The path took him over a high mountain and into a bare valley, and at the end, about a quarter of a mile away, he finally sighted his quarry. They appear like shadows against the white snow, barely visible in their gray-white clothing. He would have missed them were it not for the horses, their dark shapes standing out against the landscape.
"Boy! Wake up," he said softly, nudging the child lightly with his elbow.
The demon boy moved on his shoulder, then said groggily, "What?"
"I found those slavers. I'm going to start running. If I run, can you catch me?" A
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okles asked.
The little boy thought for a moment and then said, "Yes."
"Good. Wait a minute. Hold on, I said it!"
The boy knelt down and wrapped his arms tightly around Androx's forehead, tucking his ankles under Androx's arms. "I'm weak."
Ankerex took a deep breath, and then ran towards the slaver as fast as he could, which he felt was quite fast for a man carrying a child on his back. That's enough - he's catching up. He hoped they wouldn't run away as soon as they found out.
they do not. When he was only fifty paces away they stopped and turned to face him. When he saw that they were not running away, he also stopped and put Sev down, wrapped him in the bearskin and laid him in the hole under the tree. "Stay here until I get back. No matter what. Got it?"
"Are you as strong as Dana?" the demon asked worriedly, staring at the dark figure in front of him.
"I'm the strongest man in the world. I'll be right back, don't move."
The demon nodded uneasily. Androx found himself grabbing the boy's hair and walking down the path.
The slavers' figures moved in and out of the shadows as they passed between him and the two horses, but at least he had a clear view of the horses. One of the cars was carrying a person, and the other seemed to be bundled with flowers and small peppers, like bags of grain. That's definitely uncomfortable. As he drew nearer he saw two men on foot with lassoes ready for his approach, and two others with strange long swords at the ready. The swords must have been over three feet long, long enough to serve as javelins. When he finally reached them, they pulled a few steps away from each other, giving them enough room to fight.
They at least know how to look like a warrior. A
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Okles wanted to be friendly and maybe reach some agreement, but he was dragged by a horse for half the night, trudging through the snow, and he was not in the mood at all. He stepped forward, put down his spear, readied his pedals, and said firmly: "You took my things. Give them back to me, or I will cut you down and leave your blood on the snow, Leave it to the hoe.”
One of the rope men replied: "Put down your weapons and become a slave, or we will chop off your feet and leave you frozen."
Both of his sons squirmed, trying to adjust themselves on the horse to see what was happening, but they were tied so tight they couldn't move. The sound that came from their mouths as they tried to shout made him tremble all over.
He cried aloud: "I am Androchus the giant-slayer, son of Palamonos of Decea! My name is known in the courts of the gods! The king shrank at the sound of my footsteps, How dare you threaten me! Me!"
Two of them snorted, and the rest managed a smile.
"You'd better keep your voice down," said the knight, "and don't let Camus hear you, idiot. He likes to reward foolish boasts with real giants." The others laughed, but it was nervous and forced.
"I am not afraid of your gods. If the gods loved you, they would teach you not to be barbarians. Maybe they are too simple to understand."
"Stranger, our gods will roast your gods on a spit."
Androcles replied: "My gods will laugh at your poor land and stunted people and then return to normal civilized society without hesitation. Our slaves are more educated than your king. Now put Give me my children back!”
"Why are we doing this?" said the other roper.
"Because they are mine! Children! Mine!"
"You hear that? Those are his children, men. His!" said the knight. Androx found that he hated him more than the others.
No one was holding the reins of the horse that Blossom and Pepper were riding, and he smiled slowly and maliciously as he realized that the battle would be easier than he thought - he wouldn't have to worry about his murderous intentions. Hurt these little guys.
He tightened his grip on the spear, his fingers aching from the cold, but to him it was like thirst. He began to walk towards them determinedly.
"Guys, I think he wants to kill us!" the knight said in mock horror. The others laughed, sounding sincere this time. Their pale teeth stood out strangely against the gray of their faces, making them look like some kind of ghost. "Guys, how about we catch him and sell him?" He looks big enough for the heavy lifting. "
"No, he's old. Look, his hair is turning gray. He'll be dead in the spring."
When he got close enough, they fell upon him with weapons raised, and Androx unleashed his murderous intent. The words suddenly burst out of his mouth like a bolt from the blue, but his force was not strong enough.
Just enough to make the horse run. His true anger made it stronger than he wanted, but it had the desired effect. The two horses screamed, raised their hind legs, and fled quickly in different directions. The rider didn't fall, but neither did the kids, thanks to the road clearers. It wouldn't do for one of them to break a leg. or neck. For God's sake, why didn't he think of it?
in spite of. All the slave traders were stunned by the sudden appearance of Androchus. He knew how they felt; guts filled with fear, enemies looking stronger, taller, and more ferocious with every breath.
Their mouths dropped open, and they recoiled as his anger grew. For a moment they seemed to follow the horse, and he could feel their fear and courage conflicting with each other.
"What...one of them couldn't speak anymore. The other one, who looked younger than the others, fell to his knees and vomited.
"Didn't I tell you I was Andro's giant slayer?" he said.
This is how these people should have reacted to him in the first place. Androx bared his teeth and grinned ferociously. Killing Ma
After i, he would have called himself the God Killer, but that would be his luck with the gods that really mattered. Regardless, he was a formidable and respected man. Noble blood. achievements in the war. powerful.
Slowly, bit by bit, he increased his murderous intent, and he moved towards them deliberately and menacingly. The slaves trembled, cowered, and fell to the ground one by one. Two people huddled up in fear, holding their heads in their hands. One man was clutching his throat, eyes bulging, trying to catch his breath. The vomiting man convulsed as if a roof tile had struck him in the skull.
How dare these people steal his stuff? These people? Pathetic. Androx's rage burned fiercely, and the snow hissed around him and turned into a coil of steam. He pushed it higher and higher, admiring how it stretched into the air. His wrath can be felt miles away, perhaps even as far away as Agnar. His children certainly will, and they will know that He will come to save them again.
However, these people in front of him were going to die. Androcles put aside his spear and drew his sword. The oil burned out and the leaves smoked in the air; he would deal with it later.
The first one is a person lying in convulsions;A
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Okles opened his belly so wide that his entrails fell onto the snow. He would freeze to death within minutes. The next two people he cut open the veins under their arms and legs; they would live until they realized they were about to bleed to death. The choked man looked up at him, shaking on the ground. A
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Okles thrust the sword through the man's eye and through the back of his head. Then he put his heel on the man's chin and drew his sword.
Satisfied, his murderous intent disappeared, allowing them to regain their sanity. He wiped the blood from his sword and they slowly began to cry out in terror as they tried in vain to save themselves. He turned away and left them to their fate without looking back. He walked toward where he'd left Seif, and as he trudged through the snow, he realized his feet were dry. His anger caused all the water to evaporate. This made him smile. Sometimes things just work out. He should have left an offering to the gods at some point; a real bull, not another bird caught by a sneaky little pepper.
The demon lay curled up in a ball, wrapped tightly in his bearskin. A
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Okles had to pat him gently and speak softly to stretch him, but it turned out that the boy had been sleeping, not scared. curious. Maybe Androx's intentions were nothing out of the ordinary for a demon? More likely, he was far enough away that he wasn't harmed, though he certainly felt it.
"Have you found them?" The ghost asked him when he woke up completely.
A
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Okles carried him on his shoulders and said, "It's me. I killed the person who stole from you."
“When can we fear them?”
"Boys? They're still on the horse. I have to get them now, but they're safe."
"They're still there, aren't they?"
"Yes, it got away. But I can find it."
"When did we leave?"
"I do not know yet."
"How do you find it?"
"Follow the footprints, of course."
"Can you keep up the beat?"
"Yes. That's how I found you. I followed the footprints in the snow."
"I don't know." Then the demon fell silent, looking at the snow before them.
A
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Okles walked forward with light steps, not entirely because his clothes were dry. It wasn't long before he found the children and the horse, and he was able to leave them on the horse's back and lead the horse back. Then, if Gabi and Agun and Deanna hadn't made it, he'd get them back and find the carriage. Then they could keep walking, except he didn't have to walk anymore because he had a new horse. Maybe he can do it for Dio
thodo
path left an offering - if God could do His work for once.
Sev soon fell asleep again, and after a few minutes he was pleased to see that the tracks in the snow were indeed findable. If the little boy wanted to sleep, Anchorex would let him - the last thing he wanted to deal with tomorrow was a grumpy, exhausted demon. This one bit off a finger.
He walked less than half a mile through the wilderness, as though he were walking down a long, dark tunnel, and in the darkness he could make out all the scenery. He saw the campfire on the other side of the hill glinting in the frost. Judging from the tracks, the horse had climbed to the top of the mountain.
If there are still lights on in the front area at this time when most people have long since gone to bed, it's likely an outpost or some kind of way station, which could mean more armed men. Depending on his luck, a few gray slave traders will come to pick up his horse, seize his children, and take them hostage.
Sev was startled for a moment by the sound of Angelus stopping to look around. When the little boy wanted to speak, the little boy shushed him, and after that, he remained silent but still conscious, clutching the little boy's head tightly with his little fingers, which felt like claws but not like claws.
A
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The okles crept around the hillside as quietly as possible, taking care to hide in hidden places so as not to be discovered. He hoped the fire would blind everyone who was awake, but that was unlikely—no guard worthy of the name would look into the light.
There was a lot of firelight there. He concluded there must have been dozens of fires, or possibly several. Beyond this land he might have thought we had found a village. However, he hasn't seen one in the past four weeks. These people lived on unkempt, primitive farms and occasionally on fortified hilltops. Androcles was surprised to find that they were civilized enough to wear clothes, talk, and live like them. When he told Agna this, she became furious, even though they were not her people.
But why is there so much light so late at night? Maybe A
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The okles were lucky enough to find a group of slave traders who had gathered for some winter festival to exchange their goods and abuse Skytha
de
children.
However, when he looked closer, he didn't see what he expected. Instead, before him lay an empty field with a few round huts at its northern end. Evenly spaced, low-burning flames melted the snow and exposed bare ground. The fires weren't as bright as he'd imagined - they were mostly hot coals - but in the darkness, many of them gave the area a warm red glow.
The strangest thing was that between all the fires, there were large, flat stones at regular intervals. Some kind of savage religious place, full of shoddy little altars and no statues or offerings. What kind of god would want something like this? Twenty or so bare altars?
However, until he had more important matters under control, the vague barbarian religion was not worth considering. The horse's tracks led directly into the center of the clearing, though they were lost in the bare dirt. Well, he still has a long way to go. With every step he took, it became increasingly apparent that he was feeling deep, real fatigue. It was the cold; it drained all his strength, and carrying a demon child on his shoulders didn't help.
Nothing moved in the fields except dancing shadows and low flames. There must be people around tending the fires, so where are they? So many fires require a crew of people hauling logs day and night to keep them burning. Maybe they go together to collect more?
A
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Okles found what he thought was a good vantage point, leaning against a tree and watching for a moment to see if there were any people, or the horses the boys were riding. Soon, however, his eyelids drooped, and he knew he couldn't wait any longer. He cursed under his breath, gripped his spear tightly, and stepped into the clearing into the firelight.
As soon as he stepped onto the bare ground in the clearing, he noticed that the fire was burning hot and close enough to provide an almost comfortable warmth. They even keep the soil melty and soft. The mild air did not lessen his fatigue, and he soon found that the child sleeping on his shoulders was much heavier than before. The ground seemed warm enough for the barefoot boy to walk on it at least for a while, making it easier for them to keep a low profile.
He gently placed Sev's feet on the ground, waking him up. However, when Sev woke up and saw where he was, he hugged Ankerex's legs tightly, gritting his teeth and sobbing. It happened so fast that Androx didn't have time to react.
"Hush! Sev, what's wrong? You have to shut up!" Androx hissed, looking around more carefully to see if anyone would jump out from behind the altar and shoot them with arrows.
Sev tried to take a deep breath to speak, and then said in a touching, pitiful voice: "Please don't put me back, Master Andowis. I'm sowwy!" He held on tighter and tighter, tighter. He clutched at the wool leg of Anchorex's trousers as if his life depended on it.
"What?"
He was almost crying, and he cried: "Please don't put me back. Please! I'm sowwy!" Then, crying, the boy tried to crawl back and sit on Androcles's shoulders. When he couldn't, he protested: "I know you like me!"
"What are you talking about?" I'm not leaving you here, or anywhere. But if you don’t stop making noise, I’m going to hit you, so shut up!”
The boy suddenly held his breath, trying to calm himself down, but he was shaking, tears streaming down his cheeks and falling onto his chest. Every breath the little devil took was sharp, accompanied by a slight whimper. Androx frowned and knelt down, then hugged the boy and patted him on the back, trying to calm him down.
"I'm fine, Mr. Andox," the boy whispered after a moment. "Please don't put me back in the coffin again." "
"What a good boy." Anjax replied calmly. So long, so noisy, nothing moved but shadows and flames. Is there really no one around? Where have they all gone? He took the little devil's hand, squatted down, and walked between the fires. Although the soil was not too soft, it left traces of the sound of horse hooves, and the light from the fire was just enough for Androcles to look closely enough to see the footprints. He noticed the ice melting on the tips of his beard and was reminded for the thousandth time how much he missed the glorious weather.
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