Down at the town, Venamo realised that splitting up may not be such a great idea after all. Things were getting heated when the Venomfolk were pushing back against the city guards who were hesitant to use the sharp ends of their spears. The roads where the tussles were happening could not even be used because of how blocked they were. Some Venomfolk had even climbed up roofs to jump over the invisible border and get to the rain to fill their buckets with fresh water. Venamo, Varma and Nofa wondered why the city guards won't allow the townsfolk move freely in the town, but this didn't surprise them.
"The rain always comes on this day but now it's only coming to your side! We need this rain!" One of the angry Venomfolk yelled at the city guards.
"This side is off limits to you! Go home! Disperse!" A guard shouted back.
The travellers had no time to resolve the conflict going on in the streets where lots of barrels were set standing and left to fill up. Instead they focused on their task at hand and checked inside every house on the street where the front door wasn't locked. In some of them they got baffled looks as they only entered and quickly left. In some they heard yells directed at them for intruding on the privacy of others. It took an hour for them to check every house of just the borough that they were in, yet they couldn't find Bloodmist anywhere. The idea that this was a pointless effort was in all of their heads, but just then Varma noticed something in the sky. Smoke was rising in in the distance. It seemed to be coming from the same distance where Varma remembered the big tent of the soldiers being. Varma began running towards the direction of the smoke with her cloak flapping behind her. Venamo and Varma knew that they couldn't do anything but follow her, and so they did.
Once they finally got to the source of the smoke, what they found was indeed the tent that they expected to find with half of it burning and the other half being rained on, since the tent was perfectly on the invisible border that splits the city. Nobody was putting out the fire on the burning side since everybody was too busy to deal with the chaos in the streets. Near the half-burning tent Nofa spotted Bloodmist standing on a roof on the dry side of town and pointed to her.
The travellers went closer to Bloodmist and Venamo gestured to Nofa that she should be the one to speak to Bloodmist since they both spoke a language that won't get them in trouble.
"Hello, sister! Whatcha doing up there?" Nofa shouted at Bloodmist who wasn't looking down at all.
"Something I had to do before leaving this city. It's the least they deserve." Bloodmist said and jumped down from the roof.
"We would have preferred to keep a low profile." Venamo commented.
"I didn't get caught, did I? Now let's get to the ship." Bloodmist replied to Venamo.
She then turned to Nofa.
"Where's the black haired fellow?" Bloodmist asked her.
"He stayed at the tower. He had enough attention yesterday. You don't seem to like Vastusar's authority either." Nofa said to Bloodmist.
Bloodmist ignored Nofa's words and went to the direction of where she remembered the harbour being.
"You don't have a disguise of any kind! Won't they recognise you?" Nofa reminded her.
"They're busy with something else. They won't mind me." Bloodmist said and went into the rainy part of the town.
"What did she say?" Varma asked Nofa, not having understood the conversation between the two Wicked women.
"She's headed to the harbour, I think. Let's follow her." Nofa said and followed Bloodmist.
On their way back to the harbour the travellers got to see how much Bloodmist hates everyone who serves the crown. The conflict between the city guards and the Venomfolk had calmed down to a peaceful standoff, but as Bloodmist passed a row of guards, she sliced the ankles of a few guards with her dagger, and when the other guards noticed, she quickly climbed to the roofs of the houses without using her powers at all. Other guards who still had uncut ankles would chase after her as she jumped from roof to roof. This allowed the restless natives to flood over to the rainy part of town and trample over the city guards who were clutching their cut ankles. In the midst of the chaos Venamo, Varma and Nofa had trouble getting past the crowd but they shoved their way through. Bloodmist had disappeared again but Venamo remembered the way to the harbour and eventually they had made it back there.
At the harbour, it was Venamo who noticed something that nobody else did. A lone man was leaning on a pole, and on his sleeve he had a vertical red stripe that went down his arm. The man wasn't really doing anything, but he was subtly paying mind to a docked ship. Not the same ship that Venamo's band was intending to board. Venamo gestured his band to follow him as he approached the lonely man.
"Road of Blood?" Venamo simply asked the man and took the risk of speaking Uhmakian.
The man nodded seriously.
"Ship to Kyrasar?" Venamo asked briefly and quickly.
The lonely man nodded towards the ship he had been eyeing.
Bloodmist then stood between the two men.
"I lied earlier. The ship we were about to board is headed to Yumasar. I tricked you. If you want to go to Kyrasar, get in the ship he's telling you to go." Bloodmist said to Venamo.
"Tricked me? How can we trust you with anything anymore?" Venamo asked.
"Just get in the damn boat before it's too late." Bloodmist said and ran off to the direction of said boat.
When the others looked where Bloodmist ran to, they saw the same group of soldiers that they saw upon entering the town, but now they were entering the ship that the travellers had to board, and the soldiers seemed to be in haste.
Nofa asked Blueberry to go retrieve Yilka from the tower, and even in the rain Blueberry was able to fly and carry the young man easily to bring him to the rest of the travellers without his consent.
"What is she doing?" Venamo exclaimed as he watched Bloodmist run towards trouble.
"Let's do it this way then." Yilka said and ran after Bloodmist.
When Bloodmist reached the group of soldiers, she kicked one of them in the back and sent him flying into the water with the force of the kick. The others turned around. Two other soldiers poked their spears at Bloodmist, but she crouched to avoid them, and when she rose, she caught both spears between her arms and sides. She was now having a tug of war with two men at once, and a third was ready to thrust a spear into her back. Before anything pierced anything, Yilka reached the scene of the brawl and swung his cudgel down to break the incoming spear into splinters. Bloodmist let go of the spears that she was holding and kicked one of the men she was struggling with right in the knee. She then leapt in the air and connected her knee with the other man's forehead, knocking him out cold. Two more spearmen came from the ship with their polearms pointed forward as they charged. The one who got his spear shattered picked up an intact one from the one who got knocked out, and now Yilka and Bloodmist were surrounded by three men with spears pointed at them.
One of them got surprised when a winged girl from the sky dove towards him and shoved him over the edge of the harbour and into the water. As the one next to him looked at the undeniably distracting event, Yilka slipped past his spear and struck him in the side with his Beast Slayer so hard that the soldier flew out of the harbor entirely and flew through the wall of the unlucky building that he hit. The soldier who got kicked in the knee earlier then got a swift kick to the jaw from Bloodmist to send him napping as well, and the last one standing soon felt the tip of a blade against his neck and the spear in his hand aged a hundred years in mere seconds.
"You are serving an evil might. Your ship is now seized. Run off." Venamo said to the soldier in a language he could understand.
The soldier did exactly as told and picked up nothing from the ground as he ran away from the harbour.
"A good showcase of teamwork there. Well done, all." Venamo said to the others.
"Those were some amazing moves, sister!" Nofa said to Bloodmist and got uncomfortably close to her.
"We are not sisters. And where I learned it is none of your concern." Bloodmist coldly replied and distanced herself from Nofa.
"You used your feet more than your daggers. I thought you hated the servants of the Crown as much as I do." Yilka said to Bloodmist and wondered.
"I do. But if you are seen with me as I kill or seriously wound soldiers of the Crown, it'll make this trip a lot harder for all of you." Bloodmist explained.
"But leaving them alive leaves witnesses. They'll remember seeing us with you once they wake up." Yilka pointed out.
"You're right." Bloodmist said and prepared her dagger to execute one of the knocked out men.
Before she could do that, she felt the blade of Venamo's Defiance on her wrist.
"You will not execute somebody who is defenseless." Venamo said dead seriously.
"We'll have to come back to this city on our way back. Do you want to make your life harder the next time you come here?" Bloodmist asked.
"We will deal with that when we return. Now get in the boat." Venamo insisted.
"When we come back here, I won't help your sorry souls with any trouble. I'll fly over the city and get myself to safety. Understand me?" Bloodmist said to Venamo.
"Properly understood." Venamo replied and sheathed his sword.
"Now everybody aboard!" He then announced, not caring who hears anymore.
"Where did Varma go?" Yilka wondered out loud.
"Up there." Nofa said and pointed up to the mast of the ship where Varma was sitting.
"We're all here then." Yilka said and entered the boat with the others.
"Yilka, got get the mounts back from the roof where we left them." Venamo told Yilka as soon as he had made it on board.
"What? Alone? They'll kill me!" Yilka complained.
"Fine, I'll come with you if you're that worried." Venamo admitted and left the boat again.
As he left the boat, he grabbed one of the defeated soldiers from the ground and dragged him into the boat before going to follow Yilka again
18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpHtBfSL2ri
Once the mounts had been retrieved, the journey could begin. Onboard the boat, the travellers discovered something that didn't really please them. Nobody was at the wheel, and in the distance they could see somebody swimming away from the boat. It was easy to guess who it was.
"One of you better know how to control this thing." Bloodmist warned.
"Can't be that hard." Nofa said and grabbed the wheel.
She then cleared her throat.
"Raise the anchor and lower the main sail! We're off!" Nofa announced.
"Yes, captain!" Yilka playfully replied and went to do as told.
"You know how to sail this thing?" Varma shouted from the top of the mast.
"No, but I'll learn as I go." Nofa shouted back at her.
"This is hopeless, but also the best hope we have." Venamo murmured and sighed.
Once the ship had gotten moving, it headed towards the mountains that shield Kyrasar from the northern winds. During the journey Venamo and Yilka trained their fighting, Varma trained her flying and Bloodmist wiped her blades on the other end of the ship from where the wheel was. This journey through waters went without trouble and the winds were favourable. Soon enough the sandy shores of a new province became visible. By the time the ship crashed into the sandy shore, it was late noon and nobody was on the shore.
"We're here!" Nofa announced.
"I noticed." Yilka replied while laying on his side on the floor as the impact of the landing shook the ship and made him fall.
"And I noticed that pier over there. Next to that hut." Venamo said and pointed his hand to a distant pier and hut along the shore.
"Eh. The ship won't sail away on its own if we leave it here. And less chances of anyone stealing it if we leave it here." Nofa made the case.
"I suppose it'll work." Venamo stated and looked into the desert ahead.
"Are the beakmounts even fit for a sandy terrain like this?" Yilka wondered out loud as he too looked into the desert.
"More than us, I bet. And we better fill up every container that we have with clean water. We don't know how long we'll have to travel before we find any more." Venamo reminded.
He then walked over to the kidnapped soldier who Nofa had kindly tied to the mast of the ship. Venamo pointed his blade at the neck of the kidnapped soldier and looked at him with cold eyes.
"You were meant to come here, so you know this land better than I do. How far is the nearest sweet water?" Venamo asked seriously.
"I won't tell you rebels anything." The soldier insisted.
Venamo then let the tip of his blade grace the skin on the soldier's skin, and the enchanted blade made a deeper cut than even Venamo himself expected.
"Will you not?" Venamo asked again.
"I'll die for the Crown before I let filth like you get anywhere. Go die in the desert where the desert winds will bury your stinking carcasses." The soldier insisted.
Venamo walked over to the sack of goods that Blueberry likes to carry around. He started digging through it and looking for something very specific.
"What did the chappie tell you? What are you looking for?" Nofa asked.
"You better have a bottle here somewhere." Venamo murmured while digging through the sack.
Soon enough he found one and looked at it with a twisted look on his face.
"Varma!" He then called seriously up to the mast where Varma was sitting.
Varma jumped down and landed safely with her wings.
"Yes?" Varma said.
Venamo handed her the bottle.
"Go fill this bottle with seawater and fly back here and bring it to me." Venamo commanded.
"All...right?" Varma said and did exactly as told.
Once Varma had given Venamo a full bottle, he walked over to the tied up soldier by the mast.
"So you won't talk?" Venamo asked.
"Never." The soldier swore.
As the soldier's mouth was open, Venamo shoved his fingers between the soldier's teeth and forced his mouth to stay open. Then he used his other hand to pour seawater into the soldier's mouth. Once his mouth was full, Venamo pulled his fingers out and pushed the soldier's jaw up, forcing his mouth to close. Little did he care for the sounds of discomfort that the soldier was making with his mouth full of salty water. Venamo then squeezed the man's nose shut as well, preventing him from even breathing.
"Drink it!" Venamo yelled at the troubled soldier.
When the soldier could no longer hold his breath and figured that swallowing the seawater was the only way to breathe again, he swallowed.
Venamo let him breathe.
"And now?" Venamo asked as the soldier was gasping for air and coughing.
"Are you trying to get something out of him or are you just making him suffer for fun?" Varma asked disgustedly.
"I'm trying to find out where to get sweet water around here. Surely he knows the land better than we do. Now stay quiet, child. I'll get him to speak yet." Venamo said.
"You think a little bit of saltwater will get me to talk. Dry out, you piles of filth." The soldier defiantly taunted.
Venamo then forcefully kept the soldier's eyelid open and poured saltwater into his eyeball. As the soldier then shouted in pain, Venamo poured more saltwater in his mouth and forced him to swallow the same way again. The soldier whined in pain under his breath as his mouth was full, and then swallowed the seawater.
"Please. No more." The soldier begged weakly once he could breathe and talk again.
Venamo didn't listen, but forced the man's head up and forced fed him some more saltwater once again.
"Talk!" Venamo shouted at the man.
"Follow the birds." The soldier said weakly once he could.
"Pardon?" Venamo asked for clarification with a serious tone.
"Follow the birds coming from the sea. They know where the lake is and they always stop by it on their journey. Follow them, and you'll find sweet water." The soldier admitted.
"Great. And where is the Stormress?" Venamo asked.
The soldier looked baffled at the question as if it was self evident.
"Varma, get more water." Venamo told his cousin and handed the bottle.
"No. Go get it yourself if this is what you want to do." Varma said and dropped the bottle.
"The Stormress... during heavy rainstorms, she can be found inside the largest dark cloud. To summon her down to earth... you need to steal a lightning." The soldier explained.
"What does that mean?" Venamo asked impatiently.
"They didn't tell me! They told me that if we steal one of her lightnings, she'll want it back and come down from her house in the cloud. That's all they told me!" The soldier insisted.
Instead of listening to any more of the explaining, Venamo went to untie his mount.
"That was cruel of you. But not surprising." Yilka said.
"It was effective." Venamo countered.
"What did he tell you?"
"We need to follow the birds to find water, and we need to steal a lighting to summon the Stormress. Whatever that means." Venamo answered.
"Bound to be some settlement where there's water. I bet the locals there know more about their nearest Grand Beast than anyone else." Nofa said.
"That may be our best bet. Despite my treatment of him, the soldier insists that he doesn't know how to steal a lightning, but somebody has to." Venamo said.
"So you're willing to torture, but not execute?" Bloodmist said as she suddenly appeared next to Venamo.
"You would have killed him before I got him to say a word. Whose method worked better for us?" Venamo replied and ordered his mount to leap out of the boat and into land.
18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡljhPjpEfyT
Once both mounts and all travellers were out of the boat, it was time to look at the sky and look for birds. Venamo had insisted that everyone must keep an eye on the sky as to not possibly miss any bird flying in the sky. Varma was the first one to spot a bird, which didn't surprise anybody. The group directed their sights to the way of the bird and headed there. The beakmounts fared well on the flat desert terrain with hard ground all around. The mounts had gotten weaker since the enchantment that Venamo gave their bodies had worn off, so he had to give them the enchantment once again to make them faster. With the faster mounts they rode until the Sun was setting. By the time the Sun was setting, they noticed that the mounts were making sounds as if they were overheated, but to their luck, trusting the birds worked. Ahead they saw green grass, bushes and lush and healthy trees around a big lake. They made their mounts make a final sprint to the shores of the lake where everybody could drink and fill whatever containers they had.
"Drink up proper, everyone. We never know when we have to head back into the desert. But now that we have a source of fresh water, we should travel along the shores of the lake until we find some settlement and possibly even somebody who knows what we're looking for." Venamo told everyone.
"If the soldiers we beat up got another ship here, we should be ahead of them. I think we can afford to get a good night's sleep and sit down for a proper meal." Yilka suggested.
"I reckon you are right. As long as we learn what we need to learn before a thunderstorm hits, our path is solid. We should have some bread left in the sack for everyone. Perhaps I'll be able to even hunt something." Venamo replied.
"I'd also like to wash myself. Been too long since I did that." Nofa said.
"I should also do that, now that you mention." Yilka added.
"You just want to come bathe with me, don't you?" Nofa asked with a suggestive smirk.
"I didn't mean we'd do it at the same time but if you want..." Yilka was saying.
"You will come hunt with me, Yilka. No further questions." Venamo interrupted with.
Nofa walked past Yilka, put her hand on his shoulder and her lips close to his ear.
"You said it yourself. Best not to argue with him. Catch us some good game, hunter." Nofa quietly said into Yilka's ear and went her own way.
"Well then. What animals even live here that we can hunt?" Yilka asked.
"That I do not know. But I do know that they won't come to us. So let's go." Venamo told his brother.
"Maybe it'd be easier if I scouted from above." Varma suggested while she was sitting on the shore and writing something on a piece of paper as she was watching the birds who were swimming in the lake.
"Well thought. And you could easily shoot one of those birds from above with your bow." Venamo suggested.
"No! Not going to do that. Leave the birdos alone. I'll hunt anything else however." Varma demanded.
"This is not the time to be picky about what we eat." Venamo reminded.
Varma flew up and took her bow with her, knowing that Venamo could do nothing to get her down from there.
"I'm not going to harm the birdos! And that's that!" Varma defiantly shouted from up where she was.
Venamo was displeased with this little act of rebellion, but knew that he couldn't get Varma's bow from down where he was.
"Fine then! Not the birds. But you'll have to hunt the prey yourself!" Venamo suggested.
"I can do that easily from up here. Stay there!" Varma shouted and flew off.
"While she's away, I'll make a fire." Venamo said and cut down a tree with one swing of his sword.
By the time a suitable fireplace was made and lit, Varma returned with a bloody arrow hanging from her rope and a big fish on her hand.
"Guess what. I didn't expect many big animals to live here, but the fish in the lake are huge!" Varma said when she landed by the campfire and dropped the fish on the ground.
"That'll do nicely! Well done!" Yilka congratulated the proud looking girl with.
"Well done." Venamo said quickly and to the point and grabbed the fish from the ground.
He put the fish vertically through a sharp branch and stuck the branch to the ground vertically right next to the fire.
"How nice that we have a fire here. Right what I need for drying up." Nofa's voice said from behind the bushes as she returned to the camp with her hair wet and only sack cloth around her body while her robes were folded in her hand.
She put her bare knees on the grass by the fire and enjoyed the heat of it while her wet red hair rested on her bare shoulders.
"Would this dry you faster?" Varma said and flapped her wing right next to Nofa, sending a wave of hot air her way.
"Ow! That was a bit too hot! Please don't do that again." Nofa requested.
"Oh. Sorry. I didn't know." Varma apologised with.
"You meant well. So fish is what we'll eat. Yay! Who can we thank for this?" Nofa asked.
"Only the most gifted and smartest bow using feather girl in the land." Varma bragged.
"I should have known that it couldn't have been anyone else." Nofa said and played along.
"I suggest the rest of us get cleaned up as well now that we're here. We can't know when we'll get a chance to do that next. Somebody has to stay here to watch today's catch. If anything rustles in the bushes, grab this." Venamo said and left his sword on the ground as he left the campfire.
"I suppose he's right." Yilka said and left as well.
"Don't let the fish bite you if they're this big." Nofa wished Yilka before he left.
"How do I even wash these wings? Can you come wash them for me, Nofa?" Varma said to Nofa.
"I can't even touch them because of how hot they are. But they don't smell bad. Just leave them as they are." Nofa replied.
"I guess you're right." Varma admitted and flew off.
"I'm not going into water. I feel defenseless there. And I can't get dirty when I spend most of my time as mist anyway." Bloodmist commented.
"Well in that case, you can keep company for me here like the good sister that you are." Nofa cheerfully replied to her.
"We are not sisters." Bloodmist insisted.
"Aww. We will be once we get to know each other." Nofa assured.
"Listen. I only roll with you because we have the same foe and the same goal." Bloodmist said.
"So you stand for something at least. I bet you are an interesting person and I want to know more about you. I don't even know your real name." Nofa said.
"You know all you need to know about me." Bloodmist insisted.
"Wouldn't we work better as a team if we were closer?" Nofa asked.
"I'm not interested in being close with anyone. Just gives me more to lose, makes me think emotionally instead of reasonably, and gives my foes something to use as leverage against me." Bloodmist explained.
"But friends can give you reassurance when you feel hopeless." Nofa counter argued.
"Why do you want to be close so badly?" Bloodmist asked impatiently.
Nofa went quiet for a moment.
"Because... ever since father died, I haven't had the chance to speak my language with anyone. With you I do. Do you understand how wonderful that feels? I mean, I can speak the Uhmak language very well and I even get along with a few of them, but being able to speak my own language with somebody from the same land as me is just different. I've longed to go back to Rarhea just to see the land where I lived the first years of my life, and to speak with the people who I share blood with. Do you feel that way too?" Nofa explained and asked.
"I don't feel longing to speak with anyone. I only long to serve chaos to those who think they can rule this wild world. When somebody fancies themselves as having domain of the Sisters' creation, they become my enemy." Bloodmist revealed.
"There you go! I got you to reveal something about yourself. And I think I understand why you do what you do now!" Nofa said excitedly.
"We are still not sisters." Bloodmist reminded.
"We will be." Nofa said with a friendly smile.
Bloodmist quietly disagreed, and Nofa quietly understood that this was all the progress she'd make for now, and both Wicked ladies quietly waited for the fish to cook. Once everyone had returned from bathing in the lake, they shared the fish by the campfire while thoughts ranged from uncertainty of the future, to worries about the home village. Not much other communication happened during the supper. Yilka kept catching glances of Nofa in less clothing than he had seen her in before, and Nofa most certainly noticed his glances, but acted like she didn't. Nofa was the first one to finish eating. She gave her thanks, stood up, told Blueberry to stay put and then she let everyone know that she'd go sit at the shore to spend her evening in peace. As she passed Yilka, she graced his still wet hair and shoulder as a subtle invitation to join her. Yilka understood perfectly, and soon enough finished his bit as well. He gave his thanks for the food and told the others that he'd go look for suitable places to sleep the night. In truth he went the same way he heard Nofa walking to.
Going through all the tall grass, the bushes and the trees with big leaves was worth it in the end. On a grassy beach by the lake, a suitable distance away from the campfire Yilka found Nofa sitting on the grass and keeping one palm on the grass. Yilka sat down next to Nofa and admired the scenery. Mountains were on the opposite shore, a mountain stream came down from the mountains and flowed into the lake, and lights that seemed to indicate settlement reflected on the surface of the lake.
"Did you ever think we'd see places like this?" Yilka asked.
"I never thought I'd travel this way. I wish it was in better circumstances, but honestly, I don't regret coming. And I'll never forget these days of my life." Nofa replied.
"Hm. Yes. Never." Yilka said as he looked into the lake.
"You know, Varma told me that you used some lovely words to describe me earlier. After I sent Blueberry to come snatch you away from danger." Nofa said.
"I never said anything indecent about y..." Yilka was starting to swear.
"I didn't say that you did. But please say to me directly what you said about me back there." Nofa politely asked.
"I... said that you're helpful and lovely and beautiful." Yilka answered.
"Mmm. Thank you." Nofa said and sounded very pleased.
"Because you are those things." Yilka clarified.
"Really now?" Nofa asked while melting inside.
"Truly." Yilka assured.
"What other words would you use for me?" Nofa asked with her eyes closed and a smile on her lips.
"Likable, trusty..." Yilka said.
"What else?" Nofa asked impatiently.
"Breathtaking. Pretty..."
"Praise me more. Please..." Nofa asked.
"Ehh... cute..." Yilka said as he was running out of words.
"You can be indecent. Please be indecent..." Nofa begged.
"Are you getting..." Yilka was about to ask.
But he couldn't finish before Nofa got up to her knees and grabbed both of Yilka's hands and locked their fingers together.
"Nobody. Not one soul ever in my life has ever said anything good about me! I never realised how badly I needed this." Nofa revealed passionately.
"Nobody? Not even your..." Yilka was about to ask.
"Nobody. Nobody before you. Yilka... I... want you to say again what you said last night." Nofa asked while breathing heavily.
"When I said that... we should enjoy these days that we still have?" Yilka asked.
"Yes! Because we can't know if tonight is the last night we get to be together alone like this." Nofa reminded him.
"I did say that. And I meant it. And Nofa... While we can still be together like this... I want to be closer to you." Yilka confessed while also breathing heavily.
"Yes. Let's be closer. While we still can." Nofa said passionately and pushed Yilka down on his back.
"Closer than ever." Yilka whispered as Nofa got on top of him.
At that moment they were so close that their breath became one and Nofa's hair graced Yilka's face as she brought her face ever closer and closer to his. They could hear each other's heartbeats as they both had their lips ready, and just as they were about to become one, a sound stopped them.
Trees fell, steel whiffed the air and dirt was trampled as Yilka heard his name called angrily.
"Yilka! Where in the damned have you gone!" Venamo's voice angrily ranted in the bushes as he was cutting down trees to get them out of the way.
"How far away did you intend to..." Venamo then ranted but stopped himself when he found what he was looking for.
Nofa quickly got off Yilka and knelt on the grass as Yilka stood up, but they had already been saw.
"So this is where you went! To be with that witch!" Venamo said angrily and approached with his weapon.
"And so what if I did?" Yilka said defiantly and approached Venamo in return.
"I agreed to tolerate her travelling with us. I didn't agree to this!" Venamo said.
"And why would we need your permission? Your approval? You said it yourself, I'm my own man and free to do as I choose! So stay out of what is between me and her." Yilka demanded without backing down.
"Folk like her aren't meant to be loved! They hate all that is precious in this world! I do not know that she wants with you, but do not let yourself fall for her wicked tricks." Venamo warned seriously.
"And how well do you know her? How many talks have you had with her? What has she shared about herself to you? Nothing! But she has to me, because she trusts me! And I trust her! And damned be, I love her! And even if you are right about her and she'll be the ruin of me, then I'll face my ruin happier than I would face life with anyone else in this world. And as a free man with a free will, that is my damn choice to make." Yilka spoke with passionate anger.
"You are foolish. You think of yourself as a full man when you're only a few years into your manhood. You are still just a foolish little brother who has a lot to learn about life. Your foolish choices are my responsibility! You clearly can't be trusted with..." Venamo was explaining.
"So that's what you truly meant all along? Just taking back everything you've told me? Why should I believe anything that you say, when you say one thing and mean another?" Yilka asked bitterly.
"I meant it when I said that we should not cause a rift in the family. There is something, or someone in our midst who is causing a rift between us, and it's that Wicked witch that you are so in love with." Venamo said and pointed his sword at Nofa who was still on her knees and looking away in shame.
Yilka decided that Venamo had said too much. He grabbed his older brother by the beard and stared him in the eyes.
"Or maybe the rift is you. Accept that I love her, and there won't be a rift. You aren't able to do that, are you?" Yilka said to Venamo.
Venamo shoved his younger brother away with one hand and looked disgusted.
"You are putting your hands on your elder brother in defense of somebody who is tricking you, and then you say that I am what is causing this rift?" Venamo asked.
"Instead on worrying about me and her, worry about the task at hand. Do that, and we can all work as one." Yilka argued.
"Somebody needs to take charge and be a leader. If you're not willing to listen to the leader, how can we work as one?" Venamo counter argued.
Nofa had heard enough. She stood up and prepared to speak up, but before she could say a word, she once again got a sword pointed at her.
"Your word matters not here! This is a matter between brothers, so stay out of this!" Venamo told Nofa seriously.
Yilka once again grabbed Venamo's beard, but Venamo stuck his sword to the ground and used his hands to get Yilka off him. He wrestled Yilka into a twisting arm hold, using both of his hands to bend Yilka's arm in an angle the arm is not meant to bend. Yilka grunted in pain while trying to break free of the hold, but it was no use. The more he struggled, the more pressure Venamo applied.
"Calm down! You will not put your hands on family like father did to you!" Venamo shouted at his younger brother while applying pressure.
Ýilka felt deeply insulted that Venamo dared to compare this to what their father had done to Yilka as a child. Yilka found it fitting to be dishonourable, and dug his nails into Venamo's flesh. Venamo grunted in pain, freed one of his hands and dug his nails into Yilka's sensitive shoulder. Suddenly Yilka stopped fighting. He froze unable to fight anymore.
"I should have done that to calm you down to begin with." Venamo said as Yilka had frozen.
"Let him go." Venamo then heard from his right side.
He saw Nofa pointing Venamo's own sword at him with a serious look on her face. She didn't look like much of a sword fighter, but the white glow of the blade would make even the bravest of the brave worried.
"I told you to let him go. So let him go." Nofa demanded calmly.
Venamo looked furious at how he was defeated here, but he let go of Yilka who fell to his knees in shame.
"Make your foolish decisions then. Little brother." Venamo said to Yilka and walked back to the camp.
Nofa dropped the sword to the ground and crouched besides Yilka, putting a comforting hand on his good shoulder.
"I can't win with him." Yilka said quietly in shame.
"We just did." Nofa quietly said back and gave Yilka a side hug while resting her cheek on his shoulder.
"You took up arms in my defense. When have I done the same?" Yilka wondered quietly.
"I know you'd do it when needed. You stood against him for my sake. You said to his face that you love me. That's how I know." Nofa reassured.
"And he'll still doubt us." Yilka said defeated.
Nofa said nothing back.
"We should return to the others." Yilka suggested and stood up, and Nofa didn't argue.
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