She Meets With the Elves

Jasmine nodded. "If it's mere cargo, we can wait a day or two to get it back. But I am also a bit concerned." She frowned. "There were many slaves at the black merchant's guild, but I couldn't find the device that imbued the magic slave crest."

"Device?" Robin asked.

"Mmn." Jasmine looked about the table, somewhat solemnly. "Such a spell requires pinpoint precision and focus. Thus, a device would have been made to aid that process. While I don't agree with slavery, obviously, it would make more sense for a device to have been found and used by the black merchant guild."

"What makes you say that?" Keith asked.

Jasmine tilted her head, obligingly. "Because. All direct references and images of the slavery spell were required by law to be burned. It took my predecessor a long time of travelling to cover the entire kingdom and burn all the official books on it. A record was kept.

The only remaining notes are so esoteric that unless you've seen the actual thing, or are at the magi level, you can't understand them."

"So you think that if the device wasn't at the headquarters..." Robin immediately understood.

"If there's such dark dealings here, then it's highly likely that such a device is here as well." Jasmine nodded, taking a sip from her glass of water. "And that pompous merchant is most suspicious."

"Then, what do we do?" Gerard asked.

Robin quickly glanced around the room to see if anyone was observing them. Then she smirked. "This is what we'll do...."

------

That evening, everyone turned in to rest. Well, mostly everyone. Seeing that the Gnomes had not arrived yet, Robin was assured that her plan could continue unimpeded. Elise was keeping an invisible eye on the fat man, and would warn Gerard if he decided to run in the middle of the night. However, he was currently snoring away without a care.

Under the cover of the moonless night, Robin and a small group consisting of Chelsea, Liam, Quinn, and Jasmine left the town in secret. Even the town guards had no idea that they'd left. When they got far enough away from the town, Robin let Skye fly out of her cloak.

"Phew!" Skye did a figure eight in the air. "I'm glad that's over with. It's real stuffy under there!"

"So you say. If your coat wasn't mostly white, I wouldn't have had to carry you like that." Robin tickled Skye's chin. "I'm afraid we're going to need your help to find the elves before they find us."

"No problem!" Skye circled about before heading into the forest area as a scout. Robin, Keith, and the others followed at a slower pace.

It wasn't long before both parties discovered each other. However, unfortunately, the elves still discovered them first. When Robin's group found the elves, they had already been surrounded.

"That is far enough!" A voice called from in front of them. Robin stopped. A magic light flared above the glade, and an elf stepped into the resulting light.

"What business do you have coming here? Haven't you done far enough already?" The elf's face was deadpan, but Robin could sense a cold rage emanating from this elf.

Robin lifted her hand, and a certain golden leaf came into view. Some small noises in the area let Robin know that they were deeply surprised. The elf's eyes narrowed slightly.

"May I see it?" He asked.

Robin nodded, and had Skye carry it across the glade to him. Emotions flickered briefly across his face when he touched the golden leaf. Then he sighed returning the leaf to Robin.

"My apologies. It has been far too long since any true friend of the elves have come to visit us." He waved a signal. The tension in the air dropped immensely.

"What brings you to these woods?" He asked.

"Well, we passed through the canyon yesterday and today. And came upon a wreckage. I was surprised when I heard that elves attacked a merchant's caravan. The elves that I know, who treasure following the law, and cultivating an upright and noble character, surely would not do anything considered unlawful - at the very least, not without good reason."

"So you came merely to satisfy your curiosity?" the elf asked, bitterly. "Or did you promise to retrieve the 'cargo' we stole from him?"

Robin shrugged. "Not really. The merchant is someone whom we suspect is a member of the black merchant guild that was recently uprooted in Peg Leg City. When the thugs were captured and we explored their hideout, we found a group of captives with illegal slave crests on them....some of them were elves."

Robin looked the elf straight in the eyes. "If what I suspect is correct, your attack was to retrieve some captured brethren of yours. What I'm not certain of is if they already have the slave crest on them or not."

"And what if they did?" the elf asked.

Robin smiled. "My friend, here, can unlock the crest. If my suspicions are correct, those with a slave crest cannot be too far away from their supposed owners for too long, otherwise they'll die."

"...You...you can unlock them!?" a voice called out from the side. An elf girl rushed out, grabbing Jasmine's cloak, desperately. "Please! Please unlock my mother's crest!" She begged. "She hasn't eaten anything in four days!"

"Of course. That's what I'm here for." Jasmine nodded seriously. "But I need to unlock those most in need first."

"My name is Robin." Robin introduced herself. "Perhaps you've heard of me?"

The elf came to a decision quickly. "Follow me." He instructed. Robin's group was led to a temporary camp, where a strange sight could be seen. Elf heads poked out of trees, their limbs completely immobilized inside. Their mouths were also gagged with tree limbs.

"That damnable merchant's last orders was for them to kill themselves." The elf said through grit teeth. "We had no choice but to use our full efforts to keep them from doing so, which allowed for his escape. We've lost five elves since then."

Robin nodded, "Which ones are in the most need?"

"Save the children and elderly first, please." He pointed. The usually round cheeks of the children were now sunken back into the skull. Many of them were unconscious through lack of nutrition. It wasn't for lack of trying, though. Under the effects of the accursed slave crest, any food they ate would be vomited right back out.

"Jasmine!" Robin called. Jasmine hurried over to the nearest one and started to undo the crest. Chelsea also began to use some of her water magic to heal some of the more seriously wounded.

"The ones behind you....are not humans?" the elf seemed astonished, upon finding this out.

"Does it matter?" Robin asked.

"Aren't you humans the most wary of those outside of your own race?" the elf asked, confused.

"Consider me an oddball, then. I haven't had the best experience around my own race either, so perhaps it's just sympathy towards those in a similar position." Robin shrugged, then she glanced over at the elf with. wry smile.

"No matter what race, there will always be those with malcontent. Even so, that's not necessarily true of all within that race. You never can tell by first appearances. And so, I reserve all judgements until after I truly get to know that person. I'd rather judge a person by what they do, than who they were born to."

"I can understand what you're trying to say." The elf nodded. "We too hope for a world where race and bloodline are not the maxims by which one is judged. Will you help us to intercept the merchant, then?"

"We're keeping an eye on him." Robin acknowledged. "More importantly, we need him alive for the time being. The magic artifact that created these slave crests has to be somewhere nearby. If we kill him now, it might not prevent more of your people from being enslaved, especially if he has a helper."

"And what will you do once you acquire this artifact?" the elf asked, looking wary.

"Isn't it obvious? Destroy it." Robin said. Her words were quiet, but they carried a noble rage behind them.

"And what of the merchant? After you find the artifact, can you hand him over to us?" the elf asked.

"I would usually be more than happy to," Robin began, then shook her head. "But this one is so vile that he needs to be made an example of, first. Have you ever heard of the phrase, 'kill the chicken to scare the monkey'?"

"No." The elf replied honestly.