The Barbarians' Lover

Chapter 5

After Beargulch they had made three more stops. Crowfair, Faymoor, and Oakenbarrow. All three places had shown no signs of Willow ever being there. That meant they didn't stay long. Now they were docking at Bleakborn. This town was given that name due to the bleak appearance of its surroundings. The eerie pine forest that loomed in the distance, to the bleak colors of the town.

A small breeze blew. Sawyer inhaled taking in the scent of pine trees and a very faint scent of cherry blossoms. He had to take another sniff of the air, but he was for certain that he smelled cherry blossoms. A little light of hope flickered inside of him. Once the boat docked Sawyer didn't bother giving his crew any instructions. They knew the routine. Get what was needed, and then look for Willow. Following the scent, he was led to a little market shop. Booths that held many items lined both sides of the street. One of the booths had different jewelry. He stopped because a solid gold chain laid on the flat surface. Picking up the cold chain he looked at it. It was just a simple gold chain necklace.

Looking at the booth tender he noticed that the lady was distracted by a female client. Placing the necklace down he pretended to look at other items. Reaching to pick up something that laid above where he placed the gold necklace he hooked his pinky under it. As he lifted booth necklaces he managed to toss the gold necklace into his sleeve. As he examined the other necklace. It didn't come close to the beauty of the gold necklace. Placing it back down Sawyer made his way along the booths. As he walked looking for what the cherry blossom smell belonged to Sawyer walked past a booth that held weapons. As he passed it the scent of the flowers grew stronger.

"What the?" Sawyer muttered.

Walking back to the booth he looked at the weapons. Many of them were rusty or broken. But one caught his eye. A small sheathed blade had some old blood on it. The smell of cherry blossoms was from that blade.

"How much for that one?" Sawyer asked.

The man selling the weapons looked at the blade Sawyer gestured at. Looking at Sawyer he asked," you want that bloody thing?"

"Yes, now how much?" Sawyer repeated his question getting annoyed.

"For that thing twenty gems," the man said.

"Twenty gems for a bloody blade?" Sawyer asked.

"Look if you don't want it, stop wasting my time," the man said.

"I'll give you five gems for it," Sawyer said.

"Nineteen gems," the man bargained.

"Six," Sawyer said.

"Eighteen," the man shot back.

"The highest I'm going is ten gems," Sawyer seethed.

"Fifteen gems," the man said," I'm not going any lower on the price."

Sawyer pulled out his dagger and grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt. Pulling him nearly over the booth Sawyer placed the blade to the man's throat.

"Ten gems or lower you little shit," Sawyer growled.

"F-five gems will do," the man stuttered.

Shoving the man away from him Sawyer pulled out five gems and then grabbed the blade. Walking away he looked back at the man and said," next time you try ripping me off on my money, just know you've pissed me off once I won't be so kind the next time."

"Who are you?" The man asked fear thick in his voice.

"I'm known as the barbarian," Sawyer said.

He looked down at the blade. Opening it a little piece of paper fell out. As it floated to the ground in one quick motion Sawyer grabbed the paper. He noticed little blood splots on the paper as he opened it.

Sawyer,

I know you're looking for the girl. Don't worry I've been keeping her company when I can. If you're wondering she is alive... For now at least. I see why you've taken a liking to her, she is very pretty. You wouldn't mind if I decided to have a little fun with her.

-Thomas

Crumbling the note Sawyer turned and marched back to the man. When he saw Sawyer coming back he looked terrified.

"Where did you get this blade!" Sawyer demanded.

"I-I don't know," the man crude out.

"Lies!" Sawyer roared.

"I don't know where it came from honest," the man cried.

"If you didn't know you would try to get a high price for it," Sawyer snapped," now where did you get it!?"

"Okay, okay, a man came to me a few weeks ago and gave it to me to sell," the man said.

"What did the man look like?" Sawyer asked. He had to make sure it was him.

"He resembled you in a way," the man said," tall, tanned skin, dirty brown hair, the only difference was he had blue eyes and no tattoos."

"Did he say where he was when he gave you this blade?" Sawyer asked.

"No, and I asked why it was covered in blood and he just told me not to clean it," the man said," I don't know why he said that but he made it very clear not to clean it."

"That's because he wanted me to find it," Sawyer said.

"You're not going to kill me are you?" The man asked treas streaming down his face.

"I'm not in a friendly mood," Sawyer said," unfortunately for you that means death."

The man cried harder before his neck was snapped. The man's body fell to the ground with a thud. Walking away from the dead man Sawyer felt the eyes of the other booth tenders watch him. He made his way back to the boat. He was ready to leave Bleakborn and find Willow. His nerves were starting to get out of hand and he knew it.