"They aren't related." Hadrian heard her whisper to that cohort's leader's ear.
"We could find an easier way to deal with the kids." she said, leaning forward as her hand pressed down on the man's shoulder.
The cohort's leader gave Hadrian a glance and Hadrian's eyes darted away.
"Doesn't change anything." The bearded man whispered back. He covered his mouth and coughed twice. "Word can't get out."
The woman sighed and shook her head, "I really wish I wasn't in the business of killing kids."
"Eh, we do what we have to." The bearded man said.
Sigh, how do I go about this?
Hadrian bit his lip.
There's twelve of them.
"What does the baby eat?"
The short brown haired man took him from his thoughts.
"It looks like it still needs its mother's tit."
"It eats fine. It would be dead otherwise."
The man chuckled, "you're sister?" He asked.
Hadrian shook his head.
"Bloody. How on earth did the three of you end up together?"
"Stars aligning, I suppose." Hadrian caressed baby Alia's face.
"Three people first watch." The bearded man said half an hour later. "Best not to move at night." He looked at adult Hadrian saying that.
Two hours after that, adult Hadrian pretended to be asleep. So did teenage boy Hadrian.
Someone untied horse Hadrian's reins and guided him away from where adult and teenage boy Hadrian slept.
All of Hadrian's hearts raced. The woman approached dog Hadrians with light steps.
She sprinkled something over them and muttered under her breath.
Huh?
Immediately, dog Hadrians felt a warm drowsiness and their heads bopped back and forth.
Hadrian felt his control over the dogs loosen as they drifted into sleep.
Is this sorcery?
Mages did not need to cast spells since their abilities were innate to them, but Hadrian had heard tales of such witches. They were not mages but could perform a certain type of strange magic.
Is that why they're confident hunting outside the walls?
He had not lost control of his dog vessels, but the feeling was like he only had one percent control over them.
The others did something similar to the horses.
Of course, Hadrian observed them from his remaining rat vessels nearby.
Hadrian's hearts tightened. The short brown haired man approached teenage boy Hadrian with a dagger in hand.
Once he got closer, Adult Hadrian sprung to his feet. Everyone in the cohort shifted.
"It'll be easier if you don't fight back." the deep voice of the bearded man resounded in his ears.
The cohort's leader's brow furrowed as he looked at Adult Hadrian's face. It looked different. Especially around the mouth region that had bulges under the skin.
Adult Hadrian's lips parted and he smiled revealing sharp fangs. He stretched out his arms and everyone in the cohort looked puzzled as they saw his sharp claw like fingers.
"Is this sorcery too?" Someone muttered.
"No."Hadrian spoke through those sharp elongated teeth in saliva, his face twisting into a snarl as he shook his head.
With the dogs and horses current state, he would not have been able to effectively use substitution on them. That's why he did it before they were put to sleep.
I should thank you.
Hadrian thought.
His muscles strained as he had substituted the essence and muscle state of his other vessels to this adult Hadrian Vessel.
Teenage boy Hadrian pretended to be waking up too.
"Your coins, weapons and armor." The cohort's leader said, his voice back to that calm state.
"We could forget this transgression and focus back on tomorrow's hunt."
The cohort's leader laughed."That's exactly what we are doing, focusing on tomorrow's hunt." His eyes went from adult Hadrian to teenage boy Hadrian, "I thought it best to give the boy and baby a quick death." He sighed, "but if you insist otherwise, my hands are forced."
Swords were drawn and Hadrian saw the cohort's leader sprinkle some of that dust over his.
Focused on this, Hadrian heard a branch break to his left and turned to see someone flying at him with their sword swinging in a curve.
He stepped back, dodging.
Slush.
A bloody sword poked out his stomach from his back. Someone else had attacked from the back. Rat Hadrian's had seen it coming but he'd been slow to react.
Adult Hadrian kicked back with the essence of the horse and struck the attacker right at his knee, causing it to bend backwards.
The attacker screamed through gritted teeth.
Hadrian tried dodging the third incoming attack, but there was too much happening.
Slush.
Another sword pierced his neck. He felt sharp choking pain and teenage boy Hadrian wheezed like it was him cut in the neck.
He did not let go control of the body, he loosened control and slowly healed it.
"I didn't even need to." The cohort's leader spoke as he sheathed his sword back. His sharp eyes turned to teenage boy Hadrian. "Don't tell me you're also such trouble."
The others pulled out their swords from Adult Hadrian's body.
They surrounded teenage boy Hadrian and baby Alia, no one seeming interested in making the attack.
Hadrian swallowed and shook his head.
"Good. Because we needed live bait." the cohort's leader said.
Hadrian's eyes went to the woman with a broad forehead and hair in a tight bun. He wasn't searching for anything like pity in her eyes.
He wanted a cold reminder of the face of suppression. The fault of the weak is the fault of the strong.
The woman shrugged her shoulders with a disinterested look on her face.
He'd already overheard their plan for choosing who to be bait and had played his role for adult Hadrian to be seemingly killed. This way he would have an advantage at any right time that shows itself in the future.
"Tie him up." The cohort's leader commanded. "And take that sword and armor."
Adult Hadrian felt as his armor and sword were shuffled off of him. His coin bags were taken too.
The one who'd taken them gasped and threw them to the cohort's leader.
The cohort's leader's lips pressed tightly before speaking to Hadrian, "Where did he get all this money?"
"I didn't know he had so much money." Hadrian spoke in a suppressed shaky voice.
The man scoffed and shook his head, "I suppose it doesn't matter now."
He grabbed Hadrian's cheek, "get good sleep. You'll be dying tomorrow."