Bryer

On Monday, she got the call that they were being shut down. The dread that washed over her as shock faded threatened to make her knees buckle underneath her. She took in the cool air as she braced herself against the frigid damp stone wall of the dark alleyway, trying to calm the panic spreading throughout her body. She needed to go find Kaide, because maybe he would know how to stop this, or what to do to delay it.

She darted for the woodline where just beyond she and Kaide had built what they called The Fortress. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to keep them somewhat out of the grasp of the harsh winters of Elyndor. As she approached, she could see the light from the fire that Kaide was roasting their dinner over, his brown curly hair falling over his dark eyes. He must have gone out hunting for the day, as they had run out of food the night before. As he glanced up at her, his bright smile quickly faded as she ran towards him with terror in her eyes.

“Bryer? Why are you back so early?” he questioned with urgency in his voice.

“It’s being shut down.” Bryer said, her voice thick with sorrow. Bryer then went on and explained to Kaide all that had happened that day, starting with the message that she and all of the other vendors at the Market had received that Monday afternoon. She was working at the Market, where she sold the arrows that she crafted out of the strong and durable wood from the Zephyrus Trees that surrounded the cave that she called her home. It was a business that she’d taken over for her Father, after he left to fight for Elyndor when the Great Battle began. She was only ten when he left, and she had been surviving on her own ever since. The war has raged on for eight years now, which made her little wood stall at the Market flood with business as soldiers became desperate for any weapons they could find. The little money that Bryer and Kaide had came from the business that occurred in that little wooden stall that would sell arrows no longer. The letter she had received said,

“As of tomorrow, the King of Elyndor orders that the Market be shut down for confidential reasons. Anyone who doesn’t close their stall by Tuesday morning shall be brought to the Royal Dungeons to receive their punishment.”

Everyone at the Market knew that those who went to the Dungeons never saw the light of day again. That was when the chaos erupted. People trying to convince customers to buy the last of their goods, as they were frantically packing up their stalls and everything within them. Bryer had managed to get rid of the last of her arrows, and packed up all her crafting materials and fled. She ran aimlessly, trying not to slip on the ice coating the cobblestone as her long dark brown braid whipped in the wind behind her. She was in complete shock. When she finally slowed, she had stopped in that dark alleyway to avoid any extra attention, and decided to find Kaide.

For the first time in the 15 years she had known him, Kaide didn’t know how to respond to what Bryer told him.

“Are you going to do something?” Bryer asked, the panic rising back up inside her.

“I don’t know.” His response was barely a whisper.

“What do you mean Kaide? We are going to lose everything!”
Kaide
Kaide could now see the silver starting to line Bryer’s sage green eyes, and rather than trying to say something to reassure her, Kaide slowly embraced her and held her as she wept.

The last time Kaide had seen Bryer cry like this was when they were just little, maybe four years old, and Bryer had lost her favorite stuffed fox. He had helped her search for it for two weeks before she finally realized that they weren’t going to find it. That had been the only other time that he wasn’t able to come up with a solution to help her fix a problem.

Kaide knew that she really didn’t care about the Market itself. She would complain every morning about how it was the same routine every day, and how her fingers were always aching from making arrows. So when Bryer had said they were going to lose everything, she didn’t mean their money, as they had survived without it before. She was instead losing the one piece of her father that he had left her with all those years ago when the Battle began.

Later, they ate the cooked rabbit as the sky faded into a deep blue. That was their queue to put out their fire so none of the creatures lurking in the forest would consider them to be a midnight snack. Bryer laid down on her bed of leaves and worn blankets in the back of the cave. After a few moments passed, Kaide heard her breathing slow as she drifted off into sleep. Kaide on the other hand was in his bed closer to the mouth of the cave where he lay wide awake. Just outside he could see the stars sprinkled across the night sky. Although they were all bright, one was shining brighter than the others. It caught Kaide’s attention as he asked,
“Can I really fix this?”

In return, the bright star flickered as if it was trying to answer his question. Kaide never believed in anything similar to superstition or luck, but this time felt different. Kaide felt a wave of hope wash over him as he dozed off into slumber.