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Training Starts
Thealdi had decided to leave the boy alone for a while and went over to the captain of the Red Dragon discussing the incident and talking about the bounty they had made after the battle. It was agreed to make a stop the next day at Toodsted and to hand over what they took from the Beakil Khum to whoever was left in the village.
The captain suggested to introduce the boy to Miglim Mot, a skilled master of the bow. He had sensed Lendears unease and felt a little distraction would do the boy good. Thealdi instantly agreed and went to the aft to have a talk with Miglim who acted as coxswain whenever he was aboard a vessel. Not only was he famous for his abilities with the bow, he knew the entire river like no other man, having travelled the distances from the Thari Cees to the Great Sea uncounted times and for this knowledge was valued by any captain shipping on the Bythorre. “Master Mot”, Thealdi began.
“I’d like to request a little help for my dear friend Lendear, the boy I travel with. He has a good hand at the bow, but could use some extra training. Your fame on the fine arts of archery is legendary, that I need not to mention.
Lendear has had a pretty hard time lately and a little distraction seems to be called for. I’d be delighted if you could arrange for a little time with the boy.”
“Certainly”, Miglim nodded solemnly. He was not a man of many words, spending so much time in the mountains of Thari Cees in solitude, he had become accustomed to speak through is bow for it was quite rare during hunts to have an encounter with another living soul. The Thari Cees were a dangerous ground and not many men dared to linger in the area.
Miglim arranged for a backup at the wheel and picked up his bow and quiver. Up front he positioned a wooden shield as a target for the upcoming practice. Returning towards the centre of the Red Dragon where Lendear sat, pondering, still very disturbed, Miglim spoke.
“Master Lendear, would you like to join me.” It was not exactly put as a question, more a statement and when he turned and drew his bow, it was quite clear what he meant. His accuracy was astounding, three rapid fired arrows found their home in the centre of the target shield, leaving no room for even a single hair between them.
Lendears jaws dropped for he had never before witnessed such skills. Eagerly he raised, took his bow and the quiver full of his brand new arrows and stood beside Miglim.
Carefully he aimed, but being aboard a ship he could not counterbalance the movements very well. His shot went wide, but luckily the arrow found its home in the vessel’s side. Crestfallen he lowered his bow, disappointed by this poor performance.
Miglim said nothing, took another arrow pointed toward Lendears knees, bending his own at the same time. The boy understood immediately and with the slight bend of his knees he realized that his stand became even. This time he had no troubles compensating the movements of the Red Dragon and his next shot met the other arrows. His spirits raising, he continued to practice with Miglim, always watching every movement of the man, learning, adopting and thus gradually improving his own skills. Again he stood to benefit from his habit of learning by watching, absorbing, adopting rapidly and putting everything instantly to use.
Miglim seemed pleased with the improvements, but remained silent. The boy was not irritated by this, gladly taking the opportunity of an undisturbed lesson, for he had gathered quickly that this was indeed an meeting, Thealdi must have had arranged for him. Finally Miglim ended the session with a brief nod and the hint of a smile. Lendear returned the smile, but before he could speak and express his thanks, the man had turned and headed back to the aft to resume his duties.
Thealdi had watched the entire session and he was pleased with the performance of the boy. “Very good, my friend! I see some happiness returning. Now, let’s have a quick bite. The captain has kindly provided this.”
He raised a bottle of wine, poured some of the liquid in a mug and handed it over to Lendear who was quite puzzled at this. At his age, drinking of wine was not an common habit for it was well known that the intake of such substances was not exactly healthy for the young. “Good to see you are surprised. Usually I wouldn’t have offered you any beverage, known to cause, let’s call it a certain effect on ones spirits. But as we will be starting your training, this effect will be of good use. Feelings can be enhanced to a certain level when under the influence of such substances and that is exactly what we will be needing.”
Lendear tasted the wine, found it quite interesting and soon felt the effects. Starting to be a little tipsy, he relaxed and smiled, his thoughts wandering, feeling the light breeze in his hair, the late afternoon sun warming him. Thealdi watched him and satisfied, produced the red gem he had given Lendear on their first encounter when he had verified the boys destiny. No other than the designated messenger would have been able to conjure the sphere as Lendear had done.
“Now we shall give this one another try. Please attach it to you bracelet.”
Lendear did as instructed and again, as soon as the gem connected with the bracelet, they were bathed in red.
“Now, Lendear, please think about our last encounter. Picture again the fight I had with the High Knight of Beakil Khum, try to recollect what you felt then.”
Lendear did as instructed and when the memories flooded in, his fears returning, the reddish aura changed to the colour of eglantine.
“Very good, very good indeed. If you would now wander back to the beginning of our journey when you were forced off your horse. I imagine, you weren’t too pleased about that little experience, am I right?”
The boy nodded and the memory of said scene brought back a hint of the anger he had felt, after he had been knocked out of his saddle. The sphere again changed and gradually became a dark hot red, slightly pulsing.
Thealdi bend over to Lendear and detached the gem from its mounting causing the aura to disappear immediately.
“You will have noticed the change of colours I’m sure. When I asked you to remember certain scenes of the recent past, it was to trigger different emotions. When you were scared, the red faded, when you were angry it intensified. The colour is your guide to the powers of the sphere. You alter these powers through your emotions. Therefore it is most important that you master your feelings. At any given time when you will be using the gem you must be in absolute control of your emotions. If you fail to do so, the results are unpredictable and you render yourself and potentially others in great danger.
The sphere is mainly protective, but beyond its defensive capabilities it can also be used to depredate on scales that are way beyond your current imagination.
We will be practicing the controlling of your emotions during the entire training phase and after my deed is done you will continue on your own as the mastering of feelings is a process that can never be totally learned in a single life span.
Let me show you this little collection of tokens, I usually carry with me. Various games can be played with them, solitary or in a group. Lets go through the rules and then we shall have a little match.”
Thealdi familiarized Lendear with the game and they soon started duelling. As it was expected, Lendear stood no chance against the skills of the old man. Rather than giving the boy a little head start, Thealdi practically destroyed the boys feeble attempts of gaining any tokens and every time, Lendear came out with a total loss. Frustration started to sink into the boys mind and as the playing continued, intensified. Thealdi seemed quite pleased at this and after another round ending similar to all previous ones, he said grinnig:
“Well, well, I must say, I have expected more of you, my dear little friend.”
Lendear was loathing, his cheeks burning, anger and frustration not exactly helping him to concentrate, let alone the smirk remark of his master.
“Now, try to picture the colour of the sphere if I were to give you the gem.”
Realization hit home and the boy mastered a little smile, but the anger still lingered. Lendear tried to put it at ease, but he could still feel his stomach burning hot, his heart beating hard against his ribs.
“Lendear, remember the change of colours in the sphere when I made you remember certain situations. What you will need, is a whole set of such situations for you to remember, whenever a certain feeling is called for. For instance, right now a victorious scene would be called for. Like before, when you had your training with Miglim and after he showed you how to counterbalance the ship’s movements, your arrows hitting home. Maybe you remember a certain tournament when you scored a particular high score. You’ll have to find the one memory that works best, but it’s always good to have a couple of backup scenes as well.”
Lendear thought this over and using this distraction together with the memories of his mastering the aiming aboard the ship he finally calmed.
“Can I have the gem, please?”, he asked and Thealdi handed it over. Lendear connected it with his bracelet and a steady red aura appeared. He smiled at the old man, detached the gem again and handed it back to Thealdi.
“Very good, my dear friend. I see you have indeed understood. That shall be all for today, now have some rest and a good nights sleep.”

Lendear didn’t sleep well, he was haunted in his dreams by hoards of Beakil Khum warriors, led by screaming Grinhaks unable to run away for he kept slipping on game tokens which lay littered across the floor. He was saved from experiencing the weapons coming down on him by waking up, cold sweated and breathing hard, confused.
When reality finally sunk in, he got up to fetch some water. Standing at the ship’s rail he looked at the night sky, tracing familiar formation of stars and eventually coming to some ease. How much his life had changed in such a short time. Just a couple of days ago he was an ordinary boy in a small village, not thinking a lot about his future albeit the fact that he had always had the unconscious feeling that something would await him. Had he after all sensed that he was indeed someone special? Coming to think about it, Lendear had to admit, that after all he was not as much surprised as it might have been called for when he first met Thealdi. The prospect of the journey however was not something he had anticipated nor any of the encounters they have had since. How could he ever stand against all these dangers he had learned about so far, and worse still what else did this trip hold in storage for him. He felt more lonely than he ever had, the presence of Thealdi not holding any comfort at this moment.
All of a sudden the sky exploded with light. Falling stars in the hundreds filled Lendears entire vision. Wide eyed he watched the spectacle, his heart filling with joy, the troubles forgotten, all lost in this display of nature’s beauty. After a short while however he began to feel the urge to share this moment so he set out to wake Thealdi and was mildly surprised to see the old man making his way towards him.
“Lookemarks Sprinklers”, the old man began.
“Once every twenty-eight years, if you are lucky to be awake and the sky is without clouds, you can witness them. Lucky we are indeed, my friend!”
Lendear had heard tales of the Sprinklers, but always had thought them to be fictional. He remembered the stories about Gloo Lookemark, the famous astronomer and eponym of most of the star constellations known to the Henveds. He had always wanted to lay a hand on “Our Guide to the Sky”, a book, in which Lookemark had perpetuated his researches, but books were rare in the area where Lendear came from. He knew about the legendary collection in the library of the Gemlats, which had been erected in the capital city of Brougoth in the early times and he had always dreamed of going there one day. Now it seemed that this wish would become true much sooner than he could have ever dreamed of. He said so and Thealdi assured him that he would arrange for Lendear to gain admittance. The old man had made plans to this respect already as he intended to have the boy pay regular visits in the house of wisdom.
Together, the two companions watched the spectacle on the night sky and Lendear once more felt the bonds between them.