Dawn of the Last Dragon Rider - Chapter 021 - Leaving Home (Patreon)

Are you ok? I can feel how sad you are.

A tear escaped, and Kaen quickly wiped it away as Hess walked on the road leading north out of town and toward Ebonmount.  Saying goodbye to Cale and Patrick had been harder than he had expected.  They had been his friends for most of his life, and he was going to be gone for at least a year or two.

He knew Cale had tried to put on a good front, but he could see the hurt behind his eyes.  Being crippled like that left him with a hurt that would take a long time to heal from.  Sure, the mayor had proclaimed him as a warrior who fought through the pain and gave up so much for the town and its people.  Kaen realized the truth of battles and fights that so often no one knew.

Just because a town survived did not mean that carrying the scars left over from the battle was easier to wear.  Four men had died, their families were suffering, and it would be another few days before they were buried.  Other men would limp for the rest of their lives or swing an axe or pickaxe slower because of the wounds they received.  Cale would never have the life he had before.  Every day he would be unable to use his arm, and now all that he had known was ripped away.

He would have to find a way through it or become trapped in the pit of despair and depression.  Either seeking alcohol to numb and blur the pain of life or end it in some horrible fashion.  None of those options were easy.

I’m fine, just sad, is all.  You know how much the town means to me.  I cannot tell you again how thankful I am for you.  How you guided me during that battle is what allowed me to accomplish what I did.

Kaen paused a moment as he spoke to Pammon, who was flying a few miles off to the west of them.

You are the greatest thing in my life now, and I cannot wait to see what this world offers the two of us!  Imagine all the places we will travel and the things we will uncover!  Maybe we can one time visit the great oceans!

Pammon bubbled with excitement and joy as Kaen spoke those words.  His happiness infected Kaen’s mind, and soon both of them were in a good mood.

They had not talked much for the first hour after they had left.  Hess was dealing with a few things that had transpired with the mayor.  A second letter was stored in a pouch that was meant for the adventurer guild.

An attack like that on their village had not happened in over a generation.  If orcs and goblins were moving again, a group of adventurers would need to come and handle the potential infestation.  If anything, the guild would have to send a scouting party to determine what was happening.

“I want you to know you impressed me last night.”

Missing a step, Kaen glanced at Hess, who was walking normally ahead of him.

“Thanks?”

There on the dirt road that would take a good week to reach Ebonmount, Hess broke out in laughter that echoed off the trees along the side of the road.  He stopped and turned and shook his head at Kaen.

“Get up here and walk next to me, boy!  Stop walking behind me like a dog who lost its favorite stick.”

Hess motioned with his hands for Kaen to move beside him and waited until he was by his side to start walking again.

“I am serious.  I am thinking about what you told me and the other men from town said.  You and Pammon worked together in a way I could not have imagined or even prepared for.”

Hess was waving his hands in big circles and smiled as he glanced at Kaen.

“I do not think you realized how huge of a deal this is.  I am a gold token-carrying adventurer,” Hess pointed out as he pulled the necklace he had not worn until this morning from under his shirt.  “Look at this!  I have been around and seen many amazing and unbelievable events in my time, but what you did last night is right there at the top of all of them.  Even your father would have been overwhelmed to know what you pulled off.”

Kaen found himself smiling, and his chest was light.  Between the words of praise that Hess was gushing upon him and how Pammon felt, life could not get any better.

“And you have an archery skill of 21!  Do you know how long it takes new adventurers to acquire a number that high?  Most will not reach that for years unless you come from a rich family who has trained you from childbirth.”

Hess’s huge hand slapped Kaen across the shoulder, knocking him forward a little.

“AND you have not even taken the test yet!”

That blasted test!  Kaen knew he had to wait for the test.  It would provide everything he had hoped for.

Hess mumbled some stuff to himself as he kept almost seemed to skip down the road, lost in his happy thoughts.  For a man of his size and stature, it felt weird for Kaen to see him acting like a school-age boy who got his first kiss.

“They may not make you take the test!” Hess suddenly blurt out a minute later.

“What do you mean I wouldn’t have to take the test?  Everyone has to take the test, I thought?”

Hess shook his head no and then stopped in the middle of the road.  He turned to face Kaen and leaned into his personal space.

“No, they don't!  Some adventurers have done things like you did this week.  Sometimes the guild master will make an exception.  Kaen, it might just happen, and if that does…”

Hess started walking forward again, a low whistle coming through his lips.

Jogging a few steps to catch up with Hess, Kaen chuckled.

“Are you ok?  You are more excited about this than I am, I think.”

Nodding his head, Hess smiled and let out a chuckle.

“Kaen, I have been waiting for this moment almost as long as you have.  I have waited for you to become the man I know you can be.  Your father entrusted his greatest treasure to me, and I swore an oath after he passed that I would do everything I could to help you succeed and be someone who could carry on the Marshell name and do it justice.”

Hess stopped walking again and put his hand out to stop Kaen.

“Listen, Kaen.  You are going to be in the spotlight the moment we walk into the guild hall and they hear what you have done.  Even if you have to take the test, you will pass it with flying colors.  I expect you could easily get a perfect if you gave it your all.  You need to do your best and secure yourself as a breakout adventurer.  The higher you rank, the easier it will be for you to get the quests we need you to take.”

“What do you mean we need me to take?”

Hess let out a sigh.

“I cannot help you if you are wood or copper rank.  It would look like I was carrying you or that we were lying about what had happened in the village.  Everyone will know that the cave presented no threat to me with the goblins and orc.”

“No threat?!” Kaen exclaimed.  “You acted like it was a huge risk!”

Hess shrugged and then gave a slight wink.

“Kaen, I could have gone into that cave if I needed to and killed all of those creatures easily.  I only pretended they were a threat because you needed to believe they were.  You had to learn small tactics and risks,” Hess explained.  “Like when you made a foolish decision and sent Pammon ahead, and he got injured because of it.  Had I known the woman was in there beforehand, I might have run in and tried to save her.  Once I heard her scream, I knew it was too late.  They would not risk letting her be saved.”

Kaen stood there stunned.  Words were failing him as he tried to comprehend what Hess had just said.

“So there was no risk at all?”

Hess chuckled and shook his head no.

“There was no risk for me.  You were only in danger if you did not obey.”

Kicking the dirt with his foot, Kaen wondered what else Hess was not telling him.

“Could you see in the darkness of the cave?”

Hess grimaced before he gave a small grin.

“When you went off for torches, I equipped an item that would let me see as Pammon did.  I was thankful Pammon blocked those two arrows for me, but they would not have done anything unless they had struck my face.”

Blowing a raspberry, Kaen shook his head in disgust.  He felt a little betrayed but also understood why Hess had done what he did.

“So is that why people might not believe I actually accomplished these things?” asked Kaen.

“Even with Storven’s two letters and recommendation, there would be a lot of people struggling to believe that you killed three orcs and twenty goblins this last week,” Hess stated.  “They won’t question my word or shouldn't, but some might wonder how much assistance I gave.  You needed to learn not to freeze in that cave.  That provided you with the battle experience that helped you accomplish what you did in town.”

Hess held out his token and pointed to it.

“This means a lot.  Traveling with me, questing with me, and having me by your side can be both good and bad.  At some point, you will have to quest with others, but for a little while, you will be able to do it with me.  These rare moments will be a foundation of tricks and strategies that the adventurers of your rank will lack.  Some of the advice I have shared with you would mean the difference between life and death depending on the situation.”

“Take a breath and slow down,” Kaen said as he interrupted Hess.  “Why are you suddenly saying we can’t stay together?”

Shaking the golden token, Hess frowned, took a deep breath, and let it out.

“Duty.  I am bound by the oath I took when I got my token.  I was given a reprieve because I took a long quest.  The guild master knows what I agreed to do for your father and you.”

Kaen’s eyes went wide, and he realized what Hess was saying.

“I have been a quest for you?”

Hess shook his head no for a second, then stopped and nodded yes.

“Yes and no.  The only way I could keep my adventurer rank and not lose it was to tell the guild master what I was going to do for your father.  That I was going to raise another adventurer.  That one day I would return with you and that you would pass the test, and I would rejoin the role and answer the quests they require of me.”

Hess put a hand on Kaen’s shoulder and squeezed it.

“All those times your dad would return home for a month and then disappear for some time was because of his duty for the token he carried.”

Memories flooded back into Kaen’s mind.  Things he had long forgotten.  He had forgotten all those months his father would be gone.  His mother would tell him stories about the adventures his father was on.  Letters would come and remind his mother and him that his dad loved them and was thinking of them.

A light went off in Kaen’s brain.

“What rank was my father?”

Hess chuckled and tucked his token back behind his shirt.

“I knew one day you would as the real question.  The most important question.”

Hess put a hand on each of Kaen’s shoulders and leaned forward.

“He was a platinum adventurer.”

Kaen’s knees went weak, and if it were not for Hess’s grip on his shoulders, he would have fallen.

“My dad was a platinum adventurer?” Kaen mumbled.

He stared at Hess’s face and saw the smile and pride on the man who had carried that secret for six-plus years.

“How did he… I mean, how long… platinum rank?”

Hess nodded and pulled Kaen back up.

“He was a great man who loved you more than life itself and felt the best way he could show that love was by protecting the kingdom you lived in.”

Hess let go of Kaen, moved a little, and pretended to swing a sword in a mock battle.

“He was an amazing swordsman.  I had seen some masters of the sword, but your father was beyond them all.”

Pretending to fire arrows and then switching up like he had a spear, Hess moved through motions as he acted like a bard telling a story of an epic battle.

“To watch him fight with any weapon was impossible to follow for all but the strongest.  He was quick, strong, and steadfast.  His plans were amazing as his mind was sharp, and he could read people and monsters in a moment.”

Hess rushed back to Kaen and smiled.

“He was closing in on Mithril in another year or two.”

Suddenly just as fast as Hess had been excited, that joy left him, and a painful look swept across his body language.  Hess stood up, stretched his back, and motioned for Kaen to follow him.

“What are you not telling me?” Kaen demanded.  “You have never told me about the quest that got him killed!”

Hess nodded and stared off down the road.

“Your right.  I have not, and I cannot yet.”

Kaen ran a few steps ahead and stopped before Hess.

“What do you mean you cannot yet?” Kaen demanded as he held his hand out at Hess.  “Why can you not tell me?”

Hess stopped and looked at Kaen and shook his head.

“The guild master has sworn me to secrecy.  You will have to get the story from him or attain a gold rank.  I am no longer bound when you achieve the rank I have now.”

Kaen started to object, but Hess shook his head and crossed his arms.

“We can argue on this road all day and for the next week, or we get back to traveling to Ebonmount so that you can find out sooner than later.”

Kaen growled and shook his fist at Hess.

“That isn’t fair!  I had not thought about any of that until you brought it all up right now!  You owe me!”

Hess nodded and walked around Kaen.

“I do. One day I will make sure you know what happened.  The day you find out will change the whole course of your life.”

Kaen watched as Hess slowly walked past him.  He looked down and saw a rock on the ground, picked it up, and tossed it in the woods.

Pammon, when the time comes, I am going to need your help.  I need to reach the gold rank fast!

Through the link, Kaen knew Pammon was confused.  He had explained the ranks to him many times.

I will do anything I can to help you reach that goal.  You have my word.