arin's beginning

Chapter 8 Dispatch

6 months later

"Hey, kid! Time to wake up!" Tag shouts from outside my door. I groan and push myself up off the bed. If I don't get moving now then I know he'll kick the door down and send Malakai in with a bucket of water. That is a mistake I'm not keen on repeating any time soon.

"I'm moving tag!" I shout as I drag my hand down my face. My shoulders are stiff again. The training has been rough, but after 6 months of running and fighting and practicing with Brann, the effect is noticeable even to me. I get up and grab my pants from the chair pulling them on, then I lace up my boots. I throw my coat on as I swing the door open. Tag is leaning against the opposite wall eating an apple, he tosses one to me.

"What are we doing this morning, mountain run?" I ask around a mouthful of apple. Tag glares at me, I swallow before asking " I notice you are all geared up"

Tag nods, "How very astute of you to notice, Arin. Yes, I am geared up. No, it's not a mountain run. No, this is something different. Longer." We step out of the stairwell and out into the inner lawn. Axlan and Brann are there and waiting. Axlan has his saddle on already.

"Where are you going? Why is Axlan saddled?" Brann doesn't have a saddle yet, she is sitting next to Axlan, sniffing at the harness laced around his chest.

"You know, Arin, patience usually answers your questions." Tag leads us toward the back end of the lawn by the cliff edge. He throws his apple core over the edge, I mirror his action out of habit. "We are going on assignment, so you need to gear up too." We stop before a room I haven't seen before, which I find a little odd considering how small Ridershaven is compared to the garrison in Stormos. Tag throws open the door and strides in. "Welcome to the Armory. This is my second favorite room here, after my own. Here is where we keep most of our weapons, here is where we make our armor, and most importantly, here is where we make our saddles." He grabs a leather harness and tosses it at me. The weight of the leather makes me stagger despite my increased strength from the last couple of months.

"Eventually, you will make your own saddle for Brann. You need to know how to make it, repair it, and maintain it. But today, you will use Ax's old one since we don't have time to teach you. You also need to pick out a weapon." He already has his own sword buckled at his waist. It's a long straight-bladed sword, that tapers down to an aggressive tip. He grabs a long down from a rack of several and tests the draw after stringing it. I turn to the rack of weapons to pick my own. I have my Seax knife with me already, but as I look over the choices, my eye is drawn to one sword in particular. It's a moderate length, about 50 centimeters long. I pull the blade from the rack and draw it from its sheath. Much to my surprise it was not a straight blade, there is a slight curve to the edge of the blade about two-thirds down from the hilt before it tapers quickly to a point. The handle fits snuggly in my palm and I give it an experimental swing. The weight feels like nothing as I move it back and forth.

"Good choice. That looks like it fits well. What do you think?" I turn and see Tag watching me, leaning against a long-shafted lance.

"It feels almost weightless. This feels so much better than those wooden practice swords that I use with Malakai." I push the blade back into its sheath and wrap its belt around my waist.

"Last thing before we leave. You need some armor." He turns to the back of the room, "Take your coat and shirt off" he leaves the lance leaning against the wall and starts rifling through racks of what looks like leather vests. I step forward and reach for one. The leather is very stiff for how supple it looks. I hang my coat and my shirt on a nearby peg.

"Leather armor?" I ask incredulously. " leather isn't going to stop much from getting through, how is it armor?" Tag looks up from the rack at me.

"What part of 'patience will answer your questions' did you not understand?" his head disappears below the rack again. He steps back around and tosses a vest to me. "This should be about your size, put it on." I pull it over my head and then look down to fasten the buckles by my ribs. By the time I'm done, Tag is standing in front of me with a pair of plaited leather bracers. "That should do us for now. Lets go get Brann saddled up and hit the skies before we lose any more daylight.

As we walk back out to the lawn, I see Emric and Zephyr with Brann and Axlan. Zephyr is crouched low in front of them, and I hear Emric say something, but I can't make out the details. Zephyr starts prancing around the other two draconids, Brann twisting her head around to follow him, Axlan steadfastly ignoring the purple dragon. Tag slows his pace and mutters to me, "2 gold pieces says Zephyr tries to bite Ax's tail" before continuing his usual pace.

Zephyr bounds back and forth, a purple blur before coming to a stop behind the Draconids. Brann looks up at Axlan, standing tall and proud, and I notice her crane her neck a little higher. It only reaches a little way past Axlan's shoulder.

Zephyr, if you wish to be able to fly tomorrow, you will not bite my tail. Zephyr indeed had his jaws open about to clamp onto the very end of Axlan's tail. He pauses, and one large purple eye turns to look at the olive green one that was suddenly a meter away. Emric guffaws.

Come on old man, I can take you. You don't scare me! Zephyr hops back and lands in a crouch, looking very feline and ready to pounce.

"Zephyr, if you are going to challenge Ax, you should do it and not look like a scared kitten when you do it." Tag grins and pats Axlan's chest. "Leave the poor kid alone. He's barely older than Brann is. You have several years on him."

I know that, and he knows that. But some lessons are only understood through stupidity. Stupid should hurt. Axlan rumbles. he puffs a cloud of smoke in Zephyr's direction before snapping his tail across one of Zephyr's forelegs. Zephyr growls and leaps aside while Emric is still laughing.

"C'mon Zeph, Tag is right. Besides, you let yourself be close enough for that tail whip." Zephyr rumbles in his chest as he walks over to be beside Emric. "So, what's on your plate Tag? Why are you all dressed up?"

"There are reports that the Wildmen are gathering. Daris wants to know what's going on so we can inform Stormos." Tag ties the lance behind the saddle then turns to me.

"Wildmen? Isn't that something for the city guard to handle?" Emric says.

"Usually yes, but Daris says there is more to it and we need to know. Something about fewer attacks lately and rumors of a larger-than-normal gathering." Tag moves over to Brann, and motions me over. I toss the saddle on her back and start fastening the straps as Tag instructs.

"Big deal. Wildmen still use sticks and hide for arms and armor. Even if they gathered in the thousands, they still are no match for the city watch even, let alone the military." Emric throws his hands wide and laughs again. I finish the final buckle on the saddle as Brann snakes her head around to inspect it.

What do you think Brann? I direct my thoughts at her.

I think it is a lot of straps and leather. It isn't uncomfortable, but it's not comfortable either. She sniffs at the straps circling her shoulder, then sneezes. I chuckle as she looks at Axlan and says, "Most importantly, it stinks. I hear Axlan huff next to us.

"Alright Arin, time to get going. This bag of bones here will keep talking all day if you let him." Axlan crouches down to let Tag jump up and pull himself into the saddle. Brann mimics the motion for me.

"Hey! Who're you calling a bag of bones?" Emric shouts indignantly

"You! Go eat a sandwich and maybe you'll finally score a point when we spar after i get back!" Tag calls back before Axlan leaps into the air and with a beat of his large olive wings, is over the walls of the keep. Brann wastes no time in following behind. She only makes it to the top of the wall in a bound but leaps off spreads her wings and soars over the fields. She flaps furiously to gain altitude and just misses the trees. I look back and watch the branches fall. I turn back around and pat Brann's neck as we rise up to soar next to Tag and Axlan.