Breaking Lies: Stars and Fire

Chapter Three (Part Two)

Was it an animal? My pulse spiked. Cedric put a finger to his lips and motioned for me to stop. Instinct told me to obey. Even without his instruction, I would've known to stop. I wasn't a fool. I'd been sneaking around since I was eight.

"Ah! Fellow travelers!" a high-pitched voice squeaked, "see me treasures! Yes, yes! My treasures are truly the best. Mr. Olow's treasures!"

A small man emerged before us. He carried a massive backpack that looked more like a moveable shop stand. There was even a small counter attached to him. The backpack-shop stand had several pegs, bracelets and necklaces hanging from them.

The man had barely any hair, but what he did was a bright color of red. He didn't look or speak like a commoner, but more like a foreigner.

"Mr. Olow has necklace of every kind! Jewel, stone, even blue gem! Or maybe young man wants compass? Mr. Olow has–"

"No, sir, we don't need–" Cedric tried.

"No? Oke', maybe hammer? For wood?"

"No, we're fine," Cedric tried to push him aside and keep moving but the man just intervened.

"Ahh! I know just what young man wants! A new bow!"

We both stopped. The man, Mr. Olow, seeing he had a shot, continued to show off. "Yes, I have bow. Look! Look!"

He pulled out a small bow from behind him. I had no idea how he kept it there, but it wasn't my place to ask. The bow didn't look anything special, and apparently, Cedric thought so too. His shoulders slumped and he let out a slow sigh.

"I should've known," Cedric muttered. Then, to the man, "thank you, sir, but we're good."

"Young man sure? Really?"

"Really." Cedric said, his voice starting to let in that familiar sarcasm.

"But I–"

"We're good," Cedric said through clenched teeth.

We pushed past the man. I gave a nod in sympathy and embarrassment, but moved on. The na looked like he was about to follow us, but then reconsidered.

I really wanted to buy something. Everything was such a wonder to me. It wasn't like I didn't know about the items he sold. For example, I knew what a compass was and how it worked, but I'd never seen one.

"Why didn't you buy the bow?" I asked Cedric, "it could've been useful."

"Not really," he said, "a child could've barely shot with it. For two reasons. One, the bowstring was too loose. It wouldn't give enough power to shoot a foot in front of me. And two, the bow itself was a little more than a branch. It would break before I could even draw fully."

I looked at him with a newfound respect. He could determine all that just from glancing at it? Suddenly, I wished that I had some skill like that. Inferiority creeped down my spine, and angrily I dispelled it. I was talented in other things. Cedric was trained as a Ranger, of course he'd recognize bows and their practicality levels.

I rubbed my hands together and breathed on them a little. The wind bti through my clothing as if trying to tear at my skin. But at least the sun was out. It gave some warmth, even if it was scarce. I pulled my cloak around my shoulders tighter. The clothes I wore felt dirty. They were given to me from Daofen. I was running away from Daofen, yet I had remnants of it on me. It was a contradiction.

Cedric's hand suddenly gripped mine and pulled me down behind a bush. I wasn't ready to crouch like he did, and I ended up falling on my face, cutting my lip on a rock.