The following days were exactly what Axel needed to recharge and let his taxed nerves relax. Axel and Aria spent time together just enjoying the village, though it was not all pleasant as there were signs of the ongoing beast tide. People are being brought from the wall with injuries to the local Healers of Hope house for treatment. There were also several visitations for those who did not make it through the tide.
Axel was brought on several shopping trips to expand their equipment and gear. Aria also bargained for some well-made beast hide leather armor for each of them, made from a beast of the plains that Axel had never heard of, but its hide was stronger than even standard forged chainmail from Jareth. This cut into the Shadowfang scales’ profit, but Axel was fine with the investment in their safety.
With new gear and supplies gathered, all that they had left to do was wait. During their exploration of the village, they found the local Storm training center, a large structure of six floors and a large training field that butted right up to the wall. Decided to rent a training room so that Aria and he could keep up their sparring. The place was still busy with the standard young trainees and several veteran members of the Warriors of the Storm acting as trainers.
Each trainer was a veteran coming from one of the elite units of the Storm. Everyone in the city-states and outer villages starts as a Warrior of the Storm trainee. This includes everyone from the son or daughter of a High Chieftain of a city-state to the child of a baker. The goddess had mandated in the past that all must be able to defend themselves and their homes. When one reaches the age of majority and passes a basic assessment, they are graduated as a Defender. Almost all of the populaces, with the exception of the crippled or the disabled, are a Defender and will take training courses every few years to keep their skills sharp. However, not many will complain about the training after surviving their first beast tide.
The first person Axel talked to was the Stormlord in charge of this training facility. Stormlords were the leaders and administrators of the organization, much like Aria’s mother. They are the ones who lead and keep the group going in the right direction. Axel also planned to use some of their funds to hire a few of the trainers so that he and Aria were not just fighting each other and getting outside training advice.
The Stormlord in question was a burly bald human man with a semi-wild red beard and piercing grey eyes. He checked the records for both Aria and Axel’s training with the Storm by checking their journals and sending a request through the communion for their training records, then asked them questions about what they wanted to work on. After the questions and a bit of thought, he gave Axel a few options for training, both free and paid professionals who took extra money between working shifts on the wall or in recon. Axel hired each specialist for two days of training as they were stuck here.
During their first visit, Axel and Aria worked with one of the Earthbound Sentinels. This group protects land routes between City-States, often acting as caravan guards, patrols, and protectors of the mines from predators that like to nest in the great mountains. They worked with Axel to increase his halberd skills and fix some bad habits he was beginning to develop, even with his new visualization training method using his memory trick. Aria worked in an enclosed room with her wings restrained, so she would get the experience of having to fight without her wings in the event that they were injured or disabled.
The next group they paid for time with was the Tidewalkers. These specialists worked on the waterways and knew the beasts of the sea well. There were not many of their specialties around this area being so far inland, making them much more expensive to rent their time, but with one of the great mountains for mining in the area needing the waterways to send materials to the city-state, there were still a few here. Most of this group was much further east along the coastal cities and outer ocean, but their mandate was the protection of all waterways.
The trainers were a pair of Tidewalkers that were twin Krellians sisters named Larimar and Pearl. The training with these two was Aria’s worst nightmare made manifest, as they enjoyed using hydrokinesis and a large pool of water to soak her repeatedly when she failed to work in tandem with Axel. Axel also got soaked but he did not mind getting wet as much. They also combined their abilities to make constructs of water to fight against in large numbers. By the end of the second day, their teamwork was in much better shape and the twins had no other time available for training, though Axel was glad to be done with it deep down as it was hard to look at Aria being all wet and droopy.
The Skyward was the last group that Axel and Aria paid to work with. This was an interesting experience as Aria worked with others of her kind, but Axel was forced to fight against a young Tempest Drake and its Vortan rider. Tempest Drakes where large creatures with wings attached to their forelimbs. They flew by lighting their weight with lighter-than-air gases in special organs. They were also one of the many predators that used electrical discharge to stun the commonly heavily armored pray that roam this world. The nasty part was when they landed and released the gas and used the electrical discharge to release a gouge of flame. This generally ground the tempest drake for a couple of minutes but being on fire generally distracted something for the needed time to refill the gas bladders.
This was a challenge that Axel was fated to lose as his skills were not trained for this kind of fight, but he did surprise the rider with his new discharge chain on the end of his halberd. The spar started in the large courtyard and the goal of the training was evasion and battle control. As it was not expected of Axel to beat a flying opponent, and he was also told not to try as it would just make the Tempest Drake angry, Axel was to evade and divert the beast’s attacks for thirty minutes. If the beast tagged him Axel was considered to have lost the training. This was also used to warm up the Drake as they had patrols later in the afternoon. The fight lasted for about fifteen minutes when Axel was getting tired of being a target and decided it was a bright idea to go for the rider as that was not a failure in the rules.
As the Tempest Drake made another one of its snapping dives on Axel, he dodged like the last several times but this time he threw the new discharge chain connected to the end of his halberd that was meant to ground out predators that used electrical discharges to stun heavily armored prey. The chain wrapped around the rider, locking it in place with a learned twist on the chain. Then Axel yanked the rider off and into the yard with a thump. However, this was a big mistake when the beast then turned in a steep loop and slammed down on Axel, pinning him with an angry growl only to be stopped from snapping a chunk off Axel by a firm, but wheezing command of its rider.
“Hold!” the winded voice commanded causing the beast to stop immediately
“Retract and Retreat!” Came the final command, and with a final snap at Axel’s face, leaving drool in its wake, the Drake retreated away to the side of the field where a handler gave it meat and worked at calming it down.
“I think that will be enough for today. My sunflower here is very upset now and I don’t think I could stop you from being bitten if we continue to spar today. Thank you for teaching me to watch out for that trick though.” Rubbing their back, the Vortan led their mount to a stable as they had patrols in a few hours as there was still a beast tide ongoing.
After that, Axel was forced on the second day to play dodge the angry Drake again but this time the rider was throwing blunt spears to liven it up. It was a very long thirty minutes as the rider did not get in a position to be snagged this time around. After the training, Axel shook the rider’s hand and planned to relax while waiting for the beast tide to ebb. Aria had a great time in the skies with several of her kind doing some swooping and diving fights. He could hear her clear laughter the entire time she was training seeming to have a great time.
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When the roads opened later that week, the beast tide finally ebbed into receding. Jareth contacted them at dinner the night it was announced to tell them he was planning on heading out in a caravan of other merchants trapped in the village. Most travel was done by caravan as it was the best way to fend off beasts or bandits. Even more powerful Flame Seekers traveled with a caravan, though this was more to keep the trade lanes open and net them money while they traveled.
Early the next morning, Axel and Aria met Jareth at his wagon near the east gate. They needed to push their way through a large contingent of Earthbound Sentinels that one of the bigger merchants had hired to make it to Jareth and his wagon. The wagon was almost a small mobile house in size and was all packed up, and Jareth sat on the large padded driver’s bench with a pair of reins in his hands. Hitched to the wagon were a pair of Pollox of good size, each beast standing at the shoulder about as tall as Axel with Aria sitting on his shoulders. They were large quadruped lizards that were armored along their flanks and back with a large horn just off the nose. Axel looked the beast over with his index.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Index basic mode
Pollox
Known Dangers:
* Sharp Horn
* Weight
* Resistant to slashing and bludgeoning attacks
Estimated Age: Adult
Beast core Potency: Adept Low
Current Danger to the User: Very Low
With a gesture of his hand, Jareth motioned for them to get into the back of his wagon. The back of the wagon had room for all of them to sleep and still store all of Jareth’s wares. There were boxes and barrels secured and tied down in the wagon, leaving plenty of room for Axel and Aria to get comfortable.
“Looks like we should head out before noon at this rate. Truly fast for working with larger merchants!” Jareth’s voice boomed from the front seat much to the annoyance of a passing merchant in very nice clothes.
“As we are working with a caravan and not solo, your duties are to protect the wagon and be on night watch. Axel won’t even have to dig the latrine as the Sentinels will have a sanitation specialist.” Jareth boomed a laugh while Aria looked away and whistled a tune when Axel glared at her.
“Any other tasks that you need from us? Or that we could do to help?” Axel asked as he had never traveled far from the village he grew up in besides into the jungle to learn hunting.
“Well, if you know how to drive a wagon, I would not mind, but I would not want a novice in charge of this pair of Adept beasts as they can get shy and it takes a strong hand to rein them in.”
“I would just relax and take this as a learning experience. Watch the Sentinels work, keep an eye out for danger, and Aria can do a scouting run every hour to keep us safe. Your main duty will be to watch the wagon at night, young Axel, and act the big strong lad that you are to keep trouble at bay. The journey is about three days to travel with setup and breakdowns of camp. If I didn’t miss my guess, you are both first-cycle novices just off completing your growth phase of your first cycle. Enjoy the journey and keep an eye out for danger and we should be just fine.” Jareth then took out a pipe, filled it with a weed, and with the light of a match, puffed on it a few times and waited for the caravan to start moving.
Much to his words, the caravan started as a clock tower dinged the noon bell and change of the watch. The wagon started moving slowly through the village and as they reached the open road, picked up speed quickly. The Pollox on his and the other wagons started a loping run that was eating the distance without much seeming effort on their part. The guards were either riding a beast, sitting on top of more solid wagons made of ironwood, or just seeming to jog along the sides of the caravan as if they were taking a pleasant stroll. Many of the Sentinels were very relaxed to Axel’s watchful eye, but the few times a herd of beasts got near, they would work together in an instant to drive or divert the beasts away.
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The first two days were very uneventful with small battles between the Sentinels and a few packs of planes-based predators thinking that the caravan would be good prey, that Axel did not have information on in his index. This was an oversight that he planned to fix when they reached the City-State and research more beasts that were not jungle-born. There were signs of large groups of beasts everywhere as the beast tide hit everywhere all at once with a falling star event. Axel and Aria passed the time with a game that dealt with a wooden board, pegs that slotted into the board, and dice. It was called Slak and was very popular with traveling groups as it was easy to carry.
It was the early morning of the third day that trouble reared its ugly head, right at the cusp of dawn while the early morning mists lingered in the air. The caravan was just starting to break camp when there was almost a palpable buzz in the air, the Sentinels were more alert, and everyone seemed to be on edge. Axel was just on his way to the latrine as the early morning mists were heavy in the air, as the winter was changing to spring creating large banks of fog on the planes. Thinking about it later, Axel realized it was likely a power or set of powers of someone in the caravan alerting the group of danger. Axel felt like he was hunting the Shadowfang serpent again; there was something out there ready to pounce and death was around every corner.
Axel finished quickly and headed back but just as he was returning from the latrine when out of the mist, a bolt of fire shot out at one of the Sentinels. The attack landed but did not down the man, and he let out an alarm, the merchants rushed to their wagons with their personal guards while the Sentinels moved to preplanned posts. That was when everything went to the Crimson and attacks came from every direction. Attacks and screams were happening everywhere, and it was taking all Axel could do not to be hit by a stray bolt of energy or launched physical object. As Axel made a rush to the wagon, he saw Aria dueling a man with a long thin rapier.
He was moving with a viper’s swiftness and had already injured Aria’s right arm with a stab. Having none of this, Axel snatched one of his new knives and threw that knife as hard at the man as he could and still be accurate, which the man then deflected from what looked like instinct or the use of a power, but it had the effect of sending the man off balance from the impact alone, giving Aria a moment to gut him as his blade was out of position. Axel followed the throw by using his strength and momentum to slam into the man, sending him right into one of the reinforced wagons.
The man was then dispatched by one of the Sentinels who leaned over the roof of the wagon to see what happened and shot an arrow to the head of the bandit with almost casual disregard and then returned to raining arrows on the attackers as if he was uninterrupted from his job.
As Axel looked around the wagon to assess the situation, he noticed that Jareth had three assailants’ bodies at his feet with no physical wounds on them but blood coming out of the ears, nose, and mouth. As Axel was about to say something to Jareth, Aria took that moment to alert Axel that there were more coming from the mists. Alex and Aria moved to an intercept position to at least slow if not intercept them until a Sentinel could assist if this was someone they could not handle.
Out of the mists came four young men, each wielding a sword and moving together in a standard sword formation that many Guardians of the Storm training centers taught. Aria leaped then, and with the recent training they had in the last village, Axel knew the plan almost instantly. With a roar to get their attention, Axel made a sweeping swing with his halberd to break up their charge. One of them tried to block and was sent flying back into the mist with a broken sword as his prize, the look of shock and surprise on his face was gratifying to Axel. The other three all evaded back, likely planning to take advantage of Axel’s wide swing only for Aria to get one from behind with her bow, laying in an aero-guided arrow to the back of his neck. With surprise, she got another arrow to the head of the remaining duo, giving Axel time to get his stance back and launch another attack.
With all the extra sparring and training, this fight felt like a cakewalk as this man did not have the skill or knowledge of Cade or Aria’s agile fighting style. In a handful of spears-like thrusting moves, Axel cleaved the man in two when he threw him off balance with a well-timed catch of the sword between the spear point and axe head. This allowed Axel to do a twisting motion and relieve the man of his sword then on the follow-up cleaving swing with the axe head cut the man down by cutting him in half.
As Axel looked at his bloody work, the man’s face was interposed with Cade’s, and Axel could not breathe for a time and then heard a scream of pain that mingled with a memory of an anguished cry a fathers of loss. It took a hug from Aria to snap him out of his mental haze and notice that the bandits were in a full retreat, finding this prey too hard to hunt.
“You are safe and Aria is safe. Return to me, my hero, and know that you have saved the day again,” Aria whispered into his ear from behind. It was at this moment Axel also realized that he had suffered another crimson backlash, and it was not opponent three who was now dead in front of him from their duel but the man with the broken sword that he had sent flying. The memories came flooding back to Axel almost unwanted, Axel standing there in front of his enemy suffering a feeling of panic from the memory of Cade’s death only for Aria to yell in pain as the last of the enemy attacked her with a bolt of purple from his forehead.
The rage overtook Axel as he charged the man, taking purple blast after purple blast until he reached him. Uncaring about his injuries, and seeming to shrug off the purple bolts with ease, Axel then ripped into the man with his bare hands. Beating him over and over, he did not stop until Aria hugged him.
Axel also noted that he had a broken sword in his chest, but it did not breach his muscles but was stuck fast. His health data was in red from damage all over his body and his proto core was draining at a worrying pace. With a deep breath, Axel tore the blade out, hurting like the crimson, and turned to make sure Aria was fine. While looking a little ruffled, Aria was beaming happily at Axel.
“That was a battle well fought, and Aria got to see my hero save the day again. Aria will note that it should be Aria’s turn again, but Aria is a gracious lady and will take this minor loss,” Aria said in a consoling tone.
“I think you miscounted there, Aria. I saved you from the Twilight Beast and you saved me from the Shadowfang, so how would it be your turn,” Axel distractedly asked.
“Well, Aria was saved from the falling second Twilight beast on our flight to the village, so Hero was up one already!” Aria replied with a smile, leading Axel back to the wagon and helping check to make sure that everyone was okay.
The caravan suffered many injuries but few losses. The main loss was a smaller merchant who was attacked while the Sentinels were fighting, and three of the Sentinels lost their lives. The bandits, before they retreated, suffered about thirty dead, an unusual level of loss for a bandit group to take. From the looks of it, they were not expecting this strong of a response. The dead were gathered and put into the last wagon, called a death wagon, so that they could be properly buried, and their journals taken. Even bandits received this last rite and would if they won, have done the same honor, though likely saying the caravan was attacked by beasts to not get Enforcers looking at them.
As everything was cleaned up, the caravan set off again and arrived with a much-battered group but unbroken before the massive gates to the City-State of Greenhaven. Though still haunted by his friend’s death and the rage he thought he was getting a handle on, Axel looked forward to the next step in his journey with Aria at his side.