Chapter 25 #2
"No. They are not. They must be Apollon soldiers from the army far North," the prince answered as he walked past them all. I looked at the discarded clothes, the indents on the ground and the scents that lingered in the air.
"It must have been a very strong group of people that could be capable of taking down ten Apollon men. A commander of that matter too," Akiel said as he picked up a cloak that had a golden medallion attached to it.
"They call you the best tracker, while your prediction is wrong," I answered. All eyes were on me. "It was only one person," I added.
"What do you mean? There are ten soldiers here. One of them a commander too. It is impossible for one person to be responsible for all this," Akiel argued and waved his hand to the mess of corpses.
"Enlighten us, dear warrior," the prince spoke in concentration. I pointed to the tree.
"There is only one pair of footprints that are spotted from behind the tree. Where it must have hung the men and skinned them," I argued back.
The prince looked at me and then looked back at the corpses. His eyes then flared in sudden realisation.
"What—" Akiel was cut off by the prince.
"She's right," the prince answered, his nose scrunched up.
"The bodies here all have the scent of blood, and then.
.. there is another unknown scent. One foreign scent means one enemy.
" The prince turned away from the bodies to then look at me.
Both sharing an understanding that we might have an enemy that's strong enough to kill ten men and cruel enough to skin them as torture.
This meant we had to be more careful if there was a target on our backs.
A harsh racked sob came from a soldier who dropped to one of the bodies. "Bors! Bors!? NO!" The soldier scrambled to the last body that was hung and touched the corpse's silver ring still attached to its finger. "This is my brother!" The soldier let out a wail.
The prince surveyed the situation without emotion.
"Burn the men. Our mission leaves no time for appropriate Apollon burials So get started now," he commanded.
My heart constricted as I watched the soldier cry for his brother, who began to untie the bounds.
It was so sudden, the corpse's hands shot out, the soldier scrambled back on the dirt floor in fear.
Gurgled painful sounds escaped from the corpse.
"She-she—a mons—shee—" the last few specks of life drained from the man as he succumbed to the afterlife.
Shock was spread across our faces as we beheld the scene in front of us.
"He-he was still alive," Inanov stuttered. It was nearly impossible.
"They were all awake and very much alive while being skinned," I answered.
"But how?" Red asked, glancing at the corpses and then looking away.
He was worried, and rightfully so. The prince then took out his sword and slashed across the corpse's abdominal area.
The soldier behind him hurled contents from his stomach onto the grass.
Nausea also swarmed my belly, I bite my tongue to distract my mind from the urge.
The prince kneeled down to pick out the contents of the man's intestines.
He held out a white mush bundled into his hand.
"Golden pothos, our physicians use this.
" The prince looked at me. "It is also known as Devil's Ivy in other lands.
" I nearly stepped back when I heard the familiarity of the digested plant he held.
A white and yellow rare flower that usually had golden flecks of pollen on it, if prepared correctly, it can be used to paralyse even the biggest of creatures.
It also grants an extra essence of life and energy.
Keeping the host awake while paralysed. It explains why that man still had some life in him, even when skinned and nearly drained of blood.
"Burn them or don't burn them. We have mere minutes to get out of here," the prince growled and mounted his horse.
Inanov looked at me. His eyes speaking for him.
Don't let the prince out of your sight. I clenched my jaw and let out a stressed sigh, mounting my horse to follow the prince.
I trailed behind him, my horse only a foot away from him.
"I can look after myself." The prince grunted. He was in a foul mood, and I almost wished I had stayed back with the group of corpses.
"I'm your bodyguard." I simply answered.
"I do not need your protection. I am stronger than you," he snapped with fury, turning his horse towards me.
I did not yield. I snapped back instead, "You forced me to be here.
Took me from my family to be your protector.
Relieve me of my duty if there is no need for me.
" I bit the last part out. Fighting fire with fire.
Because that's what Adrion was. He was fire. And I commanded fire, and I’d be damned if it got the better of me now.
I would fight him back with his words as well as I pleased.
His eyes stared me down, and I held my ground the best I could.
He then blinked and turned away. My horse followed without me having to give an indication, I patted the side of the stallion's long neck.
"Those men were targeted," the prince at last said.
"They were," I confirmed.
"It could just be that particular group," he sounded unsure of himself. It was disorientating, coming from such a prideful man.
"It could have just been them, or—" I cut myself off there. What I had to say wouldn't make the situation better.
"Or?" the prince urged me to go on. I bit my cheek and then let out a breath as I answered.
"Or your kingdom finally has an enemy that is taking action," I answered softly.
The prince froze and his knuckles whitened, tightening on the reins. "And what makes you say that?"
The Apollons take everything. If not by will, then by force. They conquer and make everything into theirs. They spread half-truths and take away homes, even from children.
That is what I wanted to answer. But instead, I said, "In history, the greatest kingdoms all have enemies." The prince gave me a long look and then looked to the sky that was beginning to set and collect rain clouds.
"Light help us," he muttered beneath his breath in frustration.
"Sometimes you get the brightest light from a burning kingdom," the little girl inside my mind whispered. And instead of shutting her out, I listened as she put images of Apollon soldiers being burnt down along with their gold and their castles. A sudden thought passed my mind.
Not all burning kingdoms created light... Not if the element that's burning it, is darkness itself.
I clenched the reins that were attached to my horse and took a deep breath in, dispersing the dark thoughts.
Unexpectedly, from the corner of my eye, I spotted something or rather.
.. someone. A figure in the distance, on top of a hill.
A woman, with flowing blonde hair. I blinked, hoping to make my vision clearer.
But she was gone. As if she was never there.
A distant booming sound echoed across the sky.
Lightning seemed to be travelling fast in our direction—the wind making an eerily whistle that carried the strong scent of rain in the air.
"A storm's brewing," I said, knowing the prince could already tell. However, he just stayed silent. I spoke again, "We need to get to the Litara villages. We won't be able to make it in time to the lord's manor without getting lost in these hills in this weather."
He finally spoke, "Let's test your tracking skills.
You lead." The sudden trust and confidence he had in me oddly made me feel proud, yet the feeling did not last when I felt a raindrop on my cheek and the clouds darkened.
Making it nearly impossible to see the land that was so easy to make out before.
After all that happened, common thoughts surged through my mind as everyone regrouped around the prince and myself.
One was that the Apollon's were not as strong as they thought they were.
And two...
They were being hunted. And I was expected to protect this arrogant, yet achingly handsome, melancholy prince.
It was a game of hunter and hunted. And we weren't the hunters.
I trusted my instinct. What had occurred to the corpses was a sign of hate, disrespect, anger and vengeance. We were not the hunters indeed.
We were the prey.