William Grey: Five years into the future

Will studied the ground, soldiers had been there, Feosian scouts he was sure, scouting out the area in anticipation of the Golden Dragons. Will stood from where he was crouched, his thick grey fur cloak kept him cool in the heat of the forest. Will turned towards his adoptive father, “five men, they turned back here” he said had he climbed onto his horse. John nodded at Will, then looked to the sky as if it held answers to some unknown question.

The horse’s name was Grey after his own chosen surname, he had the option of taking John’s last name, he liked his own though. John grunted, and turned back towards the camp, Will followed in silence, John would speak when he wished.

Will had once struggled to ride with the large northern fur cloak, but now he was taller, and broader due to his training with John, and while he was not as large as Lant or Lain. Will was the size of a man now, and lean with muscle, his black hair was cut short like John’s own hair. The two made it back to their clearing they had been camped in quickly enough, Lont, and Tom were already sitting around a small fire.

Tom had his long red hair tied back into a ponytail, Black the giant hound sat next to him as he looked up at the two men. Tom nodded at them, and Will nodded back, Lont did the same, Will returned the gesture again.

It was not surprising they made it back first, they were better trackers than Will, and John, Lont was good, but with his hound Tom was the best tracker Will had ever seen. “Anything on your end” John asked Tom when they sat at the fire, their horses were trained, and did not need to be tied.

“Two scouting parties of five” Tom said, and Lont nodded, the man never spoke, “and you?” Tom asked the two men. Will was the one who answered, “one scouting party of five” he said with a sigh, “seems the Feosian are looking for a way out of their grand city.” They were behind Feos now, in a forest about twenty miles south of the village, and about four miles north of Feos.

“They plan to lose” John said with a grunt, both boys nodded with his words, this would be their retreat, the dense forest would give the men cover. The forest was wet too, with the rains of the spring, they would not catch fire so easily. “That puts the village in the way of their escape, and in the way of the dragon” Tom said with a scowl on his face.

“Aye” John said simply, “seems Lain was correct” he said with a sigh, despite the melancholic news, Will, and Tom shared a grin they knew how much John hated it when the larger man was right. “When you lot are ready we head back” John said sitting at the fire.

It didn’t take long for Will to get restless, he ate his rations quickly, waved his hand over the fire, putting it out with a blast of white mist, then he stood. The others followed suit, and after watering the horses, Will slipped Grey a sugar cube when John wasn’t looking. The four men settled out, leading their horses until they reached the main road, running alongside the trees. Then they mounted, the trees no long hindering the horses.

The road itself was well kept, and to the left of the road was a large field, too the right was a large, wet forest. The Feosians were meticulous with their roads, and they had men paid a sum to keep them nice, it was a stone road, and the stones were often polished. All of that attained to a fast journey, and a lack of worry about bandits, and due to the easy-going nature of trip, the four Lost members found themselves brooding.

All except for Black, the hound was wagging his shaggy tail, not quite as large as the horse, most would think him to be a pony at a distance. No one spoke on the trip back; they would have to wait for the village members to meet to speak on what they had learned.

It was a little after midday now, and there was plenty of sunlight, the trip could have been relaxing, had the discovery of the scouts not loomed on Will. It did not take long for them to come upon the village, and once they stopped at the stables to the outside of the small village, it did not take long for a crowd to surround them.

About three kids, Elaine, and Lant, the three kids were children from around the village, and Will had seen them practicing with wooden swords. The smallest of the kids was Landon, Lain’s youngest son, unlike his siblings he took after his mother. Landon had a head of curly black hair, and green eyes, which matched his curly haired mother. Landon had taken to following Will around in recent years, much to his displeasure.

Elaine, and Tom spoke to each other in hushed tones, whilst Landon berated Will with many questions. “Did you fight anyone, is the dragon coming, are we going to have to leave”, the boy said, slightly to excited at the prospect for Will’s taste.

“Quit pestering the man” Lant said putting an arm on the boy, “it’s fine, go get your father, tell him to meet at the village house” Will said holding up a hand to appease the giant. Lant was huge these days, and he looked more like his father, though he did not quite have as fierce of a beard. Lant was even larger than his father, a head taller, and more muscular, he was surprisingly bad at fighting. Laura however was one of the best axe wielders Will had ever faced.

Landon ran off to fetch his father, John had already gone ahead to the village house, Will turned to his brother, who had stepped away from the group to speak with Elaine. Not wishing to embarrass his brother in front of the girl, Will spoke to him in the northern tongue, something John had insisted they both learned.

“Young love is so touching” Will called to him, Lant looked at him confused, and Elaine also shot him a blank look. For his part Tom blushed, made a rude gesture at Will, and replied in the northern tongue as well. “Don’t pester me Will, I’ll catch up later” Tom said with a scowl, the term Will said to him was what John constantly said to him when he used to sneak away from practice to do something with Elaine.

Lant raised an eyebrow questioningly, but Will only chuckled, and started walking towards the village house. Lant followed him, some waved to him as he passed, some kids ran up to him trying to get him to play with them. Will smiled, and told them no, not stopping his walking once, when Lant asked about the trip, and Will told him the truth, he would learn soon anyway.

The village house was in the center of the village, a large house, the largest in the village, and was used for celebrations, holidays, and village meetings. The house was young, and there was a brick foundation that the wood was built on, it had been built a few years prior to Will, and Tom’s arrival into the village. Inside was a long table, meant to seat all the village, and more if need be. A large fireplace, big enough to fit three men standing shoulder to shoulder, burned casting a warm friendly light over the room.

Not all the members of the village house were there, Laura was, Lain had yet to make it, and a few others were waiting for all to show up. John sat to the right of the head of the table, a spot reserved for respected community members. The head of the table was for Lain the chief of the village, and the blacksmith.

One of the girls of the village offered to take Will’s fur cloak, though she knew the answer to that, he declined, as he always did. The girl did take the black cloak of Lant though, Will heard him say something to her in a hushed tone, and saw the girl walking off slightly faster than usual, a blush clear on her face.

Will found himself smiling at that, then he took his seat at the table, towards the end, the elders sat closer to the chief than the young. If a young man needed something to be said, he need only move to the other end of the table.

Lant took a spot to his right, and Laura to the across the table, the left seat was reserved for Thomas. Laura flashed him a grin, “trouble to the south?” she asked, Laura was larger than most girls, and muscular to match, but she was pretty, and had long black hair, and was one of Will’s closest friends.

“Seems that way, nothing I can’t handle” Will replied in a mockingly vain way. “Wish I could have joined you” she said a slight hint of bitterness creeping into her voice. Laura had been one of the first to volunteer, and while they had not expected trouble, the country was still at war. Luckily the land they traveled had not been touched as harshly by the fighting.

Laura had been upset that she could not accompany the group, John, and Lain had decided their bast fighters, and trackers should ride out. Though not even a full day’s ride, the Gold Army was approaching, and they already had fought a battle with Feos. The battle was a defeat for them, which allowed the village to relax in the meantime. However, despite the army’s loss a few months prior they were back now.

“Oh, is that so, what kind of trouble did you run into valiant knight” Laura said with a teasing smile, for his part William spoke in a dignified manner. “We were set upon by orcs, they came from the west in the hundreds, I fought them off single handedly whilst the rest of the travelers hid” Will said with a mocking smile. “Orc? oh my what troubling times, orcs have not been seen in the east for hundreds of years” Laura said, raising her hand in mock horror.

They continued their game, for a bit, but the silence that comes with waiting soon fell over them again. Will found himself watching the door of the village house, more were coming in now, and finding their seats. Will almost wished he had to fight a hundred orcs, it would be better than having to wait for all the village elders to find their seats.

Tom finally joined, Elaine hot on his heels, his large dog was also following him, he sat to Will’s left, Elaine to his left. Normally he would have gone around and spoken to some of the villagers he was friendly with before taking his seat. Not this day, most of the villagers were anxious to hear what this war meant for their village.

Lain came in carrying a bundled-up scroll, it was several feet long, and the sight of it was a welcome one to Will. A map, one Will had bought as a gift to the village, it was a new one, and made by a talented map maker, Will used his money from a job to buy it.

While it wasn’t the grandest gift, the village needed an updated map, to mark their jobs, and their travels. John had a map, but it was older than Will himself, and it needed to be replaced, it had costs almost the entirety of his cut from the job. Looking at the map now, however, Will was glad he made the purchase.

As Lain set up the map, Will felt Tom nudge him on the left, he turned to look at his brother. Tom nodded up to one of the balconies that ran parallel as a second story to the village house. Will didn’t have Tom’s sight, so it took a second for him to find what he was supposed to be looking for.

Children were not to attend the village meetings; the older villagers took shifts watching them all during the meetings themselves. That never stopped Landon from finding a way into the village house, Tom and Will had made a game out of it.

Sure, enough the small boy had proved his ability to sneak past the older men once again, he crouched next to a barrel staring out over the railing. Landon met Will’s eyes, and gave a sheepish smile, Will snorted with a smile.

Lain started to speak, and all attention went to the head of the table, “lets get started with the wagons, we have three wagons that need repaired, and at lest two men to repair them…” Lain said with a monotone voice. Will tried to pay attention, but could not, he found himself tapping the relic on his left hand on the table.

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Unlike any normal ring, he did not need to worry about cleaning this ring, or scratching it, it would never scratch or smudge. Sometimes he found himself staring at the blue gem, trying to discern secrets he was sure was there.

The daughters of the village walked around the table, busying themselves, girls were given the option of working, serving drinks, and making food. The village came together, and paid them from a mutual fund, which lead to extra money going back to those girls’ families.

One of the girls set a much of ale in front of him, nothing strong but ale was always good when one left the saddle. Will took a sip of the ale, decided it was to hot, and used his relic to cool the drink, when next he took a drink, it was ice cold. Will hated the heat, and once again he found himself in debt to his relic.

Tom took a drink of the tankard of ale that had been set in front of him, seeming to not care about the temperature. Will glanced up at Landon, and just as he suspected the boy was falling asleep, more than likely finding the meeting boring. Will himself was finding himself start to drift, as he nursed his ale, only when Lain started talking about the trip did his attention catch.

“As you all know, we recently sent our best scouts, and best fighters to the forest outside of Feos, we suspected the forest may be used should the fighting overtake the city” Lain said to the table. Much like Will himself, most everyone was alert at these words, “John leads the trip with his two sons, and Lont” Lain said, drawing some nods from around the table.

Will felt pride at being called John’s son, as he always did, but tried to not let it show. John stood, and pointed at the map, which Lain had set up along a board for all the attending villagers to see. “This here, is where we suspected soldiers to retreat to when should they lose Feos” John said, pointing to the forest behind the large city.

“With the forest being wet, it would likely not catch fire as easily as regular wood” Lain said explaining to the villagers. Then he nodded back to John who continued, “we found three teams of five scouts, further confirming our fears” John said, which immediately lead to mutterings breaking out across the table.

The mumblings continued until Lain raised his hand, immediately the village house was silent once again. “The fighting may be weeks out, but from what news we heard, the dragons are march up from the south” Lain continued, if John’s words disturbed him at all he hid it well.

“Feos will beat them back” said Plet Ode, one of the village elders, he was ancient, and cranky often yelling at kids, and disagreeing with John, and Lain. “They did once before, injured that dragon they did” he continued, standing as he spoke to add conviction to his words.

Will snorted, he heard Tom mutter something about “old fool” to his left, which would have made him smirk if not for the serious atmosphere. John must have felt the same, because he spoke up “they got lucky, and they had the smaller dragon to contend with, a mistake they will not make again” John said. No one needed to be told what that meant, the dragon’s younger brother, the Golden Fist, said to be the largest golden dragon.

Even Plet didn’t seem to have a response to that, the Golden Fist was legendary, he had put down three rebellions, and was said to able to burn a hundred men at once with his breath. Lain was the one to speak up, “We have come up with an idea” the large man said, gesturing to John when he said we.

“We should head north” John said simply, “once the golden dragons take Feos, they will move on to Althas, the largest kingdom in the east” he said pointing at the city on the map. “Let the black dragons, and the gold dragons fight it out”, John said generating some nods. “I have contacts up there, we can stay at on of the villages to the south of the mountains” he continued, leaving even more mutterings.

Plet stayed silent, chewing his words until they burst out, “we cannot leave, once we comeback our village will be in shambles. Or worse even gifted to some lordling who will charge us to drink from our own wells” the man said in a burst of words.

The words of the old man drew some shouts of agreements, times like this Will hated the old man, but he meant well in his own way. “The gold army isn’t the issue, they may cause trouble, but should we surrender, they will leave us be” Lain said with a shake of his head.

“Then what is the issue” Mary Lowar said, she was an older woman, with golden hair, and fair features, and was often regarded as the best healer in the village. The only sign of her aging was the slight wrinkles that set around her eyes. Though it was known she was not afraid to speak her mind, often lecturing children, and men alike, Will himself had been at the receiving end of the woman’s lectures.

Lain sighed, “the retreating soldiers”, which drew confused looks from some of the villagers. It was Mary who spoke again, she had a dignified tone, from her time as a serving girl for one of the Black Dragon princesses. “The Feosians have never done harm to us before, most of our trade is with them, The Lost have forked for the Raif family from time to time” Mary said furrowing her brow.

“Aye, and what do you think will happen when retreating soldiers, or deserters come across a well-off village” John said. That brought a few grudging mumbles, men did things they normally would not when desperate. The Lost had been all around the east, and into some of the west, they had seen more evils than most. The mercenary groups had been dispatched to bring deserters to justice, or to take care of bandits, they knew what men did when cornered.

“Let them come try to loot our lands” Gil said, standing, and speaking louder than was necessary. “We have the two best fighters in the world, and some of the best archers” he said, drawing some cheers as he gestured to John, and Will. “If they come, they will fall, or be thrown out of the village” Gil finished drawing more cheers from those around the room.

Will sighed as men looked at him, he hated the attention, luckily John spoke drawing the attention of the room once again. “Aye we might best any man who tries something” more cheers erupted from that, until John continued. “Yet we are two men, and even a hundred arrows will not stop an army, what would we do if the Feosian lords decide to make this the place of their final stand” John finished drawing silence from those who had not thought of that.

Lain fixed him with a stare, and Gil sat back into his seat, his face flushed with embarrassment. “Besides that,” John said, not quite as harshly, “I am old, and would not do well in war” the man said with a sigh. “Will might be our best fighter, but not even he can stand before an army” John continued, “we must leave”. The man’s words brought gazes back onto will, who tried his best to ignore them, and focus back on Lain.

Lain picked up from there, “we haven’t a choice, soon refugees will fill the road, by the time the Golden Army reaches the gates of Feos, the road will be so full well have to climb over men to get anywhere” Lain said grimly. Silence filled the hall after that, “We have the paperwork that claims our property here, we will return once the fighting is over” John added.

It was silent for a long moment, while people thought to themselves, no one wanted to leave, and it seemed they were not quite convinced. Mary spoke up, “very well” she said to everyone, “we must go, for the children at least, I personally do not like the thought of war-torn soldiers being around the girls of the village” Mary said.

Mary was well respected around the village, she was a good healer, and had helped everyone at least once, Will more than most at times. So, when Mary agreed to leave, most agreed with her, even Plet begrudgingly agreed to join.

“Very well”, Lain said with a sigh of relief, “luckily we are better equipped to handle large scale travel” he continued with a brighter tone. “Even so, we will load all the wagons with our possessions, Laura and Lant with help any with packing” Lain said, drawing nods from the two.

“Lont, and Tom will scout ahead of the party tomorrow, ensure the road is safe, some may see these troubling times as opportunity to do harm” Lain said nodding to the two. “At least one Lost to each wagon, John will ride in the front with me, Mary will also be joining us” Lain said, then he remembered himself. “If that pleases you” he said hesitantly to Mary, who smiled, and nodded to him.

Tom, and Will shared a look, they both took note of the time John, and Mary spent with each other, they were similar in age after all. “William” Lain called, Will looked up at him, slightly embarrassed that he hadn’t been paying attention.

“Sorry?” William said, earning him a lighthearted snicker from Laura, and a scowl from John. Will tried to ignore the scowl from John as he focused on the bigger man. “As I said already” Lain said arching an eyebrow at him, “as our best fighter, you will ride from wagon to wagon ensuring all goes well, and since he is so eager to join in the discussions” Lain said looking up to the balconies.

“Landon will ride with you to carry messages between the wagons” Lain said looking at his youngest child. Landon gave a startled yell, and rushed to out of sight, despite the subjects that had been discussed that brought a few chuckles from the villagers.

Will groaned, and protested “if he rides with me, and we are attacked he could be hurt” he said to the chief of the village who smiled back. John answered however, though he used the northern tongue, to not embarrass Will. “If you cannot protect him long enough for him to ride away, then maybe you are not as good at you claim”.

Will was to protect these villagers, and many spoke of him as if he was the greatest swordsman to ever live, John did not want to break that confidence. Villagers often heard them speak the northern tongue, the two boys had picked it up well, and it was John’s first language. So, none were too surprised when Will responded in the same language, though none except for Tom understood. Lain knew a little, but he was not as adept with the language.

“Aye I can protect him” Will said, then continued with “but who will protect my ears from his endless banter, I will need to focus on the task to keep the village safe” Will said. Tom spoke up behind him, “Have the boy come with us father, he is better as a tracker than any kind of fighter” he said backing his brother up.

“Quit speaking your damn mountain tongue” Plet said angrily, John ignored him “He is not going as a fighter, he is going as a speaker, and he is an excellent rider, I’ll hear no more over your complaints” John said ending any more talk.

The truth of the matter was that Will worried about the boy, he had a knack for trouble, and his mouth would get him neck deep in it. Should the two find trouble on the morrow, Will doubted the boy would leave will to handle it on his own.

The rest of the time the villagers discussed how to best go about their departure from their homes. Some rarely traveled, and the elders would not be able to ride, Plet would insist upon It, and would end up riding.

Despite some of the arguments the man made at the meetings, he was still a villager, and an elder at that, he would be treated with respect. After the meeting, and Will finished his second mug of the weak ale, it was dark outside. Tom would more than likely stay up reading, but Will was tired, and was ready for a bed.

The next day they would pack, prepare, and allow the horses to rest, the day after the next they would head out, to a northern village, called Reis. Will walked into his room in John’s house, washed his coat, and hung it up, it always dried fast, and usually didn’t get dirty, but it was a habit that Will enjoyed.

After the coat was hung up, Will unbuckled his sword belt, and hung it next to his bed, where he could easily access it. A habit he had picked up when they had been ambushed at night, luckily John had alerted the camp, but Will had still fumbled with his sword.

The memory of the even brought a smile to his face, he waved his hand, and a mist seemed to shimmer within the room, the candles were extinguished immediately. Will laid down and did not remember sleep taking him.

Will dreamt of a city built within a mountain, covered in snow, the walls of the city seemed to come straight out of the mountain itself, as if it had always been a part of the mountain. The stone was dark, a sharp contrast to the snow that rested upon it.

Will walked through the city that surrounded the walls, the houses were different than any he had seen. The wood used to make them were dark, darker than the black stone walls, he put his hand on the wood. It felt, aged somehow, as if by touching the wood he had touched the history of the wood itself.

While the wood was in good condition, the black houses were not, doors were left open, and broken black wagons were left in the street. As if the city had been abandoned and did not yet realize it.

Will continued to walk through the city, snow still falling all around him, he walked on the snow somehow, as if the snow were solid as stone. He was overtaken by a sense of belonging, as if this was where he was meant to be. The sense followed him until he came to the giant walls, Will had been all around the east, and west of the continent, never had he seen walls this tall.

Will touched the walls, and was surprised to find the stone was warm, not hot but much warmer than the wood had been. Will saw the gates that stood open, made of iron, or what he thought was iron, he walked into the tunnel that led to the inside of the wall. The emotions he felt as he walked through the tunnel were hard for him to pin down.

Will felt pride, happiness, a sense of confidence, but most of all sadness, these walls had seen much, and stayed standing. Once Will passed through the dark tunnel, into a white courtyard, there was a ancient black castle within the walls. On the castle was a snowflake, vast and large, and glowing blue, like his relic did when he called his ice.

Beckoned by something he could not name, he walked into the castle, snow was inside the castle, and the only lighting were the vein that spiderwebbed up the walls in the corridor. Glowing a faint blue color, on he walked, and on he walked, through the vast castle. Until he came upon a blue throne, the same crystal-like material that was on his relic, and in the walls made up the throne.

The throne itself glow blue and had white lines running all through the chair itself, as if this chair was winter embodied. Will walked up the stairs leading to the throne and placed a hand on one of the arm rests, it was cold, colder than anything Will had ever touched.

The cold did not bother him, and he moved to sit upon the grand frozen throne, he was just about to sit.

Will’s blanket was ripped off him, he shot straight up out of bed, Tom was standing there, a sly smile on his face. Will jumped out of his bed, his dream already forgotten, and chased his brother who laughed as he ran out of their house. Later when Will went back to his room, he would notice that his bed had frost all along the mattress.