A King's Legacy Ch. 07

A King's Legacy

Chapter 7: Outmatched

Stahl leapt across the courtyard of the Aschefell estate, swords bearing down with precision while his brother went on the defensive. Amboss gripped his hammer tightly and swung it forward from below, meeting his brother's force with a mighty clash of steel, successfully repelling his lunge. As Stahl's paws had barely touched the ground, his brother was already swinging the bone-crushing tool at the younger wolf's ribs. Aster managed to easily catch it with his shield without losing his balance.

Supporting another fighter from a distance was the focus of Aster's final week in the wolf's den. He had actually gotten the hang of it pretty quickly, but a badly angled assist could still knock him down for a moment. Stahl had solely remained on the offensive the past two days, leaving Aster to catch every attack launched his way from a good distance behind him. At first the wolf was worried he was pushing the human too far, but Aster surpassed even his own expectations with the results by the second day. Aster had grown in more ways than one in those five weeks, but the time for only training was coming to an end.

Stahl rushed again, and this time Amboss took a slight step forward and raised his arms, bracing himself for a heavy cleave downwards with the full brunt of his weight. Aster hated to block these particular hammer strikes, they made his bones vibrate with the jarring bluntness when it collided down on his shield, but he had gotten a lot better at spreading around the backlash from his skill. How quickly, and when he should adjust his arms, footing, or stance, and how accurately he could brace himself could be the difference between life or death in a real battle for anyone he was supposed to be guarding. Aster wasn't even sure if he was comfortable accepting that level of trust or such a heavy weight, but he never stopped giving it his all to protect the wolf.

Aster dropped a shield right in front of the hammer, stopping the older brother from ever being able to finish his downward swing, a technique he had picked up with Stahl's instruction to stop a heavy blow before it even had time to begin. Stahl didn't plan on wasting the opening, and closed in. Before he could secure the win, however, a certain young fox interrupted all of them by weakly jabbing Aster in the ribs with a short training staff.

"Mom wanted to talk to dad... Hey, does this mean you just lost?" Rust motioned down at the staff landing a hit, and before either Aster or Stahl could get a word out, the booming sound of Amboss's laughter echoed across the courtyard.

"Damn right it does! Failure to notice an opponent sneaking up on your defense is a valid loss! Nice support Rust!" The two opposing warriors wanted to argue, but there was really no way to dispute that without taking the victory away from the fox, so they just smiled at each other and shrugged it off while Amboss and Rust went off to talk with Rouge, who was patiently waiting beneath a nearby tree for her wolf. The young fox wasn't the only interruption that afternoon, however, as the sound of steady clapping shot through the air as a cloaked figure stepped out from behind his cover nearby, approaching the human. Aster couldn't see his face due to the hood being raised, but he wasn't afraid for some reason... In fact... The red trim on the black robe seemed incredibly familiar.

The cloaked beast stopped his applause, and dropped his hood after, speaking as he did so. "That was pretty impressive, my brother. You've grown strong I see." Aster's face lit up immediately when he recognized the panther beneath the robes as his brother, Cortist Venatus. The human didn't even hesitate to run towards the big cat, who reached his arms out wide, awaiting the embrace with a goofy grin that seemed to stretch for miles. He was not left waiting long, as Aster impacted himself against him at full speed, wrapping the mage in the tightest hug he could imagine. Cortist, who had a knack for getting too excited, picked the smaller human up in his embrace, and even managed half a spin before the pair crashed to the ground in anything but grace. Stahl hadn't expected to see such an emotional outburst from his usually well-mannered human friend, but Aster was smiling. He was laughing. That was something Stahl never got to see enough of.

"Corty! Why are you here? Sorry! That sounded bad, I'm happy you're here, but-" Aster was cut off by his older brother.

"Glad to see you haven't changed that much then, Hahaha! I know what you mean, my little brother. Officially, I'm on my way to help with the ceremony in three days. More importantly, I'm here now to see my brother... And help an old acquaintance with a request for magical assistance, but that's not what matters right now, come, tell me everything! I've heard through letters, but I want to hear it from you! I'm sorry it took me so long to get here, I've just been busy with a spell I had to complete before I could get cleared for the task." Aster was beaming with excitement, he couldn't wait to tell his brother all about everything! Well... Maybe not everything, but still, he had been waiting weeks for this moment! Stahl let out a small cough behind the pair.

"I think it's a good idea to stop here. We've covered a lot, and you've improved tremendously both offensively and defensively, Aster, so let's all just relax until the ceremony. We can pick back up after. I'm going to give you two some privacy to catch up, but I'll see you for dinner." The wolf gave a nod before making his departure, acknowledging the panther as his welcomed guest once more. Aster figured he could just take his brother to his room and talk like they used to, so that's exactly where the pair set off to.

Once they had settled in a bit and took a seat on the bed, Aster began filling his brother in on everything he had wanted to tell his best friend since The Selection. As he did so, he near completely skipped the extent of Straga's brutality, and found himself glossing over the full moon as well, but even still, the panther mage smiled on in amazement that his brother had finally stood up for himself. He was finally living. As Aster came to the end of his recount, Cortist was really welling up with emotion.

"You know, you really have changed. You've always been this open with me, but you're finally able to, and opening up to others now aren't you? I can tell, you seem softer in a way, like you can actually relax. Like you're finally allowed to feel things... You finally stopped looking at yourself as something simply placed in this world, and finally saw you are just as much alive as the rest of us. That you can belong among us... That you can fight beside us, just like we used to talk about right? Me, you, and Ta-..." The panther cut himself short, knowing that their brother was a sensitive subject. Aster remained quiet for a moment as the air between them quickly changed.

"I know that you dream of fighting beside me and Talan as brothers... And I would still like that too, but we both know he will never see me like that. Not again... Not since the last time he even used my name..." Aster trailed off, staring at nothing. Neither of them had wanted to revisit that night, but despite that, Aster found his fingers lightly tracing along the two scars beneath his eye. Cortist noticed, but stifled his words, changing the subject to happier matters once more.

"You know, your reveal couldn't have come at a better time... I'm engaged, brother, and I'll need YOU to be there for the wedding now! She's amazing, Aster! I can't wait for you to meet her, You will adore her! I was finally able to tell her about you and she was so mad! Hahaha! At me that is, for not telling her before... She's fine with the human brother part. She loves flowers, and her snowy fur always smells of lavender and lilac! She drives me wild, Aster. Truly." The big cat let out a happy sigh.

"That's amazing news brother! If you say you want me there, then I'll be at the wedding no matter what. That's a really wonderful way to feel about someone... And if anyone deserves that kind of happiness it's you, brother." Aster was truly happy for his brother's good news, but he was blushing a bit and avoiding eye contact at the mention of those types of feelings. Cortist noticed this, as a self-proclaimed, expert big brother such as himself would, and soon realized Aster was speaking from some personal experience. The mischievous cat was immediately grasping his brother by the hands and kneeling down in front of him with the most knowing smile ever as he stared the human directly in the eyes with a look that was brewing pure trouble.

"Wait... you... YOU FOUND A MATE TOO, DIDN'T YOU BROTHER?!?" Aster thought he was going to die from embarrassment as the panther practically announced that claim as fact to the whole residence in the loudest voice imaginable. He hurriedly scolded the cat in a forced whisper.

"Corty! Shut up! No, I don't have a mate... I...We... We kissed is all. It was nice... Really nice, actually." Aster let out a breathe of relief, Cortist was the first person he had talked to about that night and these feelings. That felt right to the boy somehow. The cat was eyeing his brother from the side with squinted eyes, the shit eating grin upon his muzzle grew by the second as he began to snicker soon after.

"It's the Aschefell wolf, isn't it? The taller one? The one you were shielding back there?" Aster could only stare at the ground and cover his face as the blood rushed to it, forcing out the reddest blush the mage had ever seen on his little brother. The cat laughed loudly again at the confirmation.

"HAHAHA, SERIOUSLY?!? YOU'VE BEEN OUT IN THE WORLD FOR ALL OF FIVE WEEKS, AND YOU SCORED WITH A HOT, NOBLE WOLF ALREADY? ASTER! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!!!" Aster was going to die. It was that simple, everyone in the mansion had heard his brother's excited yelling just now, and his heart was going to explode from embarrassment. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and found his brother was finally satisfied with the torture. He spoke in a much quieter tone now, albeit one still laced with the teasing.

"I swear, it's always a canine that sweeps someone off their feet... Is it the knot? That do it for you? I can respect that." Aster just glared at his brother now, Cortist smiled regardless.

"I, I don't even know what you're talking about Corty... I really don't know what I'm doing. I didn't care about this stuff. Until I did, so now I'm just trying to figure out what to do next. I mean... I know what sex is... But I don't really know what sex is. Or how to I guess... I just get nervous when I think about it too much... I think I want to try with Stahl though... Eventually... If, if he wants to... I just don't want to mess it up is all." Aster was actually having quite the self analyzing breakthrough now that he was saying it out loud. Cortist smirked again, letting out an affirmative "Hmmpf."

"I've been waiting ten years to have this talk with my little brother, so bet your ass that big brother Cortist is here to help you secure that wolf's heart, and his knot!" The cat smiled down naughtily at his little brother. Aster just gulped, still wondering what exactly a knot was. Cortist had his work cut out for him.

The brother's talk in private went undisturbed for most of the afternoon. Eventually, dinner time came, and Cortist joined Aster and the Aschefell estate for a delicious meal with good conversation. When morning came, Aster found his brother waiting for him at breakfast with Stahl. After they finished, the wolf and panther blindfolded the human, leading him to ask plenty of questions that they ignored. They guided him quite a ways, but soon Aster could feel the warm morning sun upon him. Aster was stopped and the blindfold was yanked away a short moment later, revealing the surprise at last.

Aster was staring at a set of armor gleaming in the sun beside Stahl's brother Amboss. There was a simple breast plate that was mostly black, with amber tinted trim outlining the torso. There were two pauldrons attached that covered just the tops of his shoulders, and two bracers that ran from his wrist to his elbows with the same coloration and design. There were greaves on each leg that began at his knees and stopped right at his ankle to guard his shins, they secured easily over his boots and pants. Aster noticed all of the armor had a light layer of leather beneath the metal, giving him a comfortable feeling of security when he wore it. He could freely move in all of it, and it didn't even feel that heavy, snag, or rub anywhere. It really was custom measured to him with astonishing accuracy. Aster was handed his finished new staff next. The black of his armor matched the cool steel handle. There seemed to be a fine powdery metal dust lacquered around the center area, giving it sand paper like grip when needed, or allowing the staff to slide through his palm when it wasn't. The two blades affixed on the ends were thin and slender, but seemed perfect for piercing through thick skin. The weapon was a bit longer than his previous one, but was proven as well-balanced when Aster twirled his staff, and even rolled it across his shoulder once with perfect movement, getting a feel for his new weapon and his attire. This was undoubtedly the best gift he had ever received, and it all made his heart want to burst from joy. Cortist was the first to speak pointing towards Amboss as he started.

"I've been up all night with Wolfie here enchanting and enhancing everything you now have on. He did incredible work forging this for you, as I'm sure you can see for yourself. Stahl here gave his input based on what he believed would actually help you, and he has also been steadily updating any changes needed for the design to his brother for the last month of your training together. The result you are wearing now took a LOT of work from a lot of people that care about you, brother, so wear it proudly. However, you shouldn't rely too heavily on the warding magic, but it can help dampen some blows enough to allow you to possibly scrape by what could be otherwise fatal. The Greaves will help keep you balanced, support your legs when shielding, and even boost your speed and movement a slight amount. The bracers pretty well do the same, but for your arms. All of it also has weight reducing magic imbued, so you should still be able to use your agility to move out of the way whenever possible. Overall, we went for the basics to both keep from hindering you too much, and to keep you from hurting yourself with too much power increase, all while giving you some basic protection out there... I Hope you don't mind that I took the liberty of choosing your colors. I went with the black as a base, but that golden shield of yours is a big part of you as an individual too, so I felt that amber color should be present as well. That's why the trim is the same color as the gem on it." Aster could only study his gift as his brother explained the details and effort behind it, making sure he clung on to every word the mage had spoken. This was important to the human, and he was grateful beyond words. Cortist pulled something from his robe pocket then, and cleared his throat before speaking again.

"I know how much you liked father's red cape as a cub, but with that staff as your weapon, there's no way it wouldn't hinder you if we tried adding one... And well, I guess Father knew that too... He sent this for you, brother. Aster slowly accepted the package from his brother's outstretched hand, and found there was something soft wrapped inside of a piece of brown cloth, tied-up tightly with simple twine. Aster broke the twine, and beneath the brown fabric was a scarlet red strip the same color as his father's cape, the trim on his brother Cortist's robe, and even his oldest 'brother,' Talan's scarf that had once belonged to his late mother. This was a personal symbol and message from his father to all who saw it, that Aster was indeed to be revered as a son of the Venatus family. Cortist took the strip of fabric from his younger brother's trembling hands, and tied the scarlet band securely over his forehead with a proud smile. Stahl had to agree with the fatherly panther's choice. The scarlet headband looked good on Aster.

When the first teardrop fell, Aster just started rambling in a shaky tone. There were just too many emotions trying to get out at once to give any real voice to. "I'm so damn tired of crying, I've cried more tears in the last five weeks than in my entire life... But dammit guys... How am I supposed to hold them in when happiness like this exists? I really don't deserve a single one of you... I just... I can't even begin to..." The little human soon felt his brother snatch him up in a tight embrace. That was more than enough said for all of them. Aster felt Stahl place a hand on his arm, giving him an encouraging squeeze. Amboss just beamed on brightly as he smiled at the crying boy. Aster found himself reminiscing on that day often when he found himself longing for some comfort.

A short time later, a handful of beasts departed the Aschefell estate along with the human, making their way towards the capitol once more, where they were to finally join in the ranks of legends.

Aster was a bit nervous as he approached The Selection Grounds once again, and received some hostile looks to say the very least, but Stahl, Cortist, and everyone else was with him this time, so Aster kept his head up as the group made their way through the entrance. When they made it the other side, and found themselves once again in the large arena, the group split apart to go where they were needed. Cortist walked beside Byron Aschefell, excitedly talking with the old wolf as they made their way to the king's platform. Cortist assisted the knight up the stairs along with The wolf's other son, Amboss. The young red fox Rust had been trailing behind them, more excited than anyone to see his uncle and his human friend swear into the Elite King's Guard. Aster and Stahl made their way to the center of the arena, waiting with the other victors who were already present. Aster was met with a familiar face scowling at him among others from a short ways away. It was Oust, the tiger he had barely managed to best on the second day. The one that had unmasked him seemed to have made it through his final matches as well, clearly holding a grudge. Suddenly, Aster saw a large, familiar shadow encompass his own completely. The boy knew who it was before he ever turned to face them.

"Hello, little human. Did you miss me as much as I missed you?" Straga went to reach his hand up to brush against Aster's face, but Stahl slapped away the dragon's claws before he could get too close. The monster only paused to smile creepily at first, and then spoke in that deep, hushed, whisper of a tone that seemed to come straight from the boy's very nightmares.

"Ah, I see you've found a cute little guard dog to keep you safe for me, human. That's good. Thank you, puppy, for taking care of my toy... And I thought for sure I had broken it too. I'll let you hold onto it for now, but don't get too attached, mutt, I'll be coming back for it soon. Make sure you keep a little meat on those bones for me, alri-." What Stahl did next surprised everyone who was watching the confrontation.

The wolf actually started growling by the end of the taunt, and promptly jabbed the dragon right in the snout, cutting him off mid rant right in front of everybody in the stadium. Straga's head only moved the slightest bit from the blow before he was slashing down on the wolf. Aster caught the dragon's swing with his shield without a second's hesitation, eliciting hushed whispers and gasps throughout the audience. Straga's eyes narrowed for a moment in irritation, but then the monster took a step back, smiled at the human one last time, and withdrew. Aster felt amazing, despite letting the dragon get under his skin with his threats... There was just something about seeing Stahl defend him like that... AND him immediately getting to protect the wolf after? Well... It just made the human feel good about his hard earned progress, as if everything would be alright as long as they were fighting together. That they could possibly even defeat such monsters as a team.