Everyone froze.
I looked at the robbers.
They looked back at me.
I looked at the sack that I had hidden underneath the floorboards containing the coins I had stolen.
So did they.
This was a pickle.
The robber closest to me spoke first. The head covering he and his partner were wearing muffling their voice slightly.
"Just walk away kid. We don't want to hurt you, but we will. We need this money."
'Well so do I shithead, and I stole it first.' I wanted to retort.
Instead I just shook my head to make the message clear.
The robbers looked at each other and one of them said.
"Its just a kid, don't hurt him. Tie him up and we can let him loose when we leave."
How kind of you generic robber 1.
Counterpoint.
I willed the stones in the walls to obey me and they obeyed instantly.
The bricks flew out of the walls and slammed into the bodies of all six robbers with an audible thud.
I stepped back to create space and prepared myself to summon the golems but stopped at the sight before me.
All six of the robbers were bent over sobbing.
"No, stop please. We'll leave just let us go." Said one of the robbers in a high-pitched voice between gasps.
Are these guys for real? Or is this just a way to get me to lower my guard?
Seeing me glare at them without answering the same robber spoke again.
"Please I'm begging you just let us go. We were starving and did something foolish. Please don't kill us." Again in that same shrill, high-pitched voice.
Wait a minute.
I walked over to that robber and pulled their head covering off.
Yup just like I suspected.
It was a kid. Literally couldn't be a day over 14. And a girl to boot.
I walked over to the other robbers doubled down on the floor and took their coverings off too.
Yup all kids. Not one person over the age of 14 here.
Why the hell are the kids so tall?
Oh wait. I looked down at my body then remembered.
They're not tall. I'm short.
In the moment I had forgotten that I was now less than 5 feet tall, so these teenagers looked like fully grown adults that towered over me.
Did I overreact? Maybe.
But what can you do over spilled milk.
As the group of kids caught their breath I took one of the bricks and crushed it into sand.
I then moved the sand around to create words on the floor for them to read.
"How did you find this place? Did you follow me here?"
The robber, no kid, who had been closest to me answered. He had light green hair so I decided to call him Green in my head.
"No, this used to be our hideout in this part of the city. When the guards came to do a sweep we moved to another hideout in another part of the city until they were done. Then when they do a sweep of that part of the city we move here and stay out of their sight." Green answered.
I frowned and moved the sand again.
"And why do you need to stay away from the guards? Did you commit a crime? For example robbing unsuspecting folks?" I asked, hypocritically.
Green looked confused.
"No. Don't you know? The guards go around town rounding up the orphans and the homeless. Then they ship them further south to fight the beastmen. Its a death sentence. We've managed to stay out of their sights but a lot of the other kids we knew have already been taken."
What, the actual fuck?
I mean I knew that the kingdom was desperate but not this desperate.
And from a strategic point it just didn't make any sense.
So I asked them.
"Why would the queen do that? Like you said, its a death sentences for you. Even if you joined the front lines you'd just be killed and eaten within seconds. There's literally no benefits for wasting time and resources to send you there."
The girl answered this time. As the only girl here that remained her designation.
"Its not the queen who commanded this. Its the guards doing it to save their own miserable lives. The town is expected to send over a part of its guards to help fight the beastmen every time they attack. To match the numbers of the other towns the guards take the orphans and homeless, put them in armor and send them south. They've also began taking whatever they own and preparing to flee soon."
As I mulled things over another question popped in my head.
"I'm an orphan and I've been near the guards before. I even tried asking for assistance from one of them. Why didn't they take me?"
The kids looked at each other than looked back at me. Then another kid, the one with the stupid face, who I'll call Stooge answered.
"Um. You don't look like an orphan. The robe you're wearing makes it seem like you're the kid of some mage. And with the magic you just used, we thought the same. Also..."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Also?"
Stooge gulped.
"Also, you're like really short. No one would buy that you were a guard if they sent you south."
I blinked. Right.
I thought things over as the kids gathered themselves and the pain from my attacks subsided.
I couldn't just throw them out. As an adult I felt like throwing them out would be the same as killing them.
Sure they'd been able to escape the guards so far with preparation and luck. But preparation needed time. And luck?
Luck always ran out eventually.
So far these six kids had been the only ones so far that had seen me using my powers and I wanted it to stay that way until I was ready.
Meaning I couldn't whip out the sand to write messages to everyone I wanted to and I wasn't about to waste my money on expensive parchment and ink just to ask someone for directions.
So I made my decision.
I stood up, grabbed the sack of coins and walked towards the door as the kids watched me with sacred eyes.
"Come on. We're leaving." The sand displayed.
"Where, where are we going?" Asked Green.
I looked back at them as the sand answered.
"You said you were starving, no? Lets do lunch."