The Old Church

Ares had a few days left before he had to return to the guild so he immersed himself in the family atmosphere. Everyone was happy to have him home and he spent the days leisurely not worrying too much about training.

After a couple of days relaxing it was the last day before he left. The family had planned a going away night in with good food and drink, courtesy of the money that Ares had brought back. He planned to entrust Carl with a portion of his earnings regularly to better their life; who knows at some point he may even be able to hire a mage to regrow his lost arm.

Jessica was sent out to get the food early in the morning, with her contacts in her shop she knew where to get everything. By lunchtime she still hadn't returned and the family was beginning to get concerned.

Ares knew something was wrong and he decided to go out and find Jessica. He knew where she worked in the Old Church market so made his way there. As he made the way towards the church down the street he could hear footsteps behind him. He spun looking to confront the person behind him, the road was empty and no one was in sight. He frowned thinking Mars would not be that sloppy if it was still him following.

As he neared the old church he looked ahead; the tall spire had been painted vibrant colours and was yellow and purple at the moment. Big lettering hung on above the door, saying what looked like Market. The letters were faded and old. As he entered a thick musky smell wafted over. Every space inside the church was covered by stalls anything for sale in The Third City could be seen here. The tall roof had holes which let the sunlight shine into the open spaces and cast a ambient glow across the market.

In the back part of the church was the slave area. There were also rooms where rarer slaves were sold. The human trade made Ares feel a little sick, their cages were dirty and people of all age were shackled up together. Slaves were the main source of income for the "government" so despite many people being against it and regular revolts they were strictly monitored. In the event of large revolts the government had even dispatched guilds a couple of times.

The shop Jessica worked at was around halfway into the market and was a simple food shop with other stalls either side. The owner was an older man who walked with a hobble and held a thick walking stick. Ares couldn't remember his name but in their prior brief interactions he seemed nice enough.

As he approached the stall the man looked up a scowl on his face.

"Well where is she then, she asked for a bunch of food when she got here and now ive prepared it she's disappeared." The man looked annoyed.

Ares stomach dropped. Anyone disappearing in the city was bad news but to be lost in the market was never a good sign, especially with the slave market.

"When was she here, where did she go?" Ares asked grabbing the mans arms.

"She said she was going to get some clothing and went around to the clothing area an hour or so ago, I haven't seen her since" the old man said realising something was wrong.

Ares let go and immediately walked towards the clothing area which was close to the slavers market and started to look around. The area was very busy unfortunately and the people were constantly moving through the area in long lines.

Beginning to get frustrated Ares cast the location spell thinking of Jessica. Whilst it wasn't completely effective it gave him a feeling that she was still close by; most likely still within the market. Nearby on the side of the building propped against an old crumbled wall a homless man was sat his body smelly and dirty but his eyes bright and sharp. Ares approached the man and flicked him a golden coin.

"I need to know about a girl who was in this district an hour ago" He then described Jessica to the man.

The man smiled rubbing the coin between his fingers as he smiled a particularly toothless mouth at Ares.

"Look to your left young man the girl you seek is not far from your reach." The man said in a somewhat slow severe tone.

Ares looked to his left and saw a the slave pens. At the front was a plinth with a man auctioning off slaves. There appeared to be a covered area to the left which had already sold slaves waiting to be transported.

Flashing the man a grateful smile Ares walked towards the rear of the slave pens. As he walked though the area and tried to cut behind the auction he walked straight into another man who fell backwards onto his ass.

"What the hell do you think you're doing peasant." The man said standing up. He was wearing clean white clothing and looked to be fairly well off. As he stood up to face Ares his eyes flashed with recognition and a happiness.

It had been months since Blake had been told by Lance to track down the young man who scored so highly at the guild day, his lack of any progress had meant that he was now less popular with Blake and had been sent to manage a low level slave pen. Only now when he was lamenting his fate did he bump into the man he had been sent to find.

Ares didn't know this man but wanted to look for Jessica so he just pushed him aside and started walking forward.

"I SAID STOP PEASEANT" Blake roared at Ares grabbing his shoulder as he did.

Ares simply shrugged off his grasp and continued on without responding.

Blake was fuming at this point not only did this loser ruin his reputation but he also wouldn't even respond to him despite him clearly being of higher birth.

"GUARDS" he called screaming at the top of his lungs.

Two large men with spears appeared from the Pen area and stepped forwards. Ares paused realising that perhaps this wasn't going to be as easy as he thought.