"Just take it easy, there is no rush. Your time will come soon enough." A calm voice of a woman sounded in the darkness. The darkness was everywhere. He could not sense anything around him, or even his own body. The boy tried to figure out where the voice came from, it sounded vaguely familiar. After a short time, a soft light slowly started to enter his vision, and a forest laid out in front of him.
There was a tall lean man, wearing some kind of military uniform that made him look like a noble. The man was facing away from him, and in front of him was a pack of wolves. They were all sitting on the ground facing him. The boy could hear the murmurs of conversation, but the sounds were distorted and not understandable. The image faded quickly as a sharp pain spread through the boys head, starting at the forehead and going to the area behind the ears. It intensified until he thought he would go deaf.
He woke with a start, sitting up quickly and looking around. The pain quickly dispersed and a multitude of noises filled his ears. The sounds of the woods around him and the horses from the camp ahead were so loud it kept his head spinning, as he clutched it in both hands trying to calm himself.
Slowly, the noises settled down, as if he was able to control the intensity and loudness. When he turned his head left or right, the noises shifted, some faded while others grew louder. He closed his eyes and focused on the sounds. It was incredible! He could identify the separate sounds he was hearing, and he could even judge an approximate distance to each one of them, just by hearing them. With very little effort, he could now hear the slow, steady breathing of the four men in the camp ahead. The horses shifting position as some little varmint scampered past them.
The light of dawn was slowly starting to brighten the road and woods around him. As he gets up and starts packing, the four men started rouse and prepare to start back the road.
He had been following loosely behind this group, who were fur traders. With a wagon full of pelts to trade, they were probably head to city to trade them. Right now, they were on the road south, leaving the Conregulas kingdom and heading in to the Hyenmahl (Hine-Mall) kingdom. This road is one of two major trade routes on the Continent of Maudraughn, so it was usually safer to travel on, however, the boy liked to stay close to other travelers, even though they did not even know he was there.
A few hours later, the border wall, and the large gatehouse built into it, came into sight. The gatehouse was a bit taller and thicker than rest of the wall. It served as a sentry tower of sorts, with a covered observation deck on top. The wall was 25 feet tall, with a 20-foot wide walkway on top that ran the entire length of it, which allowed for daily patrols.
Travelers going either direction through the gate were stopped, and had their identification cards checked. Lately, the guards had also started inspecting any goods that they might be carrying, mostly trying to find any smugglers.
The guards had been eyeing the fur traders ever since they got in line, and now as they approached the gate itself, another guard came out to see them. He was dressed in a uniform and lightweight armor with several medals hanging on the front, so the boy could identify him as a captain.
Since captains of the guards usually have better things to do than stand at one of the border gates, it seemed odd that one was here now.
The guards told the fur traders to move their wagon over to the side, so they could inspect what they were hauling.
"Hey, we ain't got time 'fer this. We gotta get these to the capital to trade." one of the traders said angrily.
"Yeah, we been out there fer over'n a month. We need to get somewhere to set'in and relax." another complained.
"Sorry, but it won't take long. We got strict orders to search all wagons crossing. So just hold on a little bit and we'll get you moving again." Responded one of the guards, his insignia showed he was a captain of the guards.
"You! Boy, come on and get with your group." another guard yells at the boy.
"Uhm.. I'm not with anyone, sir." he reponds while holding his palms up on either side of himself.
One of the traders looks back at the the boy and then at the guard. "We ain't knowin' who he is. He sure ain't with us."
The guard eyes the boy a minute and then says, "You're a bit young to be traveling by yourself, aren't you boy?"
The boy just nods to him and replies, "Yes sir, but I am heading to Trasklyn Academy. I stick to the road and keep an eye out for trouble."
The guard pauses a moment and then asks him for his identification card. Just as the boy nervously reaches for it, the captain yells over at them. "He's fine, don't worry about it. Keep the line moving."
After hearing this, the guard nods and motions for him to move on. The captain comes up to him and walks with him through the gate.
"You should have been keeping your hood pulled further over your head while coming here, and keep it like that till you get further away from the gate. Good luck at the academy Mr. Conroe." The captain did not even look at him while saying this quietly. He nodded and turned back towards the gate.
Luke Conroe did not recognize the captain, but somehow this person knew who he was. His mother must have had a hand in it.
Pulling the hood down further, he knew what the captain said was right. Someone who knew what it meant would easily recognize his black hair with deep blue highlights. Most people though, would just think it was a bit peculiar and nothing more.
Luke made his way over to one of the watering areas designated for travelers. Here, they could get fresh water to drink and water to rinse some of the dirt from the road off. There was no bathing area, but it was enough of a relief anyway.
It was interesting that there is not a town or city here; however, there are some peddlers that sell things from their carts. Nothing major, mostly just food and small things, one or two might even be selling maps, which may or may not be accurate.
After getting a drink and cooling off a bit, he turns and looks around. There are two roads leaving the gate. One, heading west to Mount Fort City, the capital of Hyenmahl, and south to the city of Trasklyn, where the Trasklyn Academy is.
As he was looking around, he sees a caravan leaving, heading south. There was what appeared to a merchant's cart up front, with a wagon loaded with merchandise behind it. Next was a carriage that seemed fit for a noble of some kind. Followed by another wagon. There were two well-dressed guards on horseback, on either side of the noble's carriage. Six men that appeared to be hired adventurers surrounded the whole group.
Luke caught up to them and asked one of the adventurers if he could tag along. The adventurer called one of the other adventurers over, and told him what the boy wanted.
"The name's Frank. Where are you headed?���
"I'm Luke, and I'm going to Trasklyn Academy, to enroll."
"Well, there's no problem with you tagging along. However, you are responsible for yourself. You provide your own food and supplies. As long as you don't cause problems, you're ok to stay with us." Frank replied, I am actually from Trasklyn. I work for the adventurer's guild there, and just happen to be on my way back from another job that took me to the capital. If you need any help with anything, or need help finding your way around Trasklyn, just look me up."
He then went back to the position he was in before, and as he did so Luke fell in step on the side of the rear wagon.
They traveled for a while like this; before Frank came back around telling everyone, they would be camping for the night at a clearing that was coming up. The road had several clearing along it that served as camping areas for travelers. Usually, larger groups would have a scout run ahead to each of these to check if anyone was going to be using them, so they would not get suck overcrowding a spot.
Camp was setup with the carriages and wagons arranged in circle with couple of fires started in the middle. Half of the Adventurers and one of the noble's guards would alternate between the two night watches. The noble's carriage was situated across the fires from the family wagon, and only one person got out of it, though Luke could hear two others still inside of it. The family wagon next to him consisted of a middle-aged man with a slightly heavy build. His wife who looked close to his age, a boy who looked too be close to Luke's age and lastly, there was girl who looked to be about 10 or so. She was petite and had the same auburn hair as the boy and the mother. The father had brown hair and beard with a salt and pepper mix of grey. The Father and son, made pallets halfway under the wagon, while the two females stayed inside the wagon, now that a canvas had been stretched across the support ribs.
After everyone settled in for the night, Luke laid on his pallet, a little ways away from everyone else. He focused on his breathing and hearing, trying to isolate the sounds around him. He was not a busy body, so when he heard someone in the group talking, he tuned them out and focused only on the sounds coming from outside the camp. He was surprised at the range and perception of his hearing now. He was getting more familiar with it now, and could even get a better feel for the distances around him. An hour or two later, he finally went to sleep.
The next morning, when the light of dawn barely started to edge its way over the horizon, the boy was already sitting up and packing his pallet and bag, preparing for the day. Franked walked into the camp, passing the horses close to the boy.
"You're sure up early," he said in a low voice directed at the boy.
"I just get up early, so I can get my morning routine done. That way I don't hold anyone up when we head out." Luke responds, and then heads into the woods and away from the road.
Frank watches him leave for a minute, surprised to see a kid like that taking his training serious while thinking of the other travelers who are complete strangers to him.
Luke's routine, is a combination of physical exercises for hand-to-hand combat. A set of sword maneuvers to keep his muscle memory alert. Then some practice with body enhancement magic. The enhancement magic was for two reasons. First, it was not a flashy magic that could be seen by others. Second, the more you trained it, the more proficient you would become and it also helped to increase his mana limit.
When he returned, the group was already a couple hundred feet down the road.