Dravins Sorrow Ch. 01

He was tall, standing at six foot three, and willowy though he seemed to be strong. He had nape length dark black hair and dark black eyes set in a dark, ebony face though it was strong. The clothing he wore showed that he was one for blending into the darkness; into disappearing into the shadows to do his job no matter what it was. And there was little doubt from the look of coldness in his eyes that he knew no mercy.

"Who are you?" Dravin asked defiantely, balling his hands into fists. His golden eyes sparked as he looked up at the older figure. There was little doubt that the cloaked figure could easily cut him open and leave him dead before his uncle could do anything. However, he would stand and continue to be who he was supposed to be. He was an Amazon and the Amazon Prince at that. No one was going to intimidate him.

The figure grinned a little bit, showing the coldness of that smile. However, it wasn't an evil smile. It was one that the young Prince had expected from a warrior, an assassin. "My name is Jakal, one Tribe Leader among the Andarian Wasteland." he told the boy, his voice showing no pride in them. He just was who he was and was merely stating it.

The younger Amazon furrowed up his brow while staring up at the black clad figure. Then, he turned his attention to his uncle of whom was completely silent. He'd been watching the entire thing without saying a word, merely listening and watching how they interacted with one another.

"Why is he here, uncle?" Dravin asked the redhead, his voice completely serious. Once again, his fists were balled up with his confusion. He heard his uncle's sigh and watched as he took a step forward.

"Please, excuse my nephew and I for the moment." Pool told the man, stepping up next to him. He turned his head, staring into his eyes.

At first, the other man didn't look like he wanted to comply. Then, he merely nodded his head in acquiescence before turning sharply on his heels. Walking away on quiet heels once again, he opened the door and stepped outside, leaving them with their privacy.

The young Prince stared at his uncle, waiting for him to speak. He had no idea what was going on here. True, they had discussed his training the night before, but he hadn't thought that he would actually be sent away. And with such a cold person too! It was a complete shock to his young mind.

"I'm sorry, Dravin, but this is the best way." Pool suddenly said, snapping the boy out of his reverie. The older man was staring right into his face, his own expression completely serious. "While I could train you and so could everyone else in the village, it's not enough. You must be trained by those who are truly powerful and the Andarians like Jakal are truly powerful. They will show you the things that we would never be able to."

"But why?" Dravin asked incredulously and he shook his head. He stared up at his uncle, hoping this was all a joke, a game, something that wasn't very funny, but he would laugh at. "Why must I leave the village and go all the way to Andaria?"

The King stared down at him, obviously not feeling too well about this decision. However, it wouldn't waver either. His conviction was one of the good qualities that he had as King, and once he'd made a decision, no amount of talking or attempting to finagle would get him his way. He knew that, but he could still try.

"There is no way that we could train you properly. We could teach you how to fight as a normal soldier. The Andarians can teach you more; things that will help you survive." Pool informed his nephew with a slight grin. "Stealth, assassination skills, ranged attacks. All of these things will help you in the future and you'll need them to become a powerful warrior. And a ferocious, mighty King, Dravin."

The Prince knew that his uncle was right. The Amazons were well known for their direct way of fighting. Because of this, the raids of the Dark Races were about the only types of invasions that they'd dealt with well. They just weren't the type to hide among the trees and fire down on their enemy like the Wood Elves. The Amazons weren't patient enough for all of that. However, the Andarians were different.

They had lived among the Andaria Wasteland for generations without anyone even being aware that they existed. The only reason that the residents of Aries knew that they existed was because one of the tribal leaders had come out of hiding and became allies with King Acheron before Aries was an official nation.

Ever since then, the Andarian Tribes were allied with Aries though not officially.

"When do I leave?" Dravin asked, feeling defeated. However, he knew that he wasn't defeated. This hadn't been a battle and the five year old was just being helped to become a better warrior and future King.

"As soon as possible." Pool replied with a nod of his head. He moved over to the door, opening it and allowing the other inside. The Tribal Leader strode through to stand in front of the boy.

The Andarian stood there, staring down at the boy, completely silent. Then, he nodded his head. "Come then. We should get going." Jakal told him before turning sharply on his heels and stalking out of the house. Not sure what else to do, the Prince picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulders. Not even bothering to look back at his uncle, he walked after the man.

His future had just begun and Dravin knew that it was going to be a bright one.

It was early morning and the sun was just starting to rise over the horizon. The sky was turning a bright orange, the clouds barely visible. The golden light lit upon the land of Aries and the High Forest. Walking through the thick foliage of the High Forest was a single figure, but one couldn't see his face. The cloak that he wore - with the cowl up over his head - obscured his features from the whole world.

The figure walked slowly through the High Forest. However, his heart was beating fast, showing himself his true anticipation. He was eager to reach the village of the Amazon people. Once there, he would be home. Home for the first time in twenty years and he couldn't wait.

The black cloak the figure wore was growing hot and heating the man underneath. Because of this, the man made a decision. He had intended on not taking down the cowl until he was back in the village. Then again, that might've been a bad idea in the first place. The Amazon people weren't very trusting people. To see someone walking towards them with a cowl up would more than likely have gotten him filled with arrows.

Shaking off that thought, he pulled back the cowl and revealed his features. Running a hand through his short cut dark chestnut hair, he blinked his golden eyes as they were revealed to the sunlight. He groaned lightly and pinched the bridge of his nose. He could feel a headache building behinds his eyes, but he knew that it had nothing to do with being exposed to sunlight. It was the change of crossing the border from the Andarian Wasteland into the Kingdom of Aries.

The man was tall, standing at six foot two, and broad shouldered. He was packed with heavy muscle that had been built based on his heavy training regiment under the Andarian Tribal Lord, Jakal. He had short cut dark hair that he wore swept back from his forehead and golden eyes set in a tanned, handsome face. He wore a black leather bodysuit that clung to his frame, knee high black leather boots, a black leather belt with twin curved daggers sheathed at both of his hips, and a glossy black cloak that flowed to the back of his knees.

Save for the half mask that he used to wear, he looked every inch the Andarian Assassin. However, he wasn't even Andarian. He was a native of Aries, but had spent twenty years of his life in Andaria.

He had been sent there by his uncle when he was a child. He hadn't wanted to go at the time, but at the same time, he wanted to be powerful. He wanted to earn the respect of his parents and his people. To do that, he needed strength and his uncle had informed him of a way to do that.

The only way was to train under the Andarian people.

Dravin had trained with the Andarians for the past twenty years. He hadn't been alone though. There were many children of his age that had trained under the Tribal Lord, but of all of them, he had excelled. He had been the one to become more skilled than any of the natural born Andarians. He was sharper, more in tune with his instincts, and quicker. He was far sneakier than any of the others that had trained with him.

Because of this, the Amazon hadn't been too popular among the Andarians. Most of the others had shunned him because he showed them up. They were of the mindset that he shouldn't have even been there. He shouldn't have been trained with them in the secret arts of the Andarian warrior. But the simple fact of it was that he had been trained with them and he was the best of them.

However, the Prince had had one friend. A girl, but more than that. She was the daughter of the Andarian Tribal Lord, Jakal. Her name was Sara and she was a very likeable person. Shaking off his thoughts of her, he refocused on getting home.

Dravin took note of one of the trees as he passed it. It had a carving into the trunk, low to the ground where a child would've been at eye level. Smiling at the sight of it, he stopped and bent down. Fingers running over the inscription, he shook his head. It was a carving of a broadsword and it was pointed straight down.

The Amazon had carved that himself on his first time allowed out into the High Forest. True, his uncle had been with him the entire time, but he hadn't known that at the time. He'd THOUGHT that he was alone. He had intended on showing his bravery by tracking down a wolf and killing it. He would've brought back the pelt as proof that he'd killed it.

The Prince had even managed it. He'd tracked down a wolf and he'd pulled out his knife. As soon as he unsheathed the weapon, the wolf had spun on him, having obviously heard the drawing of the weapon. The beast had growled at him, seeing him as a threat. The beast had lunged at him, and despite his fear, he had stood his ground. Because of that, he was tackled to the ground by the wolf and its weight pushed down on him. Before the beast could kill him though, he'd cut its throat and was sprayed in its crimson blood. The body had collapsed on top of him and he'd been unable to life the wolf off of him. It was then that his Uncle Pool had made his presence known. He'd stepped out of the woods and easily lifted the wolf corpse off of his young nephew. The five year old had stared up at him in shock. He hadn't known that he was there at all. But he hadn't said anything to his uncle about it. Instead, he'd skinned the wolf, separating meat and fur from one another. Then, he'd returned to the village with the fur pelt and everyone in the Amazon village had been impressed with his feat.

It was Dravin's greatest achievement before he was sent to the Andarians.

The Amazon heard the sound of howling in the distance. Head coming up, he smiled a little bit. An idea occurred to him suddenly. Just as when he was a child, he would return to the Amazons with a wolf pelt and meat. That would cement his place back among them he was sure.

The Prince rose to his feet and turned to where he'd heard the howl come from. He was an expert tracker and was sure that he could find the wolf with little issue. They were known for being near water so they could keep their litters well taken care of. Because of that, he was sure that he knew where this wolf was. Or at least, a perimeter in where it would be.

Trekking further through the High Forest, he soon found himself beside a pool of water. Walking over to it, he knelt down next to the large pool. Staring down into the pool of water, he stared at his reflection for a moment. Then, he turned his attention to the surroundings of the pool. He moved around, searching for anything to point him to where the wolf was. Then, he found it. Several tracks leading to and away from the pool.

Smiling, Dravin reached down into his boot. Pulling out a single curved dagger, he tightened his hand around the blade. Then, he stood up straight and followed the tracks further into the forest. He could only hope that he would find them quickly.

It didn't take the Amazon long. Only thirty feet from the pool of water was a small group of trees with a large hole dug out of the ground. He knew from personal experience that wolves tended to create dens, often dug out underneath one tree or another.

Tightening his grip around the hilt of his dagger, the Prince moved silently towards the den. Despite how stealthy he could be, he knew that the ears of his prey were sharp. They could probably pick up on his presence if he was just a little too loud.

Stopping at the entrance of the den, he peered into the darkness. Narrowing his eyes, he still couldn't see anything. It was too deep and too dark to see anything. To just charge in would be foolish. To do such a thing would get him killed more than likely. He wasn't going to take that chance.

So instead, Dravin decided to do something that he'd learned while he was in Andaria. He was going to smoke them out.

Backing away from the den slowly, the Amazon was careful not to step on anything to make any noise. He didn't want to alert them before he was ready. Turning from the den when he felt like he was far enough away, he moved around and started gathering up twigs. Finding some thick underbrush, he wrapped it around the sticks tightly. Then, he gathered on his magic and a small flame appeared in his palm. With that, he grabbed the underbrush and felt it grow warm under his palm. When he pulled his hand away, the underbrush and the twigs were on fire.

With that, the Prince walked towards the den with the torch in his hand. As soon as he stopped in front of the den, he threw it into the den. He watched it light up the darkness, but there were no wolves to be seen. However, that didn't matter. The den was small and the smoke would gather in the den, effectively driving out the wolves within.

Moving off to the side of the den's entrance, he tightened his hand around the hilt of the dagger. Waiting patiently, it didn't take long before it garnered results.

A single wolf ran out of the den, choking and coughing. The beast sneezed as it came out into the sunlight, clearing its sinus' of the smoke that had easily gotten inside. As the wolf moved out of the den, he noticed that it was rather large and muscular, indicating that it was an adult. It was covered in thick brown fur and had golden eyes set in an elongated maw filled with razor sharp teeth.

Dead, Dravin thought to himself with a smile on his face. With that, he lunged forward and stabbed the wolf in the throat. The beast let out a whine and cry of pain. It fell to the ground, blood pooling around its head. In seconds, the four legged beast was dead.

Straightening, the Amazon stared down at the wolf. It was a truly majestic creature and he had great respect for the beasts. That was why he saw them as true trophies unlike a bear or a deer.

Turning his attention to the den entrance, the Prince frowned a little bit. Normally, wolves only created dens if they had families. That was what was curious about this. Only one wolf had come out of the den. That was very uncommon and he would investigate further.

Leaving the wolf there, he made his way towards the den entrance. Ducking his head, he entered the dark, smoky den. Narrowing his eyes, he made his way deeper into the small space. Finding the torch that he'd thrown in the middle of the floor, he cast his eyes around in search of the other wolves. Off in the corner, he found four small bodies huddled tightly against the wall. They were whimpering lightly, their eyes casting around as he walked closer to them.

Mere pups, Dravin thought to himself with a wince. That wolf...had a family and I probably just killed their mother.

The Amazon felt a pang in his chest, but he ignored it. He felt bad for the wolf pups, but there was nothing he could do for it. It was the way of the world. However, there was one thing that he could do for them.

Kneeling before them, the Prince reached for the pack he wore strapped to the back of his belt. Untying it, he took it into his hands and unlaced the bag. Reaching inside, he found a piece of salted beef and pulled it out.

"Here you go." Dravin called to the wolf pups with a smile on his face. He held out the salted beef and he waited for them to come to him. He could only hope that they would look past his scent and being hungry enough, would approach him.

One of the wolves looked up at him. It blinked, obviously a bit wary of him. One of the wolves moved away from the other two cub mates and moved on slow, shuffling feet towards him. Obviously the little beast was overwhelming his own fear to sate his hunger.

The creature whimpered at the sight of the food being offered to it as it approached. It stopped right in front of the salted beef, it's eyes coming up to look at him. Then, the wolf slowly opened its mouth and took the beef between its teeth. The Amazon released it, watching as the wolf quickly sucked the beef into its mouth and began to chew on the beef. It looked more than happy to be slobbering on the food too.

As the Prince looked on, he noticed that the other two wolf pups were looking at their litter mate. They were obviously curious and he smiled gently. Reaching back into his pack, he pulled out two more pieces of salted beef.

"If you want some, come get it." Dravin called to them. He wanted the wolves to come to him willingly. He wasn't going to force them to come to him.

The two wolves moved away from the floor, heading towards him. Obviously, the food was more than enough for the wolves to trust him. This sort of made the Amazon feel a little bad. He'd killed their mother after all.

They grew closer and the Prince sat the salted beef on the ground. He sat back on his haunches and watched as they approached the beef. They bent their heads, licking at the beef. Then, they opened their mouths and swallowed the beef into their mouths. They smacked as they ate the food, growling low in the backs of their throats as they did.

As soon as they were done, they licked their lips and looked up at him. He nodded his head to them, feeling at least a little better. He'd given them a meal at least. They would survive at least a little longer.

With this done, Dravin tied the pack back to his belt. Straightening, he nodded to the wolf cubs and turned around, walking out of the den. Stepping out into the sunlight, he winced as the sunlight poured into his eyes and he blinked his eyes a couple of times to adjust. With that done, he leaned down and picked up the corpse of the wolf cubs' mother.

Hefting the wolf over his broad shoulder, the Amazon turned and made his way back through the High Forest. Stooping beside the pool of water nearby, he sat the body of the wolf down on the grass. Then, taking his knife out once again and began to carve up the wolf. Separating fur from meat, he cleaned the fur away and tucked the two items away. With that done, the Amazon felt that he could return to the village without having to prove anything else to them.

With that done, the Prince pulled the black hood back over his head. Then, he turned and made his way back to the Amazon village.

XXXXX

The sun poured through the trees of the High Forest, bathing the land in its golden rays. Shafts of light fell upon the Amazon village, exposing it to anyone that might've been nearby to see it. Standing just outside of the village was one of its lost sons, one that had left many years ago and was just now returning today.

Dravin.

The Amazon still wore his cowl over his head, obscuring his features. He was seriously questioning whether he should go into the village like that or not. If he were to do that, he was inviting suspicion and possible death. The others would obviously think of him as an enemy and probably attack him. He didn't want that, but he supposed that he could stop that before it came to that.