Jay's Journey

Chapter 1

Jay had stolen things countless times, but of course now, and only now, it had to get him in trouble. Of course he just had to trip on a rock while a guard was barely out of view and right there to catch him in the act and arrest him. He could still hear the venomous words spat upon him in the middle of the public street, all surrounding eyes scrutinizing him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing young man?!"

Jay had wanted to speak up and correct the guard, but, what was there to correct? He'd seen a hanging purse, run over, and stolen it in a heartbeat. For once, his actions actually had consequences, and now he was here.

'Here' was a metal cage on wheels shaking and rattling its way towards the nearest jail. The only sliver of comfort it granted was the shade cast by the flimsy wooden roof. It was all pulled by a horse drawn cart with a single driver. The captain of the guards sat next to the driver, fixing her currently sloppy bun. Four guards surrounded the cage, well defined frowns on their faces. Occasionally, one of them would shoot the cage's occupants a glare.

There were two others in the cage besides Jay, and they appeared to be just as dirty and miserable as he was. One was a boy with pale skin, short brown hair, and vibrant blue eyes. Jay himself looked like a duller, shorter version of him whose eyes were brown instead of blue. The only other person in the five foot by five foot cage was a girl. She had curly black hair, dark skin, and dark eyes to match. She looked out the window at the bars of the cage. Jay decided to do the same.

The path was the only place open to the daylit sky. The woods were a jumble of twisted, tangled vegetation. The thick canopy filtered out almost every ray of sunlight, and whatever remained was lost in the winding labyrinths of bushes beneath the trees. There was something oddly surreal about the place, it almost seemed too dark, like the light was cowering away from it. Looking into the girl's eyes, Jay saw a vague expression of fear.

"So, whadja do?" The voice was calm, but laced with annoyance. Jay turned back to see the boy looking at him dead in the eye. His expression was neutral, but would likely be impacted by whatever Jay had to say. Jay's thoughts scrambled trying to come up with an appropriate response.

"Uh, I stole... and got caught." Jay answered nervously, confused by the boy's sudden curiosity.

"Right, how 'bout you?" The boy asked, turning to the girl. She glanced away from the ominous woods for merely a moment to look at the boy.

"Why does it matter to you?" She asked in response.

"Whatever, jus' be that person I guess." The boy said dismissively. The girl immediately went back to fearfully staring at the forest around them. Jay was certain of it now. She wasn't looking at the sharp spears the guards were carrying or how outnumbered the three teenagers were, she was looking at the forest. A dreadful thought passed by like the wind, what if the true thing to worry about was out in those woods?

Jay had heard plenty of stories about places brimming with magic. Magic permeated the whole world of Maea, but sometimes it had an unusually high influence. Trees would twist and churn, and strange creatures would come from seemingly nowhere. Some of them were vaguely similar to non-magical creatures, but others were utterly alien and unfamiliar. Maybe this was a place like that.

"How 'bout your name?" The boy asked.

"Jay... you?" Jay replied.

"Vayen. Hey, quiet person or whatever, how 'bout you?" Vayen asked.

"Zira, but it matters not." Zira said, her eyes still locked onto the forest. Jay was going to ask her to confirm if his own theory was true, but clearly she wasn't in a talking kind of mood. Jay supposed it was understandable, they were all on their way to jail, after all.