Rojuun

Chapter 1

Tathan was a tall man of twenty-nine years with short, curly black hair framing a face tanned by travel.  His hand was on the hilt of a thin, slightly curved sword sheathed at his waist and his intense grey eyes studied the peaceful valley where he had been raised.  Throughout his journeys, he always remembered the sights and scents of this valley.  Tathan closed his eyes and felt the breeze caress his cheek as it had in his childhood.  It brought the sounds of bees finding the first blossoms of the year.  Other insects buzzed through the valley hoping the birds would be too busy singing their songs to feast upon them.

The sun had risen just an hour ago.  Tathan knew it would take a full day and night’s travel to make it to the eastern side of the valley where he used to live, so he adjusted his travel pack on his shoulders and continued on.  There was no path or road, his parent’s house being the only dwelling in the valley.  Snowcapped mountains surrounded wild grasses, which were dotted with groves of trees and crossed by small streams.  The sky was deep blue with wisps of clouds that would likely become afternoon thunderstorms.  It was early spring and flowers were beginning to bloom, mingling their scents with that of fresh grass.

Few people had come through to visit when he was growing up.  It was a safe, remote place free of the wars, thievery, politics and various ills of civilization that prevailed throughout the rest of the world.  The only religion Tathan had grown up with was a simple spirituality and knowledge of the ways of nature.  Just being back in this valley was almost enough to bring a smile to his face, but he hadn’t smiled in quite a while.

Tathan jumped at a noise from his right.  He drew his sword and moved low to the ground in the direction he thought the sound had come from.  There was nothing out of the ordinary.  Then he scrutinized the small mountain trail behind him for danger.  The breeze ruffled his hair as he scanned the rest of the valley and the sun glistened off a small, opal tipped piercing in his eyebrow and the golden earrings that hung from his ears.  An unseen danger whispered on that breeze.  Tathan stayed in a defensive position for a few moments before sheathing his sword.  He must remember not to be so jumpy when he returned home.

Tathan loped across the valley at a good pace.  He wore dark leather clothing over his thin frame and moved much like a panther gliding over the grass.  Some had underestimated his strength in the past for he was not built as a brawler, his true abilities being speed and stealth.  Hours passed before he slowed to a walk.

It was good to be able to run again.  A person could not run through city streets without attracting stares.  The mountain pass he had just come through was not made for running either, being too steep.  Tathan reached into his pack to grab sustenance as he looked around once more.  Sheep roamed freely to the north of him, staying together to protect themselves from the occasional predator.  Tathan remembered having to round them up for wool and meat when he was younger.  It was a simpler life then.

The rest of the day passed without incident.  Flowers were in bloom while bees and insects went merrily about their business.  It amused Tathan to think of insects as merry, but it was the way of things here.  The thought of camping for the night crossed his mind, but he had been traveling for months and his sleep had been disturbed by dark dreams.

As the sun began to touch the western mountains, Tathan stopped to rest for a bit and cook a warm meal of rabbit he had caught along the way.  It took a few minutes to set a fire pit and gather some sticks from a grove of trees nearby and water from a small stream.  The clouds hadn’t delivered upon their promise of afternoon rain, so the wood was dry.  A gesture and a word sent a swirl of flame from his fingertips to light the campfire.  Tathan prepared the rabbit then warmed roots he had dug out of the ground earlier.  It was a good meal. He leaned against his travel pack to relax for a bit while eating.