The warmth of the forge is what welcomed me every morning that I woke up, there were no living quarters in the dwarven hall. A bed of dry hay near the hot coals to keep the cold of the night away and it worked wonders. This was the only amenity we had, together with a roof over our head.
It was hard to get used to, the hard, stone floor, especially after a day's of hard work repairing equipment and sword training right after. My hands were stiff and ached, so the first thing I did when I woke up was to stretch and exercise.
I left the hall and went outside, the chilly morning breeze helped me open my eyes, the sun was barely visible over the tree line of the forest.
"Today is the day…" It was the date of our departure and our journey to Altharion. I was nervous and exited, I hoped that all would go well and we would reach the port city unharmed.
Every time, after waking up, I jogged the same path close to the face of the mountain. Durvak had requested me to build my stamina, as I had a problem lasting in our practice fights. The heavy and endless attacks of the dwarf had me out of breath halfway through our training and this was something I had to fix.
Stamina was most important, not only for battle but for the forge as well. If your arms grew tired during the stage of forging, the hammer would strike inaccurate and you would have to heat up the piece more than you should, so improving in that sector would prove beneficial for both smithing and sword fighting.
With my practice sword in hand, I picked up the pace and run down a dirt road and into the forest. My body warmed up and blood started pumping in my weary body, every breath was visible and it was the only thing heard in the silence that surrounded me.
Taking a turn, I went uphill and sprinted. This was a route I have planned to have a mixture of different terrain, mixing straights and uphill, as well as changing my pace has helped improve in the short time since I have started.
"*Huff!*...Just in time." Reaching the top of the hill, I was just over the tree line, enough to see the sunrise. It was a beautiful sight to behold, the rays landed on the valley and gave it color and life, you could literally see it coming alive, the birds would start to sing and the air became fresh and pleasant. It gave me peace of mind.
After running for a bit more, I have arrived at the creak we bathe, this was my destination. Walking towards a place with no grass, I started swinging my sword in slow, downward motions. I was instructed not to throw my sword around full force as that would lead me to develop flaws in my technique, first I had to memorize the correct form.
Sword fighting wasn't all that we practiced, the old dwarf also taught me unarmed combat. Punching, grappling and how to take a hit, I needed training in all. So we switched styles each day.
1000 controlled swings, inhale and exhale, keep the form tight and focus on the tip of the blade. The quiet helped me concentrate, with every breath I gave, the blade followed an arc and its weight traveled up my arms, this meant I was swinging right. Forming a connection and the sword slowly becoming an extension of myself, of course I was nowhere near that level.
The sun was now kissing my skin, sweat covered me from my intensive training and all I had to do was to jump in the cold water just a few steps from me. *Splash!* It was invigorating, this was my morning routine.
"I should head back." Putting my clothes back on, I walked back the way I came. Enjoying the scenery along the way.
Before long I was back and could see the dwarf preparing our equipment. There was a wagon filled with tools, weapons and armor, arranged in an organized manner and covered by a leather tarp. These were to be traded in town.
"Finished with training?...Good, pick up those bags and load them. Grab yourself some breakfast and we our on our way laddy." With a nod I carried the heavy bags, filled with rations for our trip and put them on the wagon.
Strapped to the front was an old horse named Donna, she was usually roaming around, eating grass, today she would help us on our trip.
Durvak had prepared some grilled mushrooms and some tonic with honey, that he wouldn't give me the recipe no matter how many times I asked. It all tasted amazing and the drink gave me energy.
Finished with my quick meal, I checked my own equipment. I wore my arm brace and strapped the long-sword to my waist, clothes were on my priority list. My pants were beginning to wear out and my shoes were dirty, truth be told, I looked like a beggar.
"I am all ready. Let's go." I said and hopped on the wagon. Durvak was already holding on the rains of old Donna.
"Alright! Off we go girl!" And with a slight flick of his wrist, our journey began.
…
The time-worn wood of our ride creaked with every bump on the dirt road we were on, it struggled on muddy terrain and needed some pushing to get over streams. But other than that our trip was uneventful.
"So you mean to tell me that there are talking trees and they herd other trees…" Along the way I began questioning Durvak.
"They are a rare sight laddy, tall and slow, with eyes green like emeralds." He began telling about the wonders of this world and he started with the ents.
The Tree-folk, they were born from the forest and lived for it. Ancient beings older than most, walked, thought and spoke slow. Protectors of nature, Ents didn't take kindly to people doing harm to trees and nature in general.
"Have you ever seen one?" I asked.
"Aye...didn't go too well. It found me cutting down trees, the damn thing started hurling boulders at me. Had me running for me life! Haha!" Of course the dwarf didn't blame the ents as he explained, they viewed the plants as part of their family, thus the extreme reaction.
We had been on the road for some time now and the sun had began to set, finding a place to camp, we stopped the wagon and let old Donna have some rest, as we prepared a campfire.
"So, how you liking our trip?" The old dwarf said, fixing a grill over the fire and preparing our dinner.
"It's relaxing, seeing green all around really takes the mind off things." I said, gathering some wood for the fire.
"Have you given any thought to what I told you before? Cause, I still see you wandering off to your own little world." With a pair of tongs he placed two generous pieces of cheese on the grill, immediately sizzling and filling the air with an enticing aroma.
"My mind works that way… I feel uncomfortable not having a plan or a goal." I replied to him, taking my place by the fire.
The sun was long gone by the time we had prepared our camp, the forest growing silent. The light of the fire reflected on both of us and the smell of a warm meal was present in the air. Grilled cheese sandwiches.
"Is Altharion not a goal?" He gave me an odd look.
"Yes, but what comes after that…" I looked at the sandwich in my hands pondering.
It felt as if the road ahead of my was cut off, where would my next step be, wandering into the unknown. I would daze off at times, making plans, thinking about my future, despite of what Durvak had said to me, it wasn't easy to change that. At least I wasn't making negative thoughts.
"Your head is as dense as a rock laddy! You trying to think a lifetime ahead of ya?!" The dwarf was annoyed and waved his sandwich around, juices landing on my face.
"The past defines you, it is the bedrock under our feet, but there is no changing that! And in you case, you have a clean slate to etch your story, for now." He looked me in the eyes, his lonely eye glinting.
"The future is unknown, try to make sense of it and you would drive yourself mad! The present is the only part of your life that you can truly shape, so eat your sandwich and no more scenarios!" His voice was loud, not angry, he was trying to teach me something.
"It is a nice sandwich…" My reply made him shake his head and let out a sigh. Of course he had said things like this more than once, every time I had been caught daydreaming, but changing was a slow process.
I finished my dinner and picked up the long-sword, just a few steps away from the fire, I started swinging. Training helped me take my mind off things, as I focused on the tip of my blade, time passed quietly.
…
"Stop...do you hear that?" Calming my breathing and following Durvak's instruction I halted and listened.
My ears picked up the sound of the night breeze and the fire crackling, focusing harder there was something else. A rustling further inside the forest, pushing on bushes and coming near us.
"Quick hide!" Grabbing me by the arm, the dwarf dragged me behind some trees, crouched down we awaited for the invader.
The closer it got, the more loud it grew, we saw the trees shaking in its passage and there was a low growl it let out every so often. I never got a good at it before but I saw it now, enormous, monstrous and threatening.
"No way…" I said in a low voice.
"Mahal strike me blind, that is a mother bear...she must have smelled the food. Our best chance is to let her eat and hope she doesn't notice us...or we will be in for the fight of our lives." Durvak said and fate had a reply for that.
"No!" With one wrong move I stepped on a branch *Creak!*, a sound that alerted the bear that dinner was ready.