Chapter 472: A Brief Respite
4 days before the New Moon… 4 days before the siege of Hollow Shade…
The early dawn was a busy time for the goblins of the Sylvan army. Already many of the warriors had awoken and begun their training drills, each following their respective captain’s lead. The cooks had awoken two hours earlier and had already finished preparing breakfast.
A short distance from the encampment, in a small clearing, stood Stryg alone. Well, not entirely alone. After getting chastised by Aurelia, Elayne, the captain of his honor guard, insisted that his guard follow him wherever he went. Even now, several of his honor guard had formed a loose perimeter around the clearing, keeping vigilant for any intruder.
Stryg thought it all a little much, but everyone around him had insisted such protection was necessary. He supposed there was always the possibility of some beast wandering into the territory and attacking. Still, being out here among the scarlet trees of Vulture Woods, he felt at home.
Drawing Krikolm from a makeshift sheathe he had asked one of the blacksmiths to procure for him, Stryg admired the red blade in the morning light for a few heartbeats. Twirling the sword in his grip he quickly fell into a training stance.
He might have sparred with Tauri but she had recently been spending a lot of time speaking with the Sylvan generals and sharing information. She wanted to get a better understanding of their battle tactics along with preparing them with the layout of Hollow Shade’s defenses so as to improve any chances they had of victory.
Plum had been spending most of her time training in her own way; practicing her illusion spells with some of the shamans. Stryg had told her there was no need for her to fight and that she could simply stay in the backlines, but she had insisted on joining them in the fight. Stryg knew she wasn’t much of a fighter, but he also knew that she was one of the bravest people he had met. Few would ever stand up against enemies they knew had no chance of winning against for the sake of protecting their friends.
Strangely enough, his mother, Aurelia, had offered to train Plum, with what little time they had. Plum had been shocked into silent awe. An actual Ebon Lord training her was a dream, or so she had said. The way Aurelia had worked her to the bone every day made it seem a little different… but Stryg refused to step into that situation.
As the early morning passed, Stryg worked through the different bladework sets of the Gale Sword Style. He preferred solitary training if he was being honest. Ever since he was young he had gone off by himself and trained far from the judgemental eyes of his peers. Most Sylvan trained as a unit, learning to work and fight as a whole, thereby increasing one’s own strength. Stryg had wanted to join such a group, he had dreamed of it growing up, but he had never quite fit in. The only person he had ever truly connected to in such a manner was Clypeus.