Mani's POV
I've barely slept at all. It's one day after Estes called me. Where he told me it's been days when I had felt only a few hours passed. I don't think I ate much during that time.
I know why, or I think I know why. I'm not that stupid, Al has talked about this a few times. He found it fascinating. I thought it was weird at the time. Fate is truly a cruel mistress.
The sight of Estes leaving gave me feelings of dread. I felt lonely and afraid, the memories of...
It was simple, in order to cope from the trauma, I disassociated. My mind was far from reality and time passed without me. Fascinating is not the word I would use to describe this.
Being alone was never a problem for me, in fact, I loved it. But now, I can't stand it. I'm afraid, for myself and for everyone. Vex and the others haven't contacted me and that feeling of dread is eating up inside me.
This, I cannot tell anyone. Not even Estes or Al. I am a leader, I am strong. The weak cannot lead.
A rustle in the bushes catches my attention. I quickly reach for the dagger left behind by Estes for me to protect myself. Was it a wild animal?
I look around cautiously, dagger held out.
There have been some patrols that passed by, I hid in the trees the majority of the time. But now, I'm exposed.
A second goes by where nothing happens at all. After one last look around the area, I'm about to sheath my dagger when the flash of someone in my peripheral causes me to turn their direction.
Thinking quick, I dodge out of the way of a sword.
"Ah shit, you're fast." A masked figure mumbles. Their whole face is covered in a black cloth, a small opening for the eyes is all I can see.
They don't look like a soldier.
"Who are you? A bandit?" I ask as I stand ready to defend myself. If push comes to shove, I'll burn them. It's my last resort though, I don't want to catch the attention of patrols.
"Eugh, bandit? That's lame," They tilt their head to the side and look me up and down. "You can say I'm a bounty hunter."
"Bounty hunter...?" It clicks in my head. Of course there's a bounty, but I'm curious. "Uh, how much is my bounty exactly?"
The bounty hunter snickers. "If I tell, will you come with me?"
"No?" I scrunch my nose. This bounty hunter is irritatingly confident.
"Figures," they chuckle. "You're worth a million gold, Mani."
"That's it?" I lower my dagger a little in irritation. "That's way too low, you're being cheated."
"Low?" The bounty hunter barks in laughter. "My dear, for an easy target such as you... That's plenty."
Easy? Perhaps I can see where they're coming from. I look exhausted, but still.
"I see." I snicker along with the bounty hunter. They stop and look at me.
"I need you alive though... but it didn't say brand new." The bounty hunter doesn't give me a chance to say anything and they lunge at me.
One look and it's easy to tell they're not that great. Sloppy, I should say. Compared to Estes, this bounty hunter is nothing.
I sidestep their sword and they immediately try to swing it towards me again. A dagger versus a sword isn't really fair.
Another swing misses and it gives me the opportunity to step behind them. One quick kick to the knee sends them forward. They regain their balance and glare at me.
"You... How..." They're panting and another pathetic swing misses.
"How the hell did you even make it this far?" I ask, sounding genuinely confused.
They growl and charge at me once again. I sigh and easily deflect the bigger sword with my dagger. I drop the dagger and my right hand reaches their face. Flames emit from my palms and I turn the intensity up.
A loud screech pierces my ears and I wince but the sound soon dies out. The bounty hunter drops to the ground and smoke leaves their burnt face. The disgusting smell of burnt flesh reaches my nose and I gag.
"Okay, maybe I shouldn't have done that. So much for last resort." I turn my right hand around, expecting flesh on my palm. Instead, I don't find anything. I smile, it would usually leave residue... I'm getting better at that move.
My focus returns to the corpse on the ground. "A bounty for only one million. Psh."
Hold on, where do I hide this corpse?
I look around, scratching my head. "Should I just..."
I shrug and pull the corpse by their boots. I have to hide it somewhere safe, lest someone finds it and reports it to a patrol.
I dragged the corpse for a long time until I reached my destination. A clearing appears in my view and I drag the corpse to the middle. I considered dumping it into the river, but the water would be contaminated and I'm not sure how long we'll be staying here once Estes gets back.
I had to find a more unorthodox way to get rid of it. Lucky for me, this specific area contains a lovely family of grizzly bears. The mother bear would feed her cubs, and I would get away with murder. It's a win-win situation in my opinion.
Still, I had to make sure she actually finds the damned corpse. I left it in the middle of the clearing before walking into the trees.
I sit down behind some shrubs, making sure I have a view of the corpse. About an hour passes and there's a rustle. I peek over the bushes and watch as a large grizzly bear cautiously approach the corpse.
Finally, it drags the corpse into the forest and presumably, to its cubs.
I wait until I don't hear anything before leaving.
My movements are sloppy as I walk back to the where I'm supposed to wait. Only a few hours of sleep after a few days of no sleep is not the best idea.
I yawn and sit down where I was before being interrupted by the bounty hunter. I want to sleep, but the nightmares would keep me awake anyway. Besides, it's not safe.
I lean back on the tree and stare at the leaves as they fall, not able to withstand the breeze of the wind. My eyes droop and my exhausted limbs fall still.
"Finally, we're out of the gates. I hate staying cooped up in those walls all day."
Estes?
I immediately perk up at the sound. The distinct red glow of my earring indicating that it's on.
His voice was loud... He's trying to signal me. I freeze as if any movement will cause me to miss any sounds.
A light laugh follows. "That's true. The air is fresher beyond the walls."
Aerendil? It must be.
Estes chuckles and silence follows.
I peek out from behind some bushes, into the plains and the direction Estes left in. He said he's out of the gates. Where is he?
A quick scan of the area yields nothing and I plop back behind the bushes. He's done it, I need to get ready.