Dragonstone

Chapter 16: Ludicolt Village

We followed the stars and after a day and a half of harsh traveling we finally escaped the heat and have finally taken a glimpse at the world once again.

"Ahh it feels soo good to feel that cool breeze and not a heat wave" exclaimed Kiko. She laid down on the patch of grass a few meters away from the desert sand, her eyes closed and she was absorbing the true essence of nature. While of course Ren was being foolish.

"YAHOO!! It's about time ahhh I can see clouds! And grass! And Anything but sand!" He began to run around like a four year old going crazy at the day at the park, though, his childish behavior did make me smile a bit and for once I forgot about this dangerous quest. I found an old oak tree, it's bark shriveled from years of endurance, it's branches wide and strong, it's leaves swaying, dancing in the wind as a few lime green leaves gently fall.

All of this made me feel at peace, as if this world was pure and clean of all iniquities. But the harsh truth of it all is that where there is light, there is darkness. Even the purest ideals casts a shadow and this thought snapped me back into reality. "Come on guys as nice as this may seem we gotta go, it's time to snap back...to reality.."

Their faces saddened, they too were lost in an illusion and finally returned to the real world. Kiko got up and walked next to me while Ren too calmed down and walked towards us.

"Your right this is no time for messing around, Zane is still out there and we are going to be the ones to kick his ass."

The way Ren spoke these words was, so unlike him. His tone serious, his face stern and apathetic , he truly meant this with every fiber of his being. I looked out and saw the gates to Ludicolt village, the sun was high and shining ever so brightly. We stood for a moment then in unison we walked towards the gates.

After being granted permission we entered Ludicolt Village, the houses were made of wood, typical square shape. As we walked we entered the market area, a few stands here and there selling fresh produce, weapons such as daggers, arrows, fishing rod the basics. As we continued north of the village we were greeted by a fresh sea breeze.

"Ahhh it feels nice, so this is the famous Loody Port." said Kiko.

"Yup, these people are expert fishermen and this small village usually gets the best fish, I would expect this village to be wealthy but by the looks of things they're not." I exclaimed. We needed to find a boat and sail in the Atlantic Ocean and find Atlantis. We decided to split up and ask around to see who would be willing to take us.

At the end of the day we met up at the market place to exchange information.
"I found no one, it seems like the people are too scared of the waters, I had many people told me the waters farther out are cursed." I said.

"Hmm same here I got almost the same response, hey, where's Kiko?"

"Now that you mention it your right, she's not here that's odd I thought she was the punctual one?"

Just then Kiko came running with a smile on her face and she started waving at us. "Guys I found someone!"

Ren and I both exchanged looks and ran towards her to see what else she had to say. She found a woman who would be willing to sail is deep into the Atlantic, but for a price. " ONE MILLION GOLD COINS!" How the hell are we supposed to muster up that type of money in less than a day!" I was flabbergasted, why such a large sun of money, from kids nonetheless. Something about this seemed fishy, the lack of funding of the village and how this woman is asking for a ridiculous amount of money.

"They have the best fish, and other villas and cities will pay big money for them, so then, why are they so poor?" This has been bothering me since we arrived." I began to speak when we heard screams coming near the gate.

We ran to see what was the commission to only find an orange haired military officer yelling at who I presumed was the leader of this village.

"Where's this months pay you useless waste of a man!" The man continued in picking up the frail looking man, he seemed to be in his mid forties with patches of gray hair.

"S-s-s sir we already sent the money to lord Zane, we gave you all we have I promise you! Look at our measly village, if we had more money wouldn't we upgrade this village into a town?" said the terrified man. As I continued to stare Ren said something that got my knees buckling, my hands sweaty and my heart beating.

"Hey guys...doesn't that oranges haired guy look like...Onri? And didn't that man also say 'lord Zane'...perhaps the reason this place is so crappy is because Zane is demanding a tribute from these people and...Onri collects that money..."

We're in trouble.