The Wanderer

"And even at that, isn't it too cowardly of you to hide behind others?" The prince turned to me. "Stay behind me. I will—"

"I'm not a child. I can fight my—"

The men came after us before I can complete the words I intended to say.

Their shouts as they advanced towards me were so deafening, it caused me to frown.

This was undoubtedly how the people in cheap movies shout whenever they intend to fight.

I dodged a blow, and kicked the man in the abdomen, while I punched the one that tried to sneak up on me.

The prince was busy fighting off more than I was.

It was as if they were all targeting the prince.

"You dare not do that." I kicked three in the stomach as I punched through them.

Three of them tried to advance towards me at once, but a kick from me caused them to fall to the side.

"I was a kung fu master in my—" I kicked one of them and turned to the other.

However, I failed to see the one with a club on time.

And I only registered what was happening when he hit my head with the club.

I staggered from both the force they used and the pain.

It caused me to gasp.

Yet, they didn't stop. Instead, they continued to hit me.

The prince wasn't as unlucky as I was. He was still standing as he fought them off.

The ones fighting me tried to gang up on me as I attempted to rise from the ground. They raised their clubs to hit me with.

"Halt!" I closed my eyes, and raised my hand to wedge the hit.

However, it never came.

Rather than the hit I was expecting, I heard the sounds of grunts.

I slowly opened my eyes.

An oddly dressed man was fighting off the men.

He fought with quick precision and fastness of feet.

And It caused me to wonder who he was.

Before long, he had all the men on the floor, panting for breath.

"Scram!" He shouted at them.

The men leapt from the floor and made a mad dash into the forest, in fear of the man.

"Pathetic creatures." He scoffed as he threw the club in his hand, on the floor, and turned to face me, "are you okay?"

He asked as he helped me up from the ground.

"I'm good, thank you," I beamed at him.

"Who are you?" The prince demanded as he narrowed his eyes at the man's hand that was on my shoulder.

"I'm a wanderer. I go wherever my spirit leads." He smiled.

The man's smile caused his eyes to shine.

"You have an unusual hair colour." I barely caught myself from touching his hair, which seemed to be a mixture of red wine and white.

"My parents were from different kingdoms." He said with a forced smile on his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that."

"It's okay. I've got used to life without them," He Smiled.

"Where did you come from? Which Kingdom were your parents from? What's your name?" The prince kept his brows furrowed at him.

"Really? You are going to ask all that when what you are supposed to do is thank him?" I frowned at the prince.

"I would have defeated them without their help," the prince glared at me.

"Really?" I pursed my lips and folded my arms.

"I—"

"It's okay." The man sighed, "I'm Mart from the kingdom of the East. I—"

"What are you doing so far from your Kingdom?" The prince raised a suspicious brow at him.

"I'm a wanderer. I go where my spirit leads. That's why I'm here. It took me four moons to arrive here from my kingdom. And I'm going through the mountains of the witches to—"

"You are going through the mountains of the witches? What a coincidence. We are—"

Before I could complete my words, the prince covered my mouth with his palm.

"Don't mind him. He loves talking."

"Lemme!" I muttered as I tried to fight his hold on me, but he didn't budge.

"Why did you cover his mouth? I thought he mentioned—"

"He said nothing. Forget whatever you think he spoke. He said nothing."

"Oh."

"Don't you dare say a word about our mission." The prince whispered into my ears before he removed his palm from my mouth.

"You bully!" I wipe my mouth with the back of my palm. "How dare you cover my mouth with your dirty palm?" I spat on the ground as I furiously wiped my lips with the back of my palm.

"If you don't mind, I will take my leave now. It was nice—"

"Where are you going? Why don't you join us, I thought—"

"Shut up!" The prince narrowed his eyes at me.

"What did I say wrong? I was only trying to invite—"

"Invite?" The prince furrowed his brows.

"It's okay. I don't think we are going through the same route. I will just—"

"Who told you? Of course, we are going through the same route. You only need to—"

"Just shut up for once, will you?" Zoban frowned at me before he turned to face the stranger, named Mart. "You can continue on your wanderings, young man. May the gods guide you."

"Thank you." The man joined both hands and bowed to us before he left.

As I watched him leave, I couldn't help but frown at the prince, who had a pleased expression on his face.

"Why didn't you ask him to join us?"

"Do I need to do that?"

"The more, the merrier."

"And who said this journey is supposed to be merry?"

"At least he would have helped in battle. I doubt—"

"You don't need him. I can protect us, should the need arise. We have no need for a Stranger in our midst."