The Roar of a Dragon

by Robert Blanchard

  The beating sun was blocked out as a shadow fell over me. A very large man in armor was standing defensively over me, separating me from the bully knight.

  ‘Before you go any further, Norvin,’ a deep voice rumbled, ‘let me remind you that while you have that sword pointed at me, you are breaking Delmar law.’

  There was a pause, and then the sound of a sword being sheathed.

  ‘I’m sorry, Sir Garridan!’ the bully knight sputtered. ‘I didn’t know it was you! That… that peasant attacked me!’

  ‘Indeed?’ the deep voice answered. He turned and looked back at me, revealing ice-blue eyes that peeked out from under his large helmet: it was emblazoned with a red eagle, which also appeared on Delmar’s flag, and had a plume of white hair (I believe it was horse hair) sticking out from the top. He had a medium-length grey beard.

  Before I could defend myself, the oddest thing happened.

  The knight winked at me.

  Bewildered, I watched as the knight turned back to this ‘Norvin.’

  ‘Interesting… it certainly didn’t seem that way from my vantage point.’ He glanced back toward the barn, and I swore I thought I could hear a smile in his voice.

  So he had been watching, this entire time. Why hadn’t he interjected sooner?

  Norvin sputtered indignantly. ‘There’s no way you could have possibly seen the whole ordeal, General —’

  General?

  ‘Oh, but I did, Sir Norvin,’ my savior responded. ‘I was on my way to meet you when I found that you had taken a bit of a detour, to this young man’s farm. Imagine my surprise when I saw what came next.’

  Sir Norvin’s eyes widened in surprise; he hadn’t been expecting that. The eyes quickly narrowed again in contempt. ‘Just showing him the way of the land, that’s all.’

  Sir Garridan strolled toward Norvin slowly as he spoke. ‘There is no law that says you can attack a farmer, baker, carpenter, butcher, blacksmith, or any’ — all of us jumped at the sudden rise in Sir Garridan’s voice — ‘citizen for that matter, for your own personal amusement.’

  He stopped in his stride, and Norvin took a step backward, eyes wide, looking as though he were getting ready to dodge an incoming blow.

  Sir Garridan stood like a majestic stone statue in the middle of my field. ‘Thanks to my intervention, a tragedy has been avoided. Today, you will walk away, Norvin… but if I catch you doing any such thing again, I will report you to the king; you will be stripped of your knighthood, and you will spend the rest of your life in a dungeon cell. Do you understand?’ Sir Garridan stated in a deathly calm voice.

  Norvin’s response was a shaky nod that was defiant in its nature, and he turned and jumped on his horse.

  As soon as Sir Norvin and his party had left, disappearing down the dirt road in a cloud of dust, Sir Garridan turned and walked back toward me. Despite the fact that he had saved me, I was still very apprehensive; I didn’t know this man at all, and had already had one bad encounter with a knight that day.

  ‘Did he harm you?’ Sir Garridan asked me, his voice seeming to be genuinely concerned.

  Not at all. We were just messing around. I think I’ll invite him over for tea later. I bit back my sarcastic retort, and started to answer, but I was so nervous that I couldn’t find the right words.

  The general put up his hand, stopping me. ‘Forgive me… That was a foolish question. All things considered, however, things could have turned out much worse.’

  I conceded in my mind that he was right, but I was still angry and embarrassed. And then, for some stupid reason, I felt like he was going to arrest me, and the thought terrified me. I was also scared because I had never heard of a knight having any kind of sympathy or respect for the common people. To hear people talk in nearby towns, knights were as bad as any noble, and I had certainly got an example of that already.

  ‘I didn’t start anything with that knight, sir…’ I was still stuttering my way through an explanation, but Sir Garridan gently put his hand up, silencing me.

  ‘Worry not, my lad,’ he said, his voice tinged with humor at my apparently noticeable fear. ‘As I implied to Norvin, I witnessed the entire ordeal. Norvin has a gift for finding trouble, or creating it.’

  ‘T-thank you for saving me, sir,’ I stuttered. ‘If you hadn’t, I shudder to think what might have happened.’

  The general’s eyes rose in approval. ‘Good manners, and to hear you speak, well educated. You impress me more and more every minute.’

  He was impressed, by me? Why, because I hadn’t cried when Norvin drove my face in the dirt? Because believe me, I had wanted to.

  Then, another thought occurred to me. ‘If you saw everything, why —’ I hesitated, as I was about to ask the general a very bold question.

  The general nodded toward me, encouraging me. ‘Out with it, lad — do not be afraid to say what is on your mind.’

  I wasn’t sure if he was serious, but I took a deep breath to summon courage I didn’t feel and continued anyway. ‘Why didn’t you stop him sooner?’

  The general’s face fell, just a bit. ‘Please forgive me, son. I must admit, my reasons are selfish, but here it is — I saw Sir Norvin staggering toward you, and I was about to intercede. But when I saw you pick up the gardening hoe, I became very intrigued. And then, I saw your ability to dodge and fight back, and I couldn’t help but be absorbed by what I was watching. Your skills in combat were quite impressive. I have never seen a farmer display such natural talent before.’

  I was too young to realize it at the time, but his statement was also an implication, one that I didn’t respond to since I was oblivious to it. Instead, I looked back at my shattered weapon, then down at the ground, tremendously happy at his praise, yet utterly embarrassed that a gardening hoe was my weapon.

  Sir Garridan must have sensed what I was thinking. ‘Do not be ashamed, young one. On the battlefield, even the most unlikely of weapons can save your life. Do not expect mercy if you are unarmed. Anything you can hold in your hands will suffice.’ Sir Garridan looked me up and down. ‘How many years have you seen, young man?’

  ‘Sixteen,’ I answered, and Sir Garridan nodded approvingly.

  ‘You’re a good size lad for your age,’ he said, smiling a little. ‘What is your name?’

  ‘Aidan,’ I answered, lowering my eyes in a slight bow. But my fumbling attempts to be respectful in the presence of a knight finally wavered and crumbled under the weight of what I had just endured, mentally and physically, and I could feel my emotions beginning to pour out of my soul, not unlike water out of a cup that has just been knocked over. I closed my eyes, my head sinking with sudden exhaustion and anxiety over what I had just endured. I could feel myself shaking, and for a split second, I wasn’t sure who I was, or where I was. Looking back on it, I can see that my young mind had suffered too much emotional trauma at once, and I couldn’t handle it.

  Sir Garridan, of course, could see this immediately — he took a step forward and laid a gentle hand on my shoulder. Even though this man was a stranger, this unnecessary, yet considerate, act had an instant calming effect on me; I was unexpectedly reminded of my father.

  Sir Garridan bent low to look me in the eyes. ‘You handled yourself better than most soldiers I have ever seen. You should be proud of yourself. Always remember — when you can walk away from a battle, be grateful, because there is always someone who won’t enjoy the same luck.’

  I nodded, knowing that he was right, but finding his philosophy hard to grasp at that particular moment. I just stood there silently, so the knight continued.

  ‘Again, forgive me… I praise you for your manners, yet I find mine lacking. I am Sir Garridan Winslow, general of the White Army of Delmar.’

  What? This man was the general of the White Army… and he was named after a famous warrior from the Second Age?

  My mind reeling from all of this new information, I didn’t know how to respond. Unfortunately, when I meet new people, I always end up
reacting to them like a fool. So, since I was in the presence of such greatness, I did the only thing my frozen mind could think of to do — I dropped to a knee and bowed my head.

  ‘It is an honor to meet you, sir.’

  Sir Garridan erupted in laughter, a deep, hearty belly laugh at my fumbling attempt at respect.

  ‘Well,’ he said, in between chuckles, ‘I can say — with all honesty — that has never happened to me before.’ He looked down at me, his head tilted to the side a bit, and said, ‘I am a general, not a king, lad. Please rise.’

  I stood back up, ashamed at my lack of composure. But my indignity was immediately eradicated in the next moment.

  ‘You have courage, little one, the kind of fortitude that is difficult to find in most soldiers.’ Sir Garridan said seriously. ‘Having never even seen a battle, let alone have experience in one, you battled a knight, knowing he could have killed you at any moment, or that any of the other two knights could have interfered at any time. That’s a rare quality to find in any human being… always hang on to it, son.’ He put his armored hand on my shoulder again, gave it a light squeeze, then turned and walked away.

  As Sir Garridan climbed over the fence at the end of my land, I found myself staring down at my hands, bewildered that I had just survived an encounter with a knight (one that involved weapons, no less). I didn’t forget, of course, that if Sir Norvin had not been drunk, the meeting would have been very different. But in Sir Garridan’s eyes, that didn’t matter. What mattered to him was that I, as a very young farmer, had performed bravely in the face of adversity. Coming from someone of such high standing, that meant more than anyone could possibly know.

  But I had also been scared out of my wits; for the first time, my life had been put in jeopardy at the hands of another, and the thought of that had frightened me, as it would anyone. The fear of being a sword swipe away from death brought the reality of my dream to the forefront, and for the first time, I questioned whether I wanted to be a knight or not.

  But by the time the sun had set, and I was in bed, staring at the ceiling, the light of my dream had returned, and it burned brighter than ever before.

  CHAPTER 3

  Much to my surprise, Sir Garridan returned to my home two days later, bearing a couple of gifts for me. First and foremost — Food! Two whole baskets of it!

  My mouth began to water immediately. I couldn’t remember when the last time was that I had a decent meal. I almost lunged for them, but managed to keep myself in check.

  Sir Garridan handed them to me. ‘A good soldier needs to be strong. Mind you, food will very rarely be available like this, but for the purposes of training, I’d rather have you strong and healthy.’

  I was so grateful, I almost cried — and I had totally missed the ‘soldier’ reference.

  ‘Thank you, Sir Garridan.’ I plucked a grape off of its vine and ate it.

  Sir Garridan was staring at me with a slight smirk. ‘I know you’re hungry, Aidan. No reason to stand on ceremony.’

  That was all the encouragement I needed — I practically dove into the baskets and started shoving food into my mouth. A variety of meats, fruits, vegetables, and nuts — I’d never seen such a selection before.

  I’d like to be more specific, but the truth is that I wasn’t bothering to look at the food before I ate it.

  The second gift was a sword. It was old and rusted, but by the gods, it was a real sword! When he handed it to me (I still had a piece of bread hanging from my mouth), I nearly dropped it on the floor — I couldn’t believe how heavy it was!

  ‘Did you have to get me the one melted from an anvil?’ I asked incredulously.

  Sir Garridan chuckled — luckily, he knew I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful, just making humor out of a difficult situation, as I always did in order to deal with life.

  ‘I am afraid you won’t find any much lighter, son — unless it was made by the elves.’

  Sir Garridan told me to practice with it (outside, he stressed — before he’d finished talking to me, I’d succeeded in knocking a clay vase off of my dining room table), and get used to its weight.

  ‘I will return in a week to check on your progress, and if you are used to the sword by then, I will teach you a few things.’

  I was still in awe as I stared at Sir Garridan’s gift. I didn’t say much to him, as I was not used to interaction with other people, much less a man of such honor as Sir Garridan. But when I heard him say that he would be my mentor of sorts, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

  ‘Why?’ I asked.

  When Sir Garridan spoke, it seemed to me that his eyes reflected many years of experience and memories, of past setbacks and accomplishments. He smiled proudly at me.

  ‘I have trained many soldiers in my day, Aidan my lad. I have seen recruits that truly desired the life of war, of stale food and hard campaigning. Those recruits often have natural skill, and grasp the art of battle quickly. Others have no aspiration to become a soldier, forced into that life by one reason or another. Those soldiers are often the first to die. I watched you when you battled Sir Norvin, Aidan — nobody at your age fights like that without truly wanting it. You practice battling wooden dummies in the barn, am I correct?’

  I was flabbergasted — and embarrassed.

  Sir Garridan smiled in understanding. ‘There is nothing to be ashamed about, Aidan. You would be surprised how many soldiers begin that way — far more than you could possibly imagine. Another thing I noticed about your confrontation, the way you stood up to Sir Norvin, I find it highly unlikely that I would be able to talk you out of becoming a soldier. Am I correct again?’

  I smiled lightly and nodded in response.

  Sir Garridan nodded in return. ‘If you were younger, I would attempt to discourage you from this difficult life. But you are about to enter your adult years, and if you are going to learn, I would have you learn the right way.’

  There was my father again, in the words of this knight. I was momentarily distant as I pondered my father’s death and Sir Garridan’s sudden appearance.

  ‘Of all the soldiers I have trained and fought,’ Sir Garridan continued, ‘I have seen few with the courage, confidence and potential skill that you possess at such a young age.’

  If I was in awe when I saw the sword, I was completely astonished at those words. Courage? Perhaps. Confidence? I was so scared I felt like I was going to throw up. Skill? Sure… I swung that gardening hoe like a master.

  In the months that went by, I began to understand the true meaning of Sir Garridan’s words. I realised that courage and fear are often hand-in-hand. True courage is the ability to master that fear, and accomplish the task at hand anyway, no matter what the cost to your own well-being. The skill and confidence I displayed was more mental than it was physical; the fact that I even dared to challenge Sir Norvin was a testament to that confidence, and my mental skill was shown by anticipating Norvin’s moves and countering with my own. Sir Garridan taught me that all of those qualities were important, and that the loss of any one of them could mean death on the battlefield.

  Sir Garridan came by often, teaching me basic sword techniques and proper stances in those early months. I remember, at one point, I had found a stance that I favored, where I stood with my knees bent low, and my sword held behind me, almost over my head. But Sir Garridan taught me a new stance anyway.

  When I respectfully asked him why, he answered, ‘By the time we have completed our training, you will have found a style you are comfortable using in battle. But we are yet in our beginning stages, and as such, I will commence in teaching you every style that I know of, and their strengths and weaknesses in combat.’

  In the end, I was very grateful for Sir Garridan’s thorough approach to my training.

  I was training constantly, and getting not nearly as much work done on the farm as I had been in the past. Concerned about any consequences (I’m not sure why — I hadn’t been having much luck producing food anyhow)
, I spoke to Sir Garridan, who told me not to worry; he had already spoken to the lord who was responsible for my land.

  Sir Garridan assured me that as long as I kept producing crops, I would not be bothered. ‘Keep working, and keep training.’

  In between lessons, Sir Garridan often told stories, tales of battles never forgotten, and some about world history in general. He was surprised to find that I knew a little bit about what he was talking about, and I explained about my uncle’s bookstore, as well as my love of reading. Sir Garridan had smiled in approval, saying that that had explained my above-average intelligence for a farmer.

  He asked about my life, but unfortunately, even though I was beginning to think of Sir Garridan as a father figure, I wasn’t ready to reveal too much about my past. However, I did talk to him about some of it.

  He took a particular interest in Agatha, the neighbour who helped out my father and I. I don’t know why, but I never got along with her — I’ve always thought it was because I didn’t have my mother, and thought that she was trying to take over her place. After she died, I spent a great deal of time analyzing the relationship, and I realised that she was just a nice old lady who helped out the people she cared about. Afterward, I was always ashamed of how I acted and now, although I am very awkward around women (having not had much experience with them), I treat them with the utmost respect, in honor of my mother and Agatha.

  Sir Garridan admired that, and told me how important it was to respect women. He then also made a point that hadn’t occurred to me.

  ‘All you’ve ever known in your life is death,’ he said. ‘Your mother, father, uncle, and Agatha — from the moment I met you, I’ve seen a shadow over you, Aidan. You must be careful not to let it overtake you.’

  I had never realised that, and took a mental note for future reference.

  But anything I had experienced or read in any book could not compare to Sir Garridan’s real life experiences. I learned a great deal from Sir Garridan — about mages, also called wizards or sorcerers, those that use the power of magic. I also learned much about the elves, the oldest and fairest race in our world, and the dwarves, short in stature and temper (especially when they’ve had ale, which is usually a given), but a race proud of its heritage.