I walked outside, not giving a shit about what the others did. I walked to my horse and the men that were pretending to sleep and rest in front of the bar got up.
I sighed.
were they really going to do this?
the others got out from the shadowy alleys and headed towards me, drawing their swords. I took my hood off and looked around I took drew my daggers and looked at them.
the guys closest to me hesitated in attacking me. waiting for the others, I guess.
"Okay, let's wait for them then," I said as I packed my goatskin and untied my horse. no need for it to get hurt in my sword fight.
I softly tapped it on the hind leg, and it ran off.
I leaned by the pillar of the tavern and closed my eyes counting every step I could hear nearby.
the other guys slowly crept towards me. probably afraid of what I was going to do to them. or rethinking their choice.
"If I, were you, I wouldn't do that." some guy, the guy I've seen but ignored inside the tavern said walking out of it. "That guy is Andrean, the kid who killed the dragon of the Black Forest. if a dragon couldn't kill him when he was young, what makes you think you can do anything to him?" he asked.
they looked at me and I wore my hood again before walking away from the tavern. well at least someone said my words, no need for me to say any.
"You know, I think you need to use your head a little." that guy atop his horse, said moments later as he caught up to me heading down the road out of the village.
I took a glance at him, saw the tiny mole in his right eye, and made a note to recognize him with it.
"And stop killing people that can't defend themselves or else you will have to taste my steel too down the road." I stopped and looked up at him. was that a threat or... what makes him think I was scared of his steel. was he...? I don't kill kids.
he looked down on me too, then rode off.
"I whistled hard and briefly, making my horse wherever it was, know I was calling it.
the witch, they said, lived in the mooring forest. where they didn't say. but it was not like I cared. I knew for a fact like everyone else did that it was not child's play. it was a forest full of beasts of any form. it was a haven for witches, beasts, and killers or their death.
As I thought of the forest, I remembered my childhood, days spent hiding in the dark forest running away from witches and killers who killed my mother. years I spent battling all sorts of monsters.
I brushed the thoughts off my head and headed down east. as the moon slowly started to rise, I rode into town in search of shelter and found an inn at the edge of the small, barricaded town. it was owned by one huge lad. thirty or forty years in age and he was one greedy guy. I had to pay four silver pieces for a room. the woman he had was nice. looked beautiful and was as fit as a horse.
I couldn't help but stare at her behind. she smiled at me, and I didn't bother to smile back. I don't do smiles. "Jade!" someone feminine called her name angrily. "Coming." she turned and quickly ran into her room.
they showed me the room which I occupied promptly after feeding my horse. I took a nap but having spent countless nights sleeping in a place where the only thing that didn't want to eat you were the ground and a few trees, I wasn't fully asleep, I could hear most of what was going on around.
Jade and her ... mother? they were scared. she wasn't supposed to be seen especially her older sister. I think. they were going to leave shortly before daybreak. they sounded like people running from someone. or something.
"let's be honest," a voice I didn't recognize said as the Jade and her mother argued about how to safely get out of town and go into the enchanted Mooring Forest. "They want me..."
"Princess!" they both exclaimed. princess? i got up and listened. As far as I know, there's only 1 princess I've heard of in the past. Princess Ariana, the princess the former king tried to set me up with for killing the dragon that ate my father. i had declined the offer. i was just a beast boy who got caught up in a tussle with a dragon by the palace guards while they were on a hunt for it. he had then offered money, but I didn't accept it. money, was what my father said sent him into the black forest. i didn't like the black forest, but having tasted the sweet delicacies men made, I've wanted more, but wanting more meant having money. So, i took to being a hunter to make money so i had enough to eat.
"Shh!" she shushed them and continued, "I'm not anymore, so please keep your mouth shut. they want me, if you guys can get there, it would be without me."
"Pri... ma'am, I would not suggest that..."
"you guys need to be safe, I am a danger to all of you. i can't have it on me anymore."
they argued over why they should and should not separate but decided to sleep on it. thankfully. i slept in utter silence then, until maybe right before daybreak. but the movement wasn't towards me. the movement didn't threaten me. it moved away from me, so i didn't need to wake up. At daybreak, a commotion started once again in the room next door.
"she's gone!" they screamed, shouted pounded all around the room searching for things she might have taken but found nothing missing except a day's serving. for one.
the female blah blah moods or something kicked in on them and they started running around, searching for her, and crying along .
"Can you keep it down?" i asked walking out of my room and my eyes met with the inn owner talking to the concerned mother and daughter. they turned to me, and my eyes fell right into Jade's and i felt my heartbeat in a funny way. The tears on her face worried me for the second time in my life and then, i moved my eyes to the older woman next to her.
i looked directly into Lady Susan. Older worried lady Susan. the very first woman i have ever set my eyes on.