The Letter

Sif was soaring high in the bright blue sky, she was enjoying the heat of the sun beating down on her. She'd been flying for a little over a day and was growing tired, she scanned the terrain below her, looking for a good place to rest. She still had a little over five days of travel at her current pace, she could go faster, but it wasn't an urgent matter so there was no reason to exhaust herself.

She was high enough in the sky that she wouldn't be spotted from the ground, so she took her time to find a nice spot. She soon found an area that was perfect. It was a small clearing that had a small spring bubbling up from underground. It then ran down a small hill and fed into a little pond that was a few hundred feet away. She could see a small herd of fanged deer drinking from the springwater, they usually didn't form herds, but when at a watering hole would do so.

She was quite hungry, those fanged deer were definitely big enough to satiate her hunger. She still had the small bag dangling from her mouth, so she had to find a safe place to stow it before she could hunt. She figured that the top of a tree would be the safest place, so she silently flew over to a tall lonesome tree, about a quarter mile from the spring, and stashed the pouch at the top.

Once she was satisfied that the pouch wouldn't fall out of the tree, Sif flew back into the sky. She returned to the spring, looking down from up high, picking out which deer she would snack on. She could easily kill one with a hit from her lightning magic, but that would most likely kill many more than just the one she wanted. She decided on the more frontal method of just swooping down and grabbing one.

Sif was currently a little more than seventeen-feet long, her body was four feet in diameter at its thickest, and tapered down the length of her body. Her wings now spread an impressive twelve feet from tip to tip, and she weighed a hefty six hundred pounds. Her horns had grown out six inches from her skull, little nubs on the ends hinting at them beginning to branch out like antlers.

Although her wings were impressive, they were not the key to her flight. She discovered that her wings were just a conduit for her to channel wind magic in order for her to fly. Before, she was just doing this naturally, not putting any thought into it, but now that she knew the secret behind it, her skill in flying was at another level. She could now carry many times her own weight, as long as she had the magical power saved up, and her maneuverability was several times better than before.

Seeing the fanged deer start to split up after having their fill, she singled out the one she wanted. She zeroed in on it, folded her wings against her body and started to free fall like a missile towards the ground. A transparent protective eyelid kept her eyes protected from the wind that was assaulting her. She quickly picked up speed, her body providing very little drag.

The fanged deer stopped walking, it looked around, its instincts gnawing at its simple mind, telling it something was wrong. Trusting its instincts, it tensed its muscles, ready to run into the forest not too far away, but it was too late. It felt a sudden gust of wind from above, it turned its head only to see a pair of large golden wings covering its vision. Soon, its body was wrapped up in Sif's strong tail, then was soon lifted off the ground.

The fanged deer was in a panic, not only was it wrapped up in what appeared to be a snake, it was now flying through the air. It did the only thing it could, try to wriggle free and start biting the creature attacking it. It soon proved futile in both areas, the grip was too strong for it to even move a muscle, and when it bit down on the hard scales its teeth cracked. The creature's body was too hard, it felt like it was biting stone.

Feeling the deer do everything in its power to get free, Sif sent a jolt of electricity along her body, quickly killing the deer. She didn't send enough power to burn the deer, just enough in order to stop its heart. A small watch battery would be enough to stop someone's heart, if applied in the right area, so it didn't take much for Sif to kill it.

From the time Sif folded her wings, to the time she killed the deer, only about thirty seconds had passed. The commotion had startled the other fanged deer, she could see them bounding into the forest, not looking back at their comrade's unfortunate fate.

Sif loosened her grip, and landed in the clearing next to the spring. Although she did enjoy cooked meat, with all the different seasonings, she preferred fresh, raw meat. In her mind, the only thing better than raw meat, is raw meat that she hunted herself. It added something extra that she couldn't place, it might have something to do with her being an apex predator and being able to flex her power.

She placed the deer on the soft grass, then looked around, making sure that there wouldn't be any surprises while she was enjoying her meal. Not seeing anything, she turned to her kill and started to eat. Although she resembled a snake, she didn't eat like one. Instead of swallowing her prey whole, she used her large, saw-like teeth to cut the meat into pieces before swallowing. The deer she killed was on the large side, that's why she singled it out, so it would take her a little while to polish it off. Enjoying the taste, she happily ate to her heart's content, oblivious to the several sets of eyes watching her.

..................…

While Sif was enjoying her lunch, Marcus was doing the same. He was currently sitting at a table eating some kind of meat pie. He didn't know what kind of meat was inside, and he didn't ask. The waitress said it was the special of the day, so he ordered it, and he was glad he did. The meat melted in his mouth, he hardly had to chew, the vegetables were soft and flavorful. He was on his third pie, they weren't small, and he was becoming stuffed, almost as much as those meat pies.

He pushed the pie tin away from him, leaving only a small amount left, and took a drink of ale from the cup to his right. It was getting late in the day, he was going to go window shopping, but after stuffing himself, didn't feel like moving, let alone walking. He'd take a moment to digest his food, then find a carriage to take him back to the villa. Although he'd have to pay a fee, it was worth it, he ate too much and was currently miserable.

After about ten minutes he was feeling a little better, he waived the waitress over to pay his bill. While he was waiting for her to return with his change, he noticed that there was a man staring in his direction from the bar area. Marcus's table was in the corner of the room, he didn't like people sitting behind him, and the bar was about twenty feet to his right. The man was sitting basically as far from Marcus as he could, but was still staring at him.

The waitress returned and handed him his five coppers, Marcus stood to leave. The man watching him stood as well, and to Marcus's dismay, started walking towards him. The man was well dressed and stood up straight, Marcus could tell he was someone's servant, so he had somewhat of an idea what was going to happen. The man walked right up to him, stopped, then introduced himself.

"Good afternoon, I'm Exivier, head steward of the Lear family. I hope I am not mistaken, but are you perhaps the individual who helped during yesterday's incident."

Marcus thought about lying, telling him that he had the wrong guy, but knew that it wouldn't work. He decided to bite the bullet and accept whatever was about to happen.

"Yeah, that was me." Marcus stated plainly.

"I am relieved to have found you then. This is for you sir." Exivier said as he handed Marcus what looked like a letter.

"This is a letter from Lord Lear, also, there will be a banquet in three days to honor you, the man that saved his family. It will be held at his estate, he does wish for you to be there, in fact, he insists." Exivier explained clearly to Marcus.

"The details for the banquet are in the letter. Now I will take my leave, I pray you have a good day." Exivier prattled off, then left almost as quickly as he arrived.

Marcus was left there holding the letter with his mouth slightly open. He hardly had a chance to process what was happening, let alone ask any question. He looked down at the letter, hopefully it would answer some of the questions that were swirling around in his head.

...............…..

Marcus stepped out of the carriage that he took back to the villa, he paid the driver, then made his way inside. He'd read the letter during the ride, it didn't really answer many questions he had. It just expressed Lord Lear's many thanks for saving his family from the upturned carriage, and telling him about the banquet he would be hosting on Marcus's behalf. It gave the date, time, and location of the banquet, and it allowed him to bring a quest as well.

He had an idea on who he would bring, but had to talk it over with her first. While he was walking back to his room, he ran into Nathan. Nathan was dressed in his armor, with his weapon at his side, and was talking to another guard. Nathan spotted Marcus, dismissed the guard, and walked over to him.

"Anything going on I need to be aware of?" Marcus asked, gesturing to Nathan's armor.

Nathan looked at himself, then smiled. "Oh no, nothing is going on. I was just showing Miss Sylvia how to use that sword she bought."

"I'm glad she came to find you. She wanted me to teach her, but I really don't know what I'm doing with a sword." Marcus admitted.

"Well, that would make two of you. Haha." Nathan said, laughing.

"That bad, huh?"

"Yes, it was, but she is very enthusiastic about learning, determined as well. It may take several sessions, but I'm sure she'll pick it up eventually." Nathan said in a serious tone.

"That's good to hear. Speaking of Sylvia, where is she? I have something I need to discuss with her."

"She should be in her room, cleaning up after our training." Nathan told him.

"Thanks, I'll speak with you later about heading out into the wilderness." Marcus said as he walked past Nathan, patting him on the shoulder.

Marcus made his way up the marble stairs, found Sylvia's room and knocked gently on her door. After a moment, the door cracked open and Kelly stuck her head out. Once she saw that it was Marcus, she smiled and waited for him to speak.

"I was hoping I could speak with Sylvia."

"Oh, I'm sure she'd love to speak with you, but she is currently in the bath. Come back in about an hour, she should be finished by then." Kelly said, the smile never leaving her face.

"Alright, I'll be back in a little while then."

Marcus then made his way back to his room to wait.

...............

"So what did you wish to speak with me about?" Sylvia asked.

She was sitting in front of a large mirror and wearing a simple white dress. Maria was standing behind her, brushing her still damp hair. She had a very light layer of makeup on, the light blue eyeshadow really made her deep blue eyes stand out. She was getting ready for when Riley would show up to take her out.

"Well, I'll just let you read this." Marcus said, walking forward and handing her the letter.

Sylvia read through the letter, her mouth forming the words as she read it. After a minute she put the letter down, she had a huge smile on her face and her cheeks were a rosy hue.

"Of course I'd love to go with you!" Sylvia belted out.

"We'll need to get you a suit to wear, I doubt you brought one along. Oh, I'll need a new dress as well, we can go shopping tomorrow! I'll have the staff clean the carriage as well, we can't show up in a dirty carriage."

Sylvia seemed extremely excited, she was practically bouncing, making it very difficult for Maria to finish her hair. Marcus cleared his throat, but Sylvia didn't seem to notice, she just continued to tell Maria and Kelly everything that needed to be done before the banquet.

Marcus finally interrupted Sylvia's speal. "That's not really what I wanted to talk with you about."

Sylvia stopped talking immediately, a despondent look overcame her face. "You don't want to take me with you?"

"No, that's not it, you'll be my guest." Marcus said, refraining from rolling his eyes.

"Oh, that's a relief." Sylvia said, as she put her hands on her chest.

"What I wanted to talk about is Lord Lear himself. I've never heard of him before, I know nothing about him." Marcus explained.

"Well, Lord Lear holds a very high status, he's the Lord assigned to govern over the entirety of the New World. I hear tell that he is a very loyal, but iron handed man. He's known for his icy demeanor, I've heard that no one has ever seen him smile. Those are just rumors though, the one thing I do know for sure is that the only thing he loves more than the Empire is his family. So the fact that you saved them probably makes him think very highly of you, you should feel honored." Sylvia informed him.

"Well, I suppose so. It might not be too bad to go." Marcus thought out loud.

"Of course it won't be bad, you couldn't refuse though, even if you wanted to. To do so would be a slap in the face to Lord Lear. I'm sure he could make your life very difficult if he wanted to, Father wouldn't even be able to help you out." Sylvia said as Maria was putting curls in her hair.

"That settles that then. I won't want to make my life any more difficult than it already is." Marcus said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sylvia asked with furrowed brows.

"Nothing, nothing, it was a joke." Marcus said with a chuckle, surprised she caught on so quickly.

"I'll leave you to finish getting ready, I need to get ready as well. I'll meet you at the front door later." Marcus said.

"Alright, I'll see you then."