Elænbrook: Book One, The Shadow of Møthgaan

Chapter Four: Footfalls that Begin the Journey

Chapter Four:

Footfalls That Begin the Journey

Hardyn awoke to the shrill, womanly screams of Elcena Vastrow, his mother, and clambered out of bed with swift and reflexive acrobatics, grabbing the small, wooden rod that lay under the right-hand side of his bed.
A

rmed with nothing but a stick and his nightwear, however extremely under prepared and ready, Hardyn franticly gazed around his room. Seeing his mother pressed against the doorframe, her hand to her chest, and hyperventilating in terror. He rushed to her side, trying to calm her down as fast as he could, nearly leaping across the room.
"What's wrong Mother?!" Hardyn, frantic but audibly calm, turned to see what was bringing her so much terror, and fright. Seeing Prynidreth, curled up and asleep, Hardyn's eyes went wide, knowing he was about to get a stern admonish from his mother.
"A dragon?! A Dragon!? Hardyn Tiberius Vastrow, of all the pig headed, oafish things to do, this takes the- "Elcena was cut off by Prynidreth yawning in an adorable, and gentle manner, slowly coming to from deep slumber.
"-pie... My Word. It is cute." Elcena cooed, slowly calming down and rationalizing what lay before her. Which was quite literally, a baby dragon, beautiful and covered in scales that stole the breath from her chest. It brought a single and small tear to her left eye, in awe of the astounding Creature that slept on Hardyn's nightstand.
She lowered her hand, and slowly inched her way into Hardyn's room, the later morning sunshine filling the room with pleasant, yellow light, that reflected Prynidreth's scales like a brilliant crystal. Prynidreth raised his head, and stared at Elcena with curious, and calm eyes.
"How did you find it?" She asked, moving the frays and strands of blonde hair that covered her blue eyes from sight, to behind her ear as she gradually inched closer to Prynidreth.
"His name is Prynidreth, and I found him on the old Brittle-Hollow trail that leads out from Gottard, after running away from Grenard and his boys." Hardyn answered, stepping closer to his mother.
"Grenard, that lumbering dolt. What did you do this time, Hardyn, you know how he gets when his father gets ahold of the bottle?" She said, her hands coming to rest at her hips.
'The Woman seems irritated. This Grenard seems to insight ire and collective wrath from her. I even sense a fair amount coming from you as well, Hardyn.' Prynidreth stated calm but assured with confidence in his tone.
"Grenard is a fat, useless sack of dung, Prynn. He was the reason I was so bloodied up when I found you." Hardyn admitted, shyly and stern.
"What? Who are you talking to?" Elcena asked, cocking her head to the side. Unsure of his mannerisms, and actions of late, Elcena studied her son intently.
"To Prynidreth." Hardyn stated, in a matter-of-fact tone to his voice, rubbing his eyes with his nightwear's sleeve, fully waking up, and lowering his guard.
"You're talking...to the Dragon? You know it cannot understand you, Hardyn. What are you up to? What kind of jest or prank is this, son?" Elcena's eyes narrowed, growing irritated with Hardyn, thinking he was pulling her leg, or trying to pull the wool over her eyes.
Hardyn immediately became defensive, and with a calm, but very harsh glare, he held his right hand up, showing the Brand that was scorched into his hand, like smoldering embers.
"You don't believe me, then look and see for yourself! The Dragon chose me!" Hardyn said, raising his voice. This wasn't the first time the two of them had argued over Hardyn's integrity and trustworthiness. She gasped, when her gaze met the intricate Brand upon her son's palm.
Elcena took a deep, and long inhale, exhaling in a disheartened sigh, her eyes closing in thought, lips shaking as she struggled to find the words. All Elcena Vastrow could say, the only words she could find were: "It's time I told you the truth about your father, Hardyn."
Hardyn seemed to back down, at the mention of his father, the man he never met or knew. Elcena sighed again, coming deeper into the room, sitting on his bed quietly. She patted the space next to her, beckoning Hardyn to join her.
Hardyn came to the bed slowly sat down beside his mother with his head hanging low, and shoulders slouched, a sign that Hardyn was guilty, and regretting the tone he took with his mother.
"Do you remember what I told you, how he was a Terow Farmer here in Gottard?" Elcena questioned, her expression softening and her glare turning into more of a gaze in longing.
Hardyn nodded, confused but understanding and going along with her words.
"That isn't entirely true." She began, closing her eyes in memory.
"When I was just a bit older than you, longer now then it seems ago, a young man lived here in Gottard named Drathos Hardyn Vastrow. He was a commoner, a Terow Farmer, who worked on the Brittle-Hollow Ranch as a Farmhand." Elcena closed her eyes, remembering well the times of her life, and past.
"He came into Gottard every now and again for supplies, once a week or two, but always on schedule. Back then, when I was young, I worked at the Market with my Da and Ma, and we did trade with the Brittle-Hollow Ranch often. Over time, that man came by more and more, and we began to get to know one another. Little did we know, a War was coming over the green hills and valleys, and Gottard was right in the war path." She paused, taking a breath and looking and Prynidreth, who was sitting attentively, listening and enthralled. Hardyn also was listening intently, his heart pounding in his chest, in both shock and confusion.
"The Draconic Order had assembled, recruiting and enlisting every able bodied being in the villages outlining the Grand Alabaster City, Kraith-Enna. By that time, your father and I grew close, very close. We had fallen in love and had managed to conceive a child. When the Draconic Order came to Gottard, I was expecting the baby within the month. They enlisted Drathos, and within the hour of them arriving in our quaint, tired little village, Drathos had rode out on horseback towards Kraith-Enna. Before he left for war, he made me promise to name the child Hardyn, keeping the family name like his father before him. He confided in me his fears, his inner demons." Her lips quivered, trying to hold herself together from the painful recounting.
"The thought of having you in this world without him, it broke him to pieces. Drathos became a war-hero, a living legend, embodying the Dragon Riders of old, and in The Battle of Gyruda Mountain, He was felled by the leader of The Order of The Moon, Mothgaan Balderas. His armor was sent home, back to my doorstep when you were just a toddler..." Elcena finished, holding back tears, her voice breaking between deep huffs.
"I kept all his things in a chest, in the back of the cabin. I never, ever intended you to find them, or even worse, must use them. However, -" She trailed off, standing slowly and brushing her nightwear and straightening the creases and wrinkles.
"-If you are called to The Order, I, in good conscious, can't let you go unprepared and unarmed." Elcena said, a twinkle in her eye as she turned to face her son.
"You are so much like your father. More than you realize, my son." She said, swiftly exiting the room, off to scour the cabin for the locked, and large, heavy wooden chest that kept his father's belongings in dark, hidden secret.

[Paused]