Miscellaneous Short Stories and Story-Like-Things

Taken

"Papa! May I explore the market? Please? Please?" Lord Raoul's daughter begged him.

"Alright, Vivian. But wear your-" Vivian had already skipped away from him. "Hat." He chuckled and watched her progress through the marketplace. How Vivian had grown. He couldn't believe she was twelve already. She rounded a corner and he lost sight of her for a moment. Moments later, he rounded the same corner, and Vivian was gone. He scoured the area, his hands shimmering with magelight. He pulled her essence from her hat to try a tracking spell. The line of glowing yellow footsteps stopped in the middle of the street about 5 feet from his position.

He yelled in fury and anguish. That his daughter should be taken on her birthday, of all days, and the anniversary of her mother's death was a cruel twist of fate.

Raoul's shoulders shook with his anger and pain. He strode up to a merchant's booth. "You there!" he said. "Did you see anyone take a young girl in a pink dress?"

The shopkeeper opened his mouth and tried to speak, but a cloud of red magelight blocked his words.

Raoul took a few steps away from the merchant, at a loss.

A customer came and talked to the merchant Raoul had just left behind.

"Hello, Mr. Thomas!" the merchant said, genially. "A pound of whitefish, then?"

Raoul cursed and tuned the rest of the merchant's conversation out. There was no chance of finding her, then, through witnesses. If the person who took his Vivian was a mage with enough skill to cast a specialized silence spell, his brand of magic- tracking and Seeing- would not help.

********************************

Gavin Crewe threw the captive girl aside and examined his amulets. He sighed. "Burnt out, boss. Can't use the Transport Amulet again."

"A shame, Crewe. Of course, you get paid once you provide... goods." Gavin's boss, Mr. Talbot, said.

"Right." Gavin grabbed the girl in the pink gown. "Prettiest girl in the marketplace. Be a good lady's maid or something"

Trembling, the girl looked up at Gavin, then over at Mr. Talbot, whose face changed in an instant, from bored to euphoric to terrified. "Do you know who you've captured?" He demanded. "Crewe, answer me!"

"Some rich girl. I shut up everyone in the marketplace. Nobody'll squeal," Gavin responded, nonchalant. "I put a silence spell on her so she wouldn't scream, too."

"Excellent," his boss said, and Gavin grinned until Mr. Talbot scowled. "Now remove your spell. I need to be sure."

Gavin pulled a cloud of magelight from the girl. She put a hand to her mouth and shuddered.

"Girl," said Mr. Talbot. "Tell me your name."

"V-vivian," the girl stammered. "Please, I want my father. Give me back to my father, please!"

Mr. Talbot continued, almost frantically. "Who is your father, girl?"

"His name is... is Raoul," she said. "We live at Bellmare. Please, will you take me to him? My father will be looking for me!"

Mr. Talbot turned to Gavin. "You must silence her. A general silence spell. She must never talk, never. Do you understand? One single misstep will have both our heads!"

Gavin smiled. He likes using his magic, even if he doesn't quite understand why. So as he fills his hand with shimmering red magelight and puts his hand to the girl's mouth, he asked, "Boss, why is this so important? I silenced all the witnesses."

"Because, Crewe, her father is Lord Raoul of Bellmare. His are the strongest essence spells in all of Ogros. I went to University with him, and he was the strongest tracker at the whole school."