41st Day of Fall, 517 AV
The barracks were abuzz with whispers and rumors that night.
Something was brewing within the Vitrax… finally.
More than three dozen apprentices paced and gossiped amidst the untouched bunks of the Ebonstryfe quarters, spreading the word amongst their ranks like a wildfire. Despite the best efforts of some to hide it, all the pent-up aggression and frustration that those inciting flames gave rise to showed within each and every one of them in that darkening twilight hour. They sharpened their weapons and argued, sparred and joked, gambled or even tried to feign indifference towards it all, anything to keep from going mad with the anticipation.
“Nothing. For. Months." growled one of them between sword strokes. She was sparring with a shorter, younger boy who seemed completely unprepared for the barrage she was unleashing upon him. "The streets are quiet. The bandits are quiet. The knights are quiet. Even the petching monsters in the forests can’t be bothered to make a peep!"
She struck out again, punctuating her outrage with a deft overhead strike. Her disheveled opponent swung up his mace to deflect the blow, but Eris -as her name turned out to be- was not so easily dissuaded, and slid forward to slam a sharp elbow into his stomach that sent him staggering back with an audible ‘oof.’ The circle of spectators around her growled their approval.
The boy bared his teeth and hissed.
"There's always someone to fight. Just gotta wait for it."
Eris grinned and swung again, but it was a clear feint, drawing his arm up to block her ruse only for her to slam a foot into his stomach instead. Before the poor lad could even blink, his weapon had been sent flying across the floor and he suddenly found a wooden sparring sword hovering at his throat.
"Why wait?"
Elias observed the match with a cold, clinical eye from across the room. Eris was a fine warrior, but her arrogance needed to be tempered. Tanen, the other one, clearly needed to work on his footwork, that much was plain to see. The entire fight she had danced around him, forcing him on the defensive. He'd lost the initiative right out the gate, and once you lost that, it was almost impossible to wrest it back again.
The elder apprentice went back to sharpening his own weapons as he watched the sparring session come to a close and its participants slowly scatter to their own little corners of the cramped building. The daggers he was so proud of had been honed to a fine edge by the battles end, and it was time to move on to his pride and joy. The sound of his whetstone moving against the longsword’s blade was steady and constant amid the din of voices, and one that most of them were all too familiar with at that point. Elias had been amidst the apprentices for nearly three seasons now, making him something of a veteran among the company. A fact he continued to despise with every fiber of his being during every waking moment of the day.
The mage was an oddity among the young hopefuls to say the least. Almost a decade or so older than most of the whelps around him, the Caldera wielded more skill and cunning in a single pinky than most of the these recruits would ever achieve in their entire lives, short as most of them would no doubt be. Some were only a few weeks out of their savage training regimes as petitioners, green and wet behind the ears like newborn cubs, and yet to the amusement of those who had placed him here among them, the swordsman was meant to call these children his ‘peers.’
Hatred was not a strong enough word for what he felt for such endless humiliation, yet… he had learned patience in his maturity, and he had found that more often than not, it was a virtue that was worth its reward.
“What about you?" The Ravokian looked up, realizing he was being addressed by another. Tanen stood above his bunk, wounded pride visible in his scowling. "You must know what’s going on, right? We’re being assembled for a real fight this time, I bet. No more drills, right? Right?"
The whetstone continued its journey uninterrupted, up and down, up and down.
“Wouldn’t know."
That was not the answer the young man was looking for as it turned out. "Ugh! Aren't you angry?"
"Angry at whom?"
Eris had put it as plainly as it could be. The world, so often giddy and eager to throw hardships and challenges their way, was awfully quiet these days. Odd, but it wasn’t a sign of the apocalypse as far as the mage was concerned, but the younger warrior shook his head angrily, as if trying to bite his own ear, hands gripping and re-gripping the weapon at his belt.
“I'm just saying, we’re warriors. We need a war."
"War always finds a way." Elias said quietly, inspecting his blade and finding a slight tarnish on one edge. "It is eternal, like Rhysol himself. We need only prepare for it."
"You mean train?"
"Mhm."
"I'm tired of training."
Then Elias's gaze became stern, critical, even severe. Tanen looked as if something cold had crawled up his spine, but kept his eyes on the older man none the less. After a moment however, his features softened and the soldier relaxed, though the voice that answered the boy was still tinged with steel. “I suppose it’s true that Ravok has become more… pensive as of late. The knights of Syliras are ever expanding their dominion over the south while we grow comfortable here in the north. Its just the way of things, boy, you’ll get used to it.”
“Some of these other milksops may have joined the order to be ‘comfortable’ but not me! I came to fight, like my pa and brothers did.”
Scarred and pale as his face was, Elias still had a warm smile for the rambunctious lad, even if a few of the teeth in said smile were as false as his charm. “That’s what I like about you Tanen, you’ve got a fire in you, like a real Ravokian. Like a real soldier. You’ll do your family proud when you pass your Crucible, that I’m certain of.” That was enough to leave the lad smirking, and if his eyes did not deceive him, blushing even. God help me, the mage mused, was I ever this hopeless?
After a moment however, Elias’s warmth faded, and he let out a sigh, shrugging dejectedly as he returned back to his sword’s care. “You may have the will do what’s right for Ravok, Tanen, but what can we do when not all our brothers and sister share that same conviction? Some people have just lost their fangs over the years, growing fat and complacent upon the paradise our god has given us. They take it all for granted, forgotten we were made for glory, not idleness, but how are we supposed to do anything against people like them when they're in charge?”
Tanen's face flushed and he looked about the barracks warily, almost as if seeing the others for the first time. When his eyes whirled back unto Elias’s, his look of dejection mirrored the swordsman’s.
“I don’t know.” He admitted after a moment’s hesitation.
With a grunt, the older of the two righted himself, reaching his feet and placing a consoling hand upon the boy’s shoulder. “Ask yourself this, lad. You want a war, right? To drive your blade deep into your enemy’s heart as your god intended?” The two nodded in tandem, though clearly the younger of the duo couldn’t see what the scarred soldier was leading towards. Elias bent down so that the pair were on eye level once more. “Our enemies may be legion outside these hallowed halls, but how can we be expected to fight our foes abroad, when there’s a fight right here on our doorsteps that we’ve been losing for decades? You say you can’t find your enemies, but I think there are plenty all around you Tanen, you just…” Slowly, cautiously, Elias began to turn the young initiate around by his shoulders, making sure everyone in the barracks fell within his line of sight as he spun, “need to know…” until finally, he faced him towards the barracks door “…where to look.”
The door burst open a moment later and a commander stood tall and proud in its frame. Hulking, tanned and with sinews like vines, Azula was a long time veteran of the Ebonstryfe, a fighter and marked warrior since before Elias had even slain his first enemy. She was a leader of men, and when she entered, everything stopped as all eyes swung to her. Her own harsh gaze narrowed when they fell upon the mage.
“Training yards. Now."
Within an instant the apprentices leapt to follow her command. Elias had a fleeting smile on his face as he followed at his own pace. He had heard that tone before, that urgency tinged with excitement. Not another training session. Not another drill or exercise ordeal. No, this was something... more.
He placed a hand on Tanen’s shoulder before the boy could escape, and to his credit, the acolyte slowed at his touch, curious instead of anxious and impatient. “That move Eris beat you with,” the swordsman began, but Tanen stopped him before he could finish.
“I know, I know. ‘Deception is key.’ I remember what you said.”
“You don’t know,” He rebutted sternly, sounding too much like his uncle in that moment than he would have liked to admit, “not yet anyway, but when we get the time, I’ll teach you how to counter it, and even hit her with a little surprise of your own.”
“Oh yah?” Tannen grinned wickedly as the two made their way outside.
“Oh yah. Who do you think taught her that move in the first place?”
Something was brewing within the Vitrax… finally.
More than three dozen apprentices paced and gossiped amidst the untouched bunks of the Ebonstryfe quarters, spreading the word amongst their ranks like a wildfire. Despite the best efforts of some to hide it, all the pent-up aggression and frustration that those inciting flames gave rise to showed within each and every one of them in that darkening twilight hour. They sharpened their weapons and argued, sparred and joked, gambled or even tried to feign indifference towards it all, anything to keep from going mad with the anticipation.
“Nothing. For. Months." growled one of them between sword strokes. She was sparring with a shorter, younger boy who seemed completely unprepared for the barrage she was unleashing upon him. "The streets are quiet. The bandits are quiet. The knights are quiet. Even the petching monsters in the forests can’t be bothered to make a peep!"
She struck out again, punctuating her outrage with a deft overhead strike. Her disheveled opponent swung up his mace to deflect the blow, but Eris -as her name turned out to be- was not so easily dissuaded, and slid forward to slam a sharp elbow into his stomach that sent him staggering back with an audible ‘oof.’ The circle of spectators around her growled their approval.
The boy bared his teeth and hissed.
"There's always someone to fight. Just gotta wait for it."
Eris grinned and swung again, but it was a clear feint, drawing his arm up to block her ruse only for her to slam a foot into his stomach instead. Before the poor lad could even blink, his weapon had been sent flying across the floor and he suddenly found a wooden sparring sword hovering at his throat.
"Why wait?"
Elias observed the match with a cold, clinical eye from across the room. Eris was a fine warrior, but her arrogance needed to be tempered. Tanen, the other one, clearly needed to work on his footwork, that much was plain to see. The entire fight she had danced around him, forcing him on the defensive. He'd lost the initiative right out the gate, and once you lost that, it was almost impossible to wrest it back again.
The elder apprentice went back to sharpening his own weapons as he watched the sparring session come to a close and its participants slowly scatter to their own little corners of the cramped building. The daggers he was so proud of had been honed to a fine edge by the battles end, and it was time to move on to his pride and joy. The sound of his whetstone moving against the longsword’s blade was steady and constant amid the din of voices, and one that most of them were all too familiar with at that point. Elias had been amidst the apprentices for nearly three seasons now, making him something of a veteran among the company. A fact he continued to despise with every fiber of his being during every waking moment of the day.
The mage was an oddity among the young hopefuls to say the least. Almost a decade or so older than most of the whelps around him, the Caldera wielded more skill and cunning in a single pinky than most of the these recruits would ever achieve in their entire lives, short as most of them would no doubt be. Some were only a few weeks out of their savage training regimes as petitioners, green and wet behind the ears like newborn cubs, and yet to the amusement of those who had placed him here among them, the swordsman was meant to call these children his ‘peers.’
Hatred was not a strong enough word for what he felt for such endless humiliation, yet… he had learned patience in his maturity, and he had found that more often than not, it was a virtue that was worth its reward.
“What about you?" The Ravokian looked up, realizing he was being addressed by another. Tanen stood above his bunk, wounded pride visible in his scowling. "You must know what’s going on, right? We’re being assembled for a real fight this time, I bet. No more drills, right? Right?"
The whetstone continued its journey uninterrupted, up and down, up and down.
“Wouldn’t know."
That was not the answer the young man was looking for as it turned out. "Ugh! Aren't you angry?"
"Angry at whom?"
Eris had put it as plainly as it could be. The world, so often giddy and eager to throw hardships and challenges their way, was awfully quiet these days. Odd, but it wasn’t a sign of the apocalypse as far as the mage was concerned, but the younger warrior shook his head angrily, as if trying to bite his own ear, hands gripping and re-gripping the weapon at his belt.
“I'm just saying, we’re warriors. We need a war."
"War always finds a way." Elias said quietly, inspecting his blade and finding a slight tarnish on one edge. "It is eternal, like Rhysol himself. We need only prepare for it."
"You mean train?"
"Mhm."
"I'm tired of training."
Then Elias's gaze became stern, critical, even severe. Tanen looked as if something cold had crawled up his spine, but kept his eyes on the older man none the less. After a moment however, his features softened and the soldier relaxed, though the voice that answered the boy was still tinged with steel. “I suppose it’s true that Ravok has become more… pensive as of late. The knights of Syliras are ever expanding their dominion over the south while we grow comfortable here in the north. Its just the way of things, boy, you’ll get used to it.”
“Some of these other milksops may have joined the order to be ‘comfortable’ but not me! I came to fight, like my pa and brothers did.”
Scarred and pale as his face was, Elias still had a warm smile for the rambunctious lad, even if a few of the teeth in said smile were as false as his charm. “That’s what I like about you Tanen, you’ve got a fire in you, like a real Ravokian. Like a real soldier. You’ll do your family proud when you pass your Crucible, that I’m certain of.” That was enough to leave the lad smirking, and if his eyes did not deceive him, blushing even. God help me, the mage mused, was I ever this hopeless?
After a moment however, Elias’s warmth faded, and he let out a sigh, shrugging dejectedly as he returned back to his sword’s care. “You may have the will do what’s right for Ravok, Tanen, but what can we do when not all our brothers and sister share that same conviction? Some people have just lost their fangs over the years, growing fat and complacent upon the paradise our god has given us. They take it all for granted, forgotten we were made for glory, not idleness, but how are we supposed to do anything against people like them when they're in charge?”
Tanen's face flushed and he looked about the barracks warily, almost as if seeing the others for the first time. When his eyes whirled back unto Elias’s, his look of dejection mirrored the swordsman’s.
“I don’t know.” He admitted after a moment’s hesitation.
With a grunt, the older of the two righted himself, reaching his feet and placing a consoling hand upon the boy’s shoulder. “Ask yourself this, lad. You want a war, right? To drive your blade deep into your enemy’s heart as your god intended?” The two nodded in tandem, though clearly the younger of the duo couldn’t see what the scarred soldier was leading towards. Elias bent down so that the pair were on eye level once more. “Our enemies may be legion outside these hallowed halls, but how can we be expected to fight our foes abroad, when there’s a fight right here on our doorsteps that we’ve been losing for decades? You say you can’t find your enemies, but I think there are plenty all around you Tanen, you just…” Slowly, cautiously, Elias began to turn the young initiate around by his shoulders, making sure everyone in the barracks fell within his line of sight as he spun, “need to know…” until finally, he faced him towards the barracks door “…where to look.”
The door burst open a moment later and a commander stood tall and proud in its frame. Hulking, tanned and with sinews like vines, Azula was a long time veteran of the Ebonstryfe, a fighter and marked warrior since before Elias had even slain his first enemy. She was a leader of men, and when she entered, everything stopped as all eyes swung to her. Her own harsh gaze narrowed when they fell upon the mage.
“Training yards. Now."
Within an instant the apprentices leapt to follow her command. Elias had a fleeting smile on his face as he followed at his own pace. He had heard that tone before, that urgency tinged with excitement. Not another training session. Not another drill or exercise ordeal. No, this was something... more.
He placed a hand on Tanen’s shoulder before the boy could escape, and to his credit, the acolyte slowed at his touch, curious instead of anxious and impatient. “That move Eris beat you with,” the swordsman began, but Tanen stopped him before he could finish.
“I know, I know. ‘Deception is key.’ I remember what you said.”
“You don’t know,” He rebutted sternly, sounding too much like his uncle in that moment than he would have liked to admit, “not yet anyway, but when we get the time, I’ll teach you how to counter it, and even hit her with a little surprise of your own.”
“Oh yah?” Tannen grinned wickedly as the two made their way outside.
“Oh yah. Who do you think taught her that move in the first place?”
