"It's nothing," Corwal said, relaxing his features. "Please continue."
"You sure?" Rain looked at Arawn with suspicion, and Corwal did too. His gaze held a warning.
Arawn blinked, tilting his head. "Could we really catch one of them?" he asked. "I've heard they're an elite force and can call upon anyone in the country to do their bidding."
He could pretend innocence, but it was simpler to just return the topic to its track.
Rain's mouth twitched, but she did not question him. "They're still human. If we ambush one, I'm sure we'll be able to take them down."
"What's this 'we'? When have I said that you could join us?" Corwal said with an icy gaze. His tone was calm, but there was an undercurrent of a threat beneath it.
On the side, Betty snorted and took out her sword and a cloth. She began to shine it, no longer giving them any attention.
Rain stood up at that moment. She picked up the scroll with the Glimmer Cloak's drawing and looked down at them. Her posture was straight, full of self-assurance.
"The name of Broken Talon rests on whether Claus can be caught and brought to justice, and I'm not going to just trust you two to do it. I'm going myself, so we can either go together and pool our resources and talents to catch him faster or… waste time by ourselves. Your choice."
Her words were followed by a loud banging sound downstairs. Startled, all of them rose to their feet and rushed to the window. Rain and Corwal were the first. The woman frowned when she saw what was happening while Corwal just shook his head and returned to his seat.
"Arawn, do you mind inviting him up here?"
He took a look from the window as well and saw Val banging against the front door. He was hitting the wooden surface with a mailed fist. If he wasn't stopped soon, the door was going to have a meet with the ground.
Arawn jogged down the stairs and opened the door with his hand stretched as far as it went. Val had been in the motion of hitting the door once more and almost fell when he met no resistance. The force pulled him down, but he took a swift step forward to catch himself.
"Welcome," Arawn said while pointing upstairs. "Everyone's there."
"So I'm not too late," Val said, breathing hard. His dark locks were stuck to his forehead and temples from sweat while his whole face was red. He took a moment to calm his breathing, then straightened and glowered at Arawn. "Were you trying to leave me here?"
"Leave you? Aren't you an adult and can take care of yourself?"
Val sputtered before giving Arawn a dark look. His face grew even redder, but instead of replying he marched up the stairs, taking two steps at a time.
"It's a pleasure to see your Sir Val, but can I ask what you're doing here? I told you before that I'm not hiring out right now," Rain said from the hallway. She had come out of the room and was looking at the noble with annoyance.
"I'm not here for you," he growled. "Step aside."
Rain's eyebrows rose, but she did as told. There was nothing in it for her to block his way. She was clearly also interested to see what the noble wanted in her empty tavern if it wasn't her services.
"You!" Val shouted, pointing at Corwal. "How long were you planning to hide this from me? Would I get a missive once you left the country, or not even then? My family trusted you!"
"And I haven't done anything to betray that trust, have I?" Corwal didn't stand up. He simply looked at the raging man like he was watching a kitten stretching its claws. "As I promised, I got information from the mercenaries and now will be on my way to catch their rogue leader."
If people could burst from anger, Val would have certainly done that by then. His chest rose up and down with his rapid breaths while his face closed in on the color of cherries. The hands at his sides were shaking.
"I'm coming with you," he said through gritted teeth.
"Unnecessary. I can take care of this—"
"I'm coming," Val stated in a low voice. "I'm not leaving my family's future in your hands."
With a shrug, Corwal stood up. "Do as you wish." He turned to Rain, who was standing in the doorway. "We're done here. You can tag along if you want, but I'll be leading the way. We're leaving the next morning."
Betty stood up and returned her sword to its sheath. "I'll be going as well. Don't even think about backstabbing our captain."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Corwal said and made his way out of the room.
He received mixed looks, but they had nothing to do with Arawn, and he hurried out after his friend. When they were out of the house, he couldn't help whispering, "No one seems to trust you."
Corwal looked back at him. "Is that a surprise? They only know that I'm a hired hand, but not who holds my leash."
The next couple hours were spent going through the town and buying resources. They needed horses, again, and a way for Arawn to travel. Corwal came up with the idea to try out other animals, like a donkey and a bull, but neither worked. Arawn's power to instantly terrify horses was universal and transcended species. Not one animal of burden let him get close.
They soon found out that it wasn't limited to them either. Dogs whimpered and hid while cats meowed shrilly and barreled away. Even a rat they saw in a corner alley squeaked and disappeared into its tunnel after abandoning its loot.
"You're like the opposite of an animal whisperer. I'm just wondering, are we humans too smart or too stupid to escape," Corwal said while watching the stall before them.
A man was selling various creatures from the wild as pets. He didn't have anything too surprising, mostly all kinds of hunting birds as well as a few foxes and wolves. At that moment, he had taken out two pups to show to a potential customer.
When Arawn passed by, the hair of the two pups stood up, and they began to whine in loud voices. The vendor looked at them in surprise, but before he could understand what was happening, the four month old wolves moved with admirable speed. They bit the hands that held them and landed on the ground.
One rolled a few times, not having reached the ground on all fours. Still dazed, the pup rose and tried to run away. His aim was off and he hit the other cages built into a wall, shaking them. The hunting birds, who were already unnerved by Arawn's presence, lost their cool at that moment.
They flapped their wings and hit the walls of the small cages. Their actions were fueled by an instinctual fear, which gave them extra strength. The vendor shouted at them to calm down while trying to catch the pups, but his voice only added to the sudden cacophony of noise.
One of the birds screeched and hit its cage with all its force. It rolled off the top of the cage wall, crashing to the ground. The fall stunned the bird, and it lay on the ground, looking dead. Not for long though. Once its head cleared, it noticed that the cage had bent and there was a way to squeeze through.
The vendor noticed its actions and dove on the bird to hold it down. The bird had squeezed halfway through by then and freed one of its wings. It was almost a meter in length and sent the vendor reeling back. He stumbled, his feet landing against the cage wall he'd built for all animals to be in full view.
It was a choice he regretted at that moment. When he rested his hands on the cages to catch his balance, he accidentally pushed one of them, and the whole wall came crashing down. Some animals got out while others screamed and flapped their wings, losing feathers in dozens.
Arawn took a quicker step forward, pretending the chaos behind them had nothing to do with him. If he tried to help… he didn't want to imagine what the animals would do. It was better for him to just get as far away as possible.
"True animal whisperer," Corwal said with a laugh.
From then on, they made a large circle around any vendors who had animals. Or any people who had brought pets to the market. They still faced a few encounters when horses got spooked after passing by Arawn, but no one got injured. Well, one soldier got thrown to the ground, but his pride was the only thing that was hurt.
When buying things, Corwal allowed Arawn to work out the prices and pay. The first few times were nerve-wrecking, but soon, he got the hang of it. As long as he paid the right amount, there would be little to no interaction with the seller. If he wanted, he could even not say a word, just point at something and give the money once he knew the price.
This decreased his stress level, and he even came to enjoy it. There was a certain kind of fun to see the shopkeepers' faces light up when he paid the right price without bargaining.
His good mood went down the drain when the evening came, however. Corwal called for another training session. It didn't matter to him that they were going to leave the next morning and would need all their energy. In his mind, Arawn's training had suddenly jumped to top priority.
"I'm not sure whether I should thank you or demand to leave me alone," Arawn said to his friend once they returned to the clearing.
No animals had come to graze into it since the first time they destroyed it. There were deep gashes in the ground and trees, making it look like a violent storm had passed through there.
"You need to learn to protect yourself; otherwise, events like one with the caravan will keep repeating. I tried going the normal way with you, teaching you slowly and methodically, but you're not a child. You'll never catch up if we continue like that."
They spent the whole evening dueling, or at least that's what Arawn told himself. Otherwise, he would have to admit that it was him getting beaten while imagining that he was learning something.
When he returned to the inn and took a swift bath, he dropped to the bed in utter exhaustion. He didn't even have the energy to have nightmares.
Morning, as always, came too early. Corwal woke him up when the sun was only thinking about rising. The early morning hours were surprisingly cold, and Arawn tugged his cloak tighter around himself. Did they have to leave this early?
Others were already there though, and they seemed to have woken up a while ago. Rain sat on a spirited piebald, laughing at something Betty had said. The swordswoman tried to keep a stern expression while holding the reins of her brown horse, but couldn't suppress the corners of her mouth from lifting up.
Val was chatting with the rosy-cheeked innkeeper who was waving with gusto. A few coins exchanged hands, and the two men seperated with smiles.
There was a cart drawn by an older horse held steady by Corwal, and Arawn made his way there. He dropped their bags inside among the others and formed a comfortable seat for himself with a couple blankets. From experience, he knew it would be a long journey.
Hoofbeats came from the distance, and everyone looked up. A grey stallion galloped toward them. When it was about to crash into Rain and Betty who were at the back, the rider pulled on the reins, bringing his horse to a halt.
Under a wide straw hat, Arawn noticed a familiar face. "What are you doing here?" he asked in surprise. The dark-skinned youth's form was deeply etched into his mind as a constant reminder of how he knew absolutely nothing about the world outside Ayersbert's borders.
"He's traveling with us," Corwal said while putting his foot into the stirrups. He rose onto his dark brown steed in one fluid move and patted the animal's neck. The horse snorted, throwing its head back and traipsed in place. "Let's go."
The two women shared a look while Val frowned. No one complained about the sudden addition of an extra companion though, probably already knowing that their opinion wouldn't be taken into consideration. Or maybe they knew who their young companion was and did not want to antagonize him.
Whatever the case, they set out with the rising sun. Hoofbeats struck the cobblestones and wheels turned, carrying them away from the small town and back toward Ayersbert.
Arawn looked at everyone, finding it somewhat amusing how their group of two had grown to six, yet the number of people who cared about the princess remained the same.
His gaze then shifted to the cloudless sky. Mairyans were ready to kill and die for their name, be it the family one or the outfit they belonged to, but he had none. He couldn't even be sure if he was really Arawn, since it was only something that the archmage had called him. For all he knew, it could be a codename for something.
It was a depressing thought, and he pushed it away. The sun was shining, and he was off to have an adventure with people he liked. This was what truly mattered. The past was supposed to stay in the past, buried under a mountain of insignificant memories so he could remain sane.