As Daz walked down the forest towards the road where a large waggon had toppled over. A couple of direwolves cycled around the vehicle and the three guards desperately tried to ward of the large predators with their lances. Daz quickly circled around a hill to get closer without getting spotted by the patient hunters. There were only three, which made the situation dire, but not lost.
The grass was still a bit wet and after a careful climb he drew his weapon and shield and slid down the other side. The moisture allowed for a quick arrival near the waggon. Screaming his lungs out he dashed at the direwolf closest to the guards. They merely looked at him warily and tried to block him access. Big mistake.
Daz grabbed the shield tighter and dashed over the dry road directly at the first wolf to strike. Sadly his punch went empty as the creature retreated. At the same time the guards attempted a slight fallout to distract the beasts further and Daz was able to climb on top of the waggon.
A bit out of breath he assessed the situation. “Th-Thanks. What happened to you?” One of the older guards responded, all while keeping the direwolves in check. “Man, you must be crazy to just try and fight them. They are not stupid creatures. These beasts are hella smart!” A second joined in. “Crazy bastard. Think before throwing yourself in danger!” A woman, calming down the horses then finally explained to him.
“The horses were startled by the wolves. When we hit this pothole and the wheel broke.” Daz nodded. “Are the horses alright?” The woman nodded. “We have a spare wheel but we can’t put it on.” A guard clarified immediately. “We could, but those bastards are just keeping us desperate. Once we get tired we are basically dead. We should just sacrifice a horse and run. Maybe leave the cargo.”
Daz smiled. Here he could help. “You keep them in check, yell if you need me. I will fix the wheel.” A guard looked back for a second. “Are you insane? Lifting the cart takes at least three men, we would be lucky if we could even do it.” Him shifting his attention let one of the beast lunge forward, testing him. Quickly the guard focused on the beast again and tried to stab at it.
With the stalemate continuing, Daz jumped on the cart and rolled the wheel down carefully. “Sir, I don’t thing we can-” The woman looked concerned but the horses kept her busy, so her protest was rather short. The broken wheel was easily ripped off the axis. It was nearly perfectly split in two. Daz moved the spare wheel in front of the axis, then he went in position to lift the waggon.
“Man, really you can’t possibly lift that! We have grain, wood and some stones on top! Unload them first, maybe we can do it the-” Quickly he fell silent as Daz just lifted the heavy cart with one hand and shoved the spare wheel in place. A quick little handicraft later and the waggon was all fixed up. Daz had done it hundreds of times, on his own little farming cart. The old shabby wheel often got loose when he was driving down to market.
“All fixed up!”, he yelled as he pulled the cart a bit into direction. The horses would have to do the rest of the work. “God damn. You are really a gift.” - “Thank you, THAAAANK YOU!” - “God bless, son. God bless.” The woman was staring in awe. “T-Thank you, mister.” Daz just waved away their thanks and pointed towards the direwolves. “They will probably follow us for a while, most likely they try this scare tactic very often. But they don’t look very hungry so maybe we are in luck. We should be careful.”
The guards agreed and took position in the front, ready to jump to the horses aid at a moments notice, while Daz kept the rear in his sight. “You don’t mind taking me to the capital do you?” - “Hell. Boy, I would drop you off at the royal palace itself if you want.” The men laughed and even the shy woman enjoyed some happiness, even though the predators were still running pace behind the waggon at some distance.
This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
Very experienced hunters, and very beautiful creatures. Their grey and black fur made them look fluffy, almost adorable. Especially when they were running peacefully like this. Daz wondered what would have happened if his shield punch had hit. That was the first time he had turned to strike, and even though he missed quite obviously, he did not hesitate. How would if feel, when he would strike someone for real for the first time?
As the journey progressed, he drowned in thoughts, listening to the stories of the guards. Their travels to trade all around the kingdom and sometimes even towards the eastern border, some of the adventures they lived through… Some not unlike the recent struggle. Daz grinned happily as the direwolves slowly stopped and then turned westwards over some hills. How fun it was to travel!
The journey went rather well from there on, only stopping for a short rest and a bit of food they would reach the capital in the early morning. Camping out over a whole night was heavily frowned upon by the guards, as they wanted to arrive as soon as possible. As night slowly fell over the travel company, the woman sat next to him and started talking with him.
She offered him a job! Him, Daz, the good for nothing farmer. The boy that only knew how to hit trees and corn, barely ever interested in anything else. It was a tempting offer, as she laid out the job description. Personal bodyguard, acting as trade administrator and bribing state officials. But Daz was rather uncomfortable with the bribing and the constant worry of money. He was a simple man. Get ordered, do. Then marry, get children and support his family. A big one would be best…
In thought of his options, the woman quickly fell asleep next to him while leaning on his shoulder. He continued to stare into the moonlit grassland, spectating buffalos, herds of wild horses and other smaller creatures. Here and there he even spotted predators. It was true, the grassland had quite a few of them. Hunting here could turn to be hunted here rather quickly if one was not careful.
The night was also clear and a beautiful sight to behold. Stars everywhere, lighting up the already moonlit sky more and more. It reminded Daz of home. He cried a few tears, missing his family and little sister that undoubtedly would miss him too. Hopefully she was alright.
In the morning the party arrived at the city gates. The city itself was a sight to behold. A wall, bigger than any house Daz had ever seen in his life, with mighty towers even higher above them, almost twice in size and a palace that could oversee the whole city. It was clearly visible from several hundreds of kilometres away and only a small needle like tower crowned the city’s highest spot. What would it be like up there? Seeing the whole world?
They were let in after a quick search and paid taxes and Daz was astonished about the shier size of this stronghold. The walls were several meters thick, what could possibly warrant such a defense? Stunned and a little shocked he witnessed the size of everything. Large houses, able to hold dozens of people at once, food stands large enough to feed a whole village for days and people. People everywhere. They were ever present, never ending and at every corner there were more.
It was a incredible and exciting place and Daz hoped to explore everything in time. The nice trader lady and her guards dropped him off at the Royal Military Academy. It was also a very intimidating place. Even though everything was open to enter and the guards at every corner did not look very frightening, the size of the building alone let Daz’s heart bounce. Just incredible what humans could build!
The academy was built like a huge church, a church for warfare. A huge wide open hall, decorated with war history, axes, swords, arrows and bows off all sizes and shapes. Inside there were a few dozen people running back and forth between military officers, like Daz would do now. Nervously he stepped up to a random officer. “Excuse me, Sir. Where is the officer training test, that should be tomorrow?” The officer raised an eyebrow and mustered him from head to toe.
“You sure, you don’t want to enroll for a year or two before applying there? They have a rather harsh… throw out… process. For those that fail.” The officer mustered Daz again. “And you don’t really look like you possess battle skills. If you want to go there, sure. But they will beat the shit out of you if you are not skilled at all. Just saying.” Daz frowned. “Where is it exactly?” The officer nodded. “Two days from now. Around midday. On the southern side of this building. Have fun there. I expect you to enlist, after you get your beating, here afterwards.” He grinned.
Daz was sad as he walked outside. Was he really that weak looking? Daz was determined to find a way to leave a good impression at the test! But first: food. He was hungry and all the food stands were really his mouth watery. Entering a pub near the academy, he sat down on an empty table and ordered some food and alcohol.
He usually was forbidden to drink by his mother, but now he could try that out without anyone to worry about!