A boy and a... what?

[Nam]

"Will!"

Curious blue eyes gazed blankly at the foot of his house with head propped on his arms as people passed by. "Another one..." he thought. The Mordecai had found another mage and they were taking her to the church. William didn't know what happens on the church, but he did know that people would either come out a whole lot differently or not at all. He always felt a little queasy when the Mordecai was nearby, but he never knew why. It was just faint feeling he ignored.

"Will!"

The boy was deep in thought and his eyes dropped to the ground, unaware of the voice calling behind him until he felt a hand resting over his shoulder which caused his eyes to pop up as he jerked up to his feet and turned to see his mother standing behind him. She handed him some bread dough. "Go bake it in the pubic oven." She said. William sighed and nodded. This was the life of a peasant boy without talents; baking bread for his mother.

She rubbed his head. "You shouldn't leave them hanging." She said as she tied a string over each of his sleeves, which had been dangling. Winter was near and the wind was getting stronger. If he didn't tie them down they'd start dancing all over the place. He nodded obediently before she started shoving him out the door. "C'mon, time's wasting. Go bake that bread!"

William sighed. He grabbed his wooden sword, which had been lying next to the door and started walking.

Later that day, Will was goofing about once again with one of his close friends. They were sparring with their wooden swords and yelling battle cries as they thrust down and collided with their sticks. People just ignored them and walked around the pair as they hit it off. Suddenly, they spot the woman who had been taken earlier.

The other boy abetted next to Will with his hands cupped around his mouth. "Look!" he whispered. "It's that mage!"

William nodded.

"My parents say she's a martyr..." he said. "Why?" William asked, both of them staring intently at the woman as she went about her own business.

"Because, silly! She has been cursed with magic!" he explained. Galahad frowned. "Is magic really that bad?"

"Bad!?" the boy exclaimed, but then covered his mouth and whispered into Will's ears. "Magic is forbidden in Connlaoth, you know that! Magic can kill people and they say Angsar will punish any sinner who's a magic-user by burning them in hell until they're purified!"

William seemed a bit skeptical, but he shrugged his shoulders and moved on. "I've gotta go," the kid said. "See you tomorrow?"

William nodded as his friend waved goodbye and left. Before long, the sun had set and he was back at the foot of his house with that same bored expression, flipping rocks with his trusty sword. It was only a matter of time before he had to hit the hay and start another boring day.

[Zane]

The hardest thing in Jax's life, one of the single most impossible things for him to do, is for him to not stand out. Standing just under seven feet tall with silvery grey skin and not to mention horns, metal horns. So why then was Jax not steering clear of civilization all together? He had a liking to human spirits. Jax favored a stiff drink when he could get one, really helped take the edge off his depressing life, but to get one was near impossible without causing a ruckus. Presently he was walking through the back roads of a larger town in Matron's Hollow with a cloak draped over his shoulders and head, headed for the nearest tavern, it was all he could do to avoid the watchful eyes of the Mordecai. His luck would not last, eventually someone would pander about the giant strolling through the town.

[Nam]

"Will! It's bed time~!"

Time's up, he thought. The boy sighed audibly as his gaze clumsily dropped to the ground and he bent over his knees. He reluctantly and sheepishly stood up with his torso practically hanging off his thighs humorously. But as he was just about to enter his home, he glanced behind him one last time; the reason? Who knew? He just did, as if detecting the presence of another. His eyes sparked with curiosity when he saw a rather large figure draped in cloaks within the dark roads of town. The tallest men on Connlaoth were nearly 5'9, but this man was even taller.

"Will?" his mother called, still waiting for his presence inside. She hadn't heard the door close from the kitchen, which was usually her way of knowing whether he entered or not.

There he was with a foot inside his house and another pointing the other way. Galahad glanced inside his home decisively. His mother was still in the kitchen and couldn't see him. Then his gaze shifted back to the figure which was nearly fading in the darkness. If he didn't act soon he'd lose him forever and probably never see the man.

He stopped to ponder. Everyday had been the same since he could remember. That man was probably just a normal villager –or an extravagant traveler. He could go to bed now and expect the same sun and the same bread of dough and the same gossips of mages and the taboo of magic. Or he could take a chance to learn of something which was probably not even worth learning. The difference between one and the other was that the former was set on stone while the latter possessed possibility of change –and that alone was enough to lift his foot out of his home, grab his wooden sword, and scurry into the night to eavesdrop on the cloaked man.

"William...!"

[Zane]

Jax didn't know what it was that alerted him to the person following him, perhaps it was the constant footfalls that were not his own, perhaps it were and old warriors sixth sense. Whatever it was, he knew he had a tail. And that was a feeling that always set him on edge, he turned onto the road where the tavern was, using the opportunity to look at his follower, it was no demon hunter nor Mordecai, it was merely a boy carrying a wooden sword of all things. Jax was in front of the Tavern now, he wondered just what this boy wanted. He decided to test his resolve, if the boy followed him into the tavern he would reveal his hood, and see where things went from there.

Jax had to stoop to enter the tavern, he sat in a dark corner and it wasn't long before a barmaid made her way to him. "I will have a bottle of your strongest brew." he didn't look up and the barmaid and it wasn't long before he had a bottle of ale, he reached out to it with his gauntlet hand, the spear part of his famed gauntlet spear reaching six inches past his hand. all that remained was for the boy to enter the bar.

[Nam]

(They allowed a 15 year-old to drink in Medieval times, no? xD)

Galahad brought his wooden sword merely for show and habit. Wherever he goes, it goes. After all, what's a swordsman without a sword, right? He followed the tall cloaked figure within the shadows behind. He was pretty confident that he wasn't spotted, and thus, he started getting bolder with every step as he tried to see past the hood from the side of the man. Standing quite a distance away, he was confident that he wasn't seen or simply written off as some random child who happened to walk his way. He'd occasionally look away or pretend to look at a store whenever he felt the man was wary of him.

Soon, he had entered a tavern –and that's where it got tough. William never liked to enter the tavern. It was embarrassing and people kept telling him to act like a man and grab on some of the barmaids that worked there. They would speak of past wars and glory, Angsar, one-sided debates about Magic which mostly consisted of a main criticizer and the agreement of the crowd; but above all, sex. Ribald jests that redden the young visage of those naive females that were present, sometimes out of courtesy and others out of genuine fluster. But certainly, none could be as benighted as the young William.

The boy propped himself over the window sill as he peered over the large figure that had now fled into the crowd of midnight brew. William wondered why the guards hadn't disarmed the man before entering. It was customary to do so as far as William's knowledge. He glanced up at the purging stare he was getting from the guard standing next to him. Galahad grinned nervously and handed him the wooden sword before entering the tavern. He didn't want them to think him cowardly by hiding outside. He sat on a table directly behind the man where he could not be seen.

"One of your best!" he called out to a passing barmaid who then giggled. William's face flustered and he looked down intently at the table before finding himself with a jug sitting right in front of him. He pulled it close to his chest and observed the bubbles rising over the yellow liquid. He glanced at the rest and studied how they seemed to drink it like nothing and then shifted to the man standing right in front of him across the room.

[Zane]

(That was very common back then, drinking water was hard to come by in townships, ever the more so in large towns and cities)

"Very well then" Jax mumbled to himself as the boy and sat behind him, he pulled off his hood, his nubs of the cut off horns clearly visible on his bald head. Jax turned to look at the boy, his white pupils and black eyes looked weary, cautious. "You boy, come share a drink with ale is too petty for someone with your calls." With that he waved over the barmaid, she looked very timid compared to how she was a few moments ago, laughing and flirting with various drinkers. "Get me two small glasses and you may find yourself with some silver." It didn't take her long to return with the cups, Jax gave her several silver coins then filled the glasses with the white brew. he laid one across from him, where it was waiting for the boy.

[Nam]

Will's lips were rimming the glass of brew as he contemplated taking a sip. He had never tried this stuff before but everyone else seemed to enjoy it. Before he could though, the man sitting in front of him called out and Goosebumps ran down the boy's spine. The shadowy figure removed the hood from his face and revealed the horns that had been hidden. William gasped. He looked behind him, hoping there was another boy –perhaps, he was referring to someone behind him; but alas, there were nothing but muscular ribald men, tiny in comparison to the horned stranger in front of him. From his position Will could only see the back of his head, but he soon gathered all the courage he could muster and cautiously walked towards the empty seat besides the man.

William glanced beside him to see the man's face better but then shied away with a gasp upon seeing those soulless eyes. Instead, the boy's glance dropped to the jar of ale placed in front of him and he began to absent mindedly play with it to kill time off this awkward moment. His heart pounded against his chest and nervous sweat drops rolled down his face. Curiosity overwhelmed the boy as he fought the urge to look askance to the man. His face was scary and silver –but interesting.

[Zane]

Jax downed his glass before pouring himself another. The brew was strong, it burned, Jax loved it. "Tell me your name. Mine is Jax. Then you can tell me why you were following me. Perhaps you were curious? Tell me, are you still curious? Or are you more frightened?" He took another sip of the strong brew. People were either curious or scared. Never anything else.

[Nam]

William finally took a sip of the ale, but he gasped, coughed and nearly choked to death. This is terrible! he thought. How could anyone drink this on a daily basis? Regardless, to keep appearances, Will brought the glass closer and took another gruesome sip. He didn't want anyone thinking he couldn't handle a bit of licor. He glanced up once again at the silvery visage of the mysterious person. Fear? Curiosity? A bit of both, he thought. "I was bored..." he said. Technically, he wasn't lying, but the worst thing you could do is tell a big man with horns and pit-less eyes that you're afraid of him. Not only was it unmanly of him, but it would feed the fire. The lion attacks the gazelle when the smell of fear is near –and when he's hungry... he thought with a growl from his stomach. It was supper time and he wasn't home.

William doodled with his fingers and felt the need to fill the silence with something. "Are you... a traveler?" he thought. It was such an extravagant idea to travel and meet the world. It was his dream –listed right under his dream of becoming a knight. Could you do both? What was a traveling knight called?

...

A mercenary? He frowned at the glass.

[Zane]

Jax frowned at the boy, "So you were bored." he said plainly. Almost like it were an insult. Deciding that is was, he topped of the boy's glass. "I'm more or less a traveler, freelance knight is more technical though I have been called other things." Such as vagabond, wandering demon, and some other things, none of which he was proud to have been called. "But you missed the main point boy. Your Name

[Nam]

Will cringed at the refilled glass of ale and gave a sheepish grin to the man as if he were grateful. Freelancing knight? He thought. That was it! That's what William wanted to be! A traveling knight with a mighty black stallion to ride him over the meadows and find troubled princesses in big castles which he would plunder and save the poor maiden from the grasp of Magic-Users; His face seemed to lighten up for a sec, focusing on the glass but looking beyond.

William wrenched the thought away. "My name?" he repeated. "Oh! It's William..."

[Zane]

"Well William now that the formalities are out of the way, I noticed that you had a wooden sword with you earlier, I take it you want to be a knight, correct?" Jax took an long drink from his glass before refilling it, it would be a long night of drinking before he would become intoxicated, after all he been drinking for many years.

[Nam]

Will grinned and nodded. "That's right!" he said. "Someday, I'm going to travel the world and become a knight." He looked at –the man- as to not use another word. It was getting easier for him, speaking with him really made the fear vanish, but it was still there. He kept thinking he'd suddenly claw his guts out or eat him alive in one fell swoop. He avoided the eyes though.

"What are you?" he asked. "You're a knight, aren't you." He was referring of course to all the scars in the man's face; memoirs of previous battles. But partly to his species altogether... William had never seen a horned beast with silver skin, this was his first. He seemed like he came out of some myth in an ancient and dusty old book stowed away with symbols nobody could read. Jax was a rather anticlimactic name though. But perhaps that was just his alias.

[Zane]

Jax smiled at the boy, dreams of becoming a knight were common among men, but for the Markovi it was a fact of life. "I am part of the Markovi race, or what's left of them anyway. Blessed by the god of war, we were fighters born and bred. Part of the reason so few of us remain. In Markovi society you are not given a name, you earn one, my name means Reckoning."

[Nam]

Will marveled at the man. His name suddenly seemed a whole lot cooler, although he didn't really understand what 'reckoning' meant, but he appeared to know as to avoid looking ignorant. "How did you earn your name?" he asked. Taking the glass of beer closer to his chest as if he were going to drink and listen to what could be an epic tale he would forever remember. His eyes were full of curiosity and they always stopped on the scars that decorated the man's face and probably told the very story of his name.

[Zane]

"When I was born, my entire race was fighting a war, as we had been for many centuries, this was a battle for our homeland, our right to live. Our enemy was what we called Imber Atrox, endless rain. As their name implied, their strength lies in numbers, they outnumbered us nearly two hundred and fifty to one. And they were relentless. On the field of battle, I was just as relentless, my morning star and I carving through them. My name Jax was given to me as my kill count reached two thousand of the Atrox. But it was for naught. We lost the battle, escaping with our lives while salting the earth behind us. So in the end. We both list and won." Jax finished yet another glass of the brew, filling it with again with the last of the liquor.

[Nam]

The boy stared wide-eyed as if he were about to be told of a great story people hear in camp fires, except the light was coming from lanterns in the corner of the bar and little candles placed nearby below their faces. Will grabbed his jug of ale with anticipation and watched as the silver man's words gained life and took form as he told it with just enough detail. He was not sure how 'Imber Atrox' implied they fought with numbers; perhaps it was a term he had yet to learn, but his eyes dilated towards the end.

"You ran!?" he exclaimed, slamming his hands on the table and standing up straight. Everyone around them became quiet and William sat back down embarrassed. After a while the monotonous sound of individual voices would continue and serve as the background music for their story to continue. Will cleched his hands on the table and looked at Reckoning, "does that mean you're still fighting? The war?" he asked calmly but curiously. William never experienced a full out war and so he had no idea what he was talking about -just what he had heard here and there. Stories of grandure and glory for one to hold under their belt of experiences and be known country wide.