Horseshoe's Tall Tale

"The Way of the Blue Blade"

Chapter seven: The Way of the Blue Blade.

  The next morning, Ursula awoke early in the wolvren camp. She rose out of the humongous bed she had spent the night in, and stretched her arms out. It had been a while since she’d had such a peaceful night’s rest. Ursula yawned and then rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She felt as if she had been born anew, like this morning was the beginning of the next phase of her life. With an energetic hop, Ursula leapt off of her bed and ran outside. She stood outside the entrance to her cave atop the large set of stairs leading down into the wolvren village. Above her, the morning sky shown like a beautifully framed painting, with a crystal clear blue background and swirling pure white clouds. In front of her on the horizon, stood the summit of the Scared Mountains, a soaring snow-covered peak that seemed to scrape the heavens. Huge chasms cut into the mountains surface, ran down from the very tip of the mountain summit like cracks in a broken piece of glass. Ages ago, before humans had begun to explore the world outside of the safe haven of First Dawn, this area was a volcanic nightmare. Streams of lava poured for years over the surface of this mountain creating these chasms that emptied into a great lake of fire which cut off the mountains from the rest of the world. By the time human scouts explored this far north of their home centuries later, the mountains had inexplicably frozen over and what was once a burning fire pit had become the treacherous ice wilderness that exists today. The human scouts named this region the Scared Mountains, because of these chasms that resembled scars cut deep into the mountain’s surface. Ursula breathed in the morning air, it filled her tiny lungs full of the chilly mountain atmosphere. Down below her, the wolvren were going about their activities and chores. Hunting groups gathered to head out for hours of tracking snow leopards and mountain bears to bring home food for the village feast that night. Wood collectors brought back firewood and lumber to be used in fireplaces and hut construction. And herbalists scoured the frozen forest for plants and flowers for use in Slumber’s alchemic potions. At the base of the stairway, Amber took notice of Ursula’s emergence from the cave. It grunted up to her in the wolvren’s native language.
“Good morning your Highness.” It said. Ursula glanced down at the mighty wolvren she designated as the lead commander of the village. It’s reddish-brown fur shined beautifully in the sunlight.
“Good morning Amber, how fares the village this morning?” Ursula asked as she descended the long stairway towards her wolvren friend.
“All’s well my Queen, I mean Ursula. Are you feeling better this morning?” Ursula eventually reached the bottom of the stairs and looked up at the beast towering over her.
“I’m feeling great this morning , thank you. And I apologize for being so short with you last night, it was very rude of me.” She said. Amber lowered itself to it‘s knees before Ursula.
“There is no need for apologies Ursula, I am just glad that this morning finds you well.” The young warrior queen gazed up at her loyal soldier. She placed her hand on it’s long snout and rubbed it gently. She had grown quite attached to these beasts that at one point were ferocious enemies to the humans of the forest.
“Amber, I must go back to Ironwill, there is something important I have to do there. Will you please retrieve my horse?” Amber did as it’s queen had asked, and Ursula rode out of the wolvren village on her way back to Ironwill. Outside of the village, Razorjaw watched her ride off into the forest. The hunting group it was leading slowly caught up to the elder wolvren who had been designated the chief lieutenant of the village. Razorjaw sneered it’s objection to the human queen.
“She is leaving again, soon it will be time for me to make my move.” It growled. One of the wolvren behind him spoke up.
“Why is it you don’t trust her?” Razorjaw twisted around and snapped at it’s follower.
“She is human! She is not one of us. I do not believe she has our best interest in mind.”
“What makes you think you can defeat her, she is a powerful fighter.” Another one of the wolvren hunting members asked.
“I sensed her strength has weakened of late, I believe now is the opportunity to strike and take back our village.” Razorjaw roared.
“She saved us from Mane’s horrible domination. She was our savior.” The wolvren responded. Razorjaw scoffed with a jagged chuckle.
“I would have killed that tyrant myself if given more time. But now that she did it for me I don’t have to bother. Very soon I will be the leader of this pack, and all of you will be bowing to me instead.”
  Back at the human village of Ironwill, Ace Talon had just finished his morning meeting with the village elder Leonard Andrews. After assigning individual defenders to their sectors he started his daily patrol around all the houses in the village, especially the ones with pretty female occupants. He then saw Ursula riding up to him on her horse. Ace threw her a mocking smile.
“I didn’t think Id see you back here so soon, of what do we owe the honor of the queen of the mountain beast’s visit?” Ace said with his sarcastic smirk. Ursula stopped her horse in front of the husky village militia leader. She stared back at him with a steady unflinching gaze.
“I’m ready to train again.” She said.
“Oh is that so?” Ace laughed. “What makes you believe that you can do today what you failed yesterday?”
“Lets just say I’m much lighter this morning.” Shortly thereafter, the two warriors were back inside Ace’s sparring room. Ace stood before the young warrior who had once again donned the heavy sparring armor that was part of the Blue Blade training. The Armor weighed her down almost one hundred pounds heavier than normal, making her movements much more demanding on her body. Unlike the day before, Ursula was ready for this, and it affected her much less this time. Ace held in his had a mighty shield. Across the front of it, the Blue Blade Academy’s insignia shown proudly.
“You have done much training with swords and fighting offensively. But today you will begin training on the art of defense.” Ace said as handed the shield to Ursula. She took it in her hands, it like all the other armor was much heavier then it’s appearance made it out to be. She held it up and admired the shield’s beauty, It’s size was normal for the average size human, but to Ursula it practically covered her whole body. Like Ace had said, she had not used a shield before in any of her fighting sessions. She had not felt it necessary because she had thought herself to be too fast to worry about being struck. But now, facing such a powerful force that is Nightmane’s new self, Ursula knew she would have to improve the defensive side of her fighting.
“With only a shield in your hands, you must learn how to defend yourself and turn handicap into advantage.” Ace wielded his majestic Blue Blade in preparation of attack. Ursula held the large shield out in front of her and tried to brace herself. Ace smiled at the young girl’s amateurish first attempt at wielding a shield. He swung his sword back and then came back forward in a powerful downward stroke. The collision of sword on shield produced a loud, echoing clash throughout the sparring room. Ursula fell backwards against the force of the sword rippling through her shield and into her body. It was not something she was prepared for. However, Ursula caught herself before she toppled over onto her behind. She once again regained her balance and stood ready for another attack.
“You must remember that it is not enough to merely defend against an attack, you must be able to deflect it away and hold your ground. You must anticipate the strike and meet it with equal force.” Ace bellowed to his young pupil. He charged forward and lunged his sword down into her once again. This time Ursula thrust her shield out and forcefully deflected the attack away from her. Having had his attack pushed aside, Ace swung his sword right back again in rapid succession. Ursula saw it coming and once again met the attack halfway. For a brief moment Ursula let her shield down, and Ace planted a swift kick across her face. Ursula spun around backwards with the force of the kick. Though somewhat stunned by the blow she was not caught off guard by his charging attack while her back was turned. Ursula swung her shield back behind her and managed to defend against this surprise attack. Ace began to swing over and over again, not letting her have a chance to regroup after strikes. Despite his best efforts however, Ursula was still holding her ground against this rapid assault. Ace stepped back and looked over his opponent. Though he was breathing heavily from attacking, Ursula still remained calm and relaxed. She just stood there and stared back, with no change in her stoic unflinching demeanor. Ace started back again with another lunging attack, this time though Ursula not only defended against the attack but swung her shield back and launched a swift punch to the unprotected face of her attacker. Ace recoiled back, the powerful strike from her iron gauntlet had landed square against his jaw. He groaned under the pain as the bruise began to swell. Ace was shocked, only yesterday the girl couldn’t hardly stand up under the massive weight of the sparring armor. But somehow today she was not only standing, but she able to fight back.
“Impressive.” He mutters under his breath. Ace resumed his attack on the young girl, this time his blows were much more ferocious. Ursula felt herself being forced back, and dug in her heels. She was determined not to let him beat her again. She began pushing back, swinging her shield towards Ace, who was forced to retreat to be able to get enough distance for a full swing. Ursula was turning her disadvantage into an advantage. She swung her shield like a sword back at Ace making him use his sword to deflect her blows. One powerful swing knocked the blade from out of a shocked Ace’s grip. The blade sailed to the side and landed onto the padded floor. Ursula stood with her icy stare focused sharply on the now defenseless teacher. Ace clapped his hands.
“Bravo, that was quite a show. I believe you have gotten the hang of using a shield.” Ace said with a laugh. Ursula didn’t show it, but the weight of the armor was still having an effect on her. She was still much slower than normal. However, her determination had made her push past the pain, past the discomfort, to a state of razor sharp focus that allowed her ignore the influence the armor had on her body. In essence, she was simply not letting herself be defeated. Ace motioned for her to pick up the Blue Blade off of the ground. He then retrieved a sword and shield of his own from off of the sparring room wall. Ursula attempted to lift the sword with one hand, but it’s weight was so massive that it strained her to do so. Now holding this weighty sword along with the massive shield, Ursula felt herself once again struggling to maintain her balance. The added weight on her body was now easily one hundred and fifty pounds, and it showed. Ursula had to dig deeper inside herself and find yet another level of strength. Ace marched towards her.
“You’ve passed the first test. Now prepare yourself for the second.” He said. “You must balance yourself between defense and offense.” Ursula nodded her head. Ace began to fight with a bellowing scream followed by a charge towards her. Ursula timed her dodge effectively, darting to the side just as Ace’s sword sliced by her. She countered with her own attack, that was still rather slow because of the sword‘s considerable weight. Ace swung his shield up and deflected the attack harmlessly to the side. His next attack was a horizontal sweeping strike that Ursula ducked clean under, He had to swing his sword back quickly to parry her lunge forward towards his exposed belly. A swift kick sent Ursula back to create space for Ace’s next swing. Ursula swung her sword up and met his strike in midair. The two warriors stood for a moment with their swords locked together. Ursula then pushed him off and sliced her sword upwards making Ace bend his torso backwards to avoid getting cut in the face. At the start of the fight, Ursula had struggled a bit to wield the Blue Blade. But now as the fight got underway, the adrenaline pumped through her. As it went on, she got stronger and stronger. She began to merely dodge attacks, as her speed slowly increased even under the mighty armor. Ursula hopped backwards easily avoiding a flurry of sweeps sent after her by Ace. He paused for a moment to catch his breath, the girl was making him work to much to catch her. Ursula smiled confidently.
“What was it you called me before? Horseshoe I believe it was.” She said. “Well tell me, Ace, how does it feel to know that Horseshoe is going to beat you?” Ace sneered back at her, it was insulting to him for her to proclaim herself the victor before the fight was even over. Ursula laughed. “Yes, I am Horseshoe of Ironwill. And you cannot defeat me!” She shouted. Suddenly the Blue Blade she was wielding began to glow. Slowly it increased until it shown brightly in her hand. Ursula stared at this strange occurrence with a surprised look. Ace’s eyes widened with disbelief. It couldn’t be, it was impossible. After only a few lessons with the sword, Ursula had managed to impress her strength into the unique materials inside the Blue Blade’s core. It had taken him months of training to be able to focus his energy enough to radiate up into the sword, and cause the spectacular glowing that was now on display before him. Ursula swung the sword around in front of her, it felt so much lighter now as if it was just an extension of her arm. It was apparent to her the added energy it was imitating. Ace knew however, that the sword did not generate any energy. All it did was magnify the energy of it’s user. The mighty glow of the sword meant that Ursula’s current strength, even under the harsh limitations of the massive armor, was enormous.
“I had no idea that this sword doubled as a night light.” Ursula joked. She lunged forward and delivered a quick slashing blow towards Ace, who raised his sword up to defend himself. Their swords met with a flash of sparks. Ursula pushed her sword in on him using her new found supply of strength to try and force him backwards. Ace braced himself with his back leg, and managed to hold his ground against her powerful force. The thoughts raced through his head, could this little girl actually be stronger than him? Could she really master the tests of the Blue Blade training and become a champion in this short of time? Ace knew it sounded crazy, but here was proof right in front of him. Ursula was wielding the mighty Blue Blade with such power. This new level of power she had somehow reached made her truly a frightening opponent. But despite all of this, Ace was not willing to surrender just yet. He had not worked this hard for this long to just bow down to some snot nosed kid. He screamed out a bellowing battle shout which helped him muster up the needed strength to push Ursula off of him. The girl was knocked back, but quickly she set her feet and came back at Ace again. Ace sidestepped her slicing sweep at the last moment, and struck downwards with his sword towards her temporarily vulnerable backside. Ursula spun around to deflect Ace’s attempt at a backstab with her shield. She could truly feel her body getting lighter, the heavy burden of the armor was being negated by her intense inner willpower. Ursula leapt up in the air and sliced down into Ace’s waiting shield. The shear force of the impact combined with the burning energy radiating through her Blue Blade cut a deep line across the face of his shield. Ace recoiled back a bit from this powerful attack, the force of which he felt ripple throughout his upper body. Ursula’s Blue Blade began to fluctuate from light blue to a purer white color. To Ace, this shifting of colors meant that Ursula was attempting to tap farther into her reservoir of strength. To a level that he, in his many years of fighting, had not even managed to achieve. With enough power fluctuating out of the sword, it could easily slice through the armor and bone of anyone it struck. The small warrior grinned back at Ace, she could not believe how strong she felt. Ace had not lied to her, the Blue Blade training had truly unlocked power inside her she could never have imagined being there. The heavy sparring armor had forced her body to grow stronger, and faster. It had trained her mind to focus her willpower into a driving unstoppable force that made her simply unwilling to be defeated. Now she stood, glaring at Ace, almost daring him to attack her. In a way, she was toying with him. Every attack he threw at her from this point on only served to fuel her ever increasing strength.
“What’s wrong Ace, are you afraid of me? Horseshoe, the little girl you laughed at so often in the past. Well I don’t hear you laughing anymore. I guess I should thank you, as odd as that sounds. Because of you I was forced to challenge myself. Because of your mocking, my determination only grew stronger to prove you wrong about me.” Ursula said. Ace just looked on and grew more angry, she was trying to humiliate him. Ursula chuckled to herself.
“I feel like a whole new person, like I’ve just begun to find out who I am, and who I can be. Call my name out Ace, mock me again with the title you used to try and demean me. Or have I rendered you speechless?” Ace launched himself forward in a furious attempt to shut the girl up. He unleashed a series of wild successive attacks born of pure anger and frustration. Ursula rapidly deflected his blows with her shining blue sword. Ace was no match for her speed however, he tried his hardest, but he could not manage to get by her defenses. He wound his sword back and prepared to use all his strength up in a single strike. Ursula drew her sword back as well, and when Ace swung down with his powered up attack, she spun around in a vicious whirlwind. When their swords met, Ursula’s Blue Blade sliced right through Ace’s sword sending sparks in all directions. Ace looked at his sword in utter shock, the blade had been cut just above the hilt. In disgust, he tossed the broken sword to the ground in front of him. Ursula stood before him like a statue, not flinching a muscle but just staring relentlessly back at him. He had been defeated, there was nothing he could do about it. Ace had given her all he had, and Ursula had merely shrugged it off. He had hoped that the grueling Blue Blade training would cut the cocky young girl back down to her size. But to his dismay, the girl had not only held her own, but now stood triumphant against him.
“Say my name Ace.” Ursula demanded. “Say with respect what you used to say with sarcasm.” Ace gritted his teeth, it was almost to much to bare for the proud leader of the Blue Blade militia. Ursula swung her blade up and pointed it up at him.
“Say my name!” She shouted. The burly bearded warrior twisted his face up in anger. In a low growling voice, Ace muttered the name.
“Horseshoe.”
“Louder!” Ursula roared. Being substantially beaten in combat was bad enough. But now he was being forced to eat his own words like so much crow.
“Horseshoe. You are Horseshoe of Ironwill.” Ace said in a defeated tone. Ursula smiled, satisfied with Ace’s begrudging show of respect towards her. She looked at the heavy sparring armor adorning her body. This armor had helped her increase her abilities enormously, but she wondered how much stronger it could make her. The prospect fascinated her. If she wore this armor all the time, to the point where this weight felt natural to her, she might be able to withstand Nightmane’s demonic force. She looked back at Ace, who seemed to be lost in thought.
“Maybe there was something to what Old Gritty said.” She heard him say to himself.
“What do you mean?” Ursula asked. Ace wandered over to his battered wooden chest that stood up against the north side of the sparring room. He opened the chest and rummaged through it’s contents. Once the object of his search was located, he stood back up. It was a dusty old scroll case, the dragon sword emblem of the Blue Blade Academy was etched into it’s surface. Ursula walked up beside him to see what was inside.
“What’s that? Who is this Old Gritty you mentioned?” She asked. Ace undid the scroll case latch and opened it. Out from Inside it he pulled a letter that had an official looking stamp imprinted on the front. Ace handed the letter to Ursula, who took it and began to read. The letter appeared to be a certificate for attaining the grand status of a Blue Blade champion. At the bottom of the parchment it was signed in honor of Bynum “Ace” Talon. Ursula looked up at Ace after she had finished reading this letter. He had pulled another sheet of parchment out of the scroll case and was reading it over.
“Dear Ace.” He began reading aloud. “Congratulations on becoming only one of seven members of the Blue Blade champions list. You endured the months of rigorous training to do what few other men are capable of even trying. King Homily has monitored the results of this training very closely and is very interested to test your abilities in the ongoing instability of the borderlands region. I am proud to send you to him as a representative of the ancient art of the Blue Blade. Signed Grit Oni.” Ace stopped reading and looked up at Ursula. He then looked back at the parchment and read a hand scribbled section of the note at the bottom. “I once told you about the ancient ways of the Blue Blade, Ace, and I mentioned that some of them are quite hard to comprehend. It goes back a long ways, long before anyone can even remember. I never told you, or any of the other men about this, but there is a ominous passage in the book of Temporal from which the practices of the Blue Blade Academy originated. This passage speaks vaguely of a single warrior that will take the burden of the seven against the great evil. I believe this to foretell of some great fighter that will be able to challenge all seven of the Blue Blade champions and defeat them. This fighter will in essence become a unified combination of the seven champions, and become the Blue Blade grand master. This grand master supposedly will fight in place of the seven against some opposing force that would otherwise be unstoppable. I don’t pretend to understand all of this, but I believe in honoring tradition. You are therefore ordered to relinquish ownership of your champions Blue Blade to anyone that is able to defeat you in a fair and honorable fight. This warrior should then be sent to me for a closer inspection of their talents. Your blade will serve as proof that the warrior did indeed defeat a Blue Blade champion. I know that this sounds a bit odd, but you have to trust me. I wouldn’t ask this of you if I didn’t believe it to be necessary.” Ace grew silent as he finished the rest of the note. He then placed the note back inside the scroll case. He once again looked back at Ursula who was standing and listening to all this with a confused look about her face.
“I always thought that Gritty was crazy when he wrote that note to me. He was always a bit strange anyways even if he was an outstanding fighter.” Ace took the certificate back from Ursula and placed it back in the scroll case as well. He closed and latched it before placing it back inside the chest. “I had almost forgotten about that note, but it came back to me as I watched you outmatch me in combat.”
“What are you saying? Do you actually believe I’m the one that this letter refers to?” Ursula asked. Ace turned and started to walk away towards a window looking back out on the village.
“I don’t say I believe any of that, I honestly think that book of Temporal is a lot of outdated gibberish that shouldn’t be taken seriously. But I’m bound by my sense of duty to honor my teachers wishes.” He stood and looked out of the window at his defenders marching along their patrols. Ace took a brief moment to deliberate over the situation. Ursula pondered the meaning of the note as well. She wondered if Nightmane could be this unstoppable force It mentioned, or if it all was just nonsense as Ace thought. She approached Ace and looked at his reflection in the window. After he had taken the time to consider the right course of action he spoke again.
“You should gather your things and leave as soon as possible on your way to First Dawn. I will supply you with a basic map that should guide you sufficiently.” Ursula looked at him in disbelief. “My Blue Blade sword is yours, you will take it to my old teacher Grit as proof of your victory.”
“I can’t leave here.” Ursula replied. “You need me to help protect against Nightmane if he returns. Besides this is my home, I could never abandon it like that.” She removed her sparring helmet and ran her fingers through her dirty green hair. Ace turned to face the girl.
“Your not one of my soldiers, so I can’t order you to do this. But I will say this, if you stay here and that monster does show up again, you might be able to defend against it. However, if what this note says is actually true, then even if we stop that thing from destroying our village, there wont be much of a world left around us to matter. I believe that if you are to be this grand master the note refers to, you will have to put aside your own feelings and place the safety of the kingdom above them.” Ursula lowered her head and contemplated these words. Ace began to walk away, towards the door leading back out into the village.
“In any case, the Blue Blade is yours, along with the training armor you are wearing. Take some time to consider the matter, when you have come to a decision let me know what it is.” Ursula watched Ace leave the room and wondered what she should do. Admittedly the thought of traveling to First Dawn and possibly meeting the king was an intriguing prospect. It was a great opportunity to show what she could do and maybe earn a place in the royal army. But the thought of leaving her home, especially in this most vulnerable of times, was difficult to accept. On top of the looming danger of Nightmane, there was the shaky stability of the early peace with the wolvren. Many of the villagers had already spoke of their suspicion that the wolvren were responsible for their former leader being reborn. She felt that one small slip on either side could once again lead to war. This indeed was a decision she would have to think over well. She left the sparring room and made her way to her father’s old blacksmithing hut. Once there she gathered up her father’s tools and began working on the sparring armor she was given. She hoped that by throwing herself into her work, then maybe the right decision would come to her along the way. For hours, Ursula hammered relentlessly over her father’s trusty anvil. She lost herself in thought of past training sessions with her father. How he had taught her to refurbish old damaged armor and bring it back to it’s original beauty. He had shown her how to heat and skillfully reshape the iron to the proper form, then cool it quickly to preserve the work without it cracking. She intentionally added more weight to the armor to increase it’s burden on her while fighting. Over the Blue Blade insignias, Ursula placed the Wellington coat of arms she copied off of Andreas’s shield. As darkness began to descend on the village from the ever marching passage of time, Ursula looked over her work and found she was done. She lifted the last piece of armor to be finished, her shield, into the air and admired it. Across the newly buffed and resurfaced shield, Ursula had placed a large horseshoe to signify her new warrior name. A symbol of not only how she became the fighter she was now, but also a reminder of what she came from, a simple blacksmithing apprentice to her father. She began to put on her new armor, as she thought the added weight once again made her movements difficult. She had designed them to add over two hundred pounds onto her tiny frame. She sweated under this new cumbersome armor but was determined to force her body to adjust to it. She walked over to a tall mirror that stood in a corner of the blacksmithing shack. As she looked at herself, adorned in the shiny new armor of a true warrior, she began to realize what she must do. Even before she could understand it, she had felt the urge to fight. The need to be a brave warrior. And now she heard it, the calling, the calling of a warrior. It was time for her to embark into the world and face the dangers that she was bound by destiny to face. She would be sad to leave her home, but as Ace had said, she had to put her own feelings behind and embrace the responsibilities of being a warrior. If the need was for her to go to First Dawn, she would have to go and not look back. The night air swept through the meager blacksmithing shack, reminding Ursula of the lateness of the hour. She decided to go see Ace, and tell him of her decision. Ursula thought it over, and knew exactly where in the village she could always find Ace this late in the day.
  The lights of the tavern burned bright through it’s frosty windows out into the snow covered streets of the village. Sounds of the villagers inside hooting and hollering as they enjoyed their favorite ale, could be heard as Ursula marched up towards the tavern. The young warrior, still dressed in her impressive new armor, pushed open the large entrance door and entered the building. Inside, the tavern atmosphere was joyful and carefree. Some villagers sat and conversed at tables, while others took to the floor, dancing and drinking away their troubles. The barman called out to her, when he saw Ursula walking inside.
“Hail Ursula. Quite an unexpected visit from the hero of Ironwill.” He said. A few of the men sitting at the bar in front of him, raised their mugs in honor towards her. Ursula walked up to the bar and hopped up on one of the wooden stools. Because of her short stature, she had to stand on the stool in order to see over the bar. The barman laughed as he looked over at her.
“Normally I wouldn’t allow someone of your age to hang around inside my tavern, but I believe I can make an exception for you Ursa. You look like type of lady that could handle the punch my ale delivers.”
“No thank you sir, I don’t drink.” She replied. “I’m here to see someone, would you happen to know if Ace Talon is here?” The barkeep smirked at the absurdity of the question.
“Young lady, if Ace wasn’t here every night getting smashed off of pints, then id fear him to be dead or somehow otherwise incapacitated out in the forest.” He pointed off towards the back of the room, in a small booth located in the corner of the noisy tavern. There Ursula saw Ace nursing away at his mug alone. She turned back towards the barman and thanked him for his time. Then she jumped back to the floor, which in her heavy armor caused a loud thump on the hardwood planks. As she walked away, one of the men at the bar nudged his elbow into his friend’s shoulder.
“You know, if that girl was a little older and taller I would…” The drunken man’s stammering was very quickly interrupted by the barkeeper.
“You would get your worthless beer swigging ass handed to you, that’s what you would do.” He remarked with a bellowing laugh. Ursula made her way through the raucous villagers, towards the back of the tavern where Ace was sitting. When Ace say the girl once again standing before him, he took a long hard guzzle of his mug then slammed it down on the table. He wiped his large hand across his mouth and beard before turning his beady eyes back towards Ursula.
“So, Horseshoe of Ironwill, how fare you this fine wintry evening?” He asked. Based on his slight slurring of speech and the redness in his bulging cheeks, Ursula determined that this wasn’t Ace’s first nor his last pint of the night. She removed her helmet and placed it beside her on Ace’s table.
“I’ve come to a decision in regards to what we talked about this morning.” She began. “I will do as you say and travel to First Dawn to meet this Grit person. I’m not sure if I believe that this vague legend from some dusty old book should be taken seriously, but I’m willing to find out for myself.” Ace nodded his head before taking another long swig from his mug.
“I understand.” He muttered. “If you have made up your mind on this matter, then there is very little else to be said about it.” Ace reached down into a small satchel hooked to his belt. He pulled out a small folded up piece of parchment paper and handed it to Ursula. As she opened it up, Ursula saw that this was in fact a map showing all the various regions around the Scared Mountains. To the southeast she could see the grand human city of First Dawn, nestled safely within the boundaries of the lush green forest region of Fairgarden Valley. To the east of Fairgarden was the neutral strip of land named the borderlands that separated the human territories from the sprawling ancient rainforests of Mistfalls.
“I had a feeling you would choose to go.” Ace said with a grin. “There is two ways that you might travel down from these mountains. The first is the safest way but also the longest. You go north along the northwestern mountain channel which eventually brings you down into the relative safety of the Northern Tower, a human stronghold built to bypass the huge chasm separating the Scared Mountains from the surrounding regions. You can then travel down the beaten path through Century Hills. It’s a good two weeks travel by horseback.” Ursula looked up from the map.
“If that’s the long, safe way, what’s the short, dangerous way?” Ace laughed to himself. He shook his head.
“I knew you’d ask that.” He pointed to a small path south of the mountains. “There, along the south rim of the Scared Mountains, is a small path cut out through the Forgotten Woods. Now I know what you are thinking, another fancy meaningless name for a simple stretch of trees.” Ace’s eyes squinted back at Ursula. “But this place is not to be taken lightly. These woods aren’t normal, there is something very unnatural about them. If you stumble too far away from the path, you will not find your way back. Of the thirty some explorers that decided to navigate these woods and create this very path centuries ago, only four of them made it out alive. In recent years only a few brave soldiers have taken this route to make it to the southern channel path up the Scared Mountains. And they reported attacks by a ferocious ghostly leopard while navigating this treacherous path through the woods.” Ace leaned back into his seat and downed the last bit of pint in his mug. He let out a loud satisfied belch after he had emptied it. “But don’t let that scare you, your far too tough for some phantom pussycat right?” Ace bellowed out a loud belly laugh. Ursula stared back at him with one eyebrow raised. She thought Ace was a loud mouthed buffoon when he was sober, but drunk he was downright moronic. After he finished laughing over this drunken punch line, Ace raised his hand to the barkeep, signaling for another pint of ale. A short moment later, one of the beautiful bar maidens came over with a full mug. Ace eyed the young woman’s sizable body features with a silly looking smirk.
“Here now, I order one giant jug and I receive two more beauties on top of it.” The bar maiden sneered back at him as she placed the mug on the table. She twisted around and marched away from him. Ace looked back towards Ursula.
“I think that one there is taking a shine to yours truly” He snickered. Ursula lowered her head and slapped the palm of her hand over her eyes in disbelief. “Well, anyways if you do make it out of the Forgotten Woods, you’ll come out in a marshy bit of low lands affectionately called the Pit of Poison. Now this time the place isn’t quite as bad as the name makes it sound. That is of course if you like putrid pools a swamp water containing endless amounts of venomous snakes and leeches.” Once again Ace laughed at his own poor sense of humor. Ursula rolled up the map and slid it down into her shirt vest. She was done listening to Ace’s drunken ramblings.
“Thank you Ace, for your wise words of wisdom.” She said sarcastically. “I believe I will head out in the morning after a long night’s rest. I bid you goodnight.” Ace rose his mug to her as she turned and walked away. Ursula walked by the barmaid as she continued to carry more mugs to tables.
“Excuse me miss.” She said, to which the bar maid turned and looked down towards her. “I don’t mean to interfere in your dealings with customers, but if Ace continues to flap his idiotic drunken mouth off towards you, I would be more than happy to shove his smelly foot down it.” Ursula then marched off towards the tavern door as the bar maid giggled over her comment. That night, Ursula lie awake in anticipation of the beginning of her long quest. She felt great anxiety about leaving her home in the mountains for the first time, but also she was filled with thoughts of the grand adventure she was about to embark on. One that would be teeming with new challenges and obstacles for her to overcome. Along this quest, Ursula would meet new friends and make new enemies on her way towards the fantastic, grand human city of First Dawn. Little did she know however, that waiting for her somewhere along the way was the mighty beast Nightmane, who already was working on it’s plan to unleash horrific evil onto the world.

End of Chapter seven.