Marcus stared at the young boy sitting across from him. He was good looking kid and had his father's hair and facial features, he stood at probably close to his chest if they stood shoulder to shoulder.

As he comforted his mother Cedric said" what about my dad, I've never meet him before, he left my mom and I".

Marcus could tell by the look in his eyes that he still held some resentment. Marcus took a deep sigh.

"This might be hard for you to hear but your father didn't abandon you" Cedric's head whipped in his direction confusion across his face. " his name was Thaddeus cloven and he was murdered".

Cedric looked at his mother and she just nodded her head "why?" He said to his heartbroken mother.

"Because I was scared that if you knew the truth it would consume you" she said " you would spend the rest of your life looking for answers and I was afraid that you do something rash and get yourself hurt or worse killed" she sobbed.

As Cedric looked between Marcus and his crying mother,he took a deep breath." so what does this mean, my father was killed and since you showed up this means that whoever did it knows about me".

Marcus gave a slow nod.

" Smart boy, yes they know and your no longer safe" he said " and now since they have discovered you I'm to take you somewhere far away".

Cedric was overwhelmed by all this information and could barely speak. After all these years of thinking his dad abandoned him and his mom, all this rage against a man he has never met, all of it was misplaced. He looked at his mom still crying form and saw her shook her head in acceptance "ok I'll go" and stood up from his seat and went up to his room to collect his things.

Marcus watched the long boy walk up the stairs and turned to maya" I noticed as he we were talking that the boy has quite a few scars, just what happened to him".

Maya gazed at Marcus and her face broke out into a grin " oh that, he got that from killing a stone lion".

Marcus's eyes almost popped out of his head as he looked at the stairs and back at maya" damn, I hate it when I'm right"

Cedric moved across his room,collecting his things in a sack that he had hanging on his bed. He collected things like his knife and quiver, his bow left in the forest. He collected things that he couldn't part with, a small green stone that his mother gave him on his 10th birthday, the pendant that he wore on his neck. It hung on his neck with a thin metal chain and linked to a blue stone that was clutched in a pair of wings. He clasped the lock and let it hang down his chest, he closed his eyes and took the last breath he would have in his room, he opened his eyes and grabbed his clothes and stuffed them into his bag and walked out.

He met Marcus and his mom in front of his house , his mother had stopped crying, but her eyes were still red. He moved to hug his mom and she grasped him tightly " always remember that the darkness will never win if someone is their to bring the light"

The words caused tears to streak down his face, he embraced his mother and held her tightly and breathed in her scent, honey and morning rain washed over him and he tried to imprint this smell into his mind. He pulled away from his mother and took a deep breath. " I will return" and with that he turned towards Marcus back straight and head up, he strode towards the end of the village.

Maya watched her son walk away with Marcus jogging to catch up and as she looked at his back she thought of her husband " Dammit Thad he is your son"

***

Marcus walked beside Cedric, they had been traveling for two days and have only stopped for breaks and sleep, even then only a few hours. Marcus suddenly stopped and dropped his pack on the ground and collapsed onto the ground.

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" Alright we have put enough distance between us and the village, we should be able to take it easier" Marcus looked up at Cedric " so Cedric how did you come by those scars on your forearm and legs".

Cedric dropped his pack and sat down next to him." Well you see one day my mom told me to stay out of the kitchen because she was making pastries, but being little I had a bit of a problem listening to my elders" he let out a low breath " so I snuck in and tried to grab a few and my mom came at me with a wooden spoon" he shrugged.

Marcus looked at him for a few seconds and then exploded with laughter" ahahahah your a cheeky one".

Marcus stood up and picked up his pack, it was a big bulky thing and was greatly worn and had seemed to be ready to tear at any moment. Marcus reached around and unclasped the leather string that held it together. He flipped the flap and bound the sides and placed the bundle on the ground again.

Cedric gazed at the items and his jaw dropped, inside the pack was weapons of every make and size , axes, swords, collapsable spears, clubs, and even a few staffs. He looked at each and everyone one of them, but what really called out to him were a pair of axes. The heads were curved and had a thick ending blade, the other ends were spiked and had grooves for catching blades, the metal was one he had never seen before, it had a dark blue hue to it and seemed to move across the metal, the handles were also metal with curving and intricate patterns that stopped short of a leather grip. As he looked upon these majestic weapons he sensed a feeling of familiarity with them and they seemed to call out to him.His hands drifted to the handles and he pulled them out of their leather straps, but when he moved to pull them he found that even though the axes were free, they wouldn't budge, he struggled to move them even an inch but to no avail.

Marcus gave a short burst of laughter" hah you wish it was that easy boy, those are special axes, they were made by the finest dwarf and human smiths in the kingdom and laid magic into the very metal,no one can pick those up without the wielders permission or " he grinned as he walked over and calmly picked up one of the axes" you have to be a total badass" and spun the axe in his hand and set it down.

Cedric gazed at him" but aren't those your axes, so wouldn't you be able to pick them up anyway"

Marcus looked down at him" who ever said they were mine to begin with" and with that he put the axe back and pulled four pieces of wood from the pack and threw two to him. He caught the two and inspected the wood. They had a deep red color and were light and seemed flimsy.

" What are going to use these for, rub them together to start a fire," he said while tapping the two together.

Marcus walked towards him with his two sticks" try it and I'll shove them up your arse"he said.

" No these are iron roots, they come from mountain trees that have been harvested by the gnomes, each one is strong as iron ,hence the name".

Cedric looked at the sticks in a new light " so what are going to with these then".

" Well, you see, we're going to have a lot of time between traveling and at the places we stop at, so in the meantime we will train with every single weapon starting with these" .Marcus swung them in an arc, stretching his shoulders.

Cedric looked up at Marcus and jumped to his feet, eager to do something else then walk all day. He gripped the iron roots and positioned himself in front of Marcus. " Ok, so how do we sta.."

Marcus seemed to blur and the next thing he knew was that he was face down in the ground.

" Well you see I thought we would go over the basics, first lesson, getting hit really hurts". Marcus was hopping back and forth grinning down at him.

Climbing back to his feet he groaned and looked at the man. How the heck did he move so fast? He thought, we were easily 10 yards away, but it seemed that he just appeared next to him.

Cedric positioned himself sideways as to better protect his weak points and raised his staff, Marcus gave a grunt of approval and nodded at his feet.

" Move them a little farther ,and position your staffs and arms slightly tilted so you can block with both and counter" Marcus said while demonstrating.

Cedric moved them to mimic him and looked up at Marcus.

" Now what?" He said.

" Now we practice lesson one" and with that Marcus's arms seemed to disappear and Cedric was able to block one before the other crashed into his weapons and they were smashed to the ground. He looked back at Marcus and picked them back up from the ground.

Marcus laughed and spun his staffs" c'mon now, again". With a groan he changed back to the stance he showed him.