Chapter 58 - Fifty-Six (1/2)
My brother wakes up only when we are far off in the forest, close to the hideout. Lazy dumb dumb.
He carefreely stretch out, almost hitting Aeglos face who looks down with an amused look, and then he realizes where he is and gives a toothy smile at Aeglos.
”M~orning.”
”Morning Thor, did you sleep well?”
”Uhum.”
Feeling me staring holes at his back Aeglos shifts on his horse uncomfortably as my too unaware brother rubs the sleep out of his eyes, for the first time looking around him.
And staring impolitely at the twins up front, opening his mouth like a fish and pointing at them.
”Oh my god they are identical! That's, like, so~cool! How did you do that? Is there a magic? Are you clones? Shadow clones? That would be awesome and-”
It was my turn to sigh, and a side look at Eyope makes me exchange a knowing look with him.
Dumb young brothers am I right?
After a small smile we turn back to my brother, who got his answer from Seiroe, who now started to talk nonstop with him, until Ragnur came out of nowhere and joined the talk.
Let's just say that my calm and peace were gone.
Already resigned to my fate I simply stare at the path, trying to ignore all the noise around me, until Eyope came close; or run away from the sound as well; and starts talking with Leo, making me perch my ears to eardrop.
”So how you two met Isa?” Isa? Isa who? Oh, right, the annoying woman, already forgot her name; annoying little thing was a better name than she was worth for.
Sorry, I'm sleepy, hungry, and still annoyed by the illusions the Oak thing made; thought her mere presence annoyed me, the way she breathed, her voice, her presence…
Oh I lost track and didn't hear his answer shot!
”And how can you two know about this place if you are not even from here?”
That's actually a good question. I look towards Eyope, who stood tall with a calm demeanor so opposite from his brother upfront.
”Well, you know the story about the ancient ones, the bringers of magic, differs from place to place; how many religious surged discussing small details. As our island is very isolated from the rest we did not have so much interference, and I dare to say we are one of the closest to truly know about the bringers of magic.”
”But more than that our ancestors helped the bringers out, some even say that they felt in love with each other, but that's hard to know for sure after so many years. One thing for sure is that by kind has many exclusive information's of it, such as the locations of the hideouts and exclusive passages and such that they made, as well as how to access them.”
”They must have really trusted your kind to give such important information.”
He nods. ”Indeed, that's why some say they were lovers, but some say that these hideouts were created for our kind, back in the day we did not have our own place and were mistreated here.” He shrugs.
”One thing's for sure though; we have exclusive information, and we are forbidden to share with others beyond our own, so I may let you stay here, but I won't give out this place secrets.”
”Fair enough.” I say. If I had that kind of information I would not give it out that easily, it could save their lives if things went south; and definitely better safer than sorry.
Suddenly all our talks were cut short by a misty fog, making our horses neigh and shake their heads back, wanting nothing of that misty dark part of the forest.
The twin's horses, however, seemed used to this as the older brother Eyope goes to the back, ordering us to make a line, as the younger Seiroe stays at the front, guiding the line.
I was too far away to see clearly, only seeing Leo's horse and back right in front of me, so unfortunately I did not see the magic that would allow us in the hideout, instead we just trotted in silence, wary of our surroundings as the fog thickens, one misstep could have us away from the group and lost in the jungle.
Not a happy prospect.
Beyond the lack of vision was the lack of animal life too; no bugs, no birds, and with that no sound, just an eerie silence that made everything creepier.
If this didn't say ”Don't dare approach” I don't know was else will.
Like a veil being taken off of your faces the mist went by revealing the place all at once, a large area staying in what seemed like a clearing in the middle of the forest, the sunlight reaching it and giving it a warm feeling that we lacked until know in the mist.
Like an oasis in the desert I would say.
The first thing that I notice was the Zen atmosphere, the white muddy sad in need of a cleaning covering the garden as well as the well-placed trees and bushes that needed to be trimmed, followed by a path made of grey stones with moss that leads towards the entry.
The building itself, however, was astonishing; the W shaped roofs with wooden pillars that, as trees, had branches and leaves over the top, the white walls, the framed sides, the balcony, a very traditional Asian house that I thought impossible to exist in this world.
We walk up the little stairs, my brother hoping over, tail wiggling as he tries to push then pull the door open until I stop by his side, pulling the door sideways as I wiggle my eyebrows at him. His answer was a childish pouting followed by him showing his tongue at me, which made me roll my eyes.
We step inside, only to have a cough fit as our steps bring dust up. The air was heavy here, stagnate and dusty, in an urgent need of changing the airs.
Leo stops beside me, looking the place over and deeping his scowl, ending with a very serious expression as he says:
”How do you intend for us to use this place in this state?”
The younger twin looks up guiltily, fidgeting with his thumbs as he said: ”Well, is not like we had time to came here beforehand to prepare everything, but there must be things in the back to clean this place up, r-right? And we have rooms, garden, living room, kitchen, all in this place, so is not so bad right?!”
Who he was trying to convince, us or himself? Anyway, I dust the air in front of my face, but the still straight face on Leonel's face makes me stare at him again.
”That is… That is unacceptable. Nobody will rest until this place his dust-free!” He says, earning an ”Ehhhh” from all of us. ”No excuses! Me and Thilgon will clean the rooms, Isa and the Templar will clean the living room and kitchens, Aeglos and Eyope will clean the garden. Ragnur, make sure that the building doesn't have wholes on the roof or compromised structures. ”
”What about us?” Asks Huntor and Seiroe at the same time, and I think Leo thought the same as us for he took his time choosing a task that they could not mess up.