The eight men and the lizards

"And then, I took his head and I slammed him against the chair. It broke the chair, and the guy died on the spot, but hey, this is what you get to sleep with my wife."

"You could have talked to them, Rahir, this man must have had a good explanation for sleeping with your wife."

"Of course, he had, Urak! She was hot!"

"Was?"

"I killed her too. I guess she is much less hot now."

Jäwell listened to Urak and Rahir speaking around the fire. Urak was a compassionate person, Jäwell already had guessed that the man could have made a perfect diplomat in other circumstances. He was trying to find a way to resolve conflicts without involving violence as a priority, while Rahir, on the other hand, was slightly different. 

Rahir had strong values, he cared for honor, respect, and the word given. The notion of betrayal was something he could not accept. Anything out of morale according to his criteria was not bearable. 

"Don't make yourself sick, Urak, you can see he is sure he did a good thing. He is a lost cause." Mikel said, slightly annoyed by the taunting attitude of Rahir. 

"I am not a lost cause!" Rahir defended himself.

"No one is a lost cause, don't worry, he doesn't mean it," Falin entered the discussion.

Jäwell kept silent, watching like a raven in the shadows. Mikel was a noble and elegant man, Jäwell considered him as a potential leader for their group. He needed to trust in himself a bit more and he could become a superb ruler instead of Alaric. He was humble, but more than anything, he knew how to listen to his teammates. 

As for Falin, Jäwell somehow hated him. They had to stop on their way too many times because the man had to help a few wounded animals. The man had an enormous bag of medical material with him that was making him slow for every action. 

Yet, Jäwell didn't always seem to remember he was a mortal now and a man able to repair the wounds was a formidable asset that he was underestimating greatly. Especially in times of war and battles. The other members of the group knew his value and were happily stopping to please him as much as he wanted which enraged Jäwell just more as he had no idea why he was treated like a princess. 

Among the other men present there was Rufon, sleeping on a corner peacefully. The man was built to travel, nothing could disturb his peace, and next to him was a tense little man named Gabron. Gabron was incredibly smart, his knowledge about the territories was unmatched and he seemed to know everything about anyone in a record time. If he was so tense, it was because he was one of the rares who already survived a war. Gabron had been a military messenger for the capital in his time, he left the land to buy a post office in Cardanic before the army of the empire came to ruin his peace. 

Gabron knew what was about to come, he already had seen the worst and his nerves were easily breaking, but fortunately, there was the last member of the riders and his name was Sarin. 

Jäwell already noticed him and had particular attention for this man in particular. Sarin was considered a giant, he was taller than any other man, and he was strong. Sarin was a butcher, he was running his little shop when the war started, and the funny thing was that due to his appearance, he never had to fight. 

When the army entered his little shop, they found this enormous man with a knife in one hand and a hammer in the other, his working apron stained with the blood of his merchandise. The soldiers retracted and left him alone without even trying to engage in the assault. 

The first time Sarin participated in a fight was when he followed Jäwell. He always knew his body could be used to hurt but Sarin never wanted to think of it, he just kept himself away from conflicts all his life and nobody would ever come to annoy him anyway. 

Killing a man for the first time terrified him as it was incredibly easy for him, but he had in him the power of the calm mountain. Immovable and unbreakable. One could throw things at him that Sarin would not even feel, and he was bringing some peaceful stability to this group. Calming Rufon by his presence alone when the little one was stuck in his gore memories. 

Sarin took a lizard from the grill and bit it, he had a strange face, and he looked in the direction of Falin, "Are you sure these are edible?" 

"Yes, they just have a special taste but they are comestible," Falin answered with a weird, disgusted look while eating his lizard. 

Jäwell didn't eat anything, he was too excited by the previous battle and he wanted more. To him, these ten years he was given were a very short time and he had no desire to savor grilled lizards. He stood up and went away from the group for a moment. He took out his sword and started to clean it with a long and bored sigh. 

Jäwell could hear the six men talking and Rufon snoring, he was focusing on his task when he saw a grilled lizard pointed at him.

"Eat."

Jäwell raised his head and saw Sarin in front of him. The man was expressionless and yet, even Jäwell was tempted to obey him when he was giving a direct order. He took the lizard from Sarin's hands and whispered with a chuckle, "Thank you. How could I skip eating a lizard?" 

Sarin didn't let any emotion out but he sat next to Jäwell. His massive body was hiding the light from the fire. Jäwell didn't look at him, he was focusing on his dish with hesitation when Sarin spoke in a low voice to not be heard by the others.

"You are not human, right?"

Jäwell was quite surprised, he raised his head to look the giant in the eyes, feigning innocence, "Why do you say this? Are you accusing me of something?"

Sarin smiled, "I saw your shadow when you entered Alaric's tent. I saw dark giant wings and I saw fangs. You may be human but your shadow doesn't lie."

Jäwell was dumbfounded by this man. He had the capacity to see the shadows, the real shadows. He saw the nature of the prince of the Ombrae when no other mortal could, even after the prince took so many precautions to be an anonymous human. Jäwell could not stop than to raise an eyebrow, intrigued. 

"Why are you here if you saw it? Why didn't you stay with Alaric?"

"Because I think I understand your motives."

"How interesting, tell me. What do you think you understand?"

"You are bored."

"Well, with such delicious lizards, I am definitely not bored."

The two men exchanged laughter, the first one since they met.

"Alaric searches for a victory for himself, he would sacrifice us for his pride. You don't search to win at all costs, while you want to have fun."

"Are you saying you feel safer with me?" 

"I am saying that you will not betray us for a pathetic reason. I saw how you looked at Alaric. You hated his ego."

"You are right, I will give you this. But I don't care for your survival."

"We know. We are on our own with you. You will not stop for us, you will not protect our back, and you will not give us a hand to help us continue the fight."

"You know all of this and you still stay near me?"

"You are not a liar."

Jäwell had no words, things were clear between them. He looked at the group further and he saw them in another light. These men had no hope, they were not following him as a leader and Jäwell was not expected to lead them to victory. They knew he was here for himself and in the same of his selfish fun. Sarin stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You are a warrior who can make us win the war. You are having your little fun and we remind you to eat lizards because, no matter what you were, now you need to think of basic needs such as food, sleep, and rest."

Jäwell looked at the man leaving to join the rest of the group. He opened his mouth and bit his lizard, chewing the grilled food. It was as simple as that, a group of seven men going to fight together with no intentions towards the others except for fighting. With no hope to protect each other or become friends. 

Jäwell took a long deep breath, taking another bite of the lizard, "This stuff is truly nasty."

Falin heard him and answered from the other side of the fire, ten meters from him, "It is full of proteins! Eat now and stop complaining!"