FANTASY NOVEL (Title in Progress)/Chapter One
"I can't believe we're doing this," blurted out Timm, breaking the silence. "What if we don't come back?" The boy was shaking from fear.
"You won't have to worry about that," said Rilamir, in a calm voice, "We're gonna be just fine."
The two were packing up weapons and camping supplies, such as food, water, and something to sleep on. They were vastly different in age and appearance. Timm being a short, overweight Human boy, with brown hair and eyes, at the age of twelve. While Rilamir was a tall, slender Half-Elf, Half-Human hybrid with blonde hair and deep blue eyes, at the age of sixteen. The two have been friends for as long as they could remember, finding each other more entertaining than the rest of the town.
"It's not like we're going to be gone long anyhow, it's only a three hours journey to the lake, and that's if we take it slow. I'm sure everything will be fine." The truth was, however, that Rilamir too was scared. They had always been told to never leave the village as children, for there were horrific monsters with grotesque appetites looking to gobble them up. But they were men now, and, almost as a rite of passage, they were to go to lake Vormir and gather some wood and fish.
"But why do we have to go all the way out to the lake just to gather fish and wood? We live right by the ocean, and there are countless forests FULL of trees to chop down way closer," he argued. "I just don't get it."
"It's not about the fish or wood, it's about the experience. We're going to leave the village for the first time, really soak in the outside world, get a feel for it, ya know?"
"I've soaked it in enough to know I want nothing to do with it," pouted Timm as he put some bread into his bag.
"Here, I'll make you a promise, if you go with me and the others, I will personally see to it that you are not harmed. Deal?"
You promise?" Timm asked, as if convinced already.
"Yes, I promise," Rilamir assured while he sharpened his sword with the whet stone.
"I guess you have been practicing with Guard Captain Dono the past few months, and you are pretty good with the sword." That was only half the truth. Rilamir seemed to be excelling at learning the sword, even beating guards in spars who have served for years. "Alright, I guess I'll go."
"Excellent!" Rilamir called out in excitement, "I would've been so bored without you there, the other boys aren't nearly as fun to talk to as you are." They continued packing and talking on and on about the trip, before setting out with the other thirteen boys and a couple men of the guard. "We'll be sure to bring em back safe," said one of them to the parents of the boys, "Don't you worry." They all set off. buzzing with excitement, as the sun rose over the trees in the distance.
Rilamir woke up with a splitting headache. He got up out of bed and opened up the blinds to see it was already midday. "Damnit," he mumbled as he put on some clothes and headed downstairs. He could smell the food his mother was cooking the second he left his room. "Is that my Rilamir deciding to finally wake up I hear?" she called out as he entered the room.
"Morning Mom," he responded, rubbing his head.
"I think you mean 'Afternoon Mom.' It's already three hours past midday son," she exclaimed as she put some fish and bread on a plate for him. "You're twenty two years old now, you would think you'd know what time to go to bed and wake up by now."
"I'm sorry Mother, I've just been doing a lot of overtime at work recently."
"If by overtime you mean drinking till dawn then I agree, you're doing a lot of that recently," she said as she put the plate down in front of him. "Why don't you go and get a real job from those notice boards in FRONT of the bar instead of heading inside and drinking all night?" she asked, biting into a piece of bread.
"You know how I feel about those jobs, I don't wanna be out of town for long periods of time, especially for the small pay they always promise."
"Come on, it'll be worth it. Well will you give them a look for me?" she asked. Rilamir could hear the words before they even exited her mouth, and yet, they were still oh so sweet and convincing. She had her way with words. She could charm a beggar out of their last coin if she wanted. It's how she convinced his Father to buy the bar in town, and how she always reassures the landlord that he'll have his money next week, even when he's pissed beyond belief. "Maybe it was her Elf blood," he always thought, "They are fabled to have an old magic running through their veins."
"I guess," he replied "But don't get your hopes up."
"Thank you hon, now finish up your food and get out there, your Father needs help bringing in the fish."
Rilamir gulped down his meal and went out the front door, grabbing his coat on his way out. It was a beautiful day in the small town of Rockport. The townspeople are all doing their part to help out whether it be the Church of the Ancient Ones giving out the poor, or the merchants selling at discounts just to get the merchandise off their shelves and in the hands of the people. Rilamir walked through the marketplace to get to the docks, passing by the Temple on the way. "Will you give to the Most Holy of people, The Ones who watch over us in our time of need?" cried out a Holy woman. Rilamir bowed his head and moved on, a passive sign of respect shown to the people of the church.
He saw his father over by the fishermen, who were all bringing in loads of fish, and setting up to head back out to sea. Greeted by the rancid smell of dead cod and the sweet sea air, he moved down the docks, catching one of the crates the men were throwing onto the docks. "Oh, didn't see ya there," responded one of the men. "Rilamir!" called out his Dad "It's about time you woke up and took in the salty air."
"Mom told me you needed help?" he asked
"Did she now? Well we certainly wouldn't turn such help away, would we boys?" he asked the rest of the men. They all nodded in approval and continued loading off the crates. "We came across a ship wreck out on the sea, and we recovered a couple of the crates. I need ya to go with Arland here and take em back to the house for safekeeping."
"Safekeeping? Is there something special about this shipwreck?" he asked as he studied the crates. He noticed the seal of the crown was carved into each crate and knew it must've been carrying something important, or maybe it was just some expensive wine from the Zoran Elves in the far East.
"Well besides the seal, which prohibits anyone but officials from opening it, we rescued a survivor who was carrying this here letter and a ring. He said both were very important and that they are to be delivered to King Gilebertus himself right before passing right back out," he said, handing him the letter and ring. "Go ahead and take both a' those' with you as well. Maybe give the man a visit after yer done with the cargo. I think they took em to the chapel for some sort of healing." He began to load up the ship and prepare for setting out. "Tell yer mum I love her, I'll see ya both later."
Rilamir grabbed the last crate on the dock and started heading back home with Arland. Arland was a strangely quiet man for a fisherman. He was tall and muscular, with a deep scar that ran down his left ear down to his chest. He doesn't ever talk about it much, so Rilamir tends to make up stories about it. As they were walking back, he imagined this time that Arland got into a bar fight with a dozen men, all drunk, but not nearly as drunk as him. As they came at him, he just kept swinging and swinging until there was nobody left to fight, paying no mind to the damage he may have been sustaining. "One of those men must've just brought a knife," he thought to himself as he eyeballed the scar. It may not have been an accurate story, much like the others he thought up, but it always did a good job of passing the time while he worked with the quiet giant.
After they loaded the crates up outside the house, Rilamir thanked Arland, and he grunted in response, as usual. He decided to go ahead and check on the shipwreck survivor, but before that he would check the job listings, even though he knew none of them would be promising enough to even consider. As he approached the job board, he noticed two out of place people grab a couple of the listings and head inside. "That's strange, not often we get Dwarves or Halflings in town, let alone in combination," he thought as he looked over the listings. "Let's see here," he mumbled. "Will pay a good heap o' gold for rounding up ma sheep," read one, and "May not pay much, but The Ancient One's will smile upon you for sweepin up the chapel," read another. Rilamir seemed more interested in the two listings the men grabbed than the many posted on the board. "If they were interested," he thought, "I sure as hell would be." He decided he needed to know what the listings said, and headed into the tavern.
He was greeted by the familiar aroma of sweet honey mead, and the sight of many drunken off duty guards trying to sing an old sea shanty. He noticed the two men were in the back at their own table reading through the listings. They had a whole pile of them sitting on the table, and the two were arguing about something. Rilamir sat at the table behind them with his back turned so he could eavesdrop on them. "We can't just continue doing these lowly jobs like this," argued the Dwarf, "We really need to be off to meet that Rakari delegate."
"Rakari?" thought Rilamir, as he pulled out the ring. He hadn't studied it before, but the ring had the seal of the Rakari Government on it. "What the hell do they have to do with the King?"
"Yeah, yeah we'll do it eventually. Besides, they aren't supposed to meet up with us for another two days. Didn't you see the storm the other day? Their ship was definitely delayed."
"Oh it was delayed alright," mumbled Rilamir.
"Well let's at least get the damn jobs done and be on our way, you know the Rakari can be very impatient." The men get up and walk towards the door, and Rilamir follows them. Not five steps away from his seat, a man stumbles into him before bolting for the door. By the time Rilamir has time to realize what had happened, the Halfling throws a knife into the man's foot and pins him to the ground. The man screams in pain and topples to the ground, dropping a ring. Rilamir begins to check for the ring in his pocket and realizes what the man did. "Please don't hurt me messir, it was an honest mistake, I promise," he begged and pleaded.
"Then you won't mind if I return this ring to it's rightful owner?"
"Not at all sir, not at all!" The Halfling proceeded to take the knife out of the man's foot and snatched the ring as the man hobbled out the door. "I presume this is your's?" he said to Rilamir skeptically. "Strange, you don't look like a giant stone bastard." Getting a better look at the two now, he could tell these were no usual travellers. The Halfling had a rough face with a single fake eye. He was wearing a tight leather tunic with many pockets, and knives strapped all over himself. The Dwarf was wearing a cloak and holding what appeared to be a walking stick. His face was mostly covered by his hood, but you could see his beard from a mile away.
"Well," started Rilamir, "my Father rescued the man whose ring that belongs to, I was supposed to go and return it after he healed up."
"Healed up you say? Well this may be more serious than we originally thought," the Dwarf said. "Could you take us to him?"
"Not so fast there Puebeard, we should introduce ourselves first," interjected the Halfling, "I'm Cheldric Longriver," he said elegantly as he bowed before Rilamir. "This here is 'Pubeard'."
"Duran Ungart at your service," greeted the Dwarf as he shook Rilamir's hand, "And who might you be?"
"My name is Rilamir Eilris, and it's a pleasure to meet the both of you." he said eyeballing Puebeard's beard. "Is there a reason he calls you Puebeard?"
"Why yes there is. It may not make sense now," he said motioning to his beard, "But I used to have almost no facial hair at all. My Father thought it a fitting nickname, and it was for a few years. Guess it just stuck after that."
"Well if storytime is over," joked Cheldric, "I think it's about time Rilamir here showed us this Rikari of ours so we can be on our way and he on his."
"Right, he should be in the Chapel just down the street," he said as he walked out the door. The market place was still buzzing with people, even more than usual, it would seem. "Discount fish here!" cried one of the merchants, "Bread for sale," called another. Some stalls would hire dancers and jesters to attract people to their stand, and it seemed to be working. "Quite the busy town you got here," Cheldric said, "Wouldn't have expected it from how small it is."
"Well the town used to be a lot smaller. In fact it's grown substantially in the past six years. We've gone from a quaint one thousand to a bustling five thousand in the past two years alone. If I'm being honest, it's kind of horrid. If you didn't live here before or don't have relatives who live here, you're guaranteed to be homeless. Yet people just keep on moving in."
"Where do they all come from?" Puebeard asked.
"Well I would say some are from Jandar, the place has been steadily losing its population ever since those attacks started up," answered Cheldric before buying a pound of lamb meat.
"Jandar is under attack? What's going on up there?" Rilamir asked, worried about the answer, "A whole city doesn't just leave for no reason."
"That's exactly what the King's been wondering about himself. He's gotten reports of attacks from monsters, but, at least according to the reports, it was something they could handle. It's very possible the citizens just left in fear of being endangered rather than it being a genuine threat," answered Puebeard.
The three headed up the steps and into the chapel. The Priest was getting ready for his sermon, and people were starting to fill up the seats. "I never was a fan of this religion," Cheldric whispered to the others, "It seems too focused on the practicing than the belief itself, but whatever floats your boat, I guess." Rilamir led them into the side room where the healers usually tended to the sick and injured. "Excuse me," started Rilamir at one of the healers, "My friends and I are looking for a Rakari man. My Father brought him in earlier."
"Ah yes, they said someone would be coming to check on him. He's right over here." She led them to the far end of the room where the Rakari man was lying unconscious. He looked like he'd been through hell. He had fresh scars all over his chest and arms, and a bandage wrapped around his head. "We tried our best to patch him up, but our healers just aren't familiar with the Rikari," she stated.
"You did a fine job, thank you very much," Puebeard said as she bowed her head and went back to helping the sick.
"I'm sure he won't think they did a fine job once he wakes up," chuckled Cheldric
"Do you want to insult this man's character anymore before you meet him, or are you done?" asked Puebeard, clearly fed up with the man.
"Here Rilamir, take the ring. I'd rather he attack you if he suspects thievery on our end," he said as he handed off the ring to Rilamir. Rilamir slowly moved over to the man and studied him before attempting to wake him. He had at least three feet on him, and Rilamir had grown to an average of six and a quarter foot. The man seemed to have thick, yellow skin, thicker than even the tree he cut down last summer. "I guess the legends about that second layer of skin are true then," he thought to himself.
As he reached over to check the man's wounds, his hand raised up and grabbed it. "Please, you need to help me!" he pleaded, "I'm not going to live much longer, and I need it out of me! It burns so much!"
"It's alright, we're here to help you," calmed Puebeard, "What's happening to you?"
"I don't know! I just want it to end, please!" The man begins to claw at his wounds as if he has molten lava inside of him and the only way to release it was to spill his guts. Puebeard raised his walking stick and pointed it at the man. It began to glow as he mumbled some words, and the man slowly stopped tearing at himself. "Now tell us, what is your name?" he asked.
"My name is unimportant, my cause is what matters," he says, in a calm and monotone voice. "We were to come to the Human town of Rockport and meet two delegates of the Human King Gilebertus to settle the differences between us Rakari down in the islands and the Dragonlings of East Lo Kai. However, we came upon a storm on the trek up here. The last thing I remember was a flash of lightning revealing another ship in the distance right before we hit a patch of rocks. I woke up on a ship full of Human men, so I assume they came to us after the storm calmed to rescue us. Were there any other survivors?"
"Not that my Father brought back, no," answered Rilamir. "You were carrying this however." He handed the man the signet ring and the letter.
"Ah yes, our leader's vow that we shall postpone the war for some dumb Human cause. I am in no condition to deliver this myself," he says as he hands the items back to Rilamir, "If you would find the delegates for me and give this to them, I would... would be most...." As the man begins to drift back off to sleep, Rilamir stands and turns to the two men he came with. "What the hell was that?"
"Oh that?" asked Cheldric, "Our Puebeard here is one of those wizards you hear about in the stories. I thought they were something your parents made up to scare you off from strangers." he chuckled as he headed for the door.
"Well they're quite real," started Puebeard, "It just takes years of practice and dedication. Can I give that ring a look, Rilamir?"
"Oh, of course!" He pulled the ring from his pocket and handed it to the Dwarf. "Hmmm..." he began to turn the ring in his hand, "Just as I suspected. Could I look at the letter as well?" Rilamir pulled the envelope from his pocket. It had started to crease around the edges. "It appears that a magical ward was put upon the letter. Luckily it shan't be too hard to remove, as I have the ring that is holding the energy. Very strange however. There must be vital information the Rakari are keeping in here." He handed the letter and ring back to Rilamir. "Well it seems we should be setting off doesn't it," he said to the two.
"We? I don't understand."
"Oh we noticed you gawking at us by the job listings earlier," Cheldric chuckled. "You watch like a hawk. Sharp eyes, but not as sharp as mine, but that's besides the point. You're interested in a job, we just so happen to have an open position after that Human decided to ditch us. What was his name?" Cheldric began to tap his foot and think to himself.
"The Rakari wanted you to find the delegates," Puebeard started, "And the delegates would like you to tag along. What do you say?"
"Will I get to meet the King?" Rilamir asked with excitement.
"Oh, you'll do more than meet the King," Cheldric said as they exited the Chapel. "I guess Mom was right," Rilamir thought to himself, "The job listings really would be worth it."