in excitement and gave a celebratory cheer.

She smiled. Glad that he was safe. She looked at the merchant and wondered what he really was, but she could ask later. She saw how the merchant dealt with the other two bandits. She has never seen magic like it before.

She took off the man's helmet. He was in extreme agony. She aimed his blade at the man's neck. Belze started running towards her, but she held out her hand to stop him.

"Please. No more. I give up," he pleaded.

"What about those you robbed? Did you answer their pleas as you stole from them?"

Tears and blood started coming out of his red eyes. His mouth began to vomit from the intense pain of suddenly losing a limb.

"Just kill me. Just kill me," he pleaded once more as blood and vomit came out of his mouth.

As Nia held her sword pointed against the man's neck, she remembered the dragonslayer by the river. The one that Nera killed. Was this the same, she wondered. The same thing that she had to do. She could leave him there, but what good would the man's suffering do to anyone.

She brought back her blade as the man's eyes started to turn inwards. He squirmed pointlessly.

She turned back to the boy and said, "Turn around."

Belze realized what she was going to do. He wasn't close enough to see the gruesome details, but he could still see and hear the bandit moving around. He understood what Nia was about to do. The merchant held the horse's reins ready to leave towards Jaeden town. He didn't care whether the man lived or died, but watched anyways. Belze turned away and as he did so, Nia slashed at the man's neck cleanly decapitating him. The man made no more noise. The body twitched for some seconds, but after it no longer moved.

Belze still had his head turned away. Nia walked over to Belze and kneeled down to his height. She said, "I told you to stay in wagon. Are you hurt?"

Belze looked at Nia's eyes. They were still soft and kind, even with all of the blood on her face. He didn't know whether is was hers or theirs.

"I'm not hurt, Nia. I just wanted to help. I tried to stay as farm away from the battle as I could."

Nia looked at Belze and closed her eyes in relief.

"Alright. That's good," she finished, but as she did so, she fell to the dirt.

"Nia! Nia!" Belze shouted as she shook her trying to wake her up.

The merchant sighed, let go of his reins, and got off of the wagon. Belze continued to cry trying to get Nia awake. Tears began to flow out of his eyes.

The merchant approached the fallen girl and kneeled down over her as the boy kept shaking her.

"Mister, please, can you help her!?" he yelled.

The merchant listened and still heard breathing from the girl. He held one hand and particles of light flickered around it.

"Huh? What are you doing?" he asked while sniffling.

The man moved his hands over her. The particles of light fell down into her body. The wound on her head began to heal and her ribs started to piece themselves and meld togethor back to the way it was before. One by one, the scratches and scruffs disappeared like magic. As if it was never there in the first place. The light particles faded one after another as each cut and scrape faded with them. The blood on her forehead moved back into her body from the same wound it came out of. The gash on her head formed back together. The tears and dirt on her tattered clothes and robes were also fading. The tearing sewed themselves and reverted to the state of the clothes before the fight.

Her eyes twitched and her breathing became more clear.

Belze began to smile at the miracle he has just witnessed wiping away the snot and tears from his face.

Nia's eyes slowly opened as if waking up from a dream and as she did, Belze hugged Nia tightly while still tearing up.

"Huh? What happened? Is that you... big sister?" she asked quietly.

"Nia, you're okay. You're okay," Belze joyously said. She realized it was the boy. For a brief moment, she thought that she just woke up from another horrible nightmare. That the dragonslayers never really came to Kyte village. But it was only a respite.

The particles of light all faded and all of the wounds seemed to have faded with them. The merchant got himself up and walked towards the driver seat of the wagon.

Nia's eyes opened more and asked, "Belze, what's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. Please, next time, don't overdo it," he cried while still hugging Nia.

She realized that she must have feinted from her injuries. She touched her forehead and her sides, but the pain was all gone. She thought that she must have hallucinated the injuries, but she could have sworn that she has taken serious damage.

The merchant looked back and said, "I hope you don't plan on sleeping here. It's dangerous to travel at night, but it's more dangerous staying here. We're close to Jaeden town. If you want to rest, you should rest there."

As he said that, Nia got up and patted the young boy on the head.

"Thank you, Belze. I wouldn't have been able to beat him if it wasn't for you," she said sincerely.

Belze smiled and wiped away the tears. They both started walking and hopped onto the back of the wagon.

"It was no problem, big sister."

"Big sister?" Nia exclaimed.

"Yeah. You're like a big sister to me. So, I hope you don't mind."

Nia smiled. The merchant sat on the drivers seat and held the reins of the horses.

"By the way," Belze said as he turned towards the driver and walked over to him, "Thank you, sir. Thank you for healing Nia."

Nia was surprised. So, she didn't imagine it. She was heavily injured, but the merchant must have healed her wounds. But she didn't know of any magic that could completely heal her wounds in such a small amount of time. The merchant didn't give any reaction or response. Instead, he hit the reins and the wagon started moving.

"Oh, that's right. We didn't really have a proper introduction. I'm Belze and this is Nia," he said while pointing to Nia. She looked at the merchant and wondered what he was. She's never seen magic before and wasn't very aware of mages. Nia suspiciously looked at the man who was covered in silver armor. She couldn't even tell what skin color the man had.

The merchant looked back at Nia and said, "I was never given a name. I usually go by... the silver merchant."