Free In Search of Auria by Alexis Rojas Page B

dagger.
    “First of all, I’m not
greasy,” I snarled into his ear. “Second, this here is my dagger. Tell me where
are the rest of my weapons?”
    “What weapons?” he mouthed off.
    “Listen, kid, I know you robbed me, so just
tell me where they are?”
    “No, no. I didn’t rob you, I swear it.
Please, let me go. You’re hurting my arm.”
    I tightened my grip and
gave him a stern instruction, “I will release you, but you will
have to tell me where you obtained the dagger. You understand me?”
The boy hastily nodded and I released. Once freed, he meticulously
rubbed his arm. I might have twisted it a bit too hard, but as my
father once told me when I was young: You
deserve what you deserve .
    When he finished soothing his arm, he opened
his mouth as if to speak, but instead the little weasel turned
around and sped off! This time he was too fast for me to catch.
    “Aw, come on, kid! I’m trying to be nice
here!”
    He ran off the path and entered the forest.
I hauled in pursuit. He knew very well the terrain of these woods;
he knew when to jump, when to slide and when to dodge. Eventually,
he ended up stopping in the center of a small circle of trees. I
grabbed him by the shoulder and wagged my finger.
    “Ok, kid. No more running. If you had my
dagger, you know who has the rest of my equipment. Now, speak!”
    The child showed me a sudden smirk. It was
very suspicious. Realizing where we were, he could have led me into
a trap. Then, I heard a noise coming from above. The sunshine that
peered through the leaves hazed my vision, but I noticed some
movement among the branches. When I looked back to the kid, he
grabbed a rope that fell from atop. It swiftly tensed and he was
pulled up to a small platform suspended from the branches. It was
then that I finally saw the ones up on the trees. They were a
couple dozen of other children standing on the high branches,
pointing at me with mocks and giggles. I had been so focused on the
one below I hadn’t noticed the rest. They were trying to frighten
me with their laughter and wails, but it wasn’t working.
    “What is this?” I chuckled, “The
Kindergarten Forest Watch? Come on, kids, get down from there.” I
guess they didn’t like the joke, because they started taking stones
out from their pouches.
    “Oh, crap!” I curled into a ball and covered
my head. The children yelled as they threw the projectiles at me. I
grunted each time one of them landed on the center of my back.
    “Ah! Damn it, kids, stop it!”
    The barrage continued until I was under a
mountain of pebbles. I could hear them celebrating and giving
themselves high fives. I had never felt such humiliation before;
toddlers ganging up and bullying me with no remorse. I raised my
fists and burst out of the pile like an erupting volcano, “You’re
gonna get it now, brats! You’re grounded!”
    “No, you are!” An unknown voice said from
behind. I turned and there was an older kid, a juvenile. Most
importantly, he held my shield and wielded my sword.
    “Hey, boy,” I said as I stumbled over the
rocks, “What things you hold are mine. Return them to me.”
    “No, they’re forever mine. Now leave before
we barrage you again.”
    “Kid, all of you are trying my patience,” I
said, holding back my indignation. “I’m in a hurry and I can’t go
on without my weapons. I don’t mean any harm to any of you, so just
give them back. I won’t hold any grudge and all will be forgiven.
What do you say?”
    He shook his head, “I need these weapons,
especially the sword.”
    I began to get frustrated. This wasn’t
exactly how I expected my day to go. The teenager then raised the
sword. He seemed to know how to use it more or less, but it was too
heavy for him. Seeing him struggle with it gave me an idea.
    “Well then, young man, how about this?” I
proposed. “Let’s have a duel, a small bout. I’ll give you three
tries to kill me. If you succeed, you keep the weapons. If not,
they return to