The Start of a Journey

*The battle that ensued after the appearance of the dragon was legendary, but now is not the time to tell that story. The story that you will hear today is of a boy, a boy named Leon.*

"Leon! Get up! Your late!" *The loud voice is Leon's mother Reina. Leon has signed up for the border patrol, the boy has always been restless so it was a nice fit for him, much to his mothers dismay. Leon and his mother live in a small farmhouse, they raise horses and cows along with a fairly large field of crops. Leon's mother had long blonde hair and was average height, her eyes were a bright blue that accented her beautiful pale skin, her body was toned from farm life but she wasn't in her prime anymore, she just turned 40 this year and doesn't like to be reminded of it. At the call of his mother Leon shot out of bed and quickly ran over to his closet putting on his uniform that consisted of a white shirt, red leather jacket, black leather pants with a leather belt and brown traveling boots. Leon was quite fit, farm life had given him strength and endurance and his mother had homeschooled him making him smarter then your average farm boy. His hair was brown and well kept and he stood 5'9 slightly taller then the average 16 year old boy, his skin was not as light as his mothers but pale nonetheless but his eyes were bright and blue just like the woman that raised him. And unlike most commoners Leon could read and write perfectly, definitely a skill worth having in your back pocket. After getting dressed Leon darted downstairs and ran past his mother grabbing a sandwich that was perfectly placed by her not a moment before. But just as Leon made it out the front door he was knocked on his back.*

"Mom! Who put a stone wall right outside the door?!" *Leon looked up and saw no wall but a man, a man he's familiar with.* "Dave!~" *The man named Dave chuckles with a deep voice.* "Sorry about that boy, didn't expect you to be bolting out the door like a wild mustang, but I'm glad you did, I wanted to catch you before you left." *Dave towers over Leon, he is 6'4 and is built like a tree, you would never guess he's 60 years old with the way he works the field, he has also been Leons teacher in swordplay and his closest friend, his eyes are a dark brown and his beard and mustache are fully gray.*

"Did you need something Dave?" *Leon looks puzzled* "Oh right I have something to give you." *It was at this moment Leon noticed the black box Dave was carrying.* "Leon, I've watched you grow from a tiny little boy to the man standing before me. The day you came to me and asked to train in the way of the sword I knew that you would do great things, and this is your first step." *Dave gives Leon the box and Leon wastes no time opening it. Inside was something Leon didn't expect, it was a steel longsword, beautifully crafted and expertly made.* "Dave...This is amazing, where did you get this?" *Dave smiles* "Well it was mine of course, but I'm much to old for fighting nowadays my boy, its time for the next generation to make there way forward into the future." *Leon hugs Dave tight and bows slightly.* "Thank you! I will not disappoint you!" *Dave smiles again as Leon's mother walks out.* "Oh hello Dave, nice to see you~ Leon! You were suppose to be at the town square 20 minutes ago!" *Leon bows and thanks Dave once again then runs as fast as his legs can carry him to town square attaching the sword to his side.*

*The town Leon lives in was not large or wealthy, but the people were kind hearted and the air was fresh. Leon soon arrived at town square, upon his arrival he looked around and sighed.* "Where is he? I hope he didn't head off without me..." *Just as he finshed speaking a voice came from behind him.* "Leon, finally you show up, I've been waiting her forever." *Leon recognized the voice immediately, he turned around with a smile and chuckled. The man behind him was his friend and partner Brandon, Brandon and Leon grew up together and knew they were going to one day join the border patrol. Brandon however was one year older then Leon so he got to join last year, Brandon was slightly shorter then Leon and wasn't as physically fit as his friend, Brandon's family owned the general store in town so his work was much less physical. But he was a fine member none the less, his family was a bit more wealthy then Leons so he had proper leather armor to wear over his uniform, he also wielded a wooden spear with a iron tip and a shield on his back.*

"Sorry about that Brandon I slept in on accident then Dave gave me this." *Leon pointed at his newly acquired longsword and Brandon's eyes went wide.* "Wow! Is that steel?!" *Leon nods and grins at his friends envy. In Elaysia most weapons are comprised of iron, only the rich and powerful can afford anything higher so a farm boy having a steel weapon was quite unheard of.* "So, what do we do now?" *Brandon regained his composure and cleared his throat.* "The captain is on a urgent mission in Westpoint so he said for us to handle the patrols today." *Leon couldn't help but smile* "Wow! My first day on the job and we get to go to the forest!" *Leon jumped for joy but Brandon quickly shut his excitement down.* "Leon, the great forest is no field trip, there are real dangers in there." *Leon sighs and slumps.* "Yea I know...Jeez do you have to ruin this for me?" *Brandon shook his head and turned around* "Come on lets go."

*Leon followed closely behind his friend, the townspeople smiled at them and wished them luck on there patrol. After a few minutes they passed out of the town and arrived at the border of the forest.* "Ok Leon, our job is to patrol the forests edge and make sure nothing reaches the village." *Leon nods* "Have you ever had to fight anything before Brandon?" *Brandon looks at his friend.* "Of course Leon, I've been at this for a year now, it's quite common for creatures to wonder this way, but its only a goblin or a wolf usually, but I did see the captain take on a troll once." *Leon's mouth dropped* "A troll??? Are you kidding??? There's trolls in there???" *Brandon laughed.* "I told you the forest wasn't a game stupid." *Leon and Brandon walked the forest's border for a while, watching the tree line for anything that seemed unusual.* "Man, after all that talk of monsters there hasn't been a single sighting all day." *Brandon sighs* "Not everyday is filled with action you know." *Leon sits down and lays on his back looking up at the sky. It was now midday, Leons hopes of excitement and adventure were slipping away from him when he heard a noise and sat up.* "What was that?" *Brandon pulls out his shield and looks around as Leon pulls his steel longsword out from its sheath. The forest was quiet again but the two boys still kept there guard up. Suddenly there was a cracking sound and Brandon darted in front of Leon and raised his shield intercepting an arrow.* "Goblins! Leon get ready!" *Leon stood firmly with his sword in both hands as 3 goblin warriors came charging out from the forest, these green skinned short creatures were dumb as rocks but made up for it in strength and persistence.* "Leon! You take the one on the left I've got these two!" *Brandon charges at the goblins and hits the left one with his shield making it dazed before engaging the other two. Leon follows his friend briefly then stops at the dazed goblin, the goblin regains its senses and eyes Leon with its murderous gaze. Leon takes a deep breath and gets into his stance as the goblin screams and charges him. Leon blocks the goblins flurry of blows from its short sword but is losing ground quickly. The goblin doesn't let up, it hammers Leon again and again with slash after slash, Leon keeps up but can't do this forever.*

"Dammit I need to think of something now!" *Just then Leon thought back to his training with Dave. Leons eyes focused and his grip tightened, he blocks the goblins overhead slash and swings it's blade to the side disarming the beast. The goblin stares in shock as Leon quickly takes his blade and removes the goblins head from its body. Leon panted, his enemy was defeated and he was unharmed. At that moment Bradon ran up to him with a huge smile on his face.* "Nicely done Leon, we may make a warrior out of you yet." *Leon chuckled at his friend and flicked the blood off his blade before sheathing it.* "So, what now?" *Brandon takes a breath.* "Well now we burn these bodies, after that we can call it a day." *Leon nodded and helped Brandon clean up the battlefield, they tossed the goblins onto a pile of wood and lit there bodies ablaze.* "Here Leon." *Brandon gave Leon a small sack.* "They had some coins on them, seems they've been around." "Thanks Brandon." *Leon smiled* "So this is what you do every day huh?" *Brandon chuckled* "More or less I suppose, better get use to it, you sure your ready?" *Leon smiles widely.* "Definitely."