Merlok's Nephew

Finding the thief

It was the middle of the night. Clay looked around the outside of his small cave and when he saw no one, he put his hood up to hide his face and left his home to get more food. Clay wanted to tell someone, anyone, that he needed help but he just didn't know who to trust. He saw everyone as a threat.

Clay ran to the village and looked around. Because he stole food every night, it was becoming more and more difficult for him to steal since the villagers were hiding it and locking it away so he couldn't take it. He would use his magic but even that proved to be difficult since he only knew how to levitate things and teleport, which took more energy then levitating stuff and he was still tired from curing himself of his stone curse.

Clay looked around and saw a familiar sight he came upon about two months ago or so. It was a small pile of fresh food along with new blankets and clothes. 'They set the same trap again? Why?' Clay thought to himself as he hid in the shadows of the alley. Clay knew that this would be a trap again since they wouldn't do this twice without a reason.

'This is obviously another trap. They must have gotten help from someone else.' Clay looked around and he didn't see anyone but someone did see him.

Before Clay arrived

The knights were watching from the rooftops waiting for their thief to come. "I missed an audition to catch a thief. Can't the villagers handle this themselves?" Lance asked a little annoyed. "The villagers are desperate for our help. This thief or thieves have been a problem for almost a year now. They tried everything to stop them but nothing worked. Merlok thinks it could be a stone monster or a fire monster gone bad," Aaron explained. "I know we've all been busy with our own lives since we stopped the Colossus but we are still the NEXO Knights.  We have a duty to help the people of Knighton," Macy told them. Everyone nodded in agreement.

The Knights continued to watch the small pile of food. "How long will it take for the thief to get here?" Lance asked. "Don't know but looking at all that food is making me hungry," Axl said as he stared at the food hungrily. "Sorry, big guy. We need that to catch our thief or thieves."

"Guys, be quiet!" Macy whispered. Lance, Aaron, and Axl looked at her and nodded quickly. Macy rolled her eyes as she returned to watching the food and the surrounding alleys quietly. Their thief or thieves would not come if they heard them. Suddenly she saw movement in a nearby alley. It looked like a small blue-hooded figure. 'It looks like a... kid.' At first, she was about to shake it off thinking it was just a kid going home but she something told her otherwise.

"Guys!" They looked at her and she pointed at the small blue-hooded figure in the alley. "Are you sure that's our thief?" Aaron asked hoping it was that little kid. "I think so but I'm not sure," Macy said. They continued to watch the kid hoping that he wasn't the thief but their hopes were shattered when they heard a loud crash in the alley next to them. Axl looked down in the alley but no one was there. Aaron quickly shushed everyone. They continued to watch the kid but noticed that he began to run towards the food.

Aaron signaled the other knights to jump down and surround the kid the moment he got to the food.

With Clay

Clay ran to the food and he wanted to grab as much as he could as fast as he could since he didn't have the energy to teleport. 'I have to get as much as I can before anyone sees me.' Clay looked up and saw that he was surrounded. "Hey, what are you doing? Why are you stealing food?" A knight in green armor asked. Clay stayed quiet. As much as he loved knights, he just didn't know if he could trust them.

"Come on, kid. Why don't we take you home? I bet your mom is worried about you," The girl with long red hair said and that is what took him out of his shock. What if his mom is looking for him? He has to hide. She told him to stay hidden until she finds him. Clay looked around for a quick exit. He was surrounded by four knights who were slowly gaining upon him.

'I don't know if I will be able to lift one of the Knights up with my magic but I have to try.' Clay looked and saw that the knight dressed in silver would be his best bet at escaping also he used his magic to lift him up which surprised all of the Knights. "Hey?! What gives?!" Clay threw him to another direction which caused the others to check in their friend and Clay made his escape. "Macy, follow him! Axl and I will check in Lance!" Macy nodded and proceeded to chase him.

With Macy

Macy was shocked to see a young kid, who looked maybe five or six, possibly younger, not only stealing food but was also a wizard like Merlok. Macy knee that she had to trick the kid in order to follow him to his hideout so she hid in some nearby bushes.

She saw the kid stop and look around and when he didn't notice anyone following him, he breathed a sigh of relief then he proceeded to continue running. 'Smart kid, he keeps running in case someone else decided to chase him.' Macy continued to follow him and hide when she needed to until she came upon a small cave. She prayed that the kid didn't live in the cave but he hopes were shattered when she saw him look around and enter the cave.

Her heart broke in two. A young kid is living on his own but the question is... why? She contacted the others to let them know her location. It took a few minutes but the Knights came to her and she explained what she saw.

"So the kid is live in that small cave? Why? Why doesn't he ask for help? Where are his parents?" Axl asked worriedly. "I don't know. I was able to catch a glimpse of him because he took his hood off. I saw that he has brown spiky hair but that's all," Macy explained. "Hmm. I think we need to convince the kid that we aren't a threat and take him to Merlok. Merlok might know something about him." The Knights nodded in agreement and discussed their plan to talk to the kid.

With Clay

Clay was scared. He was scared beyond belief. He wanted to go home. He wanted his mommy. He was spotted but some Knights but a part of him wondered if he should talk to them. Knights are heroes of the Realm and they help everyone in the kingdom but what if they knew that wizard who hurt his mom. Clay put his head in his hands. He just didn't know what to do. He just wanted everything to go back to the way it was supposed to be.

"Hello?" Clay froze. It was someone's voice. It sounded like the female knight. "I know you're in there. I'm not going to hurt you." Her voice sounded calm. "My friends and I are the NEXO Knights. We can help you if could just come out." Clay bit his lip. He hadn't really spoken to anyone in several months. He hasn't talked since that night he ran from those stone monsters. 

"Do... do you promise that you won't hurt me?" Clay asked nervously. There was silence for a few moments but the girl said, "We promise." Clay took a deep breath. He was scared but his mommy always told him to be brave like the knights. Slowly, Clay crawled out of the cave.

With the Knights

Macy waited patiently. From what Axl, Aaron, and Lance told her, it would a calm soothing voice and patience to talk to the young boy. It was obvious from his voice that he hasn't talked in a long and he was terrified. 'I wonder why he sounds so scared. Everyone knows about us but somehow he didn't recognize us at all.' Macy was taken out of her thoughts when she saw the kid come out. Everyone was speechless once he stood up. He was wearing ratty clothes that were obviously too big for him, he looked as if he hadn't taken a bath in months, and he was so thin that you could see his ribs. How long as this kid been living in this cave? 

Macy bent down to his level. He was shaking in fear. 'What could cause to be so afraid?' Macy took off her helmet and smiled. "My name is Macy. What's yours?" The kid bit his lip and was about to answer but his eyes rolled behind his head and he passed out. Luckily, Axl caught him and was holding him bridely style. "We have to get him to back to the Fortrex!" Aaron said quickly.  Everyone nodded in agreement and left to take him back to the Fortrex in hopes that Merlok could help him.

Whew! That took forever! Sorry, this took so long. Band and school have been keeping me busy plus, I had a bad case of writer's block but now it's been cured. I have a new NEXO Knights story planned and it's going to be awesome! Thanks for reading! See Y'all next time! :)