NORTHERN MARKETS
Episode 70: Refugees Revenge

Owl Spirit finished her vocal report in front of the Sasko people. She had to pause all the time so the guy standing next to her could repeat everything in Saskwa.
The fluorescent light was bright, and lit up the whole room. The wood walls and ugly green carpet made it look more like a 1970’s recreation room, but currently the room was full of chairs and tables. It was one of the KMR’s meeting rooms.
“…häìłki makơ azmǒnn” the guy finished. Owl sighed in relief. She just told them everything she knew about the Justice Arrow from the time she lived with them up until today.
The 7 Sasko people nodded. They didn’t look all that different from other Maplers, really. One of the few distinctions was their green and yellow hair, and the silver iris in their eyes. The eyes made them kind of freaky looking.
A few of them were wearing just T-shirts, and Owl noticed they had more hair on their arms and necks than other people.
Cheech sat behind the Saskoes next to Azure who fell asleep with her head on the side table.

“Kasa Owl,” one of the Saska women said in Singlish with a strange accent, “Zanmen* thank you for your details on this Justice Arrow organization. Their increasing presence been reported to us from the Kerning city refugees often. These bowmen have been a curiosity to us as they are always seen in Border Town. Two months ago on Scorpius 3, they leased property and built big structure which is destination for many trucks who drive through Kashkun. They keep low attention, but now that we know of this magic slave market that you and Kǽso Cheech found, this is a red flag loh.”
Owl nodded. She understood. The Saskoes were suspicious of the JA, and now they are alarmed.
“…bowmen have customers in other trucks who arrive, then leave after a while. They drive east on Violet Ray Highway to Cilacap, and stop in many of our towns,” another Sasko said.

Meanwhile, the town guards were talking to some fertilizer merchant who was complaining about a big group of guys who took his bags of tholin fertilizer. He was talking angrily in Kashkuni and arguing with the guards, saying it didn’t matter if the thieves had money, he refused to sell the sacks to them because he wanted to save them for the village residents who need tholins to fertilize the snow so plants could grow on the farms up in the mountains.

A Sasko hover mobile quickly drifted its way down the streets passing a flatbed truck that was loaded with tholin bags. The truck waited until another Mule drove slowly down the narrow alley that led to that sick market place.
Here, Kashkun’s creepy denizens came up along with regular folk, and started talking to the merchants and the JA bowman security guards about stuff and they started handing over money.

Young magician and noob children were pulled from the cages by their necks, tied up and gagged. Tears came out of their eyes, and the men working there clubbed them on the head to shut them up.
One magician girl, about 10 was on a leash and the guy yanked hard, choking her each time. She was pulled to the front where the customer was waiting. The man didn’t feel any twinge of guilt or anything as he handed over the wad of cash and took the leash. He pulled hard on the leash as he walked to waiting pickup truck, picked her up and tossed her in. She was useful, he thought. A lot of the crops that grow up on the mountains use magic to grow. The magician would be chopped up and used as fertilizer.

Outside, the guys in the flatbed saw it all and were fuming with rage. The driver took his messenger and dialled a buddy’s name. “You guys in position? You are? All right, let’s do this!”

The truck’s engines roared as it lurched forward and sped through the alley, roared past the market, forcing people to dash to out of the way and crashed through the gate. Both men bailed out of the truck and ran for it as it crashed through the garage door, rolled through stacks of cages of dead magicians and stopped.
The men inside the building were screaming as a fuse connected to a stack of TNT sticks burned, hidden under the tholin sacks was burning.
The fuse ran out and the flame hit the TNT explosives, causing them to detonate.

The explosion was terrific. Windows were blown out as the fireball inside forced its way out through every crack, hole and window it could find. Tholins are an organic carbon compound that is extremely flammable. The raging fire swallowed the whole place before the bowmen or their co-workers could get out. At the market in the back, the guys ran like cowards, leaving the magicians and noobs trapped in the cages screaming as the searing flames approached. A van rushed up, and some KC refugees jumped out and ran into the burning building. Thick black smoke blocked all light and the guys had to crawl on the ground in order to see and breathe. They quickly opened the cages and rushed the prisoners out before the raging fire swallowed the market stalls here.

“Down with the Justice Arrow!”
“Die, you morons!” angry people shouted in English as they threw volatile items at the trucks nearby. People used guns and fired at the trucks; popping the tires, and immobilizing the vehicles. Before long, parts of Kashkun were up in riots as the angry refugees from Victoria took out their aggression on the JA’s rangers and puppet companies here.
The bowmen responded and opened fire, pumping bodies and bodies full of arrows!

A company of Sasko mages in town for the day were forced to take cover as arrow bombs rocketed above them over the street. The arrow bombs flew up through the air, their red shells glimmering in the Sunlight, and slammed into the ceramic shop building that held the Kerning rebels’ headquarters.
The impact was devastating. The wooden frame of the 10-floor building shattered under the weight of the arrow-bomb blast. The people inside working on ceramic products like pots or ornaments never had a chance; they were shredded by the blast and hurricane of splinters and debris! As part of the building collapsed, a heavy wooden beam fell on the room that housed the magic power supply and fuel cells.

The basement shook violently and was swallowed in dark the second the power went out.
“Oy! W.T.F?!”
“What the crap is going on! Don’t tell me they’re attacking already!”
The Saskoes shouted in panic as the whole place became chaos. Dust and other dirt particles rained down on them as the ceiling shook and threatened to collapse and crush everything. Owl Spirit went into overdrive. Using her magic power, she activated her night vision skill.
As people ran around blind and panicked, the wind mage bolted through the place. When she was using her magical night vision, it was as light as day down here. She found Azure crouched in fetal position behind a wooden vending machine.
“Az! Get up!” Owl shouted, hauling the girl to her feet, “We are leaving!”

Owl ran through the dark as more blasts shook the place. In front of them, the ceiling shattered, debris from the destroyed building above came raining down, blocking their escape path.
“Crap!” Owl cussed. She bolted down another hallway, pulling Azure with her. In her night vision, it was bright as if the lights were still on down here, but there was no color in her vision. Azure was screaming as she pulled her, and Owl threw a blast of wind at wall, blasting a huge hole in it. Az screamed like she was about to die.
“Shut up!” Owl snapped back. Owl jumped through the hole and ran up the stairs towards the blinding light.
Switching off her night vision, Owl emerged into the cafeteria where the ceramic and pottery workers used to eat. Using her wind powers like extended arms, Owl lifted a heavy table, and threw it as hard as she could at the big window. The stained glass shattered as the 800 pound table crashed through it and fell through the roof below. Owl picked up Azure and leaped through the window and dropped down through the hole in the roof of the next building.

They landed in a market stall building ontop of the table which was upside down now.
Owl looked up-
Just in time to see more arrow bombs shooting in through the window she just jumped out! The series of blasts shook the building more and threatened to break the giant stone wall the prevented the pottery shop and the dirt it was sitting on from crashing down into a landslide and crushing the markets below.
Owl ran like hell. Cracks spread all over the stone wall and it began to give way.
The wind mage ran and jumped over the next gap above the man-made creek that ran through town. Owl looked back and saw it all- the huge stone wall that held the land up collapsed and everything above came crashing down on the buildings and houses below. As it all came down, a huge cloud of dust exploded into the air.
She stood there, with Azure still in her arms crying like a little girl. Behind her, she heard the sounds of gunfire and magic attacks hissing close by. She bolted around-
Owl never saw it coming.
A lone Ranger spotted her and as her hood came off, the bowman saw her trademark purple hair and knew at once who she was.
“Son of a b***! Eat this, you traitor!” he said, shooting off a big fat Arrow Bomb. The missile rocketed through the air and hit the mage right in the back-
BOOM!
The blast was tremendous! Owl and Azure both should have been blasted to atoms right there, but the hackers’ energy exploded and shielded them from the heat and wave of the blast. They were both thrown hundreds of feet in separate directions.
A split second later Owl’s body crashed through glass-mud walls and slid across the floor of the solar washing center. She slammed hard into a metal washing machine making a huge dent in it. The people screamed in terror as it happened.
Enveloped in excruciating pain, Owl jumped up, convinced her back and ribs were all broken. The bones were shattered indeed, but she just stood there frozen, gasping for air. A tear came out of her eye it was so painful. The Kashkuni people in the Laundromat all stared at her as bolts of black hack energy criss-crossed around her. “Y-eaarrrgh!” she groaned as the hackium forced her body to actually move the bones back into place and fuse them. Her muscles twitched and contracted painfully as they carried out this hack induced task. Soon the pain went away and she just stood there, tears slowly streaming down her face.
“W.t.f just happened?!” she thought out loud. Could have been the wrath of the Universal Migrator for all she knew. The Kashkuni people just stared at her. Owl changed from shock to rage, and bolted out through her hold in the wall.

“For a pure and clean world! Attack!” the ranger shouted at his comrades who started shooting arrows at the refugees and locals.
Owl bolted through the air powered by her winds. She threw a fist of compressed air. The wind fist slammed like a cannonball into the ranger’s chest, shattering his ribs and crushing his heart and lungs. He died before he hit the ground.
The windmage formed her wind guns and opened fire on the bowmen, forcing them down.

One guy convulsed as air bullets pierced his body. Streams of blood blew out behind him as the air bullets made their exits. Dead.

“Kopel aska nein vavidalta!” some Saska shadow mage shouted as she and her comrades jumped from the rooftops above and landed into the street with the Victorian refugees.
The shadow mages were quick as lightning and demonstrated the awesome terror they could easily dispense on their enemies. The mages, all wearing civilian clothes, raised their Kunvie staffs and fired up their Shadow Cloak.

The Shadow Cloak attack was indeed a powerful attack. The mages’ weapons absorbed light on a massive scale, causing the streets and buildings within 60 yards to be enveloped in complete darkness. Seen from above, the Shadow Cloak looked more like a giant cloud of pitch black smoke.
The Kerning refugees and everyone else lost sight of everything and became completely disoriented. The second phase of the Shadow Cloak was it would spread into one’s mind and temporarily block their memories and ability to think.
Owl was caught in the Shadow Cloak and felt strange. All her rage she built from taking that arrow bomb dissipated from her mind and body. She soon couldn’t think or see anything and felt completely paralyzed. Time seemed to slow to a halt.

The Saska mages weren’t done yet. They used their telepathy and messaged a Dark Solar Mage. New Saskatchewan’s Solar Mages were one of the trademark fears to come out of the alien territory. This solar mage was well over 7 feet tall, and the heavy staff she held was over 8 feet high, made from light-absorbing mallowsparen glass. She was also wearing a cloak that gleamed like a mirror. She pushed back her mirror-hair and pulled the hood over her hair and held the staff close like she was reciting a prayer.
She opened her eyes again and held the staff high as she teleported to a rooftop above the shadow cloak.
“Amanwarsakki!” she chanted, and spoke out some prayer in Saskwa. The mage was calling for aid from the planet and her staff. As the magic energy charged up in the staff, she pointed it straight up to the sky. A blue haze gathered, absorbed magic energy and grew into a glowing ball. By now she knew that she was teleporting sun light from a random spot high up in the top of the atmosphere. Even though she could not see it, she knew that she was charging up a magical battery that emits solar energy.

“Kill her! Kill that mage now!” a JA commander shouted. The rangers flew towards her on their flying boards, and uleashed their righteous fury. Arrow rain shot downward at the mage. With her free hand, she pulled a crystal out of her pocket and crushed it; releasing the hackium energy. She used it and quickly threw up a shield, effectively deflecting the arrow rain and bombs.
“What the hell! It’s a hacker! Kill it already!”
The bowmen swarmed around the solar mage, and a few others who were doing the same thing. The mages were fuming with fury. During this whole battle, the JA went and shot up a lot of Sasko people living in the town.
One ranger, level 110, charged at her on his Ignace flying board. He held up his bow, and proceeded to swing at her. Just as he got within two feet of this fearsome mage, she set off her solar bomb.
The hardly visible ball of magic turned into a ball bright as the Sun itself! If the light from this orb was measured, it would have been clocked at twice the intensity of sun light!
The last thing the poor ranger would ever see was not just pure white light, but something far deadlier- a great black spot in the center. Ironically this black spot- an imitation of the Sun itself was the source of the deadly solar rays and ultraviolet light. The ranger saw this for a thousandth of a split second and he went insane from the agony and pain. His eyeballs were literally fried to a crisp. His skin turned red, cracked and split apart in seconds as he fell off the flying board and fell into the shadow cloak. This happened to all of the 80-something rangers that tried to take out the solar mages. Some unlucky Kerning refugees fighting the enemy also were subject to this weapon.

The mini Suns lit up the whole valley and the sky around the whole area. The clouds over Border town and the mountain villages and Yeti settlements were lit up for a full minute.
The solar mages passed protective magic to their Sasko comrades and gave them each a mini-sun while shadow mages spread their cloaks to protect the civilians.

JA troops and guys working for them tried to hide, but the Sasko psi-mages found them out, and they were fried.

Hidden and trapped inside the shadow cloak, Owl did not even see a bit of the intense light that shined above. A few minutes later, the shadow cloak dissipated and Owl’s senses returned to her. The Permanoobs, civilians, and magicians from Victoria stared around, all confused. They looked at their weapons- their guns, knives, or whatever they had literally shattered into pieces. Courtesy of the quake magician around here somewhere. They murmured in confusion

The hunters, xbowmen, rangers, and snipers were lying on the ground or heaped up against walls, crates, cars or something, all writhing and screaming in agony. Imagine the kind of splitting headache these guys got from that solar assault. Some how, their eyes were bleeding, and even oozing of the liquid inside the eyeball. Shadows of obstacles were burnt onto the walls, even on people’s skin. A ranger behind a fence was permanently scarred; his face was now black and white stripes. All their weapons were wrecked.

The warrior guardians of Kashkun- an army of 700, all arrived at the areas where the fighting took place. They were bloody pissed off now.
“Wait-wait a minute! That wasn’t us, I swear!” one guy from Kerning City’s Coqton shouted as a spearman poked his Serpent Tongue at his throat.
“Be quiet, lah!” the spearman shouted, punching the guy in the face with his steel glove.
Another kid charged at him and he jammed his spear right through his heart. The other Southerners stared in shock.
They were all rounded up by the guard, and forced onto the army trucks for the ride to Border Town.
The Kashkun guard had enough of all the Southerners in their city- be it the JA or the city rats as they called the refugees, they were expelling them all. Since the mages from New Saskatchewan were also involved, the guard considered everything to be a Sasko affair and were deporting them all to the border.

Owl Spirit found Azure being healed by a cleric woman. Owl gasped in horror- Azure was caught in the solar blast. The cleric held the little magician tightly and wrapped her in the green haze of the heal spell. The Saska woman concentrated most of her magic on Azure’s head and her eyes. Azure kept crying in pain for a few more minutes, and then she stopped. The cleric wrapped a cloth around the girl’s head like a blindfold.
She looked at Owl and thought she was the girl’s mom. She said something in Saskwa as she picked up Azure and handed her to the wind mage. “Xie xie…thanks.” Owl tried to say.
The cleric motioned for Owl to follow her. She said in Saskwa that the Kashkun Guard was after pretty much everyone now and looking to kill some people for the Kashkunis who got killed today, and so she followed her to a waiting truck a few blocks away.
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Saskwa– the general language of the people from New Saskatchewan
Sasko- term for males from New Saskatchewan
Saska–term for females from New Saskatchewan
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outta time gotta go peace and chicken grease