Sacae...Road to the Skies

[Clair Feldsky]

Just getting some Character growth and development. If you look at my character profiles you'll see I write a detailed story for them. Clair's profile is mostly about her history and her mother, so I'm doing this story to try to get a better handle on her. Enjoy

Sacae: Road to the Skies

The trade caravan had been rolling along for about four days now.It was late in the day, and they were about to enter into the northern plains of the nomad's land, Sacae. It was a nearly empty caravan going mostly to get supplies to bring back to Illia. They had little else to trade. The Caravan Master , Hayne, had made this trip many times, but it was the first time for his young passenger.

Mountains, pine trees, and snow....That was all Clair had grown up knowing, but now she would get to see other lands. Well, one other land anyway. As the carts rolled along, the girl barely even noticed the jolts from the rough roads. They were surrounded by mountains, coming out of the pass to the east of Arphen.

Hayne spoke as Clair glanced up at the weathered caravaner. "Excited about seein the the plains at last?"

She thought for a moment before answering, "Yes, but it's more than that. This is also my first step into a new world. I'll be somewhere, doing something, even if it is just traveling with a caravan."

Hayne chuckled at the "just traveling with a caravan part". These Young'uns just don't realize that it's not all fighting and fame. someones gotta grow the food after all. And then theres the transporter and the merchant and,he groaned inwardly as he thought of this, the administrators. Why they had to make him fill out all that paperwork was beyond him, but if they say I have to do it I guess I'll have to do it.

After a pause Hayne answered and told her "You're right, you know. You'll gain experience from trips like these, see the world in a new way, and that will move to achieving your chosen profession....Now we should be nearing -yes, here it is. look!"

With that Hayne pointed, and they came around the last bend.

Clair's eyes widened in shock at the vast size of the plains before her. There was no variance to the flatness of the plains, and as far as her eyes could see there was nothing but-

"Grass!" she gasped

She was in awe of the the monumental scale of the fields.

"Heh. Yeah, it's a startling sight. I never get tired of seeing The Plains."

Hayne pointed again. "If you look south and a little east you can see a dark smudge on the horizon. That's a stand of trees I often camp at."

It took Clair a moment to regain her voice. "When will we get there?"

Hayne took hold of a water skin behind the bench seat on the wagon and answered before drinking. "People see a long way on the plains, since it's so flat. This is only about a days worth of travel ahead of us though."

They continued traveling for a time and then began setting up camp. They wouldn't reach the stand of trees this night. There were three wagons and two guards to each to each. Food was very valuable in Illia, so the caravans were sent well protected. The wagons were placed in a triangle to provide shelter from the wind.

After camp was set up, Clair got her lance and began practicing her thrust and parry forms. she was just about finished when a voice spoke up from behind her.

"Would like to learn how to really us that, or are you going to limit yourself to only do what they teach you at weapons class?"

Clair saw a hard looking, dark haired woman approaching. She was one of the caravan guards.

"...What" Clair asked, a little confused. She had thought she had been doing everything in the right way.

The woman continued approaching, "At your school they'll teach you things like how to strike with a lance from a pegasus, or how to keep your balance and parry strong blows while riding, but I could teach you how to be truly skilled on your own, without relying on a feathered mule to boost your power. Only if your willing to dedicate yourself to the task while your traveling with us though."

Clair was willing to be taught, and she wanted to become stronger. As strong as her mother was. She would learn.

"My name is Clair," She said in a voice which was both a little nervous and excited. "and I really do want to get better. I'll learn if you'll teach me."

"Excellent!" the woman interjected. As she smiled it seemed to remove some of the edge from her appearance. "Then you'd better get off and get some supper before bed, you'll need the energy for our training tomorrow. By the way, Call me Irennica." With that the she took Clair by the shoulders and pushed her off toward the camp's center....

Open to constructive criticism and comments.

Planning between 3-5 of these but not quite sure how many yet.

[Clair Feldsky]

Sacae...Road to the Skies

Chapter 2

Clair unbuckled her armor as she finished training. It had been three days since they had come out from the South Illian mountains, and had arrived just that afternoon outside the walls of Bulgar.

During the Three intervening days, Clair Feldsky had trained quite a bit with the halberdier, Irennica. They would start in the morning after breakfast and then, while the caravan traveled ahead, they would spar and train in the forms of parries and thrusts until they had to move on. They would then travel by horseback and arrive at the Caravan just in time for lunch. Clair would spend the rest of the day's travel resting and talking with Hayne or another Caravan guard.

Once they arrived at their camp for the night, it was set up quickly and economically. Hayne put the wagons in they're positions while some of the others set up tents, and yet more started the cook fires.

A voice snapped Clair back to the moment. "We'll have plenty of time to learn tomorrow...Since the caravan doesn't have to travel anywhere."

Clair looked toward the masterful spearwoman. "My parents expected me to see the city for myself, but as long as it doesn't take all day we can still train."

Irennica growled "Bah! What's a city! You've seen one You've seen'em all."Clair smiled at her teacher.

Irennica had a very strong personality, so strong that she had even convinced Hayne,the caravan master, to allow them to travel seperate from the group, in order to give them more time to train in the day. Clair was feeling the bruises of that training tonight.

Today was the first day that Irennica had allowed her to spar with a lance. It was a practice lance but it still hit pretty hard. Irennica had been careful to hit only in places that would absorb the impact well. Clair, unsurprisingly, hadn't been able to hit her opponent at all.

"Well," Irennica continued, "I guess an easy day couldn't hurt your training too much. We'll train tomorrow evening. Now, off to the evening meal." As stated earlier, Irennica's insistence wasn't easy to ignore.

When Clair got to the cook fires, she found Hayne already eating some of the stew that was fixing.

"How's the training coming?" Hayne asked glancing up.

Clair answered as she ladled herself some of the stew from the pot "It's different than I've had elsewhere. All my previous trainers were teaching me how to ride a pegasus and strike with maximum efficiency. This is different because Irennica is teaching me how to be skilled by myself... She uses her lance like a big club."

Hayne laughed."Ha ha ha. That would be a big staff. Irennica prefers to use a halberd. That is why she uses her spears like quarter staffs."

Clair paused a moment. She liked this different style of fighting. "Well, it's still different than I'm used to." The conversation lulled for a while they ate.

As Clair rose to go to bed, Hayne spoke up."Clair, could I ask a favor of you?"

She turned, surprised. "What is it Hayne?"

Hayne sighed with relief as she turned. "There is a task that I don't have time for that needs to be done tomorrow. We don't have to deliver payment to our suppliers for the food we're bringing back to Illia, that was taken care of before we even got here. We do however need to load the caravan wagons and still have enough people to guard our camp. What I'd like you to do is find an aquaintance of mine in the market square, and negotiate a price for delivering a package. He's sending something up to Illia, and he'll pay you...and every Illian mercenary should be able to haggle, so it should be a good experience for you."

Clair was intrigued by this task. "I'll do it. Tomrrow while I explore the city."

"Thank you." Hayne said," That removes alot of time pressure on our people. -Oh, and one more, be careful in the market. (Just for you Tut) A few years years ago, the loaders I hired, and myself, were nearly trampled by a mob chasing a young, orange haired boy. I never learned what became of that boy, but I've always been wary of the streets of Bulgar since then. A riot can be quite deadly if you get caught in it."

Clair didn't really think that she would have to worry about that, but she agreed to "watch out just to appease the old caravan guide."

With that she was off to bed, preparing for whatever the next day would bring her.

[Clair Feldsky]

Sacae...Road to the Skies

Chapter 3

The sun rose the next day, the morning birds began calling out their melodies, and Clair jerked the covers back over her head.

Seriously! Waking up at the crack of dawn is overrated. Besides, she had been training hard since... well in her sleepy stupor she thought she'd been training for an eternity. Her muscles were sore from overexertion and she just decided to sleep in!

When she did rise she didn't bother dressing in her pegasus squire uniform. Instead she unpacked a full length skirt and short sleeved blouse. Both were in shades of tan and would be much less conspicuous than her what she normally wore.

Coming out from her tent, Clair approached the stew pot in the center of camp and ladled some of the slightly warm jell into a dish.

"You missed the breakfast rush." Irennica said from her position, leaning on a wagon.

Clair jumped from surprise and turned her head.

Irennica uncrossed her arms."That's why your soup is cold. Keep that in mind if you decide to sleep in again."

Clair was honest with her trainer. "I didn't think anyone would be here."

"I don't like cities." The woman said turning away "I'll be here guarding the camp throughout the day. When you're ready, come back and we'll train." With that, she left to make her rounds of the camp.

After choking down the nearly solidified stew, Clair prepared to go out and see the city. That was when she looked up and saw Hayne and some of his loaders wheeling hand carts toward the caravan.

"Hello Clair! Glad to see you up and about this morning." Hayne said with a smile, quickly setting his workers to loading the wagons. He turned back to her and asked "I wonder if you remember about that favor I asked for last night."

Oh! I had forgotten. I'm going to have to start paying better attention if I'm ever going to make it to full pegasus knight Clair berated herself.

"Yes you wanted me to deliver something?" She asked

"Not quite." the big man answered back to her. "I'd like to get you to try out your negotiating skills. A friend of mine, Harmen is his name, has a message that needs to be delivered to the Pegasus Knight Academy. You should negotiate a price for delivery with him. Think of it as mercenary training. Tell him Hayne sent ya and he won't simply turn you away." With that the sun grizzled caravan leader was away, saying something about current delivery rates.

"I wonder what a man from Bulgar could have to send to the illian merc trainers." Clair asked to no one in particular.

She went out then, seeing all the strange and new sights that a nomadic culture would build into a city. All the houses seemed very basic for one thing. Easy to move into, yet one could leave just as quick if they chose. Not even all the houses were occupied.

Some of the structures looked newly constructed. Clair didn't know what could have caused the need for that though.

She finally made her way to the village square and located Harmen in the local tavern. He was a man somewhere in his forties, who didn't believe in drinking, and looked like he had been a carpenter all his life.

"Harmen? I heard you wanted to send something to Arphen."

The man looked at her blankly for a moment. "What gave you that idea, missy" he asked, setting down a fork and wiping his chin with a napkin that was nearby.

"Uhh...well.. um," Not the reaction I was expecting. C'mon Clair, don't just dither around. Say something. "Well, you do. ... (face meets palm) I mean, thats what Hayne said." She felt her cheeks redden at her terrible bungling of the situation.

The man set his food aside and turned to inspect her. He seemed so experienced all of the sudden that he would be able to read into the depths of her mind.

"It might be true that I wish something sent to Illia." He said to her. lets move to the booth over there. It's a little quieter.

The man got off topic easily Clair discovered. It took a determined speaker to keep him from discussing his own daily things or the weather. He even asked her to tell him about her trip down to Bulgar. Eventually she managed to come to an agreement with him. She would carry the letter. He hadn't yet written it out, but he was a quick writer and it wasn't long before the letter was sealed and tucked away in Clair's messenger bag.

Having concluded her business in town, and not really caring to see more of the city, she began heading back to the camp. As it came into view in the distance, she could see that Hayne and all of his companions (except for Irennica) were taking they're hand carts into the city once more.

"Clair! Did you take care of that delivery thing?" Hayne called out

"Yes. I'm going back to camp to try and catch lunch before it gets cold again." She answered him.

"Then you'd better hurry. My men and I are heading back to the city. We should be done in another two or three loads."

Clair continued on. It took another ten minutes of walking before she arrived at camp. The girl really looked forward to the time when she would no longer have to walk on the ground because she would be soaring in the sky.

The camp was quiet when she arrived. for the second time this day she began scooping stew into a bowl. Someone had made a fresh batch. Clair also took the opportunity to dig into the stores of dried fruit the caravan had brought.

"Well, lookie here boys a caravan. And unguarded." A man with a large knife strode into the camp, accompanied by two axe wielders. Clair's brain just froze. She sat there, by the fire, trying to make sense of this. By the intonation of the ones voice, she thought he was going to steal some of their cargo, but it was supposed to be guarded. The thieves looked around and saw her.

Just then, Irennica jumped out from behind a wagon and smacked an axeman on the head. "Defend yourself d*mm*t!"

At the shout of her teacher, Clair jumped into action. She dashed for the wagon that had her weapons and armor. No time to get into my armor. I'll have to do it all in these. She thought, meaning her clothing.


Irennica had whacked one of the bandits pretty good over the head before the other axe wielder turned and confronted her. it looked like the knife fighter was going after Clair.

Irennica quickly parried away an axe swing at her midsection before bringing the butt end of her staff up and smacking the offending bandit in the head. The first bandit was rising now but he was easily dealt with. She had to finish things up here so she could go help Clair.


Clair heard footsteps behind her and turned to face her pursuer. She had just snatched up her lance when the bandit climbed in the back of the wagon. He saw the girl pointing the lance at him and grinned scornfully. "What are you gonna do, girl? Stab me?"

A moment later his eyes filled with shock, then anger as he struggled against Clair's lance lodged in his shoulder. It was only painful, the thrust hadn't done any disabling harm.

"You're gonna wish you hadn't done that in a moment." He said menacingly.

Clair released the lance as he ripped it away. Instead she grabbed part of her armor and was rewarded with the sound of it bouncing off his head as she threw it. He started moving forward with his knife but suddenly a spear tip jutted out his chest from behind.

"Thieving scum." Irennica spat. With that it was over.

Clair sat in shock, not registering how Irennica was complimenting her on how she had not frozen in the middle of the battle. The girl rested, trying to understand why this had all happened. When she couldn't figure that out she thought of her mother who always told her to learn from mistakes. Clair tried to think of something that she could have done differently, better, but couldn't think of that. Later that day she came out of her deliberations and moved on.

When Hayne returned, Irennica gave him an account of what had happened. He was disturbed that bandits would raid this near to a city. When they left to bring more cargo he increased the number of guards, despite that meaning he would have to make more trips to and from the city.

The caravan did not stay long at Bulgar. The next day it was on it's way back to Arphen, Illia with it's precious cargo of food for the people.

- - -

I'm tired. I'll proof read this at some point.

Chapter 4 is still on it's way

[Clair Feldsky]

Sacae: Road to the Skies

Chapter 4

Clair approached the gates to the Pegasus Academy HQ in Arphen, Illia. The sun, high in the sky, tried in vain to knock the chill off of the frozen mountains. It was cold. Always had been, and always would be. The strong tower in the mountains stood high enough to enable those on the front steps to see all the way out over the walls of Arphen, to the road, many miles out. Clair looked out from that high place, embraced by the ever present winds, and watched as the clouds roiled in fury at the buffeting they received as they were blown to and fro.

She had arrived back from her trip to Sacae only that morning. She had bid farewell to Hayne, the caravan master, and Irrenica, the halberdier. The first had offered her a job as caravan guard if she ever wanted to travel from Illia to Sacae again. The latter had brusquely told her to never stop using her head, and to never limit herself to what was expected of her.

After Clair had unpacked and greeted her family, she shared the news that she was carrying a message to the Pegasus Academy. They both had seemed surprised at the news, but Clair's mother had then asked to see the letter. As she inspected the unbroken seal on the letter, her eyebrow raised in interest. "You'd better get this over to the academy right away. This seal has alot of authority behind it. You'll be presenting it to the head pegasus knight trainers."

"What!?" Clair shouted. She was stunned. How could Harmen, Harmen who couldn't even discuss one topic long enough to get bored with it, Harmen who had seemed to be filled only with thoughts of travelers rumors and food, be getting a message to someone who controlled something as important as the graduates from the Pegasus Knight Academy?

So now, here she was, back at the present. She showed the letter to an aide inside and was quickly shown to an office. Inside the room were stark furnishings and a fire burning brightly in the hearth. Clair saluted smartly to the person seated behind the desk and announced herself

"Clair Feldsky, squire-in-training, delivering a message to pegasus knight head trainer at the academy." She had prepared what she would say ahead of time, but her voice still began to tremble near the end.

The woman behind the desk looked up. She appeared to be someone who knew what she was about. Without speaking, she extended her arm to receive the message. After she read the whole thing, she leaned back in her chair and regarded Clair for a moment.

Master Harmen has some good things to report about you. He says you were suitably polite, if a little insistent, and that you even managed to keep him from rambling too much." Her lips curved into a small smile."He says you insisted he had something he wanted to send. We could use people like you in our trade contract negotiators."

"...What?" She hadn't expected the letter to say any thing about her. Her face colored as she remembered her horrible bungling of the beginning of the negotiations.

The woman behind the desk continued. "Of course you're going to be a pegasus knight...." She let that sink in. "For a select few trainees, we decide to do something special for their training. You were one of those few."

Clair was interested and had forgotten her nervousness of the high ranking person in front of her. As the trainer continued she rose and began a slow walk around the table. She had a certificate in her hands.

"Harmen rated your bargaining skills adequate. Hayne reported that you enjoyed traveling the lands. Irrenica sent a message before you arrived that your martial prowess and dedication was impressive for a trainee. I, as head trainer of the Pegasus Knight Academy have decided, in light of these reports, to promote you to full Squire status."

Clair was speechless. Out of all of the possibilities, this was not one she had anticipated. The trainer was staring at her expecting something. Oh! "Yes Maam!"

"Take this certificate to the stables, and show it to them. They will assign you a pegasus to ride. Dismissed."

Clair saluted by clapping her right fist to her left shoulder, and then quickly backed out of the office. Once she was out she blew out a large breath. She was a Squire now! With that thought filling her mind, She took off at a run down the hall. She didn't care who saw her. She was going to get her pegasus! As she continued down the hall she realized that she didn't know how to get to the stables...or where they were. She stopped to get directions, and discovered that the stables were on the roof. Now she was on her way. Once she got to the stables they assigned her a pegasus named Corona. She noticed a small swirl in the fur on his right shoulder. She had already been cleared for unsupervised flight the year before, as a trainee. She immediately tacked him up and got ready to fly.

As she climbed up on Corona She was in all of her glory. She felt the wind stir around her, the saddle was soft and smooth under her, and just before she took flight,...She felt the cold stone of the launch platform against her face after her saddle slid off the pegasus.

The End

(Yeah, I know. Blame Morrowind. They have alot of stories that end like that)

;D

[Gabriel]

I really enjoyed reading it. Good job.

[Aaron Winsett]

Glad to see someone appreciated it. Though I've come up with pretty many stories, I've actually written out precious few. This really could be called a new experience for me. (Writing a short story like this I mean.)