The wind blew sharply past his ears, leaving a sharp prick at the tips. The protective walls of the city had long been deserted and the smell of dry grass and saltwater rose in Gabriel's nose. He had landed on an abandoned dirt road, far from the city that had set this misery in motion. Old, rotten fences and sticks marked the wild meadows around him. It seemed as if the area had once been used as a pasture. But not even the smallest spark of light could be seen from the search groups, let alone could Gabriel see a ghostly figure that might turn out to be Gilbert.

His neck felt tied up, his breath was shaky and hectic.

If he had lost sight of them now; If he had now fallen into his own trap, then all his efforts had been in vain. Gilbert would have fallen victim to them if he could not escape his conviction.

"Damn it", the blonde histed, kicked off a rock and pulled his sweaty hair. Damn it, Damn it, Damn it! "He turned his head around, looking in panic for any clue that might prove itself as useful. However, there was nothing. Gabriel just wandered around hopelessly, hardly knew how to help himself anymore and was already afraid of going crazy.

He staggered, supported his head with both hands, and forced himself to remain calm, to breathe deeply in and out, and not to indulge in the mean tricks of his own psyche. In battle it would have been nothing else, that had passed into the flesh and blood of every knight. There was no time for prolonged nervous breakdowns because there were only two ways.

Kill or be killed. There was no in-between.
Still, the madness gnawed at Gabriel's mind.
It was insane.
The fear.
The panic.

But he ran on quickly, pinched his eyes and gasped greedily for air.

Only when at the opposite end, close to an old, massive olive tree, a little light came up and the silhouettes of several men appeared, he could interpret a trace. From far away no prisoner was to be discovered, which calmed Gabriel immensely and freed his chest from the heaviness. Nevertheless, he could not risk confronting them. It would have been too conspicuous if he waded around as a single knight, while the others might have split up into groups. Moreover, he did not have a torch with him to give him an excuse.

Gabriel's gaze fell back on the olive tree. If he lined up skilfully, he could hide in its tree crown or simply hide behind it until the first group had passed by. So, he sprinted slightly bent down through the tall grass, felt his cloak fluttering in the rapid movement, and prayed that no one had noticed him. The voices became clearer and louder, but in the last moment he pulled backwards behind the tree.

His breathing became shallower so as not to be noticed, and he staggered a few steps backwards, only to hit something that was anything but a tree. He hesitantly turned around, stopped his breath in shock and suddenly all the pent-up fear was gone. Time seemed to stand still and for the split second, Gabriel felt separated from reality.

Because in front of him, Gilbert cradled.
Breathing heavily, stuck in shock, and covered with scratches and dirt.
Dried tears marked his cheeks with their traces, which were immediately destroyed by the new, quiet flow of tears.

Trembling, the little Albino looked up at him and opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, and yet the words were completely gone. Fear was written on his face. When Gabriel wanted to say something to calm him down, the light of the torches and the numerous voices of the Knights Templar and Hospitallers grew stronger, and he swallowed his tension straight away. Both Order's children did not dare to breathe anymore, leaning side by side against the broad trunk of the tree and waiting for the knights to be out of sight. It seemed like an eternity, every second dragging on, so they thought they had to stay under the tree forever.

Their senses intensified; they became aware of everything. How the grass felt, in which direction the wind was blowing, how their heart was pounding against their chest, and how each breath lifted and lowered in their chest. Their head was blank. Their limbs were stunned, suddenly felt so strange. And the clanging of the equipment lashed incredibly long in their ears. Each of their words echoed meaninglessly through their heads, erased from their memory within seconds. They were frozen.

Even a few minutes after the search party had passed by and the crickets played their part again, it was hard for them to find their way back to reality. They both turned their heads parallel to each other, at first not speaking a word, but looking at each other.

Gilbert's eyes did not remind Gabriel of the gates of hell, as it was usually described by others, they were different. For Gabriel, they reflected a small, almost inconspicuous ruby, while Gilbert recognized a cross that shone like a star in the night in Gabriel's beautiful blue orbs.

Gilbert broke off eye contact first, moved his head in panic and slipped a few inches to his side. He must have thought Gabriel would hand him over to the others right now. Gabriel blinked confusedly at first, trying to calm the little albino, whose breathing became more and more irregular and faster. "Shht, Gilbert, calm down!" he grabbed him by the shoulders and was horrified to see how thin he had become, "I won't tell anyone! " Gilbert's trembling became less. "You won't? "His voice sounded hoarse and brittle, his throat hurt probably as he immediately grabbed it with his hand. But then the younger one suddenly tore his head up and looked in disbelief into the face of his comrade. " You... you know my name? "

" Yes, yes " The Templar tried to smile when he suddenly heard footsteps in the distance and became attentive. He pointed his ears and gently pulled the badly-treated boy to himself to see better. Behind the top of the nearest hill, a light gradually reappeared that could only belong to the next group. They could not stay here forever, that is what they knew. Eventually, they would have the idea of searching the fields, and then they would both face a huge punishment. Gabriel gritted his teeth, grabbed Gilbert by the wrist and pulled him along, even though he was just limping behind him. "You have to get out of here..." the blonde whirled coldly and did not dare to turn around. A smile creeped on his face. " My name is Gabriel, by the way."

The Albino looked at the knight with widened eyes; quietness returned to him. "Gabriel...", he breathed, suddenly filled with so much strength and new courage that he even managed to keep up for a short time despite aching feet. Just knowing his name and pronouncing it drew him out of his grey world, painting it a little more colourful again. Each step breathed a new colour into him; every positive feeling fought the stubborn grey piece by piece, until the pale, grey nothingness became a colourful, diverse work of art, which brought him a step closer to the hope, which was far away for him.

Because Gilbert had faith.
Only once did he overcome himself to accept the help that was offered to him.
Because he would hardly make it this time without support, no matter how much his inner resistance and ambition might protest against it.
This one time, he wanted to let it happen.

This time he wanted the help.

***

The night ended; it only took a few hours until sunrise. The wind forced the grasses to submit, swinging in it, and the air gradually became sultry. The sea must have been within reach. The sea... that would be Gilbert's chance to escape. All he would have to do was sneak into a merchant ship that would take him to Venice and from there he would have a chance to flee north. Gabriel felt this was a plausible plan and yet it gave him a weird feeling in his stomach. Why did the very thought of letting Gilbert go forever leave him with such a heavy heart in his chest? Why did it tie his neck? Why did it hurt him so much?

He looked behind him and realized that Gilbert appeared much calmer in the moonlight. He was breathing evenly and calmly, but every now and then he turned up his nose. Empathy and sincere compassion flooded the heart of the Templar knight, plunging it under its mighty waves. It tormented him to see someone he adored with all his heart suffering in such circumstances, and compassion had assumed its role as a sense of grief, he simply did not want to understand why people assumed that Gilbert had a say in his natural appearance, his genetics. A new-born, whether human child or personification, was free from all sin and guilt. When it was baptized, it was itself freed from the original sin attributed to it. It was the purest living thing on the planet. Then why was Gilbert convicted of something that had made him so bad since the day he was born? Something he could not even have added to himself. Something he could not change despite baptism and the most pious way of life? Something that did not matter to its inner value.

Gabriel knew that he was going against all the standards of his order with these thoughts, his all sorts of influenced faith. And yet he could not care less. He had a will, he had his own norms and values that no one could take away from him... and that will he wanted to keep to himself was to be followed and cherished, to do the right thing.

There was a moment of silence, not a single strange sound could be heard far and wide, and Gilbert took the opportunity to talk to his comrade.

"Thank you, by the way...", like Gabriel, he pulled his hood over his head so he wouldn't be recognized, "... that you wouldn't tell them, Gabriel. "The Knight Templar then smiled. "You're welcome. You do not deserve all the stress anyway. " Now a small, bitter smile creeped on the albino's face. He could not quite believe it, but it was nice to know that someone saw the situation in a different light.

They strolled through the tall grasses for some time, talking to each other at low volume to distract themselves from the restlessness of their surroundings. You could almost call it a tiny idyll, if it has not been for the constant feeling of being watched. No matter what step they took, no matter how far they went and how they turned, the guess that someone was waiting for them never diminished. On the contrary, it even got bigger.

Vigilantly and with great caution, they went forward, listened to the sounds of the night and their own rapid step. Gabriel felt horrible. It was as if he had a heavy rock in his stomach that almost tore him to the ground. He could not tell whether it was out of fear or whether his guts sensed danger.

The blood rushed through his head, felt warm under his skin, and the first drops of sweat were already forming on his forehead. Where... Where did this panic come from? His throat closed and his stomach turned around when he suddenly noticed a strange sound. He looked around, did not leave Gilbert at all, but could not see anything hostile. Strange, he thought to himself, remained in Gilbert's immediate vicinity for safety. He had a bad feeling about it.

But then it happened again, and an arrow burst into the soft ground in front of them. They did not even have enough time to react when the next arrow rushed at them at a furious speed and almost hit Gilbert's legs. They found us! "Gabriel grabbed the shorter one by the hand and pulled him behind him as they tried hard to escape from the dangerous zone as quickly and safely as possible.

Although time did not pass a single bit faster, it seemed like an eternity to the two personifications. Their pulse shot to unimagined speed; any disturbing injuries slipped into the background. The adrenaline kept them going, stunned them, leaving only one goal in sight. To escape from this life-threatening hell field. But the snipers never seemed to lose sight of them, as the rain of arrows just could not stop and the nightmare that had come to life continued.

Only when a rescuing rock appeared close to two mountains close to each other within the sight of the Teutonic Knight, he instinctively steer them both in said direction. Gilbert could not risk the only one who stood by him getting hurt because of him. He grinded his teeth.

Not this time. This time he would do something about it. He had already accepted things he despised too many times in his life and now the line had been crossed.

Gilbert turned sharply to the left, holding Gabriel's hand tightly. " Head down! "The Templar Knight ducked quickly and managed to save himself from the arrow. The rock was only a few meters away and Gilbert hoped to arrive safely behind it. So, he took the last bit of strength he was given and dragged himself and Gabriel behind the giant boulder. The sharp sound behind them told them how the iron tips of the arrows were bouncing off the rock. They took a deep breath, remained silent for a few seconds until they were able to pull themselves together and seize the last chance to get between the high and narrow rock walls to look towards a safer base on the other side.

Their legs felt dizzy, their heart was racing, and they noticed the nausea in their tummy as they squeezed themselves between the saving rock walls and fortunately came upon a small cave-like hollow where they could hide and breathe peacefully during this battle. This place was safe from attackers and for the used entrance the other knights were too big. For one time their child-like body had proved itself as useful. Now, all they had to do was to wait and watch until the coast was clear.

***