Strangers arrive and leave every day to trade goods and services.

But this is no ordinary day, nor is this an ordinary stranger.

Three youngsters find themselves in a life or death situation after following a tall stranger who has obtained their stolen crystal orb.

Witnessing the tall cloaked man murdering an Altered Creature, the three young polenums take it upon themselves to find evidence to prove their case before bringing it to the law.

In doing so, they find themselves on the edge of being victims themselves.


              Bik                                   Faun                       Gaz

CHAPTER 1: Dare to Trade

Bik poked his head out from the shadow. “There it is,” he whispered. The boy’s short spiky hair was naturally colored with bright greens and yellows. His green eyes glistened with the thrill before them. 

Creaking from rusty hinges could be heard from a sign hanging in front of the shop he was gazing at. Swinging back and forth in the light breeze off the lake, the driftwood sign had the words ‘Dare to Trade’ carved into it.

Bik pulled his head back out of the moonlight. “Can you get us in?”

Disappointed that he would even ask her such a question, Faun moved closer to Bik. “The question is can you get us out without getting caught?”

Faun and Gaz leaned out and looked around the corner at the shop. The street was empty and dark, with sounds of water lapping at the docks while boats groaned from rocking and rubbing against each other.

 “If we get caught, he’ll tie us up by our toes,” Gaz said, shivering from the wet night air as well as the danger before them. His dark messy hair blended into his surroundings while his pale skin nearly glowed when hit by the moonlight.

Faun pushed him back into the shadows. “Shhh, you’re going to wake someone up.” Slightly awkward, her body was thin and frail. Her long straight gold and cherry colored hair was pulled back away from her vibrant youthful face and bright eyes.

The old wooden shop was built on the docks and swayed slightly as waves hit the pontoons below, which held over half the city above the lake’s water. A front door and picture window were accessible from the floating street. An unorganized pile of knickknacks and oddities from foreign lands filled the ledge inside the window.

Rustling of a torn poster on the front wall sounded like the flapping of bat wings. The picture on the poster was of a man with a tall hat and thin red beard. His small eyes peaked out from behind the flapping of ripped paper. It made the three feel as though the man was watching them.

“Come on,” Bik said, sneaking across the wooden planked street and leaning up against the front wall of the shop, pinning the poster to the wall. His heart paced faster with excitement and fear as he took a second to collect his thoughts.

Bending down to sneak under the picture window, he stopped halfway across and stood up. There it was, the translucent blue crystal sphere. Bik stood in amazement at the fist-sized orb and placed his hands on the glass. He wanted this item more than anything.

The window fogged up from his breath as a hand grabbed his shoulder.

“Awww!” Bik screamed, turning quickly to see his attacker.

“Shhh. You’re going to mess up everything,” Faun said, removing her hand from Bik.

Gaz looked up and down the street for anything that would cause them to abandon this plan. “We shouldn’t be stealing this. It’s not right.”

Bik’s face scrunched up. “It’s not stealing if it’s mine.”

Gaz disagreed. “It is too. You’re going to get us all in trouble. My father is going to kill me.”

“Stop it, you two. Let’s get in and out before the old man wakes up.” Faun reached into her pocket and pulled out a few pieces of thin metal. Leaning down in front of the door, she placed the metal items into the lock and began to wiggle and twist them.

CLICK

The lock had been picked, Faun moved back a step. “Now, get in there, grab your orb, and get back out.”

“You’re not coming in?” Bik asked.

She shook her head. “No, we’ll watch the street to make sure no one is coming.”

Bik swallowed hard. “Fine, I’ll be right back.”

Metal scratched against metal as he turned the handle, followed by the squeaking of the door hinges as he carefully opened the door.

Stepping inside, he was overcome by a ripe smell of dead rodents. The room was pitch black except for the thin light peaking through the window shades and a sliver of light from the front door against the wall to his left.

He held his breath and turned toward the window ledge. One step at a time, he quietly shuffled his feet across the creaking floor. Spider webs brushed against his face. Wiping them off his head as fast as they landed, his right shoulder was now covered with them.

Nearing the window, his foot bumped against something soft, like a thick pillow. It was too dark to confirm.

Slowly moving his foot back, he could feel the object was stuck to his shoe. Bik shook his foot slightly to knock it off. No luck. Tapping his toe softly to get it off didn’t work either.

Shaking his foot harder still had no effect, so he reached down with his hand to push it off. Upon touching the object, he found it to be fury and soft. Perhaps it was a mink coat or something on those lines.

Grabbing the item, he heard a low growl. His fingers could now feel ribs under the fur. They raised and lowered from breathing. A shoulder blade moved. A head twisted around and snapped at him.

“Sandrats!” he yelped, standing up and kicking it against the wall. Knocking it off, he backed up to get out of the shop.

SLAM! The front door shut, cutting off all light from that side of the room.

Bik ran for the door at full tilt. Tiny footsteps could be heard behind him as the giant sandrat raced after him.

Running blind, he hoped he was heading the right way. Several steps into the chase, Bik could hear a second rat move on his right, and then a third.

Without warning he ran smack into something as tall as himself, knocking him down with a crash.

“Ouch!” Faun and Gaz shouted as they both fell to the floor.

Bik was relieved that it was them, but only for a moment. “Sandrats! Run! Get out of here.”

Faun stood up and prevented him from running to the door. “You can’t go out there, someone’s coming, and I think it’s the Captain.”

The moment of silence that followed was quickly filled with the sound of rats approaching from every direction.

“Better him than these rats,” Bik said, running for the door. Faun agreed and followed, pulling Gaz up off the floor.

“We’re going to die!” Gaz yelled, as he was being dragged to the door, rats at his heels biting on his pant legs.

Flinging the door open, the three jumped out into the street just as the Captain approached his shop’s entrance. His large intimidating silhouette cast a shadow on the children, hiding their faces.

The Captain was a wide and massive human. A huge animal bone was used as a cane as he limped towards them. The poster on the front wall had been ripped down and was tightly gripped in his left hand. “Get out’a me shop, ya no good thieves.” Picking up his thick animal bone he swung it at them with full force.

The children scattered as the crushing blow missed them and flattened one of the sandrats instead.

Running around the corner and through the streets, they could hear the Captain yelling at them. They just hoped he hadn’t seen their faces.

Bik ran alongside his friends, huffing and puffing. “I have a better plan to get my orb for tomorrow night.”