A Place To Bloom

Orientation

Five new men joined us in the training yard; one of them I knew. "Gino?"

A man of average height, half-Herali with a Goloagi father and the curly hair to prove it looked back at me with a wide smile I hadn't seen in years. "Holy shit, man! No fucking way!"

I ran up and threw my arms about him, and he did the same. It felt good to embrace him; I hadn't imagined I'd ever see him again. "How the hell are you, man?"

He cocked his head and looked me up and down. "Scared. Ain't heard nothin nice about this place."

Another one of the new guys added, "there ain't nothin nice, especially this fucking heat!"

Davod stood next to me. "Girls here walk around with their titties hanging out, and that's nice."

Gino laughed. The man standing next to him was almost as tall as Davod, Northstar, and myself, with a heavy figure and long, straight, dark-green hair. He nodded. "Noticed that. Very nice! Gino, you know this kid?"

"This is Caleb of Gath; he spent a few years in Kyoen back in the day. Caleb, this is Borel." He turned and pointed to the other three men who'd come with him. "That's Massi, Jame, and Renou."

All three were Herali and wore their hair long. Massi was average height, muscular build, and had a tattoo of Orca on his neck. His eyes were narrow, and he bore some scars that cut through his left eyebrow. Jame was on the shorter side of average and carried a eupin longbow on his back decorated with an etching of Orca with a shark in his mouth bringing it to the humans on shore. Renou was short, slight of build, quiet, and carried no weapons.

I answered. "These are my best friends growing up, Davod and Geraln." Geraln nodded. On his shoulder, with her tiny claws dug into the leather sling that held his bow, was the green vita'o lizard who'd woken up on his chest that morning. All five of the new men stared at the creature, unable to mask their shock.

Davod resumed the introductions for Rock, Northstar, and Kelint while from the side, my eyes found Miyani. She was in the expansive area to the left of the main gate cordoned off with fenceless posts, going about her business of scrubbing white soap suds all over Blue, oblivious to how insanely gorgeous her toned body looked from behind.

I knew I had to look away, but I couldn't.

Blue raised his head and clicked. She turned, and I immediately snapped back around hoping she hadn't caught me looking.

Borel pursed his lips. "What kind of name is Rock and Northstar?"

Kelint lifted his chin. "They're Saeni." Then he looked at Jame with the bow on his back. "What do you hunt in Kyoen; you even know how to use that thing?"

Jame huffed, and Borel patted his friend's back. "My man's a master archer, right here."

I turned to face Davod directly. "Did he just say that out loud to three men from Osenia?"

Davod chuckled, reached behind his back to grab his bow, and strung it. Geraln smiled wide and did the same, while Kelint reached into his coin purse, found a five-kren, and tossed it on the ground in the center of our gathering. The rest of us put in, Gino stooped down to gather up the coins, and we looked about.

There was a line of practice dummies along the outer wall at the end of the training ground, about fifty yards out. The hot, sticky air from the morning rain left the ground muddy between tufts of beaten grass, and Gino carved a line with his boot. Kelint then stepped up, drew back his bow, and loosed. His arrow popped in the burlap of the practice dummy. He then shrugged and stepped aside.