The Dou-Jin Apprentice of Monsters and Men In the Beginning

Chapter 12 Richardo

Chapter 12

Richardo

Richardo was a young man in all appearances, but actually he was nearly five hundred years old and he had seen a lot in his life . He was about six foot three inches tall and weighed close to three hundred pounds. He had brad brown wavy hair with gray wings at the temples and a sprinkling of gray that spotted his hair on his head.

His face was tanned as were most of the people of Central Tektara and had no facial hair as was also accustom to his people. His long dark brown hair hung down to his buttock in seven braids as was normal for a shaman in his tribe. If he would have had a beard he would have done the same with his beard.

He normally didn't bother himself with the everyday boredoms of life but he had received a raven saying that a certain sorcerer needed to be put down. The only problem was is that it was Christar.

Normally he would have jumped at a chance to help a relative to put another mage down, but Christar was different. Christar and he had a shaky alliance going on. Both agreed that they wouldn't kill the other, but the message was so urgent.

Richardo got out his backpack and saddle bags and began to pack them. He didn't know why he was packing. Carrio was a distant relative that he had contact with, but he made it sound urgent. Carrio was his favorite great nephew but this was going far beyond a family favor.

Richardo had sent out a reply to Carrio's request that was in code so that if Christar or any of his cronies intercepted it that wouldn't know what was going on, but Christar was a paranoid old man, but then Richardo was extremely paranoid as well.

He stepped outside the church and walked around to the stable where he had his snow white griffon that the congregation had given him as a gift for being so gracious and kind to them. The previous shaman had been a power hunger backstabbing maniac. The Chieftain couldn't do anything without his say.

Then came the morning when Richardo was twelve years old when the news came about the old shaman's death. Someone had poisoned his water, stabbed him in the chest, and broke his neck. They wanted to make sure he was dead.

Richardo had the appearance of a twenty five year old and he felt it as well. He was a good man and he hated killing, but Christar had to go. There was no use for a tyrant in the magic world.

Christar and Richardo had faced off once before but neither could get the upper hand in the battle and the battle was called off in the middle of the night and both sneaked away frustrated that they hadn't finished off the other.

Neither mage new that the other had a ring of regeneration on which help prolong the fighting. It would probably prolong this fighting as well, or at least until one lost his ring.

The large Central Tektaran strapped on the his saddlebags, cinched up the saddle girth and put the harness on the snowy griffon. The large griffon was name Vicious Ravaging Snow Predator, but Richardo just called him Predator.

Richardo gave his wife a good long passionate kiss that made him almost postpone his trip for a few hours. Then he hugged and kissed his five children Derik, the oldest, Donnie, Donna, Dixie, and Delmar. He then kissed his wife again.

He put his boot in the stir-up and swung himself into and spurred his griffon to a gallop and leaped toward the sky. The powerful wings of the lion-eagle was always refreshing to Richardo. He looked upon the ground his children still waving at him and he waved back and dropped a handful of peppermint candy upon them. He then waved good-bye and disappeared into the clouds.

It was nice to be riding on the griffon again he hadn't done it in a long while that he'd almost forgotten what it was like, but the rush of wind in this face and the blast of wind in his ears quickly reminded him of what he had been missing and it was an orchestra to his mind, body, and soul.

Richardo watch the ground go by beneath his feet as he soared hi above the tree tops and looking down upon the woodland farms. People were moving closer together and it appeared that he was going to have to move again himself. He needed at least a mile between him and his neighbors, right now it appeared as though they were within half a mile away.

There would be plenty of time to think about that on the way back home. Maybe he would move to the Great Northwest. Thails'Bane, Alclamain, and Talos. He had heard great things about the northwest. Lots of rain, mild summers, plenty of wild life, and most of all not many people.

Richardo had heard that there had been a massive earthquake in Azon and it made a huge canyon. It stretch for nearly half the country north and south for hundreds of miles, and at its widest point it was nearly one hundred miles across. That would be a sight to see on his way back home. That must have been one heck of a earthquake to rip a ravine that wide.

"I wonder how deep it is. It must go down for miles if it that long and that wide." Richardo said to himself. He decided to take a look for himself while he was on his was to Lost Vargas. A couple of days wouldn't matter to Carrio he could handle the next couple of days without him.

Within two days the griffon had managed them to get to the Grand Canyon and grand it was. Richardo had never seen anything like it in all his life and that was saying something. He had seen canyons before but this was massive. He had switched between earths before and earth one was five times smaller than this earth their grand canyon on earth one was five times smaller and not as new.

He took his griffon over the middle of the canyon. He was nearly fifty miles from either side of the canyon. The canyon was nearly one hundred miles wide, was six miles deep, and more than twelve hundred miles long. It was the grandest thing Richardo had ever seen, but he had to get back on track to his nephew Carrio.

Richardo camped for the night in a desert of Azon. He place a insect and reptile line around his camp and something that would scare off the bigger animals as well. He unfolded his cot and started a small fire and cooked some dinner. The canyon had given him a full days worth of fun.

The next day Richardo arrived at the opening of the cave that lead to the Talcoma'De'Shore as there he waited in hiding. Within an hour Carrio had come outside and met his uncle.

"Uncle Richardo it's good to see you!" Carrio said to his uncle.

"I came as soon as I could when I got your message." Richardo informed his nephew.

"Yeah about that." Carrio said. "Christar knows that your coming. He's prepared for you and everything. Can you stay somewhere for a week and then come in?"

"For you my nephew anything." Richardo said with a smile.

"Be careful out here." Christar has eyes and ears everywhere. "Don't trust anyone."

Carrio hugged his uncle and turned and walk away. "I love you uncle."

"I love you too." He replied.

Richardo got about fifty feet away from Carrio when he saw a barrage of what seemed like a hundred fiery darts fly into Richardo.

"NO!!!!!!" Carrio screamed.

Carrio ran back to where his uncle was, but there was nothing there but a smoldering pile of ash.

Carrio gathered as much of the ash as he could into one of his large pouches. "You're a dead man Christar!" Was all that Carrio said to himself under his breath for the rest of the day. Fortunately Christar was nowhere around to hear the man say what he was saying.

Whoever killed Carrio's uncle had just gained an enemy. He already suspected Christar, but if it wasn't Christar than who could it have it possibly been. Maybe it was Shandor. She was the only other person that knew Richardo was coming. It was one or both of them Carrio thought to himself. They both needed to die for what they did.