Chapter Two |

[Dieter pov]

The look on the man's visages before me was unreadable, his arm drops to his side astounded; I couldn't guess until he speaks up; "I guess I'm not the only one," his eyes soften, relaxing on his sit. What is he talking unanticipatedly about?

Suddenly one of the flatfoots approached our cell; scrutinizing every last minute, the man in the cell with me, clutch me in his arms; What is he doing!?!..., I tried to break away from his grasp but he held strongly, our backs facing the flatfoot while he monitors our movements.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked in an alarming tone; he didn't even bother to reply since he's busy hiding me in his cloak whilst the flatfoots roam, I'm surprised the flatfoot didn't find it strange, he must be a fan of hugging; man, this guy stinks; What kind of foolish performance is he doing?

"Mister, can you let go? I don't know what did I do or say that makes you think we're close and want to make skin contacts with random kids, I also appreciate your courage in confessing your likeness for me, but I prefer you not to do it again; not a big fan of hugging here." It seemed like he didn't want to let go, ugh he's fatuous than I thought.

As soon as the footsteps of the flatfoot disappeared; the man shoves me away from him; "Kid, you're so full of yourself." He said in a repulsive tone. What is it now? First, he hugged me; the second thing he does is to neglect me; what an absurd way of thinking!

"That's illogical of you mister, you're the one who made the first move! You are very likely drawn to my endearing looks." I smirked at my endearing remarks; What would he do in this lonely cell without me.

"You know at some point in my life, I didn't think that your kind has a great sense of humor after all your endearing crimson eyes are magnificent." What did he just say? About my eyes? Crimson? Eyes!?

"Look, who's being endearingly attractive, your sullen face is an endearingly elegant kid!" he laughed, real hard; like he saw a cow dancing. I couldn't think straight since, all he did was protect our identity, not intentionally hugging me. It's so embarrassing.

"Hey, kid, you're hilarious!" that hideous laugh…Okay Dieter, stay calm; sometimes you'll be able to punch through his throat, just calm for now. You must remember that you haven't mastered your çelare yet, so you might lose this battle if you attack unskilled.

"Surprise! The word of the day is preposterous. You're so funny and-and your face!" he thought I'm funny and now he's guffawing, pointing at my face.

Abruptly, Finnigan's voice brim all over the place, and the man eventually peter out in silence as soon as he saw Finnigan outside their cell.

"Explain yourself now, why are you in this cell, what did you do now huh? I told you not to get involved with strangers especially flatfoots."

Finnigan rebuked angrily.

"Do you even know what they're capable of?" Finnigan said; however, he stopped talking as soon his eyes laid on mine; he must have seen my eyes changed color; I'm doomed; abruptly, two of the flatfoots advance towards our cell; the jingling keys flood the place. He held his hand up to stop them from what they are doing.

"So, you already met him, huh?" His eyes shifted to the man beside me. "I'll take them two out." Finnigan requested l, his eyes never leaving mine.

I never felt so nervous and worried at the same time.

-

As soon as we got out of the cell, Finnigan pulled a spare cloth inside his bag and tossed it to my face. "You should be careful sometimes. Whacko." And a bottle of the potion of

oculus draught.

I shot a glare at Jylrus who walks behind Finnigan, let's ignore the fact that he almost abolishes a kid, that would be messy, considering my scattered organs, Finnigan would have killed him most painfully, just saying. Apart from shooting him daggers, I got plenty of time criticizing him, his build is lean and muscular at the same time, he's tall, athletic body too, probably from running away from the flatfoots every time. His facial features—well, aside from the scars on his face, can't change the fact that he was once charming and handsome. Oh! A ring on his finger too. The rest of the journey is steel quiet, I trailed behind Finnigan, elbowing Jylrus as I break the silence looming around.

      "Finnigan, I-I went to the village because I wanted to learn how to use my çelare, you told me I should look for this person—Jylrus—so he could teach me. I just did what you told me." was that not enough reason? Cause damn, Finnigan got fury, fury.

       "I didn't ask you why you came to the village, I asked you to stay out of sight; flatfoots are the soldiers of the monarch called The Black Marauders you need to be careful." Said Fin, whose feathers were flared, usually indicates him being mad, scary.

Jylrus interrupted with a couch, "I don't mean to interrupt but things like this happen all the time, and it's pretty

sickening to watch this right now." Jylrus smiled smugly, with a look of come-on-guys-smile, Finnigan, sighed.  "Also, They aren't soldiers to be precise, they're called armies of buffoons." Jyruls interrupted; aggravated. He tilted his head towards me, sneering. I don't get him.

Armies of buffoons, huh, that's the most real thing I heard today. He knows a lot about these buffoons, catching up with him is not so hard, considering his long stride, he then smirks seeing me beside him, like, oh, you-gonna-learn-from-the-best-look. He's so full of himself.

I chuckled.

"You seemed to be always at the cell circle, you knew every flatfoot there." I raised a question, his smile widens, pretending to be shocked?

   "Weird kid, sometimes the only way to get to know the person is, you need to cross the border and befriend a flatfoot so that, whoever is acting strange, you can easily catch them red-handed!" He clapped his hands, startling me, he then smiled conspicuously, nodding, satisfied.

I cleared my throat."So, your intentions were to get caught by the flatfoots," I said, crossing my arms across my chest, calculating the pros and cons.

"Yes, part of it is fooling them and so I can capture who's not part of the team!" he almost exclaimed, humor glisten in his eyes, his fist clenched, this time he startled Finnigan who glared back at us, shushing us.

         "Ehem. Those punks are thorny you need to be sly to clutch them and expose their identities." Jylrus whispered, we both chuckle.

         "So that means you're a spy too?" I presumed. He started at me like even-better-kid, he wiggled his eyebrows with a sheepish smile. "Ninja?" I winced at my remark, he snorted at my answer.

"Con artist, kid, but Ninja will do too. Anyways, You know I scam; fool and cheat with fatuous people." Jylrus bantered, it got me taken aback.

"I know what it meant" I scorn in annoyance.

"Why bother asking?" Jylrus taunts. I cross my arm in defeat, he laughed at my reaction.

"Dieter, from now on, Jylrus will be teaching you with your çelare. How to control it, how to use it with proper training and stability." Finnigan instructed with his buttocks facing us.

"I don't get paid to teach him?" Jylrus asks, sounding all dejected and sullen.

"No.," said, Finnigan, with firmness.

"Why the hell not?" Jylrus quibbled.

"Because I say so, stop bickering and start teaching him tomorrow," Finnigan ordered.

"Can I go to the village tomorrow?" I asked, enthusiastically.

"No." Finnigan contradicted, refusing our wishes.

"Kid, he refused at everything, I say we go to the village tomorrow." Finnigan smack

Jylrus head. "Don't spoil the kid, he'll get used to it sooner or later and you'll have to deal with it all alone." Finnigan lectured.

"I don't get paid to teach him, That's ridiculous!" Jylrus bicker.

"You just said that a minute ago," Finnigan uttered.

"So, where are we going?" Jylrus asked strides next to Finnigan, while I follow behind them.

"We follow this trail, no more asking questions," Finnigan answered.

The journey stayed silent as if the tracks and their breaths need to be hidden, the forest holds it's breath too. Strange. Soon, Jylrus grunts in frustration, probably couldn't keep his mouth shut. Tsk. He elbowed me, asking me a question. "Kid, I never saw you around with Finnigan before, where were you?" Jylrus asked.

"Why are you suddenly interested in my life now?" I squabble, sounding like a petty duck. (It sounds horrible)

"Don't be so rude, the man's just asking a question," Jylrus recounted, with his arms raised in surrender.

"But why are you suddenly asking? I still don't trust you, mister, you almost killed me earlier." I snarled, affected by what happened earlier. 'I'm not dramatic! I'm just saying that it wounded me, I almost get killed!'

"Okay, I'm sorry, I almost slew you, but Finnigan trusts me. We've been friends a long time ago." Jylrus said, head-high.

"Yeah? Well, I don't trust you and neither should you." Dieter asserted turning his gaze.

"It makes me refuse to teach you with that attitude of yours." He huffed. "You are so hard-headed."

"You are hard-headed too mister, with your age it's kind of childish you know." I barked, annoyed at his childish remarks.

"Don't start with me kid. You don't know me." Jylrus warned.

"And neither do you!" I bawled.

"Tsk. You're so childish." Jylrus uttered. We continued to argue, abruptly, a sudden sound from the woods is heard, a heavy pounding fills the air as a dozen knights march their way to our spot. My windpipe stopped working.

Yet, a swiftly moving creature came running towards the branches just below my spot, 'What's that?' I questioned myself. It's hard to distinguish until it stops above me, uneasy, it still offered my cloak for the creature to hide. I feel his terrified expression, I whispered, "What are you running to?" the creature climbs up my clothes and spoke.

      "The knights! They are here to capture me! Please don't hand me over!" the creature's voice was high pitched, but not hurtful to the hearing.

       "Okay! Don't move a muscle, cause here they come." I whispered back, as my anxiety increase.

"Look what your noise got us into," Finnigan said with a groan.

As the knights marched in front of Finnigan, the atmosphere began to stiffen. Are these the Black Marauders Finnigan was talking about? Their presence only made my feet glued to the ground, my throat has gone dry as well, are they feeling the same way too? Why do I feel so guilty? Is the creature bad? Did he do something wrong? Am I even doing the right thing? Should I tell Finnigan? Or Jylrus? Should I just run? I couldn't keep my mind straight, some part of myself telling me to just run away screaming, hands in the air—like a fool—which does suit this situation.

The knights approached our spot, making us stop on our tracks.

The knights wear shiny armoires, their faces covered with a shiny helmet, it blinded me for a second,—still, I can feel their eyes drilling my head. The knight in the middle cleared his throat, making me jump a little.

As they began to speak, I stiffened, my feet go deeper into the soil like quicksand. This scary presence! I can't even move! As the silence extends Dieter's palms started to sweat.

"Pardon us for disrupting your course, but may I ask if you have seen a small creature, very swift he's about that kid's age." The knight pointed at me. Which made me swallow a big lump on my throat.

"Also the critter is about the size of a wine bottle and it glows too." The knight's description is so precise it made me sweat even more!

I can feel my fingertips gone cold as well my whole body to my face, let me guess, I look like somebody has painted me white.

The knights describe exactly what's under my cloak.

"Hey kid, you alright? You've gone pretty stiff, and pale too." Jylrus ask with an unsettling voice. Which made me shook my head briskly. Pretty obvious I'm hiding something.

"I-I'm fine." I stuttered, my eyes wondered thinking of an excuse. "I-I just need to take a leak," Dieter said, sounding stupidly embarrassed. Jylrus snorted. "Could you not- mister? I'm concentrating." Dieter squints his eyes, thinking his excuse worked. While Finnigan talks to the knights.

Soon, they stopped talking, I didn't even hear the rest of their conversation, cause of my undying train of thoughts.

The knight eyed me once as their apheliotes gallops into the woods.

After the knights disappeared, I almost fell to my knees, I feel like my body is all bruised, yet, I feel relaxed, knowing the knights are gone. Thank you ancestors for protecting us! I hollered silently, mentally cheering myself.

We go on to our path, soon after we reached our destination. We took off our cloaks to rest, abruptly the critter jumps insight, startling Finnigan and Jylrus—both made an intense gaze towards me, as the writer made its way to comfy rest. I smiled smugly acting dumbfounded, but Finnigan didn't buy it.

"What is this Dieter of Crimson Hearts?" Which shook me as it's Finnigan's remark.