The children's carriage stopped for the night, and so did the merchants. Planting their tents into the grass they decided to rest for some time, just beside them a mounting feasting on the clouds above stood sharp, it was a sign that they won't be traveling long
John looked up at it and said "We will be reaching the capital in 2 days or less"
William helped Sara take care of the tent, theirs was in the middle
The other 3 came back with plates of food to eat
Having a rest William said "I don't know why, but the masked man seems, weird"
"His always is" replied Thomas
"No like, his been staring the horizon ever since we went through the castle and towards the capital," said William
"He might be seeing ghost, wait, that might be why he wears his mask, because ghosts hunt him," said Thomas
"I wonder what lays behind his mask," said Isabel
"Another mask" said Thomas swallowing his food
"And behind that one?" asked Isabel putting a spoon of food in her mouth
"Another one, duh," said Thomas" I guess that is why he is so strong, he is made of masks, iron mask," he moved his hands as if showing the title in the air and continued "That is such a cool name"
"Do you think he removes all of them when he showers," said Isabel
"I bet he doesn't, he must be so nasty," said Thomas
"I never smelled any nasty sent out of him" replied Isabel
"What do you go around smelling people? Weird" replied Thomas
"Maybe water is his weakness, that is why he never showers," said William
"But he tends to disappears sometimes, I guess that is when he does so," said John
"Now that we talk about it, he disappears allot," said Sara
"I guess he does shower, allot!" replied Thomas
"No joking, it is indeed weird, he moves like a ghost—" said Sara as a shadow covered her forcing a quick turn back from Sara's side
It was the masked man behind her, he spoke saying
"Go to your beds" before going away once more outside the temporary camp watching the distance
They put off the fire they had, and to the tent they went
The night got darker, guards moved around taking turns, William woke up to a cold breeze coming from the outside
Going through the tent's door she went for some water, taking some sips out he saw the masked man walk by the mountain side
He decided to go after him in secret, step after step he used the trees and mountain cracks as little hiding places, some time passed as they walked forward, the masked man went into a sharp right, William followed after him getting inside a mountain cave
William walked for a bit hiding behind a bush by the entrance, an attack came from the darkness of the cave, the masked man stepped back as another stepped forward
William was horrified, he thought he was lured in, once he looked at the cave entrance, he knew what was happening
From the outside another man stood, he seemed young, in his 20-mid 30s. One hand carried a long spear and the other a short one
"Hello, old man, this was meant to be a surprise, I don't think you feel the same" said the mysterious man
"You can still distinguish me? I'm surprised," said the masked man
"My sight was never a problem," said the mysterious man
He was blind, in both eyes, it seemed to be from birth, his hand had a scar over the tattoo, a black tattoo with a crown hanging over the handle of a sword, the scar took most of it
"Smell, hearing, taste, they are working better then ever" said the mysterious man "They are better then any man's eyes, and yet, I still can't see behind the mask!" he slashed forward with the shorter spear, this time it was blocked as a sound of steal was heard
The masked man pulled a short sword and used it as a shield
"You rat, hiding weapons like always," said the mysterious man
None of them moved for some time
"Do you wish to retreat—" a slash with the longer spear came forward stopping the masked man from speaking the full sentence in one breath
"Got your answer?"' said the mysterious man
The masked man pulled out another short sword out of his black long rob, both unsheathed he stood his grounds
"You're hesitating," said the masked man
"I just, can't remember, all those questions were lingering around my head all the time" said the mysterious "All these whys and what's, they are gone the moment I came here"
"My offer is still up, although you can go away now, I won't hunt you down," said the masked man
"You and your offers, and your disgusting great plan" said the blind mysterious man, he struck with his left that held the sharp spear upwards as he went deep
"That is all we knew, a great plan, that is what you said, you said we can be part of it, if we do better" said the mysterious man as the fight became more intense
"So, that is what I did, what we, did. Doing better, over and over, until, it wasn't enough to be better" he continued getting mor reckless in his fighting style, there were laces where the masked man was able to cut him dead, but he gave him a little wound as a warning instead, each time it happened
"You wonted more, your greedy bastard!" he went all in on that hit, the shock wave pushed the masked hands away giving an opportunity for a kick, wish he did do
The masked man was merely, pushed back, he held his stomach, but he was just checking for Injuries seeing no blood he stared the mysterious man and spoke
"Your tired"
The mysterious man was indeed out of breath, but removing the salvia from beneath his lip he said
"So, what, you pitying me? After all of this"
"I'm saying the obvious, this, is a losing battle," said the masked man
"I," the mysterious man said thinking about it, his hand started to let go slowly of the spear before he continued "Don't care" he clenched it back striking once more
With each hit desperation grew more in the blind man's face, he seemed angry, sad, depressed
Strikes came forth, the battle looked one sided, the masked man was being pushed back more and more, the mysterious one was in charge, or so it seemed
The masked man backed the wall, but it was on purpose, as another slash came, the spear blade's tip got stuck in some rocks
The mysterious man continued reaching for a stab with the longer one, blood was everywhere
A short sword pierced the blind man's guts, the masked man clenched harder and moved it upwards and out of the body, the injured fell backwards, he leaned on his left trying to reach for his spear, but the masked man kicked it away
The hand reached forward anyways, a sound came out of his mouth saying
"Are you watching, blondie" as blood covered his blind eye
The masked man was staring down, holding both blades of his for a moment, he sheathed them back inside his rob and slowly walked towards the bush, he removed its green out of his way, and so it was empty
William was running in the dark all by himself, shocked, his legs tripped over and over again, all he wished for was to reach the camp where his friends were at