The Mistakes Of Misfits

I woke up expecting to be embraced by the darkness. To my surprise I was met with a bit of light. I turned to see Varrin sitting with a book in his hands and a small magelight hovering above him. I sat up and the mage noticed my movement.

         His eyes went wide as he closed his book. “Did I wake you? I can always dim the magelight.” he looked really, really tired. The bags under his eyes started to darken. Did he even sleep at all last night?

        I shook my head. “My people only need about four hours of sleep… I'm surprised to see you up though. Don't you need to sleep after yesterday?” It was easy for me to find sleep yesterday with how exhausted I was after the bath. I thought the mage would be the same once he was clean.

        Varrin shrugged. “I've dealt with less sleep, I'll be alright.” He was trying to avoid the subject. I raised a brow at him. I needed him at full strength. Also as much as I hated to admit it I didn't want to see him miserable like this.

       “Something troubles you.” It wasn't a question. I made my voice as stern as possible. I sat forward and my necklace fell below my neck, my nightgown too thin to hide the pendant.

       Varrin's eyes locked on the pendant. “I'm fine, how'd you get involved with Atika anyway?” He was trying to sidetrack me. He knew the question would put me off a bit. I smiled however, knowing his game.

       “How about we trade? A question for a question. You tell me why you can't sleep and I'll tell you how I invested with my goddess.” It was as good of a trade as any. I hadn't told that story in years and if I was being honest I needed to let it out.

       Varrin sighed, those curious eyes looking at my necklace. “Fine. I've had some… let's just call them bad dreams.” His face was much too grave for just a few nightmares. There had to be more. Varrin must have seen my thoughts across my face because he continued. “When mages dream we connect to other ethereal realms. Some of them aren't so pleasant. It's been worse recently.”

      “So you travel to other realms when you sleep? That seems difficult.” I couldn't imagine the things he probably saw every night when he slept. I had heard of some of the atrocities committed in the demon realms alone.

      Varrin gave me an all to casual shrug. “I don't every night. Sometimes I just travel to the fae realm and gaze at flowers. Recently it's been one of the hells.” His body shuddered at the thought of what he had seen. The horrors he must be put through in his sleep.

       “Do you want me to knock you out? No dreaming when it's blunt force trauma.” I was only half joking but Varrin's mouth curled upward and a laugh escaped those lips. I hadn't seen him happy in a while and the sight made my heart swell a bit.

     “That… I appreciate the offer. Maybe I'll take you up on it if I can't figure this out myself.” He sat forward and eyed my necklace once more. “Your turn.” He muttered. I felt the blue gem in the pendant, thinking about exactly what I would say.

      “Our trials are a bit different from yours.” I explained. “We are much younger, I must have been about six years old when I was sent into the woods. Our task was simple: bring back the pelt of a wolf and avoid the dangers of the wilderness. I…” my voice trailed off for a moment remembering the others who hadn't made it. “I wasn't at one with the wilderness, too loud. A bear found me and… I was only a child. I didn't stand a chance.”

       The memories came flooding back, more vividly than I had anticipated. I heard the roar, heard the snapping of my bow, then saw my blood pooling below my body. I shuttered. Varrin sat forward. “So Atika saved you?” He asked.

      I chuckled. “Atika made a deal with me. Gods don't easily give anything.” The memory of the blue arm stretching out to help me flashed across my mind. I looked Varrin dead in the eye. “She promised me power, enough to survive my trial… enough to impress my tribe.” Those blue irises watched tentatively, taking in every word. My voice caught for a moment as I looked back down at my hand. “I returned not only with the wolf pelt I had promised, but with the pelt of the bear as well. My tribe should have been elated.” My voice trailed off

       Varrin caught my meaning. “Should have?” He asked. He did not reveal much of his opinion from his face. His eyes looked over me almost… Was that concern?

       I nodded. “The Roven saw it as a weakness. They told me that I should have died out there rather than be given that kind of power. My own father even…” I cleared my throat, trying to stop my voice from breaking. “I was seen as an outcast, an Oucto. I… I only remained in the tribe because I technically completed the trial, but my strength was seen as a handout.”

     Varrin was quiet for a long moment. “I'm sorry.” He said softly. “I know what it is to be an outcast.” His face dropped as he felt something on his arm.

     I cocked an eyebrow. “You're a mage, the skies and earth move at your whims. How could you ever feel like that?” He didn't get a chance to answer because the door flung open. Light flooded the room and a familiar old orc entered the room, looking particularly perturbed.

    “On your feet, the lady will see you in twenty minutes.” He ran his eyes across us both once, making sure we were awake enough to hear him then he left.

       Varrin chuckled. “Surprised they gave us that long. It's not like we have much to pack.” We had been given packs that had a few changes of leather clothes and a few weeks of rations. We didn't have much to put in them. I put the torn remains of my tunic in the pack and threw on the leathers. I thought I saw Varrin glance at me but by the time I turned to him he was just packing.

        We walked out of our rooms about twenty minutes later and we saw Serena, Otah, Kasious and four monks waiting for us in the halls. Serena gave us a small smile

But her eyes seemed heavy. “Good morning my honored guests.” She greeted with a bow. I usually would not bow but, I was almost out of this monastery and the woman who kicked the shit out of me was offering me that bow. So I returned the bow and Varrin did the same.

      Serena cocked an eyebrow at the two of us in surprise. “Follow me.” She told us. She started to walk and we did as instructed. The monks walked with us but they did not seem as tense as the day before. Their weapons stayed at their belts and they barely even watched us. I didn't know if it was because they trusted us or if they just knew Serena was strong enough to deal with us.

       Serena led us to a small gate, much less ornate than the rest of the monastery. She opened the gate and while I expected to see the mountains I instead viewed the inside of a large cave. I ducked under some moss and saw that the entrance we had just left looked like a large stone wall, indistinguishable from the rest of the cave if you didn't know where it was. “Impressive.” I muttered.

      Serena smirked. “I'm glad you approve.” She responded. She led us out of the small cave and I felt the warm sun meet my skin. We were back in the Alabaster mountains. There was a clear path that led down the mountains to the village. The mountains were beautiful, it was early in the morning and the sun barely crested the wondrous peaks.

        I turned back and saw Serena lined up in front of the four monks in some sort of formation. Otah stood with us. In fact, he had a pack made… son of a bitch. I made the connection a second before Serena spoke.

         “Otah will be joining you on your way to Durik. The prince will need training, the rest of you could use his help as well.” my anger ignited at the accusation. I did not need some old monks training. I turned to Varrin and his eyes said a thousand words of warning. He knew how I would react, those bright blue eyes pleaded with me to not be rash. I gritted my teeth but did not speak up.

      I saw Varrin's shoulders relax out of the corner of my eye. Serena walked up to Kasious. “It was an honor prince.” She held out her hand for him to shake. Kasious looked at her hand for a moment. Then he wrapped his arms around her in a hug. Serena was stunned for a moment but then she returned the gesture. “I will miss you Kass.” She whispered. So quiet I didn't think the monks could hear her.

      She took a step back, falling back into formation with the other monks. “May Surin watch over you all.” My pendant burned a bit under my leathers at the blessing of another god. I smirked at the absolute pettiness of my patron. Otah looked at us. “Let's move.” He ordered. I already knew we were going to butt heads. I would not start a fight this early however and I followed the orc down the path and into the city.

       The town was called Kyroven if Kasious was to be believed. Small and pinned between the two sloped sides of the mountain pass. What the city lacked in size it made up for in density. The city had buildings at least three or four stories tall. Most looked like bars or stores peddling some kind of wares. There was a large domed structure at the end of the one large street.

     I knew this area from legends. The orcs long ago were settled in the Alabaster mountains, before they split into four tribes. We strode into the town. Some of the villagers had the full to glare my way, some of them even put their hands on their weapons. I assumed they didn't make moves because of the other members of my little group. I sent glares back at all of them. Most were human or dwarf, some were even halflings. Humans and dwarves were the only species that allowed breeding between them. Elves, orcs and mages were much more strict about their bloodlines staying untainted.

      Kasious saw my trajectory and let out a nervous chuckle. “Don't worry about them. They just get a little nervous around orcs. They won't do anything with Otah and me here.” The men with their weapons indeed stayed by the doorways to their establishments.

     I shook my head. “We owned this land long before they settled here. They cannot be prejudiced against those who truly own these mountains.” Kasious gritted his teeth and his eyes dropped.

     Before he could reveal the truth Otah let out a scoff. “The orcs gave up this land long ago. These peaceful villagers have been dealing with Sirican incursions for the last couple decades.” My face softened. I looked to Kasious for confirmation. Kasious gave me a solemn nod. The Sirica were the oldest of our tribes; they believed that the more civilized nature of the other tribes made us weak. They were violent and unrelenting. I looked around and now understood the hateful looks the villagers had for me.

     “Varrin raised an eyebrow. “Sirica?” He asked me. He looked inquisitive, no idea of the horrors the Sirica had wrought on so many innocent people.

      I sighed. “You know the stories you were told of our people? The raping, the murder, the pillaging. That's who they are.” Varrin gave me a solemn nod. He understood my meaning and would not ask any more. I appreciated that level of respect.

      Kasious led us all the way down the street to the large domed building. The building was much too big to be inside the mountain pass so it resided slightly outside the town. It was at least half the size of the entire town. Whatever this was, it must have made up most of the town's income. We walked up to a small fence. Between the fence and the domed building stood a long grazing area for creatures. Some I knew all too well. There were a few horses and even a thrask. “Is this some kind of stable?” I asked in confusion.

      A horse female voice greeted me. “It's more than just a stable! You're standing in the biggest transportation empire in all of Tayrin.” I turned to the voice to find a very short stocky woman before us. She was clearly a dwarf, she looked a bit older, about forty years for the rest of us, but dwarves lived much longer than we did. She had long brown hair that she wove into dreads. The dwarf wore some kind of leather armor that was much different than any I had seen. She held out her short stubby arms. “Welcome to Dagna's domain!” She held her arms in an overconfident gesture making it perfectly clear she was Dagna.”

      “There you are, you short sack of shit.” Kasious greeted in a friendly tone. He gave the short woman a smack on the shoulder as she looked up at the prince.

       Dagna let out a rye challenging smile. “Here I am, you royal pain in the ass.” Kasious knelt down to her and gave her a small hug. Dagna softened a bit. Her face fell on the prince's shoulder in almost a motherly embrace. “It's good to see you kid.” she muttered. They held their embrace for a moment. Dagna eventually let go and looked at the two of us. “Who are your new friends?” she asked.

      Kasious smirked. “The skinny one is Varrin. The massive, muscular one is Sumi.” I did not react to the prince's assessment. My eyes stayed on the dwarf who looked up expectantly but without an ounce of trepidation.

        “You don't fear me.” I said. It was less of an observation and more of a question. Every other person looked at me like I was going to skin them alive. Dagna looked more curious than anything.

       She curved her mouth into a grin. “You don't look that scary. Besides, I'm sure I could take you.” The dwarf's confidence was greatly exaggerated based on her build. I appreciated that blunt and brave attitude nonetheless.

      “I'm sure you could.” I told her. Being closer to the dwarf I noticed that her leather armor covered all the wrong spots. She had padding on the thighs and forearms but barely any on her chest. What kind of armor was this?

     Dagna gave me a small smile that seemed to border on flirtatious. The move caught me off guard. She turned to the rest of the group. “Well, I'm sure you'll want the tour, come on.” She walked over to the fence and let us into her massive stables. “I'm sure you piss stains will be amazed by what I have to offer.

     We followed her into the yard of the stable. We walked on a large marble walkway that was adorned with some kind of blue glowing rocks. I wasn't able to look at them too long because I heard the thrask stomping toward us. I unsheathed my swords and Varrin did the same with his staff. We prepared for the beast that now stalked toward us.

      The thrask stopped mere feet from us as if an invisible wall held it back. The beast looked to the small blue rocks and Varrin let out a gasp. “You have wards?” He asked. “Do you know enough magic to make wards?” There was a fascination in his eyes that I had become quite accustomed to.

        I looked closer at the glowing stones and they had symbols similar to the ones on Varrin's staff. I had heard of wards. Mages used them as magical shields to keep out anyone who would dare enter their cities. Dagna shrugged. “I can't wield magic, I contract your people to do that part for me.”

       That fascination became a desperate search for knowledge. “The mages don't work with just anyone. What do you have?” The question was valid. A few thrasks was impressive but not enough to get the mages out of their golden city.

      Dagna opened the door to the massive domed building. “How about you come on in and see?” She taunted. Kasious and Otah looked at us expectantly, not seeming too impressed by the creatures around us. They most likely had seen this a million times. My curiosity peaked and we both followed Dagna into the dome.

     The inside was unlike anything I had ever seen. The entire space was filled with all kinds of creatures. Some were as small as direwolves or direbears in the first row. The farther back into the building we got the rarer the creatures. There was a massive crab-like creature with purple crystals that usually resided in the sands on the other side of Durik. It was called a Krieger and it was impressive to see it this far from its homeland.

       Varrin ran back and forth between the creatures like a child in a sweet shop, remembering names for creatures that would take me a lifetime to memorize. “That's a hippogriff, a visock, a terrodon!” He ran to each one gleefully and I had to admit it was cute to watch him let out that inner child. I watched him for a moment, until Varrin turned around one of the corners and what he saw left him stunned.

      Varrin dropped his hands and looked at Dagna. He still pointed at the creature around the corner. He didn't say a single word. I had no idea what could possibly have him so stunned. Dagna knew though she had a mile wide smile. “Would you like me to introduce you?” She asked the mage. He nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off of the creature.

      Dagna had a mile wide smirk and Kasious nudged my arm. “Just wait… you'll love this one.” He said expectantly. He had a similar expression to Dagna. We rounded the corner and nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. There in front of us was a massive dragon.

     I had never seen one in person. It was oddly graceful in its appearance. Its large brown wings unfurled revealing its massive snout. It was covered in brown scales that made it look like its skin was made of moving stones. Its eyes were piercing silver as it studied us. The dragon seemed to have an intelligence to it that seemed almost human. It cocked its head at us as we approached.

      Varrin let out a short breath, amazed at what he was seeing beside me. “How did you tame her?” He asked Dagna.

       Dagna simply shrugged. “I kinda didn't. I was on the hunt for a Cerberus in the mountains outside Alexandria when I found her lying on the ground near death. She must have just hatched, I took her in and raised her. She's been loyal to me since.” The dragon lowered her head to confirm Dagna's story. “Varrin, meet Kira.”

       Kira turned her massive snout to face Varrin. He stood right outside the wards of the dragon's cage safe but… it felt like he was a moment from being incinerated. Kira lowered her head, inviting Varrin. He took a moment to weigh his options, but when would he get an opportunity like this again? He put his hand inside the wards and placed it on the beast's snout.

    The dragon did not shy away from Varrin's touch Varrin let out a low gleeful laugh as he felt the beast's breaths below his palm. Dagna's brows rose, something told me Varrin got farther than most with Kira.

     Varrin pulled his hand back and he rejoined the group, a new spring in his step. I smiled at the mage and honestly couldn't look away as those dazzling blue eyes danced with excitement. We entered the second half of the building which seemed to be some kind of shop.

      Workers ran from end to end taking large planks of various woods and moving them into place across large carts. There must have been at least a dozen carts being hastily built. This really was more than a stable, this was an empire indeed. There was wood stacked almost to the ceiling forty feet above us. Part of me wondered how they got those down without magic.

     Dagna led us down to a large cart by the gates to the road. The cart was simple, but upon closer examination The dark almost black wood was different. I felt the cart and it was harder than stone. I knew what it was, even if it was seemingly impossible. This was ironwood, from the emerald forest of the elves. How the hell did she get this? The elves barely spoke with anyone if it did not benefit them greatly. I ran my hand across, feeling the smooth strength. I

     The cart was led by six massive direwolves. They did not move as we approached, they seemed very well trained. I wondered for a moment if Dagna also trained them for combat.

    Dagna nudged Kasious. “I built you a normal looking cart, sturdy as a dragon but simple enough to not be noticed… although I would have liked to build something more princely with my talents.” She looked expectantly at the prince. No doubt the many ideas for dazzling royal carts running through her mind.

     Kasious knelt down to her and chuckled. “Maybe next time.” He answered. He took a long moment and the smile left his face. “Thank you Dagna, you've been a good friend.” He told her as he wrapped her in his arms one more time. At first the dwarf instinctively pulled away but after a moment held his embrace.

     Dagna pulled back from the embrace and I swear I saw a tear falling from one of her eyes. She quickly composed herself. “Okay, enough of this soft shit! Go give the king a kick in the ass for me!” She let out one more triumphant laugh as we climbed onto the cart and started our journey to Durik, the capital city.