10th of Summer, 510 AV
The 18 year old Bolden was out practicing his riding on Nightwind. He had no last name. At least not one that he could remember. He'd spent the last 5 years on the edge of the Amethyst Clan and as far as he was concerned, that was good enough.
He shifted to the right, ignoring the ache in his leg and continued to drill ride with Nightwind. He'd spent forever in the same area and this time decided to head in a new direction. The young man urged the Strider into a controlled canter, counting out the three beats in succession. The enormous stallion executed a flying lead change and flew over the land till his legs blended with the tall plains grass.
Bolden slowed his mount and unsheathed his sword, trying in his own bonehead way to train himself. A gnarled and twisted tree stump presented itself as a good target for his attempts.
Strider and rider charged the stump with the man aiming a deep under cut to the tallest branch. Nightwind streamed by it with blinding speed and accuracy, faultless and excellently controlled. Not quite so with the young man.
As the pair rapidly approached the target, the rider didn't notice a sharper jagged branch about to rip open the outside of his already hurting leg. The moment the errant bit of tree cut him, he'd managed to slice the upper branch clean off out of sheer dumb luck.
He hissed between clenched teeth, with the older ache on the inside of the leg and the fresh gash on the outside.
"PETCHING TREE!" Bold yelled out in anger and nudged Nightwind directly at it so he could attack it again; this time aiming for the jagged piece. The upper branch whacked him hard in the chest, unseating him neatly and abruptly. Bold soared through the air before hitting the ground with a loud thud and a puff of dust.
The 18 year old Bolden was out practicing his riding on Nightwind. He had no last name. At least not one that he could remember. He'd spent the last 5 years on the edge of the Amethyst Clan and as far as he was concerned, that was good enough.
He shifted to the right, ignoring the ache in his leg and continued to drill ride with Nightwind. He'd spent forever in the same area and this time decided to head in a new direction. The young man urged the Strider into a controlled canter, counting out the three beats in succession. The enormous stallion executed a flying lead change and flew over the land till his legs blended with the tall plains grass.
Bolden slowed his mount and unsheathed his sword, trying in his own bonehead way to train himself. A gnarled and twisted tree stump presented itself as a good target for his attempts.
Strider and rider charged the stump with the man aiming a deep under cut to the tallest branch. Nightwind streamed by it with blinding speed and accuracy, faultless and excellently controlled. Not quite so with the young man.
As the pair rapidly approached the target, the rider didn't notice a sharper jagged branch about to rip open the outside of his already hurting leg. The moment the errant bit of tree cut him, he'd managed to slice the upper branch clean off out of sheer dumb luck.
He hissed between clenched teeth, with the older ache on the inside of the leg and the fresh gash on the outside.
"PETCHING TREE!" Bold yelled out in anger and nudged Nightwind directly at it so he could attack it again; this time aiming for the jagged piece. The upper branch whacked him hard in the chest, unseating him neatly and abruptly. Bold soared through the air before hitting the ground with a loud thud and a puff of dust.
