The good, the bad, and the one who knows the map

The cheering never stopped, if Alaric was at the head of the armed group, Jäwell was the one the fighters were following. It was a mixture of admiration and curiosity, between fear and hope. The seven riders had tasted the potential of Jäwell on the battlefield and kept a solemn expression as they walked next to him. 

None of them dared to speak. Taking in the recent events, they still didn't proceed with what they had done. Disobeying the main authority to sneak in the enemy lines, sneak in the rocks, and jump on charging horses to unseat their riders was a crazy idea, but it worked. 

They won more than just a victory today, they won trust in themselves and their capacities. The seven men following Jäwell did battles in the past but they never considered themselves as warriors and judging the pitiful state of the group of fighters under Alaric lead, it was obvious that Cardanic was originally not a warrior state. 

They were merchants, traders, and craft makers. For the few who already had held a sword, it was more an act of showing off than a true fight. The seven discovered courage they ignored existed in them and they walked behind, amazed and terrified at the same time about what they had done and what they would do in the near future. For sure, none of them were the same. 

They arrived at the main camp by the morning and Jäwell was about to return to his little tent to rest when Alaric asked him to follow him. Jäwell sighed, "Of course, he wants to speak," as he followed the leader in his commanding tent. 

The riders didn't wait for him outside and decided to come with him but Jäwell raised his hand and stopped them to enter. They obeyed but they all saw Jäwell having a deep smile showing all his teeth. He was not scared to face Alaric at all, everything was only a game to him but as he did, the largest of the riders swallowed, his blood froze a short instant and when Jäwell was out of sight he rubbed his eyes.

The others looked at him in disbelief, he just shook his head to collect himself and walked away from the commanding tent, whispering to the others, "It will be messy, come."

The other ignored what he had seen in Jäwell's smile but they were not reassured, it was obvious to them now that there was something special with the traveler. The rumors of Jäwell being a demon were taking all their senses and a part of them started to believe it. 

In the tent, Alaric sat on what he considered a throne. It was a wooden chair on a pedestal. The man was showing off, puffed up his chest, and cleared his voice.

"You disobeyed my orders today, soldier," Alaric stated with anger.

That was without counting on Jäwell's reaction, when he expected that Jäwell would apologize and ask for forgiveness, he only laughed mockingly. 

"What is so funny?! I will make you whipped for this insubordination!" The man said agitated on his chair. 

Jäwell just smiled more and walked to him, he climbed the steps, standing in front of the sitting ruler, he was towering with a dark look, "Try me," He just answered. 

Alaric stuttered immediately, "You… What are you?"

"Your best ally," Jäwell said before leaning onto his ear and whispering, "But I also can be your worst nightmare."

Alaric lost it completely, Jäwell's breath was cold like death itself. He was human, Jäwell was warm, and Alaric saw him sweating, bleeding, eating, and fulfilling other very human needs. He knew he was human, but there was something he could not understand. He felt powerless, Jäwell was amused deeply by the situation and didn't bother to hide it. He turned his back to Alaric, ready to leave the commanding tent when the ruler had a sudden realization and unsheathed his sword. 

"You are a demon! You do not mind death, you love blood and death. My men will end in the abyss if they follow you! I will not let you take them to the underworld!"

Jäwell raised an eyebrow in surprise, he didn't expect such speech from this pathetic weakling. He would have respected this hint of bravery in him in other circumstances but the challenge was too tempting and Jäwell didn't resist to draw his sword in response. 

Alaric charged to engage the fight but Jäwell was only dodging, judging the strength of his opponent at first which deeply enraged the ruler. When Jäwell realized the young leader had nothing of a threat, he simply packed back his sword. Alaric didn't stop, he tried to use this opportunity to slice his shoulder, but Jäwell had no issues avoiding the attack and punched Alaric's face so strongly in ripost that the poor man spun a few turns on himself.

Alaric was stunned, his nose was bleeding. For each assault and each cut he tried to inflict on Jäwell, Alaric had a broken bone, but the worst was when he tried to stab Jäwell in the stomach. Jäwell grabbed the ruler by his hair, pressed on him to bend him, and then gave a kick on his knee to the point his leg bent in the other direction. 

Alaric yelled in pain, which brought inside the people who were outside waiting. They saw their chief lying on the floor keeping his leg while Jäwell just shrugged his shoulders with no weapons in his hands. He took a step aside when the crowd gathered around Alaric to aid him and he quickly walked away. 

There was no way he would stay under the orders of this man now and he didn't plan to kill him to take the commandment of the army. Jäwell walked with resolve to his tent and started to pack without paying attention to anything around, but when he hopped on his horse, the large strong rider stopped the animal. 

"Wait for us," He simply said.

Jäwell winced, "I prefer to be alone."

"Too bad."

Jäwell was surprised and had a soft grin at the boldness of the man. He decided to wait and the seven riders packed everything in a record time, mounting their horses and ready to follow Jäwell. There were no more words, only the sound of the hooves martelling the floor could be heard as they passed in the alleys of the fighters' camp. 

For most of them, men were sitting on the floor waiting for the next battle to happen, but when Jäwell passed with the riders, they stood up. They looked at the riders leaving and they knew this was the end of their chances of surviving. Alaric was screaming like a madman for anyone to arrest Jäwell, and nobody moved. 

They didn't dare to do anything, they only watched death by quitting their camp, but none of them rejoiced. They felt abandoned and they all sensed something heavy in their stomach and their throat. Jäwell didn't care, he looked in front of him with force, daring anyone to obey Alaric and try to stop him. 

The group walked for a long time when the largest rider mounted on the most massive horse he could find spoke calmly, "Where are you going?"

Jäwell stopped himself and turned to the men, "I thought you were guiding us. I have no idea."

The other men slammed their heads, a little nervous one continued, "You are kidding, right? We are walking for hours and you don't know where?!"

"I guessed you would have stopped me before if I was going in the wrong direction. Why would you say nothing?!" Jäwell screamed angrily.

"Have we arrived in Cardanic?" Another asked, the man was sleeping on his horse and woke up with the noise. 

"No! He doesn't know where he goes!" The nervous one yelled.

The sleepy one came back to his rest, letting others resolve the tensions without him. One rider was late and caught up with the group as they stopped. 

"Hey! Thanks for waiting for me, but why are we passing by the pass of Dentra to go to Cardanic?"

The nervous growled, "Because this guy lost us."

"Oh…"

There was a massive argument between the men present until the large one hopped from his horse and prepared his tent. They all looked at him with surprise, the man didn't say much and when he saw the curious looks, he just stated, "The night is falling. The pass of Dentra is deadly if we don't see where we are walking. We camp here."

That was something everyone agreed. Jäwell considered continuing alone for a moment but he was tired after the argument, the fight with Alaric earlier, and the lack of sleep. He landed on the floor and started to prepare his tent as well. 

When everybody was set up, they reunited around a main fire to grill the lizards and birds they could capture. Jäwell looked at them one after the other, taking in the crazy men who decided to follow him.

There were seven riders and they were about to become his friends.