Odin was right, the tea was awful but Lin was true to his word and Gregory drank the whole cup. He also slept like the dead and when he awoke his face was significantly less swollen. He was black and blue and had scabs where his skin had split but he fully expected to be a swollen wreck the next day. His head ached fiercly but it felt muted somehow.

Gregory got more than a few stares from his fellow runts but he bore his wounds proudly. Word had spread about what had happened and the rumors painted Lin and Gregory as heroes.

Gregory was uncomfortable with it but Lin didn’t seem to mind. Kellendry was shocked to see him and there was an uncomfortable amount of attention on them as they saw each other at breakfast. Gregory was glad his face was mostly purple because of how much he knew he was blushing.

Kellendry had been shocked at first but under the stares of so many she remained aloof and simply asked if he had fallen down the stairs. Which drew laughs from everyone, including Gregory. In private she had expressed real concern for him and even got mad that he had done such a thing to protect her.

“I could outsmart those turds any day of the week. Besides, the woman’s bunkhouse doors lock. They couldn’t have gotten in. You clod.” Though her words were harsh she said it warmly and it made Gregory’s heart speed up.

Odin was also correct in that the next day was spent learning. Book learning, maps training, figures, numbers, and even languages were all forced on them and then they tested for each subject. Testing their aptitude for knowledge is what they called it but to Gregory and his aching head it was torture.

It was Lin and Gregory’s least favorite day but Kellendry had a natural gift for each subject and teased the boys relentlessly about their low scores.

The tournament went well with all three placing around the middle and before suddenly it was their last night in the bunks.

The room was significantly more empty and the boys that remained all sat around the fire, talking and joking with each other. The trials had made them a tight knit group and the camaraderie was intoxicating. Almost all of the boys left were like Gregory and had dreamt of becoming Paladin’s for most of their lives. More and more though, Gregory was considering a position as a Guardsman to be a viable option. He looked across the group and Lin was laughing at one of the other boys as he told a story from his home village along the coast. His loud, uninhibited laughter made Gregory smile. When the story wrapped up Lin looked at Gregory and said loudly for the group to hear.

“Tell us about how you met The Ravener and how you went to The Well!” The other boys all looked at him with eager eyes. The Ravener was what the staff and Guardsmen in the compound called Odin. It was apparently only for those ‘in the know’. Not that it would last now that all these boys had heard about him.

Gregory smiled, uncomfortable with the attention, his slightly swollen face and split lip stretched uncomfortably but his smile never dimmed.

“You’ve been to The Well?!” A tall skinny boy named Dereck cried out.

“He has and the bastard only skimmed over it the first time he told me!” Lin yelled in mock indignation. The group all joined in, voicing their desire to hear about it. “What’s it look like?”

“Is it really a castle?” One boy asked with wide eyes.

“I heard it’s just a portal through a mirror.” Said another dismissively.

“Well I heard it’s all invisible and only the really faithful can see it, what’d you see Quill?” Another asked.

All eyes were fixed on Gregory so he cleared his throat.

“Alright alright. I didn’t get to go into The Well, just to the front gate.”

They didn’t seem deterred so he continued.

“It really wasn’t that exciting.” He lied, it had been one of the highlights of the trials. The group all watched him with wide eyes so he kept going.

“A Paladin came to my parent’s shop to commission some work-”

''What was it?” Dereck interrupted.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“I’m not really supposed to say.” Gregory said with feigned nonchalance. The group groaned collectively, protesting his tight lipped secrecy.

“I can say it was a big plaque and it only took me the morning to do it.” Gregory supplied easily, understating how long it took him and how much he had stressed about it.

The group almost all scooted closer, hoping for more information.

“Really, I can’t say anymore and honestly I couldn’t if I wanted to. It was all in a different language. I just copied the letters. ” He shrugged.

“Then we loaded it and hauled it up here.”

“I heard you walked in with Paladin Kearin and that girl Kellendry.” Dereck said before another added. “I saw you and your Pa stopped at the gate, the Guardsmen there had you held up.”

“Let him tell the story dammit!” Lin yelled over the other voices.

Gregory nodded.

“Yeah, the guard did hold us at the gate. He was standing there holding the reins while he waited for some other guard to figure out the delivery when all of the sudden he saluted and looked real serious. I looked back where he was looking and there was Kearin!” He had the group's undivided attention now. So he stood and walked in an exaggerated march.

“She was walking up the line of carts, marching real quick and poor Kellendry was just barely keeping up. Kearin got to the front of the line lookin right angry and the guard about shit himself.” The boys laughed and he continued.

“She sorted it out real quick though and then asked if Kellendry could ride in the wagon because she’d marched her all the way up the long lines double time.” “Where’d Kell come from anyways? Why’s she with Kearin?” A smaller boy named Kennedy asked.

Gregory shrugged again, he’d asked the same thing and Kellendry had said that Kearin just about snatched her off the streets and dragged her up the pass. Kellendry didn’t get much say apparently.

“You’ll have to ask her.” That got groans from most of the boys.

“Anyways, Kearing took us right through the rec yard and the training grounds and then pretty soon the air started getting heavy and thick. Like it was peaceful or sacred or something. The grass got taller and the trees got bigger the closer we got to The Well. It was like…I dunno, there was just something about it. Like I wasn’t supposed to be there and you could almost feel the Gods in the air.”

The group was silent and even Gregory fell quiet, remembering how strange it had been. In a quieter voice he carried on.

“Before I knew it we were at The Well. It looked much the same as the Compound walls but bigger and older. The stones were even bigger, I don’t know how they moved such stones.” He said in disbelief as he shook his head before remembering how easily Odin had lifted the plaque.

“There were Paladins walking the walls and the gate was closed but Kearin strode us right up to the gate and it opened before we got too close. A man stepped out from the gate and it closed tight as soon as he was through.” He paused for effect and took in the boy’s firelit faces.

“It was The Ravener, except I didn’t know it then. He didn’t introduce himself or anything but he knew who we were before we started talking.” Gregory took a swig of water.

“He was nice honestly and when I showed him the plaque he just stood there looking at it. I was terrified! I thought ‘what if I did the words wrong!’ He stood there looking at it long enough I was sure I had written an insult to his mother or something and I was taking my last breaths but after a while he just smiled and said it was good work.” Dereck couldn’t keep his mouth still and interrupted again.

“Come on Quill! What’d it say?! He had to have told you what it was for.”

Gregory smiled. “Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. I’m not really supposed to talk about it.”

“Aw! Just a hint?” A stout boy pleaded.

“Okay, okay! But you lot better not tell anyone.” He said seriously.

Now that he was telling the story he was soaking in the attention and perhaps exaggerating the secrecy of the plaque a little. The group nodded and leaned in further.

“The Ravener, he said it was to commemorate the founding of The Order. And that’s when I knew for sure. It wasn’t in some other language, it was the language of the Gods!” The boys sat back. Like him, they almost all had an obsession with the order and like him, were shocked to find out there was a written language.

Looking back, it made sense. Of course they’d have secret written language as well, why wouldn’t they? But they looked just as shocked as he had been.

“I know. I was surprised too.” He added as he sat back down.

“What’d it look like?” Asked Lin, Gregory shrugged. “It was all curved and rounded symbols. It was pretty hard to engrave but he seemed happy with it. Told me it was fine work actually. Then he lifted the stone plaque out of the wagon like it was nothing! It took three of us to load it and he lifted straight out!” Gregory enjoyed their openly shocked faces.

“I think that’s how they built The Well and how they built the compound so quick. The Paladins really are blessed by Huginn and Muninn.” Silence reigned as they thought about that.

“Then what happened?” One boy asked eagerly.

“Then he went inside, Kearin led us back and the trials started.” One and all the boys in the group seemed disappointed.

“I told you it wasn’t that exciting!” Gregory chimed in.

They all grumbled goodnaturedly for a bit but soon were back to joking and jostling each other.

Soon enough it was bedtime and Gregory smiled through his bruised face.

This is exactly what I wanted it to be. He thought before he drifted off.