Goddess Of Ashes and Sun

CHAPTER TWO (Titus)

Blood sprayed from the soldier's throat, adding to the coat of Aðal blood covering me. I turned to face the man I'd just killed for, flicking the guts off my daggers as I did so. The young healer stared at me with caution in his eyes.

    "Svo," I said, taking deep breaths, "þú verður að vera Cyrus Cooper."

He nodded slowly. "Do you speak Common?"

    "Are you the healer that everyone's been talking about?" I said, switching from Northic to Common Tongue and stepping towards him.

Another nod and a step back.

    "Where do your loyalties lie?"

    "I-I haven't decided."

I smiled. "Which side do you think has a better chance of surviving? Mine or theirs," I said, pointing at the scattered bodies behind me with one of my daggers.

    "It looks like the Freelanders don't need my abilities as much as the meginland do," he laughed nervously.

    "That's not an answer."

    "Titus! Back down!"

    I whirled around to see my Elder, Clyde, his piercing orange eyes glaring at me.

    "What?! He's wasting time and we need to get moving, another squadron of soldiers will be coming through here any minute," I growled, slipping in and out of Common and Northic in my impatientness.

    "I doubt snarling like an animal would win him over to our side." Clyde glared at me pointedly and pulled me away from the healer.

    I spat at his feet and stalked off into the shadows of Herbis' many alleys to go find something or someone else to kill.

    "What's up with you?" Amond asked, slipping out from the darkness. He was talented in that way, he always knew which shadow would hold him and which would reject.

    "I'm sick of being kept in the dark, I want to go the capital and murder that son of a tík in his sleep. No, wait. I want him to be awake. I want to see the fear in his eyes as the life slowly drains from his body," I said, angrily cleaning my blades with the hem of my cloak.

    "I hope you mean Baran. I don't want to be on the receiving end of your fury," he said, stepping just close enough so I could see the slight glint of firelight on his smooth dark skin. He was a spy and a better one than I could ever be. As Trav and Clyde put it, I was too brash and impatient. I lacked the skills that came so naturally to Amond, surprising to most since there was the stigma around Marshlanders being made out to be unforgiving and unsympathetic to the struggles of outsiders. But today I wasn't going to let his charm cool my anger. For once I wanted to be allowed to be angry for the monstrous things done to my people in the name of "Purity".

    "Yes, I was talking about Baran. Who else would I be talking about?" I snapped, sheathing my blades.

    "I don't know. You've been pretty pissed with Clyde recently. Besides, you can't just waltz into Aðal city, let alone the Aðal territory, you'd get yourself killed before you could get a toe over the border." He pulled down his face mask to reveal his slight smile that always seemed to be ever-present no matter the situation.

    "If only we knew a Traveller," I said sarcastically.

    "You have no idea what Trav is doing, so cut him some slack. I mean, he is the reason you're, we're, alive. And anyway, Trav and Clyde aren't required to tell you anything so stop acting like they do. You've got to realize that information can get you killed and that's not what our guardians want right now. They need every one of us."