CHAPTER 6: Friends in Masks

{For every spoken word, there's a word left unsaid}

{For every step, there's one you're not taking, }

*****

"500 silver coins," Deon responded without missing a beat, which made Ashen nod in acceptance, thankful that he would be able to afford it, 

"I have to go but I'll come back tomorrow," Ashen said nodding towards the man sitting at the table before doing the same to the woman standing beside him, 

Turning around, he was headed for the door when one of the men standing at the entrance suddenly bumped into him, making him unwillingly drop his box and egg as he fearfully watched it drop to the floor, hearing all the coins jiggle inside, as the clasp popped open for a second, with just a single silver coin slipping out of it,

"Sorry," was the only explanation the man at the entrance gave him for bumping into him as his other two companions seemed to suddenly be in a good mood, 

"Don't mind them. They're just hooligans. Come back tomorrow and the wand would be waiting," Hera said waving at him as she spoke,

Quickly, almost as if his feet were on fire, Ashen picked up his box and egg and walked out of the stall. Being aware of how late it was already as he began retracing his steps with both the box and the egg in his hands, wand in his pocket, 

After a while of walking, Ashen got back to the outskirts of the city, digging under the sand in the exact spot where he had kept the branch he had used to fly to the city only to discover that it was no longer there, 

Constantly aware of how quickly darkness fell all around him while being unable to find the particular branch he was looking for, Asham then tore another one from the closest tree to him, 

"Airus- Nevafallnos," he said pulling out his wand from his pocket, casting the spell again, the second time in one day, 

However, he found it to be more difficult as he watched the new branch he planned to use, barely lift itself a few centimetres above the ground before beginning to shake out of control, 

As fast as he could, Ashen quickly got on it, using his wand to direct it in the direction he needed to go and although it moved slowly, Ashan was delighted and surprised that it was able to move at all, 

"Whoo…," Ashen suddenly shouted landing roughly on the ground after a long while of flying on the branch, unable to keep it flying for a longer period due to how low his mana reserves were, 

"Well, it's a good thing I'm not too far away from the academy," he muttered to himself, dusting his clothes after making sure that his box and everything he had with him was intact, 

He was still bent over trying to pick them up when he heard a clear, deep voice speak to him from behind him, 

"I wouldn't bother if I were you," said a male voice with malevolent intentions, 

Terrified, Ashen immediately turned around with his box and egg in both his hands, to see five people wearing masks of various colours as they approached him, 

"Wh…who are you? " he managed to grammar in fear gripping the box in his hands as hard as he could already sensing their intentions without being told, 

"I'm a student of the light academy. You can't hurt me and get away with it," he said bravely with the words flowing more confidently out of his mouth, 

"And who said we're here to hurt you?" Asked the masked woman beside him as she chuckled drawing the most attention to herself as she twirled around, in a clearly happy mood, 

Ashen's gaze darkened the moment his eyes landed on her, recognising her instantly regardless of the tiny mask she wore on her face, 

"I know you," he said taking a huge step backwards, with the woman taking off the tiny mask she wore in her face the moment he spoke, 

"Of course, you do. You had the pleasure of meeting my acquaintance this evening," she said walking slowly towards him with steady steps as he watched him back away unwilling to turn around and run, 

Only to suddenly scramble around in his pocket, and pull out his magic wand, pointing it boldly at the woman who stood the closest to him, 

"What do you want from me?" He asked pointing his wand at them knowing fully well that whatever magic he could conjure wouldn't hurt them at all considering how depleted his mana was, 

"Everything actually," Hera, the woman who stood in front of him said turning around to send a glance to one of the three men that stood to her left side, as he easily recognized two of them to be the thugs he had seen had the stall,

Unexpectedly, one of them brought out his branch and showed it to him before tossing it out in front of him, 

"We know how magic works...eeeh. And what class yeeh are from you uniform, drop the act and hand it over," he said spitting on the ground behind him just to show how irritated he was, 

"I agree with Russ. Hera, stop wasting all our time and collect the box from the boy already," the man standing by her right gently spoke, pushing his glasses further into his face as he did and Ashen didn't have to think far to figure out who he was, giving Ashen a single glance while impatiently tapping his feet on the ground with both hands in his pockets, 

"I don't want to have to forcefully take it away from you," Hera softly said giving all her attention to Ashen and ignoring what the other members of her team were saying, 

A few seconds of silence went by as Ashen watched her watch him, only for her to suddenly sigh, opening the satchel on her shoulder and bringing out a small gleaming dagger from it, 

"I really don't want to hurt you, but I will," she said stepping closer to him with one hand stretched out towards him, while the other held a brand new dagger she seemed intent on using,