Music in The Shadows

38. Last Stop

The prince stared at steaming fresh skinned bodies of Apollon soldiers.

They seemed to be hung the same way we had seen the skinned bodies hung in Litara. I held the urge to scrunch my nose in disgust. The thing responsible for doing this was either inexplicably evil or had a strong intent on torturing these soldiers for their own purposes.

"Cliftolights?" the prince asked me while still staring at the corpses. He looked to be in deep thought now.

It was day two in our travels to Litara and we had only stopped once to rest the horses and eat. The sunset that was now upon us warmed the land around and created a golden hour across the forest. It was a clear indication of how close we were to Apollo, the sun- even when setting was absolutely beautiful. The brightness was enough to give me a slight headache.

"No. Cliftolights do not torture. They go straight for the kill." I answered and took my eyes away from the bodies that lay in front.

"We set camp for the night. We leave at first light." the prince gave out the orders and walked off, his golden cloak reflected the suns golden rays that made him look more like the Apollon prince he truly was. I had discarded my cloak long ago when the black material of the cloak began to absorb the heat of the sun.

"I wouldn't say it would be wise to set up camp where fresh bodies was just slaughtered your highness." Inanov followed the prince with Akiel at his side.

I walked alongside Red who began assisting in setting up the tents within the parameters.

"I am going to have to agree with Inanov on this my prince." Akiel now stood in front of the prince who came to a stop. Hulin was goddess knows where.

"That is the point. The person.. or thing.. that did this. Is still here. I can scent it. Have all men on watch, it will show its face sooner or later and once it does-" the prince catches my eyes with his and smirks.

"- then we kill it." the prince finishes his sentence, leaving both Inanov and Akiel frowning. It was a risky gamble to assume how successful we would be when killing it considering it had continuously been able to take down a large group of men and torture them...

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Fires were being lit and torches were embedded onto the ground to give the forest clearing enough light after the sun had set. It didn't do much to expose the shadows in the forest or the dark big trees that had leaves that now looked black at night.

The heat this close to Apollo was nearly unbearable even at night. It forced me to take my armor off and stay in the black inners that still was able to perfectly hold my blades. Red had ensured all my belongings were kept in the prince's personal tent because the prince struck true to his words when he told me that I would have to sleep in the same tent as him for better protection.

"That was hardly believable." is what I had thought to myself. I crossed the groups and huddles of soldiers around the camp fire laughing and sharing lecherous stories. In the middle of the clearing I spotted Akiel, Hulin and Red all laughing and cheering on while they seemed to watch something in particular.

My body itched to go back to the prince's tent and grab the violin to use against whatever enemy stalked us- but if I did, use the violin it might as well just cost me my head. I didn't need to depend on it either, I had used my fire blades for all these years and have survived this long.

"You love the power it gives you" the shadows all chuckled in unison in my mind. I grit my teeth and made my way to Red and the brothers.

I don't love the power... I don't need it. I repeated it to myself like a mantra and somewhere deep down I had felt like I was trying too hard to convince myself.