The Halo Of Vakh (BOOK 1)

RUNAWAYS

"And where do you expect to find them, then? Do you expect us to scour each and every inch of this land to do that? It'll take years for us to succeed. And I won't be surprised if Faske shows up at our doorstep tomorrow. He's a guardian, a Thunth. All those tricks I can do will hold him off us for only too long."

"That's bollocks and you know it."

"No, it's not," Lysander snapped. "Father never got to teach me enough. Harfen has a Thunth at his disposal. There's supposed to be four. We don't know where the others are. Faske never should have been taught what he was. He's abused his power. Let it run rampant."

"Don't think about the Thunths for a moment. We need to find the rebels. We'll have to get some leads. Bring the topic up in conversation. They have their people out and about. And me and Thomas have already discussed it. He agrees with me."

"Of course he agrees with you," Lysander mumbled under his breath, knowing nothing he would say would sway the boy. "When do you two ever listen to your elders?"

***************

It was bad he knew, the most harebrained scheme he had ever taken part in and yet the thrill ran in the depths of his bones as he stared at the men and women going around their business in the lower town. The women bustled around carrying baskets, their hair held up by headscarves. A small boy bumped into his side as he ran past him. Lysander clenched his hands. He could feel the sweat pooling in his palms. He decided to lean against the wall beside him and stared at the city gates. He kept his head down, trying not to draw much attention to himself and folded his arms over his vest, waiting.

The people came through the gates like droplets of water through a water skin, trickling slowly onto the road. His gaze went around the place, up the slightly sloping street then back to the sun, dipping in the horizon over the city gate. He closed his eyes and sighed.

This is bad. They're idiots. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

The thought kept running through his mind and for a moment, he considered running back out of the city, taking Andrew and Thomas (who were still outside the city) by the ears and leading them back to Eastfox. That course of action only remained a thought, repeated twice before someone tapped him on the arm. His eyes snapped open and he jumped away from the wall. A deep chuckle came from a short boy standing in front of him, his hair cropped and legs long and out of proportion for his body.

"That wasn't necessary, Andrew," Lysander grumbled under his breath.

"Your face looked funny," Andrew replied in the deep voice he had attained. "Thomas should be here any moment."

"I still think this is a bad idea."

"You worry too much. No one will recognize us with these disguises you've managed to give us."

He had no answer to that and remained silent, head turning back to the gates with a frown just as a man with curly ginger hair appeared at the gate. "There he is," he said, watching his disguised friend talk to the guard. Thomas joined them soon enough and they started their trek up the sloping street, the houses getting closer and the streets growing crowded as they went.

The first step of their prosperous scheme had gone well; they had managed to enter Yensrotho without suspicion. Lysander had to give himself some credit for the success of that one. They would never have gotten in without their guises. However, his fear lingered. It wasn't even rational. Harfen had not even had their names labelled on their posters. He had been taught Draedech could be tracked and he knew the extent of Faske's power. And though Faske had his suspicions about him, he had never seen him do anything. Even then, he could not shake the lingering taste that came with fear, in his mouth.