Hold on William, I'm coming!
1490 Words
Continuing to make their way down the road, Lila and William reached Zelham, William's hometown; a small town with small concrete houses that were located in the distance and a huge market right at the center where all sorts of items were sold. It comprised mostly of wooden sheltered stands but there were a few concrete shops here and there, not only one-story but double-story as well.
"Here we are, welcome to Zelham," William said as Lila looked around at all the many things that were being sold on the stands; food, clothes, art and even weapons.
"Wow, it's such a rich market," Lila said.
"It really is. Whatever it is you're looking for, trust that you’ll find it here," he said and parked the wagon in front of his shop; a two-story building painted white with a few drawings on the front of some of the items that were sold inside. "This here is my grocery shop. I was running low on stock and so I went to the next time to buy some.”
"Right.”
A new objective popped up; HELP WILLIAM OFFLOAD HIS WAGON.
"Uh Lila, I don't mean to be ungrateful but would you be so kind as to help me offload my wagon?" William asked, incapable of moving the boxes by himself as he was still fresh from the beating Black Bandit’s goons gave him.
“Oh William, you've had such a rough morning, of course I’ll help.”
He sighed in humble gratification. "That is so kind of you, thank you so much."
"No problem," she said and they both got down from the wagon. William unlocked and opened the front door of his shop and then the rear door of the wagon, and as he began moving the small boxes into the shop, Lila moved the larger ones; with the both of them stacking them on the floor right in front of the counter.
"This was my father's shop. He ran it his whole life and after he passed, the responsibility fell onto me," he said.
"You seem be doing alright."
"I am. It wasn't this big when he ran it, I expanded it so that I could sell more goods and cater to a larger market and so far, so good. I think he'd be proud of what I’ve made of it."
"I think so too, your shop is really lovely," Lila said carrying on. There were ten large boxes in the wagon and she moved them all.
"That’s so nice of you to say, thank you."
"Alright, done,” she said as she put down the last box.
"Thank you so much Lila, you’ve been such a huge help," William said.
"It's no trouble at all, are you sure you're going to be alright?"
"I'll be fine. I'll just take some medicine and have me a good sleep; that should whip me back into shape."
"Good,” she said.
"Surely you must let me pay you now.”
"Oh no please that will not be necessary, I was helping a friend in need, that's it."
William smiled, more humbled. "Thank you,” he said.
"You’re welcome. Right then, I should get going."
"Yes, yes let me not hold you here any longer than I already have.”
“Be well William.”
“Likewise.”
Lila headed for the door as William glanced at her sword.
"Uh Lila?" She stopped and turned back. "That looks like a very nice sword you’ve got yourself there."
"Oh yes," she said and removed it. It was a silver longsword with a golden handle. "Uncle Mushabati gave it to me."
"You know, if you want to do a lot more damage to your enemies, you can take it to the blacksmith. He can sharpen it real nice for you."
"Thank you William I’ll do that.”
Lila put her sword back into the scabbard and walked out of the shop as William remained smiling to himself, eternally grateful for what she had done. Had she not shown up when she did, Black Bandit and his goons would have taken his goods and all the money he spent on them would have gone to waste; but thankfully she showed up just in the nick of time and not only saved his goods and his money, but his life too.
“What a goodhearted woman,” he said.
Outside, a new objective popped up; REACH THE BLACKSMITH'S STAND.
Lila followed the map to the blacksmith's stand and when she reached it, she found a huge rough-looking man inside it hammering on an axe head.
"Blacksmith?" Lila called to him.
"What?" the blacksmith responded carrying on.
"I need you to upgrade my weapon."
"Do you have enough coins?"
"How much is an upgrade?" Lila asked and the blacksmith stopped and turned to her.
"Let me see the weapon."
She removed her sword from the scabbard and lay it on the countertop, as the blacksmith then put down his hammer and came forward so that he could inspect it.
“Very nice,” he said.
"Thank you."
"500 coins.”
"Done," Lila said and removed a small leather sack from inside her coat, and threw it at him. He caught it and putting the sword back down on the countertop, he then opened it to check and see if the pay was good and it was.
"Alright," he said and in a quick fade-out and fade-in, the sword was done. Not only did it have increased damage, but it looked a little different too. The handle was plain before but now it had a little detail on it. "There you are."
He placed it on the countertop and Lila grabbed it.
"Uh look at that, well done," she said. It was shinier too.
"Cheers," the blacksmith said and went back to hammering on the axe head as Lila slid her upgraded sword into its scabbard and walked off.
Out of nowhere, a boy yelled at the top of his voice.
“Fire! Fire!" the boy shouted as the people walking around immediately stopped and looked at him, Lila too. "Fire! Look at the smoke, it's Mr. William's shop, it's on fire!”
Lila drew a sharp breath as inside her heart skipped a beat. "William,” she said and quickly ran off as a new objective popped up; GET TO WILLIAM'S SHOP AND REACH HIM.
"Fire!" the boy shouted on as Lila ran as fast as she could back to William’s shop, carefully meandering her way through the people so as to not bump into anyone.
Turning left, right and left again, she found herself on the street where William’s shop was and when she reached it, she gasped as inside her blood ran so cold it froze; the entire building was on fire with massive flames and dark smoke coming out from the front door and the windows.
"Help me! Somebody help me!" William shouted from inside.
"Hold on William, I'm coming!" Lila shouted back and quickly ran to the front door where she dove through the blazing flames like she was diving into a pool and rolled twice across the heated floor, coming to a stop on all fours as all around her, the fire continued to consume the shop. The shelves were on fire and everything on them was burning, as were parts of the floor and the ceiling, making the place so hot it was like being in an oven.
"Help!"
Lila quickly shot to her feet and started looking around. "Where are you William? I can't see you."
"I'm upstairs! Hurry!"
"Alright I'm coming. Hold on!”
Lila ran up the flight of stairs and when she reached the top, her eyes darkened with worry. The space above the shop was William’s apartment and it too was on fire. It was of an open-plan design and the furniture in each section was in flames; the bed, the sofas, the kitchen cupboards, the dining table and the curtains. Pretty much everything that was either made of wood or cloth was on fire.
"William?" she called out.
"Over here Lila, help me!" William shouted waving his hands, so trembled he was shivering. He was standing in the dining room corner, trapped not only by the flames that were coming from the completely engulfed dining table, but from those coming from the bookcase on his left, the cabinet to his right and the floor.
"William!”
“I’m trapped Lila! Help me! I don’t want to die.”
“You’re not going to die, you’re going to be just fine,” Lila said as he coughed. Smoke was filling the apartment fast and it was beginning to choke him. “Just stay there, I’m coming to get you."
“O.k.,” he said and quickly moved back, placing his back flat against the wall as the fire continued to spread and the flames continued to grow.
- Writer
