The Beast and The Brain.

We traveled for four days, sleeping under trees, rock ledges, anywhere to stay out of the cold. On the seventh night of our journey, we stopped at a small town, and stayed at the inn. I collapsed next to the fire exhausted, cold, and hungry. Kegan seemed tired as well, but less than me.

“I need food, and lots of it.” I told him seriously, “Right now.” I felt my insides turning, my power was feeding off my energy. I hadn’t been able to catch any wild game the last few days, and rations were hardly enough to fuel me.

Kegan ordered everything they had, and told them to keep serving food until I couldn’t eat anymore. I stuffed my face, to say the least, and it was wonderful. Kegan ate a good amount himself and then started flirting madly with the girl that was serving on us.

I was still eating when Kegan finished and turned all of his attention to the girl. The girl giggled at Kegan, he was probably the first handsome young guy she had seen in a while, but soon his flirting turned a little more aggressive, and the girl got shy. However, Kegan wouldn’t let her go. He pulled her into his lap, the bartender spoke up, “Leave the girl alone, I won’t have it.” He said angrily. No doubt this man knew the girl’s father and wasn’t about to get yelled at for getting his daughter violated. Something that was no doubt on Kegan’s mind.

I felt the mental pressure, even though it wasn’t aimed for me. Kegan definitely wasn’t a good offensive Brain, he didn’t know how to target his power specifically as well as J could. “You’re going to ignore everything, and leave us be, and you are going to let us stay here for free. Also, I’m going to take this girl upstairs for a bit of fun and you aren’t going to say a word, are you?”

“Not a word.” The man said, dazed.

At this point, I had stopped eating; I was too disgusted to, “What are you saying?” The girl was nearly in tears, “Please let me go!”

Kegan grabbed her roughly, “Shush.” He said, “Don’t worry, you’ll enjoy this.”

Kegan stood up, lifting the girl with him. Tears ran down her cheeks and she tried to resist. He slapped her across her cheek. I stood up and pushed the table aside, and rumbled issued from deep in my chest. “Let her go.” I kept my temper in check but held it close, in case I needed to put Kegan in his place.

Kegan turned to me, “Ah Asher, sit back down, don’t worry about me. Just make sure that one over there doesn’t get any second thoughts.” He nodded towards the bartender.
“You’re a sick idiot if you think I’m actually going to let you do this Kegan. Let her go, and free their minds, now. I will not stand by and tolerate this.”

Kegan tilted his head, and suddenly my legs buckled underneath me. I fought against him, I tried to put up a mental barrier, but I was too distracted. I couldn’t look away from the look of fear on the girls face, her eyes begged for me to save her. Everything about me was in working order, I just couldn’t move.

“KEGAN!” I yelled, my voice changing, growing deeper, then going back to normal again. My power seemed out of reach as well. He smirked, and for the first time I saw the underlying personality J had mentioned that Kegan had. He was a dark soul, twisted, and disgusting. Kegan grabbed the girls chin and planted a heavy forced kiss on her lips. The girl whimpered but couldn’t fight his grip and mental hold. He looked at me with triumph, his eyes seemed dark and he grinned at me.

“Keep an eye on the door; I don’t want anyone interrupting us.” He dragged the girl up the stairs. I let out a long menacing yell, my voice echoing around the room. I heard a scream from upstairs and I fought to get my legs moving.

“MOVE!” I growled at myself, I looked at the bartender. He was in a different world; he didn’t even seem to notice me. I closed my eyes, focusing on what I needed to do. I took everything Kegan had taught me and tried to apply it, nothing worked.

Fear, anger, and pity boiled under my skin. I needed to save the girl. I had to. I wanted to weep, I felt like a failure. I closed my eyes, “Please God, have mercy.”

“If you, however, were only feeling one thing, or focusing on one thing, then it would be impossible for me to latch onto anything but that one thing you are focusing on, make sense?” Kegans voice cut into my thoughts and I opened my eyes. “That’s it!” I said a loud, the answer was so simple, I just needed to focus on something. Kegan didn’t have an answer as to how to keep myself protected physically and still focus and protect my brain, but I did.

My body slumped down, released from its metal trickery. I pushed myself to my feet, unsheathed my sword and ran up the stairs, taking three at a time. I heard cries from behind one of the doors; I backed up and then charged the door, releasing some of my strength. It fell into the room.

Kegan was holding the girl against the wall, some her clothes were torn off, there was even blood. He turned when the door hit the ground, startled by the noise. He was in shock, to say the least, that I was able to overcome his mental lock. He tried forcing another onto me, but he was unable to break inside of my head.

Fear lit his eyes when he realized that he was unable to attack me with his power. He eyed the sword, “You’ll never find J if you kill me.” He said.

“At the moment I think I’m about ready to take that risk.” I growled, my eyesight shifted and suddenly the night became day, then it went back to night when I reeled in my power.

“I’m only going to say this once.” I told him, “You will retain yourself when you are around me, or I will cut out your heart.” Kegan nodded slowly. He may have been a powerful Brain, but he was no match against me physically, which it was now down to, seeing how he couldn’t get into my head.

“Now, let her go.” He released his grip on the girl, she ran past me, stopping only a moment to say thank you. I waited until the door downstairs shut before sheathing my sword and let down my mental barrier. Now that I knew how to put one up successfully, I didn’t need to worry about Kegan trying anything. I turned and left the room. I stumbled out of the inn and to the stables.

It was warm in the hay and I collapsed inside of it. I didn’t want to be anywhere near Kegan. I closed my eyes. I hated the man almost as much as J, and that’s really saying something. Anger. That was the key that I found that could fuel my mental barrier. Anger, was what had been driving me for the past weeks. I shifted in the hay. No, anger was something that had driven me my entire life. Every since I can remember, anger was in my blood, just waiting to spill over and take control. It was my power, it’s what fueled it, what drove it.

The only time in my life that I really felt at peace was the time with J. I was almost a normal person around her. That’s why I hated her, that’s why I wanted to hunt her down. She took that away from me, she had no right to. She betrayed me, right after she said she just wanted trust. She left. I curled unto a ball and fell asleep, my thoughts and memories flashed across my dreams.

~ ~ ~ ~

“How did you do it?” Kegan finally spoke up. We had left the Inn early in the morning. I had woken up when the groom came to feed the horses. I ate a large breakfast, forced Kegan to pay every gold coin, and even pay for the damaged door upstairs. He wasn’t happy, in fact I had no doubt in my mind that he would have an ambush waiting in some town after we discovered J’s whereabouts. I was ready though, I could overcome any obstacle that got in the way of me finding J.

Kegan refused to speak with me after what happened last night and frankly, I was glad. Every time I looked at him I had a very strong urge to draw my sword and go on to find J by myself. It was in the afternoon when he finally spoke.

“Do what?” I asked back.

“Your barrier, you found a way to put one up, and a very strong one at that, how?” He asked, not looking at me. His voice was emotionless. His hands kept flexing and un flexing the reigns.

I shrugged, “Not exactly sure.” I lied smoothly, “It just sort of…happened.”
He didn’t reply, I wasn’t sure if he believed me or not but I didn’t care. Knowing the secret to my barrier was something I wasn’t going to tell Kegan, especially since it gave me the upper hand should another fight arise. Which, I knew would eventually happen. So did Kegan, which I believe, wascwhy he was asking.

We passed a few more travelers and soon we came upon a village, “This is it.” I told Kegan, “This is where I last saw her.” He rode down the main street, memories flashed through my mind. I looked down the road; I could picture the black rider and the black horse almost as if she were right there.

“Asher.” I turned, Kegan was looking at me.

“What?”

“Let’s split up, see if we can’t find any clue as to where J’s headed, or if we are extremely lucky, maybe she’s still here. Keep your barrier up, just in case.” He kicked his horse and headed off, and I turned and looked at the military outpost and headed towards it.

I slid off the saddle, threw the reigns around the post, and walked up the steps. One person was staffing the outpost and he was sitting next to an iron stove and drinking hot tea. His military uniform was covered up by a cloak that was around his shoulders.
“Can I help you?” He asked turning to look at me.

“Yes, I’m looking for someone. Her name is J, she rides a black horse, and she was here a few weeks back.” I told the man.

He shook his head, “Sorry, I don’t keep tabs on visitors, you might want to check with the locals, they would be more helpful.”

I nodded, “Thank you for your time.” I walked out of the small outpost. After being in the warm room the cold air bit at my face. I led the horse around the town, giving him a break, but no one seemed to know anything about J. I didn’t see any sign of Kegan either. I didn’t expect J to hang around a town like this, so I wasn’t disappointed when people said they hadn’t seen her.

Finally, after a few hours, I ran into Kegan. He was coming out a house; he kissed the girl that was on his arm and then walked into the snowy street. He spotted me and came over, “J isn’t here.” He said, “She’s moved on, we will keep heading southeast.”

“Did you find that out from your friend, or did you have to force it out of her?” I growled, my anger flaring again.

“Temper.” He warned, “She was willing enough, and she doesn’t know anything about J. It’s the lack of everyone’s knowledge about her that is tipping me off. J doesn’t leave a trail, which is exactly how we are going to find her.”

I was confused, “What do you mean?” I asked.

“If J wipes the memories of people she has met, then that means there will be a hole in their memory. That is how we can find her, by following the holes.”

I nodded my head, “Makes sense.” He nodded and went over to where his horse was tethered, “Now, let’s get to the next town before dark, I don’t feel like sleeping outside in the cold.

I nodded my head, “Lead the way.”