Of Wyverns and Brands

Chapter 17

You know, this place isn't that big. A few rooms shoot off from the main entry, with the second floor following the same floorplan, but there isn't much else to it. Of course, I haven't been in many actual forts, so I'm not an expert.

Since I didn't stick around when we first got here to hear about the sleeping arrangements, I'm debating whether to ask someone, or forgo it all and take a nap with Midnight. My back may not appreciate it, but I doubt there are still beds in this rundown place. I feel like I'm forgetting something, though.

I yawn and stretch as I look out the second floor window to check on Midnight…only to look again when I notice her alert and growling. Someone was down in the courtyard standing near Midnight and just watching her. And it wasn't one of the mercenaries. From the back, all I could tell was that it was a woman with red hair tied in a ponytail. No. It couldn't be. Not now. How in the world is she here?

I rush down and out of the fort to find Greil and Ike just outside conversing with a two men and another woman. I pause, thinking that they look familiar.

"Well, I think this will be a lovely enterprise, especially with two strapping young men like you," the woman says seductively…in broad daylight. The out-in-left-field comment along with Greil's dumbfounded face throws me off enough to stop and listen.

"Don't mind Aimee," the smaller of the two men says. "She tries to take after Anna a bit too much. If she gives you any trouble, just let me or Anna know and we'll sort it out."

Aimee…the merchant! I forgot about them! So that larger man with the bulging muscles is Mustoff or something, while that man with the smaller build is…someone I still don't recognize.

"Oh, Drake. These are a group of merchants we'll be traveling with for bit until things calm down some," Greil explains. "They'll be able to sell you any supplies you need." Because I of course have a large supply of gold hidden on me. "Well, I'll let you get acquainted. I have to…speak with Soren…I think." With that, Greil quickly retreats into the fort. Wait…did he just run from Aimee?

"I've got to go as well," Ike says as he leaves, even as I begin to crack up. Like father, like son, I guess.

"I am Muston, head of our little caravan here," the man says, chuckling a little himself. "We sell all sorts of gear, so come by the wagons anytime if you need something." It's then that I see the three wagons parked just past the ruined walls of the fortress.

"I'm Aimee, a seller of various goods," the woman says, curtsying.

"And I'm Jake, just a hired hand here, basically," the smaller man says. So that's why I don't recognize him. NPC and all…should I really be calling people that, though? The man is about my size and slim, though definitely more built than me. Actually, everyone here is more built than me. He has short, dark hair and a easygoing air about him.

Oh, wait! The visitor! "I'll be sure to buy something when I get the chance," I quickly say, giving a small bow in return. Ignoring the confused looks, I pass them by and head toward Midnight.

I'm running through all the possible scenarios of why in the world Jill is here, only to see…a pegasus? What? Just beyond the wall is a pure white horse with large, feathery wings on its back. Definitely a pegasus. And just past it is the red-haired woman, who now looks much less like Jill than from above. The woman is just standing there in front of Midnight with her finger on her chin, as though lost in thought.

I clear my throat, and the woman spins around toward me, a strange sword suddenly in her left hand. …Where did that come from?

"Oh, thought someone was trying to sneak up on me there," she chirps with a carefree smile, putting her sword back in a sheath that was previous hidden by her cloak. "We've been a bit on edge with the war suddenly breaking out and all."

I nod, focusing on her face. She looks familiar as well…but I can't recall from where. Huh.

Jake comes up and pats me on the back. "Already winning their men over, huh, Anna?"

"Jealous, Jake? Maybe it will do you good," Anna replies with a grin. "Is this your wyvern? She's of a good stock."

"Yeah, her name's Midnight," I answer, still bothered. Her name and face seem familiar, but she's definitely not one of the playable characters, and I don't remember her being with the merchants. She's like a more childish and mischievous looking Jill.

"My name's Anna. I travel with this merchant group, but I deal with more specialized items, like rarities and oddities."

"Okay," I reply. Man, it's going to bug me for a while. It's like it's on the tip of my tongue. Well...I guess this shouldn't be considered much of a development, right? I mean, there's two people here I don't know, but they could have been just a few nameless NPC's from the caravan, so that doesn't mean much...right? ...Please don't tell me everything's hitting the fan already.

"Hello? I think you might have actually bewitched him," Jake comments, waving his hand in front of my face.

"Huh? No, I'm just...really confused? I'm not sure."

"You're telling me," Jake says, rubbing the back of his head. As for Anna, she had her finger back on her chin, as though thinking of something again. "Don't worry. Anna's pretty strange as well, so I won't think much of it."

"Hey!" Jake laughs as he dodges her blow. "Don't mind him. But I do have some items for you, should you want to come look. I have some special saddles and items for flyers. I could even teach you a few flying lessons. For a price, of course." And then she winks at me.

I can feel my face getting beat red. Forget remembering who she was, my mind is going blank completely. "Uh, um, well…I don't have any gold right now…um." Curse me and my lack of speech. Speak, you fool! A girl is talking to you!

"Well, maybe next time, then. See you around," Anna says, flashing me a big smile. Yeah, I'm really cursing my introvert ways right now as Anna skips over to take care of her pegasus.

"Don't try getting ideas, now," Jake jokes, placing his arm on my shoulder. "That's just her trying to get a sale. You should see it when she's really flirting. Just call me lucky."

Oh…well…that suddenly makes me feel even more awkward. I don't think I'll laugh at Greil and Ike anymore for running away, cause that's what I'm going to do now.

Leaving the crazy couple behind, I quickly walk back toward the fort, not really paying attention as I wonder just how much my choice last night might have affected. Could those two really just be a few NPC's who didn't have sprites in the game? Did I really just make a huge fool of myself the instant a girl gave me attention?

And…now I've wandered right into the middle of some of the fort's ruined areas. And…now there's a sword at my neck.

I jump back with a yelp as that thought finally dawns on me. A cheerful laugh follows, and I focus back in on the present to see Mia standing there with her sword pointed at me.

"Let's fight," she says, stabbing with her sword for emphasis. Okay, first off, that's not how you introduce yourself to someone. Secondly, that was way too close for comfort.

"Fight?"

"You have a sword, don't cha? Draw it, and let's duel!" Mia says candidly, grinning at me as she stabs at me with her sword again.

"Do you even know who I am?" I ask incredulously, backing up a step from the very sharp point.

"Nope!" Really? "Don't worry, you can be my arch rival number three. So draw your blade. Let's see how good you are."

I start to laugh, but it sort of dies out when I realize that she really means to duel me. "I don't really know how to swordfight that well."

"I can teach you! Can't have my archrival be weak, after all." She has a wolfish grin on her face, and I can't help but be reminded of a certain wolf-tailed heroine from my favorite series. In fact, if she had a tail right now, it'd probably be wagging.

I don't really feel like getting beat to a pulp, but if it's only training… "I guess we can fight a little, Mia."

Mia gasps as I get ready. "As expected of my archrival. You already know my name." Oops. "En garde!"

That's not how you warn someone, Mia! I barely bring my sword up to stop her swing from cutting into my arm. "Wait, we're using actual swords?" I ask, only just thinking of that very important fact.

"Of course we are," Mia says, laughing. "It wouldn't a duel, otherwise. Take that!"

I quickly stumble back as she swings her sword at me from every direction. In less than a minute, I trip over some loose stone or other, fall backwards. I freeze as her sword hovers in front of my face. Well, that was pathetic.

"I win!" Mia cheers, lowering her sword. I barely have time to get up and brush the dust off my pants when she says, "Again!"

"Wait!"

My plea is in vain as she continues to attack me. I don't even get a chance to attack back as I feebly try to fend off her quick blows.

Suddenly, Mia pulls short and shakes her head. "No, no, no. You're doing it all wrong."

Trying to catch my breath, I ask, "I am?"

"Yep. You don't know much about swordfighting, do you?"

"I already told you that," I point out.

"Here, I'll show you. When you're fighting someone, you have to get your guard close to you, or you won't be able to react in time. Plus, when fighting, your target is your opponent, not their blade. You're not trying to hit the weapon, you're trying to get past it. A sword is meant as a defense." I'm pretty sure I didn't strike at you incorrectly, Mia, because you didn't give me a chance to strike at all.

Resisting the urge to sigh, I simply nod and try to gleam something from it. She's the pro, so I guess she should know.

Mistake.

As soon as she realized I was paying attention, she began to drill her instructions into me. She'd give me a piece of advice, then start hacking away at me with her sword for a while.

Piece of advice. Beat down. Wash and repeat.

For a few HOURS!

"I'm done, Mia…I'm done!" I finally say, dropping to the ground.

"But we still have half the day or better." Mia, where does all that energy come from?

"I can't…keep on. I'm too…exhausted," I insist, laying flat out on the rocky field.

"Well, okay. Thanks for the exercise. It was a lot of fun! I'll be sure to help you train again, archrival number three," Mia says cheerfully, bounding off somewhere. She still doesn't even know my name.

Why did I give in to her? Now I'm worn out, bruised up, and too tired to even move to a more comfortable spot. I think I have a glaring weakness: girls. Curse you, single life!

Great. I have that nagging feeling that I'm forgetting something again. Something important. Was is it? Mia...sword...fighting… The sword! Like, the sword. As in…what's its name? Alondite…Ragnell. One of those two. I forgot about it being left back in the forest.

I try to sit up, wanting to go after it, but my whole body protests at the effort. I flop back onto the ground weakly. Well. This is going to hurt tomorrow.

I hear chuckling nearby, but can't spare the energy to raise my head again. Rhys walks into my line of sight, laughing at me, though not maliciously. "She gave you quite a workout."

"You saw?"

"Experienced. Yesterday." She did call me archrival number three or something. "I don't think she means bad by it or anything. Just a bit…hyper?"

"I know. It's my fault for not being able to say no, I guess."

"Right?"

My gaze moves toward the staff that he helpfully has with him. "A little help, maybe?"

"Thought you would ask. Here." Lowering his staff over me, Rhys closes his eyes and begins a quiet...chant? Prayer? Word of power? Whatever he said, the staff reacts immediately and a soft glow permeates my body, taking away most of the bruises and exhaustion.

I sit up and grin when the previous soreness doesn't show up. "Thanks, Rhys. You're a lifesaver."

"Just aiding a fellow victim." Rhys sits on a stone next to me. He still has that gentle smile on his face, just like Oscar. "You're not used to all this fighting are you?"

"I never thought I would end up in a fight, let alone a war."

"It does still seem a bit unreal." After a bit, Rhys asks, "Why did you choose to use the sword? You don't seem the type to choose a physical weapon." Wow. Even from Rhys.

"Well, I don't know magic or how to use a staff, and a sword just seemed like the standard to choose from. I was also being taught how to use a lance, but I've lost all of mine." Even the one I borrowed last night. Oops. Sorry Oscar. "How does that staff work?"

"Well...it's a little hard to explain?" Try me. "There's this...energy in the orb on the top here. So, you focus on that energy and on your faith in Ashera. Then, she lets you direct that energy into someone else, healing them. I'm not that good at explaining it, though," Rhys says, giving me a sheepish smile.

Faith in Ashera? Guess that's not an option for me. "It's something you have to experience to understand, right?"

"Exactly!"

Oh, right. The sword. "Well, I forgot about something, so I need to go do it real quick. Thanks for the healing, Rhys," I say, getting up.

"Anytime, Drake. Take care!"

My energy a little restored, I hurry over to Midnight and fly back to the clearing. The place looks a lot more messed up in the sunlight. Gouges scar the earth in several spots, while most of the grass is still flattened from where the Black Knight tread on it.

The sword is still stuck in the log where the Black Knight tossed it. I try to pull it out, but finally give up after a few minutes. Is this really happening to me? Fed up, I use my own sword and pry away at the log until the sword finally comes loose. Victory!

Alondite or Ragnell or whichever one this is is a lot heavier than I expected as this is definitely a hand-and-a-half sword like mine. But the Black Knight carries half a ton on his back all the time, so I guess this wouldn't even register for him.

I put it in Midnight's saddlebag and grab up the thankfully intact lance before heading back to the fort. The rest of the day went by pretty slowly as we just waited around at the fort for word from the palace. I did manage to avoid running into Mia again, however, even despite the small quarters. I found out I was bunking with Rolf and Boyd, though, which wasn't as good. Rolf is pretty quiet and obedient. Boyd is just plain loud and obnoxious. Even into the night, Boyd kept talking to himself about various things. I wish I had a pillow to throw at him, but I was sleeping on nothing but straw already, and I wasn't about to waste my bedding.

And the whole time, that nagging thought that I was still forgetting something persisted, despite grabbing the sword.

-o-

AN: Another chapter! And another board game, though you guys can't see that one. All my kickstarter games are coming in, but now I'm realizing I don't have a social life, so I don't have enough people to play with. Playing a board game by yourself is so lonely. But, I guess less playing leaves more time for typing! I did get this finished yesterday, but felt that it was a bit incomplete, so I went back and redid a bit of it, and I feel it came across a lot better than before.

This chapter sort of turned into a sort of filler chapter, I guess. Most of you probably know of Anna if you don't actually know her. She's the tutorial lady of PoR and is a pegasus unit. She's mostly known for running secret shops in the other games, though (and more recently as a recruitable unit). So she's here as one of the 'unseen' merchants, since caravans don't consist of just five people. Points to whoever recognizes Jake, though, her recurring partner-in-crime.

And thanks for the responses! They always make my day!

Update: Error corrections, etc.