Lianne was walking along the trail from the markets to her village. She lived just an hour's ride on horse back from Summersea and the Winding Circle Temples. Unfortunately, she didn't have a horse, so she had to make the walk to the smaller markets just 45 minutes away.
Sighing, she turned off the road and onto a rough bush track. It was a short cut, and her mother would kill her if she knew her daughter was taking it, but it shaved 15 minutes off of her traveling. The only problem was the chance of running into the village's local gang, the Blood Bleaters. They thought they were tough, but Lianne knew better. She'd been to Summersea once, 2 years ago, and gotten lost. She'd run into the top dog gang there, and was lucky the Provost's Harrier mages came along, or else she would've ended up face down in an alley.
The Blood Bleaters would stand no chance against that gang. They carried knives and everything! Preoccupied with her thoughts, she didn't notice the veritable roadblock that barred her path. There, standing in their red breeches and navy blue shirts, were half of the Blood Bleaters. Turning around hurriedly, she found the other half. 'Well, mother won't have to kill me now'. She thought. 'These guys are going to do it for her. Dropping the bread she'd bought from the market, she looked around for an escape route. 'Dammit!' She thought. They must've been following her from when she turned onto the path. There was only one escape. Down.
However, down was about a fifty-meter drop, with sharp rocks at the bottom, and thorny vines on the way there. Backing up slowly, she made her way towards the edge. A Bleater cut her off. The leader, a large boy named Cory, said in a mocking tone of voice, "Now, why would you head that way, you'd ruin our fun!" Snickering, he picked up a large stick, and snapped it over a rock, watching her quiver in fear. He picked up a thicker, stronger stick, and advanced menacingly. "Here, I'll let you join in with the fun."
Fourteen year old Sandry looked up at Niko. Why had he called this midday ride? He insisted that it was to get the children out of Discipline, but she could tell there was something that bothered him. You didn't need to be a truthsayer to see that! Sighing, she urged her horse into a trot, and moved up beside him. "Niko, why'd you make us come along on a ride? Really?"
"I didn't make you, Tris did. I was going to go by myself." He grumbled. "She just wouldn't let me."
This, however, didn't answer her question. It only aroused more. "Why did you want to go alone? Why to a small village?"
Niko glared at her until she looked away. Obviously, he didn't want to answer her questions. Letting her horse drop back, she spoke in her friend's minds, 'Do you guys know what's going on?'
'Nope, do you?' Tris responded.
'If you don't Coppercurls, then what chance do we have? He's your teacher.' Briar responded.
'Hey, he won't tell me anything either.' Tris retorted. 'Now leave me alone, I'm reading.'
'You're always reading.' He replied. He loved annoying her.
Daja had remained quiet all through this, but she spoke now. 'Hey, guys. What's Niko looking for?'Sandry stared at her mentor. What was he looking for? The question rattled around in her brain, even while she looked around her surroundings. She couldn't find anything out of place. Not one thing. The rock face was similar to every other rock face she'd seen, the path was rough, but those features were hardly unusual. There were little sprouts of grass here and there, and the small cliff they rode on was wide enough for them to ride next to each other, if need be.
Sandry would have asked her teacher, Lark, what was wrong with Niko, were she there. Lark, Rosethorn and Frostpine had all stayed at Winding Circle, allowing Niko his ride alone. The four children had only come as a last minute thing. About to ride ahead, to ask Niko what he saw, she stopped. She heard voices from just around the corner, but she couldn't make them out.
'Tris! Tris, can you hear those voices? One of them sounds scared; can you hear what they're saying?' Sandry asked.
'Fine! I'll just put this book down for the rest of the trip, shall I? Here, eavesdrop all you want.' Sandry felt Tris pluck wind from the air, and start a slight breeze from around the corner.
Listening carefully, she made out what they were saying, just barely. Obviously, Tris was upset she wasn't able to finish her book.
"Here, I'll let you join in on the fun." A tough sounding boy said.
"Please," a girl said in a quivering voice, "Just let me pass.""No," The boy said sharply. "You have to learn your lesson. You don't pass through Blood Bleater territory without paying the price."
Eye's wide, Tris forgot her irritation and rode up to Niko, touching his arm. Before he could object, she replayed what she'd heard in his head, and then they both heard a frightened whimper.
"Where's this coming from?" Niko urged.
"Around the corner and up a bit," Briar answered for her.
Without a word, Niko urged his horse into a gallop, and the children followed. As they approached the group, 5 of the members turned around to deal with them.
A skinny one, with a ragged scar running along his face from left ear to the left side of his nose, said, "You don't want to be here right now. This is none of your business. Leave while you still can."
Before Niko could respond, Briar had dismounted, and walked right up to the boy and sneered, "What kind of a gang is this? It takes all of you to harass a single girl?" Not waiting for an answer, he walked straight past him into the middle of the group. His instincts screamed against such an act, surrounding himself with enemies, but he wasn't an ordinary street rat anymore. He was a plant mage, and he and his friends had gained fame all around Emelan.
Before he knew it, the girls and Niko had joined him. Sandry said in as pompous a voice as she could manage, "I suggest you leave. There's no way you stand a chance against us."
The leader of the group laughed. "Yeah, right. Like five of you and that puny girl there could stand a chance against all 20 of us!" The rest of the gang joined him in laughter.
Daja moved to help the young girl. "It'll be alright now. Don't worry." The girl still trembled, but she seemed calmer.
"Look, I aint here to play games," the gang leader said. "Boys, get 'em."
And that was when the four young mages and their teacher made their move. Daja grabbed their jewellery and other metallic possessions, Sandry wrapped them in their clothes and Briar in vines from the side of the cliff. Tris was about to make it hail on them, but a warning glance from Niko stopped her. Instead she made it rain. Eyes wide, mouth agape, the young girl backed away, right to the edge of the cliff.
Thinking quickly, Briar made a large wall from the thorny vines, to stop her from falling, but he couldn't retract the thorns in time. Her yelp made him wince. At least she didn't fall off the cliff. Ignoring the bound gang members, Sandry and Daja moved over to the girl and knelt next to her. When she had backed into the thorns, she had collapsed in defeat, not wanting to even bother any more. She just sat there, weeping, to await whatever fate served her.
"Shh, its okay, we won't hurt you." Sandry comforted.
"W- Who are you people?" The girl asked.
"My name's Sandrilene fa Toren, and this is Daja Kusibo." Sandry said gently.
Eyes, widening by the second, the girl realized who their companions were, and she sat up straighter. She'd just been saved by the most famous mages in Summersea. But she couldn't for the life of her figure out who the older man was. She asked Daja, and she replied, "That's Niklaren Goldeye. He's our teacher."
Trembling with excitement, she thought, 'my brother's never going to believe who I met today!'