The ashva comes to a slow trot on nearing the gate of the outpost.
"I'm back! Finally."
An exasperated exhale slips my throat.
The journey back had been long, albeit uneventful.
The hood of my cloak relents and the might of my fingers and gets pulled down.
Revealing my visage.
"Hey there Rain."
A guard greets as he rushes to open the gate.
"Hi." I respond, nodding though not stopping.
Not until I reached the stables.
Its smell of fermenting manure had become so familiar that it was basically a welcoming ritual at this point.
A quick leap off the saddle and my feet were rooted solid on some dry ground- a conscious decision to avoid the murk.
"Oi!"
The stable hand rushes, heeding my call.
"Yes, sire."
I'm too fatigued to correct his mistaken identity in regards to me.
"She's been a good travel companion." I remark, my voice flat.
His eyes gleam, on hearing the praise.
"I strive to raise the best of them."
"Mhh." I absentmindedly respond, reaching at my coin ladden pouch.
Five of the silverly metallic coins clink within my palm as I hand them to him.
I turn and walk away, his grateful mutterings trailing off as I increased the distance with the stables.
My feet slowly glide, eyes passing over everything along the way.
Oh! How I had missed this small town!
I'd come to love this mundane place.
That aside, I head for the barracks- to finally wash my hands of this task.
Creak!
The gate swings open, letting me through.
The guard must have noticed my demeanor and inferred that I am too tired to engage in small talk- he silently regards me, nodding.
I respond by giving a nod of affirmation.
Just one more task and off I go to catch some sleep.
"Ahh, Son."
Captain Harlan greets, noticing my figure on the door step.
"Come in...Have a seat," he gestures, stopping all he was doing, the scrolls on his table gets shuffled to the side.
"Tell me, how did it go?" He eagerly questions.
I proceed to recount my encouters- excluding my nightly escapades of course.
"Heh, quite an adventure." He remarks after a long session of narration.
I let out a non committed "mhh."
"You must be so worn out...lets get this out of the way."
He proceeds to open a drawer behind his desk, fishing out a leather bound journal and a clinking pouch.
"Here, you did well."
I get up to leave, only stopping when I recalled I still have a letter that I was suppossed to give out the moment I arrived.
The recounting and narration had made me forget all about it.
"I almost forgot!" I exclaim.
"You got something for me son?"
"Yes I do, all the recounting has made me forget it," I respond, exhaling
"The sire of the keep said I deliver this back to you."
"He claims its a time sensitive letter, so..." I trail off, handing him the letter.
The sealing wax gets torn off with an audible rip.
"I'll be on my way." I say
"Hmm hmm." The Captain shoos me, non comitted, all his focus pinned onto the unfurled scroll.
I walk off through the door, hearing curses being thrown around.
"That piece of shit!"
I shrug it off- that's the Cap'n to deal with.
My work is done.
~~
Back within the Jivin crow tavern,
The place was lively as usual.
Rain figure is seen walking in, pausing to greet the host and off he goes.
Up the stairs and into the confines of his room.
Irena smiles, staring at the kid's receding back
"How fast he grows up." She murmurs, getting back to serving her patrons.
Speaking of patrons, the trio of hunters were seated at a corner.
Frantic and jerky motions of their limbs said all there was to say of their current situation.
Oliver was playing mediator, and failing terribly.
Beneath all the lively atmosphere, something horrid was prowling, silently watching and calculating.
~~
(A few hours later, Rain's room)
I wake up, all the fatigue washed away during my couple hours nap.
I sit on the straw bed, my thoughts serene and relaxed.
It is then that my gaze lands on the leather bound journal, I grab to read it,
It might shed light on my current situation.
The situation I desperately need to resolve if I am to survive in this world.
What you might ask?
Well,
How do I begin?
There's is an entity, lets call it the governor of all things living and non-living,
The voice of Ur.
It is said that every awakened gets graced by its voice upon awakening.
Thus dictating your future path.
I've been told that the voice sounds withing your mind and soul space, granting an interface between you and the laws of the realm.
Not having it automatically places you within the 'mundane' class bracket.
The class I belonged- never to feel nor interract with ambient arcana.
To shed light onto this situation, only fifty percent of the population ever awakens.
The unawakened like me are stuck to forever grovel at their feet- a fate I wished to escape.
As for the awakened, from what I could gather since all information on them are kept under lock and key.
Anything I managed to glean was off rumours and epic tales.
The first stage of awakening, after shedding the mundane coil is the novice.
These were a dime a dozen.
Heck! Many of the recruit soldiers were novice awakened.
Strong but not unfathomable strong.
Take for example Mark, I bested the guy through sheer physical prowess alone.
Them aside, the next stage will be the adept, members of this rank I couldn't even dream of facing in direct combat and surviving a few exchanges.
No! Not a few.
Even one of their casual blows will be enough to shatter my bones
Examples are Oliver and his crew of hunters.
Then the expert rank , all information I have on them is insignificant to draw conclusions.
But if the rumours are to be believed, then they are beasts on their own levels.
Frankly, I don't want to think about them, lest I become crazy and lose all motivation to live, attempting to climb such insurmountable mountains of epics and legend.
I hope this journal will shed light onto them ..and what is to come after.
And so, I pry open the leather covers.