The Crossroads of Power » Places

         "What I want?" wondered Sergius. Why was he even thinking of this? This retard who sat besides him was nothing more than a scammer. But if we could get anything he wanted what would he want? Riches? Power? Women? Eternal life? Or something mundane? Eternal happiness, maybe. What was so important in this world that he would place it before everything. What was the thing heart would love him for choosing? Love probably. Or maybe friendship?

For the second time today he thought of his mother. He hadn't seen her today. She had gone to the market in the next town over to buy vegetables for the entirety of the next week. It was his father who had cooked the meal for him today and given him enough money to survive the journey. Until now, he didn't even think about his father. Why? Why was he so attached to his mother, who would become sad whenever she saw his face? Had he done something wrong?

"My friend," he started but something stopped him. The road kept going through the forest until it had brought them to its edge, a large prairie spanned before them, thick green grass covering most of it. There, in the distance was a small village, plumes of smoke rising from the chimneys of its houses. They had reached the place Sergius was going to get rid of this man. Now, that seemed unlikely.

This was a disaster. They had come to far before noticing the plume. Any second, some bandit who was busy killing and raiding would look their way. Oh! Sergius was royally screwed. He had precious cargo in the back of the cart. The mines near the village had yielded much silver this year. This was the entire yield his family had managed to gather. Easily worth enough to keep them alive for a few week. Life in the mines was never simple. Actually, life in general was never simple. And now life was going to go away from Sergius.

One of the bandits signaled his friends and a group of four came towards the cart. So this is the reason no cart had passed them in a while. He saw some burning carts from the corner of his eyes. "Kid, what are you carrying?" asked a burly man. "Time to do your magic," Sergius said quietly to Karad. Somehow, he found humor while taking his last breaths.