Finding a person to sell him a horse turned out to be no real problem. His mother's influence in the Village had been a well-respected one and not his father's supposed disgrace or his loss of control would keep those who had once respected her from helping him.
"Thank you again for this." Lian addressed the stable man.
"Think nothing of it boy." The older man replied, his eyes holding none of the curiosity and accusations that the rest of the village held for him. "Your mother helped with nearly half of the foals still out back. I'm sorry for your loss, boy. With that great display of power you managed, I'd be surprised if you don't become a great Master someday."
Lian flinched but smiled none the less. "I will always be a Warrior in my heart, Sir. That doesn't change because I now have another weapon in my arsenal."
A big boisterous laugh erupted from the man and a big hand clapped him on the shoulder.
"True enough, boy. True enough. Let's see what type of horse you manage to snag then."
And that was how Lian ended up in the back fencing behind the stables introducing Fenrir to horse after horse.
Stop baring your teeth at them. You're scaring them on purpose. Lian sighed as he watched the horse race away towards the far field were the others were grazing.
"I'm not baring my teeth, I'm smiling at them to seem friendlier." Fen said trying to sound innocent but falling short due to the amusement coloring his tone.
Lian didn't even bother to argue anymore, he just went in search of a gentler horse who could be calmed in the face of Fen's predatory posturing.
There was a lightness in both of them now. Lian felt it in the air between them. Ever since they'd spent the last morning howling to whoever would listen in the small hut behind the school house, Lian didn't feel like he was downing in mud. He didn't quite feel like himself, but it was close enough.
After resting with Fenrir by his side, Lian had taken a bath with water boiled over the woodstove and his teacher, he still couldn't remember her name, had brought him fresh clothes and food for both him and his Guardian. That night, Lian and Fenrir had made their plans, settling their doubts and deciding on a path they both wanted to follow.
The meeting with the Four Mages this morning had changed nothing. He was more dedicated than ever to getting his magic under control and high tailing it out of that damned Academy to take his Warrior's Tests and become a Warrior Trainee. He would join the Guild no matter what he was supposed to be. Then he would find out what he could about the battle that killed his father.
"Hey Lian, how about this one."
Lian turned completely around to face the direction he knew Fen to be. You couldn't follow a voice when it was in your head, but he had an awareness for Fen that went beyond physical. It was like Fen was another limb, a part of him he could point to no matter the hindrance to his senses.
When he turned, he saw Fen trotting around a fully grown battle charger. Lian's eyes widened in horror and he hissed.
"Back away from the horse Fen!"
His words went unheeded as the wolf stopped a few paces in front of the charger, bowing his head a bit to touch the tip of his snout to the ground before edging forward slowly.
"Don't worry, I think she likes us."
Lian wanted to argue that chargers did not like anyone, when the massive horse proved him wrong. She lowered her head as the wolf came closer. With a tilt of her head she had a black eyes boring straight at his wolf and Lian was sure the beast would crush Fenrir under her hooves.
She did not.
The charger allowed the wolf to gain ground until their noses had touched. She pushed her nose into the wolf's side, tossing Fen back a step before her head came up again and she shook herself out.
"She likes me!" Fenrir exclaimed, turning his head to look at Lian with a proud stare. Lian had to admit that was an amazing feet. Battle chargers were hardly known for their kindness. Battle chargers were born and breed for war. A horse with an instinct for hostility, it would attack any but its master. Lian had remembered riding with his father atop the General's battle charger back when the beast was still alive. That one had liked him well enough.
Lian wasn't so sure this one would though.
He didn't get much of a chance to fret though. She closed the distance between them quickly and bumped her nose into his shoulder, jarring him back a bit before he was able to catch himself. She was a big beast and her weight would have knocked him down had he not tensed when he'd seen her coming.
The way she'd done this to both him and Fen almost felt as if she had picked them instead of the other way around.
The black eye stared straight at him as if daring him to say something contradictory. Lian was not about to play the fool.
"Well come on then. If you both believe we are ready for what's to come." He said aloud to both this odd horse and his odd Familiar.
Lian didn't wait for an answer, nor did he look back to see if he would get one. Instead he continued forward at a steady place and listened to the paws and hooves that followed him.
His whole life was moving so fast in a direction he wasn't sure he wanted to go. He couldn't help wondering if this road really led to the path he wanted to follow. Was his dream what awaited him at the end, or would everything change again in the seconds it takes a person to blink their eyes.
'When something changes, it is a scramble to find a place to stand where you don't get hurt from the fallen pieces of your life' His mother had told him on the day they'd received the Death Letter. They had been the only words she whispered that day. She had been fighting to find safety too, Lian knew this now. Yet at the time he'd been demanding answers. Had his father really fled from battle? Had he died with an arrow on his back? Was the man he looked up to, really nothing but a coward?
It had been the one moment of weakness he'd allowed himself, before he let his pride and honor stand at his sides while he stood beside the crumbling image of General Allan Fury
"Oh, you are an interesting one, boy." Keera's words drew Lian out of his mind and he regarded the quieter twin with a tilt of his head.
He didn't know what to make of any of these Mages, Keera especially. Her attitude and the way she held herself spoke of restraint and a mild demeanor, but her words and tone always seemed to mock him. It was like she was reacting to a joke only she had heard. Lian felt that gaining her attention in anyway would be like balancing on the edge of a knife.
"I don't know what you mean." He replied as he led his new battle charger to the stables. He hadn't even realized that he was doing this without a lead or a bit and brittle.
"In a field of skittish village horses, you manage to not only find, but gain favor with a seasoned war horse. A boy of no more than fifteen years at life speaks like a man twice his age and demands respect in the face of people who could potentially become his teachers. And power like yours that has required a wolf as a Familiar, yet you do not believe yourself a Mage, but a Warrior instead. I am not sure what to make of you, boy." Keera's expression was one of a dark amusement, but Lian couldn't get past her words.
The horse standing tall behind him was a seasoned war horse? He'd known by her size and stature that she was a battle charger, but to be seasoned in war was a different matter. Being breed to fight did not mean one would ever actually see battle. It had been a fact of life the village knew very well, seeing as failure of the Warrior's Exam were more common than passing them.
Lian glanced over his shoulder at the battle charger with a new respect. She was indeed something special. She'd seen the death of her rider and still lived, meaning she had killed the one who had killed her rider. Lian wondered if she would ever be as possessive of him someday.
"Come then." Keera finally spoke again, her bland expression once again falling over his face like a mask. Lian want to call her cynical, but he wasn't even sure if the word fit. Keera was the strangest Mage of the four he had met so far and he hoped none of the others would be like her.
He didn't see the other Mages as he walked his war horse to the stables to brush and saddle her.
It had been something he'd done for his father's war horse more than once as a kid, always with his father watching to make sure his horse was treated right.
That horse had been killed when his father had but Lian still remembered her name. Maybe this horse would be proud to carry the same name?
With measured movements he made his way in front of the horse so he could look into one of her eyes. Her gaze was unwavering and still mildly unnerving so he powered through as if the horse could understand him.
"I don't know your name." He said simply. "And there is no one that I can ask. So I must give you a new one here and now, at the beginning of our journey together."
He tried to pick out any sort of emotions on the war horse's eyes but he could decipher any of it, so he took a deep breath before starting again.
"My father was a General in the Warrior's Guard. An honorable man. He died this year and he had only lived long enough as a Warrior to be carried by a single horse. This war horse died by his side, so no one carries her name anymore. So will you take up the mantel of her name, as I carry that of my father's?"
The silence that followed stretched wide around them.
None of the horses in the other stalls even moved, but Lian could hear all of them breathe. The moment felt charged with something odd and binding. Even the other animals were waiting for a response.
It came as a warm puff of air at Lian's shoulder when the horse snorted and then bobbed her massive head.
Lian felt the gratitude inside him build before he even realized how big this question had actually been for him. He would carry his father's legacy for all of his life, but this horse was to carry him for the derision of hers. To call her by the name of his father's companion, would be such a relief.
"Then your name now, is Valkyrie."
"I feel like we are developing a pattern." Lian almost jumped at the sound of Fen's voice, but he turned to see the wolf at the stable's open doors. He did not dare come in, the horses would be spooked the instant he crossed their threshold. As it was, the ones closest to the door were moving restlessly.
A pattern how? Lian thought back, trying to get more used to talking to Fen this way. He didn't need to speak to the wolf out loud when in public, he was already labeled dangerous and crazy there was only so much the people of the village could take before they came after him.
"When I was born, my mother told me stories of myths and legends. She said I was named after a god of old. A powerful wolf that would topple kings and destroy the world so it could begin anew. In these myths The Morgan was the chooser of the slain. A large black crow that would prowl the battlefield for those worthy enough of the honor of dying in battle. While Valkyries would ride behind the Morgan taking only those who were worthy to the only afterlife fit for a warrior. Those taken by the Valkyries would find peace, while those that remained on earth would fight the same battle they had died for over and over again for all eternity." Fen's voice was reverent as he spoke and his eyes remained on the war horse, on Valkyrie, as the tale went on.
Lian could now see the pattern as well but he wasn't sure if it meant anything. To be named after gods and goddesses was considered an honor and a duty. The name given would be a reminder for the one that held it, to always bring honor to the deity in question.
Lian looked at Valkyrie again and allowed himself a moment to wish that she really could lead him into the greatest peace a warrior could find.
"Are you all ready then?" Voniya had come up behind Fen, but he did not move at her approach and in turn she did not try to get too close. After all, he may be a Familiar, but he was not her Familiar.
"Yes." Lian answered, leading Valkyrie out of a stables by her reins.
Comments (0)
See all