“Be careful, Jon,” said Shia and stepped up to the boy. He looked down at her and smiled although the tall blonde woman nearby kept a close watch on the two. “Take these blankets to keep you warm in the mountains and I made you cookies,” she said and held the blanket and the box towards him.
Jon leaned down, kissed her on the forehead, took the offered items, and stowed them in the bags on his trotter. The horse was freshly scrubbed and looked spry with its tail high in the air.
Rhia’s lower lip trembled and her eyes showed just a tinge of wetness as she held up a small package for Jon, “I knitted you some socks,” she said, “but I’m not very good at knitting, I’m gonna be a knight like you when I grow up!”
“Girls can’t be knights,” said Shia and gave her little sister a small shove.
“Sure they can,” said Jon. “In Tanelorn anyone can be a knight if they want. They just have to be brave.”
“Not here,” said Shia.
“I can too if I get the purple face disease!” said Rhia and defiantly stuck her chin out towards her sister.
“You can die if you get that, stupid,” said Shia with a shake of her head.
“I don’t care,” said Rhia. “I’m going to be a knight just like Jon.” With that she turned to the tall young knight, grabbed him by one massive leg, and gave him a hug. “Will I ever see you again?”
Jon patted the young girl on the head and smiled, “Of course you will, I’m just going up in the mountains for a few days. I’ll be back soon enough and we’ll start you learning about swords, how does that sound?”
Rhia stepped back with a huge smile on her face, “You promise?”
“I promise,” said Jon, bent down, put his huge hands around her tiny little waist and lifted her high in the air.
“Wheeee,” said Rhia.
“Come on, Jon, the morning is passing,” said Sorus, his own little horse carefully brushed and spry, although not nearly the beast that Germanius rode nor even equal to the black charger of Mikus Swift.
Mikus stood next to his father and discussed something quietly, with an occasional look at Jon and the others, but at this word from Sorus stuck his hand out to his father, “Well, father, wish me luck!”
“Good hunting Mikus,” said Thorius and took the proffered hand in a firm grip. “Make me proud.”
“I will,” said the boy with a smile, turned to his own horse, mounted it with ease, and then waved to the two dozen or so people gathered at the gate. “Tally ho!”
With that the four rode out of Black Dale to the cheers of the spectators although in the background many other people went about their business with barely even a look up at the commotion.
“How far is it to the mountains?” said Sorus as he rode next to Jon while Germanius went ahead with Mikus.
“Not more than two days of easy riding,” said the tall knight with a heartfelt smile for the young brewer. “Getting nervous already?”
“No, not at all,” said Sorus and sat up taller in the saddle although Jon still towered over him.
“It’s all right to be scared,” said Jon. “My father says that everyone is a coward before the battle but that once the fighting starts you find your inner strength.”
“Really,” said Sorus. “Are you afraid?”
“Well, I’m not all that sure there is anything to be afraid of up in the mountains. It was near the peak when I spotted the strange markings on the rock. They sort of looked like a crocodile and that’s something I’m here to talk to the First Rider about.”
“A crocodile?” said Mikus his faze screwed up in puzzlement, “In the mountains? That doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
“It might make a great deal of sense,” said Jon quietly and looked ahead to Mikus and Germanius who cantered a few hundred yards ahead. “The old man rides well.”
“What do you mean it might make sense,” said Sorus. “You came here for a reason, but then the mayor wouldn’t listen to you, and now you haven’t said anything to anyone in the rest of the time you’ve been here. Why did you come to Elakargul?”
Jon looked at Sorus for a moment and then nodded his square jawed head, “I trust you, Sorus, but I don’t feel the same way about Mikus.”
“I understand,” said the young brewer, “But Mikus is ok, his dad is a bit of an ass, but Mikus just wants to be a knight. He wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize that.”
“If you say so,” said Jon. “I also don’t really trust Germanius,” he went on.
“What?” said Sorus. “He’s a fine knight and as trustworthy as they come. His generation, they take being a knight very seriously although there aren’t many left his age. Most die in battle, that’s the way of our people.”
“It’s not that I don’t trust his integrity but he’s old. If I say something to him about my real mission and he lets it slip to Thorius or one of his allies that might hurt my chances of doing what needs to be done,” said Jon his face somber as his eyes looked ahead to the old man.
“What is it that needs to get done?” said Sorus and pulled his little horse next to Jon’s. “You can tell me, I’m on your side.”
Jon nodded his head, “I know, I know. My father is a stubborn man and he thinks things must be a certain way.”
“He built an entire city, right?” said Sorus.
“He founded it at least. He traveled the world slaying monsters, saving maidens, doing all sorts of heroic deeds and then he just decided that it… it was futile.”
“How can doing heroic things be futile?” said Sorus. “That is what any man wants to do, be a hero, save the girl, get married, have sex!”
“I hear you,” said Jon as a smile crept onto his face. “That Shia is quite a little beauty.”
“Yeah,” said Sorus. “But you saw who she baked cookies for, you. She’ll only marry a knight and not some stupid brewer boy.”
“But, you can be knight if you’re brave enough. Germanius can knight you,” said Jon.
“I know, but sometimes I think I’m not cut out for all of this. I like brewing and I get scared. Maybe I’m just not meant to be a hero,” said Sorus, hanging his head, and patting his horse on the neck.
“Bird droppings,” said Jon. “You don’t know if you’re going to be a hero until you face real danger for the first time. Some people who think they are brave run away and the ones who are scared stand up and fight. My first time in battle I was a bit younger than you, we were fighting remnants of the Five Nations after the war, cleaning up pockets of resistance. My father took me along and I was so scared I peed myself,” went on Jon and noticed the look of astonishment on Sorus’s face. “Yep, it’s true. But, when the fight started, I pulled out my sword and did my duty. Once you’ve been heroic it’s easier the next time. It’s like that with everything. If you’re a coward the first time it’s hard to break out of the habit.”
“So, this first time will be my test?” said Sorus looking at Jon with wide eyes but a firm jaw.
“Well, you can always redeem yourself even after failing,” said Jon. “You have those Brokenshield fellows here in Elekargul, right? They get stripped of their knighthood for cowardice but they can get it back.”
“Mostly they give up their knighthood because they can’t perform the duties. It’s usually to raise children when their wives die in childbirth but sometimes it happens because of cowardice, you’re right Jon,” said Sorus, looking up into the morning sky as the ground slowly went past. “But, what about your father giving up being a hero, does that have anything to do with you being here?”
Jon smiled, “My father started lecturing me when I was still in the crib, so I’ve heard the stories many times. My father, he set out to save the world, to be a hero, to destroy evil, and bring good to everyone. He did that for a few years after he left home when he wasn’t much older than you. He traveled with some other fellows, a paladin of the sun god, a nature wizard, a rogue, sort of your typical adventuring party.”
“Then what happened,” said Sorus as he leaned forward in his saddle, eyes darting back and forth between Jon and the road ahead.
“They killed a blue dragon that was terrorizing a village,” said Jon, “and when they went back to its lair there was a baby blue in the nest.”