Rogue: Part 3

I did eventually return to my slumber, and awoke at dawn. It was a Saturday, so I didn’t have any training. This also implied that I could do whatever I wanted. 

First order of business: breakfast. I wasn’t much of a cook, but I could make some seriously good scrambled eggs. Scrambled eggs were probably the full extent of my cooking abilities, actually. Although… I could also make bread and butter. 

Every Saturday though, I always awake feeling like the day is going to be great, when I can do whatever I want. It’s actually more of the thought that I could do whatever I want that was exciting, as oppose to the ability. I usually couldn’t think of anything to do and just hung out all day doing absolutely nothing in particular. 

For a little while I did stuff on the internet, mainly consisting of trying to think of what to do on the internet. After what Lark had said at training yesterday, I kind of lost all of my motivation to practice ballet, so I decided not to do that. 

After quite a while, it dawned on me that maybe Alistair was still around. He seemed interesting, and the fact that he ran away from Delhaven, although it was against Delhaven laws, was interesting. I hated rules anyways, so the fact that he broke one made no difference to my outlook on him. Maybe it even made a difference positively. 

I quickly changed into a white short sleeved tunic, over which I wore a brown leather vest. I tucked my simple brown trousers into my knee high riding boots, and braided my hair into another horrible braid. 

I walked up to Lark’s house, which was practically identical to mine, painted white with a black roof, except the garden was thriving, and I was pretty sure it was quite a bit bigger. Knocking on the door, I stood there for a couple of seconds before it was answered. 

“It’s Saturday. You don’t have training, Kyla,” Lark said, looking like a mess. It did not appear as though her got any sleep last night. 

“Yeah, I know. I was just wondering if Alistair was still here,” I explained. 

“No,” Lark replied, but then his reply was proven a lie as Alistair appeared in the doorway. 

“Hello,” Alistair said, smiling. That boy never appeared to lose his smile. 

“You’re timing is consistently horrible, Kyla,’ Lark grunted. 

“Ah, one of my greatest assets is my sense of timing,” I replied, and Lark rolled his eyes. Alistair chuckled, leaning against one side of the doorway. 

“Father, I could need a break anyways. Kyla, would you like to train with me?” Alistair asked, and I nodded. 

“I guess I don’t have a say in this matter. Alistair, just make sure no one sees you,” Lark said, and Alistair smiled mischievously. 

We snuck behind all of the houses, carefully avoiding everyone who was outside. Once we left the main town, we were able to sprint to the training ring, without having to worry about being seen. 

The training ring was basically just a circle of sand, where people worked on their one on one melee combat. I didn’t use it too often, considering I didn’t really have anyone to fight against. Being a Warrior though, even if he had quit, he would still possess a natural skill in one on one and melee. 

“Choose your weapon!” I shouted out, like an announcer. Alistair went for a steel sword and a shield, as expected from someone of his class. I chose the two silver daggers, both with a sturdy black hilt and a curved, sharp blade. I could rely on my flexibility and agility for defense. 

“Choose your armor!” Alistair shouted out, trying to mimic the voice I had used. Placing my blades on the floor, I slipped on the lightest armor, a thin layer of silver plating. Alistair went for the heaviest and strongest. We were being very predictable in our choices thus far. 

“Fight!” We screamed together, entering the ring. Circling around the ring, nothing occurred for the first couple of minutes. Eventually though, Alistair made the first attack, just a jab though, and so I easily avoided it by spinning around. 

Delivering small attacks, we were just trying to find each other’s weaknesses. He attacked, and I dodged. This was the pattern for quite a while. Then Alistair seemed to become more focused, a concentration flickering in his eyes. His attacks became fiercer and faster, complicated patterns that he skillfully performed. I continued to dodge though, cartwheeling and lunging. I still couldn’t find an opening. 

Wanting to make an attack, I delivered a strong roundhouse kick, slamming his shoulder. He was barely affected, and continued to sweep and jab. I finally found something though. A slight delay in his left leg, probably an injury to his knee from when he was younger, that had never completely healed. 

On Alistair’s next attack, I lunged down, swinging my right leg into his left. He lost his balance on that one leg, which gave me the opening I was looking for. Standing back up, I elbowed Alistair in the side, distracting him enough for me to sweep out his right leg from under him. He fell onto his back, as the sand flew into the air around him. 

I stayed standing, my left leg directly behind my right. I extended my right dagger at his neck, and kept my left arm bent back, that dagger pointed directly at his chest. 

“Kyla wins! And the crowd goes wild!” I exclaimed, lowering my blades and cheering. Suddenly, though, I felt my feet get swept from under me, and I fell to the sandy ring beside Alistair. 

“Never let your guard down,” he taunted, laughing. Of course I did not appreciate this embarrassment, and so I did what any refined lady would do. I sat on him. 

“I still won!” I exclaimed, having pinned Alistair to the ground. We sort of stayed there for quite a while, my making fun of him until his strength overpowered mine, and he eventually managed to shove me off. We fought a couple more rounds, where I won three and he won two, until he was exhausted. 

Tides: Part 3

“It hasn’t changed a bit!” Fleur said excitedly. The small lake gleamed a bright aqua, sparkling with the reflection of the sun. Several small waterfalls fell into the lake, but my favorite fall was the one that fell onto a large, mossy rock, making many smaller falls. A steep  but considerable small mountain drop created a wall surrouding the lake, and on the mountain the density of the forest, the luscious green trees created a vibrant barrier.

Fleur laughed joyfully as she jumped into the lake, gracefully diving with a huge smile on her face. Aidan went next, taking time to find the highest point to jump from. He lacked Fleur’s grace when he jumped, but knowing Aidan , he was probably having the time of his life.

“Are you going to join us?” I asked Jude, carefully slipping off my boots. I placed them beside where Fleur had left her flowers, and then turned to face him.

“In a little while. I prefer savoring this paradise through less physical means,” Jude said, closing his eyes and breathing in the fresh air. I shrugged, but understood what Jude meant. That did not imply I was not going to get in the water. though.

Instead of jumping in, I climbed down a vine on the wall of the drop, right next to my favorite waterfall. Halfway down, I held my hand out to the side, and felt the cold water against my arm. Continuing down the vine, I reached the bottom and stepped down onto the mossy rock.

Sitting on the side of the rock, I dipped my feet into the water, swaying them back and forth, savoring the smooth coolness. My feet splashed the water into the air, and one splash managed to slap Aidan right in the face. When he managed to get the water out of his eyes, a mischievous smile grew on his face, and I knew I was in trouble.

Before I could think, Aidan was already gone, just a silhouette skillfully gliding through the water. I was laughing too hard to actually consider taking action myself, and soon enough I felt two strong hands grip my ankles.

Aidan pulled with all his strength, every once in a while coming up for breath, and I knew my strength was nowhere close to being capable of keeping myself on the rock. I eventually just let go to the moss I was gripping, and slid into the water with Aidan.

I was laughing under the water, and swam back to the surface to breathe. Aidan was already taking action once again though, and was splashing the water towards me.

“Oh, I do believe you have made quite the mistake,” I exclaimed, splashing back. I suddenly switched tactics, resorting to a more defensive plan. I breathed in as deeply as I could, and dived under the water, using the strength of my legs to propel me forward and deeper.

Looking back, I saw that Aidan was still after me. Suddenly, I felt someone tug at my waist, and turned around to find Fleur pulling me faster and faster away from Aidan. The smile had yet to leave any of our faces.

Fleur and I swam back to the surface for air, and looked to see that somehow Jude had managed to drift off in the midst of our little water war. After a couple seconds, we realized that Aidan was missing, but then he came back up to join us.

“There’s, there’s an opening. A hole, in the wall, underwater. I, I’m going to check it out,” Aidan said, jittery with the excitement of his discovery.

“I’ll come with,” I said, sharing Aidan’s excitement. Fleur nodded, implying that she would join our expedition. We dove underwater, following Aidan to where he found the hole. It wasn’t too deep, and once we saw it, we knew that our curiosity would force us to continue forth.

The opening was quite large, and thus surprised me as to how I had never seen it before. Aidan turned towards us, nodding towards the opening. Both Fleur and I nodded, and we swam through.

On the other side of the opening, the water fell onto the floor of a hollow room, and then appeared to drain through small holes on the floor. I fell the small drop to that floor, and landed on my arm in a painful fashion. I sputtered and choked, and Fleur and Aidan  joined me.

“Oh lord, are you okay, Cora? I am so, so sorry! I did not mean, I did not want you to get hurt!” Aidan said, worried. He crawled over to me, guilt in his eyes.

“I’m fine,” I managed to say, my voice raspy. I sat up, and felt my arm to see if it was anything serious. I was pretty sure the impact would leave a bruise, but nothing any worse than that.

“Thank the lord, thank the lord. I’m so sorry, Cora,” Aidan exclaimed, hugging me tight. I managed to laugh, which made him a little less worried. Fleur came over to the two of us, worry all over face.

“Stop worrying you two! I’m okay, just might leave  bruise. And it’s not your fault, Aidan. As soon as I catch my breath, we can swim back up, and make sure Jude has not yet awoken and noticed our absence,” I explained.

“How could, how is this here? The cliff, this couldn’t be here naturally. Someone must have dug this place out,” Fleur said, feeling the rock surrounding us on the walls. I realized she was right, and got up to join her, looking for anything that could tell us about how this place got here.

“No, Cora. You should sit for now, allow your breathing to return to normal. I’ll help Fleur,” Aidan said, ushering me to stay on the ground. I wanted to lessen his guilt, and thus complied. Crawling to one side of the room, I leaned against it, watching Aidan and Fleur search the walls.

I was about to say I was okay to swim back, when Fleur suddenly jumped back from the wall, gasping. She then ran back to it, tracing something with her fingers. Once she stopped tracing she called Aidan over to her, and while he was distracted, I stood up and joined them.

“What is it you found?” I asked. Aidan was too entranced by whatever it was to mention my standing.

“There is a crack that runs through the wall. And then where the crack ends, it feels as though the other side of the wall is hollow,” Fleur explained, without taking her eyes off where I now noticed, a very thin crack stopped.

“You believe that there is another room, like this one?”

“I am almost convinced so. I can hear noises too. Put your ear against the crack, Cora,” and I did. At first, I heard nothing, but then whispers appeared. They were too silent to make out what exactly they spoke of, but there was definitely more to this room than it seemed.

“Should we examine this more?” Aidan asked curiously. He obviously wanted to, but knew that were not exactly in the state to do so. Aidan  also wasn’t the type to continue if we didn’t wish to.

“I do not believe we can, without the necessary tools. We should probably return anyways, although I do believe we should come back here soon,” Fleur decided, and I agreed. We did not know who exactly was whispering on the other side of the wall, and we were running out of time. I had to return to my manor soon.

“I believe we should keep this quiet, though,” I said.

“What about Jude?”

“I do not think we should tell him, not yet, although I believe we should bring him when we return.”

“Soon,” Aidan said.

“Soon,” I promised.

Rogue

“You know, before you took me off the street, I had wanted to be a ballerina,” I explained. I took an arrow from the quiver on my back, and loaded it into my masterfully carved bow. Pulling the string back, I aimed carefully, with one eye closed in concentration. I stepped my right foot back, and prepared myself. 

“I could totally see that, Kyla. I mean, with your natural femininity and grace. Start when you’re ready,” Lark replied, not even cracking a smile. Lark had been the one to take me off the streets that I had been living on, homeless and an orphan. He’d taken me into Delhaven, and had been my trainer ever since. 

I had never really thought that Lark was my trainer’s actual name, because first of all, he doesn’t trust anybody, and second of all, it fits his appearance too well. Silky black hair fell to just past his shoulders, and was always tied up with a black ribbon. A faint stubble grew across his harshly lined chin and jawline. Blanched toned skin, very muscular, with stoic eyes so dark they appeared to be simply dilated pupils. Lark also always wore the same color, too: black. Today was no different. Surprise, surprise. 

Suddenly, I was off. I shot my arrows rapidly, sprinting across the range. More to show off than anything, I also threw in a few back handsprings and aerials over haystacks. At the end of the shooting range, I quickly discarded my bow and quiver, and pulled out my two silver daggers, one in each hand. Using complex patterns of sweeps and slices, I destroyed the several dummies lined up one by one. 

Next was my favorite part, simply because it actually posed a risk to me. Climbing up the rickety ladder, I stood on the small square platform, carefully finding my central balance. Closing my eyes, I breathed in slowly. When I  eventually opened my eyes, I smiled and stepped onto the thin wire. 

“Remember, Kyla: be careful!” Lark shouted up at me, but I just laughed. Careful wasn’t really a word that ever applied to me. 

Ten more dummies were placed along the thin wire, in a single file line. When I found exactly where I should stand and where I should place my weight, I began towards the first one, arms outstretched to help my balance. 

The first dummy, I took out with a petty roundhouse kick. The next, I skillfully turned my back towards. I swung my left leg behind me, focusing on keeping my chest up. My foot hit its mark, and after a couple of seconds, the dummy flew over my head and landed in front of me. Turning back around, I continued. 

I hadn’t been lying when I had exclaimed my initial dream to be a ballerina, and although I would never admit it, I still kind of wanted to. I had been practicing in my room almost every day for the past three years, using exercises I had learned off the internet. I thought I  actually had become quite good, and now, I thought, was the time to flaunt my stuff. 

I stepped twice, and leaped through the air, legs spread into a perfect split and back arched. When I landed, I instantly rebounded into a pirouette, stretching my leg out into the dummies into a straight kick to the dummy’s chin, knocking its head back and taking the rest of the body with it. 

I continued to leap and turn and kick, combining my ballet and my fighting techniques. I laughed happily the entire time, having the time of my life. When I finished the course, I climbed back down the creaking ladder, curtsying towards her awestruck instructor. 

“Mind telling me who taught you those moves?” He asked, walking towards me. There was no, ‘good job’, or ‘that was great’. Of course not, because nothing was ever good enough for Lark, but that’s part of what made him such a great instructor, in my opinion. He always pushed me as far as I could go, and then a bit farther. 

“I told you already! Ballet, my friend!” I said back, motioning my arms around heroically and laughing.

“When I took you in, Kyla, I told you the consequences. You will never be able to have a job with the other humans, nor will you be allowed to converse with them. You have been selected to be trained as a Rogue, and there is no turning back now,” Lark replied, completely destroying my good mood. 

“I’m quite aware, Lark. I think I’m done for today,” I said angrily, and then stormed off. 

It was six years ago, when I was eight. Both my parents were dead by that point, and I had run away from the orphanage, instead living on the streets. Lark had come to me one day, and told me that I had potential, that I was a candidate to be trained as a Rogue. He offered me warmth and safety, and to be my trainer. Lark had told me the consequences, but I still said yes. 

I never regretted that decision, and didn’t think I ever would. I loved being a Rogue, adored being appreciated, and very much enjoyed my training. Most of the time. 

I walked back to the main city of Delhaven, where my townhouse was located. When I first moved here, Lark had lived with me, but when I had turned thirteen, I got the house to myself. I had also been given a laptop, my only link to the outside world. 

Delhaven wasn’t necessarily separate from the rest of the world in terms of geography, but it was in terms of everything else. It was basically a town, covered in a glamor that hid it from the rest of the world. It was the humans of the outside world though, the ones that show potential and promise, that are selected to become a Mage, Warrior or Rogue. Once selected, you train in your area until you are sixteen, when you can finally join the ranks. 

Part of what separates Delhaven from the rest of the world, is that Delhaven is aware of what actually exists. The evil that is forever trying to destroy everything and take over the world. That is what the ranks are for, protecting the world from this evil. It’s basically a giant army. 

Lark was in the ranks for quite a long time, but eventually quit to become a trainer. That’s what most people do: work in the ranks and then retire to become a trainer. The others, well, they usually die before they can retire. 

Once again, I don’t regret my decision. I’m happy with my life now, happy with the important role I will play for this world. I am always aware of the risks I am taking, but I know that I am where I belong. 

Walking to the washroom, I began to clean myself up, washing the dirt from my hands and face. I don’t think I am beautiful, I doubted that I am even attractive, but I really wasn’t one to care. My auburn hair was always a tangled mess, usually pulled into a horribly done braid. My winter green eyes always had dark circles under them. My tanned skin was always covered in scratches and bruises. 

I changed into a pair of sweatpants and a white tunic, lying peacefully down onto my bed. It was only early afternoon, but training had really tired me out, and a nap never hurt anybody. Eventually I felt myself drift away, and succumbed to the darkness that awaited me in sleep. 

An Archaic Venture: Part 1

Even the most ignorant person would be able to recognize their fear, their hesitance. Pulling my grey, woolen clock over my face, I tried my hardest to avoid the stares of all of the townsfolk, and to not to think about the inevitable things they were thinking. It’s the fake princess. The pseudo. The kingdom’s little lie. They were all trying to hide their thoughts, but their expressions gave them away as they just stood there, trying to get a decent look at what the fake princess really looks like.

Finally, one little boy speaks up, interrupting the empty silence. “Is that the princess, mother?” He asks, tugging on his mother’s pale lavender tunic. Her astonished expression quickly turned to embarrassment, and she rapidly hushed her son by putting her index finger to his inquisitive lips.

Not wanting to cause any further disruption to these townsfolk’s day. I rushed the rest of the way through the town centre, regretting having taken this route. My brown leather boots clopped against the stone roads as I ran, unable to do more than glimpse at the admirably beautiful architecture. The town centre was considerably small, being a single stone fountain surrounded by local vendors, but it has always been an extremely busy area, attracting travelers from all the kingdoms with its inexpensive goods, lovely citizens and clean and comfortable inns.

Queen Vendelynne, my mother, paid a lot of attention to Lavita, the capitol of her kingdom, Falaydan.

Almost into the forest, almost away from all of the people, an arm wrapped around my waist, and another around my chest, restricting both of my arms. I quickly stomped one of the attacker’s feet with the heel of my boot, loosening his strong grip enough for me to slip out of it. I whipped around to face the attacker, causing my cloak to fall off. Fortunately, though, this allowed me to easily reach my two silver daggers, which I held in the protective stance Kaleb had taught me: one leg behind the other, both bent, with one bent arm holding a dagger in front of my face, and the other in front of my sternum, both blades facing the attacker.

The attacker, recognizably male, crossed his arms over his chest, his face still hidden by an alleyway he had pulled me into. We both just stood there for a second, and I tried to resist the urge to adjust my knee length dress, the midnight blue fabric and the white underskirts flowing with the wind, the white collar sticking up from the bodice digging painfully into my neck and the corset constricting my breath.

“I’d recommend putting the knives down,” he said, and I instantly recognized that sarcastic, cocky voice.

“They are daggers, thank you very much. And you are quite aware of how paranoid I am about precautions. Being a fake princess isn’t all fun, you know,” I replied. My paranoia was legitimate, as I never went anywhere without some source of defense. Always ready for when someone will try to kill me because I’m an accidental princess.

“Just because your father isn’t of royal blood, does not imply you are not a real princess, Delylan,” Kyler said, emerging into the light. His white tunic was in desperate need of a wash, as was his brown button vest and   black trousers. His brown boots, almost identical to mine, both being comfortable and easy to move around in, were perfectly clean. Priorities.

“You didn’t see the way everyone stared at me this morning!” I exclaimed.

“Curiosity, Del. It’s a weakness even to the strongest of us, and I sincerely doubt that people would kill you for it. I mean, the person that they would want to kill is your mother for having an affair with a fuller, but since she is the queen, and treats her people so well, no one bothers to care about what she did,” Kyler explained, and I understood what he was saying (although I do not wish for my mother to be killed), I was just to stubborn to really internalize it.

“Anyways, how should you know what it is like? Your father is an inventor!” I exclaimed. Kyler’s father, Mr. Ross, was one of the most interesting people I have ever met, always full of new ideas.

“He’s actually a delusional halfwit. If it wasn’t for your mother’s support of my family, I wouldn’t be able to afford anything. Not even from the town centre vendors!” He countered truthfully. Even considering Mr. Ross’ creativity, he never earned much coin for his inventions, and Kyler’s mother abandoned them right after he was born. My mother supplied Kyler with money and an education, being the gracious woman that she is.

“I think he’s a genius. Anyways the townsfolk did not appreciate me interrupting their lives. They all stared at me like I was some kind of miscreant,” I explained. Kyler lifted a corner of his mouth into a smile, mockingly, crinkling the his golden skin. His dark green eyes appeared to laugh, and he combed one his dirty hands through his overgrown, messy, dark brown hair, which grew almost to his eyelashes. Even considering the coin mother gave him, he continued to refuse to be sanitary. And yes, this is something that really annoys me.

“I see you have left your hair down today,” Kyler pointed out as I picked up my cloak, and put it back on. He’s the type of person to make this unusual accusation. My long, wavy light brown hair was in fact down today, with the exception of the long strands in the front, which I had braided and tied together at the back of my head. I just smiled in response, as we continued to make our way towards the forest.

Kyler and I had met when I had almost reached age six, and he eight. I had been wandering through the forest with Kaleb, and ran into Kyler, who at the time had been relaxing on a branch of a tree. He taught me how to climb a tree that day, and we had communed as often as possible ever since. Being two years older than me though, and being of lower class blood, he has had to begin to figure out certain aspects of his life, such as marriage and work, although such things he has blissfully ignored, and in their stead attended my lessons with Kaleb.

“What is it like, being sixteen?” I asked him, the question appearing from out of nowhere. What I actually meant to ask what it was like being sixteen, and not having to worry about the pressure of royalty, but I did not wish to insult his lifestyle.

“Very similar to being fourteen, with a little more pressure to find a bride,” he replied, not even questioning my peculiar question. That’s why we were such good friends really: we didn’t question each other, but we did a lot of questioning of everything else.

“You’d be lucky to marry some old wench!:

“Well, I do not see you being so lucky when it comes to affairs of the heart,” he said, shoving me lightly, and I shoved him back. He looked over at me, his eyes looking into my dark blue ones, and raised his eyebrows, at which I nodded in reply. Suddenly we were both running, charging through the forest, the sounds of branches breaking loudly sounding into the cloudless blue sky. When we finally reached the training grounds, practically at the exact same time, close enough that a winner could not be decided, we were both very out of breath, and collapsed for a couple minutes to regain our ability to breathe properly.

“Get up, ye old hags!” Kaleb shouted at us. We very slowly stood up, turning towards Kaleb for instructions as to what we were to do today. Kaleb wasn’t much older than Kyler and myself, or at least didn’t look a day over twenty five. His blonde hair had been tied back just above his neck, emphasizing his face made up of all muscle and harsh lines. His outfit was identical to Kyler’s, although quite a bit cleaner. His murky grey eyes glared at the two of us, and we both stood up a little straighter.

“Kyler, ye lookin’ even worse than usual today, ma boy,” Kaleb exclaimed, astonished at Kyler’s dirtiness. His accent shown clear, as he was from the Skarinian Kingdom.

“Oh, I disagree entirely. I think I would make a lovely wench, actually. I could work in the brothel, I am such a comely creature,” Kyler replied, at which I had to giggle silently at the image my mind created. Kaleb just gave him a stern look, at which Kyler just shrugged at.

“Okay so today we are going to be working on your sword skills-”

“YES!” Kyler screamed out for the entire kingdom to hear. Shooting him another one of his piercing glares, Kaleb handed both of us identical silver swords, with a hilt engraved with script I couldn’t understand.

“No armor?” I asked him, testing out the weight of the sword. Considerably light, and the blade reflected the sun’s glare, beautifully made.

“No armor,” he answered, almost smiling (which is as close as I have ever seen him get to actual smiling)

“Where did you get such bloody fantastic swords?” Kyler asked, laughing at his sword’s utter perfection.

“Someone owed me a favor, and happened to be good with an anvil,” was all Kaleb would say, and then motioned for us to move onto the training grounds, where the grass is replaced by sand.

“Um, where are the dummies?”

“You two are going to practice on each other,”

“What?!” Kyler and I screamed in unison.

“I would not call myself a betting man, but Kyler has quite the advantage here,” Kaleb said walking off the training grounds and back onto the grass. I snarled at his back, but then turned around to face Kyler, accepting Kaleb’s challenge.

Kyler smiled at me, squinting his eyes to find any of my weak points. Wherever they were, I tried my best not to make them shown. After a couple seconds of just standing there, we both came to realize (with a bit of encouragement from Kaleb), that we were actually going to fight each other, although we also knew that it wouldn’t be much of a fight considering we would both hate harming each other.

He took the first swing, which I blocked and counter attacked, which he dodged and counter attacked, which was a pattern that continued for quite a while before I finally found his weakness, when I actually bothered to consider his weakness having something to do with the lower half of us body. When he swung his sword, his left knee would jam into place, leaving it vulnerable for at least a couple seconds after an attack, which I would assume is from when he had once fallen out of tree and messed up his knee pretty bad.

On Kyler’s next attack, I blocked his sword with my own, and swung my right foot around to his left knee, pulling it forwards and sending him off balance. While he regained his stance, I was able to turn to my left, allowing me to do a roundhouse kick, delivering my left foot to his right shoulder (not a hard enough blow though to actually cause any serious damage), knocking him to the dusty ground.

I pointed the tip of my sword to my neck, about to say something witty, when a messenger came running from the forest, and up to Kaleb. The messenger whispered in Kaleb’s ear for a little while, in which time Kyler stood up, and Kaleb started to nod in understanding. Turning to us, he explained what was going on. “It appears as though there’s some trouble up at the castle. Ye mum, Delylan, would like you and Kyler to get up there immediately,” and then the messenger whispered something else into Kaleb’s ear, “and it appears I’m s’posed to join ya,” Kaleb said, obviously not very pleased with the idea.

“Is everything alright?” I asked, worried.

“Truth be told, I don’t really know,” Kaleb replied, and the three of us (the messenger has messages to send) mounted two of Kaleb’s horses, Kaleb on one, Kyler and I on another.