FLORIOGRAPHS
Chapters 2. Caught by Them

The sun rises high in the sky. The birds chirped merrily on the branches of the oak tree.

The sunlight came in and the shadow of the trees was clearly visible towards the east. The clanking of the shop bells seemed to tell his master that someone was coming.

However, that does not mean it can break the concentration of the girl as she checks for some yellow daffodils that have withered.

"Miss store clerk, please give this Amarilis to your master."

Elea turned her head without paying attention to the owner of the voice.

"Sorry sir, it looks like the flower you mean is empty. And one more thing, I am the owner of the in-Lucas store?!"

Lucas chuckled at Elea who had an irritated expression.

"For you"

His expression changed as the bouquet of flowers was shown to him

"Basic.."

Silence enveloped them both. However, the noise from outside distracted them.

"Find the boy! Don't let him through!!"

A horde of soldiers crowded on the veranda.slamed the door and rushed towards the entrance

Elea could not calm down and was not sure what would happen. Someone's hand pulled him away to get into his storage cabinet as the soldier approached the doorknob

"Lucas!?" shocked, he unintentionally spoke in a high tone, one of the soldiers heard him and was about to go inside.

"Shhh... Stop yelling. They're heading this way."

Her words made Elea speech silent

The soldiers frontally stepped in front of their hiding place.

"I'll probably find something interesting" he murmured

"Hey! Over here!" He called for another soldier to go inside.

A soldier followed his instructions to go inside.

As they approached, Elea's heart stopped and she became frightened. Lucas sees it and secures it from being discovered.

The soldiers were still standing guard all over the corner of the shop. The room was a mess because of them. The sound of the pounding of their weapons and large boots was clearly heard. Although the city was governed by law, they were rude and arbitrary towards its inhabitants.

Their disgusting laughter rang out, the unrelenting commotion getting worse until Elea could barely bear it.

"Hey, don't panic," Lucas calmed down, trying to make the girl feel better. Elea took a deep breath and nodded slowly

"Yes..."

The commotion slowly began to subside, Lucas reached out to help him out of the hiding place.

"Are you okay?" Lucas said.

"Yes, I'm fine" Elea replied.

"It looks like they already know where I am," Lucas all of a sudden.

"I am the one they are after. The chase incident did not end with the slave traders alone, they even deployed the soldiers of this city"

"So what are they after you?"

"So, I don't know for sure"

"It's likely they'll come back again, and I hope you won't be affected by their actions" Lucas added

"So you decided to leave? Don't you know the dangers out there?"

"It's the only option I have"

                               -oOo

When the sky started to darken. Lucas made the decision to immediately leave his temporary stopover. While Elea is busy with her busy life, she leaves her unbeknownst to her.

Lucas ran into the forest, tracing the same path he had been on, but by the time he was a quarter of the way, someone pulled him and clamped him forcefully on a nearby tree.

Shortly after, a group of soldiers surrounded him. They hide from the trees.

The girl tried to put up a resistance by rebelling, but in vain. He collapsed after being hit on the back of his neck.

Lucas surrendered, and the soldier dragged the two of them into the shelter wagon. They are not far from each other's confinement. Lucas called the girl over and over again to wake her up.

"You finally realize it too"

Elea felt pain in her neck as she tried to get up.

"Ouch.."

"You okay?"

"Slight bruising but not too severe"

"Where are we?" Elea asked

"They'll take us to their castle. Ii'm sorry. They're holding you back because you're involved with me" Lucas replied guiltily

"Now we must find a way to get out of this place"

"good. Listen to me, can I take your hairpin? Maybe with pick locked abilities we can get out of this cage"

Elea immediately took off her hairpin and gave it to Lucas.

"Here, take it"

Lucas tried to touch the padlock attached to the chain that encircled the cage. It's a bit difficult with his current position that is in confinement, but it can be overcome.

Now, he switched to unlock the lock in his friend's cage, and within seconds he managed to release it.

While observing his surroundings, Lucas was very wary of the enemy's movements. Elea just waits for Lucas' cue so they don't split up and get caught.

At that moment, there was a pair of warriors riding horses right behind the wagon where they were being held captive. The rest are on the front lines.

Unarmed, Lucas tries to find an opportunity to escape by distracting them with his smoke powder. He threw it into the street and in an instant the black rod let out a smog on the road, then with all his might Lucas and the girl jumped off the wagon and ran through a small valley leading up to the hill and found the long-abandoned farmhouse. Despite his old indiscretions, Lucas had outsmarted a portion of their tracks during the journey so that their whereabouts would not be immediately recognized by the pursuing soldiers.

                                 -oOo

The originally infinity sky slowly turned dark, accompanied by an indisputable chill of air.

That night, there was no longer any sign of the arrival of the soldiers who were chasing them.

Lucas and Elea can breathe a sigh of relief. They used some tree branches and straw to light a bonfire in the warehouse where they lived temporarily.

"It looks like you're an alchemist"

"More or less like that"

"My foster father was an alchemist" Lucas added.

Elea responded to Lucas' statement and asked in a hesitant tone

"This incident, does it have anything to do with your father?"

"Looks."

They were silent, the night wind was blowing fiercely as it pierced through the warmth of their bodies, the sound of the wind blowing fiercely outside being a sign of the coming storm. The light rain slowly turned into heavy rain. The sound of thunder echoing had reached their ears. Elea gripped her dress tightly. Lucas, who could not bear to see him cold, gave his brown robe to Elea,

"Wear it, it might help you get a little warmer"

Lucas extended his robe to the brown-haired girl.

Elea shook her head "If I wear it then you'll be cold"

"No problem. I'll be on guard tonight. You can sleep" Lucas said straightforwardly

Elea nodded her head and took out a haystack that was arranged to make the bed.

"Please"

"Yes"

"Thank you"

Chapter II

End