The Unprotected

Chapter 8

The days passed and still no one came to see Joban or Rion. Hardly anyone came to the farm, since they didn’t really have any friends. The twins were enough company for each other and kept themselves busy with their chores and sparring. One day, however, Rion was working by himself in a field. He was digging a hole to bury a dead cat he had found. Suddenly, he hit a rock. Frustrated and hot, he repeatedly banged the rock until sparks flew from the friction between the rock and the metal spade. Angry, he threw the shovel away. He frowned at the rock, unblinking. He felt the medallion heat against his chest and with out warning, the rock broke and crumbled, leaving a clear way to dig. Rion collapsed, exhausted. Joban ran to Rion, he had seen him fall.
“Rion! What’s wrong?” Joban helped Rion up slowly.
“Something happened. I broke a rock… By looking at it.”
Joban wore a puzzled expression, “You broke a rock? Why?”
“I’m not sure, I was digging, here,” He pointed at the hole, his hand shaking slightly. “The rock was in my way, so I guess I somehow got rid of it.” Rion placed the cat in to the hole and began to bury it.
Suddenly, Rion realised, “Joban!” He yelled excitedly, “I used magic, me!”
Joban glanced around, “Shh, Mum might hear you. Try to do it again. Move the rest of the dirt back in to the hole.”
Rion’s eyes shone and he fixed his gaze to the dirt pile. The wizard’s medallion heated again, but nothing happened.
“Well, sorry. But I did do it; you know I don’t lie to you, Joban.” Said Rion, kicking the dirt.
“It’s these medallions. When you’re wearing them, you can do so much more. I actually came here to tell you what I did; I lifted two sacks of grain, at the same time.”
“Really? Can you lift more?”
Joban shook his head, “I don’t think we should do much with our medallions until we find out our abilities and how to use them properly. We could kill ourselves, or hurt someone else.” Joban said, raising his arms.
Rion chewed his lip and stared at his brother in an admiring way. As Joban continued to talk, also pacing back and forth and throwing his arms around like he was swatting flies, Rion glimpsed a figure walking towards them, looking behind his shoulder every few seconds.
“Joban,” Rion hissed, “Don’t look now, but somebody’s coming.”
Of course, Joban turned promptly “Where?” He said loudly.
Rion clasped his hand to his forehead and groaned, “You idiot…”
By this time, the stranger had reached them.
“Hi. I am Brendor. I was sent by Foron to collect you.”
Rion looked at Brendor suspiciously, taking in his physical appearance. Brendor had glossy blonde hair and emerald green eyes. He had a squarish jaw and a small nose and was slightly taller than the twins. He wore dark green and brown warrior type clothes which showed his muscular figure, and had a bow slung over his shoulder. On his right hand, Rion glimpsed a small tattoo, but he didn’t see what it was of.
“Uh, we haven’t really planned, let me just discuss some things with my brother, Joban.”
Brendor nodded and sauntered away.
“C’mon Rion, let’s go with him. We’ll tell Mum we’re going to find jobs in Sullen Towers. She doesn’t go past West Citadel.”
Rion clicked his tongue, “Yeah, but…” Rion looked around, and then looked at Brendor; he hid his face hastily when Brendor looked over at them.
“Oh alright, you go and tell Mum that we’ve got jobs in Sullen Towers. I’ll go saddle the horses, if we need to have our horses with us.”
Joban grinned, “Okay, see you in the stable.” He turned on his heel and headed towards the house, looking very pleased with himself.
Rion strolled slowly over to Brendor, “Do we need our horses?”
“Yes, we will be riding to Eldfort.”
“Oh, well I’ll go saddle our horses, would you like to come?”
“Why not, lead the way. Hang on; just let me call my horse first.” Brendor whistled and his horse trotted out from behind some trees.
“His name is Donath.” Brendor stated proudly, seizing Donath’s rein and stroking his neck.
Donath was very quite handsome. He was a grey colour with small spots of black, and his mane and tail were silvery-blonde. In his mane, leaves had been tangled between the hairs to make it look like a type of vine.
“Isn’t he beautiful?” Sighed Rion, stroking Donath’s nose.
“Yep, I’ve had him for as long as I can remember, I bet your horses aren’t as handsome as Donath.”
“Well, I’ll let you decide that for yourself, follow me and I will show you our horses, Tiya and Teell, the best mares in all of West Citadel.”
Rion led Brendor and Donath to the stable, where Teell and Tiya were happily eating. The horses stopped chewing, curious to see another horse in their stable.
“Very nice,” Complimented Brendor, more to the horses than to Rion, “I would say that all of the horses are stunning. Exceptionally wonderful in every way.”
Rion saw Brendor’s tattoo again, “What’s the tattoo on your hand?”
“Oh,” Brendor held his right hand out so Rion could see. It looked much like one of the symbols on his wizard medallion, “It’s the symbol for ‘fire’.” He explained.
“Do you think I could get one when I’m older?” Rion asked, admiring the symbol closely.
“Oh sure, you get one when you graduate from Silverkeep. That is, if you were a good student, it’s a special tattoo for the non-wizards and witches. One of the wizard or witch art teachers gives all of the warriors a tattoo with magical properties – only if they want one though, it is not compulsory. Mine for example is for fire, so by passing my hand over a piece of straw,” He stooped down to pick up a single piece of straw, “Will burn it.” The straw caught alight when he passed his hand across it. “But it’s only if I want to use the powers will it work, so nothing will happen if I pick up a bag or some other object.”
Rion nodded, “So if you had the water symbol then you’d be able to fill a bowl of water?”
“Sure thing.”
“But can't wizards and witches get them too? Since I have a wizard medallion.”
“Oh I’m sure they would make an exception for you, ‘the chosen one’.”
“Awesome. Well, I’d better start saddling up the horses…” Rion looked down at his hand and imagined a symbol of his own there.
Just as Rion collected the gear to saddle the horses with, Joban entered, carrying two brown bags and Rion’s riding boots.
“Again Rion, your boots.”
Rion sighed, “Thanks, lucky you remember and care so much. What’s in the bags?”
“Just some water, a few biscuits, and a change of clothes.” He explained, stuffing their smaller bags in to the saddle bags. “I couldn’t find Mum, so I left a note on the kitchen table. I think she went in to town.”
Brendor helped Rion and Joban to saddle their horses, and they departed the farm as quickly as they could.