The two brothers made sure to stay offroad and used the cover of darkness to hide from any prying eyes. As their father told them, they headed north. For the first few hundred paces, they floated slightly above ground, entirely avoiding making footprints or leaving any other tracks that their pursuers could use to follow them. After traveling through the night, Herodolos no longer had the strength to hold them up, and they had to continue on foot. They traveled through forests, slowly, methodically removing any traces of their passing. They used branches to sweep the vegetation behind them, removing their footprints. Whenever they could, they walked on hard surfaces such as gravel and tree roots to avoid leaving prints. They walked around low vegetation, making sure not to leave broken twigs in their wake. During their travels, they would occasionally stumble upon creatures, mystical and dangerous, yet they were always able to escape or scare away the beasts when Herodotos used his powers.

  Herodotos looked to the sky, seeing the sun slowly set over the horizon, painting the sky in red and oranges. He turned to Telamon, who was currently using a branch to sweep away their footsteps. "We should take a break. We've walked from morning to evening and my feet are tired." Telamon finished sweeping the forest floor, taking one last look at the evenly spread brown pine needles, before looking up at the sky. He closed his eyes and felt inwards, feeling his body. His legs were also tired, he was sure his feet had sores and he could feel the gnawing feeling of hunger clawing at the inside of his stomach. His throat felt like sandpaper, and his eyelids felt heavy, proving a struggle to open them, after having them closed for a few moments. He nodded his head. "Yeah, currently as I am, I won't be able to travel far without taking a rest first. Luckily, this clearing is a great spot to spend the night. We should rest here and continue in the morning."

  Herodotos looked relieved and took off his wooden harness. The wooden harness was a rough frame tied with string, that was then stripped to the back. On it was a large piece of coarse leather, rolled up and tied together, a few loaves of bread and hardboiled eggs. He sat down and took out the waterskin that was tied to his side. After taking a few deep gulps, he was finally satisfied and let out a relieved sigh. His brother sat down opposite him and took a few sips from his waterskin. Herodotos unpacked a loaf of bread and broke it in half, offering Telamon a piece. He took it gratefully and handed him a cooked egg in return. "You should go to sleep. You're more tired than me because you flew us all night yesterday. I'll take care of guarding our camp." Telamon spoke while removing the eggshell, revealing the hardened white of the egg, glistening in the dying sunlight. Herodotos nodded while tearing another piece from the bread. It was somewhat hard by now, and chewing it required some power. Even so, the bread quickly disappeared under the ferocious onslaught of Herodotos.

  While devouring the bread, he looked at Telamon. "Should we light a fire? It would scare away most beasts." Telamon bit into his egg and shook his head while chewing. "No, we're not far enough from potential persuers. They might see the light or smoke of the fire and chase after us. It isn't safe yet for us to light a fire." Herodotos nodded and continued chewing, enjoying the satisfying feeling of having his empty stomach being filled once more. The two brothers sat in silence for a few moments, during which only the sound of chewing, the rustling of leaves, and the howl of the wind could be heard. Halfway through his meal, Telamon furrowed his brows, yet he continued to eat. It was only when he had swallowed the last bit of food in his mouth, that he spoke. "Come to think of it, it is quite strange." Herodotos, who was still only halfway done with his food, looked up quizzically, an unspoken question evident in his eyes. "I mean, we covered our tracks well, very well in fact, but I still feel like we got away too easily. I honestly expected to have run into a search party at least once by now. And yet, we've come across nothing. It's almost like they aren't even looking for us. Don't you think that's weird?" Herodotos mulled over his brother's words while chewing his food. After a brief moment, he swallowed and gave his opinion."Well, we did everything we could, so that they wouldn't be able to find us. I don't think it's that weird if they haven't been able to track us down. It's also possible, that the hunter was grateful for me saving his life and decided not to tell the city lord anything." Telamon revealed a doubtful expression. "I doubt that. If one of the city lord's hunters recognized you, then they would definitely tell her. All of her men are staunch loyalists. Actually, how did he recognize you? In all this hectic you haven't had the time to tell the full story." Herodotos shuffled uncomfortably before replying.

  "Well, as I said, on my way back from Paeon, I heard a scream come from the jungle. I went over to investigate and saw how a panther was attacking a hunter. The panther had its teeth around the hunter's arm, clamping down on them. The hunter was screaming his lungs out, shouting all kinds of profanities. Seeing someone in mortal danger, I naturally helped, hurling the panther away from the hunter with my powers." A howl pierced the quiet of the night, interrupting Herodotos' narration. The two brothers stilled and listened intently, neither moving a single muscle, breath halted, to not allow a single sound escape. After a few tense moments, the brothers relaxed. Telamon was the first to break the silence. "It seems they aren't close by. Besides, they usually don't howl when on the hunt." Herodotos nodded, yet still felt unsettled.

  "Right... So after taking care of the panther, I came over to the hunter to make sure he was alright. His arm was pretty messed up, but it didn't seem like he would die from his wounds. As soon as I came over, the hunter kneeled before me, before thanking me. I was honestly a bit flustered, so I told him he didn't need to bow down before me, however, he insisted and said something about needing to pay respect to distant visitors. I didn't understand what he was talking about at that moment, so I corrected him, by saying that I wasn't a distant visitor and instead asked him if he was alright. That is when his companions arrived, three other hunters. They shouted that they heard yelling and came to help. That is when the oldest hunter, one that already had gray hair looked at me with this weird expression. It was almost as if he couldn't believe what he saw. Suddenly he pulled out an arrow and shot it at me without saying anything. I naturally had to dodge and used my powers to do so. That is when the oldest hunter pointed at me and yelled how I had the same face as Mundus, how he had fought in the war, and how he had seen Mundus with his own eyes. The other hunters pulled out their bows and started pointing them at me. It was at this point, that I ran away. You already know the rest."

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Telamon listened attentively throughout the whole story and let out a sigh once he had heard the end. "You acted correctly. Assuming that they had seen you enter and leave the city, they probably would have been able to track you down in a few hours. We all know how well the city's guard is at finding people." At this, a dark shadow fell over Telamon's facial expression. Herodotos nodded sympathetically, knowing how his brother had lost his parents. When he was only a few summers old and still living in the jungle with his father, Paeon came one day, carrying Telamon in his arms. He and his father had gone to the side, but Herodotos had snuck in between the underbrush, and eavesdropped on their conversation. Paeon told his father, that Telamon's parents, who were both key figures in the uprising against the bloody queen led by Mundus were discovered and captured. They were just able to hand over their child to Paeon, before getting arrested by the city guard. Paeon then delivered Telamon directly to his father, as it was too dangerous for him in the city. Telamon's parents were publically executed by the city lord personally.

  Herodotos' train of thought was suddenly interrupted when he heard a stick snap behind him. He suddenly heard a wooshing noise, and he instinctively activated what little remained of his powers, to generate an outward force field pushing everything away from him. Of course, he excluded Telamon from his attack. Herodotos heard yelps, as three figures got knocked back and landed at awkward angels. When he looked over, in the faint light reflected by the moon and the horizon's crown he could make out what appeared to be four-legged furry creatures with wings on their backs. The wings appeared to be too small to carry the creature's weight, but they could definitely be used to propel them quickly forward. Herodotos realized that the sound he had heard, was the flapping of those wings. The creature had a snout filled with knife-sharp teeth and a pair of bloodlustful eyes gazed at him from over the snout. When Herodotos looked around himself, he saw over a dozen of eyes reflecting the faint light of the night.

  Telamon came beside Herodotos, placing his back to his, obsidian blade in one hand, leather blanket in the other. "Just our luck. We're in winged wolves territory. We can't climb trees this time, as they'll be able to reach us. We will need to fight this time." Herodotos nodded grimly and unsheathed his father's bronze sword. The sword was covered in ornate carvings, the grooves covered in fresh blood. The wolves seemed cautious, clearly hesitant after witnessing the first attack fail. They prowled in a circle around the two brothers, who were standing back to back. The three wolves, who were sent crashing into the ground by Herodotos, got up and retreated into the shadows. None of them were injured. Suddenly, a few of the wolves spread their wings and lowered their bodies, before flapping and jumping simultaneously. This propelled them forward at incredible speeds, rushing to attack the brothers.

  The bronze sword flashed, before piercing one of the wolves in its shoulder. Herodotos grabbed his obsidian knife with his powers and launched it at another wolf. This wolf seemed to notice the attack beforehand, and with a flap of its wings, it adjusted its course, dodging the knife entirely. Herodotos could only scramble to dodge to the side, getting nicked in the side by the wolf's claws. Meanwhile, Telamon held out the tough leather with his weak arm before him, letting the winged wolf bite into it while crashing into him, sending him tumbling to the ground. The wolf's sharp teeth penetrated the leather and dug slightly into Telamon's arm. He cursed loudly and plunged the obsidian blade in his other hand into the side of the wolf. It let out a yelp, yet it didn't let go. Telamon let out an animalistic roar and repeatedly plunged his knife into the wolf's side. Finally, with a whimper, it let go and retreated, limping backward slowly, always facing Telamon, who quickly got up and maintained his guard in case any other attacks would come.

  Herodotos grabbed the wolf that had jumped at him with his powers and threw it with great power. It flew a dozen paces, before crashing into a tree, from which an audible crack could be heard. The wolf fell limply to the ground and didn't get up afterward. The bronze sword embedded in the wolf's shoulder flashed, before with a muted explosion, a hole was gouged out of the wolf, making it crumple unto the ground. The sword flashed and reappeared in Herodotos' hand. The two brothers regrouped, once more standing back to back, facing the wolves around them. With two dead and one fatally injured, there were still over a dozen pairs of eyes watching them from the shadows. "How are you? Any injuries?" Telamon looked quickly down at his arm. "Got bit in my arm, but it's shallow. How are you? Any energy left?" Herodotos felt within himself. "Almost all out. I've already spent all the energy that I had gotten from the food just now." Telamon smiled grimly. "Seems like we are quite limited in our options." Herodotos nodded. "I can get us to the treetops and use the sword to defend from above." Just when Telamon was about to say something, one of the pairs of eyes let out a howl, making the other eyes look in its direction. They then turned away and flapped their wings, riding the wind to leave quickly. Some seemed hesitant, especially after looking at their fallen compatriots, but they still turned and left, leaving two dead wolves behind. The brothers kept their guard up for a few tense moments more, but after a short while, nothing happened. Telamon breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his knife. "Guess we've got food and leather now." Herodotos let out an angry hiss. "What is it with you and food?" Even so, he still couldn't suppress a relieved smile from surfacing.