Journey of the Horn

Chapter 9

Himi could see the look of fear painted across my face, so he came up to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "Everythings gonna be alright, I believe in you." He says trying to be reassuring but it didn't help much. We ran back to the winter palace, for we knew if I were late my father wouldn't wait for Roshfire to kill me. We make it back and sure enough my father is standing right at the gate wearing his shiny gold armor, waiting for us. "Went out last night huh?" He asks with his arms crossed in front of him. We respond with a bit of a nervous smile. "Father please, it was just to get the nerves subdued a little. Like you have always taught me. Never go into a battle when your nerves yield the sword." He looks at me as if surprised I remembered that lesson. He never saw me as the best at remembering things like that. "Alright, but you better not have done anything stupid or that cost you your judgment." He says as he turns to walk away, causing his blood red cloak to cascade through the air.

Himi went back to the guards barracks to see if he could catch the slightest bit of sleep. While I went to the armory, which was a room right off of the arena. I began to put on my armor which was much less fancy than that of my father. It was made of two suits of leather with chain mail in between them and with small pieces of Ursa fur to keep warm during battle. Then a small group of my younger brothers came in to do the same, many of them sizing each other up for the Roshfire. "You kidding if anyone is gonna win it's gonna be me." One of them stated, it was one of the elder of the group and the brothers. His name is Latharious, he's always been brasher and more quick tempered than the rest. He's been waiting for this day his whole life, he thinks that just his pure strength will be enough for him to win. Hell he's even bigger than me when it comes to muscle, in height I am still bigger. He stands at about 7'3".

"Yeah probably, after all you are the strongest out of all of us." Says another one of my brothers, this one being about 26 years in age. His name is Jamnapari. He stands below the average height for a Satyr at 6'5". He is less of a fighter than the rest of us, thus why he clings to Latharious's hip. He was more of the brains, he once made a scent creator that allowed us to attract Deer closer to the palace, making it to where we didn't have to even leave our rooms to go hunting. But father saw it as not only a waste of time but also an invention that would ruin our kind, so he forced him to destroy it. He is one of the few of my brothers that has short curly hair, while the majority of us have long straight hair. He also wears glasses and has a bit of a squeaky voice, along with some freckles on his face. But he has some of the best posture out of all of us, Even though he almost always has his nose in a book.

They all start to put on their armor as I walk out. I couldn't help but remember when all of them were still in diapers. I tried so hard not to weep, but the tears some how escaped. But I kept walking to the place where Roshfire would begin. I wasn't the first to arrive, there waiting all dressed in his armor...was Alpine. He sat with his back against a tree. I walked up to him softly with the snow crunching under my hooves. "Hey little brother." He kinda jumps when I speak as he wipes away some tears and sniffles "Hey, I wasn't crying." I sit down next to him with a slight hint of concern "What's the matter baby brother?" I ask in a stereotypical big brother tone. "Nothing, I'm fine....it's just scary. Either of us can very well die in a span of a few days....I could very well never see you again." He starts to break down into tears again. I envelope him in my arms and hug him tighter than I've ever hugged him before. Just squeezing him as tears stream down my face. "I know, I know I'm scared too. I've known all of you since you were babies, since before you could do anything for yourselves. I don't want any of you to get hurt let alone killed. But I can't do anything about it, I'm just as helpless as any one. But I want you to know, no matter what happens. Even if you kill me, I love you and you will always be my baby brother." I say squeezing him even tighter.

We sat under that tree for a few minutes at least, just waiting for the rest of our brothers to make an appearance. About a hour later the rest of my brothers that were of age arrived, My mother and father stood up on a rock bringing silence to my brothers and myself. My mother stood at my father's side as he took his sword which was engraved with our family crest. He raised his sword in the air as he spoke. "My sons, today! Today is the day you have been training for! Like your ancestors before you, you will compete for your right to the throne! You will compete with everything you have, and everything you are! Once I drop this sword and you are twenty feet away, you will try to find the ring at all cost! Whether it be killing a squirrel....or your own brother! I wish luck to fall upon all of you! Fight hard, but fight smart! The first to make it back with the ring in hand will be the next Lord! When I lower my sword to this stone your Roshfire will begin! I wish for the Great Griffon to have mercy upon you all, and may the next Lord lead our kingdom into wealth and prosperity!" His words ring through out the snow covered trees. Even the wind fell silent at his speech. We all started to breath harder whether it be out of excitement or fear it didn't matter now. The world seemed to move in slow motion. As my father lowered his sword causing sparks to fly when the steel scraped the stone.