Under The Elven Sky (Fengysha Series Book 1)

by Jordan Cramm

  He followed Jakarta silently along the stone slab walkway. Jakarta promptly led him to one of the closed doors along the interior wall. He noticed now, that Jakarta was in full armor, which looked to be a heavy plate mail of sorts. From breastplate, to pauldrons, to bracers and leggings, Jakarta seemed to be wearing thin clothing underneath, but heavier armor over the top. Wolflen wasn’t sure why he hadn’t noticed it before. Perhaps it was because he was too excited and nervous to think much beyond his own thoughts, or perhaps it was because the Elves had such a magical way of making things blend together naturally that it didn’t seem to be that Jakarta was wearing armor. Wolflen thought it was probably the first reason.

  Jakarta opened the doors and stepped aside. It was clear that Wolflen was meant to enter the room, whatever it was. Wolflen could not tell from the doorway though, because after stepping inward beyond the doorway, he would have to take an immediate left. He stepped forward and Jakarta suddenly spoke.

  “I will be just outside this door if you need help figuring the items out. I see that you wore your orange colors today. You will find that later in your room you will have the items to match of all the colors of clothes you received here. Now, as I said, I will be outside this door if you have any questions.”

  Wolflen was puzzled, but he stepped beyond Jakarta and took a left beyond the doorway. He was in a hallway that opened up into a room ahead. As he stepped forward and cleared the hallway corridor, he saw the room at once. It was a square room; simplistic but painted ivory white, and having Elven writings etched over the walls. Wolflen could not make out what the words meant, but his eyes weren’t fixed on them either. What he did notice immediately though, was the wooden peg dummy in the corner of the room that was covered with armor pieces. Not only that, but the wooden peg dummy was not the size of an Elf, but an Izenian.

  The armor was the burnt orange color, like the clothes he already wore, but only slightly darker in shade so that in the places where his clothes would be seen around the edges of the armor, they would be noticed. He stared at the pieces a moment, trying to recall the names. He was familiar with the concept of armor, but never expected to wear such armor himself. Until becoming a War Mage, there would have never been a need for it. He began with his greaves, figuring he would start from the ground up so to speak. So he sat in the chair next to the armor-holding peg dummy. The greaves would protect the area of the top of his ankle up to the bottom of his knee. He noticed that each greave was made of strong plate, and had latching straps on the outsides for adjustments. So when he put his left greave on, it folded around his left shin and calf. He noticed how easily it fit over the tops of his boots, even allowing them room and flexibility still. Then he used the latching clips to tighten it against his leg. He listened to the snaps and then he did the same thing for his right leg.

  Next he knew he must stand for the next piece. He had to put on the cuisse next, which would protect the area of his thighs in battle. These too had latching systems, so that they opened only on one side while the other side remained linked by thin and flexible mesh. Again, as the mesh held the two plate pieces together, he fitted them around his thighs, latching them on the side of his waist with the same kind of latching system that was also on the greaves. Again, he worked both sides of his body until the armor was on and fastened tightly.

  Next he saw the tasset, which was strange to him. In his own variations and experiences, he expected that faulds of sorts would be next, but there were none. Wolflen checked the suit of armor on the peg dummy to be sure. There was a tasset, but nothing to go underneath, as he was accustomed to by his own dealings and understandings of armor. Just the same, he noticed that the tasset was like the other armor he had put on already. On the left side where his hip was, there was thin armor mesh that connected the front and rear plates together. Wolflen pulled the tasset from left to right then over his waist and fastened the latching on the right side when he was finished. It covered his waist and groin for added protection.

  Wolflen twisted at the waist, noticing how free he felt to move and stretch and even bend. He bent over to the ground, touching his toes with ease, and realized that though he wore a heavy classification of armor, he felt free to move and bend in ways he hadn’t expected. He smiled and shook his head. He was still surprised that the tasset was a lone piece, not covering faulds as Wolflen would have expected. But then, Wolflen knew the Elves had ways of perfecting the subtleties of such thing, and that their skills in armor making were known throughout all of Fengysha. Just the same though, Wolflen shuddered realizing that he might be the first Izenian to wear Elven made armor.

  He pulled the breastplate free of the wooden peg dummy, and Wolflen saw that the front and rear pieces fit together differently than the rest of the armor fit together. There were no latches this time. Wolflen saw that the front and rear plates were held together by thick mesh at the top, with a hole cut out of the top mesh for his head to go through. As Wolflen pulled the breastplate armor over his head, he pulled tightly, pulling the huge piece down over his belly button. He realized that the armor plates nearly touched the tasset piece, but left slight room for flexibility. He took a deep breath, then another. He noticed that to his delight, his breathing was not hindered at all. The armor seemed to be perfectly fitted for him, and he smiled.

  Bracers came next, protecting from his wrists to just below his elbow. The bracers though were different in that they had plate over the top or “exposed” portion of the forearm when the arms were down at his sides, but the armor over the inner forearm was not plate, but rather heavy mesh. Wolflen wondered if this was for flexibility, for cooling, or if there was another reason entirely. But as such, the bracers did not latch like the other pieces of armor, but instead pulled onto his forearms.

  Next came the pauldrons. Wolflen studied this one piece item and thought that perhaps it was the most interesting piece to the suit so far, because he had never seen a one piece pauldron set before. These protected his shoulders, and arms down to his elbow. Like the bracers, the underside of this piece was all mesh, exposing plate only over the outer arm and shoulder. But both pauldrons were connected with a thick mesh that had a hole cut into it. Wolflen deduced that like the breastplate, he was to pull this piece over his head. So he did just that. He was amazed at how well protected his neck was now, because the pauldron piece did not have mesh below the mesh of his breastplate. However, the mesh did form slightly up his neck coming nearly to his jaw line. Wolflen turned his head both directions and then completely around, noting how much flexibility he still had.

  He felt the pauldrons flapping loosely against his shoulders when he moved and twisted. He wondered if that was normal, so he lifted one of them. He saw that each one had mesh covering on the underside. He had to work his arms a bit, crinkling them up in ways that were uncomfortable for a moment, but he managed to get his hands slid through the cut-out holes like a sleeve so that the mesh of the pauldrons held them in place over his arms. He took a moment and wondered how long it took Elven Knights to fully dress in armor, and then he reflected on how long it was taking himself.

  He had one last piece of armor to set…it was his helmet. Wolflen studied it a moment. It was simplistic and yet elegant. It fit snugly around his head, with a “v” shape opening over the face, which looked much more like a drawn heart shape because the areas around the eyes were rounded so that he could see more clearly from behind the helmet. But the lower the helmet got on his face, the more it closed in, so that it protected his cheeks, as well as all around the head, giving him coverage that slightly overlapped the mesh of his pauldron piece, so that his neck was completely protected. He also noticed that while the top of his helmet was for the most part rounded and smoothed toward the back of his head, it showed two silver stripes that went from front to back.

  As Wolflen looked over the whole of his armor, he began to notice the other colored symbols and patterns on his armor. Orange and silver, and Wolflen noticed that there were a
lso a few glints of white throughout. The pauldron piece in fact had matching symbols on both sides of a lightning bolt. He knew that the lightning bolt itself was a symbol on the spine of his War Mage manifest, and he had seen the symbol before in a dream as well. Wolflen smiled and realized that he was now fully dressed and it was time to return to the courtyard and regroup with Jakarta. Wolflen wondered though, if Ayvock was being afforded the same type of armor as he was. He smiled when he decided that his friend must be doing the same thing.

  He walked back down the hall to the outer door. When he opened it, Jakarta stood, looking him over for a moment; studying him as if to find faults. But Jakarta did not seem to find any.

  “Was there any trouble getting it on?” Jakarta asked politely.

  Wolflen told him there was no trouble at all. Jakarta nodded as he finished scanning Wolflen over. Then he snapped his gaze up to Wolflen’s with an assertiveness that let Wolflen know that Jakarta’s next words would be part of a paramount moment in Wolflen’s life.

  “The War Mages of Elven time carried into battle with them, the same weapon that Elven royalty and the First Knight of Elven ranks carry. It is known only as the Flameblade. It is a double edged sword made entirely of mithril, just like your armor. But it responds to the thoughts of the wielder alone. As this sword was passed to me, so too will I pass one to you. Understand however that none have wielded a Flameblade the likeness of this one. For this one is not as short as the standard Elven blades, but designed for you specifically, an Izenian.”

  From out of nowhere it seemed, Jakarta brought forth two twin blades and a harness system for carrying them. Jakarta told him that the swords were magical, that they would react to his thoughts once he gripped the hilts. Wolflen took the swords nervously, and as he grabbed the hilts, he could feel power surging through him at once.

  “Lord Darkmoon these are the first set of Flameblades ever gifted to the Izenian people. Elven royalty all carry a single Flameblade. As First Knight of Orenty, like you, I carry two. But in all other Elven history, only the King, the First Knight and War Mages are gifted the honor of two Flameblades. And in this case, this will be the first time that one of another race has been gifted such blades. Of course, yours are longer than the blades that Elves would carry. Now, let me help you harness these.”

  Jakarta showed Wolflen how his mithril harness straps would be put on for use in the future, and the two swords crossed over his back, able to be pulled from over his head at any time. Jakarta also showed him a variation of the harness so that if Wolflen wanted, the harness and sheaths would attach to his waist and there were several variations of the position of the sheaths from there. Wolflen could wear one on each side, or both together if he wished. Wolflen however chose to draw them from over his head, so Jakarta helped him position the swords, harness and sheaths for the first time.

  After they were in position, Jakarta told Wolflen to draw the swords, and he told Wolflen that undoubtedly, he would feel the magic power of the swords at once if he were to lift them over his head. Jakarta told them that the rushing urge would strike, and magic would flow between the sword and Wolflen, but that Wolflen would know how to control the magic flow. So Wolflen pulled the swords form their sheaths at once, and instantly, they flamed to life as he held them over his head. He felt the heat radiating from the blades as the flames covered the swords. He realized instantly that he felt a connection to the swords, much like his telepathic connection with Sespa. The next thing he realized is that he was scorching the ceiling above. To his amazement however, with his mind he put the flames out, making them normal mithril swords once more before lowering them. He was astonished that they were instantly cool enough to be put back in their sheaths once more.

  At once Wolflen began stuttering, realizing he had scorched the ceiling above with the flames from his swords. He apologized quickly and noted that he should have walked farther out into the courtyard to draw his swords, but Jakarta told him not to fret.

  “Relax. This is not the first time that a War Mage has scorched a ceiling above with the gift of Flameblades. There are similar markings in the royal palace of Orenty, as well as a few other cities in Elven lands. And no doubt, Katrina will be just as honored to have the mark of a War Mage in her city as those who bare it in their cities still today.”

  Wolflen smiled, feeling foolish but at least let off the hook for damages.

  “And now this…” Jakarta said as he pulled a belt from seemingly out of nowhere. It matched Wolflen’s armor, and Wolflen put it on at once. He seemed proud of himself as he stood looking back at Jakarta eagerly. Jakarta told him to check all of the belt pouches at once, and so Wolflen did just that. Within the first pouch, Wolflen found thin mithril gloves that matched his armor. Jakarta instructed him to put those on. Wolflen felt the perfect fit of the gloves tighten around his hands. With the new armor he wore, he felt almost invincible. He knew better however.

  As he felt around in the other pouches of the belt, he found another item as well. It was a ring sized to Wolflen’s finger. The nice part about it was that it fit even over his gloves because their mesh was so thin, and he slipped it on his left index finger. He looked at the ring, which was silver mithril with a symbol inlaid upon it. Wolflen looked at it a moment with curiosity.

  “It is the ring of the War Mage. Few are ever made, but the Elves make them so that in case of need, the War Mage can display this ring in Elven lands. And Elves everywhere must respect the wearer of that ring.”

  Wolflen smiled as he continued checking his pockets. The rest were empty, but it didn’t matter. He was overwhelmed by everything he now wore. He knew he was dressed and even armed like a War Mage. He looked at Jakarta a moment and thanked him. Jakarta reluctantly accepted the graciousness but said it was his duty to do everything he was doing and that he was honored, though Wolflen wondered if Jakarta were being completely forthcoming with that truth.

  Wolflen asked what came next now that he had armor and weaponry. He was excited, asking if they would learn to fight now, how to use the swords, or if they would learn different weaponry, or shields. Wolflen just began carrying on he was so excited, until at last Jakarta cut him off.

  “Now Lord Darkmoon,” Jakarta began, “you will learn how to use your new items. But that means that first you must learn how to wear all of your items for extended periods of time and under pressure. Are you ready to begin your training?”

  Wolflen knew he had no choice but to say yes. He had accepted the call of the War Magic after all, and he felt like there was no backing out of it now.

  For days that followed they began furious training. There were long circular marches where all he would do is trod in circles carrying heavy logs on his shoulders. Other times, using the same log, Wolflen would be told to kneel, to crouch, to bend or turn in certain ways. It was maddening not only because of the physicality, but also because there wasn’t yet much sword practice. Wolflen’s muscles ached and burned in ways that he didn’t imagine were possible. Every night he took long baths in warm water to soothe his muscles. Every day in the morning when he woke, he ached, and putting on armor seemed to become more and more challenging. Even moving around had become more difficult than before and basic movements had become painful. He told Jakarta about the pain, but Jakarta only smiled and nodded, continuing to push Wolflen harder and harder it seemed each day.

  Wolflen vomited more than once during the first week of training. Jakarta constantly had him running in full armor, which sent Wolflen’s breakfast churning even the first day. Day two was no better either. And the days continued in such fashion until the end of the first week. Wolflen learned in that time, to eat smaller portions of food before exercise and he began to lose weight right away. Jakarta told Wolflen not to worry about the weight loss though, because whatever weight was lost would soon be gained back in muscle weight. Jakarta said that Wolflen had to be broken down and rebuilt. Wolflen wasn’t sure he liked the sound of it, be he knew Jakarta was experienc
ed at what he was doing.

  During that first week, Wolflen also saw less and less of Ayvock. And then the first week went by, and the second, and eventually the entire month. Wolflen was learning about physical endurance and how to use the sword finally, but he saw very little of Ayvock and his visits to Katrina were daily but short. She always asked him if he had trained his magic that day. Jakarta always allowed time for it, but Wolflen was usually too exhausted to focus his mind enough for magic, so instead he normally spent that time of the day for a nap in the sun, sitting in fields out where he first found the Unicorns playing.

  More weeks passed like that, and talk grew about King Janureen’s upcoming arrival, which was still impending. Wolflen believed that once the King did arrive, the more magical side of training would intensify. In the meantime though, Wolflen did begin more practice work on his magic as his endurance began to grow and wielding his weapons began to tax him less. He knew it would be a long while before he was truly ready for fighting, but he also knew he was making progress.

  The strange part of the time spent training was that reports had come in from time to time of Elves being killed in the forest surrounding the city. They were scattered reports, but occurring more frequently as time went on. Apparently, Ravenshade was growing impatient as she waited for Wolflen to leave the city. So much so that bodies began appearing in the forest with messages carved into them. One read “Send out the War Mage” and another read “You harbor your doom”. Of course, Jakarta doubled the amount of guards in the forest, but their efforts to catch or kill Ravenshade had failed. Jakarta himself was busy with training Wolflen, or else his services would have aided the effort. As for Trevel, he trained Ayvock daily, so again his services were also kept from protecting the woods.