Call to Arms

Chapter One



Violet eyes watched as her arrow pierced the scales of the fish, stabbing it into the river bottom. Her mouth curving into a satisfying smile, and preparing her next attack, she zoned in on to the next target a particularly plump trout; her hands found home on her longbow and presenting it with a steel tip arrow it found position on the drawstring, with one fluid motion she brought down the longbow and pulled back on the arrow and bowstring.

Her eyes like that of a hawk, homed in on that plump trout, it would make for a fine lunch. The world slowed down, nature quieted, the only things in the world at that moment that existed was her and her prey.

Pulling back on the string, she took a deep breath, steadying her hand, then exhaled as she let loose the arrow; the trout got stabbed into the riverbed just as the trout before it.

“Hey, Fiona!” She searched for the source of the voice; she saw Leon walking up to her. Leon being 6’2 in his late 30’s, his face aged more than his own body, but his dark brown hair accented his features enough to still preserves his good looks. His green eyes were out of place with his entire look; they made him look too gentle in her opinion. His leather jacket was the only thing not covered in scorch marks; his jacket was fireproof so it made perfect sense being in such good shape; after all, he did chase after dragons all the time. Beneath his coat, he wore armor and dark tactical pants and boots.

“Longtime no see Leon.”

“Fiona stop, we just saw each other yesterday.”

“I know, please get a sense of humor.”

“I do have one, it's just not in sync with yours.”

“Ohhhh trying to burn me, like the dragons always burning your ass?”

“Now that's a burn, damn Fiona, why you gotta be so cold?”

Fiona shook her head, ginger tresses trying to get free of their leather binding, her eyes rolled “Leon…”

“I know” He gave her his best cocky smile

Leon took his daily search of Fiona’s attire, he still to this day could not understand how she could function without armor in battle. All Fiona wore was a light blue denim jacket, a red v neck t-shirt, black spandex capri pants, and low cuff red sneakers. The only thing that looked like armor were her archery gloves.

“It just means I’m better at not getting hit…”

“What ... how?... huh?!” his words failing him, as his stutter showed.

“You do this everyday Leon, and you think I don't know what you're thinking?”

“Well, I thought I was inconspicuous to be honest..”

“Well you thought wrong, but let's move on.”

Leon tugged on his unruly hair and agreed with her.

“So what are your plans with all those speared trout?” he asked, his eyes on the many arrows sticking up from the river's surface.

“I planned to eat them.”

“Ok Fi ..., that was a stupid question I’ll admit...’

“It’s fine. But you could help me gather them up at least?”

Leon nodded removing his jacket and boots; he placed his hand on the rail of the bridge, pulled himself forward, and leapt into the water. Fiona put her hands up in front her face to shield it from the water splash.

“Don’t lose any of those arrows! They are not cheap!”

“I got it OK?”

Fiona watched his movements like a hawk, watching as he retrieved the steel tipped arrows from the plump trout bodies, one by one he tossed them up onto the bank; a nice pile was forming and Fiona headed down the trail off the bridge and pulled open her bag placing the fish inside it one at a time. By the time the last fish hit the bank, her violet eyes looked up and noticed Leon’s approaching form. His pants were soaked, his boots covered in mud.

Leon wiped some water and sweat from his face and looked down at Fiona’s grumpy expression.

“Hey don’t be mad at me! I didn’t lose anything!” He showed her the handful of arrows.

Fiona reached out and snatched the arrows from Leon’s hand, tucking them back into her quiver, which was nestled against her hip. Leon rubbed the back of his head, his expression changed to confusion.

“Fi...what’s the matter? Why are you so upset? I’m sorry if I did anything to you..”

“It’s not you Leon, it’s… it’s me; I’m dealing with some stuff right now.”

“Oh..do you need to talk about it?”

“You wouldn’t understand, and I’m sure you would not want to know…”

“Oh, Ohhhhhh, I hope I got it! I’ll just leave you alone if that’s what you want.”

“You don’t need to go away; I mean if you already know, then it’s fine and you won’t take it personal then.”

“Actually, I need to be somewhere, got a contact about a job.”

He looked up at the sky, the sun bright and glaring, his thought moved to his agenda that day; Paladin was getting restless and hadn’t seen any good action; he was missing the time they spent with Fiona and Lorelei, maybe he could coax them into doing a fun activity?

“Hey Fiona, do you think you and Lorelei would like to do something with me and Paladin?

She tied off the bag that was full of her fishing trophies, throwing the bag over her shoulder she cast her gaze onto him.

“What do you have planned?”

“I was thinking we could go for a ride out in the green plains? Then let Lorelei and Paladin play while we spar?”

Fiona contemplated the idea, her brow furrowing while showing her intense concentration.

“This evening I’ll be free, I have to go check on my school and make sure the students have completed their training, or if they need help; I don’t fully trust my assistant to guide them..”

“Sure, just send me a message; I’ll just be hanging out at the pub; I have some business to discuss with Garrett.”

“Ok then, I’ll hit you up later.”

Leon waved as he headed up towards the bridge to recover his coat, Fiona called out after him. “...And make sure your time at the pub is only about business. If you understand me!!”

“Yes Fiona, I understand don’t worry I promise I’ll be good, I swear!” he called back, his coat in hand he flung it up and over his shoulders sliding his arms into the sleeves.

****

“Hey, Leon!”

“Garrett! Man been a couple of days, how’s things been?” Leon gave Garrett a bear hung, nearly causing the man to get winded.

Garrett was around the same height and weight as Leon, his hair was black and it was always slicked back, his eyes blue, and his complexion was very tan, due to living in the warmer part of Lancer, the sun was twice as hot over in Axton, He wore full bodied armor, even his hands were gloved up; he had a special reason for that, though, his boots reached his thighs and were buckled in three places, the top, middle, and ankles; it was also heat-resistant and had a strange utility belt slung over his shoulder and attached near his waist. The whole uniform was a deep shade of red; he stuck out like a sore thumb, there were two serrated blades in a cross formation at his back; one blade was laced with a powerful sleeping agent, the other was pure poison extract from the Jogi flower.

“Unf! Well one of those Dragons on the outside of Lancer, the one’s with those hydraulic legs and shit, I wanna punch the bastard that created the thing.”

Leon shifted his weight onto his left foot and felt his stomach lurch; the times they lived in now, Machines were starting to be developed to help domesticated animals only, yet someone has been enhancing the Dragons that roam the land of Lancer. He did not travel too far beyond his homelands to know if the same was happening elsewhere. Lancer was pretty large in itself, with lush fertile green lands, an abundance of natural resources, and rivers so pure so fresh that you could drink straight from them.

“Whoever it is they know their machines; not just anyone can make them, and especially attach them to Dragons!”

“Yeah, hey Leon let’s go sit in that booth in over there, and speak on this matter with less listening ears.” He motioned towards the pub occupants who in fact seemed to be listening intently.

Rubbing the back of his neck and peering over at the booth, he nodded to Garrett and the two men headed to the booth. Leon scootched in towards the middle and Garrett sat next to him.

“Do you want a pint?”

“No, Fiona would kill me; I’ll just have some Cai Juice.”

“Ok then, Hey Waitress! one Ale and one Cai Juice!”

The young looking blonde wearing the blue dress covered by a tan apron nodded at Garrett.

Garrett turned his attention back to Leon, he leaned in close and whispering

"Do you think it could be an outsider of Lancer? Someone trained in the black arts?"

Leon pondered the idea, his eyes sweeping the pub, the patrons were still staring at him and his companion.