The group cross or the bridge and follow the Song river to the left. After a few hours of riding, they left the riverbank and headed north past valleys with country houses and pastures. Residents waved from the doors of the houses and from the gardens.
— Very well. We are on the way and I know I said that would be fine, but could someone tell me what the plan is? — Relles followed in the middle of the entourage with his brother on the side.
It was a pertinent question, and they all looked at Aros and Edwin, who were leading the group.
— No plan, at least on my part. — Aros shrugged, still looking straight ahead. — My idea is to take the forest road and face whatever is causing so much trouble.
— Well, commander, the point is that thieves won't attack a large armed group like ours. — The giant growled, though his eyes were shining hoping the words of the star come true.
— I don't imagine that is the situation, Relles. — Edwin crossed his arms over his saddle and frowned. — Whatever may be attacking traders, they can't be simple thieves. Some of the convoys were well escorted and yet all were killed. I went to the forest and saw the bodies. There are no blood marks. It is hard to imagine how they died.
— What you mean? This does not make any sense. What they said was that we were going to kill some bad guys.
— Well, the goods are gone. — The lieutenant gave a small smile with the pun, then sigh. — Sorry, Relles. You can go back to Londrian if you want.
The giant laughed out loud.
— You don't understand.
Edwin turned and saw that the sirion had a big smile under his beard, and his eyes shone, not with energy, with joy.
— Do you have any idea how boring it is to simply arrest bad guys? Now… — he paused and looked at his brother, who giggled and shook his head, then turned his gaze to the white-haired sirion and continued —, beating monsters is soooo much more fun!
This time, it was Aros who laughed.
— That's the spirit, guys!
***
A few days later, at sunset, they finally approached the Dark Forest. Pastures ended in a fence of barbed wire and, soon after, the trees took care of everything. Large trees, at least twenty meters high, the foliage was so dense that no sunlight reached the ground. Ahead of them was a trail marked by grooves made by wagon wheels, which stretched until he could be seen in the forest.
— Here we are, the forest entrance. — Edwin turned to Aros. — You really think that we should follow the road? I think if we marge her we might get some clues as to where these thieves might be camping.
— Edwin, you are in charge of the group. I'm just a beautiful fellow. —He shrugged. — We'll follow what you decide.
The lieutenant nodded and scratched his head, leading was always a pain in the ass. He turned his horse to look at the rest of the group.
— I received the endorsement of our dear commander to do whatever I want. — He winked at Allyn, who rolled her eyes, and continued: — I don't see why we get into the forest now that it's dark. So we will camp here and follow tomorrow to the first rays of the sun.
— If no sunlight enters the forest, what is the point of camping? Any of us can see well in the dark. — This time it was Jaime who asked the question.
— Because I'm the leader, my dear. And because I'm hungry and sick of riding. Reasons as good as any. — He got off his horse and tied it to the fence. — Relles and Remus, get some wood, please. We don't have a stable or tavern today, so we need a fire.
— Why we? — Relles crossed his arms and snorted.
A slap came toward his head, hitting him hard.
— Ouch! Who was the ...
— Can you stop complaining a moment and just do something? Hurry up. — Remus said with angry face, only for then open a wide smile to his brother, which further muttered, before accompanying him.
Minutes later, each brought an armful of firewood, and Allyn struggled to light the fire. Aros was watching her, and suddenly his eyes widened and he turned to his son.
— Eastar! Get away from the fire! — he said as the fire was starting to light.
— Why?
The fire started picking up fast due to alcohol and straw placed in the timber and at this time, the flow of flames leaned towards Eastar, the boy was frightened, the fire seemed to dissolve around his body.
The feeling wasn't hot, it was invigorating. The boy's eyes began to shine more, was almost imperceptible, but enough to Aros know that he had absorbed all the energy released by the fire, which was now erased.
Allyn grunted and sat down, crossed arms, and staring or the young stellar. Aros patted his forehead and answered his son's question.
— Because you have a bad habit of absorbing more energy than normal stellars. Do not ask me why. Your mother and I never really understand your absorption.
— Even if I absorbed more than usual, you absorbed nothing.
Aros smiled and scratched his beard.
— That's something else, something I forgot to teach you.
— As always.
— I didn't think you would want to come down to the planet before you entered the Legion, brat! Then listen.
The star commander crossed his arms and began to think, his expression almost painful.
— First, because my absorption is so much less than yours, that flame would hardly be attracted to me anyway, since the release of energy there was little, but you can. —He sighed. — This is something we discover as soon as we descend to the planet for the first time. At that time, we realized that ancient weapons used explosions with what humans called gunpowder. That release energy, the fire also acted similarly. And our bodies absorbed them, it was a shock, but useful.
— How? — Sindar sat next to Eastar, her eyes sparkling with curiosity .
— Many humans didn't recognize us as friends when we got here. And those weapons were used in the stars, and quickly discarded. — He laughed, remembering the expressions of humans in those situations. — Projectiles always lost their strength when fired at one of us, at least the short range ones. Large missiles hardly had the strength to get off the ground if a group of stellars were close enough.
— Big missiles? — Eastar frowned.
— Yes, those same ones, capable of destroying all this planet.
— They were one of the biggest reasons for the Fall. — The young star widened his eyes.
— Exactly. — Aros continued: — There was also what they called electricity and that was the one we absorbed the most, it was a wonderful and powerful energy. Because of all this, we began to learn ways to control this absorption, after all, we would come to live with humans and didn't want to disturb them. In the end, only electricity continued to be absorbed by us, we couldn't control, and humans began to adapt.
Sindar opened her mouth to ask, and Aros interrupted her.
— I don't know why, princess, no one ever knew. Maybe it was very attached to us, or simply because it was so easy to absorb. The point is that we have developed a form of absorption control and used it heavily for many ages, until God's Prediction came and everything started from scratch, the earth today is something it never was before, and never came close to being.
— So you stopped using this control? — Sindar had the chin on her hands.
— No, no. The truth is that most of us are so accustomed that barely stopped to use it. It just became a forgotten subject. No one talks about absorption control anymore. I forgot that there is a little star who didn't like to study with his mother.
He raised an eyebrow at his son, who crossed his arms and looked sideways, pouting.
— Well, I saw some of these same changes even that I haven't come down, oldest one. — His expression softened a little and turned back to his father. — But if this is so, why have the hall lamps and things never been affected?"
— As I said, little energy. The less release from it, the less your body is interested in absorbing it. There is also the question of distance. After a few feet, a star's body can't suck it in, though I believe your range is greater than normal, too.
— You really are a layman on these earthly issues, aren't you, boy? — Relles teased while laughing.
— Relles, you can't say much about him. — Remus raised his eyebrows at his brother. — You almost can't read even today.
— But what I do, then? — Eastar resumed the subject — Go far away? Or will you run out of fire?
— Oh no. I think it can teach you at least the control necessary not to put out the fire for now.