Teajan: Return

Chapter Two

Meani

Sacred groves, Old forest

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"Nial, search their purses. Teari grab their weapons. Aardon come with me." I commanded with my most controlling voice. This was only the second ambush I had directed and the first to be a complete success. The last time my group was spotted before we could attack.

   Aardon took a look around at the area and retrieved his dagger from the hunter missing his head. As he started his stride towards me I checked to make sure the twins, Nial and Teari, were performing their tasks. Nial, a head shorter than me with blue eyes and black hair, was fumbling around with the purses of the hunter he had helped me kill. Teari's dirt stained face was covered with blood.

"Meani, you wanted to see me?" I turned around to see Aardon staring at me. He was a warrior in all aspects, two heads taller than I, muscular and quick, his skin was pale and dirty, he wore an iron mask leaving only his fiery yellow eyes visible, he had short black hair but didn't remove his sandy brown cowl enough for anyone to know it, while his black skirt reached mid shins and overlapped his black boots. I had been with him when he took the boots off of a dead caravan leader.

"Yes, I did." I said still trying to control my voice, talking with Aardon was a difficult task, he was a very intimidating sight, especially his eyes, through the darkness of his mask his eyes were stars, stars that many times scared even the bravest of enemies. "I wanted to know, ... if you heard what these adai  were talking about?"

"I heard what they said but I do not know what they were talking about. The big one was holding an apple and talking about the apples being red." He said trying to remember what he had heard. He was wise when it came to combat but not spying.  "You are from the cities do you know any reason why they would care about the colors of the apples?" He asked after glancing at the twins still working on their tasks.

   I hesitated searching through my memories of any reason why apple color would matter, "I am from the cities, but I never really left my home except when I ran away and joined the clan." I said looking away from Aardon's eyes, I didn't like talking about my time in the cities.

"Meani, it's done." A small squeaky voice perked up, it was Teari, she was short, puny and always dirty, now the dirt was replaced by blood. she was tough like her brother, wiser than him, but weaker. Their mother had been raped when imperial soldiers found her trapping squirrels, it didn't take long for clan soldiers to find the soldiers having their way with her and killed them but she was already with child, two in fact. However their mother died at birth leaving only Nial and Teari as testimony to the reckless will all servants to the Emperor wield.

"Then we leave. Nial come, back to camp." I ordered, and the young boy's awkward run signified the Hunters were either wealthy or paid a lot, either way the village would be happy. My stomach grumbled and the apple fallen from the Hunters hand at his death caught my eye, "Aardon take the lead." He followed the command and I took to grabbing the apple and a few more scattered around it.