Aegis

Chapter Ten--With the Rogues

Dedicated to @Mictlan93 , the first person to consistently follow Aegis. Thanks a bunch!

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When Kyros recovered from the shockwaves he had received, the sun had come up. While he was slipping in and out of consciousness, Kyros vaguely remembered Ares and the other rider arguing. As much as he tried, he couldn't remember the any details about the argument. The only thing he could recall was Ares warning the girl to keep him alive.

At the moment, Ares supported the bulk of Kyros' weight as they walked along the winding path through the hills. Somehow, Kyros' bow was in its proper place on his back.

"How much further?" the girl asked.

"Another hour of walking," Ares said.

When Kyros attempted to remove himself from Ares grip, the man merely jerked him forward.

"Wouldn't do that if I were you. Your body took a lot of damage when Pluto here was closing your wound," Ares said.

"It is not my fault his body didn't accept Reaper's particles at once," the girl Pluto said.

"I didn't say it was your fault."

As Ares and Pluto bickered some more, Kyros tacked his brain for information about Reaper. The name was so familiar. It was evident that Pluto was talking about her scythe. Try as he might, the only thing that Kyros could remember was that Reaper was a powerful Imperis. But he had all ready learned that firsthand.

"Where are you taking me?" Kyros muttered.

"You'll find out soon," Ares replied.

After a few more paces, Kyros tried to escape Ares' hold again. The man sighed at Kyros' weak attempts and pulled him forward.

"Boy, I all ready told you that your body is weak right now. Stop making it harder on yourself," Ares said.

"Let go of me," Kyros retorted.

He struggled futilely against the Rogue.

"My apologies, but we can't do that," Ares said. "We need the Orichalcum inside your bow."

Kyros froze. He and Erianthe should have been the only ones who knew about the Orichalcum pieces in their weapons.

"It was smart of your leaders to hide it in your bow," Pluto remarked. "It took us a bit of time to realize that the piece we had was incomplete. But now we can complete it."

Kyros forced himself to maintain his irritated look in spite of the relief that he felt. They didn't know Erianthe had another piece.

"Pluto, that's enough, don't you think?" Ares said.

"My words do no harm. I'm merely informing the boy," she replied. "Besides, I think you're the one who's caused us more trouble. We wouldn't be here if you had captured him instead of letting him go."

Something about her words seemed off to Kyros.

"How could I know he had a piece of the Orichalcum?" Ares muttered.

"He is Orion's son. The least you could have done is detain him," Pluto said.

As the two bickered again, Kyros figured out why Pluto's remarks had unsettled him. She mentioned Kyros, and only Kyros, as a survivor that Ares had let go. That meant she didn't know that Erianthe was alive. Ares hadn't told her that two survived. He hadn't told her that Arté's daughter, the daughter of one of their enemy's leaders, was alive.

For the next hour, Kyros mulled over possible reasons that Ares didn't mention Erianthe to Pluto. It made no sense. If Ares wanted to beat them as badly as Kyros wanted to defeat the Rogues, keeping that secret wasn't logical. As if he had guessed Kyros' thoughts, Ares glanced over at Kyros and gave him an harsh look.