Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Evenmithra ❯ Beginning again ( Chapter 1 )

Evenmithra
Haven was a quiet village; there was seldom any excitement there. This was not because it was boring, but because magic and mystery were so common at that time that they were considered an ordinary part of life.
The only vaguely exciting thing for miles around was a castle that stood on the hill overlooking the village. It was not terribly important, so there were very few visitors of any importance.
Inside Haven itself one could often see the local blacksmith, who was named Yolei. She was also the village Wise Woman, which had its advantages. The weapons she made often had magical properties, the Lord of the castle for example, had a sword that never missed its target and glowed whenever the owner was in danger.
~*~
One Tuesday morning, just as Yolei was lighting the forge for the day, she noticed a boy standing watching her.
"Hey, Boy!" She shouted "this is no place for children!"
The boy ignored her warning. "Are you Yolei?" he asked.
"Yes,"
"Do you have an apprentice?"
"No, not yet."
"Would you accept me?"
Yolei looked up. Until now, she had just thought the boy was being a nuiscence, she had certainly not expected anything like this.
"You mean, teach you how to work metal?"
"No, err, teach me how to work Magic."
Yolei laughed, "I don't know lad, my Magic's not worth much. You really want to see the Wizard over the Hill about that."
"But, you learned it from him, didn't you?"
"Well . . .Yes, I did. So?"
"So, you'd be able to teach me a bit, wouldn't you?"
Yolei gave up. Obviously there was no point arguing with him. "Oh, very well. If you work a bit in the forge, I'll teach you what I know. What's your name, anyway?"
"Cody,"
"Well then Cody, how are you with the bellows?"
~*~

Around a month after Cody's apprenticeship began, Yolei decided to visit her old mentor, the Wizard over the Hill. It was three or four days journey westwards from Haven to the Hill, so they had to do a lot of preparation before they could leave.
Yolei and Cody set off early on Wednesday morning. Cody carried a long sword his mistress had lent him for the journey. Yolei had no weapon except her oaken staff with the Athmol jewel set in the tip. This was no ordinary staff, the Wizard himself had made it for her on the day she became his apprentice, and it had powers that even he did not comprehend at the time.
The Sun was not yet up and a heavy mist wreathed the moors. More than once they lost their way, and Yolei had to cast a clearing spell in the end to rid them of the fog. They rested briefly at midday, and by nightfall they had reached Hathmoir, which means "Great Stone" in the ancient tongue
of that land.
Cody was woken suddenly by somebody shaking him. He was just about to cry out when he heard a familiar voice whisper: "Quiet". A weak light was issuing from Yolei's staff, illuminating her face, which looked worried.
"Wolves!" she whispered "I can hear them!"
Cody listened carefully. There it was! A long howl, somewhere to the north. He carefully drew his sword and stood up. He could see grey shapes at the bottom of the hill. One detached itself from the group and crept up the slope. Cody held his breath . . .
~*~The wolf's leering yellow eyes glared at Cody as it paced up and down, waiting for him to make the first move. Cody twisted his sword to the left, blocking its only path to Yolei. The wolf growled and leapt forward with its teeth bared, knocking the boy over.
"Twang!" came the sound of a bowstring further down the slope. The wolf fell to the ground with a dull thump, an arrow in its side.
Cody picked himself up. On one hand, the wolf was dead and therefore no longer a threat. On the other, there was a dangerous potential enemy waiting on the hillside. And whoever it was had the advantage.
"Who are you? Friend or foe?" Yolei shouted.
"Friend!" came the reply.
"Then would you care to tell us you name, Master Friend?" Cody piped up.
"I would prefer to be on equal ground first!" Without waiting for a reply, the man climbed easily up the slope. In the weak light of his mistress's staff, Cody could se that he was tall, about six feet high, with longish dark hair and very bright blue eyes.
"I am Kenneth, messenger from the Lord of Haven," He glanced at Cody, then at his sword, "You can put that away Master Swordsman," he said," I mean no harm to you or to the Lady."
Cody sheathed his sword reluctantly. "I am Cody, and this is Mistress Yolei Inoue, whom I owe service to."
Kenneth looked slightly surprised. "So this is the famous Yolei, who they say fashioned both the sword of my Liege Lord and the jewels of his Lady?"
"I am her," said Yolei.
"Only they never said she was beautiful as well."
"You flatter me, there are maidens fairer by far than I at that castle of yours." she replied, blushing slightly.
"They are but serving maids, who care only for the attention of the Knights and the next Ball."
"It is strange, I envied them so much as a girl, and yet I have loved the arts of Metal and Magic more than ever I loved a man, even a Knight."
"Perhaps that will change Lady,"
~*~