While Nate was running ahead on Lashaka, scanning the area, I decided to just enjoy himself on the gentle ride atom Trutan. The gentle sway usually put me to sleep during a ride which was no different this time as a yawn escaped from me. Despite the fact Nate always let me sleep in the tent which he hoped would give me a better rest my sleep was always disturbed. It was like my own curse. Thinking about it I scratched my head not even bothering to try and tame my wild fluff there.

As I looked over to the side I noticed some little roofs not too far away. It must have been one of those little villages which most people forgot about by now. My brother and I came from one such as that. Small and remote. With forest all around it where we always went and played together. Those were the happy times for us, the only happy times that we ever had. However, nothing last forever and we had to move on, the forest which was our place of games and laughs became unpleasant and cold. Big cities which we almost never visited became a minefield. Little villages became an uncertainty of what was to come. Hence why I steered Trutan slightly so we wouldn't get close to the town. Maybe the ones living there were happy, there was no reason for us to ruin it for them. Once we were further from the town I tried to relax and have a nap.

By the time the sun was high up in the sky, I saw Nate coming back. Lashaka, as always, looked displeased which could mean that either she was angry at Nate, something happened, or Nate had another 'brilliant idea' which would bring us all down.

I locked my eyes with him, the blue eye that was the same as mine just a bit sharper, while he sighed then said slowly as if making sure he won't set off a bomb “We can stop at a small village which is a bit further on. But of course, it is not too far from our last campsite. If those good for nothing bandits are still after us they will find us with no problems.”

I rolled my eyes, one of my trademarks, “Then you decide, you were always the strategic one.”

He hummed “Yes, but that would mean we might be camping in the forest again, so I just thought I'll let you know.” He scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. He was always like that, worried about me too much.

I had to admit I hated sleeping in the forest due to many reasons but if it was unavoidable then so be it. Meanwhile, my bear growled quietly. I leant over slightly to look down at him asking “What is it Trutan?” trutan growled again and Lashaka joined in. The sounds they made were soft and quiet however normally they would not make any sounds at all unless something was afoot.

Nate and I looked at each other and we put our animals at full speed away from both the campsite and the village which Nate spoke of. Lashaka was fast and agile, she was running around the trees like a snake which helped us with creating confusing tracks. Meanwhile, Trutan was a brute force of nature, he ran into everything in front of him destroying it, with the exception of larger trees. He left quite the disaster behind him, but for anyone not knowing who he was and his gentle nature would not follow his tracks.

Once we covered a large distance, we slowed down. I looked behind checking if anyone was close however due to the sun setting down slowly the forest became even more menacing and dark. I squinted my eyes carefully scanning the area and after a moment I asked: “Do you think they will find us soon?”

I looked over at my brother with a frown. While he shook his head “They must be crazy to follow us, but either way, not a chance they will catch up for now. Unless they have some special mounts.”

“Why, oh why do you always get into trouble?” I gave him an annoyed look.

Nate shrugged amused “Talent.”

“Pfft…” I grimaced.

We decided, then, to take a break. There was no point in rushing any further, if those good for nothings were determined to find us, they would do so sooner or later. Besides both Trutan and Lashaka looked like they needed some rest anyway. I jumped off of Trutan's back and he turned around to nuzzle to my chest. He really had to strain himself to do so since he was gigantic. I patted him whispering  “I know. Hate running away too.”

The giant bear growled softly. While I saw Lashaka in the corner of my eye running into the forest not being very social, as usual. Nate looked in the direction she went and sighed “It doesn’t seem to want to end sometimes.”

I protested “Well you shouldn’t have killed that guy then.” As always Nate was the cause of our troubles.

He shrugged “He was worth a lot, plus he was terrorising the last village. Killed two birds with one stone.”

I shook his head and crossed my arms trying to appear at least a bit buffier “And gained a herd of his followers chasing you in return.”

Nate only laughed as he kicked some stones around to create a campfire for the night.

I sighed knowing that no matter how hard I try he will not back down. That was one trait that we both shared. Stubborn as mules, everything else about us was a complete opposite. My voice then became gentler as I mumbled to myself “If only we went back to our old town I am sure mother would help us. I mean we do have the money, we can buy our freedom for it.”

Hearing my rant Nate turned to towards me with a serious expression. His eye - which was exposed - was not the gentle blue anymore, it was electrically blinding. Despite his usual smile, Nate had the ability to look terrifying if he wanted to. Then as if realising what kind of look he was giving me he dropped his gaze to the ground and chose his words carefully so that - yet another one - of those arguments would not start. “I already told you we can’t. I am a murderer there already. But it won't change the fact you will be blamed. And we don’t have nearly enough, we also need living expenses, remember that.”

I dropped my head in resignation. I trusted my brother like no other but personally I would have gone back. If only I knew how. However, I kept those thoughts to myself knowing full well how painful it would be for Nate to continue talking about it.

He then walked up to me and patted my head affectionally “Sorry,” a quiet apology came from him as his eye wavered with emotion - emotion which I could never describe myself. Whenever the topic came up Nate looked defeated. It wasn’t that big of a surprise considering what we did will chase us for the rest of our lives and yet I always found that look on his face disturbing.

Nate then changed the topic saying, “Take care of Trutan for now, I’ll grab some wood and handle the campsite.”

I nodded knowing too well that I wasn’t any good at setting up the tents or carrying heavy things around. I was not a big, buff guy like Nate. If people were to describe me it would be 'feeble and short' which I didn't mind too much since I knew something they didn't about me.

I took off Trutan's saddle which weighted a ton since it was a big chunk of leather, while my bear shook once and then lied down to relax. Unlike Lashaka he never went too far away. He prefered to hang around me at all times.

I gave my companion a soft, little smile while Nate walked into the forest probably looking for the wood and started to rummage through the little bags that were attached to the saddle. There I found the little vlies of potions. Counting them all up I mumbled to myself "We need more ingredients..." I always made extra potions for the two of us. It was better to be safe than sorry. Some were healing ointments, some were practical potions - like the one to help you sleep, and others were to enhance us for when there are fights, or we are on the road for a very long time.

After finishing off my little counting I took a paper and quickly wrote down anything that we need. Normally I could find all the stuff in the forest but some we needed to visit some black markets in the larger towns or cities. Once everything was on the paper I put it in my pocket and I could relax until Nate would be back. My jobs were usually very easy to handle which gave me extra time to control my emotions and powers, which was not always a simple task.

I then sat in front of the stone circle that Nate made before and closing my eyes I started to meditate enjoying the minute of undisturbed silence. Even as a child I was never the type to socialise. I preferred my alone time and have some room to breathe and think, to calm myself down.

Soon Nate returned with wood and after placing it he started to set up the tent while I quickly started the fire and tended to it. The flames were slowly rising up and small sparks escaped it after which they scattered and died off. They should never have left the main flame if they wanted to live. However certain things cannot stay the same, and within a source, they originated from. On the other hand, some of those sparks had the potential to start their own fire if only they fell on the right terrain during the right weather.

After Nate was done he sat next to me asking, “How are you doing?”

I shrugged “All right, I guess. Just a bit hungry.”

Nate whistled and soon Lashaka came back with a hare in her jaws. Nate observed her for a minute judging if she ate herself as well. She walked towards us and dropped the hare in front of me while I gave her a small smile saying, “thanks,” I then patted the wolf and her ears flatten out a bit to the sides. Lashaka was a very antisocial wolf, however, she could be a very gentle soul when she wanted to be. She didn't like me as much as Nate but she definitely was always there when either of us needed her, just like Trutan.

Nate then sighed “Trutan go with her, you both should eat something.”

Trutan hearing the request got up and followed Lashaka to the forest while I said picking up the hare “Those lands are so barren. Even Lash has problems with food.”

I threw it to Nate, who caught it without looking in my direction. Then took one of his daggers out and started to skin it.

“True. We should find a better place as soon as we are done in this region,” he mumbled to which I nodded. I ran a hand through my hair while messing around with their fluffiness in a bit of a disappointment at the fact we will go back into civilisation.

I watched my brother as he finished off skinning the hare and asked: “Do you think we will find anything around here?”

Nate passed the hare to me and ran a hand through his raven black hair just like I did before, “Well, I sure hope there will be some kind of job. It would do us some good to get some cash if the food supply is small in here.”

I skewered the hare with a sharp stick and placed it above the flames “I guess.”

Nate moved over towards me and bumped me with his shoulder saying “Don’t worry. If there's nothing we will leave straight away.”

I looked up at him and smiled.

Nate then patted my head reassuringly and as always to remind me of my height compared to his. I didn't mind being short but it was annoying at times so I pushed his huge hand away which gained me a chuckled from him.

Nate was a giant in both height and muscle size, while I was the opposite. Which, in turn, made people think that our age gap was much bigger than it was in reality. With Nate being 22 and me 17.  However, it didn't matter how old I was, Nate would always treat me like a kid and tease me about my 'tininess'. However, that didn’t bother me in certain situations. Small as I was I wasn’t in the centre of attention and that made me more efficient. Meanwhile, Nate acted like a shield when we fought together. Although despite Nate’s size he was still stealthy, invisible and quiet when he wanted to be, completely undetectable which made him good at what he did.

I also had my own way of staying away from the crowd. Along with my height, I also wore quite tame clothing, unlike my brother. Which made me quite 'invisible to the world'. I would easily blend in a village, city, or darker places even though I didn't need to since my kind were mostly ignored, unlike Nate. 

As we waited for the meal, to cook, a voice behind us shouted angrily “Finally we found you.”

From behind the bushes, a gang of men came out. They all were completely out of breath. One of the men, who looked like a leader, smirked wiping the sweat off of his forehead. I frowned glancing at my brother while Nate looked at the men surrounding us with the most distasteful grimace as he stood up.

“Do you expect a trophy for it?” He asked while one of his hands rested on his large belt where the daggers were hidden. All the men flinched and reached for their own weapons.

“You bastards, you will both pay for it,” The voice of the group grunted.

While Nate sighed, “fine by me,” then he slowly reached towards his right eye where his eyepatch was. Meanwhile, the leading man threw himself at us with a scream. As he ran, which to both Nate and me looked like a slow-motion, I shrugged getting up. I didn't like to fight, but sometimes there was no choice.

“Typical,” I sighed. I reached over to the saddle nearby and grabbed a long staff that was attached to it. Then a huge blue light emanated from it and it threw all the men back. It didn’t hurt them but surely disturbed their bearings. When one by one they realised what happened their eyes went towards the campfire where I stood; alone and unimpressed. Nate was gone and I decided to let him handle it on my part. So I sat back down looking towards the men waiting for the show to begin.

The leader spat out “Where is the big one?!”

I shrugged and from the back of the group grunts and screams of pain resonated. When the leader turned around his face turned pale as sharp cold steel was thrust at his throat holding him in place. He started to tremble while looking closely at the face in front of him which belonged to my brother.

Nate smirked, “I'm right here,” he grinned wider as he wiped splatter of blood from his face showing clearly his mark around his eye.

The man swallowed whispering “Assassin…?!”

Nate rolled his eyes and still grinning leant down towards the man’s ear and whispered something to him which I could not hear.

Then Nate got a hold of his shoulder with his free hand and lifted himself up to jump over the man and while doing it slashed his throat open.

Once back on the ground Nate sighed “I only needed one dagger for all of them. So disappointing.”

He shook his stained dagger to get rid of the blood as if it was unworthy to be attached to his blade and sheaved it back to the scabbard at his belt.

Meanwhile, I added “Yeah, and one energy push and they are running around in panic like no tomorrow, even the most inexperienced mage would be able to deal with them. They should have stayed behind.”

Nate nodded looking back at the field of dead bodies around him “We tried to get away from them. They asked for it," then he smirked, "at least Lash and Trutan will have something to eat.”

I chuckled “Good for us then.”

*

If you enjoy my writing consider supporting me on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/Zorion