JIDEN AND NEKE TOOK THE lead as they continued North, with Sanee bringing up the rear. The sky grew dark as they went. Neke's arm had improved, but he'd lost mobility so he rode behind his brother. Sanee kept his staff at the ready and when he caught a whiff of change in the air, he whistled for the twins to stop.
"There is something amiss. I smell death."
Jiden and Neke yielded to let Sanee pass in search of the source of the offensive odor. When he found the beast dead on the road, he whistled again and the twins joined him.
"What smelly mess is this?" Neke asked waving a hand in front of his nose.
"Horrible," Jiden said.
Sanee jumped down to examine the beast left on the side of the road. Whoever had left him couldn't move him but had placed wild flowers over the eyes and tied the limbs with vine.
"Is this the way of your people?" Sanee asked the twins.
They both shook their heads.
"Nor mine." Sanee looked down at the tracks. "They travel on one beast now and they are moving slow. We should catch up to them before dark."
"Who are they?"
"I do not know," Sanee said, looking at the odd combination. "This is Tero land. Be ready."
"With their large ears, they'll hear us coming before we see any sign of them," Jiden said, looking around in the trees.
"They are so green, they could be here now and we wouldn't be able to see them. They'd blend right into the trees," Neke said.
Sanee looked to the trees as they did.
"This doesn't look like the work of Tero, however." He left the rest unsaid.
They continued on with their weapons at their sides, following the tracks of the beast that carried two. Sanee smelled the smoke before he saw it. The sky had darkened by the time they spotted the dim light of the fire in the distance ahead of them.
"Hunters?" Neke asked as he flinched then held on to his bandaged arm.
Sanee shook his head. Hunters would never be so careless. That didn't mean they weren't in danger. He climbed down from his beast and decided the best approach would be one on soft feet. The twins did the same. Sanee nodded for them to spread out on opposite sides of the camp.
Sanee was proud that the twins were almost as quiet as he when approaching the camp. When they reached the fire, to their surprise, they found it abandoned.
YOU ARE READING
The First Kingdom (The Bolaji Kingdoms Prequel)
AdventureA Romeo and Juliet story with a fantasy twist. Sanee and Adera became friends long before they understood what it meant to hate those who were different. Falling in love in secret pushes their two tribes closer to an inevitable border war, forcing t...
