A stiff breeze blew through the streets that cool, bright morning.
Flocks of birds flew over the stucco and marbled buildings. The markets were
full of people- merchants hocking their wares, mothers purchasing food while
keeping an eye on their children. Friends met in many of the town’s squares,
and priests gave food to the less fortunate. All in all, one would call this
day normal…average. What the unsuspecting world did not know was that this day
was anything but normal. It was a start of something completely unexpected.
My name is Tarathon Auriul.
I had no idea what was to come- who could? Nevertheless, I found myself
in a stuffy room with fifteen other people in the Rodigan city of Granz- one of
which was my beautiful wife, Eriniel Lhalorn. We had been summoned by the Grand
Council, yet they did not tell us why. Then again, we couldn’t have refused to
come anyway. That would have been like refusing a king- a thing that is simply
not done.
The room we were in was quite warm, despite the chilly weather outside.
The high windows in the room kept out the wind, but let in the harsh sunlight,
which heated up the room along with the body heat of the sixteen of us sitting
there. The heat did not bother me much since I grew up in the tropical nation
of Kram, which was to the southwest of Rodigar. Some of the others did not have
the same sensibilities and were fanning themselves or just sweating profusely.
A great variety of people from all over Aarken were represented there. It made
me wonder what the Grand Council wanted with all of us in the first place. Many
of them had grown anxious as we had been waiting for quite a while and had not
heard anything for at least an hour.
Finally a clerk emerged from the council room to let us know that the
Grand Council was ready to see us. As the large double doors opened, my eyes
searched the hall, trying to take in all the details. While the rest of the
building was nice, the council room was exquisite. The floor was made entirely
of marble and white stone columns lined the room. This probably led to the
cooler temperature in the hall, along with the high, vaulted ceiling. The
whitewashed walls were lined with statues of ancient heroes, frescoes of past
battles, and paintings of the gods and goddesses.
The focal point of the room however was the Grand Council. They were all
seated at a semicircular table made of dark wood that was situated on a raised
dais in the center of the room. The group before us was just as varied as we
were, yet they had a more regal, wise, and sophisticated feel and look about
them.
The Grand Council is one of the ruling groups of Aarken. It is comprised
of all the Grandmasters and mistresses of all the martial professions. Each
country has its own ruler who makes most of the decisions, but in an effort to
keep the peace; all matters of war or issues that involve more than one nation
are left to the council to take care of. One of the major things that they had
done was to ban nations from having standing armies. Rulers were allowed a
certain number of city guards as well as a few personal bodyguards, but all
other soldiers reported to their respective Grandmaster.
Now I had never been summoned by the Grand Council before, let alone a
king or nobleman. Most of my work up to that point had been with my commanding
officers and with Grandmaster Graegor- leader of the Riders. We were basically
the cavalry of the army, though there had not been a large conflict since long
before I had even begun my training in Rhimlach decades before. I spotted
Graegor sitting between two gruff, serious looking dwarves near the right side
of the table. I felt Eriniel grab my hand and interlock fingers as we walked
into the room. While she was smiling, I could tell that she was nervous. To be
completely honest, so was I, though I don’t know if anyone could tell. Holding
Eriniel’s hand was as much of a comfort to me as it was to her.
When everyone had filed in, an elderly elven man stood up from the table
and addressed the crowd.
“Greetings to all of you, and thank you for coming on such short notice.
My name is Grandmaster Alaren Uriol, and I lead the wizards of Aarken. You may
be wondering as to why we asked you to come. We need you to go on a mission, of
which you will be informed further shortly. Due to the delicacy of the matter
at hand, we will be splitting you up into four groups of four people each. Your
group will be debriefed by the councilor that calls your name.”
“Alright, let’s be quick about this!” A middle-aged dwarf got up from
his chair. He had a large red beard flecked with grey, multiple visible scars,
and a patch over his left eye. “My name is Grandmaster Merrik, son of Olrik. I
command the fighters. I would like to speak with Lucius Bhern, Gottfried Hagen,
Eoghan MacKragg, and Kaila Xiulong.”
As the dwarf stepped away from the dais and walked to the right corner
of the room behind the dais, I watched the four follow him over. Riders are trained
to be very observant- not as extensively as Rangers or Rogues are from what
Eriniel tells me, but we are taught to be detail oriented in our studies. Even
though we would not be traveling with all of these people, I thought it would
be beneficial to know what they looked like in case something arose in the
future.
The first was a tall, pompous-looking human man whose hair was blonde
and demeanor stuffy. The second was a skinny Lupraeg who did not look old
enough to have passed his training yet (but he obviously had, or he wouldn’t
have been here). His fur was mainly a dark grey color, but the tips were black,
which gave it a singed look. A fairly muscular man with a crazed look in his
eyes followed. His skin was pale and contrasted with his brown hair and green
eyes. The last was a slender Morben woman whose stride was very smooth, which
reminded me a bit of Eriniel. Her eyes darted about the room, trying to take it
all in at once.
Next, a tall confident-looking Nendren woman stood and called to the group,
“My name is Grandmistress Liliana Fellweave, leader of the sorcerers of Aarken.
Would Rowan Lightfoot, Assher Haghen, Ithiliel Glanthar, and Edmund Rallstohne
follow me to the back left corner of the hall?”
From the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of who Grandmistress
Liliana was referring to. A thin Moghir woman walked past me, and I couldn’t
help but notice her beautiful fur coat. It was a light golden color with small
black spots all over. She was wearing a golden necklace around her neck with
the symbol of the god Aodh imprinted on it. The next one honestly frightened me
a little. As an elf, I’m fairly tall, especially compared to humans and
dwarves, but a huge Lupraeg warrior brushed by me, following the Cleric woman.
He was at least a foot taller than me, very muscular, and had small bones
braided into his grey fur in various places. The next person was a short Elven
woman who had lots of flowers braided into her long light brown hair. She
walked very lightly on her bare feet across the marble floor to join the other
two. The last one to catch my eye was a human man with fiery red hair and hazel
eyes who for some reason had the mannerisms of a wolf. His movements very much
reminded me of Eriniel’s animal companion, Connacht, who was a huge timber
wolf.
“My name is Grandmistress Cynwine, leader of the Clerics of Aarken.” A
short, soft-spoken woman with grey hair slowly got up from her chair, “ Would Sirith
Glintgleam, Aengus Crasmorg, Airediel Sirroch, and Aedan Belhok follow me to
the right of the platform?”
A fit, young Nendren woman with black hair and beautiful blue eyes to my
left stepped forward, along with a male Moghir whose fur was as black as
midnight and had piercing green eyes.. A shorter Lupraeg man followed quickly-
I could only see a brown blur blow past me. The last to move was another male
Moghir, who I knew to be a Rider- I had seen before in Rhimlach, but I did not
know his name.
“Will everyone that is left follow me to the back corner opposite of the
one Liliana went to?” The question came from a Morben woman with shockingly
white hair, yet she did not look old in the slightest.
My wife and I followed the woman to the back of the room along with a
pretty blonde human woman and a Dwarven man with a medium length grey beard.
“Okay, let’s make this quick so that you can be on your way as soon as
possible. My name is Grandmistress Aessa Farafuin, and I’m in charge of
Aarken’s Rogues. Your task is simple, yet important to the council. We have
been getting strange sporadic reports from areas around the Aegis. The thing
is, is all of these reports were made by scared, uninformed civilians, so the
accounts are unreliable at best. What we want the four of you to do is to
travel to Endra, Ceranne, which is the closest settlement to the Aegis, and
find out what’s really going on- if anything. Making sure that the Aegis is
okay is your top priority! We cannot afford to have anything happen to it!”
Sounds simple enough,” I replied.
“Well, let’s hope it stays that way. We really have no idea what’s going
on over there. This has been our first chance to send troops to investigate.”
“Are the other groups going to be on the same mission as we are?” the
human woman inquired meekly.
“No, they will have different missions- at least for now. You may be
collaborating with them on future endeavors, but who’s to say for sure now?”
Aessa shrugged her shoulders and continued on, “The Council will furnish you
with whatever supplies you may need- within reason. You’ll need to see the
quartermaster, stable master, or any of the blacksmiths in town. Show them this
badge and they shouldn’t give you any trouble. Just try to get on the road as
soon as possible. Be careful out there, and remember: you are our eyes and ears
out there, so be alert. Let’s hope this fiasco is just a bunch of superstitious
farmers scaring themselves with nonsense over nothing!”
“We should probably get going- don’t want to waste the daylight yapping
away!” the dwarf finally spoke.
* * *
* * *
After exiting the council building, we headed down to the markets to
pick up basic supplies and horses for us- well, everyone but me. I had my cat
mount, Daerruth, but Eriniel, Diedra, and Haelgar needed something to make the
trip easier and also to keep up with me.
Getting the supplies was easy enough. All we had to do was show the
trader or shopkeeper the badge that Grandmistress Aessa gave us, and they gave
us the items for free! We picked up some simple rations, rope, lanterns, oil,
basic camping gear, and food for the horses. The problems came when we actually
tried to get the horses themselves.
The stables were at the lowest point in the city, since Granz was built
on a hill, near the city gates. When we got there, we were approached by a
tall, skinny, smelly man with thinning brown hair.
“What can I do you for today?” When he spoke, I could smell the alcohol
on his breath from ten feet away. It made me want to vomit.
“We need three of your best horses- we’re have orders from the Grand
Council,” Eriniel informed the repulsive man.
“Okay, I think I can do that, but it’ll cost ya’. I want a thousand gold
pieces each for ‘em.”
“But we were told that if we showed you this badge, that we could get
whatever we needed for free right away, and the Council would pay you at a
later date!” Diedra sounded anxious.
“Lemme see this…’badge’ of yours.” Diedra handed him the small metal
disc which had the Council’s symbol on it, and the stable master snatched it
out of her hand. He then proceeded to put it in between his rotten teeth and
bent it, as one would a coin to see if it was real gold or silver. The badge
bent in half, which he obviously didn’t like, and threw it behind him, and it
landed in the horse’s water trough.
“That ain’t gold! I don’t care who sent ‘cha- king, council member, or
goddess- I always get my money up front! How am I supposed to know you’re
actually from the Council, an’ not some bunch o’ crooks tryin’ to scam me out
of my stock an’ fair pay?” the disgusting men was apparently so insulted that
he spat on the ground near our feet.
“I’m not one to just throw away a potential deal though. I’ll let the
three horses go for eight hundred gold pieces each…and a kiss from that pretty
Elven girl,” he offered as he chuckled to himself and licked his chapped lips.
That’s where I drew the line. In a flash, I got to him, grabbed his
shirt, and had a sword to his throat.
“That ‘pretty Elven girl’ is my wife, you vashtet scum! I’ve had enough
of your disrespect, scamming, and lustful ways. Either you give us the horses,
or we’ll take them and your life!” I threatened angrily through gritted teeth.
The man said nothing, but pulled a knife from his belt and spat in my face.
That was all I needed. I took a step backwards and swung my sword from left to
right, cutting off the fool’s head. The now limp body fell to the ground with
his detached head.
Haelgar had faster reflexes than I thought because he was already to one
side with an axe ready to back me up.
“Good riddance!” he exclaimed, then kicked the head away into the
stables, “Are you ladies okay?”
“Yes- he never even had a chance to get to us,” Eriniel replied.
“Don’t you think that was a little…excessive Tarathon?” Diedra inquired
shakily.
“No, I don’t. I am very protective of Eriniel,” I replied. That was one
of the most important things I do, even though she can handle herself most of
the time. I just make it a point to always be there in case it isn’t ‘most of
the time’. I could feel Eriniel wrapping her arms around my waist as a silent
thank you. I knew she understood my intentions. “I want to keep her safe.
Besides, he shouldn’t have acted like that to anyone in the first place! I
would have done something similar if he had said that to you. He doomed himself
by pulling out his knife. I would have just punched him if he had simply spat
on me. That man was a greedy, lecherous fool anyway, and the world’s better off
without him.”
Before Diedra could respond with a clerical ‘all life is sacred’ spiel,
Haelgar emerged from the stable.
“You’re right Tarathon- come look at this!”
Eriniel, Diedra, and I rushed into the stable, curious as to what
Haelgar found. When we got to the stall he had indicated, we found a
middle-aged man and his young son tied up, gagged, and blindfolded.
“These must be the real stable owners. Let’s get them untied and find
out what really happened here,” Eriniel deduced. I could tell from her eyes
gleaming that she was curious, though her facial expression conveyed empathy.
After we cut their bonds, the man was overjoyed, happy tears filled his
eyes, and he embraced his son before turning to face us.
“Thank you all so much for saving my boy and me! We are most certainly
in your debt!”
“To be honest, we only came upon you accidentally after we dealt with
your captor, but we’re glad we were able to help. How long did that scum sack
have you tied up?” Haelgar inquired.
“I don’t really know…what day is it?”
“It is the third Monday of April,” Diedra replied as she healed the
burns and cuts on their wrists from the rope.
“So we’ve been tied up for a week! Is there anything I can do to repay
you?”
“Well…the whole reason we were here in the first place was to get some
horses. We have been given a task by the Grand Council.”
“Say no more. Take four of my best horses as my thanks.”
“Thank you very much, that is very generous of you, but we really only
need three since I am a Rider and I have my own way of transportation.”
“In that case, wait right here please. I will be right back.” He quickly
got up and shuffled off into a back room. When he came back, he had an axe in
his hands. “Take this instead of the extra horse. I have no use for it anymore-
it has been hanging above my fireplace for years.”
Haelgar saw the axe and his eyes lit up with excitement.
“This is fine Dwarven craftsmanship! I recognize the maker’s mark on it
too. It was made by my cousin Gorim! Where did you get an axe like this?”
“Well then, your cousin served me well when I was in the army. I bought
that axe from a Dwarf trader while on a mission in Ostanel, but that was many
years ago. I’m glad you like it! Keep it- it will serve you better than if I
kept it hanging on the wall.”
“Thank you sir for your generosity, but we really must be going,” Diedra
interjected.
“She’s right,” Eriniel agreed, “We’d love to stay and chat, but we
should really put as much distance between us and Granz today as possible.”
“Oh, I understand- official business and all. Good luck on your mission!
Come back and see us if you’re in Granz again with some time on your hands!”
After we quickly exchanged handshakes and goodbyes, we walked out of the
gates of Granz.
Before we could be on our way though, we needed to get Daerruth, my cat,
and Connacht, Eriniel’s wolf, from the special stables the Riders use. Since
Rider’s mounts are…wild, they are housed in larger, more comfortable spaces
outside cities so they don’t frighten the civilian citizens.
“Well, that certainly took a lot
longer than I had anticipated!” A welcoming and familiar voice came into my
mind as we arrived at the stables. The voice was Daerruth. As he rounded the
corner out of his room, one could see that he was a huge cat whose shoulders
were level with mine. His fur was a dark charcoal grey color with burgundy
stripes. His canine teeth protruded out from his upper lip past his jaw. His
dark red eyes seemed to glow a bit, even in the daylight. I saw Diedra jump a
little out of the corner of my eye.
“We had to wait to be seen by the Council quite a bit longer than I had
anticipated, but we have a mission, and we can now be on our way,” I replied to
him out loud, not thinking about who I was with.
“Who were you talking to? None of us said anything,” Diedra inquired,
looking very confused.
“Have you never met a Rider before?” I asked of her in return.
“No, I haven’t…other than you. Why?”
“Sweetheart, Riders and their mounts have a special telepathic link that
lets them speak to one another. I would have mentioned it sooner, but since I’m
already used to it, it slipped my mind.” Eriniel answered for me.
“They are also much more intelligent than any normal beast- and often
more wise and intelligent than the average human. They demand respect, so just
treat him like you would any human being, and you’ll get along just fine. If
you want to say something to him, he can understand you, but if he responds
back, I’ll have to translate.” I had a feeling that things would be okay
between Daerruth, Diedra, & Haelgar. Diedra, while a bit naïve, was a
kind-hearted young woman. Haelgar, while he did not show any apprehension,
looked unphased by the giant cat. I also know that by him being a Dwarf and a
fighter that he knew the meaning and the importance of respect.
“Daerruth, this is Diedra and Haelgar. They will be joining us on this
mission of ours.” Eriniel announced. When she said that, Connacht slunk out
from the room Daerruth had been in and went over to Eriniel and licked her
hand. While Daerruth and Connacht’s first couple encounters were…trying, they
had become good friends despite the fact that they couldn’t verbally
communicate.
“Nice to meet you Daerruth. I hope I did not offend you,” Diedra
replied.
“Don’t worry Diedra- he understands. Beasts like him are not a common
occurrence.” I assured her. Haelgar simply nodded his head once in
acknowledgement, nonverbally stating his approval.
“Okay, let’s be off!” Eriniel exclaimed excitedly.
Without any further delay, we mounted up and rode off under the
afternoon sun towards Endra and the gods know what else.
