Thursday, May 20, 2010

The Chronicles of Edwin, Ch. 5 "War and Music"

Bluebirds darted back and forth haltingly, in the way that only small birds can.  If one could hear their thoughts they might sounds something like this: SEED yum, ooh twig, look good in nest, must... SHINEY, look good in nest, must... PREDITOR, fly away!  And repeat.

It was a beautiful day, and not just for the bluebirds.  It was the day after a very large storm.  The forest had not yet recovered from the ravages of the previous day and the signs were everywhere.  But with this came new growth and a change of scene.  It was natures way of pruning her forests and hills.  This was the day that Edwin awoke to.  He worshiped his Lord for blessing him with such beauty all around. He could hardly take it all in, he breathed in deep while driving his brother to the academy.  The new air was like water to a drowning man.  Edwin wanted to stop at several scenic places to bask in his Creator's glory.  But he had plans that could not bear waiting.

Today he was heading over to visit his friends in an outpost on the edge of a large forest.  Edwin picked up his friend Ty and they rode the jeed down the highway.  Edwin was not paying attention though, as he and Ty were catching up on one another's lives.  They overshot the fort by a good mile or two and had to turn around.  Finally they found the missed turn and got off the main road and onto the smaller one that went straight into the forest.  It was so green and lush.  The storm had really done a number to the trees and the road.  A large branch had fallen and was blocking the road.  Edwin steered his jeed over the obstacle fine but he thought it was dangerous.  This was not the safest place for travelers, even if it were so close to a military outpost.

They couple more bends and crested a hill.  There was the outpost.  Manned by a family of knights.  The two oldest sons Trocvis and Lance were out too meet their guests.  They had not yet met Ty, so Edwin introduced everyone and the kinights invited everyone inside to cool down from the journey.  Apparently they had been taking inventory of their weapon supplies because hundreds of swords, knives, lances, axes, and foreign weapons were littered all over the main room and covered a massive wooden table there.  That was immediately  the subject of conversation.  Edwin had seen this collection once before, but was still impressed to see it again.  Ty's eyes lit up with spastic curiosity.  The went through and looked at every single piece in the room, handling the deadly objects with so much reverence and awe.  One would have thought they were holy relics blessed by the Pope.  Every sword had a story, and many of the weapons had seen use in the field of battle.  Quiet as these woods seemed, they were swarming with orcs and large man eating beasts.

They must have stared at cold steel for about an hour before it occurred to them to actually do something.  So they went into the basement and pulled out the scryver system and played games where they battled huge monsters.  After they got bored of hacking virtual monsters to pieces they went to the large stone dining room and ravenously devoured a wonderful meal provided by the women of the resident family.  Once done, they figured it would be a good idea to go out and work off the meal by sparring by the lake.  Welcome to the mind of the human male.  Battle and food dominate their being, unless one is so unfortunate as to fall in love with some fine dame.

Edwin had brought his own gear, knowing that the knights loved to spar, and they fight not holding anything back.  Ty was given his choice of the armor and weapons they had looked at before.  After everyone was armed they set out toward the lake.  The four of them made an impressive sight.  Edwin was a giant of a man armed with a large dagger and a large machete ready to dismember foes.  He had very basic leather armor on and looked every bit the berserker one reads about in the old stories.  Ty took one of the foreign weapons, a katana, and had a light chain-mail suit with helm.  Lance of course had his military issue armor and shield.  But he added two slender swords at his and one massive sword slung over his back.  Over all this he had a black cloak that added a rather intimidating aura to his person.  Trocvis had two broadswords strapped across his back and a machete in his belt.  He was crazy and went out shirtless, showing off many scars on a well sculpted body.  He wore loose fitting pants, and when one adds the flaming red hair and piercing blue eyes he looked like some demon people scare their kids with.

On their way they passed the fallen branch that had been in Edwin's way before.  So they stopped and hacked that thing to pieces and cleared the path for anyone who needed to get through.  Then they got to the lake.  The sky had gotten much darker, but rain looked far off still so they sat down for a moment to enjoy the view.  That's when Ty began to shout.  An arrow had glanced off of his mail and scared the poo out of him, almost literally.  Everyone ducked for cover instinctively and not a moment too soon.  Volley after volley of arrows came in from several directions.  They waited till the arrows stopped.  For a moment there was silence, then all hell broke loose as a score of forest orcs burst into the clearing with more following.

Ty was about twenty yards from the other three and was immediately surrounded.  Fortunately he was a highly trained fighter and he beheaded the first three unlucky crud munchers to step up.  The initial fear this struck gave the other three time to rush in and form a circle.  They paired up and went to work.

Edwin let loose a yell that shook the trees and barreled at a group of orcs.  His machete flailed like a maelstrom of death as he reaped their souls.  Edwin had never been this exhilarated.  People called him the gentle giant, but after this fight he would walk away with another name, demon of the red mist.  For Edwin fought so rigorously that blood and gore sprayed everywhere.  He was coated in the stuff, whether his or his enemies, only God could tell.

Ty came in coolly behind and balanced his friend's madness with calculated strikes and a calm demeanor.  He guarded Edwin's back and finished off the maimed and dismembered orcs Edwin left in his wake.  Ty was not fond of fighting, but the blood lust could be seen in his eye if you looked closely.  He was fierce when provoked and deadly with a sword, not to mention his years and years of martial arts experience.  He was know by the survivors of the ambush as the reaper, for any orc that met Ty's line of sight was slain moments later.

Trocvis took out several with his machete, then got it stuck in the skull of a particularly ugly orc and gave up on getting it back for the time being.  He drew both broadswords and set about wrecking havoc with his deadly duel sword technique.  Lance circled close to his brother.  He had pulled out his massive Odachi Katana and was taking out sledgelings two or three at a time with the ridiculously massive sword.  They were known as the demon brothers, Sun and Moon by the darkspawn of the woods, and they lived up to their titles.

When all was said and done the four of them had slain three score orcs and let another score escape.  A truly impressive number, but considering these forest orcs where half the size of the average man and had more of a dumb mob mentality, it could hardly be called a fight.  The quartet suffered no major injuries.  A few scratches and the like, but other than being covered in gore, they couldn't complain.  Once silence fell and all that was left was the sound of their panting Edwin yelled, "Is that all you have you yella bellied bottom feeding scum?!"  There was a scampering noise a good ways off and the four of them fell down laughing.

It took a while to clean up the mess.  So many dead orcs to burn.  The ground of the battle was muddy with blood.  It would be a long time before orcs would attack there again.  But it was getting close to sundown, so they all headed back to the outpost.  They cleaned up and said their goodbyes.  Ty had such a great time meeting these guys, he wanted to come back soon.  Edwin shared the feeling.  They waved from the jeed till the building was out of sight.  Then they raced home.

The next day Edwin spent most of his time recovering from the small scratches and sore muscles of the day before.  His grandparents came over and Edwin had a lovely conversation with them.  He helped his brother set up his Senior board for graduation the next day.  Michail had put pictures of him in his custom antique armor and clothing and was going to make the centerpiece the chain-mail shirt he had made.  It was a very relaxing afternoon for Edwin, and he was looking forward to that evening.  His family was friends with an immigrant family whose sons were in Michail's class at the Academy.  The younger son was a brilliant pianist and had invited Michail's family to a recital he was holding that evening at the sister university to the one Edwin was attending.

Before leaving Edwin dressed up in his best suit and came down.  He wanted to impress his family, sort of like when he was little and would play dress up.  Of course his clothes were wrinkled and over formal for the event and they all laughed at him.  This dampened Edwin's mood a bit.  He went up to his room and threw something more casual on and sulked out the door.  He raced to pick Michail up from the Academy and rushed from there to the site of the recital.  It was a beautiful brick building, very old.  It had an air of prestige to it, like the presence of the many artists of all ages who had previously performed on that stage.

The young man performed above expectations, his fingers flying over the keys.  How he remembered the different compositions was anyone's guess, how many hours he must have practiced for this event.  When he had finished he was rewarded with a standing ovation by the audience.  His parents and siblings were absolutely beaming with pride.  Then everyone went out for refreshments.  Edwin stayed with his family for the most part.  He didn't have any close friends there, it was more his brothers time to socialize.  But Ty's father came by and Edwin, Edwin's father, and his grandfather all had a nice conversation.  Eventually Ty's father had to leave, his daughter had to get home to cram for an exam in the morning.  So Edwin floated into a corner to enjoy a bite to eat and a little solitude.  He spotted Kassia, his old crush who he had run into at the play, and hoped she might talk to him.  Sure enough, she eventually made her way over.  They caught up on each other's lives, it is funny how much can happen in two years.  Edwin was surprised to find her so talkative.  He remembered why he liked her back then, she was so amiable and sweet, and such a good listener.  If he didn't watch himself he'd talk non-stop for hours.

Edwin had no idea how long they talked, it seemed like quite a long time.  He was ready to stop several times but she kept asking questions.  Finally she excused herself and left.  Edwin was getting tired so he followed suit.  He said his goodbyes, signed the guest book, and took off for home.  He got there and sat in his chair and let out a huge sigh.  So much had been happening lately, it was a bit much to take in at once.  The rest of his family arrived at home a few minutes later and Edwin's mother commented, "I like that Kassia girl, she's really sweet."  Edwin smiled and thought to himself, I do too.  But that was enough of that, it was graduation tomorrow and Michail's senior assembly in the morning.  So Edwin stumbled off to bed and fell soundly asleep, dreaming of epic battles and the adventures of Edwin and his brothers.

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