"Seriously? Anonymous?! So I have to trust a stranger's journal, Evandro?"
Evandro smiled.
"Actually, it's not just one stranger's, but several. The book was written in various editions and shared with many daring travelers or reckless fools; what I'm sure of is that this is our way to carry out the plan."
Evandro stood up and left to buy some bread, check the movement outside, and see if part of the soldiers had left.
"I'll be right back. Inside the third and last door of the cabinet, you'll find two leather bags. Try to gather clothes, supplies, and food that we have here for us…"
Alexander was confused when he left, because in his village it wasn't allowed to go out and buy food — he could only wait to receive a meager amount from the soldiers — this was due to the fact that the soldiers in charge of the villages had the right to control certain things, including how the villages operated, as long as they didn't overrule the king's authority — who delivered a basket with old food.
He crouched down, pushed one of the chairs aside to make room, and opened the first door — it opened to the left — then opened the second door — this one opened to the right — and saw, in that shared part of the small cabinet: 1 clay pot like the two on the table; 3 jars with names written in Elliniká Angliká; two rectangular compartments made of fine, polished wood with lids, labeled on top 'psoad,' which was Elliniká Angliká for bread.
'I guess that's all…'
He took the two wooden compartments and placed them on the table. Alexander was about to open the other cabinet door but stopped for a moment to think.
'Maybe I should take the jars… Who knows, they might be useful.'
He crouched down, grabbed two in one hand and two in the other, and spread them out on the table, almost knocking them over.
Alexander crouched again and opened the last door — this one opened to the right — and took out two simple bags made of old, worn leather that were folded inside.
The bags were rectangular in shape and about the length of an average human's back, which made them look strange.
He grabbed everything and quickly started putting it all into the bag.
Pa!
Suddenly, Alexander was startled by the door swinging open and Evandro bursting in, shouting.
"We need to leave now! Greekclaw soldiers from the king's personal battalion came here looking for you…"
He grabbed a bread compartment like the ones Alexander had seen earlier and shoved it into one of the backpacks. Evandro was breathing heavily.
"While I was buying the bread, I saw them popping up for inspections in several places. Some locals probably saw you with me!"
Alexander froze, with barely noticeable tears rolling down his face — after all, he had to go through it all over again.
Evandro, more exhausted than usual, shouted.
"LET'S GO!!"
Alexander was startled like someone who had just woken from a nightmare and nodded.
Evandro ran toward the door and flung it open violently but immediately froze, feeling a chilling, terrifying shiver down his spine.
Three Greekclaw soldiers were there.
In one swift leap, he grabbed a sheathed sword mounted on the doorframe above him and stumbled backward.
The soldier in front started laughing, which made the other two burst into hysterical laughter as well.
They suddenly stopped and drew a silver-polished sword, which the soldier pointed toward Evandro.
Evandro, however, stood tall and confident. The soldiers, on the other hand, assumed he was just some old man trying to protect a fugitive, giving Evandro a certain advantage over his enemies, who underestimated him without knowing.
The soldier calmly stepped into the house with a mocking smile on his face. As he stepped in further, Evandro noticed how he wasn't that big — he even seemed smaller than him.
He gripped his sword tightly, but soon after, he relaxed his muscles and calmed down.
'Uncle… What you taught me has to be worth something…'
Without Evandro realizing, the soldier swung his sword in a diagonal strike, but Evandro reacted at the last second.
Clang!
His forehead, nose, and mouth, however, hadn't escaped the fast sword slash, causing fresh blood to run down his tense but confident face.
Clang!
He quickly retaliated and, surprising the soldier with his speed, struck the thin but sturdy iron-plated armor on the soldier's chest.
Before the soldier could react, he slashed directly at his shoulder, cutting off his right arm and spilling liters of blood onto the floor.
Noticing Evandro was in shock, Alexander grabbed him by the collar to pull him toward the back door, just as the other two soldiers ran toward them.
Evandro was paralyzed, in shock at himself, but snapped out of his trance, falling to the ground and smashing into the rough dirt behind his house.
Alexander jumped, pushing off the edge of the roof, and climbed up in one motion.
"Jump!"
With no time for Evandro to react properly, the soldiers burst in, yelling and pointing their swords at him.
"You die!"
One of them swung to decapitate Evandro, but even so, Evandro reacted as fast as he could and blocked it at the last second.
He kicked the soldier's foot right after and knocked him over onto himself; Evandro used the momentum to stab his sword into the man's stomach, impaling him abruptly.
Evandro waited for the other soldier to attack him, but when he pushed aside, he saw Alexander had already jumped on top of the man and was slamming his elbow into him repeatedly on the ground.
They were covered in blood; when Evandro noticed, he started crying quietly — he had never killed anyone… Everything slowly became blurry to him — from the sound of Alexander still furiously hitting the soldier who had been dead for several seconds, to the soldier beside him moaning in agony, to the distant and mournful sound of crows flying in the sky.
He fainted…