Aegis

Chapter Seven--Heroes' Departure (Pt.1)

A thud to his stomach startled Kyros awake.

"What in the world?" the boy groaned.

His eyes flew open and took in his surroundings. The wooden floor beneath him and the wooden ceiling above him were unfamiliar. The wood's grain traveled in weird patterns. And the shutters in his room were red, not brown.

Kyros' bearings came to back to him. He was in the inn, not at home.

Still groggy, Kyros scanned for whatever had hit him. Darting his eyes from the extra pillow on the floor to the pillowless bed, Kyros sighed. Mildly miffed that she had chucked a pillow at him in her sleep, Kyros picked up the pillow and walked over to Erianthe.

The girl was curled up into a ball. Her arms rested on the mattress as if they had given up on finding something to hold. Tears had stained her cheeks.

Kyros rubbed his eyes and felt the stains on his face. In that way, the two were similar. Neither of them seemed to want to cry in front of the other.

Judging by the darkness peeping in through shutters, it was still nighttime. Kyros stuck the pillow near Erianthe's arms so that she could hug it again, walked back to his makeshift bed, and plopped down to get some more rest.

Hours later, Kyros woke again to another dull thud to his chest. This time, however, he kept his eyes closed and rolled over.

"Kyros, wake up," Erianthe said.

She plopped the pillow on him again. And again. And again.

And again.

"Wake up."

Shoving the pillow off his body, Kyros sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"I'm awake, I'm awake. Good morning," he grumbled.

Erianthe raised an eyebrow at his sour mood, but Kyros didn't have the heart to tell her that she had woken him up in the middle of the night. Besides, he wasn't irritated at her. Kyros' eyes were just too heavy at the moment for his liking.

In between the shutter gaps, sunlight ran into the room. Covered with her cloak, Erianthe had all ready packed their things for the trip. The only things she hadn't put away, besides their breakfast, were his bow, the arrows, and one of the knives. Erianthe handed Kyros a piece of bread and some cheese.

"We have enough food for another day or so until we get to Lyca," Erianthe said.

After pair gobbled down their food, they headed out. Kyros slung the bow on his back. Erianthe attaches her sheath to her belt. Saying goodbye to the innkeeper and leaving the three coins, the pair readied Caligula for the journey. Saddle went on his back. Bridle went in his mouth. Erianthe hooked the satchel with their food to the saddle and handed the water skin to Kyros.

Soon after, the two trotted down the road on the horse's back. It took an hour or two for the pair to clear the city.

Erianthe had taken the reins this time, which was fine with Kyros. As they traveled along the open dirt road over the hills, the sun beat down on them. Though autumn was just beginning, the sun was still burning hot every other day. From his place behind her, Kyros noticed the sheen on the back of her neck.

"You should take your cloak off," Kyros said.

"My clothes still have some blood on them," Erianthe said.

"No one's around to see them," Kyros said.

At the next rest break and after eating their midday meal, Erianthe took her cloak off stuck it in the pouch with Kyros' cloak. Between the cloaks and the food, the poor bag was bloating and overflowing. Little black flaps draped out of the thing like little capes.