They had two solutions, either run back on their steps, slay the two men before sunrise or continue their way and do their best to not look suspicious. Both are hard feat when you have a ride weighting over a ton.
Keith followed Show's ingenuous plan. He put his hood on and put on leather gloves they had bought on their way long ago.
When the two men reached Keith, they saw a clumsy shape forming under a cloak, getting up on its mount as a foreign knight riding a bulky horse. The hood fell on the man's face, making it impossible to see the man's features. It was Mister Show, hiding beneath the cloak and engulfing the kid in its body.
"You there! Have you seen a kid with green eyes passing by?"
Not moving his head up, the cloaked man answered, but none of his words could be understood. The kid could, the gibberish he heard was as smart as a shopping list. Both men looked at a finely sculpted compass the one behind held. He spoke. "That's the person we're looking for! He's got the bull! As for his height... Show us your face!"
'Not going well.'
Still the man continued to blabber, ignoring the two men's aggressive tone.
"Stop it Ravi, we can't assault everyone we interrogate. Plus we could have problems if he's a foreigner, this is not Maghada."
"To hell with it, Mani! I've had enough with this damned relic, we're looking for a magician! A dark sorcerer that killed hundreds of people! Why don't you want to ask everyone where this bastard may have been!" Ravi, the priest with the biggest coif gave a slight hit on the hips of his horse to make him catch up the bull's pace.
Once he reached it, the man leaned forward to pull the cloak. That was until the man's horse turned his head to walk a little farther from the bull. The animal couldn't understand what he felt next to it, a discomfort so intense he wouldn't stand next to it. Ardi was still sitting on Cowtch's back, kicking the horse's nose.
Ravi stopped on his third failed attempt at pulling the man's hood. The bull felt uncomfortable as well, being taken over multiple times by an annoying human, it stopped and made aggressive noises, showing his biggest profile as he scratched his hoof in the dirt.
"Stop it! You are angering that poor animal! Its horns are not to be taken lightly. Let's not mess with it."
The man's determination faded in his eyes, as if the glitter of rage that once ignited his hope had never existed. He was pissed of, for sure, but his pride sat along with his horse and he was too outraged to pursue the currently peaceful bull.
Ravi spoke one last time. "The relic keeps pointing toward east, we can ask it again after the first quarter of the day since we used it right away when we woke up. Yah!" He said, whipping the bum of his horse.
'Heh, some useful informations. We should change our way, any other way to suggest, Ardi?' Asked Show, already plotting against the two priest. Now that he knew their tool and now that we was sure of their objectives, he could make his move, at least if it was night. Few hours to hold out.
"Yes, but we can't go too deep into backland, the Tibetan mountains spread farther to the north and east, we won't be able to climb on the lowest steep portion."
Together, they decided to go toward north, of all places they could found, they reached a desert village. Scattered barracks laid right and left, their inhabitants had vanished, like local pets that rotted in their paddocks.
Behind the village, the source of desolation. A burnt land as far as the eye could see. Black dust covered the trees and half of the most remote houses, their roof had a volatile material that helped the fire spread. The rain had obviously erased every identifiable marks in the dust, there was only the traces of the disaster, none of its cause.
"A war? Probably. But... I'll just go for a walk." Said Ardi, jumping down the bull. He walked around, passing through walls as if he was passing through the entrance. He came back to report.
"Most of their belongings are here. They took food and their blankets before departing. So, in theory, they've deserted their village fearing war. That could explain the lions near the shore."
When his eyes laid on a detail he could barely notice, he exclaimed. "Oh! What's this? Is this...? No way! Wai- What?" He pointed something on the ground with his finger.
"A silver line. That's death's footprint." Keith answered with a funny glare. His words wouldn't match his face. It was funny seeing Ardi's amazement on something he had seen only in a hazy dream.
"That's almost the same I have with my coin! Look!" He said, pointing at Keith's upper body. The kid looked at his scar, and with a frown, he spoke. "There's nothing."
Ardi approached, made a gesture with his hand, one resembling a knitting preamble, then he pulled on the thread.
It was light, like a spider web pulling his skin, it was noticeable but invisible.
'Interesting.' They all thought in unison.
They entered the burnt land and walked straight toward the east, following the place were the sun was born the same morning. To the bull's displeasure, there wasn't much to eat but dirty roots the fire had spared.
Later, they found a second village, with the same features. Thankfully this one had a well with a bucket in which the bull could drink, they had the reflex to fill their pouch. The kid's arms had burns, soon, the sunburns begun to make his skin hurt.
Came the moment they understood how tired was Cowtch. The poor bull had difficulties walking straight without complaining. It had been more than thirteen hours in total it had to carry the kid and his baggage. Why does this time, they had to walk more? Stop. Tired.
The bull stopped, and the next second the kid descended to check it had stepped on an iron shard, the bull rolled on the side, scratching its back in the dust, damaging the saddlebags and their contents.
"Oh, perfect..." Said Ardi out of sarcasm.
They looked at the house's bases, only survivor against the fire. Not a bit of space to hide in. Not a thread of shadow to not cook under the sun.
Not far from them, the duo was waiting to make an ambush. Their argument was over since they thought about their last encounter.
"This monster, he's cunning! But not that smart, he took someone's shape to distract us but left his cape, a tissue painted with blood on his ride. He really thinks we're stupid!"
The kid entered a house and closed the door, sole element still standing, just so it wouldn't feel like an intrusion. Barely half of the walls sustained the structure. The sun begun to heat the land, the air and every material it could reach. Now halfway through the sky, no shadow remained.
After making Cowtch climb over the short wall, the kid curled onto himself, covering his head with his cloak to block the sunlight and have some sleep. He stared at scratches on the wood, none was light, all of them had... another one going in the same direction... and a third, fourth one. Claws? Probably from the predators. They may have looked for shelter instead of running away.
Ardi was watching the area in case anyone was to be spotted.
The bull and the kid begun their rest, the animal's back could be seen from afar, even though it looked like an unscathed furniture.
First village searched, the duo headed to the second.
Once they arrived, they spotted someone else, a bulky man that wandered barefoot.
His clothes covered not only his shoulders, but also his pectorals.
"By the almighty gods, what the hell is this?" Asked Mani, the scribble, his eyes glued on the naked man.
Every step he took forward lifted ashes, making a cloud of grey and black follow him. His skin had the colours of the ground. As if he had escaped the fire too. His bulging muscles touched each other in their abnormal puffiness. The man had such a low amount of fat in his body it could put a skeleton to shame.
Ardi was watching the scene too. He was used to shamelessness, yet he couldn't help but compare. What did that man eat to look like the most perfect marble statue?
The man's eyes were hidden under a thick black hair that floated thanks to the wind. Two words exited the man's throat.
A shout, loud enough to be heard from next village. First, veins on his forehead appeared, then the tension in his neck, and his torso inflated. Finally this hideous face distorted, it wrinkled with hatred and outrage.
"MY! TERRITORY!"