The Swordsman's Wish

2

"Now then, why do you always look so sad?" This was a question that Janston was unprepared for. "What do you mean?" He asked. You know... you seem very sad every time we settle in the evening. Why?" Janston pondered this for a minute before answering. "I don't know Rosena. I honestly don't know. On a different topic, if I may Rosena, I saw one of the soldiers shouting about something before being led away to an area I couldn't hear them at. Is some kind of horrible disaster going to occur?"

She looked at him for a few minutes before turning away. "We have to discuss this at a later date." He gave her a questioning face. "Now is not the time to discuss this." He was taken aback at her emotionless tone. "Okay. I was also wondering, do you know anything of The Hero? I know the legend, but that's it." She brightened up at this. "Yes! I know a bit more than the legend says, but not much." Janston thought about the legend again. "Rosena, what exactly did he wish for?" He asked. "Well, he wished for something to help all people." She answered him. "Yes, but what exactly did he wish for? What were his exact words?" She was silent for a second.

"We don't know. All we have to go off of is what the legend says." He sat in silence for a long time. Eventually they came to a stop and began setting up camp. It was near a dark forest with very little sound coming from it. Some of the soldiers were muttering about spirits in the woods and that they shouldn't be near their domain. After dinner most of the camp had gathered around the campfire. One of the guards was staring at the campfire when he began singing. It was a low melody and only two people could hear him. Those two quieted for him and slowly the rest did as well. It was a song he had learned from his grandfather who was sad that new things were drawing young people into the city instead of following the tradition of helping the small town, which was a fishing village.

It was a slow and sad song. And when he stopped singing he went to his tent and didn't come out again. The mood of the camp was now somber and they all sat in silence. Slowly they all disbanded until three were left. Sir Vakten, Rosena, and Janston. "Sir Vakten, is that really what it's like for some villages?" He sat in silence with his eyes half-closed before responding. "I came from one of those villages, Mi'lady." She seemed surprised.

"You never told me of this!" He sighed and then stood up before saying he was going to bed. That left Janston and the Princess. Janston sat there and began one of the exercises the healer from so long before said he should do every night. Rosena looked at him curiously and asked "What are you doing?" He responded as he stretched his arm in a way that was painful at first before stretching the muscles that were rarely used in his arm. "There was a healer in our village a while ago, and he said I should do this every night. He said it would help my 'Flow', which no one has ever given me a strait answer about what it is." She looked slightly surprised again. "Well, flow is what most people call their energy that they use for magic." He just responded with "Oh." She smiled at him before standing up and stretching her arms. "Goodnight Janston. See you in the morning." "Goodnight Rosena."

*

The woke up the next day surrounded by fog. Sir Vakten looked annoyed at the fog. "Sir Vakten, what is this?" Rosena asked. "My Lord." He responded. As he said this, a man walked out of the fog, but he appeared to be to be insubstantial. "Vakten! Good to see you my boy! How've you been?" Sir Vakten looked tired already and responded "Fine, my Lord. We have found the hero."

The man looked mildly impressed. "So quickly Vakten? I thought that I made it rather hard." At this Rosena looked angry. "Do you know how long it took me to get him ready? A good deal of years, I don't remember the specific amount. Janston! You've been practicing the stretch I told you to?" Janston started. How did this man know about his stretches? Then it dawned on him. Sir Vakten had called this man his Lord. Which meant this was Quintry, the Lord of The Seas, and a god. He responded back as calmly as could manage. "Yes, Lord. Every night as the healer instructed me to." Quintry smiled a broad smile and said "Good! Good! It took a lot of time to convince that man to do that. Anywho, Vakten! I need you to do-" At this point, Rosena stopped him. "Excuse me, but who are you, and why are you in our camp?" She yelled at him. He smiled at her outburst and Vakten sighed. "Young Princess, do you truly not recognize me?" She stared at him with a flat look.

Quintry smiled at her and said "I am none other, than the great and powerful, Quintry!" She faltered for a second before her face shifted into confusion, then fear, then a forced calm. "I'm sorry Lord Quintry. I didn't realize." Quintry looked amused at her. "I gathered. As I was saying, Vakten, I need you to do me and Janston a favour. We need to teach Janston sword fighting of all kinds. With a shield, without a shield, every different kind of sword you can think of." Vakten looked pained. "My Lord, that will take years. Decades, most likely." "Then decades it will take!" Quintry exclaimed. "Very well Lord. I will see you again at the temple." Quintry smiled before saying one more thing and disappearing. "Oh, by the way, on the road you're going to meet with The Traveler. Try not to make him annoyed for me, if you would. That goes for all of you." The fog that was there disappeared as soon as he was gone. This made Janston wonder, who was The Traveler? 

As they were finishing their preparations to get moving on the road, Janston managed to get a minute with the princess. "Rosena, who is The Traveler?" Rosena looked surprised at his question. "Did you not learn about the Seventh God and his Traveler in school?" Janston shook his head. "I didn't have a school to go to Rosena. I only know they basic knowledge of the Gods and their Orders of Knights." Rosena looked mildly surprised at this. "Well, back when the world was almost new, The Two, the first two humans had eight children. They each had the ability to communicate with one of the Gods, except the eighth who could commune with the Six Gods Above The World. They each went to places where they could be near their god, or in their god's choice of place to live. The Seventh God played a game on the child who could communicate with him. He hid from his follower for a long time. When the child gave up, the Seventh God revealed himself and made a bargain. This resulted in the child being given immortality. Now he roams the world chasing his God, in an eternal game. He was given the title of The Traveler by the Seventh God, and has been known to happen upon major events, and has influenced kings and changed the tide of wars when he was passing through, though none have ever said if he has fought anyone in these wars."

Janston took this all in. "So, is he a nice person?" He asked. "I... I don't know." Rosena answered. "I've never met him." Janston thought about it for a second and then said goodbye to the princess and went back to his tent and finished packing it back up. They traveled until it was midday, and then stopped for lunch. All the time between when they saw Quintry that morning, and when they stopped for lunch had Janston very nervous, and on edge, as he was waiting for The Traveler show up. So when they stopped for lunch, he went to the top of a nearby hill to observe the road and try and see The Traveler. When they all began to get ready to move out, someone offered to help him with his supplies. He accepted the help gratefully, as he now had a somewhat heavy pack to carry with him, and he was not looking forward to walking into the capital being very sore.

While walking on the road, he got to talking with this person. Something in his mind told him that he should know who this was, but he couldn't remember having ever met this person before. "By the way, Janston, have you given any thought to this whole prophecy buisness? Personally, I think that it's all a big prank by the gods, but what do I know? I just wander around and live life as it comes at me." Right then, Janston realized who he had been talking with for the last hour. "You're the Traveler!" He exclaimed. "The man looked a little confused at this. "Yes, I thought you had realized this a while ago. If it wasn't clear, allow me to introduce myself. I am The Traveler Of The World, or to my friends, Farre." Janston took this in with a great amount of shock. "I'm Janston. Though I would imagine that you already knew that."

Farre smiled at him. "Indeed I did, young master, though it is good to meet someone who doesn't treat me with reverence. Got over that back in the First Age. It's amazing how much this world has changed in that time. You know the capital used to be this huge hill that stretched for almost a mile? It wasn't quite to the point that you could call it a mountain though." Janston shook his head. "So you've been around for almost the entire life of the world?" Farre nodded. "Indeed. It's been a very long time since then. And watching the world get shaped by humans and the weather is amazing." Janston nodded. He imagined it was amazing to see everything change. "Well Janston, this time talking with you has been very fun, but I've got to get back to my eternal quest. We'll meet again though, so we can catch up then. Have fun, and don't change too much. Always remember your roots, and you can conquer any obstacle." With that, The Traveler put Janston's pack on a nearby horse, and then walked into a sudden hole in the air. Ten minutes passed and they were at the walls of the capital city, an hour after midday.