by Kevin Culp
By the time I started paying attention to where I was walking, I noticed that I had wandered back into the woods. I was around the location that I had defended the carriage from the orcs when Christina and I first got back from the capital. I knew that I should go back into town and find some way to help, but I focused myself and summoned Zeus. Almost immediately he appeared before me. He looked so regal, just this enormous white wolf with such a powerful build towering majestically over me. Then, his tail started wagging, and he started panting happily, and I remembered that he was really just a big puppy. I rolled my eyes at him but had to smile. When it was just the two of us, the puppy routine was adorable, but sometimes I wanted him to look serious in front of others, and he rarely did.
I climbed up on his back and spurred him on. The wind on my face felt great as he ran nimbly through the woods weaving through trees. His agility was amazing given his size. Christina tried to get me to be more active with the townsfolk, but I hadn't really spent a day with Zeus in about a month, so I doubted she would blame me for spending some time patrolling with him. Everything was uneventful as usual. The cave that I now knew likely led to the Under Realms had been the only source of possible threats for the last few months and with it being so recently cleared out it wasn't likely anything would happen.
The hours went by, and it was time for my daily drills and sparring with my proteges. I decided I should go pick up Korana first. She had agreed to train with us, but I hadn't even told her it would be at my house or where my house was. By the time I got there, I was pretty impressed with the development so far. I had basically put all the stones in rows near where they needed to go, but there was a clear perimeter, and they at least had the second row of stones up almost all the way around the structure.
I rode up to Tyler. “Nice work, they will be able to move in before you know it.”
“Well, there is still a lot of work to be done, and these stones aren't nearly as easy to move without you, but I know we can't depend on you for everything. At the very least, there really isn't a lot of work to do with them other than getting them in place.”
I nodded. “Where is the family?”
“In the tent over there I think,” he said and gestured in the direction of a tipi style tent.
I rode over to the tent and dismounted. “Hello, it's Archaeus. Are you in there?”
After a few moments, Lianamyr emerged from the tent. He straightened himself up and reached to shake my hand which of course I obliged. “Korana will be out in a moment. I have to say she's pretty nervous. She rarely spends time with other people aside from my wife and me. She tried to talk herself out of it, but we convinced her it would be a good experience. I don't know you very well, Archaeus, but I trust you will take care of my daughter.”
I nodded at him.
He strolled up to Zeus and looked him in the eyes. It was kind of surprising, most people were afraid of Zeus regardless of how he acted just because of his sheer size, and the massive canines jutting from his upper jaw probably didn't help either. They stared at each other for a moment then the elf nodded and reached up to pat him on the side of the neck. I decided not to ask, but I'm guessing Lianamyr innately realized he was more than just a wolf.
“Ah, there she is,” he announced, and I turned around to see Korana exiting the tent.
She was dressed differently from earlier. She had on a pair of leather breeches, boots, and gloves with a cloth top that went over her neck then tied behind her waist as to leave the back open for her wings. Her hair was in a ponytail which allowed me to see that almost her entire hairline looked like it was frozen or something. It wasn't scaly like some of the other patches on her. It was just pure white. She looked pretty natural dressed like this.
“Are you ready to go?” As her father had said, she looked very nervous, but she also had a look of resolve on her face.
Korana nodded.
I went and hopped on Zeus, then rode over by her. Like her father, she didn't seem at all put off by the enormous wolf. Maybe it was just an elf thing. Elves were always in tune with nature, so they could probably either tell he was intelligent or at least sense that he meant them no ill will. I extended my arm to her, and she took it. There was a bit of a pop, but I didn't even feel it. I hoisted her up behind me and was amazed at how light she was. I mean I knew she was short and had a very slight frame, but I had carried bags of vegetables from the farm to the tavern that were heavier than her. I would have thought the wings and tail would have added a bit of weight, but I guess I was wrong.
She put her hands around my waist and I spurred Zeus towards the house. Feeling her pressed against me, I was conscious of the fact that despite how light and small she was, that didn't mean she was lacking in a figure. I felt her chest against my back and her thighs behind my own. I certainly wouldn't compare her to Christina, but I'm sure Christina would murder me if she knew what was going through my mind right now. I would never do anything to hurt Christina, and I'm not really interested in Korana even though she is very pretty, but it's hard to stop your thoughts in moments like these. One of the best things about Christina is that I'm confident she knows I would never do anything to upset her.
We got to the house, and I saw Christina, Phillip, Vincent, and Kayden standing there waiting for me. It looked like Rin had also decided to join us for the day. She was in her full armor and had her glaive and a staff on her back. When Vincent and Kayden saw the girl behind me, I could see them start to whisper among themselves while Phillip just averted his eyes. I ignored them and came to a stop beside Rin.
“Decided to join us today, Rin?” I asked her as I got off, then turned around to help Korana down. What kind of surprised me is that she actually let me take her by the waist and put her hands on my shoulders as I set her down. I would have thought with the wings and her strength she would have just hopped down on her own, but I guess she'd lived a pretty sheltered life.
“Well, I figured if we are helping dragons get stronger here, then I couldn't afford to slack off either. Nicholas and that new girl Irene said they can take care of the tavern.”
I really wanted Rin and Korana to get along, but the way she was speaking now it felt it might be difficult. I could tell that Korana was feeling uncomfortable, but I felt it would be best to hide my displeasure with Rin's response.
“Well, I'm always happy to have someone else who wants to improve their skills. Let's get warmed up, do some drills, and then pair up for some sparring.”
It always felt awkward, but I took everyone through doing some stretches. The only kind of warm-up I knew was what I had learned in PE years ago. It felt silly to me, but to the others, they seemed to think I knew what I was doing. Even Rin went along with push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. Once we finished, my normal students pulled out their practice swords, and I realized I didn't have one for Korana, so went to hand her my real sword.
She looked at the sword but didn't take it. “Um, I haven't really fought much but either way I prefer to not use weapons.”
I scratched my head. “Okay, so how do you prefer to fight? I understand you can't really use magic willingly yet.”
She pulled off a glove and held up her hand. Her hands were solid white with scales spotted much more frequently over them than the rest of what I had seen of her. Each finger was long, and the joints were pronounced. They looked strong, and each was tipped with a talon-like claw that looked quite sharp. I had expected her to have claws, but they were definitely far more substantial than I had assumed. She slid the glove back on and looked down like she was embarrassed.
“Wow, that definitely looked like an effective weapon. I've got to say I'm kind of jealous.” Christina cut in and was obviously trying to cheer up Korana, but I could tell she was reaching and really didn't know what to say.
I looked at Korana and tried my best to channel Archaeus into what I needed to say. “Everyone has a purpose. You have natural tools for combat, but even that doesn't mean you have to us
e them. You have a choice, and I would love to teach you how to fight, but that doesn't mean you have to. I can sense that you could do whatever you put your mind to, so you just need to make that decision.”
Korana looked up at me with a determination that I hadn't seen on her face yet. “Okay, well I definitely want to learn, but I guess I still need to keep my gloves on for sparring.”
“I would agree.”
I ran my proteges through their normal drills then paired them off. It was pretty much always Christina and Phillip together at this point since Kayden and Vincent couldn't really keep up with them anymore. As soon as they started sparring, I could see that all of them had improved drastically in the short time since their training only days before. Whether they had experience and levels in this world or not, a real fight had clearly made a difference in all of them. Watching Christina's nimble moves, it was easy to see why she was called a Blade Dancer. Her movements were so smooth and fluid that she really did make combat look like a dance.
I really wanted Rin to get along with Korana so maybe it was a mistake, but I felt it was best to pair them together. Once the others had gotten into the full swing of their sparring, I gestured to the pair of them. “Rin, I know you are used to fighting with a glaive, and you have a lot more training than Korana. Is it going to be okay that I'm asking you to spar with her and help show her the ropes?”
Rin nodded, and Korana looked nervous. “Relax, I won’t hurt you. Well, unless you’re a wimp.” Rin said.
Korana let out a little whimper that seemed to annoy Rin.
I probably should have asked Rin to fight barehanded, but I guess if Korana was going to fight barehanded against people with weapons in the long run anyway, she needed to learn. Rin fought with the staff, though she wielded it as she would a glaive. She was clearly a skilled fighter. I didn't have much advice to give to someone who fights barehanded but tried to give Korana some advice on reading her opponent, and the best way to deflect their blows and catch them off guard. Rin was taking it easy on Korana which surprised me, but I guess she realized sparring with an amateur in full force would be in bad taste.
Rin kept pushing Korana back and would tap her on the arms, legs, and waist with the staff just hard enough that it would probably sting a person pretty bad but didn't have much impact on a half dragon’s tough skin. It was actually clear that Korana was much stronger than Rin every time she managed to knock the staff back. Just from her grip, I had assumed Korana was strong, but she really threw Rin back a few times when she hit the staff.
After about half an hour of sparring, it was obvious that Korana was very tired, though Rin looked like she had barely broken a sweat. In spite of being tired, Korana had started to catch on to how Rin moved and reacted. As Rin pressed in on her, she moved her foot like she was falling back, but when Rin swung the staff, she made her move.
Korana planted the foot that she had been falling back on, grabbed the staff with one arm, and slammed the side of her fist into it with the other. There was a loud crack, and the staff broke over Korana's fist. As Rin stood there in shock at the broken staff, Korana took her other fist and moved to punch Rin in the stomach. At the last second, Rin gathered her wits. She twirled to the side to avoid the blow and flipped the broken staff in her hand. She swung it from the side and hit Korana on the side of the head sending her to the ground.
Unfortunately, Rin didn't stop there. She looked angry and swung what was now a club down on Korana who raised her arms to block. She bashed at Korana's arms once more, and I started to move in to break it up.
Tears streaming from her eyes, Korana screamed, “Stoo!!!” I can assume she was yelling stop, but in the place of the end of the word, was a thunderous crack as lightning shot from her mouth and threw Rin off her feet.
Rin didn't actually seem to be hurt all that bad, but she stood up furious. “This is why we shouldn't have a dragon in town! They are dangerous monsters that can't be trusted!” Before I could stop her, she turned around and stormed off.
Korana got up and took off running with her face in her hands.
Chapter 4
I walked up to Christina. “Take Zeus and go after Korana. I have a feeling that you would probably be the better one to talk to her. I will go have a chat with Rin.”
Christina sighed and kissed me on the cheek. “Okay, you know how Rin is. Just don't do anything to make her angrier.”
I nodded and started to move after her. She was walking at a pretty brisk pace and had already made it further than I would have expected it. I wasn't going to flat-out run her down, I knew that would probably make her more upset, so I just set my stride in pace with her to make sure I knew where she was going. As I expected, she headed straight back to the tavern.
Before she went inside, she turned back to face me. “What do you want, Archaeus? I'm not really in the mood to talk.”
Despite the bolt of electricity she took to the face, Rin didn't really appear to be hurt. Her hair might have been a little frizzy, but that was the extent of it. “I just want to understand what's going on, and why you have a problem with Korana.”
“Well, Archaeus, I don't know about you, but I don't make it a habit to befriend monsters.”
“What about her makes you think she is a monster? She has done nothing to give you that impression. Even the blast you took was only because you were actively attacking her and don't even try to pretend that wasn't for real. I saw the look on your face, and besides that, you are unscathed even after her attack.”
She was squeezing her hands in a fist so tight that her knuckles were white. “I don't have time for this nonsense, Archaues. If you don't want me here because I won't be friends with a monster, tell me to leave.”
I looked around and noticed that a few people had stopped and were watching us. “How about we move inside and have a talk? Drinks are on me for the night.”
She was still staring at me with a scowl, but she either didn't like all these people staring at us, realized I wasn't going to stop until she talked, or just wanted free drinks because eventually, she said, “fine,” and turned around to walk in.
I followed her, and she sat down at a table in the back. She just looked angry and annoyed, so I questioned if I was doing the right thing making her talk about this. We sat there in silence for a few moments until Irene walked over to the table.
Irene was a relatively average girl. I wouldn't call her overly attractive, but she was kind of cute. She was probably average height about 5'5” with brown hair, brown eyes, and a somewhat mousy face but not in a bad way. She looked nervous, which I kind of understood given that there was a palpable tension between Rin and me. She put a smile on regardless and said, “Glad to have you two in here this evening, Archaeus. What can I get you?”
“I'll just have water thank you and get Rin whatever she would like to drink.”
Rin looked at me. “You aren't getting answers from me that easily, Archaeus. I'll have some of that Dwarven Firewater we just got in and so will Archaeus. Just bring out a cask of it and some mugs.”
I'm pretty certain that Archaeus could probably drink a cask by himself of the strongest liquor out there and not get drunk, but he rarely let me actually drink. Hopefully, this was a circumstance he would because otherwise, this was probably all for naught.
Irene looked a little confused. Maybe because she knew I didn't drink or because Rin told her to bring a whole cask, but I nodded at her, and she just walked away.
“So...” I started to talk, and Rin shot me a deadly glare that told me she wasn't talking yet.
We continued to sit there in silence for a few more minutes until Nicholas came out carrying a small wooden cask and two mugs. I would guess it was about a gallon and already had a small tap in it. I suppose when Irene told him who had requested it and how tense the atmosphere was, he just decided to not question it. He sat it on the table and put a mug in front of each of us then walked away.
Before I could react, Rin gr
abbed both mugs and filled them. She sat one in front of me and said, “drink.”
I took the glass and looked her in the eye as we both chugged down the contents of our glass. Even with Archaeus' fortitude, I could tell they didn't call this firewater for nothing. It burned all the way down, but at the same time had a sweet caramel-like flavor to it. I wasn't much of a drinker as William either, but it seemed to be some kind of high proof malt whiskey. It was definitely not the kind of thing you wanted to drink by the glass. I looked up at Rin and already saw that her face was completely flushed red, yet she grabbed the mugs and filled them again.
She took a small drink and so did I, but then, she went to nursing it and just stared into the dark liquid of the cup.
Something told me this might be the right time. I took another gulp of the fiery liquid then sighed. “Rin, why is it that you have a problem with Korana?”
She sat there in silence for a moment, and it worried me this might have all been for nothing, but eventually, she started to speak. “My parents were farmers. I've told people my whole life that they were soldiers in the kingdom's army who died in the line of duty, but it's a lie. I've also told people that I was an only child, but that's a lie too. I had a twin sister. We were identical. Truthfully, no one but our parents could ever tell us apart if we dressed the same, though it's hard to say whether that's because we just spent little time in town or because we looked that much alike.
When I was a little girl, I dreamed of being a princess. My mom would make me these pretty dresses, and my dad would call me your highness and bow to me. Even my sister played along. She was my knight in shining armor. I guess as a little girl I didn't understand that a farmer's daughter, even a relatively successful one, couldn't be royalty.