1 The Black Market

Disgusting. Was the first word that popped in my head as soon as we entered the dark alley. The place reeked of hand-brewen sake mixed with other unknown smells to make it unbearable for me to breathe without putting the edge of my scarf on my face.

Death pit Alley- that was the name rightfully given to the place. The alley was known to the mouth piece to the black market which was my destination. We stopped near a cliff i got off of my horse, the air seemed to be a bit cleaner here, so i gulped in huge amounts of it.

"Mary tie your horse before you go off like that!" Khalid called behind me.

"Don't worry khalu my horse loves me too much to..." as soon as i was about to complete my sentence, my horse dashed at full speed and made its escape like it had been planning to run away from the start.

"No! wait my bags in there! khalid go after it!" my childhood friend glared at me with the look of 'I told you so', he mounted his horse again with his elegant strature "stay put!" he commanded and dashed after my horse, leaving me behind on my own.

We had just entered the danger zone and ive caused trouble for khalid again i thought as i looked over the cliff. My father used to be a good merchant, he taught me all there is to know about it, i bet he would be disappointed to find his daughter going to forbidden land. The black market was a place that merchants used to describe like it was hell. But half a year ago my brother Ahmad suddenly collapsed when we were harvesting our crop. We couldnt find any sort of medication for him, we tried every medicine there was but nothing worked on him, till one day a sneaky looking merchant told me to look for a power stone, he said that it would save my brothers life, and i couldnt tell if the man had been lying or not but we were desperate. He told me that it belonged to Ali, the most powerful merchant in the marketplace and that in order to obtain it i had to get to him.

So i left my house without my father knowing, i glanced at my brother who was sleeping with his fists clenched as if he were in unbearable pain. If my father had known where i was going he would surely stop me, but i couldnt watch my dear brother like that, so as soon as i walked outside i bumped into Khalid.

He lived right across from our place, and he was sharp as ever. He looked at me and said nothing but 'give me five minutes' and he disappeared. I've had a crush on him since i was seven years old. He was always looking out for me and caring for me that it was inevitable, plus his intimidating eyes were hard to resist. So i obeyed obediently. As it turned out he was going to go with me, i tried to decline his help but he insisted for my brothers sake, and murmered 'and for yours...' which made me blush.

Its been two weeks since we've been on our journey, and only 3 days till we get to the black market, and ive realised that i have to be stronger now. Im not a weak girl, i know how to protect and defend myself, though i have a habit of being clumsy at times.

For my brother i will get the stone, just hold on Ahmad, your little sister will save you.

"You are seriously clumsy" Khalid exclaimed as he came back, turns out my horse was faster then i thought, and Khalid couldnt catch up with him.

"Well we dont have time to find a new horse and our rations have decreased now, so come on we'll share my horse then" he said as he offered his big strong hand to me, I took it and mounted the horse. And he sat right behind me that i could feel his breath on my neck which flustered me and i suddenly turned quite nervous.

"Hey whats wrong?" he asked.

"Just shut up and move you idiot!" i exclaimed, covering my face with both hands.

The journey has just begun.