The strange girl's shop was only about a block away so they didn't have to walk very long. Dust had expected the shop to be rather sketchy but his expectations were blown out of the water. The girl led him into an empty lot just off the side of the road. Countless boxes littered the site, each empty but somehow still smelling putrid.
Brazen of her to call this a shop.
The girl brought him towards a certain collection of boxes loosely resembling the shape of a shop counter. The girl jumped over the boxes and started rooting around through rubbish, looking for something.
"Sit tight while I grab something will ya?"
Begrudgingly, Dust obliged and waited near the box counter for some 30 seconds before the girl popped back up. She was noticeably dirtier and holding a crappy 'open sign' which she promptly placed on the counter.
"Welcome to the sword stand, what can I get you dear customer?"
Disgust ran through Dust as he looked at the ridiculous object.
"Did you really make me wait here 30 seconds just to do that?"
The girl nodded. She rested her head on her hands and stared at him with a sparkle in her eye.
"You were looking for a bow, correct?"
Dust sighed.
"I am. However, I'd like to know your name first. I don't particularly like buying things from strangers, especially strangers who sell me things in deserted lots."
The girl scrunched her face up slightly, considering the request.
"My name's Rachel. I'll grab my bow stock."
She reached below the counter and pulled up three bows. One was on the verge of falling apart, the other had fine wood but its string was loose, and the last one looked like it had been set on fire more than once.
"Yeah... I'm not buying these pieces of garbage."
Rachel drew her finger along the strange marks lining the wood of the bows. She tightened her eyes in annoyance.
"How dare you call a bow with enchantments garbage! The craftsmanship might leave a little to be desired but you're not getting this level of enchantment quality anywhere else!"
Enchantment? The hell does that mean?
"Uh... what do you mean they're enchanted?"
Rachel's jaw dropped, utter disbelief covering her face.
"You don't know what an enchantment is?"
"Not really, no."
Brilliant gold stars of excitement crystallized in Rachel's eyes. The deep haze of night became just a little bit brighter on account of her energy.
"Oh wow! I've never met someone who doesn't know about runes. As much as I'd like to go more in depth I figure it's better to keep my explanation simple so I don't bore you to death."
Rachel traced the oddly etched markings on the wood of the first bow she'd shown.
"To keep it simple, when you put these runes on an object, assuming the runes are configured correctly, it can grant that object special powers. For instance this bow has its runes written in such a way that allows any arrow nocked on it to ignite with flames."
A wave of complete exasperation ran through Dust upon hearing this girl's obvious lie.
"Do you think I'm stupid. Gods, why do I even ask that of course you do. You seem to have me pegged as some ridiculous idiot who'd believe that funny marks on an object can give it magical powers. Unfortunately for you I have more than two brain cells. I'm gonna leave, so have fun finding another sucker to buy that nonsense!"
Dust started to leave the dirty lot but turned around after hearing the sound of a fire ignite. Rachel was holding the bow and nocked on the string was a burning arrow.
There's no way... she probably lit it while I was turned around.
"So... where'd you hide the lighter."
Rachel smiled, seeing she'd at least gained back some interest from Dust. She unnocked the arrow and smothered the flame on the ground. She then brought the arrow back to the string and nocked it.
"Watch and learn, dum-dum."
The runes on the side of the bow began to glow a light blue. Just like Rachel said it would, the nocked arrow combusted. Dust's eyes widened and he looked at the scene with a mix of excitement and shock.
"Holy Shit! That's awesome! You gotta show me the other ones!"
Rachel had a proud look on her face.
"I know! Enchantments are awesome. Here lemme show you the rest of them!"
Rachel let her excitement get the better of her and instead of gently unnocking the arrow, she simply released it. The flaming arrow flew off into the sky. Dust and Rachel watched it with a mix of awe and horror until it fell beyond their vision and hit the ground. A scream could be heard from the direction where the arrow fell.
"Wuh-oh"
Rachel rushed back over to the counter and threw the other two bows out of sight.
"That arrow's probably going to get us in some trouble, so we're gonna finish this sale quickly."
A desperate desire to see the other enchantments pulsed in Dust's stomach. Rachel did express that they needed to go, but Dust couldn't ignore the newly ignited flame of curiosity burning inside him.
"At least tell me what the other bows do. I'm gonna go insane if I don't know at least that much."
Rachel glanced at the bag of coins jingling on Dust's belt. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the arrival of a stranger clad in armor. A longsword was sheathed on his belt, something both Dust and Rachel took immediate notice of.
"Hey! Were you the ones who fired that arrow? You could've caused a fire!"
Dust turned around and started spewing sweat. He racked his brain for anything he could say that would make this man leave before he drew that sword of his.
"Well... Uh... No... Kinda... Ummm..."
Dust turned his head around, hoping Rachel might give him a signal. Instead she had begun to book it in the opposite direction of the armored man.
That little shithead!
The armored man saw Rachel sprinting away and starting rushing towards Dust, hoping to catch both of them. Seeing no other choices, Dust turned around and let his survival instinct rage. His legs roared as he began sprinting. He quickly caught up to Rachel and offered her a truce.
"If I get you out of here, I want a weapon for free. It's your fault we're in here anyways so I'd say I'm being pretty generous. If I see anything other than a head nod I'm leaving."
Feeling desperate, Rachel quickly nodded her head. Dust zoomed ahead of her and grabbed her hand. He ran as fast as he could, practically dragging the slower girl behind him. He turned right, then left, then right again. They darted through dirty back alleys, rodents scattering as they flew by. Dust's lung began to swell from lack of oxygen but that didn't stop his legs from moving. As they continued to blitz through the maze of backstreets, Rachel turned around to check if the man was still behind them. Thankfully the coast seemed relatively clear. Unfortunately that brief relief was swallowed up by a loud scream in the distance.
"Reinforcements!"
Fuck!
All Dust could do was keep running. Realizing that Rachel was slowing him down, he decided to abandon his shame. He dropped hold of her hand and swiftly picked her up in a princess carry. Even while carrying more weight, the adrenaline coursing through his body allowed him to keep moving. His tendons raged and threatened to rip under the pressure of constant movement. He continued to dart around the alleyways until finding himself at a dead end.
In front of them stood a towering brick wall. It was too high to climb but was also the only direction they could've gone from the previous alleyway. They had a massive lead on the armed men on account of Dust's speed but all that fell away when they were forced to come to an abrupt stop. Dust dropped Rachel and tried to figure out another way out of this, but it was too late. Three armed men now stood in front of their only exit, and Dust was inclined to believe they weren't going to let either him or Rachel go.
Rachel stepped forward, determination cloaking her every movement.
Does she have a plan? Gods, I hope so.
A guilty look crawled onto Rachel's face as she pointed towards Dust.
"It was him... He shot the arrow."
I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna murder that little goblin.
Even though Rachel had tried to throw Dust under the bus, the armed men didn't seem to believe her. One of them walked over towards Rachel and swiftly pinned her to the ground while the other two began encroaching on Dust.
"In the name of the Defense Organization, you are under arrest for disturbing the peace. Your sentence will be set in due time by the Lady Constance."
Dust began praying that something would take him away from this moment. He looked up towards the night sky, and he saw it. A figure standing on a rooftop not far above the alleyway. Most of the figure's appearance was hard to make out under the darkness of night, with the exception of his navy eyes and crimson hair. The figure roared:
"Dust! You're dead!"
Shit...