Author's Notes
Nevfangiel, I wrote a thread back at LufiaWorld that you might want to read, talking about the changes made to the four chapters you've already read. Thanks for you encouragement once again. Perhaps you'll like the new chapters...even if they are less polished, quickly written.
Reviews of all sorts, sizes, and shapes are welcome! You'll see the descriptiveness goes down...all planned to allow your visual imagination to go up...yeah, that's it, I don't really lack a honed skill or the desire to describe vividly. Enjoy!
Chapter One:
Dinner for Two
Estpolis. It is a world that has seen battles and strife, as well as peaceful ages. A world far richer in history and lore than most would care to hear. The present finds that time has complicated things, although the societies of Estpolis would claim otherwise. Life has grown busy, people grow apart, and a terror grows in the shadows. Adventures, at least of any significance and valor, have faded and the race of man looks after its own. Kingdoms isolate and fortify.
Alunze Kingdom is one such realm, located on Seim—the western-most continent of the Northlands, which is the northernmost quarter-region of Estpolis. Peace and harmony has reigned in this area for centuries, but King Kesef desires other things—adulation, power, and riches—at any cost. Distrust lives not far behind in his mind. Yet there are still pockets of peaceful settlements and warm-hearted folk abroad.
Elcid is one such town and its people are one such folk. It is a simple town hanging onto the older way of life. Yet many even here are abandoning this. This town is situated in a secluded section at the southern end of the realm of Alunze. The King cares little for its happenings, though, unless his reputation is at stake or on display.
A stretch of grasslands buffets the settlement from its northern neighbors, and the closest land to the south is days away by sea. Because of this Elcid has remained mostly self-supportive, but the world is changing. The economy of the nearby city of Sundletan (which is also under the Alunze King's authority) is driven by profit and is expanding its influence. The traditional life falters, making way for the new.
But remember when I told you that true and worthy adventures had faded from the face of Estpolis? Well, there came a time that called upon the revival of courage and valor. In other words, this is a tale of a most significant adventure. At least the people of these events thought so and perhaps you will at the end as well.
It was in the time of Prince Kese's coronation, of which all those under the authority of King Kesef were "requested" to attend. It is widely believed that the King named his son, Kese, because he felt his son to be an incomplete, lesser version of himself. While many fathers live for the day when their sons surpass their achievements, Kesef sought his own glory, even at the expense of his son's.
But our tale starts with a young, red-haired man. I'm sure (and surely hope) you'll grow fond of him before too long, for it is largely his tale that I share with you. Although, it doesn't entirely belong to him as you shall see.
So, you are in the knowledgeable position that he was not in at the beginning of this adventure, for it grabbed him out of nowhere, while you know that it is coming. It was quite a bit into his own travels before this man realized the journey that was set before him. But we must not jump too far ahead; first it would do good to meet him.
His name is Maxim and, like I said, his hair was fiery red, which he wore slicked back. Usually by the end of a very active day, however, strands were reaching in all directions. He was very friendly, but also a strong fighter, both due in part to his immense compassion and commitment. He was a bit taller than most inhabitants of Estpolis, missing six feet by only a couple of inches. And if one was looking for him it was likely that he would either be out in nature or visiting his childhood friend in her father's shop.
It is this latter place that you'll meet the twenty-one year old as we finally begin this adventure. The shop was a small restaurant and food market. On this unusually warm day (for the first weeks of Estpolis" spring[1]) Maxim was returning from the fields just south of town, carrying a bag slung over his shoulder.
He entered the door and called out, "Tia, are you home?" Tia is his childhood friend, a half-foot shorter than him and slender in form. Her hair fell to her shoulders and was light blue in color. She was an eighteen-year old lass with a contagious smile.
As she heard the familiar voice she hurried from the back room to the main counter, greeting Maxim with her great smile that was equaled by the glint in her eyes. "Hi Max! How are you today?"
"Not too bad. Nice apron," he said smiling at Tia's outfit.
Tia tried to ignore this remark as she untied the apron from around her waist. Maxim had been teasing her about anything he could for as long as she could remember and she was used to it. "I am a cook, you know."
"A very good one, at that. So how are you and what's that wonderful smell?" he said sniffing the air. This also helped to disarm Tia a bit after his previous remark.
"Fine, thanks. And I was just about to have dinner. Perfect timing as usual. Would you care to join me, Sir," Tia answered waving him to sit down at one of the dinner tables as she turned and entered the kitchen. The décor of the room was simple, as much of Elcid was. Each table had a lone thick candle in the center of its wooden surface surrounded by a ring of a holly-like leaf of light green. Four chairs were neatly perched under each table, showing Tia's penchant for tidiness. The tables were of a red- grayish brown, while the walls of the restaurant were made of a darker brown wood with a slight red tint.
"I don't want to impose, now" Maxim said moving towards the table with his hands up in an exaggerated manner.
"Oh, yes you do," she called back from the kitchen. "And you know you're always welcome here. Plus, this way I won't have leftovers. Just give me a minute to fix the plates. What do you want to drink?"
"Water's fine, thanks," Maxim said.
A couple of minutes later she came out with a tray containing the water pitcher, two glasses, and two plates of a strange looking dish. "It's my first time making this dish," she said as she placed the tray on a stand next to the table. "So do be kind, Max." She was always apt to apologize for her cooking beforehand, but there was never any good reason to do so. She was the best cook, perhaps even in the whole Northlands. At least Maxim thought so.
"Of course. You have no reason to fear; it smells great." The smell was enticing Maxim, who was already hungry from the day's work. "What is it?"
"It's made from a fish called Navaroa. Very rare to come by and a delicacy in the richest of kingdoms, they say," Tia said.
"I've heard of it before, but never seen it," Maxim interrupted.
"Me too. I hope it tastes all right. Dig in!" she said intently watching Maxim take a bite.
After chewing and swallowing his bite with great effort, Maxim began "We..." when he was interrupted by a gag, although he tried to play it off as a cough. "Well...aaah...what shall I say. I mean...um...Tia, why don't you try some."
"What kind of response is that," she said back to him. "Just go ahead," was all he would say. Knowing Maxim's stubbornness on things of this sort Tia tried it herself and her reaction was the same. "This...this is horrid." With that they both broke out laughing the way friends do over shared experiences of this sort.
"I've never tasted anything so bad," she continued as the laughing subsided.
"I wouldn't say that," Maxim tried, noticing the disappointment on Tia's face and in her voice. Before she could question her culinary skills he added, "and it's not your cooking. It has to be the fish."
"Oh, I'm so disappointed," Tia said. "After all you do for us here, Max, you deserve a wonderful meal. It's the least I can do. Maybe we can just mask its flavor with lemon juice or something."
"I don't think that would even help it, my dear." Tia lit up at that name of endearment. "Now the next time you cook for me, it'll taste good."
"As if it wouldn't have otherwise," she said, humphing at his words.
"Wait...I meant...really great. I mean...it'll taste even better...I mean...your food is always perfect."
"Nice try, Max, but you'll have to pay for those words some other way," she said beaming a smile in Maxim's direction. "Now come on, let's find something quick to whip up."
They both headed into the kitchen and made some sandwiches to have instead. Then they sat at the table and enjoyed their makeshift meal. After this, Tia moved back into the kitchen to make some of Maxim's favorite drink, sweet cider.
Bringing two cups she joined Maxim who was now in one of the back rooms, which was actually Tia's living room. As is the custom in Elcid (and many towns of Estpolis) her family lived under the same roof as their shop. It was both convenient and practical that way.
They sat in two modestly cushioned chairs, with a small, rounded table between them. Off to their right was a fireplace, but it was too warm outside to be in use for quite some time. There were not too many other decorations for the room except for some candlesticks for when it was dark, a few more chairs and shelves with various trinkets, a few books, and plenty of plants. Tia was also quite the promising gardener.
They talked for ten minutes or so about random topics, usually ending up with Tia laughing at something Maxim said.
"Have you any heard any more news on those strange balls of light in the sky, T?" Maxim asked.
"The only news talked about now concerns the King and his son's coronation ceremony. The King wants life itself to take a knee at this. But I'm sure they were nothing important," Tia responded. "I mean we are still here, right? They haven't done any damage."
"Yeah, you're right," Maxim agreed, not wanting to let Tia in on the strange feeling he had experienced around the first sightings and since then that he did not even know what to think of. Talk around town had changed subjects, but Maxim's thoughts did not follow as easily.
"I'm going to be happy when this ceremony is over, though, and life can get back to normal," Tia added.
"Yeah, but they say its going to be very traditional and historic and you know how I love that...even history as pompous as this. I might have to stay an extra day or so and investigate the King's library and museum," Maxim said.
"Get it over with and give me back my life is what I say," Tia said with a smirk forming at the edge of her mouth. Maxim smiled back.
After a few minutes of sipping cider in silence, in a thoughtfully serious tone, Tia said, 'say Maxim..."
After getting his attention, which didn't happen right away because he was lost in his own thoughts on the subject of the balls of light, she continued, "Why...are you always in battle, always fighting?"
Letting go of his own train of thoughts reluctantly, he said, "Why do you ask all of a sudden, Tia?"
Tia began carefully, but did not end that way, "I mean, you're the only one from around here fighting these beasts and hunting them. No one else fights like this to make their living. Why you? Why put yourself in danger like this?"
This barrage took him by surprise, but he fought off the urge to become defensive, shifting in his chair slightly. It took him awhile before he could collect his thoughts and answers into words.
"I've been fighting ever since I can remember. I've never really asked myself why or questioned it. It's almost instinct. It's just what I do. Plus, it's really not that dangerous...I'm too good to get hurt," Maxim said adding humor into the mix as he often did to mask his fears.
"Yeah, but life's changing and they have soldiers that take care of that sort of thing," Tia pleaded.
"Yeah, but Elcid is the least concern of kings, unless they are bored or need to fill their treasuries. And I don't care to live in one of those kingdoms myself as a soldier," Maxim said sharply, although not directed at Tia, as much as at other people. "I like it quiet and peaceful, like it is here.
"What's an ordinary job, anyway?" Maxim said playing her questions off. "And who needs to settle down, we're still young. Our lives are full ahead of us."
After a few moments of silence Tia softly said, "I feel as though this world is leaving Elcid behind, Max. And I'm being swept up into it." Maxim just sat silently, dropping his playful mood while Tia continued, 'dad's fighting it, too, but we are going to have to change how we do things. You know how our shop is doing."
After some more silence Tia, with tears on the apparent verge of forming, said, "It somehow seems wrong to change things, with how mom was. It somehow seems like the world is betraying her and that we would be if we followed it. I miss her..." she trailed off. The tears never came, though, for Tia had trained herself not to cry in front of others, even Max.
Many deep thoughts were running through Maxim's mind, and one finally broke through into speech. He had learned he could trust Tia and open up more of his life to her than anyone else. Even more than when his grandparents were still around. Of course, it can be easier to open up to one your own age, for you are at the same point in your lives.
"I'm fighting it, too, Tia. The way of life coming upon us doesn't always fill me with hope. It's for people who care more about money, not the world, the trees, the mountains, the people. It's a selfish world, I fear, that is thriving."
After another pause he continued, "I don't know...maybe we do just have to accept the role time is giving us. Yet, I can't fight the feeling that there is still a place, a need for those who choose not to abandon the good of the past for the "convenience" of the future."
Then Tia spoke, "I know what you mean. It feels as though we must grow up, yet it doesn't seem fit, to grow up in the way society would have us. Who knows what the future holds? Life hasn't turned this way yet. You know that you will always be welcome hear, though, and perhaps you could work in a shop like this one someday, too?"
"Me...a shop owner?" Maxim said laughing. "That'll be the day!" A few more minutes of joking followed this, taking their minds off the weightier matters until Maxim gingerly got up out of his chair.
"You know, I've never met anyone quite like you before..." Tia said staring into Maxim's eyes.
"Well, thank you, and may I say the same. I am at your service for both the wonderful dinner and the cheerful afternoon, m" Lady," he said with a playful bow.
"Don't worry a thing about it, Sir," Tia responded in an equally playful curtsy. "It's no fun to eat alone anyway. You'll have to join me again sometime soon."
"It would be my great pleasure. Eating is something I do very well and a service I would love to provide on many occasions to come. But customers will soon be calling your name and I have a name to call on myself before sleep calls both our names. So I must be off."
"Are you going out of town again?"
"I'm sure you've heard of the beasts seen around the northern caves. Well, it's my job to hunt them down. I might not see you until the Ceremony...unless they all show up at my feet."
"Be careful and quick, then." Tia knew there was no use arguing.
"You know I will." With that Tia got the shop ready for the dinner guests, while Maxim took his time walking to his next meeting. There were more thoughts racing into and out of and back into his head then he knew what to do with. And he ended up were he was supposed to be no less confused concerning life and a little late. A talk with friends can do that.
-----------------------------
The name Maxim was calling upon was that of Josip, who had become a great friend. Josip was what they called a 'deliverer" and this means that he found people to hunt various wild beasts that were terrorizing local inhabitants. Those he found to do the work were called monster hunters or "trackers."
A tracker, as you may now have guessed, is what Maxim was. Maxim felt as though he was in his element when he tracked out of doors and he doubted that he would ever spend the large part of any day without any ray of sunlight or shadow of cloud over his head.
Maxim got the final details of his latest job, stayed awhile to catch up on life with Josip, and then left for his bed with one of Josip's horses in tow.
Early the next morning, right after the break of dawn, Maxim was up and moving about. In just about an hour and a half Maxim was well fed, all- packed, and ready to go.
Of course he would have started even quicker had he packed before the morning, but Maxim was never that prepared in advanced. And this means he probably would forget something on his trip that would come in handy, but he was also a pretty adaptable person. Perhaps you are the same way, as I must admit I am. Luckily nothing of too much importance was left unpacked this time.
With nothing else to do he took off with Josip's horse, first leading it in front and then when he reached the town's north end he mounted it. And as he moved along, the town of Elcid, perched amidst rolling hills spotted with trees of oak, faded into the distance.
----------------------- [1] The calendar in use of much of Estpolis at this time involved ten months of thirty days each, as well as their New Year's Day of Celebration, for a total of a 301 day cycle.
Nevfangiel, I wrote a thread back at LufiaWorld that you might want to read, talking about the changes made to the four chapters you've already read. Thanks for you encouragement once again. Perhaps you'll like the new chapters...even if they are less polished, quickly written.
Reviews of all sorts, sizes, and shapes are welcome! You'll see the descriptiveness goes down...all planned to allow your visual imagination to go up...yeah, that's it, I don't really lack a honed skill or the desire to describe vividly. Enjoy!
Chapter One:
Dinner for Two
Estpolis. It is a world that has seen battles and strife, as well as peaceful ages. A world far richer in history and lore than most would care to hear. The present finds that time has complicated things, although the societies of Estpolis would claim otherwise. Life has grown busy, people grow apart, and a terror grows in the shadows. Adventures, at least of any significance and valor, have faded and the race of man looks after its own. Kingdoms isolate and fortify.
Alunze Kingdom is one such realm, located on Seim—the western-most continent of the Northlands, which is the northernmost quarter-region of Estpolis. Peace and harmony has reigned in this area for centuries, but King Kesef desires other things—adulation, power, and riches—at any cost. Distrust lives not far behind in his mind. Yet there are still pockets of peaceful settlements and warm-hearted folk abroad.
Elcid is one such town and its people are one such folk. It is a simple town hanging onto the older way of life. Yet many even here are abandoning this. This town is situated in a secluded section at the southern end of the realm of Alunze. The King cares little for its happenings, though, unless his reputation is at stake or on display.
A stretch of grasslands buffets the settlement from its northern neighbors, and the closest land to the south is days away by sea. Because of this Elcid has remained mostly self-supportive, but the world is changing. The economy of the nearby city of Sundletan (which is also under the Alunze King's authority) is driven by profit and is expanding its influence. The traditional life falters, making way for the new.
But remember when I told you that true and worthy adventures had faded from the face of Estpolis? Well, there came a time that called upon the revival of courage and valor. In other words, this is a tale of a most significant adventure. At least the people of these events thought so and perhaps you will at the end as well.
It was in the time of Prince Kese's coronation, of which all those under the authority of King Kesef were "requested" to attend. It is widely believed that the King named his son, Kese, because he felt his son to be an incomplete, lesser version of himself. While many fathers live for the day when their sons surpass their achievements, Kesef sought his own glory, even at the expense of his son's.
But our tale starts with a young, red-haired man. I'm sure (and surely hope) you'll grow fond of him before too long, for it is largely his tale that I share with you. Although, it doesn't entirely belong to him as you shall see.
So, you are in the knowledgeable position that he was not in at the beginning of this adventure, for it grabbed him out of nowhere, while you know that it is coming. It was quite a bit into his own travels before this man realized the journey that was set before him. But we must not jump too far ahead; first it would do good to meet him.
His name is Maxim and, like I said, his hair was fiery red, which he wore slicked back. Usually by the end of a very active day, however, strands were reaching in all directions. He was very friendly, but also a strong fighter, both due in part to his immense compassion and commitment. He was a bit taller than most inhabitants of Estpolis, missing six feet by only a couple of inches. And if one was looking for him it was likely that he would either be out in nature or visiting his childhood friend in her father's shop.
It is this latter place that you'll meet the twenty-one year old as we finally begin this adventure. The shop was a small restaurant and food market. On this unusually warm day (for the first weeks of Estpolis" spring[1]) Maxim was returning from the fields just south of town, carrying a bag slung over his shoulder.
He entered the door and called out, "Tia, are you home?" Tia is his childhood friend, a half-foot shorter than him and slender in form. Her hair fell to her shoulders and was light blue in color. She was an eighteen-year old lass with a contagious smile.
As she heard the familiar voice she hurried from the back room to the main counter, greeting Maxim with her great smile that was equaled by the glint in her eyes. "Hi Max! How are you today?"
"Not too bad. Nice apron," he said smiling at Tia's outfit.
Tia tried to ignore this remark as she untied the apron from around her waist. Maxim had been teasing her about anything he could for as long as she could remember and she was used to it. "I am a cook, you know."
"A very good one, at that. So how are you and what's that wonderful smell?" he said sniffing the air. This also helped to disarm Tia a bit after his previous remark.
"Fine, thanks. And I was just about to have dinner. Perfect timing as usual. Would you care to join me, Sir," Tia answered waving him to sit down at one of the dinner tables as she turned and entered the kitchen. The décor of the room was simple, as much of Elcid was. Each table had a lone thick candle in the center of its wooden surface surrounded by a ring of a holly-like leaf of light green. Four chairs were neatly perched under each table, showing Tia's penchant for tidiness. The tables were of a red- grayish brown, while the walls of the restaurant were made of a darker brown wood with a slight red tint.
"I don't want to impose, now" Maxim said moving towards the table with his hands up in an exaggerated manner.
"Oh, yes you do," she called back from the kitchen. "And you know you're always welcome here. Plus, this way I won't have leftovers. Just give me a minute to fix the plates. What do you want to drink?"
"Water's fine, thanks," Maxim said.
A couple of minutes later she came out with a tray containing the water pitcher, two glasses, and two plates of a strange looking dish. "It's my first time making this dish," she said as she placed the tray on a stand next to the table. "So do be kind, Max." She was always apt to apologize for her cooking beforehand, but there was never any good reason to do so. She was the best cook, perhaps even in the whole Northlands. At least Maxim thought so.
"Of course. You have no reason to fear; it smells great." The smell was enticing Maxim, who was already hungry from the day's work. "What is it?"
"It's made from a fish called Navaroa. Very rare to come by and a delicacy in the richest of kingdoms, they say," Tia said.
"I've heard of it before, but never seen it," Maxim interrupted.
"Me too. I hope it tastes all right. Dig in!" she said intently watching Maxim take a bite.
After chewing and swallowing his bite with great effort, Maxim began "We..." when he was interrupted by a gag, although he tried to play it off as a cough. "Well...aaah...what shall I say. I mean...um...Tia, why don't you try some."
"What kind of response is that," she said back to him. "Just go ahead," was all he would say. Knowing Maxim's stubbornness on things of this sort Tia tried it herself and her reaction was the same. "This...this is horrid." With that they both broke out laughing the way friends do over shared experiences of this sort.
"I've never tasted anything so bad," she continued as the laughing subsided.
"I wouldn't say that," Maxim tried, noticing the disappointment on Tia's face and in her voice. Before she could question her culinary skills he added, "and it's not your cooking. It has to be the fish."
"Oh, I'm so disappointed," Tia said. "After all you do for us here, Max, you deserve a wonderful meal. It's the least I can do. Maybe we can just mask its flavor with lemon juice or something."
"I don't think that would even help it, my dear." Tia lit up at that name of endearment. "Now the next time you cook for me, it'll taste good."
"As if it wouldn't have otherwise," she said, humphing at his words.
"Wait...I meant...really great. I mean...it'll taste even better...I mean...your food is always perfect."
"Nice try, Max, but you'll have to pay for those words some other way," she said beaming a smile in Maxim's direction. "Now come on, let's find something quick to whip up."
They both headed into the kitchen and made some sandwiches to have instead. Then they sat at the table and enjoyed their makeshift meal. After this, Tia moved back into the kitchen to make some of Maxim's favorite drink, sweet cider.
Bringing two cups she joined Maxim who was now in one of the back rooms, which was actually Tia's living room. As is the custom in Elcid (and many towns of Estpolis) her family lived under the same roof as their shop. It was both convenient and practical that way.
They sat in two modestly cushioned chairs, with a small, rounded table between them. Off to their right was a fireplace, but it was too warm outside to be in use for quite some time. There were not too many other decorations for the room except for some candlesticks for when it was dark, a few more chairs and shelves with various trinkets, a few books, and plenty of plants. Tia was also quite the promising gardener.
They talked for ten minutes or so about random topics, usually ending up with Tia laughing at something Maxim said.
"Have you any heard any more news on those strange balls of light in the sky, T?" Maxim asked.
"The only news talked about now concerns the King and his son's coronation ceremony. The King wants life itself to take a knee at this. But I'm sure they were nothing important," Tia responded. "I mean we are still here, right? They haven't done any damage."
"Yeah, you're right," Maxim agreed, not wanting to let Tia in on the strange feeling he had experienced around the first sightings and since then that he did not even know what to think of. Talk around town had changed subjects, but Maxim's thoughts did not follow as easily.
"I'm going to be happy when this ceremony is over, though, and life can get back to normal," Tia added.
"Yeah, but they say its going to be very traditional and historic and you know how I love that...even history as pompous as this. I might have to stay an extra day or so and investigate the King's library and museum," Maxim said.
"Get it over with and give me back my life is what I say," Tia said with a smirk forming at the edge of her mouth. Maxim smiled back.
After a few minutes of sipping cider in silence, in a thoughtfully serious tone, Tia said, 'say Maxim..."
After getting his attention, which didn't happen right away because he was lost in his own thoughts on the subject of the balls of light, she continued, "Why...are you always in battle, always fighting?"
Letting go of his own train of thoughts reluctantly, he said, "Why do you ask all of a sudden, Tia?"
Tia began carefully, but did not end that way, "I mean, you're the only one from around here fighting these beasts and hunting them. No one else fights like this to make their living. Why you? Why put yourself in danger like this?"
This barrage took him by surprise, but he fought off the urge to become defensive, shifting in his chair slightly. It took him awhile before he could collect his thoughts and answers into words.
"I've been fighting ever since I can remember. I've never really asked myself why or questioned it. It's almost instinct. It's just what I do. Plus, it's really not that dangerous...I'm too good to get hurt," Maxim said adding humor into the mix as he often did to mask his fears.
"Yeah, but life's changing and they have soldiers that take care of that sort of thing," Tia pleaded.
"Yeah, but Elcid is the least concern of kings, unless they are bored or need to fill their treasuries. And I don't care to live in one of those kingdoms myself as a soldier," Maxim said sharply, although not directed at Tia, as much as at other people. "I like it quiet and peaceful, like it is here.
"What's an ordinary job, anyway?" Maxim said playing her questions off. "And who needs to settle down, we're still young. Our lives are full ahead of us."
After a few moments of silence Tia softly said, "I feel as though this world is leaving Elcid behind, Max. And I'm being swept up into it." Maxim just sat silently, dropping his playful mood while Tia continued, 'dad's fighting it, too, but we are going to have to change how we do things. You know how our shop is doing."
After some more silence Tia, with tears on the apparent verge of forming, said, "It somehow seems wrong to change things, with how mom was. It somehow seems like the world is betraying her and that we would be if we followed it. I miss her..." she trailed off. The tears never came, though, for Tia had trained herself not to cry in front of others, even Max.
Many deep thoughts were running through Maxim's mind, and one finally broke through into speech. He had learned he could trust Tia and open up more of his life to her than anyone else. Even more than when his grandparents were still around. Of course, it can be easier to open up to one your own age, for you are at the same point in your lives.
"I'm fighting it, too, Tia. The way of life coming upon us doesn't always fill me with hope. It's for people who care more about money, not the world, the trees, the mountains, the people. It's a selfish world, I fear, that is thriving."
After another pause he continued, "I don't know...maybe we do just have to accept the role time is giving us. Yet, I can't fight the feeling that there is still a place, a need for those who choose not to abandon the good of the past for the "convenience" of the future."
Then Tia spoke, "I know what you mean. It feels as though we must grow up, yet it doesn't seem fit, to grow up in the way society would have us. Who knows what the future holds? Life hasn't turned this way yet. You know that you will always be welcome hear, though, and perhaps you could work in a shop like this one someday, too?"
"Me...a shop owner?" Maxim said laughing. "That'll be the day!" A few more minutes of joking followed this, taking their minds off the weightier matters until Maxim gingerly got up out of his chair.
"You know, I've never met anyone quite like you before..." Tia said staring into Maxim's eyes.
"Well, thank you, and may I say the same. I am at your service for both the wonderful dinner and the cheerful afternoon, m" Lady," he said with a playful bow.
"Don't worry a thing about it, Sir," Tia responded in an equally playful curtsy. "It's no fun to eat alone anyway. You'll have to join me again sometime soon."
"It would be my great pleasure. Eating is something I do very well and a service I would love to provide on many occasions to come. But customers will soon be calling your name and I have a name to call on myself before sleep calls both our names. So I must be off."
"Are you going out of town again?"
"I'm sure you've heard of the beasts seen around the northern caves. Well, it's my job to hunt them down. I might not see you until the Ceremony...unless they all show up at my feet."
"Be careful and quick, then." Tia knew there was no use arguing.
"You know I will." With that Tia got the shop ready for the dinner guests, while Maxim took his time walking to his next meeting. There were more thoughts racing into and out of and back into his head then he knew what to do with. And he ended up were he was supposed to be no less confused concerning life and a little late. A talk with friends can do that.
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The name Maxim was calling upon was that of Josip, who had become a great friend. Josip was what they called a 'deliverer" and this means that he found people to hunt various wild beasts that were terrorizing local inhabitants. Those he found to do the work were called monster hunters or "trackers."
A tracker, as you may now have guessed, is what Maxim was. Maxim felt as though he was in his element when he tracked out of doors and he doubted that he would ever spend the large part of any day without any ray of sunlight or shadow of cloud over his head.
Maxim got the final details of his latest job, stayed awhile to catch up on life with Josip, and then left for his bed with one of Josip's horses in tow.
Early the next morning, right after the break of dawn, Maxim was up and moving about. In just about an hour and a half Maxim was well fed, all- packed, and ready to go.
Of course he would have started even quicker had he packed before the morning, but Maxim was never that prepared in advanced. And this means he probably would forget something on his trip that would come in handy, but he was also a pretty adaptable person. Perhaps you are the same way, as I must admit I am. Luckily nothing of too much importance was left unpacked this time.
With nothing else to do he took off with Josip's horse, first leading it in front and then when he reached the town's north end he mounted it. And as he moved along, the town of Elcid, perched amidst rolling hills spotted with trees of oak, faded into the distance.
----------------------- [1] The calendar in use of much of Estpolis at this time involved ten months of thirty days each, as well as their New Year's Day of Celebration, for a total of a 301 day cycle.