Ax with Beothorn

Beothorn was sitting at the table in the wagon with Marena and Thaddius.

Beothorn had a big smile on his bearded face, "Happy Birthday, Thaddius. It is not every day you turn ten."

His parents did not know his exact birthday. Every year since Thaddius had come to live with them, they celebrated his birthday as the day he entered their lives.

Beothorn pulled a cloth bag out from below the table. "Ye, I know you're real good at reading and writing, and you know your numbers now. We are very proud of you, but I've discussed it with Marena, and we both agree that becoming a man is also knowing how to defend yourself in a fight. Out there in the world, you will find it's not a nice place, and being able to defend yourself is the best gift I can give you."

Thaddius looked at Marena and Beothorn with excitement on his face. His adoptive parents were both smiling when Beothorn nodded towards the bag. Thaddius hadn't seen his father this excited before, which increased his excitement. He turned the large bag towards him on the table.

Reaching into the bag, he removed the first item. It was a wooden practice ax with two wooden blades. It was styled after Beothorn's ax. "Are you going to show me how to chop goblins and trolls?" asked Thaddius with a smile as he reached for another present from the bag. He pulled out a plain metal helm. It had a round top with cheek and nose covers. Thaddius put it on his head. It immediately fell over his head, covering his whole face. It was way too big for him.

Thaddius's voice sounded muffled, "How do I look?" he giggled. "This is great!"

Thaddius grabbed the ax off the table and swung it around with both hands. It was too heavy for him to control his movements, and it thumped loudly on the table.

Beothorn said with laughter in his voice. "Hold on there, lad. They are both too big. We know you will grow into them, but you're going to have to stop swinging that around in here before you break something." Beothorn looked at Marena, who gave him a smile and a wink. "I think there are a few more things in there, Tad."

Tad liked when his father called him Tad. He put the ax head on the ground leaning the handle against a chair. Then he took his helmet off and put it on the table. Reaching into the bag again, he pulled out a large wooden shield. It was triangular with rounded edges and a slight curve around where his arm would fit into the leather straps. Painted on the front was the same bird statue that his light orb named Bubbles. The glowing creature spent most of its time in the statue or circling Tad while he read. Tad lifted the shield, which was heavy once it was on his arm. He could barely lift it from the ground. He figured it was like the helm; he would grow into it. Thaddius was delighted with all of his gifts. He felt like a true warrior.

Tad felt in the bag to make sure he had not missed anything. There was one more item in it. He pulled it out to discover it was a book with a strange lacy-looking script on the front. He could sense something in the book when he flipped through the first few pages. Tad looked to Marena for confirmation.

"Magic?"

Marena smiled, "We thought it would be good for you to learn something more than just hitting people with sticks. This book covers some of the basics of Ice and Fire magic. There are no spells yet, but we will get to that as you practice the lessons in this book."

Tad looked at the book, the ax, shield, and helm. Finally, he looked up at Marena and Beothorn with a big grin, "This is the best birthday ever! Thank you both so much". He set the book down and gave Marena a big hug. Hugging his adoptive dwarven parents was beginning to become awkward as he now stood a foot and a half taller than both. After he was done squeezing Marena, he turned to Beothorn, and a grin bloomed across Tad's face.

"Nope, nope, no need for any hugs," protested Beothorn. Tad ignored him, rushed over, and gave him a big hug anyway. Beothorn held his arms to his side but gave in and squeezed Tad back.

Tad finished his hugs and picked up the helm. He placed it on his head, tilting it back so he could still see. He picked up the book in his left hand and the ax in his right. He wobbled a bit but was determined to keep his balance. "How do I look?" he asked with a grin. The helmet slipped back over his face.

Marena and Beothorn looked at the boy, all arms and legs, struggling. Marena smiled at him and spoke first.

"You know Tad, I think Beothorn had his heart set on cutting that pie soon."

"Oh yea, Pie!" Tad replied with a little shout.

Later, he spoke with his mouth full of cherry pie, "When do we start?"

Beothorn looked at him across the table, "Tomorrow morning. We will wake up one hour early each day. Practice some stances with the ax. I have a smaller ax you will use for now. Also, Samphire would like you to move up to some larger animal pens for their care and cleaning. You will be doing that until lunch every day. Marena will change all your late afternoon classwork to include your new studies."

"When will I be able to go on supply runs with you?" asked Tad.

"Not for a while. You still have much to learn. Samphire lets only his paid guards go because they have the experience and know how to handle themselves. When you are good enough, I'll take you. Oh, did I mention that you are to get one hour to train with the performing monks after lunch? The training will help you improve your balance. Samphire suggested that it might help you with some of the animals."

With surprise in his voice, "What kind of animals do I need acrobatics for?"

"You will see tomorrow, Tad. Acrobatics is to help with your balance. Do you want another helping, or can I get that?" asks Beothorn eyeing the last piece of the pie on the platter.

Later that evening, Beothorn reminded Tad, "Tad, you are to report to Ralf starting tomorrow morning. He will explain your duties and work schedule. I already talked to him about your schooling hours. He agreed to work around those as a favor to me. Ralf has been leading the menagerie for many years and knows his job. He is a good man, and if you listen to him, you might learn a thing or two."

Tad asked, "He is one of the Menagerie Operators?"

"Yes, he is, now off to bed. We have an early morning start."

The following day after training with Beothorn and breakfast, Tad went to find Ralf. He was tired from swinging the wooden ax from all the different angles. Who knew swinging an ax was so complicated.

He found the old Carnie as he hooked one of the nightmare ponies to the carousel at the pony rides. Ralf spent the rest of the morning explaining to Tad his duties with both the nightmare ponies and the goat petting area.

The ponies were short pot-bellied horses with a fire red mane and hooves. The rest of the equine was dark as midnight. Their eyes were the yellow of fires with black irises that matched their coat and spirit.

The other half of his job was to tend the goat petting area. The goats were of all types, sizes, and colors. Tad had visited them quite a few times with Marena in the past when he was younger. It amazed him that he was now in charge of feeding and cleaning the area.

Ralf explained to Tad that each worker was assigned a cart. His work cart was 124, and the number related to the area of work Tad was appointed to in the menagerie of animals.

Tad walked through the whole routine with Ralf. He was confident that he could do this. It was more work than his last job, and he felt proud of himself for being bigger and older now. No more picking up trash around the carnival as his main job.

The following morning Tad woke up early. He practiced ax with Beothorn for one hour as the sun was coming up. He left after eating to retrieve the ponies from the field corral at the back of the carnival. He was to move them to the pen near the carousel ride. He walked to the corral to find the ponies were not there.

Tad sighed, slumped his shoulders, and shook his head, "Great, I already lost the ponies. "

He could report this to Ralf and immediately lose his new job. Perhaps the older man won't see it as Tad's fault. Beothorn had been so proud of him for getting new responsibilities. Tad took a deep breath and looked across the tall grass on which the corral was situated. There was a break in the fence, and the hooked beams used to hold the ponies in were knocked off the post in one spot.

Well, he would just go find the ponies. They couldn't have gone far. He stopped to look at the fence post that had held the beams. It was bent where the ponies had pushed it over. He looked down at the ground and could easily see the trampled grass and small clods of dirt of several animals moving off through the field.

He looked across and saw a line of trees and a short stone wall fence. Then he started across the dew-soaked field, following the trail to a break in the wall.

He didn't have to go very far. He heard dogs yipping and a whinny as he crossed the next field.

Tad started to run towards the noise. He came around the second stone fence to find all nine ponies in a half-circle around two wolves backed against the stone fence. The ponies were not letting them escape. The wolves had some blood and patches of missing fur. Each time one of the wolves tried to dart around, a pony would charge at it, backing it up. One of the wolves was bleeding from a pony bite on its side.

Tad didn't expect that. He looked at the wolves and ponies and reached out his magic to sense the creatures. He was revulsed and took a step backward. The wolves felt wrong in his mind. They felt rotten like an old egg smelled but in his mind. The ponies felt angry, but there was something wrong with the wolves. The ponies were angry at them. Tad stared at the larger wolf. He looked at its eyes, and they were not right, and it looked up at him feeling his magic probing it. He felt two minds in there. The wolf stared at him, growled, then it howled. Louder than anything Tad had heard before from a dog or anything like a wolf. The ponies shied away from the wolves then.

The wolves took the opening, rushed to the right along the fence wall, out of the encircling ponies making for the trees down the path and then across the field. The ponies didn't chase. They stomped, and a couple of them whinnied and snorted while digging up the dirt with their hooves. Tad could feel they were angry.

Tad put out his hand, trying to calm the nearest pony, "Hey now, let's see if we can get you all back to the carnival." As he got closer, Tad noticed that the yellow of their eyes was shining. He was pretty sure they didn't look like that yesterday. Nightmare ponies, indeed.

"Come on now, let's go back, and I'll get you all some nice grain," said Tad. The ponies took a few minutes, but they were calming down.

It took another half-hour, but Tad finally got them all to follow while he led the bigger male back to the broken fence. He looked up at the flags, indicating the time till the carnival opened. He was going to be late. He shrugged and led the ponies out the gate towards the carousel.

***