Black Crystal Part 1 - The Origin

Chapter Twenty Four ~ Merciful Blades

November 13th, 1809.

Willamette Pass, Oregon Province.

Garen and Xander took a carriage out of the city and walked through the forested outskirts southbound for quite a few hours. It was quiet, it was tense, and it was, as one would expect, awkward. Neither of them even looked at each other the entire way there. They were both carried a sword and wore similar armor, though neither of them anticipated that they'd need to use their weapons after their briefing with Nohr and Maevis.

"You'll be tracking down a group of thieves in the Tualatin Villa south of the city," Nohr explained back when they were in the Castle. "The job is to shut down their organization, figure out where their hideout is, retrieve any stolen goods from their hideout, and bring them back here."

It was already sunset by the time they made it to the Forested Pass that bordered the city from the surrounding Villas. The only sounds that filled the awkward silence included a gentle breeze, the occasional chirps of birds in the trees, and their own footsteps in the dirt path running through the pass. Garen slightly turned to look at Xander, who paid no attention to him. He sighed and turned forward once more as they walked.

"They gather at the center of the Villa at night," Xander said, finally breaking the silence. Garen turned toward him once more as they walked and Xander continued speaking. "How we're supposed to bring their group down without killing them, though, I have no idea."

"We brought weapons for a reason, though," Garen replied. They were silent for a bit and Garen turned his focus ahead once more. "We'll figure something out. We have to." They continued walking in silence for quite some time. The sky was clear of clouds that night, so they had a clear view of the sun setting in the western horizon. Garen and Xander arrived in the Tualatin Villa at the perfect time. "Looks like we're about here, huh?" Garen asked.

The sun was barely set enough to light everything up with vibrant colors. Garen felt comfort in the Villa, as it was more along the lines of what he was used to. It was a quiet, peaceful community with houses and buildings scattered about far from one another, rolling hills, and farmland everywhere. "Hard to believe such a peaceful place is dealing with a theft problem," Xander said quietly. He looked around and continued walking forward into the Villa. "Let's find a place to lay low before the thieves come out. Maybe we can get some info or something."

They walked off the beaten path and explored the Villa. Despite the small population, it was actually quite a large location. Not many people were outside, but they could hear music in the distance. Garen and Xander didn't exchange glances, but they both started heading towards where the music was. As the music got louder, they started hearing a quiet murmur of people talking in the distance. It was coming from a pub. Garen started walking towards the pub, but Xander stopped in front of him.

"Um, what are you doing?" asked Xander. Garen turned around and gestured toward the pub.

"Going to investigate," he said. "Is there something wrong?"

"You seem to forget a pretty important detail," Xander replied. "We're only twelve years old. We're underage! If we were to go waltzing on into a pub, they'd kick us out, probably arrest us, and the Prince in prison wouldn't look very good to the public." That was enough to stop Garen for a moment and to consider that fact, but they were both startled when they saw a caravan suddenly start heading toward the pub. Garen looked inside and saw about five people, all of them armed with knives and handguns. Garen and Xander quickly hid behind the closest building and they watched it go by. The caravan stopped at the pub's entrance and all five people emerged from it, entering the pub. As soon as they did, the music stopped and the majority of the people already in the pub started running back to their homes.