It was late afternoon when Gurk opened his eyes. The sun was high in the sky. Getting to his feet, he collected wood to build a fire, for he wouldn’t be going anywhere this day considering how late in the evening it was already. He would take this time to eat a good meal and rest more then start at first light.
Once he had his fire built, he took out his favorite pot to cook in when he traveled. He added water to the half-way point of the pan before he cut up a carrot, potatoes, and a bit of the dried meat. Sprinkled in herbs to taste, it was one of the meals he loved. It was hot with a lot of flavors to fill his belly. Plus, the clean-up was easy. Laying down on his bedroll, he looked at the stars.
The next morning the sun barely had risen had himself a chunk of bread before Gurk set out off down the road—seeing a red fox who was hunched down stalking his morning meal, ready to spring onto a rabbit when a hawk flew overhead in the sky. The hawk looked to be hunting as well, which prey wasn’t clear if it was the fox or the rabbit. He was pretty sure it was the rabbit; however, it could end with a fight of the natural order for the prey one he wouldn’t mind watching. Unfortunately, if he wanted to make it before nightfall to his favorite spot, which contained a rare herb, he collected when he traveled these parts. He would have to leave now; this would be one battle he’d have to miss.
The road was dead. No one was about as he walked. Looking up the position of the sun, it was almost high noon. He heard a noise. He looked seeing a wagon that was full of supplies headed in his direction. As it passed by him, the lone male driver nodded. Gurk nodded his head, being polite as they crossed on the path. He didn’t want to bring any unwelcome attention to himself. As he continued down the road, he heard the wagon still headed in the other direction.
He grabbed an apple out of his pack, ate it while he walked. It was too early to be getting dark, looking to the sky he saw dark clouds, it wouldn’t be long before mother nature watered her earth. He hoped he could reach the spot before she opened the flood gates. He quickened his pace to almost a run.
Happy to see the place he intended to stay for the night. He got to work, cutting several tree limbs. Tying them together tightly to make a shelter under a tree to give him better protection from the rain that threatened to cascade over the land any second. Next, he took some of the tree limbs tied them together, making a pallet in which he laid his bedroll on top. Something his mother had taught him. He missed her more these days, longing to hear the song she used to sing to him as a child. It had been nearly nineteen-years now since the passing of her death. He dug a ditch around the area of his bed and place for his fire to help keep his makeshift shelter dry. He placed the dirt he just dug out of the ditch onto the area for his fire, making it a slope to prevent water from drowning his embers.
As Gurk collected smaller pieces of wood for a fire, the temperature had dropped drastically. Now sitting on his bedroll, his hand and nose had turned red. His fingers didn’t want to work with him as he worked to get the spark for the fire. Glad the spark finally took; he now had a small blaze to warm his hands. He wanted to make sure his embers were good and hot; he added more wood to the fire. The air within the shelter had started to warm up. Still feeling the cold from the opening of the housing, he used his extra cloak as a door. He tied back only a small portion of the cloak, leaving an opening to let the smoke out but helped keep the warmth within. As he laid back onto his bedroll, mother nature released her waters. The raindrops made their music; it wasn’t long before the thunder boomed, which added to the musical as the lightning provided the light show. He put several more pieces of wood on the fire, ensuring it stayed lite for the water had soaked the land; it flowed like a low line creek. The ditch was full but not overflowing as the inner wall was taller than the outer one so that the water would run away from his shelter.
SOMETHING AWOKE HER in the darkness, El grabbed the covers, pulled them about her for comfort as she searched her room for the cause of being awoken from her slumber. A clanging noise came from out in the hall. What in the world is going on? She climbed out of bed headed over to the door. Her hand shook as she grabbed the handle turning it slowly as not to make any noise, she opened the door a crack just enough to be able to see into the hallway. Guards ran in both directions of the hall; it was the clanging of their armor, making the racket. There were two guards now posted on both sides of her door. She quietly reclosed the door, leaning against the door, are we under attack? If so, by whom? There was only one way to find out, dressing quickly she headed out the door.
As soon as El stepped into the hallway, both guards flanked her, causing her to jump. When she walked, they walked with her down the hall—looking from side to side, unsure about the guards as she came into the room, which she learned was the Great Hall. There both Ivoka and Oberson stood, a sense of relief washed over her at the sight of them. Yeah, she didn’t know either of them well. However, she was still concerned about their welfare. They were busy speaking with a tall, husky man with long dark brown hair, which contained a twinge of grey that streaked throughout his hair, even his beard.
Ivoka saw her motion her to the waiting area. El didn’t like the fact she wasn’t allowed to join the conversation. She stomped over to the chair and sat down. She could only assume the man they were speaking to was Lazeen, the wizard. He looked the part from the movies she’d seen. He had a unique staff with him. It was as tall as he was, at the top, there were several wooden twisted slots which held a stone in place. It looked like a huge diamond, but El was pretty sure it was a crystal. She felt drawn to the stone; it was like it called to her. As she stared at the crystal, it lit up, glowing so bright she could tell it was blinding the others but not her. She heard a few words spoken, not recognizing the voice she had no clue who had spoken, but the light from the stone dissipated. Wow! What had happened for the crystal to shine bright? Another thing to add to her list of strange, her life has become a lot of strange occurrences.
The wizard turned around and looked directly at El. His face is sternly puffed up with his eyes glared, pinning her to the spot where she sat, unable to move a muscle. It was as if he was looking into her soul, which made her feel uncomfortable in her skin. She wanted to melt away into the chair.
Ivoka came over and sat down in the chair next to El.
“What is going on?”
“When Lazeen had been doing some trading in the Kingdom of Kalinera, he heard about some deaths in Elmston Forest, which is on the other side of Sprengan. There is an investigation into these horrid acts to locate the person responsible. Death is a serious matter one we take very seriously. I have boosted our security to ensure everyone's safety.”
“Do you know how you lit up Lazeen staff?”
El looked at Ivoka, unable to move at hearing her ask this question, “The only thing I did was look at the crystal.”
Ivoka looked at El with wide eyes, “Ok, don’t worry Lazeen will work with you soon, we want you to understand how to use your magic in case you need to protect yourself from anything or something evil.”
Shifting from side to side in her chair, “So, where are we doing this magic training?”
“Come with me.” Ivoka walked out of the Great Hall. Took a hallway El hadn’t been down before, which lead to a wooden door, walking through the doorway, into an arena. It reminded El of a football stadium without the bleachers. The grass was like walking on a plush carpet. She could see the areas set up for different training. The archery section had several large bullseyes as targets. Another area had stick figures with stuffing around the middle to look like a human for weapons training. Several full weapon racks were throughout the field. There were more areas further off, but she couldn’t make them out in the dim light. In the center of the arena was an Elven woman in armor. She was thin as well as tall; however, she carried herself with pride and confidence.
“Vigdis, this is El, and El, this is Vigdis, the Captain of the Guard. The Queen walked off, leaving them standing there.
El saw a glimpse of a twinkle in her eye when Ivoka mentioned her name.
Looking at El with a stern face, Vigdis shook her head.
“What is something wrong with me?”
Vigdis laughed, “No, you’re not in shape is all, don’t worry, we’ll get you there.”
“You can tell by looking at me?”
“It’s my job. Now, come, we have a lot of work to do.”
“Great.”
Vigdis led El over to an agility course, “Let’s see what you can do?”
As El looked at the log, she would have to cross while maneuvering between the swinging pillars with padding on the bottom going back and forth at different times, to the wall she would have to climb she couldn’t imagine what would be next for she couldn’t see beyond this point.
“You want me to run this course in this?” As she looked down at the dress, she was wearing.
“You need to be able to accomplish any task, wearing anything.”
El took the hem of her dress, pulled it up, tied it in a knot at her side before taking off running in the direction of the log. Climbing the log, she put her arms in the air straight out on both sides of her for balance. She walked up to the first swinging log, which had a bunch of padding on the bottom. She stopped to count the number of seconds it took for the log to swing forth then backward. Once she figured out the number of seconds. She moved through each swinging log counting as she went to ensure she makes it safely through passed the last one. Climbing off the log, she moved on to the wall, seeing there were cracks throughout the wall, she used them to her advantage placing a foot in one she grabbed another with her hand pulling herself up, scaling the wall using the cracks. As she reached the top, she jumped down on the other side. Turning around to see a set of Monkey Bars. Climbing the steps, she grabbed the first bar swinging herself back and forth as she grabbed the next bar in front of her. As she was about halfway through when one of her hands lost grip. Kicking her feet, she was able to grab the bar again to get to the other side. She dropped to her knees before she crawled through the mud pit with a rope fence about a foot high. There wasn’t much room to maneuver through the mud. The last part of this course was a swinging rope, which she had to swing over a pit of snakes. She hates snakes making this the most challenging of obstacles since she didn’t have a lot of upper body strength. She was holding on for dear life as not to fall into the snake pit. She ran back around to where Vigdis was standing.
Vigdis smiled, “Again.”
“Seriously, can’t a girl catch her breath?”
“Again.” Biting her tongue to keep from busting out laughing at this young girl, she didn’t need to take away any confidence she just built up from completing the course.
“What is with the snake pit?”
“It’s a motivator, don’t worry if you fall in, I don’t believe there are any poisons one in there.”
“You believe what you don’t know?” Her words laced with fear.
“Well, the old guards like to pull stunts on the newbies.”
“Great.” Worry etched her voice.
“Again.” Smile now gone, replaced with a look she meant business.
El was finishing her fourth time through the course, now feeling more confident about getting through it in one piece. She still didn’t care much for the area of the snake pit, which gave her the heebie-jeebies every time she had to go over it.
Vigdis walked over to the beginning of the course as El came around to the front, “Take a break.”
Looking at Vigdis to make sure she was serious, “Thank you,” going over, she sat down on a rock under a tree.
Vigdis walked around the area, extinguishing the torches which lit the arena from the darkness, then came sat on the rock next to El as she handed her some water. “You did well on the course for your first day. Let’s take things down a notch, she walked over, picked up a bow and a quiver of arrows. “Come over here.”
El wanted to rest more; instead, she walked over to where Vigdis was standing.
“I want you to stand facing sideways with your feet shoulder-width apart.”
Walking over El did as Vigdis had instructed her.
“Good now, I want you to hold the bow as you notched the shaft with your arrow before you bring it back to your face, aim at the target, let the arrow fly. Now you try.”
Taking the bow from Vigdis El did as she had described, “Like this?”
“Yes, but hold your elbow up so that your arm is straight.”
Making the corrections, El released the arrow, “I missed it by afoot.”
“Keep practicing; it’s not going to happen overnight, you know.”
El rolled her eyes as she pulled another arrow out of the quiver re-notched it, aimed again before she released, she still missed her target.
As Vigdis watched, the poor child tries to shoot the arrows. If it wasn’t for the fact, she knew El had lived in a different world; it would have been funny. Instead, she felt sorry for the girl. She was getting hungry; she was sure El was as well. “You ready to eat?”
“Yes! I’m starving; I could eat a horse.”
“Hmmm, I think that can be arranged.”
“Eww, it’s a saying, I don’t seriously want to eat a horse.”
Vigdis busted out laughing as she headed for the door.
As they arrived at the table, they took their seats.
“Your magic lesson is going to be postponed for a couple of days.”
El knew right away what that meant, more lessons, “Why?”
“Oberson and Lazeen are traveling to Elmston Forest to do their own investigation about the deaths that happened there.”
She breathed a sigh of relief, feeling her aching muscles. El’s arms were on fire, her legs quivering, her fingers near swollen from the training.
The mid-day meal didn’t last long enough for El, not wanting to do lessons as she entered the library. It was several hours before Ivoka called it quits for the day. El was stiff from sitting so long, which only added to the soreness she was already feeling.
Elva was in the bathing area as El came into her room, she had prepared a bath with some lavender smelling oil; she was fixing to leave.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
El didn’t hesitate to peel out of her clothes, she climbed into the tub, leaned back to allow her body to relax, as the heat of the water seeped into her sore muscles. Her life with Lesa seemed like a cakewalk compared to her life here. She missed her friends and the things they did together, like going to the mall to window shop, only to end up at the eatery getting a Soft Pretzel and a drink, they were good times. The water turned cold, she climbed out of the tub, drying off before she went to find some warmth.
It’s a new week. El had improved with the bow. She was now able to hit the target, and the agility course had gotten more manageable. She still feared the snake pit, but she asked her mother for a book on snakes to ensure there were no poisonous ones in the hole. She was no longer the skinny kid who first had arrived; now her arms had beefed out, her legs were tight with muscles she had more curves than before. She walked out to the training area to where Vigdis stood.
“I’m changing your routine, adding pillar hopping.”
“Pillar hopping, what in the world is that?” El watched as Vigdis gracefully leaped and flipped through the air like a ballerina landing on each pillar with ease. “Your turn.”
“Yeah, right,’ as El climbed onto the first one, she felt it swayed standing unsteady for the pillar was rocking back and forth, putting both arms out to keep from falling off the top. She focused on the next pillar, leaping she missed it and fell to the ground.
“Again.”
Getting off the ground, “What’s the point in this?”
“It teaches you balance.”
Once again, El climbed the pillar only to have a repeat of falling.
“Keep trying.” Vigdis walked off, headed for a new group of recruits t
hat had entered the arena for training.
Was Vigdis going to subject them to the same routine she had been? She leaped from the pillar to land on it. Feeling a sense of confidence surge through her, she jumped to the next one only to fall. More determined than ever, she climbed back onto the first pillar. It took her several times before she figured out how to maneuver without falling as much. Repeating the process over and over again.
“El, come join us.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Bummed, for she wanted to get entirely through them pillars without falling, she jumped down from the fourth pillar, she ran over to join the crowd.
“Everything you all do out here in the arena has a purpose, which is to hopefully save your life as well as the people around you. When I tell you how to do something, there shouldn’t be any squabbling, bickering, or any other form of disrespect from anyone in this arena; otherwise, you’ll have a one-way escort out to never return to this post. Is this understood?”
“Yes.” They all answered in unison.
“Good, you are dismissed.”
El looked at Vigdis, “What was that about?”
“Sorry, I can’t show any favoritism, even to you, if I want them to respect me enough to follow me. I caught some of the recruits being mean with a couple of the other recruits because they’re having a hard time completing the agility course. I need these kids to become warriors to trust one another with their lives.”
“Oh, I see.” El walked off toward the door. As she came down the hall, she ran into Ivoka.
“I heard from Oberson; they are going to Sprengan for a couple of days. He wants to make sure everything is still in order before he returns to finish your lessons.”
“Did they find out anything about the deaths?”
“He didn’t go into any details; I am sure when they return, he will inform us upon his return.”
They went to the library for her lessons. She was still struggling with essential words. She had completed the other lessons leaving only the Fairy language and Fairy history. Four hours later, she was glad the lessons were over, she headed to her room to retire for the night.
Dragon Fusion Page 5