Jason said he had to take care of a few more things on Dalia’s list and had some work to do for the landlord. He suggested I go out and sit in the park for a while so I could learn how to calm down and meditate. I don’t even think I’m hyper. He’s just way too calm about everything. Still, I guess I can sit here and read a book, but I’d rather go to an arcade or something. I haven’t been to an arcade for a long time. But Jason got me some really cool books, and it would be a waste if I didn’t read them. Just need to find a place in the shade to chill out and read. I don’t remember there ever being 60-degree days in the middle of winter, but here we are.

Crap, I fall forward and barely get my hands out before landing on my face. I look back and see a girl. She must have run into me. She looks Elven, but not entirely. Her skin isn’t the usual pale white, it’s more, oh, she might be one of the Dark Elves. Her sleeves are kind of burnt. That means she’s using fire magic. She’s a Dark Elf for sure; it was in the book. She’s filling her bag with a bunch of items scattered on the ground.

“Hey do you want help with that,” I ask.

“No, they’re going to catch me,” she says still stuffing her bag.

“Did you steal those,” I realize the items are wallets and pocketbooks.

“I stole them from people who stole them,” she grabs her bag.

An arrow flies right through the bag before she can put it back on. Okay, there’s more going on here than I thought. Do was Jason says, step back, evaluate the situation, then react. Another arrow flies through the air, almost hitting me. Screw that, now would be a good time to take my leave. If third arrow didn’t block my tracks, I would have been out of here already.

“Stay down, I’ll make sure you’re safe,” she guards me.

“Don’t worry, I can protect myself,” I drop my bag and stand beside her.

I can’t really fight. I watched Jason practice some moves, but that’s it. I don’t know anything. But, I can’t look like a chump. She’s kind of cute. Besides, how bad can it be? Actually, it can be really bad. Who shoots arrows in the middle of a city? More Elves make their way up and surround us. Different than High Elves or Dark Elves. Copper skin with some green hints. Bows and arrows, oh these are Wood Elves. I’m really wishing I had started with the book on different martial arts styles instead of different races.

“Give back what you took from us, and we’ll let you go,” one of the Wood Elves yells.

“You’re a no-good thief Eradis. You stole these and I’m giving them back.”

“Last chance before we beat you senseless,” Eradis yells back at us.

“Good luck with that,” she threatens him.

They rush at us, can’t be more than six of them. They’re fast, really fast. Why are they so fast? I try to land a punch and miss. I don’t know how many times I got hit, but it was a lot. They didn’t hit me while I was on the ground, but they hit me while I was falling. I tried to blast off some magic from my left hand and get nothing at all. I was better with the sparks with my right hand. I saw her shoot off some flames, but it didn’t do much. Some kind of defense magic they had. I’m way out of my league here and all these kids look my age. The city has changed a lot in the last few years, or maybe it was always like this.

It’s over in a moment. They’ve laid out both of us with no problems. After the third or fourth time, I just decided to stay down. My ribs were hurting too much and my legs weren’t cooperating. I grabbed a few of the pocketbooks and stuffed them in my bag. It was the least I could do to help. She didn’t last much longer after I fell. My face is pounding, and I can tell I have a bloody nose without looking. Every time I try to breathe through my nose blood gets caught and blows a little bubble or leaks into my throat.

“I told you to run,” the girl offers me her hand.

“I wasn’t going to let you get beat up.”

“Well, we both got beat up.”

“Yeah, but I snuck some of the pocketbooks in my bag, so that’s a start,” I reach for my bag.

“Well, it looks like they got your bag too, so tough luck.”

“No, I need that bag, where are they?”

“They’ve got a fort deeper in the center of the park. It’s their little hideout. A bunch of kids who think they’re living how the Wood Elves should.”

“Well, I’ve gotta get my bag back. Can you lead me there?”

“What’s so important that you’re eager to get another beating?”

“I had some books in there, I really needed them.”

“Well, they’re lost, you can get new books.”

“We have to go,” I argue with her.

“We got beat by six of them, there’s way more at their fort.”

“Then we’ll get some help. C’mon let’s go.”

“What? I don’t know you like that. I’m not just following you.”

“Then you lead, and I’ll follow you. But, I have to get those books back.”

“Fine, where are we going?”

“We’re going to get my big brother.”