A New Companian

Neurion continues his journey to save Eruwaedhiel

Three days passed with steady travel only stopping at sunset to make camp and eat something. After day two on the river I was forced to abandon my canoe and continue on foot. My plan was to stop in a small town and acquire a horse to continue my journey as fast as possible.

I estimated the journey from Osalin to Vaash would take me roughly seven months which would give me two months to spare before the wedding. I was aware this could go horribly wrong, a noble with a guard vs me a simple lone warrior from  a fishing town.

I wouldn't stop though, I had to do this, I wanted this so I could be with my beloved Eruwaedhiel again.

I walked on through the forest and eventually found my way onto a road filled with travelling peddlers and other folk. Dwarves always gave elves shifty looks as there is no love lost between the two races. Both claim to be better at various things and  both are just as stubborn. Men however are anxious towards elves as in my opinion we seem something of a tall tale to them. Life eternal, tall refined physique along with knowledge they can only hope to briefly understand in their brief time in this world.

On the fourth day since I left Osalin I came by the town of Raish which was inhabited mainly by Men and some Elves. People stared at me as I passed through, even though I was only in travel armour I still looked like I meant business armed with my bow, quiver and my two handed blade forged by a renowned weapon-smith in Doireann.

I came by a stable-master soon after and asked for the finest horse he had available. I was shown to a pure black steed by the name of Kaz which meant Peacemaker in the eastern tongue. I inspected him thoroughly as I didn't want him to fall short on the journey he would be undertaking with me. His coat was shiny, his eyes were bright and his attitude was so relaxed. The stable master assured me this was the horse I was looking for and after more observation I asked for the price. 

I haggled him down to a fair price which cost me a third of the money I had on me, the rest I would need. I was by no means poor but I wasn't a lord in a rich estate either. I had worked hard to get where I was today despite now gambling it all away to save the lady I hold dear.

Kaz and I set off at first light along the dirt road at blistering speed. The stable-master was correct he was incredible. I had bought his saddle and a thick coat for him for when we hit the colder regions of our journey. We soared on making good distance before the sun was at its highest point. That morning I remember feeling weightless, thinking I could do this, I was motivated thanks to my new companion but how naive I was for when I did reach the mountain Rheatimas I realised how monumental this journey was. It appeared on the second day after acquiring my flying steed. 

At first just a snow capped tip peering over the horizon. Then it appeared as a cone followed by a second cap. I gaped in horror as it continued to grow before the horizon was engulfed in a wall of ice. It stretched wide as far as the eye could see and was as tall as the heavens. As we moved closer the weather cooled significantly and before long snow was falling around us. If I wasn't racing against time I would have marvelled at how beautiful the place was but we were in a rush for this would slow us down significantly.

I knew Eruwaedhiel’s wedding party hadn't passed over the mountain but had instead gone around it which considering the size of the mountain seemed ridiculous that the was an end to it somewhere far north of our position.

I had debated going that way but it would add a month and a half's journey to my travel time. This would leave me just two half a months extra in case something went wrong and extra time would be invaluable.

I arrived at a settlement a few miles away from the foot of the mountain which was occupied by elves whom made a living guiding travellers over the mountain among other things. I stable Kaz up for the night and treated myself to a nice room at an inn. The next day would be a test I was mentally ready for...Or so I thought. 

Reviews

[222333]

"that the was an end to it" ... ?

This sounds like an awfully good story, and your writing is very good as well. It's very fluid and reads easily. I hope you'll finish this one.

FYI, a one-handed sword, or a b*****d sword which is to say a sword light enough to be used one-handed but possessing a grip long enough for two hands, would usually be preferable on a long journey to a sword which requires two hands to wield. Using a sword one-handed leaves your other hand free to do other things like holding a lantern so that you can see in the dark, guiding your horse by it's reigns, wielding a buckler to deflect cuts from an enemy's sword, and other things like that. You can't do any of those things if you need both hands to wield your sword. Today everyone thinks two-handed swords like langschwert and doppelhander are cooler than one handed swords just because they're bigger, but the plain, ordinary one-handed arming sword of medieval Europe was actually far more practical in most circumstances.

P.S. If you want to know anything about actual sword fighting for any of your fantasy stories, I'm a great person to talk to about it. I'm quite educated about that subject.

[Matthew Ian Herrawood W]

this chapter seems rushed. a little more detail would have mad it more interesting... how much was paid for Kaz in the end? how much was asked originally. what was the name of the inn he stayed in. just add a couple of small titbits of information for the reader. I noticed one or two minor mistakes. typos I think. just a repeated word or missed bit of punctuation. give it a look over and you should find them. This was Ok but again seemed a bit rushed