51 Holtz

Will and Maya landed outside a large stone wall with an iron gate. Everywhere he looked, Will could only see treeline. If it weren't for the road leading to the gate, he wouldn't have thought anyone could get to the town.

"Be patient Will, this time we're doing it the right way." she said with a smile as she took a huge rope in her hand and shook it.

Ten feet above their heads a bell tolled. The sound of it carried out for what seemed like Miles in any direction.

"State your business." a guard called out from a walking path above the gate.

Maya bowed her head to the guard. "Two lowly travelers wish to have an audience with the village elder." she said formally, keeping her head down.

Will only stared up at the guard and waited for a response. "What's your problem boy?" the guard spat, obviously used to being respected in the same way Maya presented herself.

Will couldn't bring himself to answer, there was just something off about the guard. It was like a gleam in his eye that he didn't quite like. "I like your little girlfriend though, maybe I'll keep her." the guard opened the gate, three others came out to meet Will and Maya.

"You didn't tell me that the town would be like this." Will said with his jaw clenched. Maya could see just the tiniest bit of restraint in Will's eyes, she knew he was waiting for an explanation.

"Just go with it for now, they have to hold us for at least twenty four hours for testing before they can do anything." she said as the first guard grabbed her. Will watched as he dragged her towards the gate. "You're right boss, this one will do quite nicely." he said as he grabbed her breast. She squirmed just a small amount but that was enough to make Will act.

The other two guards were trying to restrain him while the one with Maya made for the gate. Will didn't see the point of playing their game.

Using compressed air under his feet, Will shot himself up into the air with the guards still clutching his arms. He used his aura to hold himself up.

Lightning poured over crimson flame as he held the guards. The guard on the gate was shocked speechlessly. "I would highly advise you to let go of my traveling partner." his voice was quiet, yet it boomed as nonexistent thunder in his storm of aura.

The man dragging Maya had long since made it to the gate and began to close it. "I don't care what you are, this is too good a catch to let go!"

Will threw the guards over the gate and flew over himself. "Just what do you think you are shutting out with that useless gate?" he landed next to the guard who had just fallen on his backside and scurried away.

Will took Maya by the hand as proof of who she was traveling with. He looked around the village, but it seemed to be more like an encampment.

Will could see cages lining the walls. Small hands seemed to be reaching out from them as if he were looking at a human zoo. Some of the cages were even stacked on top of each other, as if there was no more room to keep them in a singular location. Will was looking at a city of cells, and he was mad.

"I WANT TO SEE THE LEADER OF THIS ESTABLISHMENT, NOW!" His voice boomed in a way it never had before. He allowed his wind aura to amplify his voice, sending it through every street.

In less than a minute Will was surrounded by no less than one hundred guards.

Even though he knew he could take them out within the amount of time it would take their master to appear, Will played along and tried to look worried.

"Who has the audacity to call me as if I were a lowly servant?" a brawny man called as the formation opened in a path leading to Will. He wore a gold vest around his muscled chest, showing his impressive arms as if he wore the only threat he would ever have to give, along with the vest was a pair of gold embroidered white pants. His hair was a solid brown color which was faded on the sides, but a long ponytail hung along his left shoulder. His thick beard brought out the solid green within his eyes giving him an intimidating appearance.

"My name is William, I thank you for coming to speak with me." Will said in an innocent tone. "I was wondering, what is your name?"

"Depends," the older man scratched his nose with a sarcastic expression. "Why do you want to know?" he looked at the child in front of him with amusement. I was beginning to get bored anyway. He thought as he could imagine the fun he could have with him.

His eyes went from the boy to the girl he had within his company. A black ankle width dress played loosely around her shoulders. He could tell that she was slender right where it mattered. Her long brown hair had an almost wild look to it, and her eyes were a darker green than his own. Staring into them, he was afraid he would lose himself.

Will thought of the man's question before calling out the boss. "I wish to do business, but I have no money." he said with a shy smile on his face. "I was wondering if there was another way to walk away with some servants." he added a quick wink to add further innocence to his act.

The man laughed a booming laugh and then sized Will up. "Kid, you should take your girl and leave. You wouldn't be able to get even one of my slaves with how you look. You would more likely become one." Although, he thought as he looked at the girl, I don't really see a problem with adding her to my bedside collection. He thought as he looked her up and down once more.

Obviously the man didn't seem to notice his outburst earlier, and even if he did, he was far too interested in Maya to truly think straight. Will silently thanked whoever was watching over him for such luck. He put on the cockiest smile he could muster before responding. "What are your terms?" the guards around him gawked at his insolence.

The man stopped laughing and became business only. Raising a finger, he smiled. "One for one. You must fight a guard and beat him to gain one slave." his smile turned savage as he looked to Maya. "If you lose, you forfeit one of your own slaves. If you run out of slaves to present," he pointed a finger to Will. "You will forfeit your own freedom." he allowed his hand to drop dramatically, giving Will time to think about what he said.

In reality, the slave trader was hoping that Will wouldn't change his mind. I'll have you at my bed tonight. He said as he eyed Maya. She tried her best not to return his gaze, which had the opposite effect on the man than what she hoped.

Will put a finger to his temple and mustered up a thoughtful expression. "So if I win one of your slaves, and then lose a round, you would take it back?" Will wanted to give the man a false sense of security, were he to go full in and arrogantly state he could wipe out his entire city, the man would become guarded.

"You only have two tries." the man raised two fingers. "The slaves will not become yours until you defeat all of my men." he looked will over one more time. "No offense, but I don't think you could take out more than one of my men."

"How many do I have to fight?" Will asked thoughtfully. He knew the man wasn't going to make it easy on him. The way he had been looking at Maya was enough to make him furious. I won't lose. He thought as he tried to keep his true emotions from showing.

Maya could see how Will was feeling almost as if she were looking in a mirror. I'm sorry I put in in this position, she thought sympathetically as she tried to keep her own neutral expression. Trying to look bored when she was instead furious was difficult.

"Well let's see." the man raised his pointer finger to eye level as if he were counting, his green eyes sparkling in delight as he baited the young man. "One." he said after a minute.

"Just one?" Will looked confused as he watched the man unravel with another booming laugh. Of course there's more to it, he thought as he waited for the slave trader to get it all out of his system.

"No kid, we have thousands of slaves in this city." he flared at Will waiting for his understanding. "You will have to fight and beat a thousand men to receive any slaves from Holtz." he waited patiently for Will to back away surprised or at least complain and walk away. "Of course," he said with a thoughtful tone, "If you want more than a thousand, it could be up for negotiations after the battle is concluded." he said in a mocking tone. Instead of backing away, Will just smiled and nodded his head.

The man looked at the young fool with a smile. Thank you so much for being so full of yourself, he thought as he looked into the sparkling hazel eyes of the child who may have just taken his first steps into manhood.

"Alright, I agree to your terms." he said without batting an eye. "I'll do you a favor as well." Will said with his childlike demeanor.

"Oh yeah?" the man couldn't suppress a smile. It seemed like he would be served dinner by a new slave tonight. And I'll be served an even sweeter desert before bed. He thought of the young woman chained to his bed by sunset. He wiped his mouth thoughtfully as he flared at the loose strap on Maya's shoulder. "How's that?"

"I won't even use a weapon. Your men can come at me with whatever they want." he smiled as he dropped his bag and opened his jacket. He gave both to Maya and stood in only his black shirt and blue jeans. His average arms were the first thing the man looked at. Once he sized Will up, he smiled.

"I'll give you an hour to leave. If you decide to stay though, the gate will shut. When it does, there are only two ways it'll open for you again." the man turned to walk back out of the crowd of guards. "You'll either walk out with a thousand slaves, or you'll only leave when your new master collects you." with that, the man turned to exit the crowd of men.

Before he was out of sight, he turned to the last guard within the formation. "I don't care what you have to do," he whispered in the man's ear. "I want that woman within my bed chambers within two hours." he said with a slight tremble to his voice.

The guard nodded with a look of pure exhilaration. "What do you want done with the boy?" the guard waited for his final instruction while the slave trader played with his beard thoughtfully.

"Put him in the dungeon," he said with a smile. "We will keep him separate from the others." he looked beyond the crowd back to Will. "Something tells me we can fetch a decent price for him." he said as he turned back to the guard.

"Oh and," the man said to the guard. "If you do this right, I'll ensure you have a decent piece of the girl as well." he said with a wink as he left the formation.

The formation stayed where they were, blocking Will and Maya off from the rest of the city. The only break in the formation was facing the gate to the city.

Will laid on the ground and stared at the sky. Change is finally coming. He thought as he mentally prepared himself for the thousand strong challenge.