He walked a little when he noticed that Saka was following him. He was not so far away from his treasure tree when he looked at the little boy beside him.
"Go home, Saka." He said.
"But I want to follow you. What if you need backup?" The little boy asked him.
Lysander smiled. The purity of the little boy's heart was definitely something he admired as he turned to him, squatting right in front of him.
"You want to help me?" He asked him.
"Yes." Saka said, his soulful eyes reeking of his sincerity.
Lysander hesitated, not knowing what he was feeling on the inside. It was like, deep within him, there was a turbulence of emotions. He realised that this was the first time anyone offered to assist him or stand by him.
"To think my first time was from a child." He muttered under his breath.
Saka's eyes widened with expectation.
"What did you say? Can I come?" He asked.
"You see, Saka. If you really want to help me, I suggest that you go back home. Then you stand guard and protect everyone at home, okay?" He asked him.
"But what about you? Who would protect you?" The little boy asked him.
These questions were rather unexpected for the young man that had spent most of his life like a wanderer. No one ever asked this and as surprising as this felt, he had an ominous feeling about this.
Perhaps, this was his last run as it was always told in tales that unexpected things happen during the last moments of a man's life.
Instead, he forced a smile which he was not sure the boy could see fully in the dark. He could see the little boy's teary beady eyes and he patted his head, flashing his teeth in what would be an encouraging smile.
"Have you forgotten that I'm Lysander the lyre player? The spirit is in my music. Don't worry, the spirits guide me but if we keep wasting time, they might leave angrily." He said to him, trying to urge him to get going.
It was bad enough that the little boy had successfully stirred up varieties of emotions within him. He did not need further disturbance in his emotional state.
"Alright. I would go home. But be careful. I heard they have swords and you have..." The little boy was speaking and then hesitated as he looked over Lysander, a feeling of disappointment fell over him as he stared at his lyre.
"Well?" Lysander asked him.
"Actually, nothing. Just your lyre." Saka said.
Kids and their blatant honesty. Lysander could not believe the boy had said that but it did stir a feeling within him.
"It's a special lyre. If you go home now, I'll tell you the story behind its special ability when I return with your grandfather." Lysander said to him.
Saka's heart started beating fast from excitement. He turned around and bounded downhill towards the village.
Lysand watched him for a moment before rising up and turning back the way he had been going.
"Well, let's go get beaten again." He said.
He had been moving for some time when he suddenly thought of a bright idea. It would not hurt if he played a little music on his way to punishment. This caused him to stop moving abruptly.
But as he stopped, something or rather someone suddenly bumped into him causing him to stagger forward and he managed to get his bearings.
Instantly, he turned around.
"Who's there?" He demanded, his eyes flailing wildly as he glanced around.
At this point, Eryndor who had bumped into him was hiding behind him and each time Lysander turned, he would make sure that he remained behind him.
Something told Eryndor that there was really something about this young man but he felt at odds on what to say to him. His thoughts rummaged on the fact that if this turned out to be the right person, he was going to have to face the son of the man he had betrayed.
"Saka?" Lysander asked as he wondered if the little boy had been the one.
But that did not seem possible. Whatever bumped into him was way taller than that little boy.
Lysander decided to wave it eventually as an odd feeling from the fear in his heart.
He slung his lyre over his head suddenly and it smacked against someone.
"What the heck?!" The man yelled behind him.
A smile folded at the corners of his lips as Lysander turned around on that side.
"Gotcha!!!" He yelled excitedly, like this was a lottery to be won.
But once again, there was nobody there.
An eerie feeling waved within him as cold shivers went through his spine sending alarming signals to his head. He had already started sweating cold sweats on his temple as goosebumps spread through his arms.
"No way I'm getting killed by a ghost." He muttered as he broke into a run immediately.
He ran without looking back which left a bemused Eryndor that had actually been above his head behind to watch him run.
Eryndor was doing his best to keep his laughter from blurting out so his aim to retain the element of surprise was of much more importance.
'Seriously, that had better not be the guy that I'm expected to work with. That's an absolute coward. In my first encounter with the netherworld, I confronted the spirit mage bravely at just thirteen. This dog's running with his tail tucked in.' He thought to himself as he kept watching.
Lysander was still running at this point and had already started disappearing from his sight.
"I best follow him and see how he plans on resolving his conflict." Eryndor said and started following him.
He came to a stop in the open space of the market from earlier as he hid behind a roof.
A now heavily panting Lysander was there, hunched over and trying to catch his breath. Sweat ran through his ears from the position he was in as he finally managed to rise up.
A cold breeze blew behind him and he was alert instantly. He looked behind him, and there was nothing.
"Guess, it's just the breeze." He muttered.
This was when a bright idea crossed Eryndor's mind. He found a trampoline on the ground and he made his way towards it. Very quickly, he slipped under it as he floated upwards.
Now, his entity was hidden away by the trampoline but somehow, he could see through it and approached Lysander slowly.
The latter had just started walking slowly away when Eryndor tapped him.
Like a deer that light had suddenly pointed at, Lysander ceased every movement. His heart beating really fast and his blood boiling in his ears as he mechanically turned around slowly.
He saw the figure, a big black trampoline floating in the air but what caught him were the eyes at the top.
"Arghhhh!!!!" Lysander screamed through his head as he broke into yet another run
He did not plan on stopping this time around as he kept running. There was just one destination on his mind and right now, he did not mind asking them to hold him in there forever.
Eryndor was amused this time, letting go of the trampoline as he hurled himself around in the air from laughter. Lysander was far too scared to notice him.
"What a pathetic coward." Eryndor muttered when he finally caught himself.
He decided to go and see what was going to happen next as he followed the trail the scared young man had left.
Lysander ran all the way to the officers post and started banging repeatedly on their gates.
"Help! Help!! Help!!! It's going to eat me!!!!" He yelled.
An officer above the post looked down and yelled at him.
"Go away, drunk!" He said.
"Please. Just arrest me." Lysander screamed at the top of his head.
"Arrest you? Who are you?" Another officer asked, his tone full of amusement.
"I'm Lysander. I'm a thief. In fact, I'm here to submit myself." Lysander said, still banging at the gates.
There was a moment of silence only interrupted by the whispers between the officers and then, there was a sound of that gate unlocking.
Lysander ceased knocking as he stepped back, waiting on them to open.
The gates opened eventually and there stood a light bearer, the officer in charge and two other officers that had been chasing him from the evening when he had been chased in the market.
"Well, well, well, I guess there is honour amongst thieves in fact. What is this, come to exchange yourself for your accomplice?" The officer in charge demanded, a smug expression registered firmly on his face.
"Yes. Of course. The fruit seller. But he's not my accomplice." He said.
"If he's not your accomplice, then who is he?" The officer demanded.
"A fruit seller. Please, you have to arrest me, it's coming." Lysander said.
"What is coming?" The man demanded.
"It..." Lysander said and pointed but there was no one there.
"Trying to trick us, eh? Arrest this fool." The officer in charge stated and turned away.
"But it..." Lysander started speaking just as one of the officers punched him in the face and he fell.
He was grabbed by both arms and dragged away.
"It was there." Lysander muttered.
But 'it' was watching.
Eryndor had seen everything from where he was observing from and for a moment when Lysander had turned, the light of the flame reflected in his eyes and he saw it.
A gasp escaped his mouth.
"It is him." Eryndor muttered.