The White King

For lunch, Henry’s mother prepares sandwiches of ham and lettuce for the three of us, as tasty as the food that Henry cooks is, nothing can compare to his mothers’. With lunch finished Henry had to start the walk to Mr Cranley’s farm and Elsie towards the Lord’s manor. This left me with time to stop by Mr Brakker’s home before I had to meet Lord Beckront.

Canis Brakker had been an adventurer like my mother in his youth which was a long way gone by now, in his years he had picked up a myriad of scars on every facet of his body. As though his scars did not make him intimidating enough, he had suffered the loss of a finger on his left hand and had lost an eye which was what finally **** him to retire from adventuring. Unlike his mother, Canis did not specialise with a sword and shield, instead he mostly used a bow and spear though he had some amount of experience with nearly all weapons. In these past few years he had been helping me with my training, having taught me how to not stab myself with weapons that weren’t a sword and also some tactics for fighting monsters and exploring dungeons for when I finally become an adventurer. Canis had always been something of a father figure to me, having been in a relationship with my mother some time after he moved to the village in spite of the more than a decade age gap between them, things hadn’t worked out between the two of them, but he had always been kind to me and seemed to enjoy when we spent time together. Not having known my own father after he had disappeared exploring a dungeon whilst my mother was pregnant, Canis is what I always thought my own father would have been like.

As I walk down the muddy dirt path that his hut lies on, I trace my finger across the mossy wooden fence that secures his hut with the smell of skinned animal pelts that he had recently hunted on racks outside. I knock on the heavy wood door but hear no answer, remembering that my mother told me he wouldn’t be able to help with my training today I figure that he must be out and walk around the back to where he keeps the bow and arrows that we had been training with. I pick up the one that I always use, made of Knotvine wood, it is a powerful weapon but surprisingly easy to use; in addition to the bow I take a quiver with a dozen arrows and set off for the woods knowing that Canis wouldn’t mind that I borrowed them.

I see Lord Beckront in the clearing of clovers that we had agreed to meet, still wearing the colourful cloak that he seems to have a fondness for and carrying two spears with wooden shafts and shining metal tips.

“Er, are you really wearing that cloak Lord Beckront? I’d have thought that Elk would be able to see it a mile off” I say, looking a bit concerned as I approach him

“Ha! No, no, no my boy. Don’t forget I used to be an adventurer too back in my day. I may have seen the sense in governing lands instead of getting all of those scars like our friend Mr. Brakker, but I still have some of my toys from those days” he says with a shining grin as he does something with the broach that fastens his cloak and the whole thing shimmers for a moment before disappearing and being replaced with dark leather armour over clothing that may have been form fitting for a man that didn’t have the luxuries of a lord.

The old man grumbles a bit as he notices how tight the clothing is, “hmm, could’ve sworn this thing fit me. Wasn’t that long I wore it last, has to only be, hmm… ten years?” he says as he adjusts the broach again and the taut clothing relaxes.

I stifle a bit of a laugh at the display and catch a spear as it is thrown upright towards me, “come on then boy, I fancy some venison tonight” he declares as a small wolf appears at his feet.

Despite seeing my mother’s water spirit and Canis’s hunter spirit often enough, I can’t help but be a bit shocked to see Lord Beckront’s wolf spirit with how little it manifests physically. I see him having noticed my reaction to the wolf and apologise, “Sorry lord Beckront, I always forget about your spirit. Is he joining the hunt today?”

“Yes, yes. Raynar likes his hunts, I confess that I may be getting the slightest bit old, but this boy loves his walks. Don’t you?” he says as he scratches behind the ear of the beast who raises his head and bares his menacing teeth at me, apparently having the same sense of humour as his human bond.

Every adventurer has a spirit, the test of divinities allows a spirit to bond with a human and those which are successful are able to develop their abilities and become and adventurer. There are three types of spirits; the elemental spirits like my mother’s which makes the bonded a disciple of the goddess Soras, the avatar spirits like Canis’ hunter which would make him a disciple of the goddess Cleonora, and finally beast spirits like Lord Beckront’s wolf and he a disciple of the goddess Tallaque. When I go to take the divinities test, I hope to get an elemental spirit, mother’s water spirit is always playful when she comes out.

“Well then, no point in wasting daylight. We can’t leave all of the game for Canis” Lord Beckront says loudly, laughing at his own joke before he and Raynar sets off deeper into the woods. I quickly follow behind him, thinking that if he stays this loud then we’ll have **** but to leave it to Canis.

To my surprise Lord Beckront is far stealthier in the woods than I would have believed, despite his age which is pronounced by his pearl white hair and liver spots he still manages to step almost silently through the brush and seems to be sure footed. He also manages to set a pace that I almost have difficulty keeping up with.

“Now boy, I know your mother and Canis have taught you a lot about adventuring already, but this is what it really is” he says in a quiet voice that I almost don’t recognise, “travelling through the woods with your friends and conquering new beasts”

“Then again that is only a small part of it, really nine tenths of the job is travelling from one place to another” he notes with a reminiscent smile, “that was always my favourite part”

I nod my head, surprised that he seems to be making sense for once “Thanks for the advice, but that’s only if I can ever actually go to the capital for the test” I whisper in an attempt not to startle any nearby animals. “I’ve been eligible for the test since I turned eighteen, but mother has needed me to help out for the past two years, I’m not sure when that’s going to change”

“Oh, it might be sooner than you think lad” he replies with a knowing smile as he turns his head to look back at me

“Huh?”

He lets out a sigh, “you really need to start reading between the lines if you’re ever going to survive in the capital” he speaks and chuckles softly. “I’ve had some money set aside to help you start off and settle in at the capital, and to help your mother if she needs it. I’d be expecting to take the test this year if I were you” he says with that infectious grin of his.

I’m stunned that he would do that for me and am silent for a moment, I move my mouth to thank him and tell him how grateful I am but before I can get a word out, he jerks his head to the side and shushes me.

“Shh!” he hisses, his eyes focusing on a white animal in the distance, I focus my eyes and see what he his looking at. It is possibly one of the most majestic animals I have ever since; an elk with a snow-white coat, antlers that are easily three feet tall and a bearing to it that makes it look somehow respectable even as it sniffs at a small pile of faeces. I find that I was holding my breath and feel Lord Beckront sliding the bow from my shoulder as his eyes remain on the animal.

I snap out of my trance and help him take the bow, handing him an arrow from the quiver, he examines it for a moment and seemingly satisfied he knocks the arrow and lines up a shot. Far from the foolish old man that I knew, Lord Beckront seems to have taken on a new burst of life becoming focused and strong in this environment as he holds his breath and after a pause releases the arrow

The metal tipped wood shaft whistles through the air as it punctures the elk, a spattering of crimson appearing on the field of snow and the body of the Elk jerks, it lets out a pained sound before tearing through the woods at a fast pace.

“Come on lad, he won’t keep that pace for long. I think I really got him there. Keep your spear at the ready, those antlers are no joke“ he says as he hands my bow back to me and begins running in the direction of the Elk, Raynar tearing after him. I shoulder the bow and get to my feet before following after them with my spear tight in my grip.

I find Lord Beckront as he approaches the Elk, which is now kneeling against a tree, letting out a wheezing sound as blood pools around it. Its head is tilted to look at us with a pained expression in the obsidian spheres that are its eyes.

“A magnificent creature, ay lad? I think we can see if Canis can strip the pelt for us, someone in the capital will be able to make you a fine cloak of it” he says as he looks down at the animal, his hands stroking the fur as though to comfort it. Raynar, his wolf, also begins to nuzzle at its neck which somehow manages to calm the Elk down

“Still, we can’t have it suffering. Would you like to do the honours?” he says pointing to a spot on its body for me to puncture the heart with my spear.

I rise the weapon and *thud*

*thud*

I turn my head and see Lord Beckront sliding to the ground from where his body hit a tree a few metres behind him. Where he was standing is the broken end of a tree trunk dangling in the air. I lift my head upwards and see that the tree trunk is being held as a club my a particularly ugly monster.

From Canis’ lessons I recognise it as an ogre, standing at nine feet tall with a wide body and fat over its sweaty body which disguise the powerful muscles underneath. Its face is unlike any of the images I had seen in the books, unlike the menacing features I had expected, its face is mushed as though someone had found a twisted pleasure in dropping an anvil on it repeatedly. Nothing is symmetrical, one eye bloated, the nose broken, scars plastered across it from when it had healed, as it lets out a snort through its nose my stomach turns as I catch the foul odour. Even its horns are unsymmetrical with one on its right-side protruding from its temple and twisting partway through its growth; on the other side where a horn should be is an uneven stump as though someone with a remarkable strength had snapped it off. I stare in shock at it as it looks down at me and lets out a blood curdling roar.