Chapter 7: G'bork

I stepped of the Magus and onto the ground. I was outside the main gate into G'Bork. The gate was the only way through the massive wall into the city. Now all I had to do was get through those gates and find the captain. Then maybe I would be able to go home.

I walked up to the gate with a sign over it that said 13-18 year olds. On each side of it was a short man carrying an axe with a gun strapped to there back. I walked up to them and asked them to open the gate. "What will you give us?" the one on the right asked.

"The joy of helping an adventurer," I replied.

"Nope. Not good enough. Try again," the one on the left replied.

" A stale crust of rye bread," I replied.

"Getting better, but no," the right one said.

"How about I beat you guys up, take the key, and open the gate myself," I said angrily.

"Oo. a challenge. In say we should accept. What about you Fred." said the one on the left.

"I say yes Jim. Lets do it!" Fred replied. Suddenly two dwarves (for that was what I learned they were) charged toward me axes in hand. I grabbed my sword and prepared to fight them. Then when they were only a few feet away from me I realized I had really pulled out my staff. Not having time to do any thing better, I hit one of them with my staff. He flew more than twenty feet and had sparks flying out of him. The other dwarf looked at me and ran away, unlocking the gate while he was at it. I walked through the gate and entered G'bork.

There were buildings all around. Between the buildings were narrow alleys and streets. People were everywhere, doing many things like shopping, and talking and stealing, and fighting. It was much different from the quiet fishing village I am from, or the small towns I passed through to get here. No this was a full blown port city, complete with drunk sailors, thieves and vendors all around. I followed the signs that said market place -> and soon enough I was at the market place. It was a square surrounded by buildings with a single entrance on each side. Throughout the square there were stalls, carts, vendor, guards and people buying stuff. I went up to an entrance and tried to walk through. The guard standing next to the entrance suddenly took his spear and blocked the entrance. "Marketplace Pass, Please," he said.
"Huh? What is a marketplace pass?" I asked.
"The only way we can let you enter the market place." the guard said in a monotonous voice.
"Well how do I get one?" I replied.
"Go to the Machnu Headquarters and apply for one. Then six to eight weeks later you will receive notice about whether or not you were accepted. If you were accepted then you can go back to the HQ and pick up your pass," he said without expression.
"What! I don't have that sort of time. Just LET ME IN!!!!" I yelled.
He only replied, "I may not do that."
Then I had an idea. So I asked him, "Do the other gates ask for a Marketplace pass?"
He replied," I do not know. They are not controlled by the Machnu." with that I left to find my way to another gate. Soon I found another gate. There was no guard at it so I just walked right through it and into the market place.

I was hungry from my adventures so I walked up to a fruit vendor. He only had one apple left so I took the apple, seeing that nobody would buy only one apple and therefor I would be doing him a service, and walked away. All he did to thank me was call for the guards. Suddenly I had four guards chasing after me. I ran for the nearest exit and saw that some guards were putting up a barricade. So I did the only idea that popped into my head. I ran toward it, jumped right as I was about to hit it, put my hands behind me and pushed off the barricade, sending me flying. The guards were stunned at watching me do that , giving me a head start. But soon they started chasing me again. Suddenly an arm grabbed me and pulled me into an alley. All the guards passed me and then I turned around to face my savior. It was a girl. She looked no older than fourteen and seemed as if she had many hardships throughout her life. "Why did you save me?" I asked.
"Because you were in trouble," she replied as if she thought that would be everybody's answer.
"Well then, can you tell me where I can find Captain Minni Foreange?"
"In a way. Follow me" she replied. So I followed her to the harbor, where she led me to two old men loading up a small boat. Then she told the men that I was looking for the captain. One of them said in response to the girl, "Well then your in luck Mr Kid, 'cause we are gonna follow the ships of the Marena's in hope of finding her. Now help me load up this boat." As he was talking I saw the ships he said we were going to follow. The were big.