The Journey Begins

Marone didn't know what to expect after reading the pamphlet, but she didn't care either. Distant lands meant freedom. Distant lands meant wondrous animals and plants, and the beautiful elves she so longed to see with her own eyes.

What she found when she reported for her first day of training outside the castle barracks, however, was not elves and distant lands, but rather a large smelly trainer, a sparring ring, a row of training dummies, and a group of untrained cadets who seemingly didn't know the first thing about wielding a sword properly, or striking an unflinching dummy with an arrow.

The athleticism and skills she acquired from practicing with her father's swords throughout her childhood were both a blessing and a bane. Most of the cadets tried to avoid sparring with her, and she was just fine with that. She enjoyed sparring with the more experienced cadets, and occasionally the commander. But he always seemed to think she was showing off and scolded her for something regardless of her nearly flawless training record.

It went on like that for a time. They would train and patrol during the day, and sleep in the barracks at night. Sometimes she was assigned watch duty, which required her to stand post on the castle walls or in one of the towers. She had not seen any action since joining the guard, however. Sure, there was the occasional animal attack or prison escape or bandit raid, and plenty of rumors of conflict brewing, but none of the rumers seemed to come true, and it was all she could think about anymore.

Finally, when she was sure she was about to go insane with boredom, Commander Tomlin entered the barracks one sunny morning with a list of orders in his hand, which had come straight from the king himself. As he began calling them out, all of the eager cadets jumped up and huddled around. Even knowing how pointless it was, Marone was right there with them. Where were they being sent? She wondered if it would be to scout the Underworld, or drive back an attacking horde, or even to visit the Land of Elves.

Finally, when he neared the end of the stack he called out her orders. "Marone," he started as her eyes became wide with suspense, "you are to tend to the king on his stag hunt in one hour. Rafil and Coren, you will assist Marone." At that, she sighed in disappointment and slumped off to finish putting on her gear.