Paladin of the Peaceful Lady

Chapter One the Peaceful Valley

A hot spring sun beat down into a small valley in the foothills of the Orsraun Mountains in southern Turmish, far out of the way of the main roads and buried into the greenery of the surrounding forests. There were many such places in the hilly area, small farms in little green islands, sometimes just a ridge over from a neighbor, and sometimes separated by miles. To the east of this range was the small town of Raven's Wing, and from the viewpoint of a raven it was named after, small roads and even smaller tracks spiderwebbed away from the town into the hills connecting all the farms back to this hub. Though it was still morning the sun was already unusually hot for a spring day, a hot dry spring followed by an unusually brutal winter. Tucked away in what seemed to be the farthest track to the west of the spider web road system was the Drascal's farm valley. Relative newcomers to the Raven Wing family's, the Drascal's had taken up residence in this valley tucked far away and unclaimed from the town. This valley, however, seemed to suffer the brutalities of weather just a little less than the other valley farms, and it seemed to yield just a little more crop than the others. On this spring day, three figures could be seen working up one of the farm fields, and they had been working it since just after dawn.

"Greenie, grab me the water will you please?" The little green goblin, dressed in a rough brown tunic and trousers with a gray pointed cap that had faded from black through years in the sun, a gift from one of Drake's old companions years ago to the little creature, put his rake down and scampered over to the cart to grab the water flask.

"Here fwend" he said to Drake, coming back on his bare feet, Drake never had gotten him to wear shoes for more than a few minutes despite years of trying. Drake Drascal was a tall broad-shouldered man, he had blonde hair the color of freshly cut pine that draped down to his shoulders covering his ears and tied in the back to keep it out of his face. He didn't look like his 53 summers, his half elf blood making him seem more like an old 29 or young 34. His dark blue almost purple eyes gave the hint of holding a secret, or on the verge of a joke. His shoulders were broad from years of toil and his waist slim. He towered over the shorter goblin, easily reaching a six foot four inches in height, he reached down and took the offered flask from Greenie. Drake leaned on his hoe as He opened the flask and took a long drink.

"Hot today isn't it, Da?"

Mathew, a blonde boy of 11 summers quipped by his elbow as he lowered the flask and handed it to him next. With sandy blonde hair, and shoulders that were broad for his age from helping in the fields since he was old enough to drag his own tools out of the shed and follow Drake despite the protests of his mother, the boy looked like Drake's carbon copy shrunk down.

"It is hot, but I can feel the rain on the way" Drake replied rubbing an old scar on his left shoulder.

"Need rain, crops dry" greenie observed as he inspected some leaves on the nearest potato plant and grabbing a bug off it quickly crunched it between his teeth.

Mathew giggled at that, "if only we had a hundred Greenies, we wouldn't have to worry about bugs eating the crops huh Da?"

Drake looked down at the boy wryly, "one goblin has been enough trouble to civilize, and I've had him since he was the equivalent of a toddler." Drake's eyes glazed slightly at the memory of the trembling goblin babe at the far end of a dank cave, covered in mud as he stared up at what would become his rescuers.

Greenie sniffed the air and brought him back to the present "rain in the air, and something else."

"Probably just a storm Greenie, you'll hear the thunder long before we do with your big ears!" Mathew teased.

Greenie turned his big eyes to Drake "hear sounds again last night, not normal. Sneaky sounds."

"Foxes around the coop again?"

Greenie shook his head "not hungry sounds like fox or wolf, SNEAKY sounds like cat hunting with full belly"

Greenie emphasized sneaky like it had special meaning. Drake had learned to trust the little goblin's insights through the years of travelling and now domestic life. More than once, he had both saved his life and that of the numerous animals in the barn with his guard dog like caution and listening to the woods at night.

Drake thought a bit, maybe setting some traps up around the coop and barn tonight wouldn't be a bad idea.

"Come on, your Mums waiting with lunch, it's too hot to work the fields today anyway." Drake put his tools in the cart and went to grab Daisy, his riding horse turned cart horse, a ruddy bay he retired from riding and slightly sway backed with age. With Mathew on the seat next to him Greenie jumped in the back to take his place "watching the rear" as he was told to do years ago and had studiously done so with an almost religious like fervor, Drake started down the short track from the back field toward the small homestead he had made for himself and his family to settle down in.