Riding a horse through the village was depressing not only was I scared that I was going to be leaving the only place I could call home, but I was also going to going somewhere new and I had no friends, no support where I was going beside fellow trainees once I got to Mount Spire I would face everything alone from then on.
the other thing that scared me was the state the village was in. Most of the houses were burnt to the ground and big tents were set up. the only buildings that were spared were the industry building such as the blacksmith and the 2 story inn only lost half its roof as they were made out of hardened clay tile and not the normal wooden wedge shingles that most village homes had.
The villagers had to set up massive tents with many more sheets hung up inside to give the 4 or 5 families that huddled underneath the semblance of privacy.
"The Order really did a number on the village." I sighed sadly before I turned around and started to watch the massive amount of work being done by moth the villagers and the soldiers that had arrived from the capital.
Rubble was cleared off land plots that the families owned and started fixing foundations on the lesser burnt houses at the edge of town.
The military men had pitched a camp just inside the walls at the gate that had been burnt to the ground, along with all the houses nearby so they could defend the only vulnerable spot in the palisade more appropriately.
"that must be more than 500 men, ma'am!" I exclaimed at the commander. "Why is the force so strong, I didn't think the order had that many men stationed nearby I asked?"
"They don't, but the village's location is in a prime spot to make it a base of operations for this stretch of the border" the Commander explained as we headed for the small wooden gate erected into the palisade that the solders had set up around their camp inside the walls to keep out civilians.
We halted some 10 meters away from the 2 guards stationed outside the gate that was just barely big enough to let a horse and small cart through. The guards stepped out to greet the mage as we approached they informed her that the soldiers escorting us to Mount spire would be out momentarily.
Not 2 minutes later 10 soldiers with full saddlebags and giant backpacks that I later found out, held absolutely everything we needed to go directly to Mountspire without any stops to refill our stores at small villages, therefore, costing us more time. This made it simple.
"Wow, that's a lot of men," I said as the soldiers fell into line behind us after the sergeant and the Commander had a quick talk.
the sergeant followed the commander back to me once everyone was ready to leave."Oh, you must be the wee Sparky laddie! " the man spoke with a dwarven accent.
"You don't look like a dwarf!" i said before I could stop myself my face went red as I had just massively embarrassed myself in front of not only the soldier but also Commander Harriot! "I am sorry for my rudeness!" I spoke very quickly and loud while everyone was still stunned by the first statement I had made!
The man that sounded like a dwarf laughed loudly at that and replied like he had been asked this exact question a thousand times, "I was adopted." The man spoke with not a trace of an accent.
I just blinked at the man in absolute confusion as to what was going on. Was the guy serious?! What is his real voice!
The man that sounded again like a dwarf grew a huge smile and started speaking with the most perfect dwarven accent "Oh, This is gina be fun!"
"Don't mind him, Bruni he is a trickster and he doesn't know when to stop!" she said as the man just laughed again.
What have I gotten myself into? A woman that attacks without any warning, a man that speaks like a dwarf and looks half-cracked as he laughed so hard he was holding his sides at this point!
"Playtimes over Kevin, mount up, and let's leave!" the Commander sighed loudly in slight amusement.
We quickly left the bounds of the village at a canter with the horses and leaving out the south road and into the forest, it was only going to take about 5 days to reach Mount spire and so I was surprised when we rode for most of the day and periodically stopping to water the horses at a local stream by the road or just getting off and stretching our legs to get some feeling back into them.
Halfway through the day when we stopped to rest the horses for a bit, Commander Harriot came to stand near me and asked if I would like to have her train him in the basics of magic and mana while we were traveling?!
My eyes grew wide at the offer, I never thought that She would be the one to teach me the basics, I thought she would just escort me to the outpost!
"Absolutely! The more I know, the better off I am, and the faster I can make progress!" I exclaimed in reply.
"Perfect"! she said with savage glee as she turned and stalked towards me "you will call me Ma'am, OR Commander Harriot do I make myself clear Trainee!" she was practically yelling an inch from my face by the end!
"Yes Ma'am! I responded instantly.
In the background, the dwarven accented man was laughing and pointing at me so hard he was almost falling to the ground! "This is going to be so much FUN"! he laughed out!