A Warriors Triumph
by Alfador
The sun shone brilliantly through the large glass window that was mounted on the southern wall, illuminating the polished wood and reflecting off it like a giant mirror. Even after all the long past years, those walls had never lost their shine, never faded from the days long past. It seemed that the only thing in that house on the hill that faded was the man who lived in it. He stood there with an old cloth, dusting and cleaning the items and statuettes that adorned his mantelpiece. Little statues of horses carved out of wood or jade stone. Horses were his passion. As he ran the cloth over the statue, making sure not to miss one nook or cranny on the wooden statue, memories of better days came back to him. The horse statue had a few cracks where his younger brother had once dropped it on the floor. Originally, the statue belonged to his mother. That seemed like eons ago. He set the statue down and moved on to the next one. A large statue, carved out of jade, that was given to him as a gift. He adored it greatly, remembering the friends who had given it to him as a parting gift. He then set that one down and picked up the three smaller statues that went along with it. He dusted them off, and then set them down in their proper places. He then moved toward the center of the mantel where he picked up another statue. This one was not a horse, nor was it carved from wood or jade, this statue was of a dragon, cast in bronze with emeralds lining it's back, diamonds for the eyes and a ruby placed it the chest to represent the heart. He would never forget the day he received this, even if he tried to forget, he never would. It seemed only like yesterday, but it was a yesterday long past. Years ago.....
The morning sun peeked over the hills and shone over the town and Kingdom of Taleen, casting it's radiance over all that inhabited the village and the royal family in the palace. The palace, with all of it's towers and terraces, cast a shadow over the town as the sun rose. A rooster crowed it's song from one of the houses in the village, then more could be heard. Theal lifted his head from where it rested. Why do so many people have to own chickens!? If they want to wake so bloody early in the morning, they should wake themselves and not the whole town! He sat up and yawned. His dull, brown eyes were still have closed and his hair, that was just as dull and as brown, was in a mess. He sluggishly got up and slid on some pants and a shirt. He should have been more excited but he was too tired. It was his thirteenth birthday that day and his father had promised him a sword and some lessons. He wasn't thinking about that now, though, he was thinking about some breakfast. He clumped down the stairs slowly, a smile came upon his face. The smell of pancakes wafted in the air. He strode down the stairs to find the table set with plates and glasses and syrup. His father was almost finished his breakfast when Theal entered the kitchen. His mother was just bringing another plate of pancakes to the table. Theal sat down and began serving himself. His mother set down the plate and smiled at him, "Happy Birthday!" she said. Theal looked up, I had almost forgotten! It's my birthday! He smiled widely as his father ruffled up his hair."Well," he said," I suppose it's time for you to start your training." Theal swallowed down a fork full of pancake. "Seriously!? Today!? This is great!" Theal exclaimed excitedly. His father smiled."Of course! I was already drafted in the Empires army when I was sixteen! You should start training as soon as possible!" Theal sat, just staring, not at his father, but past his father. Finally! This is what I've always wanted!
To Be Continued! Tell me what you think!
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