M40

After spending a few more hours drinking and swapping stories, the herders and Morgan and Olivia retired to the longhouse to sleep. The air was warm in the low-ceilinged building because one of the hunters had lit a central hearth earlier in the day. By now, it was down to coals, but plenty of residual heat persisted. Morgan and Olivia were given bunks near the far end of the longhouse, while the herders took positions more near the doors. Morgan had a good buzz going by this point and sort of just fell into his bunk.

Morgan woke to find himself the only occupant of the dim longhouse. The only light was streaming through the opening where the central hearth vented its smoke. He stood, stretching, and was relieved to find he didn’t have any sort of a headache or hangover. Apparently, his vitality was good for something! Yawning, Morgan walked out the door on the west side of the building and saw that two of the herders were sitting by the firepit eating something that looked a lot like oatmeal. “Morning.”

“Hah, he wakes!” Forn smiled up at him and gestured to a bench. Morgan sat and accepted the bowl of warm mush that Beyli handed him. He used the wooden spoon to take a bite and found that it was a slightly salty mix of grains and milk. It hit the spot, and he wolfed it down.

“Olivia already working with her roladii?”

“Aye, she’ll be riding that thing before the day’s over. You better get to work, or you’ll be bouncing behind one of us again tomorrow!” Forn’s grin illustrated his love of teasing.

“Right.” Morgan stood up and stretched one more time, taking in the wonderfully crisp, clean air, then wandered over to where he’d staked Munch. He found the roladii nearly at the extent of its rope, quietly munching on some grass. “I definitely gave you the right name, Munch.” Morgan grinned and pulled some tuntun root from his pouch. “C’mere, boy!” Munch looked up at his voice and then trotted over to him, snuffing the tuber up into his wide mouth.

***Congratulations! You’ve learned the skill Animal Taming - Basic***

“Haha!” Morgan laughed, “I guess I just needed to sleep on it!” He scratched Munch’s head affectionately. At first, Morgan thought the skill was just a label for what he’d already learned from Teric, but he found that he understood a few things that he hadn’t before. Somehow he knew how to make little whistles that appealed to the roladii, and he instinctively knew where it would like to have him scratch and how to avoid threatening the creature. “Oh good boy, this is going to be easy, isn’t it?” Morgan slipped him another root slice, then began to work in earnest.

After a couple of hours working with Munch, Morgan could reliably get him to come to him with a whistle, even without a slice of tuntun. He still gave him treats often but reduced the frequency gradually. He ran into Olivia while walking around, getting Munch to follow him, and saw that she had made similar progress. They played a little game where they had their two roladii wait while they walked away, and then they each called their mounts individually with a whistle. Morgan was amazed that the roladii easily distinguished the calls. Munch ignored Olivia completely, and Blue did the same to Morgan.

Teric saw them and called them over to the longhouse. When they walked up, their roladii in tow, he said, “We all pitched in some spare gear and get you guys a mismatched set of riding tack. Time to move to the next part of the training!”

“Oh, that’s very kind, Teric!” Olivia said.

“Naw, it ain’t too kind. This is all on loan to get ya up to the Rill Catcher with us. Unless you got something to trade, I’m afraid we can’t let ya keep these buggers.” He shrugged, his face indicating he really didn’t have a choice. Morgan thought about how he was bonding with Munch and didn’t want to have to leave him when they got to the river. He could see Olivia’s crestfallen expression also.

“Well, of course, we shouldn’t presume you could give up two valuable animals,” Olivia said, though her voice had lost its joyful ring.

“Hold on now,” Morgan said, “of course, we’ll pay you for them. What kinda trade are you looking for, friend?”

“Oh, hmm.” a twinkle appeared in Teric’s eye as he spoke, “Well, since you did the hard work of the training, I’d say twenty Energy beads per mount.”

“Oh really? So much?” Morgan was smiling inwardly; he could easily afford the mounts. “Doesn’t it take someone nearly a full day’s work to make an Energy bead?”

“Well, yes, but that’s just the average person. Some people make ‘em a lot faster, and, by the way, I’m cutting you a real deal here, friend. I can get that price, easy if I run some of these birds to town!” Teric took on an offended expression, but Morgan could see it was just for show.

“Alright, alright. How about attuned beads? Or better yet, double attuned?” Morgan didn’t want to alienate him with his haggling.

“Well, well, hmm.” Teric stroked his chin. “Ten per mount, and I’ll throw in the riding tack!” Morgan held out his hand to shake, and both men smiled as they gripped each others’ hands. Olivia looked on with a smile of her own, stroking Blue’s feathery neck.

They spent the next hour working with Teric to learn how to attach the harness and reigns and saddle the roladii properly. The creatures were so naturally docile, especially with people with the Animal Taming skill, that a bit wasn’t necessary. Morgan had been worried that his first attempts to ride the animal would result in lots of bucking and maybe some broken bones. However, the animal only acted skittish for a few moments, and then, when he clicked his tongue and whistled instinctively, the animal calmed down and started responding to his directions.

Once Morgan and Olivia were mounted and moving around, Teric told them to ride a bit further south where the herd was and get their mounts to drink from a pond there. Morgan was chagrined to think he’d had his mount tied up and busy training for a full day without water, but Teric said it was normal - the animals didn’t drink very often, getting much of their water needs from the rich grass. He and Olivia did as they were told, then spent the afternoon riding, trying to get a feel for the proper rhythm of rising in and out of the saddle with the roladii’s gait. By the time the evening meal came around, they felt that they’d made some good progress, but their butts were still quite sore.

The group spent the evening much as they did the first night at the lodge, but Teric only gave everyone one glass of his liquor; he said that they’d be riding out early in the morning so that they could cover the eighteen miles to the next watering hole. Morgan and Olivia, both exhausted, collapsed into their bunks, and Morgan felt like he’d just closed his eyes when he heard Teric whistling outside for his mount. He clambered out of his bed and heard Olivia groaning from her bunk. It was still nearly dark inside the building, only a bit of grey light coming in through the exhaust hole.

“Guess he wasn’t joking about starting early,” Morgan said, looking into the shadows where he knew Olivia was.

“Ugh, no kidding! At least I seem to heal faster in this world. My ass is only slightly sore this morning,” Olivia replied, laughing a little.

“Yeah, I actually feel great. Put some points in vitality while you can, by the way. When you get your class, you might not get one that gives you vitality. Just an idea,” Morgan stood up and walked outside because Olivia was too busy stretching to reply. In the gray light of dawn, Morgan grabbed a bowl of the porridge, thanked Allender, ate it down, then walked a bit away from the longhouse to call Munch.

The morning went by in a blur, literally and figuratively. The herders kept up a fast pace, and Morgan was so busy enjoying the ride and his greater experience being in the saddle that the hours flew by. They stopped around noon to stretch their legs and eat a snack, which they all provided for themselves. Morgan ate some dried meat and once again looked enviously at Olivia while she built herself an actual sandwich. She smiled at him, offering to share, but he waved her off, saying he wasn’t very hungry. He really wasn’t, but that sandwich looked good.

They were just finishing up and getting ready to move out when Beyli came riding out of the south whistling in a high-pitched repeating pattern. Teric produced his bow from his pouch and shouted, “Boyii pack! Maybe an alpha!” Morgan looked at Olivia, she nodded, and they urged their mounts to follow Teric. They quickly learned that Teric knew how to push his mount to speeds they couldn’t match, and they fell behind. By the time they caught up, Teric was riding in a wide circle around a bunch of brightly colored boyii hounds, at least twenty-five of them.

Morgan could see that the other herders were also riding around, loosing arrows into the pack, using their mounts to direct the pack away from the main herd. Olivia rode off to his left, some icy darts forming over her outstretched hand and shooting off into the pack.

Morgan was at a loss - he didn’t have any ranged attacks, and he didn’t know how to fight from the saddle. The bulk of the pack was only about a hundred yards away, so he pulled Munch to a stop and slid out of the saddle. Calling his sword to his hand, he ran toward the snarling, yipping pack. He yanked the scabbard off as he ran, stowing it back in his ring, and, before he knew it, the pack was upon him. His presence seemed to ignite some sort of rampage among the animals, most likely because they’d been frustrated by the herders’ ability to avoid them while loosing arrows at their packmates. At least eight of the animals, each probably weighing between fifty and a hundred pounds, charged at him.

Morgan rose his sword into the guard position and waited. As the first hounds leaped at his chest and throat, Morgan concentrated and unleashed an Azure Burst. It was the first time he’d ever used the ability, and he was stunned by the effect; a ball of crackling blue Energy exploded out from him, burning the grass to charcoal and flinging the hounds away with their colorful hair ignited like so many torches. They howled in agony before succumbing to their horrible wounds. The explosion had brought silence to melee; the herders had paused their assault, and the remaining boyii were quietly circling Morgan, their hair raised.

One particularly large boyii, sporting three tails and colored a burnt orange, snarled as it approached him, head low and eyes bright with fury. Morgan slipped into his sword form, The Crane Forages, slowly advancing on the hound with his sword held low, slowly circling. Everyone else seemed to snap out of their trance, and arrows and ice bolts began to rain on the other hounds again.

To Morgan’s surprise, the hound didn’t jump at him; rather, when it was only five feet away, it raised its head, opened its mouth, and howled. Morgan was taken entirely off guard, and the blast of sound hit him full in the chest and face. It was like being hit by a small car. He was tossed back, flipping feet over head, and landed on the grassy dirt with a painful thud. With the wind knocked out of his lungs, he struggled painfully to rise. He was in the midst of a pushup-like motion when he felt powerful jaws fasten around his shoulder, right where it met his neck. He screamed as the boyii alpha crunched down and started to shake.

As quickly as it had begun, the shaking stopped, and the pressure of the bite fell away. Morgan struggled weakly and suddenly felt someone’s hands putting pressure on his neck, and then the hound’s jaws were pulled apart, and he could struggle to a sitting position. Blood pumped freely from the deep, jagged punctures in his neck. Olivia and Teric were standing in front of him, looks of concern on their faces. Morgan managed a weak smile; then he pulled one of the healing potions from his ring that he’d gotten from the Yovashi, and he chugged it down.