Some People are Crazy

The whole place was really interesting. We could have some fun, compete with others and win or lose something if we wanted to bet. Tara competed with me once, and it took a while to convince her. We played some sort of card game, where we had to find two cards of the same kind, out of forty-one on the table. Of course forty-one meant we couldn't pair one card up, and that was on purpose. There was a special card in the mix and if picked, the contestant would lose five points. The rules were quite simple though. The contestants took their turns flipping the cards. During each turn, the contestant was allowed to uncover two cards only. If both were the same, the contestant could take them off the table. Each pair was equal to one point. If those cards didn't match, they would be flipped back up. The contestants took their turns, until no cards were left on the table. The game relied on memory. I had to remember where the once uncovered cards were, and what cards they were. Moreover, luck was important too. Getting that special card would automatically deduce five points off of the contestant's total.

I won against Tara by quite a few points, mostly because my memory was good and she picked up the special card. Tara wasn't too thrilled about the loss, but since it was a friendly game, there was nothing to lose but the game. Since we saw most of the games and participated in a few of them, we decided to just leave. That was when we heard a commotion, and the crowd roaring with emotions. We glanced at each other, before deciding to check it out as well. The commotion came from the fighting area that we visited before. Squeezing past the crowd, we had a look at whatever caused such excitement. To my surprise, a Lizard was fighting with a Human. Tara was even more surprised than me. "It's that guy...", she said quietly.

"What guy?", I asked confusedly. "That Human over there, he was the one who won the contest in the Land of Sands", she replied. 'He won the contest?', I asked myself and took a more detailed look at him. He had short dark brown hair, and his green eyes seemed to be mocking the opponent. He was a bit taller than me, perhaps one metre and seventy centimetres tall. His attire looked to be designed for fighting. Mostly brown leather with a few metal protectors added in certain areas. He wielded a long black double edged sword, with a specific design. The hilt was long, but not straight from what I could see. The blade on the other hand was quite wide near the hilt, but very narrow near the tip. The sword looked a bit flashy, and weird for sure. 'Tara mentioned that the winner could get a weapon designed for them. I wonder if that is the weapon', I thought.

The guy was quick. He played around with the Lizard for a while, but then attacked just once. The Lizard suffered a small wound and gave the fight up. "Since I'm the winner, I will be taking the money", the Human boy said rather coldly. A Shade walked over, and handed him the money. "Anyone else wanna challenge me?", the boy asked. We heard a lot of whispers in the crowd, but no one came out to face him.

He just shrugged, "Some Challenger's Corner you have here. What a waste of time". Just as he took a few steps forward, he suddenly stopped. "Hey you there... Heh, to think I'd meet another Human in the North. This could be interesting, wanna have a go?", he turned towards me while asking. "I'm not interested. I'm much more surprised to see a Human here though. Anyway, I'm not bothered to fight you", I replied. Since we only wanted to check out the commotion and not participate in any fight, the three of us left the crowd and headed toward the exit. "Don't tell me you are scared?", he asked out of nowhere. I stopped in my tracks and shrugged, "Your childish taunts will not work on me. Besides, I see no reason to be scared. If you are that bored, find a job or something more meaningful to do in your life. Take care". "Heh? Big words for such a little girl like you. I'm not the one running away though", he added. I waved my hand backward and replied, "Sure, sure. Whatever you say, boy".

"Swoosh", I heard something coming towards me very quickly. Without further thoughts, I moved to the side. "Boom", a sword slammed the spot I moved away from. "Not bad, but can you keep up?", the guy asked with a smirk. I was about to take my sword out, when a Shade appeared in front of him and grabbed him by his neck. "Ugh!... Let me go bastard!", the boy exclaimed. "What you just did is a crime. I have the authority to kill you on the spot", the Shade said and strengthened his grip. "Ugh!", the boy exclaimed and dropped the sword. "Let go of him!", a male voice exclaimed behind us. I took a look and saw three adult Humans walking towards us. "Why should I do that?", the Shade asked. "Let him go, or you will pay", the man replied. Just as the man said that, ten other Shades appeared around them.

"I think you are mistaken about something. This is not your Endrosian Empire. I will ask again, why should I let you live?", the Shade replied. "Do you know who that is?", the man replied while gritting his teeth. "It's fine Lien, let the brat go", uncle Crow's voice reverberated throughout the area. The Shade threw that boy over to other Humans, and stepped back. "Uncle?", I asked, surprised. Uncle Crow appeared next to me and checked if I was injured. "Your mother would kill me, if something happened to you", he said with a sigh of relief.

"That sword is no longer yours, it will serve as compensation. Get that brat and leave the city. If you want my advice, leave the North. Next time something like this happens, you will be executed. No matter who you are, this is the Great North and you will abide by its laws", uncle Crow said seriously and handed that boy's sword to me. The Humans left quickly, while uncle Crow escorted us towards his house. "Who would've guessed there are such crazy people in the world?", I asked, still a bit shocked. "Yea, I told you he was cold but seems he's crazy at the same time. What an idiot, attacking someone inside a city...", Tara added. The whole incident happened very quickly. If not for my improved senses, it wouldn't end very well. "Don't worry, I will make sure they leave this city today. They should be scared enough to run back to their Empire", uncle reassured me.

"Although I'm happy about that, I'm not happy some random guy tried to attack me for no reason. By the way, how did you appear here so quickly?", I asked. Uncle laughed drily, and said he was just passing by. 'Yea, I'm sure you were… This time though, I will not complain. Thanks to uncle Crow and others, I didn't have to deal with that crazy guy', I thought. "I got this sword… but it's weird. I don't really want to use it, and prefer my old one", I added. "You don't have to use this particular sword though. Let's visit the smithy first, they can re-melt and modify this sword to your liking", uncle said with a smile. That wasn't a bad idea, since the materials must've been good. We took a detour, and arrived at the smithy. "Hey Crow! Oh and little Anna is here too. Are you buying her a new sword?", one of the smiths asked. Uncle shook his head, and told me to show him the sword I got. "We want to redesign this sword. The materials are quite good, but the design is not suitable for Anna", uncle explained. "What sort of sword would I like instead?", the smith asked. "Something very sharp, but I want a straight hilt and blade… If it can be balanced in a specific way, that would be great too", I replied.

The smith invited me inside, and asked for more details while drawing the new design. "You are lucky Anna. This is the main prize for the endurance contest… I'd love to get such a weapon for myself", Tara said. "Really? You think being attacked by a crazy person and barely escaping serious injuries, is lucky? Tara… You know we are still inside the city, and this will cost money, right?", I replied, annoyed. Tara didn't know what to do, her expression was priceless. "Don't worry, I will pay this time", uncle Crow said. Tara heaved a massive sigh of relief when uncle said that. The smith told us the new sword would be ready the next day.

With that taken care of, we swung by uncle's house and stayed there for a while. When aunt learned what happened, she wanted to chase those Humans and told uncle he shouldn't let something like that go. "I'm fine, nothing happened so let them leave. Why bother with crazy people?", I said to calm her down. After the stop at my uncle's house, we returned to Dawn's place. "Today was really crazy… Other than that guy, I did enjoy myself. Tomorrow I will get my sword, and then we need to leave the next day. I want to make sure we are home before my birthday", I said. Tara agreed, while Dawn told us she would travel a bit later. I was tired that day, and decided to hit the bed earlier than usual.