Road to Sentia, City of Kingdom of Stilyra- Early Summer 14 years AR

They didn’t stop immediately after Jon joined the marching army on the road but they did slow. A few hours later the column was called to a halt along the road he and his friends had just traveled, going the other way. He hadn’t learned much during that time except they were going back to Terra and into the forest. His choice was either go with them and learn to be a lycan; or Ser Afgheir would give him mercy in the form of a quick death. He chose the former.

The various warriors moved to the grass on either side of the road and started relieving himself, Jon had to quickly turn around when he realized they had a system in place, women go left and men go right. He of course had been facing left wondering what they were doing when the bare backside of a squire caught his attention. The squires that stayed behind holding the leads of the mules laughed a bit at his embarrassment.

“Ummm… Excuse me?” Jon asked, “Why are we stopping, are we going to make camp?” The boy laughed at that.

“Make camp? No.. I guess we’re waiting for your friends to catch up.” The boy said turning to look down the road, Jon couldn’t spot anyone yet, “Ragnar and this here is Astrid.

“Oh sorry, Jon.” He said remembering his manners, he gave a polite wave along with it.

“Nice to meet ya.” Ragnar nodded

“It’s a pleasure.” A curtsy? Jon looked at the younger girl that could only be eleven or twelve years old. He nodded an acknowledgment to both and turned only to see a furry face and a mouth full of teeth showing right next to the same shoulder as last time, this time he see golden eyes too.

“Oh shit!” Jon peddle to the side and ended up tripping, reaching for his broadaxe that he wasn’t carrying. The monster started laughing in that horrid way again as Jon crawled backwards, his instincts telling him to bow his head and expose his neck.

“Hahahahaha!” Ragnar and the newly approached lycan laughed deeply at his state but stopped immediately with one sentence from Ser Afgheir.

“Knock it off you lot!”

“Squire Deld. Nice of you to introduces yourself.” Astrid said scowling at him beneath her helmet. The lycan almost bowed but stopped himself.

“Shit, sorry, you’ll get used to it” He apologized and turned back into his human form, extending a hand to pull Jon up. He did so effortlessly.

“He better or else he’ll be scrambling away form his own reflection.” Ragnar said but left it at that with a look from Astrid. For some reason she carried a lot more weight than she let on by her appearance.

They stood around and talked a little longer, and ate lunch. At hearing his stomach growl Ragnar shared some with Jon. He hadn’t eaten since the night before. Other than Jon panicking it was an alright moment. It started to dawn on him that things were working out. After a while two horsemen and a wagon appeared on the road.

“I think that’s your friends.” Ragnar stated the obvious it seemed as Astrid and Deld made faces at him.

“I think so.” Jon followed suit watching the wagon grow near as they got close first one then two jumped off the wagon and ran at them. Erin didn’t see Jon at first and lagged behind.

“Who’s the lasses?” Ragnar asked as the two girls ran.

“Umm ones my sister Erin, the others my friend Jaesmin.” He pointed to each in turn and started walking towards the approaching girls.

“Jon!” Jaes made it to him first and leapt up to wrap her arms around his neck before pulling him down for a kiss. This one lasted longer than the first, Jon felt eyes on him and didn’t know what to do with his hands. He wasn’t sure if it was genuine or not as he’d had instincts telling him to do the same but he forgot about that at the moment.

“Pfft, friend he says.” Ragnar smirked.

“I need some friends like that.” Deld said, tossing another piece of meat up to catch it in his mouth.

“You just need friends.” Astrid chimed in, the laughs were a bit more half heatedly Jon noticed. Who was she.

“Ugh.” Leofrith arrived on his horse and looked down to his sister still embracing but no longer kissing Jon, Erin had opted out of joining the awkward moment.

“Sorry Leofrith, I didn-” Jon started but Leo just wave him off. It was the same movement he used to use to wave people off that had tried to bow.

“Introductions?” Astrid asked, looking expectantly at the new arrivals with a hidden grin.

The new group melded with the squires at the back of the line, apparently the strict formation and only the occasional, but technically banned whispered conversation was to show professionalism in foreign lands, specifically near large population centers. In the wild it was much more relaxed. Jon left the group to crawl up into the wagon and hopped back out fully armored and his broadaxe attached.

“Wheeew! Not bad” Ragnar said as he walked back up, “But you realize this is the last place you would need to wear all that?” Jon looked around at the Elvanni and Ederathan elites that marched in front of him or occasionally ran through he long grass to his side, it was mainly lycans. They weren’t as frightening when they weren’t in his face. They soon settled down for the night alongside the road, the lycan and Elvanni warriors making quick work cutting down the long grass. They set up their tents near their new companions but they obviously had a set system for how tents were to be aligned so the Badgers set up just outside the encampment.

Two things happened that moment, Cara walked up with a bottle of liquor from the wagon and gave it to Aethred wishing him a happy birthday. They all took a pull from the bottle and Erin offered to play him a song. He quickly denied but their new companions were interested; until she started playing. The brief bit of ‘music’ ended with laughs.

The second thing happened immediately after, three knights walked up to them. Ser Afgheir at the front.

“Time to begin your training you two have a choice but you do not.” He pointed first at Jon and Jaes and last at Leo, “Your choice is the old way or the new way. He has to do the old way.”

“What’s the difference?” Jaes asked, Ser Afgheir seemed to be holding something back but let it go, “Old way is tougher but faster. New way is more gradual but will take a while for you to ensure you gain control from the beastmind inside you.” Jon just learned what lycans called instinct or urges, they’d debated how to actually refer to it but now with the experts word for it…

“Ummm… Old way, I guess,” Jon said and looked at Jaesmin. Seemingly not wanting to be left behind she confidently agreed.

“Old way.”

“Alright, no going back now. I don’t like quitters,” Jon noticed the squires wince at that and he immediately wondered what he’s in for, “In the morning you will meditate, we’ll walk you through it tomorrow and any time we stop I expect to see you spend a minute at least doing it. You will do it every time unless told to do otherwise! When we make camp, you will do it then too until we collect you for the second part of your training. You will not eat anything until the second part of you nightly training is done! Understood?!”

“Yes Ser.” Jon said having already gotten the memo, Leo and Jaesmin followed suit.

“You got underclothes under that?” Jaesmin nodded, “Good armor and tunics off, lets go over here for some room.” Jon did as he was told and made sure his eyes didn’t wander. They walked a little ways away from the tents in the long grass. Ser Afgheir just pointed at a person and a spot and they each fell into place.

“You’re job is to just stand there and take it, don’t fight back, don’t run.” He said looking at Jon. Were they going to get bitten again? How would that help? Afgheir let out a bark sound and Jon immediately interpreted it as a challenge. His instincts started to kick in as he inspected the man roughly his size and growled in return. Ser Afgheir just grinned and walked towards him.

Luckily for the three it wasn’t the bite again, none of the knights even took their wolven forms. Unluckily it was the most savage beating of their lives, even Jaesmin after the shadowcat incident didn’t compare. They were told not to fight or run but their instincts, their beastmind, drove them to fight at first and when they realized they were outmatched to run. They were punched, kicked, stomped, and thrown like rag dolls. Any time the beastmind over ruled reason, which was to follow the instructions, the beating intensified. Jon had no idea how long it lasted but he was soon laying in the fetal position in the grass. He doubted any of them had followed the orders until they were too broken and in pain to do anything but lay there.

“Alright, lets have a look at ya,” Ser Afgheir walked up and poked and prodded a bit, “Eh maybe a little healing to the stomach, we’ll heal up the rest in the morning.” Jon’s hand started to glow and Ser Afgheir stomped on it causing Jon the cry out in agony. “You don’t heal yourself, the beastmind needs to understand the pain. Understand that it cant win alone, it can only win with you. Healer! Once they get your internal bleedin’ taken care of you can eat.”

Jon just laid there and soon a Ranger was squatted over him and healed only his internal injuries. When he was done, Jon continued to lay there, he saw Jaes laying nearby in a similar heap to his own. Leo was on the other side of her slowly crawling towards her. Jon did the same but managed to get to his knees and then stood. Every part of him hurt, he looked over with his one eye not swollen shut to see his sister and friends staring at them squires sitting within reach of each one of them. He shakily helped the crying Jaesmin up and with a bit more struggle they got Leofrith to his feet. The lycans responsible for their pain watching silently from the side. Ser Afgheir nodded and walked away with a quick word to make sure they didn’t heal each other or themselves.

“Sorry, not allowed to warn ya,” Ragnar said as Jon slowly helped Jaes sit down, “bit of advice tho, only seen a couple foo- er.. brave squires take the old way. Make sure you eat plenty at breakfast and less at midday, something soft for supper.”

“Well that and if you try to help them or heal them, the next one’s only going to be worse, just focus on overcoming the beastmind and making it work with you, not against you.” Deld added.

“So what’s the new way?” Erin asked.

“They can’t switch now but think how would you tame or break an animal a dog, a wolf?” Ragnar asked, when no one responded, “you can either beat it into submission or you can bribe it with meat and treats to show it’s better off with you than without you.”

“Why can’t they switch?” Cara asked, her eyes going form face to face as she handed Jon a bowl of porridge.

“Just try to beat a dog one day and hand that same dog a piece of meat the next, see what happens? It’ll either bite you or run?” Astrid chimed in, she was sitting near the small firepit they’d dug stoking it with a stick, “In which case you’re right back to the old way.”

“That’s brutal, why would you beat a dog?” Erin looked appalled, at least Jon thought she did, he couldn’t see out of his right eye and every time he moved sharp pains would shoot from fractured bones and bruised muscle causing his good eye to water.

“Erin, that’s why it’s the old way,” Ragnar stated, “The only reason they really offered was because that one will likely transform for the first time in a month or two. If he isn’t ready we’ll have to kill him before he hurts someone. The rest was probably just to see if they’d let him face it alone. It’s brutal but quick.”

“It’s f-fine Erin, if L-Leo haa-ta go through t-this, then it’s g-cough.. uuuuggh… good he isn’ alone,” Jon said stumbling on his words, it already hurt to breath. He decided no more talking for him. Jon finished his meal and started to make his way to his bedroll but stopped when he looked at Jaesmin, she still wasn’t wearing her tunic and sat eating slowly through a swollen lip in just a breastband. Her body covered in welts and bruises like his own. He looked around and found his tunic, he had no idea where hers went. He walked over to her and she looked up to see him holding the tunic. She raised an arm only a little more than half way and he pulled the tunic over it and helped her get her head through the hole. She reached over and pulled it down, keeping her arm inside the tunic rather than try to get it all the way on. She looked up at him and he thought he saw a smile but it could have easily been a cringe of pain from the act of moving her head. Jon then crawled his shirtless bruised torso onto his bedroll. It took a long time to fall asleep after that but he eventually did.

**********

The following morning Jon awoke to a warm tickling sensation covering his body and a soft golden glow. He tried to get up but a hand quickly pushed him back down. He laid there for nearly 20 minutes until someone tapped him on the shoulder. Setting above him was another man, lycan this time. He gave a positive gesture and smile before crawling out of the the tent. He crawled out of the tent to find his tunic sitting there. He stood up easily and put it on the pain from the day before. Everyone else was packing up their stuff and the sun hadn’t even risen yet. He did the same, casting a light spell to see what he was doing, earning a few glances at the sudden lit up area. Once he was packed up and things were on the wagon he intended to do exactly what was suggest, big breakfast, small meals after that. Before he could eat much though Ser Afgheir arrived again.

“Alright you three with me.” He led them a little ways to an area it looked like he’d prepared, the grass had been chopped down at least, “Every morning from the time your packed to the time the command to form up, you will do this. You can eat afterwards on the road. You do this every time we break even if it’s just for a minute or two and from the time camp is set to the time the rest of your training begins.” His tone was far calmer this morning. He instructed them to sit on both knees or cross-legged. Jon noticed that there were squires spread out doing the same thing.

“This part is simple, you need to relax your body, your mind, and still your heart… which is basically keep calm and keep your heartbeat slow. Focus on your breathing and take deep breaths. It’s good to have a mantra, a chant. For me I think ‘in’ slowly while I breath in and ‘out’ when I breath out. While we do this, just try not to think of anything else for right now, more parts will be added later. Now close your eyes and do what I said.”

This part was easy for Jon as he’d already been doing something similar for quite a while now. Jaesmin and Leofrith also knew the technique although they’d only been doing it for a few weeks. Jon shut down his mind and tried his best to ignore his senses while he focused slowly on his breathing. Soon he had someone shaking him.

“You best not be asleep boy!” Jon opened his eyes immediately, “You sleeping?”

“No Ser.” Jon answered quickly

“No one gets it like that the first time?” Ser Afgheir barely hid his accusation that Jon was lying to him.

“I learned something like it from my mother, she was a healer and was born in Vanheim.” his lie came out quickly as he’d taught Leo and Jaes the technique before they knew about his visions.

“Hmmmm… fair enough,” he stepped away as Jon got up, Leo and Jaes still there, “Just a warning, I catch you sleeping… I’ll have the healers fix you up after the evening session and give it to ya again.” They all moved off to join the formation getting in place on the road.

That’s how their days went. He’d wake up every morning and get healed, pack, meditate, walk and eat, meditate, eat, and relieve himself when they stopped, set up camp, meditate, get the snot knocked out of him, eat, and finally sleep. As they closed in on the Dain the beatings weren’t as long, the meditation had been stepped up to focus on other parts of the body such as heart beat, temperature, etc. and he didn’t have invasive thoughts anymore. He’d stopped thinking about his friends as his pack for the most part.

When asked in private about it and forced to talk, he had to reveal a few personal urges he felt but got reminded of his last talk with his mother. Ser Afgheir almost cried laughing and said that was normal for humans too, nothing to worry bout if they didn’t go away completely. He told Jon that human’s had instincts too and those ones should be acted on in a few years. But other instincts, like the one to be social, to protect those close to you, to protect even unknown innocents like children. They should strive to hone those instincts and follow them. The point was that they were trying to ensure the humanmind ruled over the beastmind.

It was far more philosophical than Jon realized, the idea of hunting monsters was apparently part of the new way but only a small part. Afgheir kind of scared Jon a bit when he spoke of inner calm and trusting your senses, mainly because it was the exact opposite of the Afgheir that yelled and beat him nightly.

Fourteen days after they left Saena they marched on the crossroads, this time Jon wasn’t laden down with a heavy pack and herding a group of frightened children. It took longer to get there than to get to Saena because of the logistics. Setting camp for now nearly 700 after southern knights and adventurers joined the expedition, took far longer than setting up three tents or sleeping in or under the wagon. They had to stop earlier every night and although they woke up before dawn it wasn’t so early as to make up the difference. Plus it took at least half an hour to get all the wagons and mules situated every morning. That’s what everyone else, including his friends, worked on while he meditated with Jaesmin and Leofrith.

The column stopped at the same pasture they’d camped in as refugees, now it held the expedition. Jon moved to set up his and Erin's tent near their wagon and squire friends. Next to them sat ‘willow’s tits’ who’d they’d met on the road to Saena to Aethred’s delight. There were also some more knights and hunters that were already camped in the pasture. Jon couldn’t image what was going to happen but the ever growing force would have little problem finding anything that could match them in even the Dain.

“fweeht!” Jon looked back as he went to meditate. It was mid afternoon so he would either be meditating for a while or get an early beating that day. His eyes found the source of the whistle it was Ser Hallr.

“Badgers of the Dain to the Inn!” well that was different. Jon turned around and started marching to the Inn, he was in full armor today as it was suggested to focus on pressure to his skin, weight on it. What better weight than chainmail and his new steal helmet. It was a simple open face nasal helm, better than nothing.

Jon had focused a lot more on his meditation for the past few days. He had a feeling he knew what the new meditation training was about after seeing one of the knights transform only their arm. It was also a regular occurrence to see them grow out their canines, change their eyes, or grow claws from human hands while the rest of them stayed the same. It was slightly terrifying to watch but he couldn’t deny it’s usefulness. For example, with practice they could change their eyes to five different things. Normal, zoom, near darkness, body heat, and weird colors that shouldn’t exist giving him a headache. The last one he didn’t get the point of, no one did but the rest were beyond useful. Not all of them could but he imagined it required on a better understanding of his own body.

Jon met up with Andrew as they walked around the side of the inn. He pulled off his helm before entering and held the door for Erin and Cara who were running up. As he looked around he notice basically the entire common room was taken over by the expedition. He saw Ser Hallr and walked up to meet him Aethred and Leofrith had already beaten him there. Leaving just Jaesmin missing.

“You’re just here to answer questions if asked since you’re from this area and know a little about the forest.” He said, not exactly the hardest task. A few minutes later Jaesmin entered followed by Ser Afgheir, Ser Erik, Lady Kyanna, a handful of knights in more traditional armor that Jon assumed were Stilyran, and finally Willow’s tits. With a knock on the table, Erik called the meeting to order. He went around the room and introduced everybody including the knights from Ravenna and Stilyra, he didn’t use Daren and Willow’s team name though.

“Any questions before we begin?” Erik said and sat down, he didn’t have to wait long.

“May I ask why there’s adventurers at this meeting, you can’t possibly expect them to be able to talk strategy or tactics?” A local knight said

“Mister Daren and Miss Willow are representatives of the various adventurers both solo and teams that have volunteer to accompany us. I’ve hired them to find out and keep track of the adventurers spells, knowledge, and useful techniques. They have been adventurers for 14 years now and are acting as advisors so we don’t overlook a useful talent in the forest.” Ser Erik stated, there wasn’t any reason to question it.

“And the kids?” a different knight asked.

“Advisor’s from the ruined village of the south, they grew up closer to the Dain than any one of us. Things they grew up thinking as trivial may be of import. Sons and daughters of hunters, woodsmen, and a healer who picked her own herbs. Two are even the children of the late Magistrate.”

“You lot survived the attack? Unscathed? How?” one of the knights asked, unsure how young men and women could survive when trained hunters and men at arms couldn’t.

“Open your mouths!” Afgheir said. Jon couldn’t help but think this was the real reason they were here, they were proof that werewolves did roam the Dain. Jon hesitantly opened his mouth and pulled back his lips to expose his teeth. A collective gasp came from the knights who questioned them.

“They’re the only ones who witnessed the monsters attack and survived being bitten. Do not worry, they’re lycan now.” Erik said, “work out the details of the expedition.”

“Excuse me your highness?” Erik turned to Afgheir, “If you’ll excuse me for a few moment’s I need to arrange someone to take care of the young lycans evening training in my stead.”

“Of course,” Erik glanced up with an apologetic expression, “I believe four of the seven should be able to answer any questions we may have. Please hurry back.” Jon thought being used as a pawn was bad, but being used as one and still getting his nightly ass beating.