010-The Boy Named Jack

"Why are you following me?" Nonoth stopped again and ask the boy.

"You took my silver coin." The boy was surprisingly calm.

"And I offered you a piece of gold for that." Nonoth sighed, started the conversation they had had for several times now.

"I don't want your gold." The boy answered, again.

"I need the coin to track my friend, who was taken by the owner of your coin." Nonoth said, again.

"I want to tag along." The boy said, obviously not gonna give in on that.

"And I told you, you cannot. They are obviously dangerous people. I can't guarantee your safety." Nonoth sighed again. She didn't have the heart to use spell on this boy who just wanted to help.

"You took my silver coin." The boy said.

"..."

It actually would be easier if Nonoth take the boy though, cause her tracking spell tracks all the person who has ever touched the coin, the man who took Mal was the second to last, and the last person, was this stubborn boy. It would be a lot easier to eliminate the wrong directions if she keeps the boy around her.

"What's your name?" Nonoth asked him in a defeated tone.

"Jack." The boy replied with a grin, apparently knew his victory was around the corner.

"Okay, Jack. I don't even know who those people are, what if..." Nonoth couldn't finish her sentence because Jack cut her off: "They are the death merchant caravan."

...

"Are you gonna kill him when you found him?" Jack looked up at Nonoth.

They were on a track through a forest, heading in the direction to the desert. Obviously, that was where the Death Merchant was taking Mal.

"Holy the unspeakable, why... how..." Nonoth was shocked into stuttering.

"You are a witch, aren't you? It wouldn't be too hard." Jack looked even more confused, as if killing people is something like eating meals to Nonoth.

"So? It's not like witches kill all the time! How old are you by the way?" Nonoth was very upset to be slapped with a label, a horrible one at that too.

"I'm 16." Jack lied without even blinking.

"Uh-hua, try again." Nonoth squinted at him, arms crossed.

"Fine, 14." Jack grinned, not even ashamed when debunked.

"..."

"My mom used to tell me all those frightening stories about witches stealing babies. Why is that? Do you eat human?" Jack asked with no fear but curiosity in his tone.

"Yes, we eat humans and steal babies." Nonoth sighed, "Aren't you afraid I would eat you?"

"No, you need me to find your friend." Jack grinned as if done some funny mischief.

"Haha." Nonoth let out a laugh. "Smart boy. I guess you are coming with me. Tell me more about this witch story your mom tells you?"

...

"Looks like it is in the desert after all." The man with a scar on his face, aka, the Death Merchant finally concluded after peering three finger's bandage off Mal to verify the result.

Mal bit his lips so he wouldn't cry from the pain of the peeling. He didn't want to give the man more reason to enjoy all these.

"Should we head there tomorrow? It's getting dark. We would barely make it to the entrance if we head out now." Said one of his men, dressed up like a merchant the most among them, but he also had the evilest heart.

"No. We are going that way." Death Merchant replied, looking at a direction nearly the opposite of where the sand has gone to.

"I see. Roger that." The vicious man smirked at that direction and turned to his own horse.

"This time, I'm prepared." Death Merchant murmured to himself.

...

"Hey, they took a sudden turn!" Jack shouted when the coin floating in front of drew a circle in the air.

"You are getting the hang of this." Nonoth nodded approvingly.

"I was so sure they were heading towards the great desert." Jack sounded surprised.

"The great desert..." Nonoth murmured to herself: "Jack, what's the name of that desert?"

"I don't know. People always call it the great desert, but I think I know where they are heading toward now."

"Really? Where?"

"The City of the Desert, it's..." Jack looked startled when Nonoth finished that sentence for him: "...the closest city to enter the desert."

"Why do you look so surprised? I know stuff." Nonoth grinned at Jack, took the shocking expression on his face only as surprise of the fact that she knows that famous city.

"...nothing. Let's pick up the pace then, now that we know where they are heading."

Night fell so fast as if someone throw a black cover over the sky in a second. The cloud flushed red with the glow of the sunset hang on the edge of the sky was following Nonoth and Jack in a very leisurable pace. The plants on this grassland are already those that tolerate dry and sandy life better, because they form the last line between the yellow kingdom and the green realm.

"Don't worry, I don't plan on taking you when we get close enough." Noticing Jack was still shaken up, Nonoth said in a soft voice to calm him down.

"Hmm... I..." Still looked nervous, Jack struggled with an answer. "What if he already killed your friend?" He finally asked.

"Why would he go through all the trouble to take him away if he just wanted to kill Mal? I don't know for what yet, but he took Mal for a reason." Nonoth seemed pretty confident.

"How do you know Mal is not dead already?" Jack's voice was shaking by the end of the sentence.

"I just know...Why are you so obsessed with this? Do you know something that I don't?" Jack's weird reaction finally rose suspicion in Nonoth.

"No reason. It's just, they call him the Death Merchant. I think he got that nickname for a reason is all." Jack shrugged and tried to avoid Nonoth's eyes.

"Really? But even that, it's..."

"There!" Jack suddenly yelled and pointed front, "The City of Desert!"