9.Onward

Scorpi sighed.She hated when this happened..All the trouble she had gotten into to plan a surprise for Leo and now,it was all going to waste..

Damn the General..why couldn’t he just take care of himself?

Leo was in the ammunition tent,getting things ready and shouting orders to the One Army.

Whoever had abducted the General was not going to be spared.

Scorpi shuddered remembering the fate of the man who had dared to sneak into their tents and steal their food.The One Army didn’t forgive.He had been dismembered and thrown to the wolves.The look of sheer horror on his face was something she was sure she would never forget.

Members of the army were filing out into the clearing now in full battle gear.

Bradier was talking now.”We have been hated,looked down at and condemned in every possible way.Though skilled we all are in our respective trades,whether it be looting,forgery,disguise,arson or murder,we never stood a chance out there on our own for too long.It was the General who assembled this army.It was he who brought us together and made us a family.The General gave us new life.For more than half of us,the General is the one who got there on the nick of time,saving us from the midst of public trials, possible hangings and beheadings.The One Army owes everything to the man who gave his everything to us.Today men,we unite against a common enemy..We know very less about him..about his strengths or for that matter,his weaknesses.But we will not let any of that affect us.The General shall be found and the enemy shall regret his doing.To the General.And Victory.”

Bradier raised his sword and the rest of the One Army followed suit.A hundred swords caught the sunlight and gleamed bright.

Scorpi ran up to where Leo was. “Leo,please..I want to help fight the enemy too.You know how good I am with a knife.”

“Dear,it is not because I doubt your skills that I want you to stay behind.I want you to be here,guarding our tents.We wouldn’t want to return and find them all burnt down or something..”

“You know Leo,you haven’t gotten any better at making lame excuses to get things go the way you want them to be..One would think that an year was gonna change that.I’ll stay..but you have to promise me something.”

Leo looked at his wife,wondering what was going on in her mind.

“Tell me Scor,what do you want me to promise?”

“Look into my eyes Leo,and tell me that you will be safely back tomorrow..Promise me that you will find the enemy by nightfall today and bring back your father”

“Scorpi..you know how this works..things don’t always go the way we hope..A promise is..”

“Is it too much to ask for Leo?Is wanting to see you again too much to wish for?”

There was a kind of fire in Scorpi’s eyes..there was determination and beneath it,something more.Which one among fear,uncertainity and love had brought the faint trace of a tear in her eyes?The one that she was desperately trying to hide?

“I’ll be waiting,Leo.Come back soon.Find your father.Do what you have to do.”

                             ***

Three miles away,in a rocky cave of sorts,the General stretched.He chuckled thinking of the reversal of roles.The man who had previously been his captor now lay at his feet,bound by the very same ropes which had bound him merely hours ago.The fellow had put up a good fight.The General had been half tempted to ask him to join the One Army.But then he decided against it.

It was nearing midday and all the General had had nothing to eat.He glanced at his captive..at the scar on his face.He was young..but looked much older.The face of a man who had seen much in life.

The General’s stomach growled and he looked at it disapprovingly. Ambling out of the cave,he took a deep breath and looked around.Feeling a sharp pain on his leg,he looked at it.Only to find a leech which had latched on to his flesh,sucking away.Cringing with disgust,he prodded at with a twig.However,the creature hung on refusing to let go until a long while later when it was full.

I need to eat,the General thought.He was feeling very tired.Looking around,he saw a fruit on a tree and began to climb up.Halfway up,he saw that the fruit was rotten and had maggots crawling in and out.

Damn you creatures,he swore.Well,they would have to pay now..

The General kept climbing up.

                               ***

8.Blood Brother

Shadowfoot moved nimbly through the forest. Tall trees with moss and mushroom fighting for space on it barks loomed on all sides. The undergrowth was wet and thick. Very little sunlight penetrated from the foilage above, leaving the forest in the permanent semi-darkness of it's own shadow.

Shadowfoot stopped and cocked his ear. The forest was silent except for the song of the crickets and the occasional cry of a bird. Something was not right. Shadowfoot stood very still, concentrating on all his senses. For him good prey and strange visitors never were hard to detect.

A tiny rustle of leaves was the only warning when the beast attacked and Shadowfoot managed to jump clear of the sudden attack only at the last second. He had sensed an unfamiliar odour, but had erroneously put it down to tricks of the forest. Shadowfoot gained his footing and looked at his artacker.

It definitely was not a wolf. It stood slightly taller than Shadowfoot and was covered in yellow fur with black stripes. A tiger. It barred it's lips to reveal rows of sharp teeth.

Shadowfoot readied himself. It was going to be a tough fight and it'd be a miracle to come out unscathed . Tigers always were fearsome n agile fighters, he would have to take it down by the neck at the first chance he got. A snake twitch of a muscle in the Tigers paw alerted Shadowfoot of it's intentions to renew attack.

"Hey hey... Break it up!" a man suddenly came running forth from the trees. He was wearing a long flowing grey-green cloth that gave away no idea of his appearance and his face was entirely covered, except for his eyes, by a black shawl. He had obvious difficult moving through the thick forest undergrowth in his attire, but he still moved quickly. Reaching near the tiger he put his arm around it's neck. The tiger instantly relaxed.

"It's a saddled wolf Princess", he spoke softly into the Tigress' ear, "You are not supposed to attack other saddled creatures". The man gently rubbed the tigress behind her ear and she purred. In one fluid motion, the man, in his flowing robes, leapt onto the saddle on the tigress' back. He faced Shadowfoot.

There was something familiar about the man, in his smell, his antics, but Shadowfoot couldn't remember nor place it. He looked at the robed man sitting atop a tigress and refuses to relax.

"Oh Ride of a Fellow Soul" began the man grandiosely, aninatedly "My name is Andrrenor, and Princess here is my Ride. We mean you no harm. Princess " he slightly bowed to rub the tigress on her side, "Is new to Riding and is still learning ways of our trade and life. I feverently hope you forgive her little transgression" he finished with a flourish if arms.

Shadowfoot looked at the man who seemed to be conducting an invisible opera from his tigress, and was confused. He relaxed, but kept his eyes on the man.

The man suddenly leaned forward. He seemed to be looking at something near Shadowfoot's paw. He was silent for a few minutes.

"Oh my my.." the Man looked back at Shadowfoot. He suddenly got off his saddle and began walking to where the wolf was standing. Princess was staring at them both.

"You are Shadowfoot aren't you?" He continued, coming closer. Shadowfoot tensed yet again. "Mirōven's Ride..."the man trailed off. In one motion he reached up and tore off his shawl to reveal a thin scrawny face with a single bright eye shining through. The right eye was covered by a patch and a scar running all the way from the bottom of his right chin, through his eyes and upto his forehead cut through it.

Recognition suddenly hit Shadowfoot. That's why the man seemed familiar.

"It's me Shadow" the man said, suddenly putting his arm around Shadowfoot's neck. Shadowfoot instantly relaxed.

"It's me" the man whispered into Shadowfoot's ear, "Andrew. Mirōven's blood brother."