Scianeus's Orphans Saga

A group of small children, wounded and exhausted, arriving alone somewhere foreign to them, was a recipe for disaster.

Instead of walking into an unknown situation with the whole group, they elected to send someone to feel things out first. Jasmine volunteered—she was the youngest and believed that she could use her innocence to lower their suspicion and increase their chances of finding help. Altan went with her to protect her, disguising himself as her brother.

They approached the village as the inhabitants were starting their daily activities and heard a loud commotion. Peeking out, Jasmine could see the town's populace gathering around the largest building, pointing at a large cloud of dust in the distance.

Taking advantage of the confusion, she took the hand of a reluctant Altan and intermingled with the crowd.

As the cloud of dust grew nearer, its cause became apparent. It was a convoy composed of several wagons and a dozen guards on horseback.

The wear of the tires, the dirty wagon bodies with arrows sticking out, and the visible exhaustion of the horses left no doubt in anyone's mind—they were ambushed and were fleeing.

It seemed such attacks were common in this area, for as soon as a representative came out to speak to the residents, he was greeted by a hostile audience, being shouted at before he even said a word:

"Get out of here!"

"Don't bring your trouble over to us!"

"Go back in your wagon and leave!"

"Please, people, we just need a place to rest and treat our wounded."

"We ain't got no physicians here, off you go!"

Flustered, he claimed, "We have our own physician. We just need a space for him to work. You will be well compensated, I beg of you."

While this was going on, Joshua was alarmed by the commotion and moved closer to judge the situation, hiding somewhere near the wagons with the rest.

An old lady started making her way through the crowd, assisted in walking by young men, and said, "What's going on here?"

"Elder, these people will bring about our end, you should tell them!" protested one of them.

"We just need to find refuge for a few days, people! Please have heart!"

"Why do you need to stay in our village, young man? We don't want any trouble," she replied. "We will deny any knowledge of your whereabouts, so be on your way."

"We have many wounded in need of treatment. They won't survive the journey."

"We will do whatever you want, so please don’t shun us."

The lady suddenly went silent; it seemed she had second thoughts about the wounded.

"You can't be thinking about accepting their request. Who knows what they will do to us this time?"

"Did you forget the last time we took in someone? They came and ruined our village, burned our crops, and enslaved our children!"

"We remember! You think my grandmother forgot the murderers of her family? But we can't abandon these people to die. How long are we gonna kneel to these marauders?" energetically screamed the young man who was guiding her.

"We are no warriors, dearie. I can't risk the lives of our people," expressed the old lady. As she turned around to tell the representative to leave, she saw a group of children hiding behind the wagons. One of them was brutally wounded, and she exclaimed, "Dear God! They have wounded children with them!"

"What children—" As the representative was starting to open his mouth, he was distracted by an urgent pulling on his shirt.

"Uncle, are they not gonna let us stay?" said Jasmine with watery eyes. "Is my brother gonna die?" she exploded in tears.

Seeing that he was struggling to make sense of the situation, Joshua also stepped forward, threw himself to the ground, and begged them to take them in, urging them not to abandon his friend to die.

A side look from the groveling Joshua was all it took for the representative to join in, speaking of the mortal danger they faced should they be turned away.

As the crowd saw the children emerging from behind the wagons, their hostility started to dissipate. After all, these were humans with hearts.

"What good will it do if we take them in? They will track them to kill them. And us too for helping."

"How long are we gonna let them have their way? This could be our chance to rid ourselves of the disease that plagues our village. Are we to let them bleed us little by little every time?" fervently cried out the young lad, pointing around at people.

"Aunt Laria, are you gonna let your youngest follow the steps of his brother, dragged away to be sold in the slave markets? What about you, Uncle Kyris? Will you let another daughter be violated at their whims?"

He then jumped on top of a nearby staircase and shouted, "Didn't we let ourselves be abused enough? We deserve peaceful lives, and this may well be our chance to get them!"

The murmuring of the crowd grew larger; opinions were still divided, but it seemed the sight of children reignited old grievances in their hearts. Who among these men couldn't see the reflection of their long-lost ones in them? They were angry with themselves for letting their flesh and blood be taken from them. How did they ever keep living on after parting with them in such a manner?

Little by little, these small flames turned into a fire that erupted as they unanimously agreed to make their stand that day. No longer would they be trampled upon like sheep, taken to the shearing every time they managed to put clothes on their backs, letting their young ones be raped, enslaved, and murdered at their whims.

"First, let us get you all inside," said the elder, her tone matching that of her people, commanding confidence fitting her age and position.

As the rest of the convoy disembarked, they made sure not to seem estranged to the children. They had heard the gist of what was going on while inside and were brought up to date by the young man who seemed to be their leader.

The physician went to set up quarters and was followed by Joshua and Altan.

"Thanks for the help back there! You can leave that here."

As he was heading for a second trip back to retrieve the rest of his tools, he was blocked at the door by the two.

"I think we need to talk."

"You should go get some rest, young man. I'm quite busy, as a lot of injured people need my attention."

"The first person you'll treat is our brother. The rest, including us, can wait."

"That's not possible. My parents take priority—they fund my research, not to mention they own these medical supplies."

"That's for me to worry about," Joshua said, and after a distinct whistle, Herbert came in and laid Reynard over the table.

"Don't worry about anything else and start the treatment. My siblings will stay here—for your safety, of course."

Walking out into the hallway, Joshua ran into the representative and one of his guards.

"Ah, you! I wanted to thank you for your help earlier, young lad. I'm Jaylar, leader of this convoy and heir to the Glowing Sand Merchant Company. Come meet me later, and I'll be sure to reward you."

"There is no time like the present."

"Ahaha, true! But I've got a lot of things to do right now; my people need urgent care," he said dismissively.

As he tried to go past him to the physician's room, Joshua grabbed his arm. "I don't think you understand—we should talk now." Surprised by the physical power making him unable to move an inch, he kept staring at Joshua, perplexed.

"I believe you know all too well that without us, you would never have been able to take refuge here."

"That's true, and as I said, I'll be sure to compensate you later for your troubles."

"Promises made are soon forgotten. We do not want compensation at your discretion. You will promise to fulfill our wishes here and now."

"You little punk! Release your hand!" shouted the guard as he tried to remove Joshua's hold on his boss. He was only stopped as he felt a chilly sensation poking from behind—it was Sai, with his knife ready to pierce his back. "What the—where did he come from?!"

"Don't move, lest you wanna be crippled from the waist down."

The representative clearly felt cornered, and Joshua knew that he couldn't let this chance slip by. Every man befell by a crisis is easier to deal with—if he waited until after the attack, his position would have been diminished, and the merchant group would have had the upper hand.

He refused to be at anyone's mercy as he calmly expressed, "What do you think would happen if we go out there and tell them that you kidnapped us and forced us into slavery?"

"Tha-That's not true!"

"I'll tell you—the same mob that changed heart when they heard you had children with you will turn their pitchforks against you. When that happens, you'll wish that the bandits had gotten to you instead!"

The young heir, with what little experience he had in reading people, could tell that he was clearly outmatched.

"F-Fine, just tell me what you want!"

This was what Joshua had been waiting for—a blank check. When offered such liberty, many people think of immediate gain. They would think of asking for an exorbitant sum of money, jewels, or luxury goods.

"We just want enough provisions for the road, medical care, and a ride to the capital."

"Is that it?" replied the heir, clearly astonished and suspicious. "Is that all you have to ask of me?"

Joshua let go of his hand and donned a shining smile on his face. "Oh my! What makes you so happy, dearie?" said the elder as she entered the hallway.

Here is the text with corrected punctuation:

Dashing ahead to help her walk, he grabbed her hand and said cheerfully, "Our uncle promised to protect us with all he's got, and that made us glad for following him!"

"Is that so? You should treasure these youngsters, young man!" she said to the heir.

The daze from the sudden shift in attitude was still clear on his face. He only managed to mutter a few humming noises before loud wailing interrupted him.

It was Reynard. He had woken up from his coma, and the pain of his wounds proved unbearable, causing him to writhe in agony.

The physician was trying to put the bone back into his arm, a straining process that was taking its toll. Even Altan and Hebert struggled to stop him from thrashing around after many warnings from the healer.

Joshua rushed forward to help stabilize him, and soon the bone moved back into place as he fell unconscious again.

Grabbing the doctor by the collar, his eyes turning red, Joshua screamed in rage, "What happened to him?"

"He just went into shock. Don't worry, his life is no longer in danger."

"I mean, why wasn't he given any drugs? Why was he left to suffer like that?" demanded Joshua as he pulled harder on the collar.

Now on his knees from the sheer force, the physician tried to wiggle his way out, saying, "But these herbs are expensive and reserved for the other convoy members."

"Do you treat children like this in your merchant group? With discrimination? It seems it was a mistake to let you stay in our village!" snapped the elder, raising her cane at Jaylar.

"Of course not! Please don't be so angry, elder," he said nervously. "Hey! Make sure to spare no expense in treating them—use everything we have."

Following this, Reynard was showered with a stream of herbs designed to fight his infections and reduce the swelling of his wounds, and he was left to rest and recover.

As they exited the room, feeling they were getting in the way, the grandson of the elder, who had rallied the rest of the village, guided them to a table where several people had gathered. They needed to plan their next move...