with different poses, contorting their bodies to stretch and isolate different groups of muscles. By the end Legon knew that he wouldn’t be sore from fighting, but from the Jezeer. He also realized that he wasn’t as flexible as maybe he once was. Sasha was better at this part of this than him, but he still heard the occasional groan from her straining herself.
“That’s good. Tomorrow we will do more, and you will start to work with Sasha on basic hand-to-hand combat. Nothing major, just enough to get her out of trouble—wristlocks and things like that.”
The next day they made their final descent out of the mountains and to the split in the road. They went south, heading for the town of Salkay where they could sell the horses they didn’t need and buy supplies. The land they were in was all rolling hills with large fields and patches of trees. Closer to the mountains the forest got thick, but otherwise they were in open spaces. Within a two day’s ride they would reach the Kayloose River and the town of Salkay. Spring had taken a much firmer hold on the lowlands than it had in Salmont. The road was clear, but right off to the side the grass in the field grew up to the horses’ bellies, and there was the soft sound of birds singing and the occasional bug going by their heads. The scent of wildflowers dominated everything. They tried to figure what each cloud looked like and were having a good time. Everyone was in high spirits by lunch. They sat in the shade of a tree to eat and let the horses graze on their own. Keither seemed to be out of his element. He was terrified of bees and other insects. It was obvious that he didn’t spend much time outside.
* * * * *
Keither knew the others were crazy. How could they possibly be enjoying themselves? “There are bugs everywhere, and the bees…” he thought to himself. There was a reason he stayed in the house all day, and this was it. What if one stung him? Could he die from it? He didn’t know, but he heard one time that someone had died from a bee sting. They stopped breathing and everything. Did these morons not know that? He kept his head down all day and he didn’t answer too many of the questions that Arkin would ask Legon and Sasha, not that it mattered anyway. He spent most of his time telling them to clear their heads and stuff like that. When there was a question he almost always got it right, even if he didn’t answer. They were easy really, all hypothetical questions, not unlike the stuff he thought about on his own all the time. He was amazed they didn’t know how to solve them. Didn’t everyone think about this stuff? Not everything was bad though. Sasha was an amazing cook. Even when she didn’t do anything to the food it was better than home.
He reared back and swatted at a black flying thing. “Whoa that was close,” he thought. His ribs hurt and he wondered how long it would take them to feel better. His face hurt too, but that was already starting to do better. He was still going to look horrible in Salkay, but not that it mattered. He looked bad anyway. He was fat and pale. People were always asking him if he was sick. When he said no they asked if he was hurt, and if that’s why he was so large. “Jerks,” he thought. “Just because I don’t spend my day pounding on metal or wood…” He liked to think of himself as the first scholar in Salmont, but now that Arkin was revealing this other side, he thought he might be number two. What was up with Arkin anyway? He sure played his part well, but it didn’t make sense to not take Legon back to the Elves where he belonged. No, there was more to this story, and the others should be asking questions but they weren’t. They trusted the man to the hilt.
They were riding again. Well the rest of them were, but Pixie was still eating. “Come on, let’s go!” He clucked his tongue. This worked for Sasha, why not for him? He tried to kick Pixie’s side. She snorted.
Sasha was calling back to him. “Come on, Keither. You’re in charge, not her. Kick her sides and she’ll go.”