It had been about four days after the town of Juniper had buried the dead boy Leo and his companions brought back from the depths of the forest.
The town still spoke here and there on the corners, in the halls, in the fields the farmers made it sound like some strange prophetic sign. They were the residents that would watch the stars in their effort to take care of their crops the best they could.
In the tavern the words spread like pollen in the spring time. Conversations flowed over the beer at night and the eggs in the morning. Thalmon, the tavern owner, was a good friend of Leo's father. Leo himself had a love for speaking with Thalmon's daughter, Sateria.
Leo was just thinking of this as he was walking by the tavern on his way to Jasper's home.
Sateria had a slim complexity that was enticing for Leo's wandering eyes. He had always been so curious about her. He knew she was human. He knew she was beautiful. And he knew that her laughs were music to his tapered ears. And he knew he liked her presence very much so.
The way her lustrous brown hair shined and flowed in the breeze during the summer months always sent Leo's mind into a fluster. The grace in her movement when she walked only allowed for Leo's admiration to flow from his tongue in sweet words. And her eyes...
The violet hue in those little galaxies glittered when she spoke to him in conversation. Leo enjoyed the glimpses he would get into those swirling whirlpools.He walked through the gates that bordered Jasper's land from the road.
His friend lived alone, often working among the trees he'd cultivated for years with his mother. He lessened his pruning in the spring after she had passed a year before. But regardless to her being gone, it was obvious that he often went outside based on the number of footprints that traversed the snow.
Leo smiled to see that his friend was better now that he had inherited the house and the land around it. He was pleased to see Jasper working on his gardens. He seemed determined to carry on his mother's legacy of cultivating the greens.
Leo stepped through the over grown gate and stopped as an arrow whizzing by caught his attention.
He turned toward the sound and saw Jasper practicing his shots.
"Ah don't work too hard to be like me, mate" he said with a grin.
Jasper stopped and looked at h with a frown.
"Oh hey there, Saphire. You trying to get shot?"
Leo chuckled and leaned down to pick up a broken arrow from the snow.
"Possibly," he grunted. "How you feeling today?"
" The usual, Leo. It's cold as death out here."
He set the bow into the hardened snow with a crunch.
It stood with its own form of majesty, tall and thin standing in the icy cover.
He looked up at Leo and gestured toward the house that stood with another majestic beauty.
The front door was brass and coated in vines that stayed green throughout the seasons. When Leo had asked during childhood what they were, Jasper's mother would tell him of her long trips around the country.
The boys were greeted by the toasty air that emanated from the wood burning stove that stood in a far corner. They stepped into the kitchen and removed their layers, folding their jackets over the backs of the chairs. They kicked off the boots and went into the family den.
Jasper tossed Leo a slab of a sweet bread that his mother would often bake whenever Leo visited as a child. There was a chewy substance in this chunk, however, which made Leo stop and look at it. He found chopped nuts and dried cranberries baked into it which caught his attention.
It was good as it introduced a new burst of flavor to Leo's tastebuds. He gestured to Jasper, who stood over by the stove, looking out the window above it, his hands folded behind his back.
"This is a good loaf," he said.
"I reckon you baked it yourself?"
Jasper turned from the window and pulled up a stool to sit in front of him.
"Aye," He replied. "I figured something new for a change. Ma always said to me that I should swap things up in life. So I decided to do that very thing.
Starting with how I would cook. I know I can never be exactly like her. But I can, and will, carry on her legacy in my own way."
He looked over at the flames and nodded as he deemed them fine to go on without being fed more wood.
He scooted forward a few inches, grimacing at the scraping sound of the legs on the hard wood floor.
He hopped onto the stool and propped his feet on the rungs that supported the structure of it.
Conversations were scarce between the two but their presence to each other was a comfort factor.
They had known each other for so long they may as well be brothers by association. So they sat there. Just listening to the clocks as they ticked on the walls. The soft breath of the fire as it licked the split logs in the hearth. The trees as the wind breezed through them like a comb through a head of hair. The ever so slight sound of the frost spreading across the outside of the windows.
Occasionally, they would ask a question or two to one another and the other would answer. But besides that it was a peaceful silence.
Leo got up and stepped over to the cupboard. He retrieved two glasses made from a unique green glass and reached into the cupboard for a bottle. There was a juice made from a combination of wine grapes and apple cider. Leo and Jasper had traveled two cities to the south to purchase it from an old farmer that was as old as time itself. He was of elven descent, only going to show that he was far older than any human could ever hope to live. The old man trembled so much, Leo was amazed the man could still command the plow. But as Leo's witness and being the one to point it out in awe, Jasper could vouch for such a thing. Then had greeted them warmly, and showed the boys around his farm. He had cows for milk, tons of hens to lay eggs and horses to offer to travellers for riding.
Leo poured the sweet liquor into the two glasses and handed one off to Jasper. They clicked their glasses together and each took a deep draught.
The tingle of the fluid felt good as it left their tongues and went down.
After a decently long silence they nodded to one another and each grabbed his bow.
They stepped out the front door and started for the wilderness.
Several hours of hunting provided them with the goods.
Leo's tracking and Jasper's accuracy with his arrows made for a fine team combination.
Though Leo didnt care for deer meat much, he hauled two doe over his shoulders and Jasper carried a full grown male turkey that had been just unfortunate enough to stand across his sights. They stopped at the house to warm up before taking the trek into town to sell the catches to the butcher.
The local Butcher, Aviar, was extatic.
"You boys never cease to impress. Dærian just left 'bout an hour ago," His rough voice piped up as he began to chop at the fresh kills. Jasper grinned.
"I'll bet we had a better catch than him this time around."
"Ha! I'd be amazed!", Aviar gestured over at a massive boar that lay nearby, already skinned and gutted. "Must have been aboutta few...eh ...yeh a few hundred pounds? Two hundred I'd say?"
Leo chuckled a little embarrassed.
"Well at least we got a few more bodies than him," he said with a suggestive tone. Aviar laughed and looked at him.
"Eh...how about for once?", he said with his statement concluded with a hearty laugh and a bob of his eyebrows.
"I can't say you boys didn't do good though. Thank you for the supply. I'm impressed regardless of me jokes."
He slipped his glove off and shook their hands respectively before they stepped back outside.
The sun was beginning to set, giving the cloudy sky a gloomy gray tinge. The air was growing frigid, allowing for the wind to bite at their cheeks.
Leo and Jasper parted ways at the edge of the woods and went home.
Leo walked down one of the side roads of the town toward his house. The clouds were beginning to break, showing the moon and a few of the heavenly bodies that twinkled in the sky. He softened his pace as his head fell deep into thought. He knew soon he'd have to tell his father of the egg that Ikia sent him off with.
His father was a dragonologist who often traveled to the Capitol to teach history in the schools throughout the city. He was looked at with admiration by King Vlädian, the ruler of Fos'Lorone. Leo looked up to him a lot as well....
Out of nowhere came a deep roar and a thundering pound of heavy feet. Leo jerked his head to the left just in time to see a Minotaur swinging an axe toward his head.
Leo ducked as quickly as he could while rolling to the side, just barely missing the barbed head of the nastily forged axehead before it buried itself in the frozen dirt beneath the snow.
Leo, tripping over his cloak, stumbled backward as the beast yanked its weapon from the ground.
The youth threw himself into the bordering field to avoid the weapon even further, rolling beneath the coral fence. He stammered to his feet, pulling his broad sword from its sheath and settling into a fighting stance. The Minotaur climbed over the fence and settled into a stance of his own.
Leo could see the clouds of thick, hot steam pumping from his enemy's nostrils. He could see the red gleam of anger in its eyes as well. The monster kicked the ground in eager anticipation for what was to come.
They stood there facing off, neither one striking, for what felt like several long minutes....
Leo couldn't hear anything besides his heart pounding heavily in his chest....
In the distance an owl hooted as if to signal something dreadful, and suddenly the sound of a pack of coyotes howling at a fresh catch. Leo turned his head toward it....
The Minotaur rushed forward, just as Leo was sure it would. Leo sidestepped and brandished his sword, catching the beast with a minor slash in the back going through the shoulder blade and down toward its opposing hip.
The monster roared in pain...or maybe it was anger, as it writhed at the shock. Leo didn't waste any time as he lunged forward to deliver another blow, his sword high above his head, preparing to slam it into the beast's skull between its massive twisted horns.
But the Minotaur met him with shocking speed, holding the long handled axe in place to catch the whistling metal blade before it could reach its target.
Leo staggered back in surprise preparing to make another attempt.
The Minotaur spun the axe before swinging sideways to try and hit Leo's side.
Leo felt the air hiss from his teeth as he blocked the hit, sparks flying in the night with the hit. He spun to make a hit to the monster's other side and recieved the satisfying sound of steel slicing through meat followed by an obvious roar of pain.
The monster stumbled sideways and reset his footing with a growl. The beast lunged at Leo, changing his grip upon the axe. As the Minotaur rushed toward Leo, the youth made a quick movement that resulted with the blade clearing its shoulders of the ugly head of a monster.
The body stumbled forward, blood gushing toward the sky before it collapsed lifeless in the blood stained trampled snow to finish emptying the vessels within.
Leo dropped his sword and bent over with his hands on his knees while he took a moment to catch his breath.
After several minutes of breathing, he stood up straight to look around.
The beast was carrying a box with cast iron corners.
That lay nearby. Leo decided to pick it up to examine it.
The box had two clips locking it shut. Out of curiosity, he unclipped them and the box sprung open. At first he found nothing but a stone with strange symbols inscribed into it. He pulled it out for a better look.
It began to glow with a brilliant blue light before suddenly a powerful force of electricity was blasted through his hands. The force coursed through his entire body wrapping him in an azure halo.
It seared through him like a riptide.
Then
It stopped....
He fell onto his back with a burning sensation in his chest. He frantically pulled the buttons of his coat and worked his way through the undershirt he had on beneath to expose the bare skin of his torso.
He gasped at the sight of a silvery dragon insignia scarred to his chest. He ran his fingers over it. It felt just like his skin was supposed to feel.
He sat up perturbed. Unsure of what happened.
But knowing it wasn't normal. He got onto his feet and feebly walked over to retrieve his sword.
He slid it into the sheath not caring about the blood that encased its blade. All he cared about was his bed...
His warm...soft bed....