Chapter 151: Ollie’s Changes
Outside the Vale of Mists in the forests of the western mountains, a small group moved steadily along a trail that was barely visible in the late-night gloom. No torches burned to light their way, but for most of the group, this presented little difficulty.
Ollie, however, found himself deeply envying his traveling companions as they trekked through the forest at night. Marcel had offered to carry him to their destination, however, Ollie stubbornly refused.
It might look very romantic to some people when a vampire like Thane swept Ashlynn off her feet and carried her through the forest at night, but the notion of Marcel treating him the same was more than Ollie could adjust to. Besides, from the wicked smile the vampire had given him after making the offer, Ollie felt like Marcel knew he would refuse and just wanted to tease him.
Since coming to the Vale of Mists, Ollie found himself constantly changing his expectations and adjusting to different ways of thinking about things. He’d finally reached the point where the appearances of the Eldritch no longer startled him and he’d removed the word ’demon’ from his vocabulary completely.
He was also beginning to think of himself differently than he had before. He wasn’t just a kitchen boy anymore. He was Ashlynn’s friend and he was starting to think of himself as a warrior, though he had yet to fight any real battles.
Ashlynn’s suggestion that he obtain a darksteel knife had drastically shifted his training. It hadn’t taken long for Thane to pass Ollie over to Marcel’s tender care to learn the fine art of fighting with knives. Now, two large knives hung from his hip and as each day went by, he felt more and more like they belonged there.
Marcel believed in starting from what was familiar and for Ollie, that had been kitchen knives. He couldn’t deny that it had been a good place to start. The darksteel butcher’s cleaver that hung from his left hip might be as heavy as a sword but in his hands, it felt very familiar, and the long, slender fighting knife on his right hip felt to him like a combination of a boning knife and a general cook’s knife. It wasn’t made of darksteel but according to Marcel, it was better that it wasn’t.
Harrod, the diminutive horned soldier he’d first met with Ashlynn during their escape from the Summer Villa, had been watching Ollie’s transformation up close. Marcel was far too busy to teach the former kitchen boy every night and as the nights grew shorter, he handed over more and more responsibility for Ollie’s education to Harrod and Justus, the valet assigned to care for Ollie in the ancient keep.
After so many weeks of training, just when he had been settling into his new life in the Vale of Mists, Marcel had surprised him with an invitation.
"My spies just sent news that Owain is going to lead knights, templars, and an Inquisitor on a hunt in the outer forests," the vampire said. "Thane wants us to carry a warning to the outer villages. Why not come along and see the sights while you do?"
"Outer villages? Are they the ones close to the walls?" Ollie asked, though his mind was only half on the answer. The rest of him was thinking about whether or not he needed to pack.
"No," Marcel said, shaking his head and sending his raven locks tumbling with the motion. "’Outer’ means that they’re outside the territory currently claimed by the Vale of Mists. It wasn’t always that day. Long before I died, Mistress Nyreille’s predecessor ruled the forests from the ancient keep to the foot of Airgead Mountain. All of the villages we’re going to visit would have belonged to her if things had been different."