Chapter 9-2

Almonihah spent the rest of that day maintaining his equipment and doing his weapons drills. Zrathanzon returned just as the sun was touching the mountaintops. He smiled upon seeing his former pupil.

“So shall I call you Ranger, now, Almonihah?”

Almonihah nodded.

Zrathanzon smiled a bit more broadly. “I guess I'd better get ready for the party tonight, then,” he said, as he strode over and clapped a hand on the younger half-dragon's shoulder. After a moment, he removed it, his smile smoothing out as he asked, “So, are you planning to go to the Line, or back north?”

“North,” Almonihah replied. “Don't think I could stay put.”

Zrathanzon chuckled. “No, you're certainly not the type to stand on a line and wait for something. I, on the other hand...” his expression sobered again, and he sighed a bit, “think it's time I watched the Line for a while. It's been a century or so, and I don't really feel like going back north for a while.”

Almonihah's gaze was a bit suspicious. He had noted that, ever since... things had happened, Zrathanzon had avoided the North Forest. He wondered if the same thing that kept him from his old route contributed to his desire to stay down at the Line, where the Rangers watched for he Javni'Tolkhrah coming out of the Madlands, and did what they could to keep innocent animals from wandering in to the cursed area.

“Well, I suppose I'll introduce you to a few of the other Rangers here, if you'd like. You'll be seeing them plenty tonight,” Zrathanzon offered.

Almonihah nodded. It wasn't as if he had much else to do.

Zrathanzon introduced him to the handful of other Rangers who manned the Northern Order Headquarters. There was the blacksmith, a heavily built dwarf with a deep, powerful voice named Hrothan, the fletcher, a nimble-fingered elf called Ffalwen who seemed nearly as old as Imlloen, and the quartermaster, a middle-aged female human by the name of Kina. There were also a few other Rangers who stayed in the general area of the Headquarters for the dual purposes of guard duty and messenger services. One of them was the Lieutenant that had shadowed Almonihah, whose name he now learned was Carda.

“There are also a few druids who maintain a shrine to Naishia nearby, and there's usually a Ranger mage here, too,” Zrathanzon explained. “The druids usually don't participate in these little gatherings, though, and the mage had to teleport some reinforcements to the west, so he's not around right now. He's the one that Imlloen uses to contact Rangers when he needs to.”

A few other Rangers trickled in as the sun disappeared behind the mountains to the west. Apparently, those who watched the part of the Line nearest the headquarters often returned to camp by the cabins. When they heard that a new Ranger had been accepted, they quickly began helping with preparations for the evening's celebrations.

The celebration was a simple affair, consisting mostly of a large meal around a bonfire accompanied by tales of Rangers gone before. One in particular caught Almonihah's attention. It concerned Falloen Surebow, an elven Ranger from long ago, the only man ever to cross the Madlands. Apparently doing so had not been his only adventure, but the feat was widely acknowledged among the Rangers as his greatest.

“He became the third Ranger Commander, after he finally gave up his wandering ways,” Commander Imlloen explained when Almonihah inquired about him. “His knowledge of the Madlands was a great asset to the Rangers, and it is said that breakthroughs by Madness-Touched were so rare during his time as Commander that they were nearly forgotten by all but the Rangers.”

Almonihah accepted the explanation with a nod. It sounded a little bit exaggerated, like most tales of former times were, but something about Falloen seemed to ring true to the half-dragon. Perhaps it was the wanderlust he was said to have possessed. Almonihah never enjoyed staying too long in one place.

The celebration continued for a while, but not as late as many parties in civilized lands often would. The Rangers knew they would have to get back to their duties in the morning, and none would suggest that those with night duty extend their watch too far into the day. Almonihah made camp with the other Rangers by the side of one of the cabins, and fell asleep with the speed typical of an experienced traveler.

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If I'd had this finished when I posted the first part of chapter 9, I would have just posted it with it, since this piece was pretty short. Not a whole lot else to say about it.