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A boy of eighteen turned around in the spot where he stood and, at the same time, took in his surroundings with his large, emerald colored eyes. He checked the sun outside to get an estimate as to what time it was and frowned. Turning, we went back to packing his things in a small bag on the single bed, which was located in the middle of his small stay. As he moved around the room he tied back his shoulder length, black hair into a queue, trying in vain to keep it away from his face.
Jacen Cyril glanced around his room and smiled slightly. He made sure, once more, that none of his belongings had been left behind and grabbed his pack from the bed. If he did forget something, it being important, his best friend and companion, Bryann Kayden, would kill him for it. It was one of those unspoken things that everyone agreed was right. They could not leave any evidence of where they stopped to rest.
The King of Algeeah was looking for them and they couldn’t leave anything behind that could possibly point in the direction of where they were going. Both of them had an enormous amount of gold upon their heads, whether dead or alive, and people wouldn’t hesitate to turn them in to the knights of the Guard if it appeared even remotely profitable to the hunters. It had already happened more than once. Once people recognized them, they forgot that they had been paying costumers and soon were after them armed and bent on the capture of the subject.
On occasions such as these, Bryann and Jacen had to defend themselves and hurt some of the villagers, but only if they didn’t have any other choice in the matter. They only attacked the villagers if they didn’t have another way of getting out of the village or away from the group of rookie bounty hunters that were always after them.
Jacen didn’t want to leave the inn after only a night of rest in a real bed. It had been weeks since he had stayed in a decent place or any place at all. Almost every night, they would make camp outside or in some forest where they could not be spotted. If they did not stay in a forest then they would stay at some rundown inn where the employees didn’t even know the difference between mead and ale. But through all of their attempts to keep hidden, it didn’t do much good since the King’s men almost always knew where to find them.
The young man made his way down the stairs to the bottom floor. That was where Bryann had told him he would be waiting. In spite of the four year difference and the rifts between the two of them, they were best of friends, most of the time. Bryann was like Jacen’s older brother and he treated him like it. While Jacen watched Bryann’s back and lent his sword, Bryann led the way and took down any enemies that he saw, or that attacked from the front, with his bow. They were a team and worked better when they were united and as one.
Just as Bryann had said, Jacen found him waiting inside the inn door. He smiled at Jacen, just like he always did. His strawberry blonde hair fell short of his ears and looked like it had been cut just because he wanted it to be cut. There wasn’t a special cut to the hair. It had just been cut haphazardly and with no purpose but to get it out of the way. Unlike Jacen, Bryann didn’t like his hair long or getting in the way when he had no need for it. He didn’t like taking care of it anymore than he had to.
Even though he was acting casually and actually looked like all he was doing was waiting for him, his hazel eyes were roaming the inn and checking to see that no one paid attention to them.
There were very little people up at that time. It looked like everyone who was resting liked to get up late and didn’t bother one another.
Jacen stopped in front of Bryann and looked over his shoulder. He had taken note of all the people there and stored the images of the ones that could harm their cover in any way, not that they would need them soon.
Though, he had noticed one person that had followed him with his eyes when he had walked down the stairs. He could harm them if he had the motive to do so, or if he managed to recognize them in any way.
They were leaving the inn early just for that reason. They did not want to be seen and recognized from one of the many announcements that were commercializing them all over the land of Algeeah.
Bryann spoke up then. “You are late.”
Jacen shrugged and pulled on the pack. They stepped outside together and wandered toward the back of the inn, where their horses were being kept in the stables. “I was putting my things together.” He sighed, knowing that Bryann would not buy that reason and would see through his act immediately, and pushed the door that led into the stable open.
“Is it really for that reason, or were you just reluctant to part with the bed you slept in? I would say the latter rather suits your tardiness. You always are indulgent of your luxuries. You get a little tired of the road and you wish you were staying in an inn. Anyway, you do not really carry much in that pack, except for a spare change of clothes and the other necessities you are sure you need, but could do without.”
Jacen shrugged sheepishly and mounted the horse. “Let us just say that the bed was too comfortable to get up from. It’s the first time in weeks that we’ve stayed in an inn as comfortable as that one.” He pointed toward the inn, even though they were inside the stable and couldn’t see to the outside.
Bryann followed suit and mounted his mare. “Do not get used to it. We can not stop at such places for fear of being discovered and captured. You know that. You also know that the King would not waste time in being upon us if we were to stop at a comfortable place every time we needed rest and relaxation, or every time you wanted some kind of luxury.” He urged his mount through the village with Jacen close behind him.
They didn’t stop until they were outside the village and well away from anyone that could overhear them and what they talked about.
After they had completely vanished from the sight of the village and the village had disappeared behind a hill and out of their sight. They fell into a slow trot that wouldn’t wear out the horses before they wanted to stop to rest. They traveled at the same speed for several hours before they stopped for the first time so the horses could have a drink of water and some of the oats they had purchased at the village the day before.
By this time, it was already early in the afternoon and they would have to go on, at Bryann’s urge, for at least several more hours before they could safely say that they were away from danger. Until then, they wouldn’t be able to rest very much without thinking that they could be attacked at any moment. They wouldn’t be able to think about anything else. It had been thus since they had first found out about the danger they were in. When they had first gotten attacked they hadn’t been able to have a good night’s rest.
Jacen returned to the camp they had made after giving the horses the water and the oats. He sat down next to Bryann, who was sitting on the ground. Taking out a piece of dried bread, he handed his friend half of it before returning his attention to what was in his hand.
He looked at it and frowned.
What he would give to have a hot pot of food with freshly baked bread on the side and a flask of ale to accompany the meal.
He sighed, remembering his past home and how he came to be so far away from it. He now found himself running away from what was rightfully his in the first place; from what had once belonged to his family; what have been meant to belong to him and his future family.
“Bryann, do you think I can ever return to my old life?” Jacen put the bread back into the pack without eating any of it. He suddenly wasn’t hungry anymore, in fact, his stomach was doing a weird flip and he knew it wasn’t because of the bread. He was homesick and it was making him physically ill, but he didn’t want to touch any food in case it was actually the bread and he would see it later.
The twenty-two-year-old looked toward the far distance and shook his head after a long moment of thought. He honestly didn’t know what to tell the boy. Jacen was keeping hopeful thoughts. His friend thought he would be able to return to his old home, but Bryann honestly doubted that anything like that could happen anytime soon. The King controlled too much of the land and they didn’t really have much chance of ever getting pardoned for the “crimes” they committed. The fanciful thoughts that Jacen was keeping would end up hurting him once he realized that the King’s hatred was too much to ever abate and let them return to their once homes.
“Jae, you must forget about the past. The King will never let us return to our homes and his power is too great to ever destroy completely. Even if he is taken down, there will be another and that other person will want to get rid of the obstacles-you and me. One way or another, we are stuck in the middle of nowhere trying to get through the days and nights without dying and this is where we will remain for a long time. We are too weak to ever go against his power and grandeur. You must stop your thinking about your home and focus on something else. You must focus on getting away from the King and Algeeah.”
Jacen shook his head, “But we can get stronger. There are people that can fight against the King. It is their life’s mission to bring the King down and we can ally ourselves with them to fight against him and his army. I’m not like you, Bryann. I can’t forget about my home so easily. It took so long to make and shape the land and its people to just give it up like that.” Jacen snapped his fingers to emphasize what he meant.
“The King accused me of something I never did, something I never had the intention of doing. He killed my family and when I went into exile, he took over my home. How can you desire me to forget about something like that when I know that if I hadn’t ran away my home would still be mine?! It would still be in my hands. You don’t understand, and what is worst is that you will never understand. Unlike you, I didn’t commit any crime against the Kingdom or against the King. My only crime was being who I was, being born under my name.”
Bryann closed his eyes and fought the urge to floor the boy and calmly put some sense in Jacen’s head. Instead, he stood and walked over to the horses. Picking, his horse’s saddle from the ground, he placed it back on it and strapped it on. “We should get going, before it gets late. I would like to get in at least ten more kilometers before we retire for the night,” he stated in a cold, calm voice.
Jacen nodded and went after him without hurrying to catch up. He could tell from experience that he had hurt Bryann. The only way Bryann could and would retaliate against him was by ignoring him completely. That wouldn’t do with so much trouble they could get themselves into, with so much trouble they had already been in. He needed someone who would help the time pass quickly. Without someone to talk to, the road seem too long and the days passed very slowly. Jacen already had so little patience in his life as it was. Bryann was his only friend and the only one who was willing to go around with him and fight by his side. He was the only one who stood up for him and gave him advice, even if it was the wrong kind and he didn’t want it.
Quietly, Bryann mounted his horse and took off before Jacen had even reached his own black mare. Jacen took a deep breath and silently let it out. He mounted his horse took off at an easy pace, wanting to give Bryann a moment alone. The other young man would stop up ahead to make sure that Jacen was keeping up with him and, if he happened to grow worried about him, then he would return to see how far back he had stayed. He would more than likely urge Jacen to hurry up. He followed a pattern and no matter the anger toward Jacen, Bryann would never break it for long.
He needed time alone anyway. Both of them did.
Jacen needed to think about his home and come up with a solution to his dilemma and Bryann needed to blow off some steam so they could both get along once more. This was the fourth time they had had this problem in the past week so it wasn‘t out of the ordinary. Jacen would ask a question about his home and he could do to get it back and Bryann would tell him to forget about the place. Bryann would then tell him that they didn’t have the power they needed to take back Jacen’s home, as if he didn’t know who Jacen was, which he didn‘t because he didn‘t take the time to understand Jacen and what he was going through, even though they were best friends.
Jacen was getting tired of it. He didn’t want to run away from the King and his men anymore. He wanted to stand and fight. He wanted to beat back the malicious forces that were surrounding his home and environment. He wanted what no one was willing to give him.
Silently, Jacen continued trotting his horse at a slow pace and smiled when he saw Bryann sitting on his horse waiting for him. However, there was something really odd about the position he was sitting in. Not only was the horse turned in Jacen’s direction, but Bryann himself was turned toward the back of the horse. He was sitting in the wrong position completely and would more than likely fall off if the horse were to suddenly take off.
Upon closer inspection, Jacen noticed that his bow was out and he was pointing it toward the edge of the forest. His hand was steady on the bow as he held the arrow in place.
“What’s wrong?”
Bryann shook his head and pointed to the forest with the hand holding the arrow. “Be quiet. I just heard noises coming from that part of the forest.” He got off the horse but didn’t bother to tie it from a branch of a nearby tree. He kept his bow and arrow pointed directly at the forest and what he thought was in there.
Jacen nodded and followed suit, sliding off his horse as well. Unlike Bryann, he tied the reins to a boulder and sidled over to the edge of the thick forest. He used his peripheral vision to check the road. He wanted to see that no one was anywhere nearby incase they had to fight. This way no one would be suspicious if they were seen.
There was no one around that could see what they did to anyone that attacked. It would be safe for the moment.
He moved a branch aside and slipped into the forest. Holding his sword tightly in his left hand, he moved the branches with his right one and analyzed how to better maneuver through the thick undergrowth.
Without looking back at Bryann, he stepped further into the forest and made his way deeper and deeper before he stopped to look around.
He didn’t see anyone.
What was it that Bryann had heard just now? Could it have been an animal and not something else that could threaten them? There wasn’t anything in there, at least not anything or anyone that he could see to the visible eye.
Jacen expended his senses out as he always did when he couldn’t see anything with his eyes. There was something that he sensed. It was in the back of his mind, very faint, but he could feel it all around him. It was malevolent and more so as he turned around in his place in the forest. It permeated his every pore and wouldn’t let him go.
There were more than one.
The closest one was near the road.
Jacen wheeled around and plunged through the forest toward Bryann.
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