The Harpy and The Bull

Chapter 4 ✦ Tero

Shouts sound from somewhat far away, waking me. I sit up and pat my rucksack beside me, making sure it's still there. I've been camped out behind an empty house throughout the night and morning after meeting with a man with a simple message from his wife. My job does not usually include such things, but she insisted on sending it with a messenger instead of on paper.

I yawn, opening my eyes and blinking a few times at the sky above me and then at the shadowed, earthy ground beneath me. I wipe some dirt from my arms and back before pausing at the sound of footsteps getting louder. My eyes go wide as I think about all the possibilities. As if the world uncovered my deepest fears, a familiar figure arises in the distance. I squint my eyes and simply hope that it's anyone but that damn girl from around a month ago. I flop back on the heavy earth with a pissed groan before turning my head and sleepily struggling to grab my rucksack, managing to fumble around with it enough to make an obvious fool out of myself. For fuck's sake.

She slows her pace a bit as she sees me rise from the shaded grass but then I hear her footsteps race around to me. She collapses against the wall as her staggered breath quiets. "Adelaide," I speak the name as if it's poison, wanting to spit it out. Her absolutely emotionless eyes stare back at me as a flame ignites in my own like a lush forest caught in a wildfire. "Is that fucking mess over there about you?" I hiss, jerking an arm in the direction of the soft shouting as I sit up. I get a damn nod in return. "Ohhh my goddd..." Standing and pacing back and forth, I tilt my head back and blink up at the heavens, begging them to make her leave.

It's almost like my wish was granted as I look back down at where she was sitting; she's no longer there. I breathe out a light ha with a triumphant smile.

"Come on!" A voice hisses from behind me. I grit my teeth and roll my eyes, grabbing my rucksack and slipping it on my back.

What on earth have I done to receive this? I take off after her in the opposite direction from the yelling. After a while, we near a gate and she crouches down in the tall grass behind the buildings, a surprisingly narrow strip of space. The top of the gate and the walls beside it have spikes across them but it doesn't seem to phase her as she jumps, clutching the grates and propelling herself up. I do the same even though it takes me longer, my larger form definitely nowhere near as nimble as her's. I comfort myself by thinking her being better than me at this is because she's been trained to be a spy. All the while, I hold my breath and narrow my eyes as if I would become invisible to any guards that saw me that way.

I decide to stop for a break after a while, not minding whatsoever if she goes on. I breathe out a sigh of defeat as she stops only a few meters away. I swing my rucksack off my shoulders. One thing I learned from my last visit with her is to never look at her; her face is emotionless at all times and she gives me this weird shaky feeling when she reads me. I act like she's not there as I search for my new compass. Not finding it, I rub my ring fingers across my closed eyelids, trying to relax. "How the fuck do you find me out of all people?" I can see her shrug out the corner of my eye.

"Ask questions later. We have to keep going," she hisses, pointing to the guard patrol about to cross into the road by the gate. Even though she's right, it still irks me in such a way only she can accomplish.

Swinging my rucksack back on my shoulders, I take a second to adjust my boots before taking off running past her. She follows not too far behind me, keeping up with my pace. Soon, we can't see the gate. They really must have let go on the amount of guards there and stationed them all in the main part of the kingdom or warfront for us to be able to leave that easily.

I simmer down to a walking pace, eyeing the mountain range in the distance. The dust captured by the wind flying through the air is more evident in the incredibly barren landscape. I always hate coming to this rough kingdom. I have to admit the Yedha is worse to me though, full of people like Adelaide who can twist my insides as they read my mind.

I stationed my horse right over the mountain pass for there was no chance of getting him over. Lava rivers run through it and sometimes there's only a resistant metal beam placed over it to help you get across.

"You have a horse." I should have known she was reading my thoughts as I felt a shiver down my spine.

"Yes."

"He's probably gone."

"What do you mean?"

"Scavengers. Wasteland scavengers. They'll take anything, especially a horse," she says with an emotionless, matter-of-fact tone.

"I've never had that happen." I travel through wastelands, the land between kingdoms, and have never come in contact with one. Part of me doesn't believe her but her type doesn't lie much unless it's for their own good.

"Mhm.."

"There is no way I am spending a whole week traveling by foot with you," I erupt as I spin around, jabbing a finger in her direction.

"There is. If your horse is gone then you will have to."

I run my fingers through my hair, grabbing a tuft of it and pulling to relieve my stress and anger. "That is not what I meant," I murmur as I turn back around and continue walking.

"What else could you have meant?" She questions as she begins to walk again as well. I dismissively shake my head, refusing to answer her.

It's only been a few minutes but it feels like hours with her. We've reached the passage even though the wind has been picking up as the sky has darkened, kicking red dust and dirt up into my face.

We've been walking in a straight line since we left the kingdom so beginning to swerve feels odd. The first lava river appears and black specks cover the ground around it. Standing to the right and placing my back against the mountainside, I sidestep beside the river. I turn my head and see Adelaide casually jump over the river and stroll across the left of it. I deeply breathe in, biting the inside of my cheek and staring at the sky in an attempt to ignore her. Once the river swerves to the left, I begin walking directly forward again, her hopping in front of me from the other side.

This goes on for a while, about half an hour or more, her jumping over the river daringly to the easier side and me staying on the right. She steps across the metal beams when they're there, her nimble figure unfazed by the narrowness of them. I finally see the other side of the pass and pick up the pace.

She stands in the open wasteland before me as I make my way over, not turning to look at me.

"Your horse should be here," she says to me as I arrive beside her, peering around over the empty land, "and he's not."

I rub my temples with my index fingers, squinting my eyes closed and nodding. "Yep. He's not."