The Beast and The Brain.

I fell asleep just as I was. J fingers ran through my hair and my head rested on her legs. She told me too sleep and rest up while I could. She assured me she would find a way to get us out. I didn’t want to sleep, but my body soon made the decision for me.

When I woke up I felt a little better, though all of my muscles were stiff and aching and my head pounded with a headache. J was nowhere to be seen. My head rested on a small pillow and a blanket was pulled up to my shoulders. My nose instantly picked up the scent of food. I sat up slowly and sure enough there was a tray of steaming meat, bread, cheese, and a large pitcher of water waiting next to me.

I ate the food vigorously and didn’t stop until every last crumb was licked from the plate. I felt immensely better, though I probably could have eaten three times more, it was enough to get me onto my feet. I pushed open the door and made my way to the deck. Some fresh air, I figured, would do me good.

My muscles protested and ached as I stepped onto the deck but the sun was bright on my face and the air was good in my lungs. I instantly noticed a change in atmosphere, the men on the deck were quiet and hurried about their business, and it was then I noticed that we were pulled up close to shore, and we weren’t moving. I also spotted J and Gerard talking on the other end of the deck. Well, actually he was yelling at J and motioning with his hands and J was standing as still and set as a statue. She reminded me of the very first day I had met her. I ran a hand through my hair. That brought back memories.

I headed across the deck, Gerard was still yelling when I walked up the steps. “Do you think I’m an idiot?”

J turned sharply when I stepped closer, and Gerard instantly stopped yelling. His attention turned to me and I felt that his fury was somehow aimed at me, what is going on? J turned back to Gerard, “I honestly don’t see why you are so upset Gerard, I’ll still pay you fully for taking us this far.”

Gerard scowled, “That’s not that point.”

“Than what is the point? You aren’t losing any money, and you don’t have to take us as far as we originally planned, if anything, you should be happy that we are leaving.”

My eyebrows shot up in surprise, we were leaving? So that’s why Gerard was so upset, “Don’t play stupid, I know you know what is going on. You aren’t blind.”

J yawned, “Honestly Gerard you are speaking in riddles, if you wish to say something then say it. And don’t think I’m stupid enough to try to get into your head.” Gerard looked at me, his eyes narrowed, and I had a feeling that he thought I was somehow apart of this. Then again, I kind of was, “Either way my men will be here shortly, so we must make our preparations, Asher get the horses ready.” J turned to me sharply, ”Don’t question me just do exactly as I say!”

I bowed my head and put on an act, “Of course.”

I turned smartly on my heel and headed over to the horses, where they were standing under the canvas covering. I gave both of them a quick brush over and then went about saddling them. J and Gerard continued to argue, well Gerard continued to yell at her anyway. It was killing me to find out what was happening. Finally J spoke something to Gerard, and he stopped yelling, actually he stopped talking altogether. J walked away from him and walked over to me.

“J what is going on?”

“Just trust me, follow my lead. I’m getting us out of here.”

She took the reins of Shadow and led him across the deck, I followed with Striker, she paused a moment and handed me the reins, “I’ll be right back.” She walked swiftly across the deck and disappeared below. Before I knew it, Gerard was right next to me. He grabbed my arm tightly, and I fought against my natural instinct to fight him.

“I want your energy.”

I looked him in the eyes. I had to remember that he still thought that that I thought that he would let me go when or trip was done. So I played stupid, or tried to, “That wasn’t our deal Gerard.”

He snarled, “You’re going to tell J you want to become a part of my crew, or else I’m going to make her life very unhappy.”

I jerked my arm out of his grip but kept eye contact, “So you finally show your true colors.”

He laughed once, “Don’t act so stupid, you never actually thought I would let you go did you? You’re raw power kid. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

“As, pleasing, as your offer is Gerard, I am going to have to decline. You must realize that I am bond to J. I cannot simply undo the oaths I’ve sworn to…well you know who.” I wished J would hurry up. I had no idea if I was saying the right things or acting the way I was supposed to. I didn’t even know what J was planning. I ground my teeth together, I was sick of being left in the dark!

“I don’t think you understand me, I know J knows that I’ve been stealing your energy. She’s not stupid, so I don’t think there’s anyone actually coming to meet you guys here. I think it’s a bluff, to get off this ship. But I’m not letting you go.”

“Enough.” Gerard looked up and I turned. J stood with her supplies over one shoulder not far away, “What you say is true Gerard, I know you’ve been stealing Asher’s energy and to be honest I didn’t really care as long as we were on this ship. But then I figured you wouldn’t let him leave, and when I found out that you threatened him by using me….well, you can imagine I wasn’t very pleased. But you are incorrect, we do have others meeting us here. It is no bluff. You knew I wouldn’t risk a fight with your entire crew with just Asher and myself, but you wouldn’t dare go against the order.”

Gerard stiffened, he was red in the face and I knew he wanted to throttle J to death, but he was in a very difficult situation. All of us were. What J had said last night was true, we didn’t have any allies, so she had to be bluffing, despite her reassurances that she wasn’t. This meant if Gerard decided to call her bluff, we would be forced to fight, and I wasn’t sure J and I could win. We were all holding our breath as we watch Gerard, only J seemed indifferent.

Then, a call broke the silence, and we all turned to look around to see who the source was. But it only took us a moment to realize that the call had come from land. Gerard glared at the two of us then walked over to side of the ship to see who was calling. J turned and also walked over, so I decided to follow. I was very curious as to what was going on.

My mouth nearly dropped, there were two men on horseback waiting near the edge of the forest. There wore dark cloaks that flapped in the breeze, and their hair was cut extremely short, but they looked familiar to me, and it was then I realized that these men looked exactly like the bounty hunters who had come after J and I. My body automatically stiffened, but J shot me a look and shook her head. I realized she had a plan, so I tried to look relaxed.

J waved at the men to show she saw them then turned to Gerard. “Well Gerard? Will you destroy the alliance you have with us or will do declare a war here and now? But know this, if you try to fight and move to drain me, Asher will kill you before you get the chance, you of all people know the power he has inside of him. So you can be guaranteed that you will not wake to see another light of day.”

Gerard was red and veins pulsed in his neck but instead of doing anything he turned and walked away. I think he knew that if he didn’t he might lose control and get killed. J exhaled then whispered to me, “Let’s go.”

The ramp was lowered and we made our way off the ship towards the two bounty hunters. They sat stiffly on their horses and all of us watched and waited for Gerard to pull his ship away from the shore. Then as the ship was a way away the two bounty hunters turned to J. “We were surprised, to say the least, when you contacted us.”

“We thought it might be a trick.”

“But as you see it’s not, now shall we be on our way?” J moved and mounted her horse, I stood a moment, unsure, but then decided to remained quiet and I moved to mount Striker.

“Before we go J, you should know what happens if you try to double cross us.”

J nodded, “Of course.”

“Very well, let’s go.” The two men turned their horses and entered the forest and we followed closely behind.

”What’s going on here, J?” I demanded.

J looked straight ahead but replied. “I’m saving both our lives, now stay quiet, I’ll explain everything when I get a chance, but for now just play along.”

“It seems that all I do these days.”

A grin formed on J’s lips. “That’s because you do such a good job.”

~ ~ ~ ~

The two men didn’t let J or I out of their sights. They were suspicious of us. That much was clear, and they should be. J managed to tell me what happened and her plan throughout the day, and by the end I knew what was happening. For once, I wasn’t being left out, and it felt good. Apparently last night she sent out a probe with her mind, and by sheer luck she stumbled upon two bounty hunters of the cult. She sent them a message saying she was trying to return to the swamp but Gerard was being malicious and cunning. So they agreed to meet her at the shore and help, in return they would get the credit for returning J and I.

This of course was all a lie on J’s end. She had no intention of return to the swamp or the people in it. But until we got the chance to escape, then we just had to play along. Whenever we did escape, J planned on making her way to someone they called The Wisdom. I had never heard of it before, and when I asked J said she would explain more later, but now at least I knew the rough plan running through J’s head, and I felt like I could be better use to her now that I knew what was going on. I even told J as much, and she said she would try to continue to keep me in the loop; it just went against her nature.

Throughout the day J and I talked out loud to keep up the pretense that we were coming along willingly. She made it sound like she was sick of the way humans treated her, and I made a pretense to seem like I simply wanted more power. So throughout the day I would continue to ask J that she was sure that I would be given a high ranking place among the order. She continued to assure me that I would be a high ranking official, but it might take some time for the others to accept me.

J even began talking to the other men, and while they might be suspicious of J’s actions, it was still very clear that they held some respect for her. Old habits die hard, I guess. When we stopped for the evening I asked J if we would try to make a run for it that night, but she simply said no and I decided it would be best not to argue, instead I ate tons and settled down to sleep without worries. J had a plan, and I was content to be away from Gerard.

For three days we kept company with the bounty hunters, and I found that each day I really began to despise them more and more. They ate like pigs whenever we stopped at a town, and they treated regular people like dirt, even those who were respectable members of society. But J warned me to keep playing the part, so I just shoved food into my mouth and dealt with it.

“Where are you going?”

It was the third evening and we were all seated around a table next to the fire of the inn. “I’m going for a drink. Is that a problem?” J stood over the man with her hands on her hips.

“Is there a problem with the ale here?” He asked. I dipped my nose into my mug but kept my eyes on J. She was up to something, see hardly ever drank, so I knew her story of ‘getting a drink’ was a lie.

“Not really, but there is a problem with the company,” She glanced around the quiet inn, “I need some amusement.”

The man hesitated. They still didn’t trust J, and they always seemed hesitant to split up, they also didn’t want to risk the chance that J might use the opportunity the run off. But by the way J had been acting; they didn’t think that she knew that they thought of her as a ‘prisoner’. “Am I not allowed to go have a good time?” She demanded and I had to hide a grin.

“No of course not, maybe we’ll all go?”

“No thanks.” Even without J telling me, I knew there was a reason why she wanted to go off by herself. “I’m going to retire, I’ve got the beginning of a headache and I’d rather not go a loud place with drink.”

Both of the men frowned at each other, but obviously they couldn’t speak about this trouble out loud. They wanted us to cooperate, and if they started bossing us around, then they would be forced to try to ‘capture’ us. While they seemed to be having a staring contest, J gave me an approving smile. I winked at her.

“Well I’m off, see you in the morning Asher.”

“See ya.” I nodded.

One of the men stood so fast his chair knocked over, “I’ll go with you. I feel like a good drink and maybe a bar maid as well.” He ran after J who was already at the door. I choked back a laugh and set down my mug when the door closed.

I stretched and smiled at the guy who was left with me and I wondered what his power was. I tried to find out before, but they were tight lipped about it. “So how did you get fixed with him?”

The man narrowed his eyes at me. “He’s my brother.” By his tone I knew I wouldn’t get anymore out of him. I stood up and stretched.

“Alright, well I’m off to get some sleep. You have a good evening.” Before I even stepped he stood up as well.

“No, I’m headed to bed as well.” I nodded as if it didn’t bother me and led the way up the stairs. Even now he didn’t want me out of his sight, in case I tried something. I opened the door to my room.

“Well you have a good night.”

“See you in the morning.” I nodded my head and shut the door. I threw off my boots and laid on the bed and stared at the ceiling, and even though I tried, I couldn’t shake the sleep from my eyes.

“Wake up Asher.” smack

“Can you ever wake some up with it being painful?” I sat up and rubbed my red cheek and J stood up straight. I looked around and noticed that its dark out, so either its late at night or very early in the morning.

“We are leaving, so put your boots on, and come downstairs for a quick breakfast while I bring the horses around front.” She left the room without another comment and rub my eyes and pull my boots on.

When I got downstairs there is a plate of eggs, bacon, and sausage on a small plate, along with a cup of milk. I shovel it into my mouth as quickly as possible. I know I’m lucky to be getting breakfast at all. If we are leaving then that means there will probably be people coming after us, if they weren’t already. I chug the milk, throw my cloak over my shoulder and walk into the street.

J is bringing the horses around front, steam raises from their nostrils in the cold and I swing into the saddle and J hands me the reigns. “Where are our escorts?”

“Dead, now let’s go.”

When we have ridden for a good two hours J slows the pace and I finally ask the question that’s been on my mind. “So you killed them?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

J looks at me with raised eyebrows. “No I mean, I understand why, but I mean, why now? Why not earlier?”

“Because, I wasn’t sure of their powers, I need to find out how to defeat them before I simply tried to stab them with my sword.”

“Oh.” There is silence between us. “What were their powers?”

J grins slightly, “It took me a little while to gauge them, but once I found the signs it wasn’t too hard. They were brothers, so their powers actually relied on one another, once separated they are nearly useless.”

“So that’s they you wanted to get them to separate last night.”

“Yes, and I honestly didn’t think it would be so easy.”

“Maybe they thought you didn’t know? Or maybe they thought it just didn’t matter after all?”

“Most likely, but that’s their mistake for underestimating me.”

“I’m sure they aren’t the first who have.”

J gives me a look. “No they aren’t.”