Razmuth

Razmuth was thrown against the wall of a dead-end alley, and before he could collect himself, he received a hard punch to the gut.

"Awfully quiet now, ain't 'cha?!", a boy, who was a foot taller than Raz exclaimed.

"Three against one," Raz, who was a mere 13-year-old boy, taunted his much larger opponent, "I'm surprised you didn't need their help with that sentence--"

His opponent, blushing, swung at Raz's face. Raz ducked, grabbed the boy's brown, rough shirt, turned his hips and flung him over and onto the stone pavement.

"Oh! Me back!" the boy cried out, which caused his two contemporaries to charge at Raz.

A lean boy with a rat-like face grabbed Raz's dark, short hair and tugged with all his might; while the other who was roughly the same height and build as Raz restrained his arms. Raz struggled with all his might but was unable to break away. Suddenly, the lean boy let go, and Raz was punched in the face by the large boy who had managed to get up by then.

"'Cha made me back hurt; now me's gonna make 'cher pay!"

The trio proceeded to beat Raz. Raz kept resisting for as long as his body allowed him to but by the twentieth blow to the face, Raz was all but unconscious. Eventually, the boys stopped, threw Raz against the wall, and left. Out of strength and luck, Raz passed out.

When Raz came to, he was in the healers' ward in the town center. He had regained his strength and was unharmed. He had been healed.

"Oh, you're awake," one of the healers' assistants noticed, "You should wash your face." He pointed at a washbasin which was some ten feet away from Raz.

Raz did as was asked, and when he looked in the mirror above the washbasin, he saw that his fair-skin had been darkened with dirt and dried blood. Raz cleaned his face as thoroughly as he could, but he could still see remnants of his blood.

Raz could already hear his mother, "Why 'ave ya always gotta pick fights?" Raz had no answer for that question; he had often thought long and hard about that, and he was always unable to come up with an answer.

Suddenly, Raz heard a woman's voice, "How are you, child?" Raz turned to look at the woman. She wore clean, white robes. She also wore a white veil and scarf both embroidered with a red full moon overlapping two thirds of a brilliant golden sun, the mark of the Walindian healers.

"Yes, I am fit as a fiddle."

"You should be on your way, then."

"Understood, daktor."

And with that, Raz left the town center, and made his way out of the town of Roboro and into the hills that surrounded it. On one such hill, was a large ranch, filled with brilliant specimens of horses, cattle, sheep and the like; Raz's home.

Raz's family was originally peasants. However, his great grandfather, Artorius, was a very capable man. He bred the finest breed of horses and gained fame for them. Since then, the Bridwyrs, Raz's family, have been working exclusively for the local lord and have received many benefits. One of these benefits was the heir to the ranch being taught by the lord's chosen scholars. Raz hadn't been studying under them for long, yet, he already perfectly understood grammar and composition. His scholars had been very impressed and recommended to his father that Raz be sent to the capital, Moontouch, so that he may put his gift of understanding to good use. His father, Kalmu, had been hesitant. With good reason, too; Raz couldn't stay out of trouble in the small town of Roboro, if he were to go to Moontouch, who knows how much of ruckus he'd create.

As Raz got closer to the ranch, he realized that there were customers. This was particularly interesting as the customers didn't appear as though they were in the service of the local lord. Once he was within earshot, he could finally make out what the customers, a company of two, were wearing. One was a petite woman, though she was clearly much older than Raz, who wore a beautiful deep purple robe that had a hood. In her left hand, she held a staff that was about four feet in height and had a jade snake coiled around it, mouth towards the top of the staff, and had an ivory dagger on the top of the staff. Raz thought that it looked familiar, though he couldn't pinpoint it. "Perhaps something from a book that I read," he thought.

She was accompanied by a knight in brilliant purple full plate armor with short blonde hair. The knight wore a large white cape that had a symbol embroidered on it: a red snake wrapped around the blade of golden dagger. That symbol was very familiar, and it irked Raz that he couldn't remember where he saw it before.

The couple was being shown a dark horse by Raz's father, who was six feet tall with a medium build, fair skin, long black hair that draped over his shoulders, and dark brown eyes that were sparkling, surely with the hope of closing a favorable deal, "…outrun any horse, he will, no doubt! He may not be pretty but he's fast. Of course, if you want pretty, we have that too!" Kalmu noticed Raz, "Ah! Raz, be a dear and fetch a pretty horse from the Heera lineage."

His father, when negotiating would often not bother with anything else, and so didn't bother asking why Raz's clothes and face were rugged. Raz didn't mind it and went to fetch the horse from the stables. When he was returning, his father drove the attention of the customers towards the horse that he was leading.

"And that one there," he said, pointing at the white horse that Raz was leading, "is one of a kind when it comes to beauty. He's as white as an albino but he is not, in truth! He has blue eyes, you see, not a characteristic of albinos. He'll run faster than most horses too! And he will stay in good health for longer than a sheep!" Kalmu let out a playful, polite laugh.

The customers, now facing Raz, were clearly foreign. They had lighter skin than Raz, and their eyes seemed to be smaller. Their faces had less definition than Kalmu's. The woman with the staff had silver hair, green eyes, and lips as red as a cherry. Her companion was six feet and five inches tall, had black eyes and a rugged, scarred face. The knight's breastplate had the same symbol as her cape. This one, however, had the same color as the breastplate itself, and was made visible by indentation.

Raz could see that the customers looked confused and worried. He wondered if his father, in his excitement, had forgotten to ask if they were here to purchase.

"Is something the matter?" Raz inquired, while his father kept going on about the finest qualities of their horses. The couple looked at one another and handed Raz a piece of paper.

"—And no doubt, if you want to dress it in armor— What's that?" Kalmu said, having calmed down enough to notice what was happening.

"It seems that you were too joyous to realize that these fair people may not be customers. We are Lord Lanna's favored ranchers, after all." Raz opened the letter, which had been sealed by the Septon family's, meaning Lord Lanna's, seal which was evident by the symbol: an eagle killing a snake.

Raz, I pen this letter to you as I am well aware

that your father often loses himself when he

scouts an opportunity to add to his wealth, while you

act as the beacon of reason and take everything

into consideration. The couple that has arrived bearing

this message aren't mere messengers. They,

as you must have deduced, are foreigners, come here on

my request to assist you with something that I

believe that you will find most helpful. For now, give them

a place to rest and a field to exercise within and

treat them with utmost respect as they shall be your tutors

in the way of the sword and magic. Learn well

and learn all for I fear that you may need it in the not so

distant future. Come see me as soon as it is

possible for you, bring your father too. One last thing:

your tutors do not know the common tongue.

Speak with them in Ertisi, I trust you remember it.

"Magic and sword, for me?" Raz thought, "Why would the lord wish for me to be taught such things? Not to mention, why would he reach out to a couple from Ertistan for this?"

Answers to these questions, Raz did not have. However, he did understand one thing: he didn't have a choice. He handed the letter to his father, who, once finished reading the letter, looked at the foreigners with an expression that was a mix of awe, excitement, and fear.

Raz addressed the couple in Ertisi, "Hello, mine name is Razmuth. Mine father is Kalmu." He pointed towards Kalmu. "Me seek your forgiveness. Mine Ertisi is not good. Me hope us can communicate."

Hearing familiar words, the foreigners smiled. The woman in the robes spoke slowly, "I am glad to know that you, Razmuth son of Kalmu, can speak Ertisi! One misses their speech how a fish misses water. My name is Reina, daughter of Khon. I have heard much about you, Razmuth. I eagerly await the day when we begin your training."

Raz understood enough of her speech to get the general gist of what she was saying. "Kind follow me. Me show you you rest spot."

Raz escorted them to the guest rooms, all the while wondering what Lord Lanna was thinking about. "I assume I will understand everything once I have answered his summons," Raz thought to himself.