CHAPTER 6
A Strange Party
Airic didn't dare move. He even silenced his breath, least it offend their attacker. Barely a few feet in front stood Angela, as still as him. She was in shock. Her eyes were locked on the arrow in front of her eyes, inches away from her face. Airic too stared at the piece of wood, mapping its direction. Unfortunately, their attacker had chosen well and used the innumerable bushes to blend into the forest. But how long would he just wait there? And why was he- Of course!
"Angela, run!" Airic yelled as hard as he could. The effect worked and Angela was jolted into action. She stumbled only for a moment but immediately followed her brother's orders. Had their attacker's weapon already been loaded, that fumble would have been Angela's last. Fortunately, it wasn't so. They'd never heard the weapon being reloaded. It bought them a few precious moments. But would they be enough? Airic knew that it wasn't possible. But here in came his second plan. Gathering more courage in that moment than he ever had in his life, Airic jumped into the bushes, screaming his heart out.
He was expecting an arrow right to the chest but instead, he crashed into a man. Without a thought, Airic launched himself into a fury of kicks and punches. The attacker was taken aback by Airic's actions and suffered a lot at the hands of the kid before recovering...but he did recover. Sure, Airic had managed to land three quick blows to his head but from the looks of it, the man had survived a lot more. All it took from him was one push and Airic was thrown to the ground. He hadn't even fallen completely to the earth when he caught himself staring at the tip of a loaded crossbow.
For the first time, Airic was able to see the face of his attacker, and it wasn't a very pretty one. For starters, his messy hair, which poked right into his eyes, had lost all signs of luster and hanged on like an old carpet. His mouth was opened wide, displaying the tattered lips and beast-like teeth. And then of course, was the smell. Airic might as well have died due to his breath rather than the crossbow in his hands, a death that was going to be generously granted to him.
Saving himself the sight, Airic closed his eyes. The blow would be quick and hopefully, painless.
"Say your prayers, boy."
Of course, the man didn't mean it literally, but just for the sake of it, Airic prepared himself. For the last time in his life, he absorbed all that he could, from the chirping of the birds to the sound of the creaking crossbow. And finally,
"Brawl, stop!" roared a rugged voice.
At first Airic didn't realize what was happening. But then, from the corner of his eye, he saw the man taking his finger off the trigger. He was saved!
The bushes were ruffled and suddenly, burst out a man no smaller than the one holding Airic down. The newcomer wore the same kind of animal hide as on Airic's attacker, except that the one on him wasn't rotting away. Indeed, the differences were quite apparent. The newcomer was a tiny bit taller, a little older and certainly a lot more handsome. And also the thick eye patch hanging loosely over one of his eyes gave him a rugged war-hardened look. At his command, the man atop Airic, apparently named Brawl, moved away grinding his teeth and faced the newcomer.
"This scavenger was after my food!" He screamed. Airic didn't like the way he was pointing that crossbow towards him.
"Food that you've laid out like a trap!"
Their coarse words sent fresh chills down Airic's spine.
"Trap or no trap,' the man yelled, 'I hold the right to kill these thieves."
Airic took in a heavy gulp.
"Yes, that you do,-'
He was about to faint.
'-But not against women and children."
Airic yelled a silent cheer.
Brawl stared angrily into the man's eyes. They both stood there dueling with their bloodshot gazes (Brawl held a significant advantage because of the other man's patch). For a moment it seemed that a fight was imminent, but finally, Brawl gave up. Though as an open insult, he spit to his side and walked away into the bushes. Airic waited a while, expecting him to come back, but he never did.
"Get up, boy. My name's Thrash." Airic's savior commanded, offering him a thick hand. He was about to take it but the man didn't wait and grabbing Airic by the scruff of his neck, pulled him up.
"I'm Airic, sir. And...err...thank you for saving me." He managed in a feeble voice. Looking at the man's face Airic oddly had a feeling as if he had seen him somewhere but he couldn't seem to remember where exactly.
"Oh, consider it nothing. I'm not the one you should thank. Instead, you should actually thank this beautiful young lady right here." Thrash pointed behind him.
Airic peeped out from behind Thrash but all he saw was a bearded old man merrily digging his teeth. The man caught Airic staring at him and gave him a disgruntled look. He then grabbed something hiding behind him and pulled it out-
"Angela!" Airic screamed in joy. His sister, for the first time realizing that her brother was actually alive, rushed towards him. Her shaking hands latched onto him with their vice-like grip.
"You idiot!" She whimpered through the tears, squeezing him with all her might. Airic, on the other hand, stayed flaccid, allowing his sister her moment. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Brawl return, grunting mockingly.
"I think that this is the time for proper introductions." Thrash suggested graciously.
Airic separated himself from his sister's embrace.
"My name's Airic, sir, and this is my sister Angela."
Thrash smiled at them both.
"Tell me, what are children like you doing roaming in this forest?"
Airic hung his head. How could everything be described in a few words? How could he explain to Thrash all that they had gone through? Was there any way to make him understand the difficulties they had faced? The pain and suffering they had felt. The feelings and emotions-
"Our village was burned down." Angela answered without hesitation.
Airic threw a fiery look towards his sister. These things had to be told delicately! And here she was, blabbering out everything.
"I can understand completely." Thrash replied calmly.
"You do?" Airic couldn't believe his ears.
"Yes, actually. Two days ago, we saw flying riders pass overhead. We did not realize their motives then, but now I think I understand."
Airic felt a stab of anger. These people saw the murderers but still they did nothing!
"So, you two are the only ones to survive?"
Airic gulped grudgingly, "Yes."
"Well, consider yourselves lucky because we haven't seen any other survivors from either your village, or the one next to it."
Airic was hit by surprise. "You mean, no one made it out of Harrow?"
Thrash looked at them both. "I'm afraid yes. The raiders burned it to the ground, left nothing but ash and stone."
Both the siblings looked at each other.
Thrash nodded sadly, "I'm extremely sorry for your loss. Now, where are you two heading?"
'Not much empathy in this guy.' Airic thought to himself.
"North." Angela said, pointing towards the East.
"Bah!' Brawl yelled, 'What kind of place is 'North'?"
Angela fumed at the retort. "It's a direction, if you'd know!"
Brawl burst towards her but Thrash's hands stayed him even before his shadow had fallen upon her.
"What Brawl meant to say was, is there a definite destination you're going to?" He managed to question, still fighting to restrain the angry man.
Airic didn't know what to say.
"Ha!' Brawl roared in triumph, throwing off Thrash. 'They don't even have a proper destination! They're going to roam around and rot away in the forest."
Airic reluctantly accepted Brawl's words. He might as well have been right. They did have nowhere to go.
"Ahem...Ahem,' Sounded a faint noise. All eyes turned to the old man in the back, 'Might I say something?" He asked, bowing just a little and pointing his hair deprived head towards them.
"Go ahead, Haul." Thrash commanded, eager to hear the old man's opinion.
"If these children are going north of here, then the only place for them to go is the human kingdom."
Airic didn't understand what the man meant by 'the human kingdom' but his words seemed to have struck a chord with Thrash.
"You're right, Haul." He said, sharing the old man's idea. "If Anorus is indeed their destination, then we shall take them to there-"
But Brawl was infuriated at the suggestion. "Don't be foolish, Thrash, we've had a long standing feud with the humans. They'd kill us if they caught us near their walls. Why should we risk our lives for them?" He pointed squarely at Angela's face. Angela looked as if she wanted to bite his finger off but managed to hold off herself. However, one of Airic's hands lingered near his sword just in case...
Thrash faintly caught glimpse of his actions and was quick to point them out.
"What's that, boy?" He asked, motioning towards the object near Airic's waist.
"It's...it's my sword, sir." He said, knowing fully well what was coming next.
"Show it to me." Thrash asked in a commanding voice.
At his order, Airic uneasily pulled out the sword and presented it to him. But his hand, as if having a mind of its own, kept tugging back and forth unsure of his actions. (Angela had to hit him on the head to make it stop.) And as soon as it was out of his hands, he felt a strange kind of emptiness. His eyes glared as he saw Thrash holding his sword. But his worries seemed to be misplaced for Thrash held the weapon carefully, as if it were some holy relic. His hand caressed the length of the sword, admiring the artistic contours that ran throughout the scabbard.
"We shall make a pact." He said, still admiring its features.
"What pact?"
Thrash knelt, staring directly into Airic's eyes. "As my duty, I shall escort the both of you all the way to the human kingdom, Anorus. The reward for which, shall be this sword."
"A fitting payment, indeed." Brawl remarked, noticing Airic's uneasiness.
Airic felt torn by such a devil's choice. On one hand was his and Angela's safety. On the other...was the sword. Then why was he hesitating? Was the sword more valuable than their safety? Of course it wasn't! But then again, the sword...
"What's the decision, boy?" Brawl asked, joyfully mocking him.
Airic took a last look at Angela's worried eyes.
"It's a deal." He said solemnly.
Brawl grunted with pleasure. This was far too entertaining for him.
"Keep it for the time.' Thrash said, passing the sword onto Airic, 'I shall have it when the deal is done."
Airic mutely accepted the sword. But that night, as he lay under the sea of stars, his thoughts kept venturing off to his decision. Had he made the right choice? Was he right in pawning off the last memory he had of Uncle Dataron and his whole village? No matter what Angela said, he knew that Uncle Dataron had intended him to have the sword. Why else would he have given it to him? It was his duty to keep the sword safe...or was it that he just didn't want to part with it?
His hands stroked the blade as if apologizing for his actions. Every time he touched it, he felt an odd chill pass through his hand, as if the object he was holding were alive and breathing, angry that he would wager it. But what was he to do? Let them both wander endlessly in the forest and starve? After all, it was his sister's safety at stake.
He passed a look towards Angela, sitting a few meters away. Both, she and Thrash, were sitting at the roots of the tree huddled amongst themselves. Apparently, Thrash had just cracked some kind of a joke that she found excessively funny. Instinctively, Airic felt his fist clench with rage. 'She's faking it', he thought haughtily.
Having nothing better to do, he once again resorted to fondling with his sword. Angela must have seen him staring in their direction because a second later-
"What cha doing?"
Airic turned to his side to see Angela goggling at him with her wide eyes.
"What's it to you?" he asked gruffly.
"Oh Airic, please don't start again."
"Sure, whatever you say." He said, going back to the sword.
Angela waited a while and then, realizing that he was never going to ask, threw herself next to him.
"Airic, it's not like you to sit in a corner and sulk."
"I'm not sulking!' He protested even though he knew that she was true.
"Then what do you call sitting away from everyone and refusing to talk?"
"Its called wanting some private time. And by 'everyone', you just mean you and your boyfriend Thrash."
"He's not my boyfriend!" She protested. (Even though she had spent an entire hour fiddling with his golden locks)
Airic smirked, "Oh really? He's been giving you piggyback rides the whole day. I never heard him ask me even once. At dinner he gave you the biggest piece when all me and the others got were just scraps."
Angela seemed to be confused. "So that's what you want, piggyback rides?"
"Of course not!' Airic screamed, frowning, 'That's not what I meant. He's been favoring you, Angela, can't you see that?"
"Airic, don't be so jealous...Wait a minute,' she said, smiling gleefully, 'That's it! You're jealous of him, aren't you?"
"I'm not jealous!' Airic defended himself. 'I just don't want you hanging around him."
"And why is that?" She asked, resorting to the old hands on her hips.
Airic had no idea how to explain it to his sister, "I...I don't trust him."
As expected, Angela was shocked to hear his words and screamed right into his ear. "How can you say that? All this even after he saved your life!"
Airic thought about it. Technically what Thrash had done couldn't be called 'saving their lives'. But he didn't bother explaining the point to Angela. A long stillness persisted between them.
"Airic, is this about that sword?" Angela asked gently, testing the waters. She expected him to growl or breath out fire, but he did nothing of that sort.
"You're right, this is about the sword." He acknowledged, shrugging his shoulders.
Angela could have screamed, shouted even cried. But what she did do...was giggle.
"What are you sniggering for?" He asked, placing her under his scrutiny. But Angela just kept giggling some more but now she was trying to squash it with her hands. Airic gave it a few more tries, hoping to coax the answer out of her but it didn't seem to work. Instead, the more he asked the more defensive she grew. Girls! He wondered as Angela ran away, still giggling.