The Scavenger Hunt (2)

The sudden action startled the blonde, who quickly voiced his disapproval over the method. At his words, the Kenman simply raised his brow and gave him a cold laugh.

"So what is your plan then?" he said with narrowed eyes, "Be nice with him and he will just tell us what we want and then hope that the power of friendship will prevail?" he asked sarcastically, stepping aside to let the oracle try.

"He has a point", the Thrae then said, "That's not a civilian, but a Scavenger" it added.

"No" Aldryn said with his head bowed.

He approached the man, who was silently whimpering in pain and ripped the sleeve covering his arm. The action revealed the group's tattoo, which made the blonde remember the dream. The one where Imre came to talk to him. Many emotions then rushed to him, anger being among them.

"Two questions", he told the man, "And then we let you go"

"We won't" the Kenman then said from behind, "Don't lie to him kid", he then told Aldryn, who turned to glare at him, and looked at the man again.

"Listen" he said and then casually sat down near their prisoner, "We both know that you are as good as dead" he commented offhand, as if speaking about the weather.

"Even if we let you go, the other Scavengers wont. Even if you run away, the others will kill you just for getting caught and loosing everything that was in that cave" the Kenman continued and even took out the letter that he was reading and waved them in front of the man, to prove his point.

"Now your only decision…is how you will die" he then said with a cruel smile, "Slow and painful, or fast and without feeling anything"

During the conversation, Aldryn stood near the Kenman and remained silent. While he didn't fully approve of the method, the moment he saw the tattoo, any pity that he had for the man was gone. A minute went by and their prisoner kept quiet. Then, the Kenman suddenly grabbed the handle of his sword and twisted it. The blade tearing the flesh like it was nothing. It ripped a scream out of the Scavenger.

"My patience is running thin" he said his narrowed eyes, "If you were hoping to drag the time and bleed out, then it is a useless hope. Believe me" he said with a cruel chuckle, "After all my years of living… I know how to keep someone alive and make the talk."

The cold tone and eyes made the poor man tremble. He heard many stories about the Kenman. About how ruthless he could be, as well as the Scavengers' many attempts to capture him. Only that nobody who was send out to catch him ever returned back alive.

"I don't know where the Ryan is" he quickly said, when he saw the older man take a knife out of his boot.

Then, their prisoner confessed of not begin trusted with such information. In exchange, he told them about one of their main hideouts, located a bit further North. According to him, if the Ryan was being transported, then they would most likely stop there for a bit.

After hearing everything that the man knew. The Kenman took out his bloodied weapon from the man's forearm.

"Now for the kid's question" he said and nodded toward Aldryn, who took his place on the ground near the prisoner.

"Around 60 years ago… The Scavengers attacked a group of Nomads… They didn't take the bodies and left them to root. Which is very unlike them… Why did they do that?" the blonde asked.

At this question, the Kenman gave the priest a look, which the other didn't even notice.

"What?" the Scavenger asked in confusion, "I never heard of something like that before" he gasped out.

Before Aldryn could ask anything else, the Kenman drove his blade through the man's skull, instantly killing him.

"Why did you do that?" the blonde shouted jumping to his feet.

"He was telling the truth" the other man said with a shrug, "He never hear of it. No point in keeping him alive then."

With that, the wiped his blade clean of blood using the shirt of the deceased and then put it back in its sheath. Then, the two of them were back on the road. According to the Kenman, if they moved fast, there was a good chance the the two of could catch up to the Scavengers. Despite being angry, Aldryn kept quiet and simply followed behind.

"I'm actually starting to appreciate that guy" the fox suddenly spoke up, "Things are moving much faster with him... We're lucky he joined us."

"But his methods!" the blonde snapped back. He knew of course that there were people who used pain to gain something they wanted, he just never imagined the calm and collected Kenman to be one of them.

Once the moment passed and the blonde felt more calm, he could not help but feel a bit disappointed in the other man. He admired the Kenman for many years now, thought that he wanted to be cool just like him. But then, when he saw the cruelty the Kenman used on the Scavengers he felt disappointment. Of course, logically, he knew that the other man lived many years already and fought many wars. That he could not have possibly survived if he remained soft. Despite those thoughts, Aldryn couldn't help but admire him, see him as a God of War. And a God, in the blonde's mind, would never dirty their own hands.

"That's right" the fox suddenly burst in laughter at hearing his host's ideas, "Gods have little minions to do all their dirty jobs".

"Go ahead", the Kenman suddenly spoke, "Say what you have in mind", he said looking at the blonde from the corner of his eyes.

But Aldryn didn't say anything. It was not fear that kept his mouth shut. For some reason, despite always knowing that the Kenman was dangerous, he never felt that he would harm him. Even when he was annoyed, the older man never once felt threatening to him. Seeing that his companion didn't plan to say anything, he continued to walk.

The Scavenger told them of an old Mansion that the group used as a check point. Where they could restock their supply and announce that they were still alive and breathing. As well as regroup in case of any losses.

"Do you know why the Scavengers might want him?" Aldryn then asked at some point.

At first, the Kenman was silent, but then he turned to look at the blonde with a look like he couldn't believe he just asked that.

"Kid… What do you know about the Scavengers?" the older man asked.

In that moment, the Apostle looked at his companion. He noticed again just how young and handsome the face was. To the point where he couldn't decide who was better looking, the Kenman or Klyran. But his eyes showed fatigue that one could gain only after countless fights.

With a sigh, the blonde told him all that he knew, which wasn't much. Aldryn only knew the group's name and symbol obviously. He told the Kenman about the dream that he had of Imre, which was how he even found out about them in the first place. About how Shyra apparently works both with and against them. His suspicion that they were the ones who killed Imre and that his family was a trap set up for the former Oracle of Light. They were a group of murderers, worse than the Shadow Legion, who at least had a moral code.

The Kenman simply walked and silently listened to everything. He didn't comment and didn't even showed any signs that he was listening to the full story. Aldryn would even think that the man was ignoring him once again, were it not for the tilting of his head whenever the blonde stopped telling the story, needing a small break. At the end, the man didn't say anything at first. But after the blonde made no indications that there was more, the Kenman finally spoke.