The Lords against DJ

DJ in the Japheth

The detective, standing at a distance from Yael and still very much under the effect of earlier encounter with the Lord, watched the caravan approaching them at snail's pace with his big, wide innocent eyes peeking from behind the veil around his face and head. Twisting and turning his fingers painfully until they turned red, DJ tried to press down the building anxiety in his system while he gathered his wits and courage to face not one but many people at a time. He held his heart and crossed his fingers while the moans of animals and the jingles of bells and shells echoed around the gravel path, filling the otherwise silent atmosphere with some kind of life other than nature.

Honestly, DJ had no real hope for the situation he found himself in. Lost in the thick forest with nothing to eat nor to drink and that too with a grumpy Lord, the boy half expected another problem that could arise out of the blue at any odd time, like their previous adventures, and leave them empty-handed once again.

It would be no surprise, of course, if something like that happened since he was facing problems after problems after all that the detective had even far gone nicknaming himself 'bad omen'. But then, to DJ's utter amazement and astonishment, his miserable, static life took a strange turn, and the scenes in front of his eyes played a totally opposite skit compared to what he had expected.

The caravan hadn't reached completely close when Jerry saw Yael bracing himself, as the large and stout man squared his broad shoulders and straightened his back, before proceeding a walk of dominance towards the edge of the path where the large group of people were approaching. The lord of Pyro then raised his hand in the air with oozing confidence, Jerry was aware that belonged to the act of being a noble merchant and waved in a way to send some sort of signal to the upfront carriage, most probably leading the caravan, to catch their attention.

And the attention he caught

DJ watched with wild anticipation as the front most, biggest and the brightest carriage reached right in front of Yael and halted in its tracks with its tyres squealing on the dirt road roughly. The door then opened and out jumped a large-sized man, tan in complexion and muscular. A moustache resting over his widely smiling lips made the man look friendly as he approached the lord carefully yet welcomingly. He reached his hand out for a shake and for a second DJ thought that Yael wouldn't reciprocate the gesture but then the day couldn't get any better because the Lord did shake the hand of the offering man and soon they indulged in a conversation DJ had no clue about.

But he was curious.....oh so curious.

With speculative gaze, Jerry looked at the two men engaged in a conversation, one talking while smiling and nodding his head apparently in understanding while the other as nonchalant and serious as he was before, as they discussed some things deeply. At one point, Yael tipped his chin towards Jerry subtly, gesturing towards him, as he talked some more while the other man raised his gaze towards the detective too, staring at the boy for more than Yael's liking and making the younger go all squirmy under the sudden attention.

The boy bloomed pink behind his guise, heat rushed from his neck to his cheeks and a ragged pattern of breathing started to surface from his throat. Before his situation could turn into an anxiety and then a full-blown panic attack, DJ lowered his gaze and turned his heated face away from the lord and the man only to face the now scattered caravan a few feet ahead of him.

Calm and peaceful yet chirpy and loud

The caravan was not immensely huge but was large enough to accommodate and cater to sixty to seventy people, including families, single or group of traders that were all travelling to Malia for the festival. Small and large carriages, which made up most of the population, were volunteered by each trader on the journey that held the emblem of their merchandise or some sort of symbol in the form of a flag at the top. A generous amount of domestic animals like hens cows and even horses that travelled along were also a part of the crowd as they were hollered to the side by some patrolling men.