Mythical Guardians

☆22. How to (not) make new friends☆

  Since Cedric was the second tallest amongst the group, he was elected to help support the stupid old centaur alongside Gordon. At first glance, he hated her already. He hated old people, and boy, that centaur smelled. Like old people and tea. He absolutely despised tea. He made a mental reminder to burn all the old centaur' tea leaves to cinders when he got there.

  Hmm, sulphur and burnt wood smelled much better. Maybe he should burn the house when he was done carrying the cursed centaur back home. Yep, much better.

  As if being able to sense his thoughts, the centaur slipped, and her weight shifted on top of him in a fraction of a second. He almost swore out loud, but bit on his tongue for the last minute. He could had almost sworn that she looked smug.

  Gods damned it. He knew something wrong with that stupid old centaur. He gritted his teeth and asked if the stupid crone was alright. She replied with that unwavering toothy grin that made him had the urge to punch her even more.

  But the worse thing wasn't her unbearable odour. It was her blabbering mouth. A string of continuous words flowed out of her mouth, and yes, miraculously, she didn't have the need to breathe. Maybe she had a second mouth somewhere feeding her air. That might be a reasonable explanation for her tea-riddled odour.

  Johnathan huddled closer under his dark cloak and Cedric rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time. He literally couldn't believe the stupid vampire would be so stupid to venture out into the deadly sunlight. Still, were they not travelling in the forest, he would had probably burnt to high hell. And Cedric was waiting for him to burst into flames. That'd be a hell of spectacle and a good laugh. Johnathan Ridge the vampire torch.

  One thing Cedric despised about his human form? It's endless limitations. His arm and back muscles burned from supporting the centaur crone, and he was quite sure they had been walking for hours. The old centaur remained cheerful as always, and had begun to sing some kind of lullaby that old ladies sing.

  And by the Elder Demons of Hell, she had the nerve to sing a lullaby of the gods of Heaven. The fearless and ruthless general, Herno. Her father, the mysterious and powerful Cellixan. His son, the aloof and patient Shuri. And as she sung about Shuri, he closed his eyes and breathed as calmly as he could in his frustration, trying in vain to sooth his quick temper, searching for a reason why he shouldn't set her tongue on fire and watch her scream and prance around. That'd teach her a lesson not to praise the gods in his presence.

  And seriously she needed to get her memory checked. They had been walking for hours, and she said it wasn't far? Yeah sure, for a fully healthy, galloping centaur, sure. He wished he could just toss the centaur off a random cliff, stretch his wings and get the hell out of dodge.

  From ahead, Johnathan suddenly stiffened,"Quiet."

  The old centaur blinked owlishly at him, seeming quite offended,"Are you telling me to keep my mouth shut?"

  "We're not alone," the vampire scowled.

  "Oh dears," the old centaur said, evenly, as if it was nothing important,"Then you better run then. Leave me, you'll go faster."

  Gordon stared at the centaur like she was crazy,"You could barely walk. We're not leaving you here to die."

  The crone shrugged," As you wish then. But you better hurry now, eh?"

  Cedric glared balefully at the crone, and started speeding up his walk, along with Gordon.
 
  "How far are they?" Jason asked. He was flying above, so he didn't need to walk.

  " Not sure," Johnathan replied," But they're catching up."

  "Now I hear them too," Gordon grumbled. "We aren't going far at this speed and we sure ain't fast enough to outrun them. We are going to have to fight them."