Maya shook her head, “No, she was wearing a thin, red gown, like a sleeping gown.”
Jaron scowled.
“What did the room look like?” Tyran joined.
“Umm, well the walls were made of stone.” Maya paused and shook her head, “No, not stone, granite, and the floors too. There was a massive bed off to the side, beautiful art work hung everywhere…” Maya paused, focusing on Jarod, “It reminded me a lot of the bedrooms in the Tower except… nicer. Everything in the Tower was so dark and foreboding, but in this place it was light and welcoming. Oh, and there was a garden outside the window, it was gorgeous. Full of flowers in bloom and looking down at it from the balcony you could see the hedges were shaped in this strange design…”
“No, no, no.” Jaron interrupted. “This can’t be happening.” Leaping to his feet, he stormed across the room and grabbed the map and a pencil. Anger twisted his features as he flipped the map over and hurriedly sketched something on the blank surface. When he was finished, he held the paper up in front of Maya with a trembling hand. On it was a circle divided into five separate but equal sections, each with a different rune like symbol inside. “Did it look like this?”
“Yes, that’s it. It was on several of the paintings in the room too.”
“Son of a…!” Jaron shouted, kicking the nearest chair across the room. “When I get my hands on him, I’m going to snap his neck!”
“Who?” Citera asked, her voice a mixture of hope and fear. “Jaron, does this mean you know where K is?”
“Oh I know all right.” Jaron snarled, before turning his attention to Tyran. “I am going to need a couple of volunteers to go on a rescue mission with me.” Raising his hand, he cut Tyran off before he could start, “But not you, I need you here. The patrols are getting braver, and have been spotted hovering around Rintos. It’s only a matter of time before they begin wandering into the valley outside the forest.”
Though you could tell Tyran was none too happy with Jaron’s decision, still he nodded, “I think I know a few men who will be up for the task.” And with that said he sulked from the tent.
Watching him until he was out of site, Jaron then turned his attention to Jarod. “I know you just arrived brother, but I could really use your help with this.” Taking a moment to gather the nerve, Jaron continued, “However, it is your decision and I will understand if you do not wish to travel with me.”
Cocking an eyebrow, Jarod shrugged, “As long as it doesn’t involve me going back to the Tower, I’m in. But are you going to tell me who we are looking for and where we are going?”
“We are going across the border, into the Elemental’s territory of Lanoria.” Jaron answered, his stoic face unable to hide the anger that was brewing within. “So we can pay a visit to K’s old flame.” Spinning on his heel, Jaron headed out of the tent, calling behind him, “But first, we are going to stop and pay a traitorous Wanderer a quick visit.”
Chapter 5
The sun had already made its way into the sky the following morning when Jarod was awakened by the sounds of movement. Unsure of the hour, or why someone would be foolish enough to come inside his and Maya’s tent, Jarod sat up to search for the source of the commotion. Opening his eyes he grimaced, caught off guard by the brightness of the morning’s first rays seeping in through the light-colored canvas walls, he groaned and threw his arm across his eyes to shield them from the piercing rays, eliciting a small giggle from off to his left.
There Maya stood, freshly bathed and dressed in the gray uniform the Shadows had given her just before their escape. “You slept.” She chuckled, as she proceeded to stuff their few remaining articles of clothing into her shoulder bag. “And you weren’t even drugged this time.”
The creases in his brow deepened as Jarod lowered his hand and leaned back against the headboard. “The last thing I remember is laying down with you so you could go to sleep,” pausing Jarod looked down. Sure enough he was still completely dressed in the same clothing he had worn the day before.
Maya watched him unable to hide her smile, “Yeah, you actually fell asleep before me.” Having finished with the clothing, Maya then picked up their knives and placed them inside the bag, with the exception of the few she stuffed into the sheath built into her gray leather tights. Satisfied she had packed everything they would need to get them through their trip, she laid the bag onto the table and strolled across the room in his direction. “You even slept through Jaron’s visit this morning.”
“What?” Dropping his feet to the floor, Jarod sat on the edge of the bed where Maya joined him moments later. Even through the post sleep haze that had invaded his mind, Jarod could detect the scent of lavender radiating from her freshly washed clothing and hair. The calming scent did nothing to help snap him from his stupor. Shaking his head, he rubbed his hand up and down the scruff that had overtaken his face in the weeks they had spent on the run. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
Maya shrugged, “You hadn’t slept since my mom drugged you and Jaron said to leave you be. Anyway, all he wanted was to tell us they were meeting at the medical tent in about an hour… I told him we would be there.”
“Why the medical tent? I thought we were going to gather at the edge of the forest and leave from there.”
“I guess he changed his mind.” She answered a little too quickly. Standing back up she turned to face him. “I heated you a bucket of water on the stove, so you can get cleaned up. There is soap and a razor back there too,” she said motioning to the back corner where a divider separated the tub from the rest of the room.
Following her gaze, Jarod then turned back to her with a cocked eye brow, “And what if I don’t want to shave?”
“It’s your choice of course,” Maya grinned, running her hand through the scruffy beard. “And I do find the rugged look slightly appealing, however…” Pausing, she leaned in as if she were about to kiss him but instead stopped just before their lips connected. Tilting her head to the side, she laid a subtle kiss on the base of his neck. The moment her lips made contact with his bare skin, a wave of electrical currents shot from his neck all the way down to his toes, awakening every nerve ending in his body. Now very much awake, Jarod locked his gaze with Maya’s as she pulled away, grinning sheepishly. “Just remember, the more bare skin you have, the more places I can do that.”
Raising his eyebrows, Jarod grabbed her by her wrist and pulled her back into him. “You shouldn’t start something you don’t plan to finish,” he growled, crushing his lips against hers before she could argue. As usual her body instantly responded to his, melting into his arms and matching his passion with her own. Losing themselves in the moment, they continued to kiss and explore each other’s bodies until Maya pushed her hands against his chest. “Wait, we can’t do this right now,” she breathed, sliding from his grip and straightening her clothes. “It isn’t that long until we are supposed to meet the others, and you still need to get cleaned up while I go gather a few more items for the trip.”
“Or you could just stay here and help me get cleaned up.” Jarod coaxed, reaching for her wrist again.
“Oh no,” Maya grinned, backing away, “then neither of us would get anything accomplished.” Turning her back to him, Maya grabbed her bag off the table and headed out the flap of the tent. “I left you a change of clothes on the chair over there. Once you get done just meet me and Jaron at the medical tent.”
Jarod watched her walk away, then with a sigh headed for the back of the tent. I guess I deserve that after all the times I have denied her, he thought grabbing the bucket of hot water on his way to the back. Rounding the edge of the divider, he headed straight for the vanity sitting at the back of the small enclosure and was shocked by the image that greeted him in the mirror. Tilting his head from side to side, Jarod glared at the shaggy haired, bearded stranger who matched the intensity of his stare with his own. Shocked that his looks had changed that much in their weeks of travel; he rubbed one of his large hands over the course hair on h
is face.
Besides the apparently unpleasing facial hair, Jarod took note of a number of fading bruises left over from the incident at the Core. Moving his hand to the back of his hair, he winced as it grazed the knot that had not seemed to heal in the slightest in the last twenty-four hours. I need to feed, he thought, lowering his hand and picking up the bucket. Since there wasn’t much he currently could do about his feeding predicament at the moment; he instead dumped a small amount of the steaming water into the basin. Using the soap Maya had left on top of the vanity, he rubbed it between the palms of his hands until a thick foam formed, then heavily coated the black facial hair in the mass of white bubbles. Once his face was completely covered in the frothy mix, he picked up the straight razor, and in long, slow strokes, removed the thick hair covering his face and neck. The entire process took a little longer than he expected, and he had to stop twice to re-sharpen the blade, but once finished Jarod was more than satisfied with the smooth skinned results and felt confident Maya wouldn’t be disappointed either.
Next Jarod turned his attention to the shaggy black mass decorating the top of his head. Taking ahold of a small section between his fingers, he lifted the razor about to trim it and froze. Frowning at his reflection, he contemplated what he was about to do, considered it for moment, then dropped the razor. His hair wasn’t necessarily that long, it was just longer than he had ever had it, since its length, along with every other aspect of his life over the last fifty years, had been dictated by the Shadows. Determined he would not allow their rules to control any aspect of his life any more, Jarod raked his hair back with his fingers and walked away from his reflection.
Heading over to the tub, he filled it with what remained of the water, then disrobed and stepped inside. Since he was too large to sit in what was probably an oversized tub by normal people’s standards, Jarod stood in the middle and made do the best he could with what was available. After multiple cycles of scrubbing and rinsing, he stepped out of the tub feeling much more refreshed, but when he bent down to pick the towel up off the floor, a sudden sharp pain in his back nearly sent him to his knees. Sucking in a deep breath, Jarod braced himself on the edge of the tub and breathed through the pain, then straightened up and wrapped the towel around his waist. Once again returning to the vanity, he turned his back to face the mirror, and stared blankly at the massive black and blue bruise covering the entire left half of his rib cage.
Not wanting any more reminders of the weakened state his body had fallen into from lack of blood, Jarod walked away from the mirror and back into the main room where he found his clean clothes lying on the chair, just like Maya had said. Without delay, he donned his signature black attire, complete with black gloves and coat, pulled on his boots, and headed out to meet up with Maya and the others.
Once outside, Jarod headed through the crowded housing area and down the main path. Alone for the first time in months in such a tightly packed area played hell on Jarod’s nerves, causing every muscle in his body to tense. Thankfully the good citizens of Oasis seemed to have better things on their mind than to be concerned about the anxious giant, as they continued about their busy day, laughing and talking with one another as they passed him by without so much as a glance. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a wave of shouting and screams rose up behind him. Instincts took over and he readied himself for whatever was heading his way, only to feel foolish as he watched a pack of overly rambunctious boys dash past him and disappear into the crowd further down the path. Releasing the ragged breath he had been holding while chastising himself for being so paranoid, he continued on, past the various clusters of tents. After only a few more minutes of walking, he arrived at the connecting path and turned down its narrow length.
Only a few tents lined the less populated path, before opening up into a small field at the edge of the tree line. There, amongst the tall grass and scattered poppy flowers, was the group of boys that had run passed him on the trail earlier. Standing gathered in a tight circle around another, much smaller boy, the group laughed and carried on as they tossed a ball back and forth over his head. With a furrowed brow, Jarod watched the boys continue to taunt the smaller child as he struggled to get back his ball. However, when one of the larger kids suddenly shoved the smaller one to the ground, Jarod had had all he was going to take.
“Hey!” he shouted, his deep voice snagging not only the attention of the boys, but many of the passing pedestrians as well. “Leave that kid alone!” Stepping off the trail, he headed across the field in the direction of the kids with a determined stride. Wide eyed and mouth gaped, the group of boys stared at him as he approached, until one finally snapped out of his daze and took off running with the rest following close behind. Stooping to pick up the ball, Jarod knelt down next to the teary eyed child as he rose to his feet and dusted off his pants.
“Are you injured?” he asked, presenting the boy with the ball. Glancing between him and the ball with a frightened expression, the boy shook his head. Recognizing the familiar fear in his eyes and not wanting to put him through any more stress than necessary, Jarod set the ball down between them and stood to walk away.
“Thank you.” Looking back over his shoulder, Jarod watched the boy nervously nudged the ball with his foot. “They do that to me a lot.”
“You’re welcome.” Turning back to face the boy, he knelt back down. “Do you want to tell me why they were teasing you?”
Working to fight down the threatening tears, the boy heaved a heavy sigh. “I like to play soccer, and I am really good at it,” he says, allowing a small smile to break through his sadness momentarily. “But when I asked those boys if I could play with them, they laughed at me and said I was too young and too small to play with them… then they took my ball and wouldn’t give it back.” Looking back up at Jarod, his voice cracked, “It’s not fair! Just because I’m small, doesn’t mean I’m not as good as any of them are, but they won’t even give me a chance to show them.”
Jarod listened to the young boy then rubbed his hand down his chin. “Yeah, I know how you feel. It sucks when people judge you by the way you look.”
The boy’s eyes furrowed, “But you’re not small… you’re huge. I bet nobody picks on you.”
“No. No one picks on me.” Jarod agreed, meeting the boy’s gaze, “Of course they also don’t speak to me or even look in my general direction. Actually, most people stay as far away from me as they can.” Seeing the confusion on the boy’s face, Jarod continued. “You see, most people can’t see past my size and my strange appearance.” He paused, tapping his cheek just beneath his right eye. “They take one look at me and they are frightened, just as you were when I approached you a moment ago.” Understanding registered in the child’s big brown eyes. Dropping his head in shame the boy apologized, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.”
Jarod smiled, “Don’t be, I am used to it. Besides, you made it up to me, by staying here and talking with me, instead of running away like the others.” Standing and stretching to his full height, Jarod continued, “And don’t concern yourself too much about what those other kids say. You are still young and have a lot of growing left to do. Who knows, one day you may be taller and stronger than each and every one of those boys.”
“Maybe,” the boy answered doubtfully, “but that is still a long ways away.”
“It will be here before you know it.” Jarod ruffled the boys head, “In the meantime, might I suggest you find a new group of friends. Surely in all this camp there are more sociable children you can play soccer with. Maybe you could even form your own team to play against those little jerks and kick their asses.” Turning away from the boy, Jarod suppressed a chuckle at the wide grin that spread across the boy’s lips. “I’ll see you later… “
“Kajol!” the boy shouted behind him, “My name is Kajol. What is yours?”
“Jarod.” He shouted back at him. “Now run along and enjoy the rest of your day Kajol.”
“Bye Jarod!”
> Waving his hand over his shoulder, Jarod headed back to the trail where he spotted Janil watching him with a smile on her face. “He sure seems happy,” she quipped as he neared. “What did you tell him?”
“Why? Are you concerned I am going to have a negative influence on Oasis’s impressionable youth?” Coming to a stop, Jarod looked back over his shoulder just in time to see a smiling Kajol take off across the field in the opposite direction.
“Honestly, you men and your paranoia.” Janil huffed, pointing behind them at the few tents that lined the path. “I live right over there in that tent and was about to head out to meet with you and the others when I heard you shout at those boys. I came outside to see what was happening and saw you talking with Kajol and decided to wait so you could escort me the rest of the way.” She paused, presenting Jarod with her outstretched arm.
Knitting his brows, he stared blankly down at her.
“Oh, come now. Surely all manners haven’t been discarded in that cursed Tower.” Closing the gap between them, she looped her arm with Jarod’s and proceeded to lead him down the trail. “Now come along or we are going to be late.”
Caught off guard by her brazen move, Jarod followed alongside her without argument as she continued to talk. “You see Kajol there has been having trouble with that group of boys for several weeks now, and I wasn’t sure whether I should intervene or let them work it out amongst themselves.” Noticing she was beginning to get winded, Jarod shortened his stride to a more comfortable pace. “Thank you,” she said, smiling up at him, “Anyway as I was saying, I think it is better you spoke with him. Kajol is a good kid, but, as you said, he is very impressionable. I’m sure it will have more of an impact on him to get advice from a strong Full-blood male, as opposed to getting it from a grey headed old lady.”
“I don’t know about that,” Jarod commented casually, sneaking a glance at her, “I seem to recall your advice making quite an impression on me.”
Forsaken (The Shadow Chronicles Book 3) Page 11