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Message: <blockquote data-quote="airwalkrr" data-source="post: 3816840" data-attributes="member: 12460">"Hey there!" Gedrick bravely jumped between Padree and the three men, "why don't you pick on someone your own size you lugs!"The men just glanced at each other and grinned before letting out a collective guffaw at the imp's misplaced bravado. "Oh yea," a tall guard with a pronounced Adam's apple and lanky jaw replied, "'Ose gonna stop us? You? With what army?"The men chuckled among each other as Gedrick grew red with anger at the men. Padree for her part took a step back before she realized there was a fourth guard in the group who had slunk through the shadows to move around behind the children. She let out a shriek of surprise which amplified the men's laughter as the guard behind them clasped his hands on her shoulders. "'Ey there lit'l waif. Didn't think you'd get away so easy now did ya?" he spewed.Gedric was incensed and Padree was afraid. They had been in bad situations before, but to get caught after dark by Pernevi's men was the worst they had ever seen. The foul guards, their yellowed teeth hanging out of their mouths as they sneered and jeered at the two helpless youngsters, began to toy with their captives like such cruel predators with their crippled prey."Better watch yer back, Kerrow," a green-eyed guard with long, hairy whiskers said to another with a huge double chin and a gut to match, "this one looks like quite the fighter," he gestured towards Gedric, whose fists were clenched in vainglorious rage as he held back the tears that were welling up behind his eyes. Meanwhile, Padree was engaged in a futile struggle against the strong guard holding her fast. She was quick and spry, but he had taken her by surprise so that her limber strengths were nullified."Don't worry, Padree," Gedric said, trying his best to reassure her, though he knew his attempts were in vain, "I promise you we'll make it out of this. At the end of the night we'll be at Benedict's eating nice food and drinking beer again."He was trying to think of positive things to distract himself as much as his friend from the rapidly darkening moment. But to his surprise, the unthinkable happened. The guard who had held Padree relinquished his grasp on the struggling girl who immediately sprinted to Gedric's side. The other three guards stood dumbfounded, their mouths agape at the words uttered by the impudent little street boy. Finally, one found his voice and squeaked, "Did... did you just... sss... say B-B-B-Benedict's?"The boy and girl quickly exchanged looks of befuddlement but Padree seized upon the moment, decided to make the most of their newfound advantage, and pointed her finger at the guards. "That's right! He said Benedict's! And if you don't back off we're gonna tell Benedict exactly what happened here tonight!"The four men took a cautious step back in unified apprehension. Their eyes had become sunken and wide with anxiety. Gedric could even make out what appeared to be beads of sweat on the fattest one, the one called Kerrow. The kids did not know the first thing about Benedict's, but whatever it was, it struck fear in the hearts of these men."C-c-carry on then," one of the guards blurted out before practically doubling over himself and scurrying away with the rest of them following like scolded dogs.The two were still for a moment. They were both a bit shocked about what had just happened. Now they stood in the streets, alone, nothing but the gentle flickering of a nearby lamp to comfort them. In the cool night air a cry pierced the silence created by the now vacant road ahead. Such cries were common in the city of Rookroost, where thieves reigned and violence was widespread. It wouldn't have normally startled lifelong residents like Padree and Gedric, but something about the eerie encounter that had just transpired made them jump like a spurred horse. For the first time in their lives, the reality of what the scream represented had become all too clear to them. For the first time in their lives, they had been more than just hungry, something other than desperate beggars living from day to day. For the first time in their lives, they had been afraid they might not live to see the light of the next dawn, just as the souls who had cried out every night they had seen before.There is often a point in every youngster's life when they become more self-aware, more keen on the realities of life, more understanding of the finality of death. It is at this point that the youngster's worldview finally begins to take shape, becoming something other than an amorphous mass of innocent observations and juvenile experiences and forming a cohesive sentience that is altogether more than the sum of its parts. Some call it coming of age. Others may call it adolescence. Yet others refer to it as merely growing up. However you choose to describe it, that moment had solidified in the minds of Pad and Ged. It had taken root in their psyche and memories. It was a moment they would never forget.*****"Pad?" Gedric finally managed to speak up."Yea?" his companion responded."What just happened?""I dunno," Pad replied.Gedric didn't know why he bothered. Padree was shrewd in moments that required quick thinking and desperate measures, but when it came to long, thoughtful moments, she was always at a loss for words. Gedric often felt this made her a less-than-desirable counterpart for conversation."Think about it, Pad," Gedric said, "I just mentioned Benedict's and they wigged out and ran away.""I know," she said.He looked at her with a slight measure of disdain and cocked an eyebrow. She just shrugged."What kinda place do you think Benedict's is," he asked, "to make Pernevi's cronies act like that?""I dunno."Ged gave up. Padree obviously wasn't going to utter more than two words at a time so it did him no good to keep prodding her for her thoughts. "Let's get on with it," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her in the direction of their destination."I'm not a baby," Pad protested, pulling her arm away, "you don't have to drag me around.""Fine then," Ged replied, "let's just get going."They walked in silence the rest of the way. There were no more chance encounters upon the road. The skies were clear and Luna hung gracefully in the sky astride her waxing sister Celene. There was more light than usual this night, for normally the sky was covered with foreboding clouds that loomed ever present over Rookroost like a constant manifestation of the city's dismal hopes. The two were keenly aware of everything that went on around them now. Even the pitiful city rat in the dark alley chewing a stray crumb was an incessant racket to their ears.When they finally arrived at the location indicated by the scrap of paper Cymbelline had given them, they found a run-down warehouse that was utterly devoid of life, other than a few scavenging vermin of course. There was a main door, but it appeared in disrepair and a rotting sign that said "Benedict's Trading Coster" held a tenous grasp to the siding overhead."What a crock!" Padree exclaimed, "there's not even anything here. That half-elf lied to us. Now we'll probably get stabbed or kidnapped or something all this way from our part of town.""Calm down, Pad," her comrade soothed her, "let's poke around a bit and see if we can't figure somethin' out. Maybe it was a riddle of some kind.""A riddle?" Padree replied incredulously, "Ged, it's a boarded up old warehouse. There's probably nothing but accidents waiting to happen inside.""Maybe..." Ged said, as he stepped up to the front door, "but maybe not."He knocked once.Silence.He knocked twice.Silence.He knocked three times.Silence. But then a creak, followed by another creak. The door cracked open.</blockquote>

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