Aegis

Chapter Thirty Two--The Captive

After the three of them returned to camp atop of the horses, Erianthe's arm felt sore from holding the bundle of golden javelins. Even though the weapons had been light, the metal was hard. Holding her sword and Caligula's reins in the same hand had been far easier than trying to keep the golden sticks from slipping from her grip.

During the trip, Caligula had accommodated by slowing his pace. Erianthe fed him an extra apple as a reward.

Erianthe clenched and unclenched her fist according to Chris's instructions.

"It feels odd," Erianthe said. "My hand doesn't normally feel this odd after a fight."

Chris prodded her hand and tossed her a water pouch. "You're probably just tired from all the practice sessions you were doing. Cadmus' Strings can't sense anything wrong with you, but you should be fine."

Erianthe petted Caligula. It was true that her body had been feeling a bit more tired the past few days.

Chris sighed. "My brother on the other hand does have something wrong with him."

Chris pointed at Erik, who held a wet cloth up to his shrunken but still bleeding shoulder wound.

"If you would let me heal you," Chris said, "That thing would be gone now. You won't heal for a few more hours if you just use your sword."

"I don't want to put too much stress on you in case one of us gets extremely injured at Altera," Erik replied and winced.

For next few minutes, the two bickered back and forth about the positive and negative aspects of healing Erik. Every so often, Erik tried to gesture with his injured arm but failed. In turn, Chris brought on another round of, "Let me heal you."

As much as Erianthe understood Erik's stubbornness, she agreed with Chris. Since the pale boy was a good healer, Chris would be able to recover by the time the reached Altera. It was only a shoulder wound. Granted, it was probably exacerbated by Hector's incessant, precise hits during the ride back to camp. Everytime their prisoner smacked Erik's shoulder, Erianthe winced with the man.

"Huh, so the heroes aren't as numerous as I thought," Hector said. "I was expecting more from the oh-so-great Raios."

"I only asked you if you had any wounds on you," Atalae retorted. "We haven't even begun questioning you yet."

After tying Caligula to the ground with a tether, Erianthe walked a few steps to watch Hector's interrogation. She wasn't sure what to think of the girl. Hector had helped them save the townspeople from the snakes even though she was a Rogue. From what her father told her, the Rogues didn't seem to care what damage they caused. After Erianthe's run-in with Ares and now Hector, she wasn't quite sure anymore.

Aside from Erik and Chris, who were still arguing, the rest of their party, Mellion and Raios, gathered around Hector. Atalae gave up trying to give first aid to the girl and stepped back for Raios. Hector strained against the webbing on her hands and the leather around her ankles while Atalae left to find better restraints.

"I can't imagine how hard it would be to bring this girl to town," Mellion said. "She hasn't stopped struggling since . . . ever."

For a split second, Erianthe wondered if the web would tear from the leather gauntlet Hector wore on her on of her arms. To the prisoner's dismay, the restraints did not rip.

"You do not intend to answer any of my questions, do you?" Raios asked.

"Nope."

Raios stepped closer to Hector and pointed at the gauntlet on her arm. "I shall ask one anyway. This is a messenger falcon guard, isn't it? Where is the bird?"