Harald
Harald pulled himself into the saddle of Paw, his gaint Borca. The morning promised a gorgeous day, and they had all agreed to go for a ride. Perhaps make their way to one of the small small waterfalls which fell down in spots of the mountain from the small creeks that flowed from the large reservoir lake.
None of the waterfalls wall taller than any of them, and they were little wider than two of them, but some created small little pools of water at their bottom that would be a perfect way to cool off on the hot day.
Harald and Gwen waited outside the stable for Jae and Winnifred as they slowly walked through own Borca through the stone floor as small Bots went about their duty cleaning the muck of the dozens of stabled Borca.
“Ready?” Harald asked.
“Yeah,” Winnifred said. She was always more nervous outside Stonehill Hold. Harald often thought the only spot she was comfortable was one of the labs where she could experiment with some tech or other.
“Come on,” Gwen said, and rushed her Borca forward.
Harald and the other two followed her through the outside edge of Stonehill Hold out they were outside the outer walls and climbing down the gentle slopes and into the surrounding forest which made it’s way up the mountain slope.
They traveled most the morning through the high trees. They could hear distant shouts, and bangs, and other noises. They ade their way to a rocky out crop where they looked out to the plain below the mountain, and could see thousands of troops.
“Holy hell,” Jae whispered.
“Look at them all,” Gwen said.
“Why are they there?” Winnifred asked with a little fright in her voice.
Harald looked amazed at the sight. Thousands of troops, and large equipment. Tanks, and mech suits which towered several meters high were all moving about.
“My father granted Hilda Grip permission for some of her forces to preform training missions on Isca. They must be the King’s Guard Forces running drills,” he told them.
They watched in awe for what must have been hours.
“What do we have here?” A voice called out, and Harald turned in his saddle to see several men, their uniform clearly marking them as members of the King’s Guard.
“Who are you?” Harald asked quickly as the men approached with their rifles causally moving as they walked forward.
“Well Well,” one of them said as they neared them. “Aren’t they cute,” he continued.
“Who are you!” Harald asked again in a more firm tone, and slowly moved his hand.
“Quiet pup,” a third man said, and Harald could see the brown of his eyes. “We could have alot of fun with these ones,” the man continued and reached out and hand a hand over Jae’s thigh.
Harald moved quickly. He kicked the man in the face with his boot, as he brought Paw between him and Jaw, and he saw Paw’s head move as he snapped a arm holding a weapon and draw blood while Harald pulled his own weapon out from his leg holster.
“I am Harald Moon Frost, Son and heir to System-lord Peder Moon Frost.” He said as the man with the bleeding arm screamed, and the one he kicked cursed him and held his nose with blooding trickling down his face. Gwen had her pistol out as well, and Jae was reaching for hers but Winnifred was too afraid to move.
“What the hell?” a new voice called out, and Harald looked to see a female officer walk out from the brush towards them.
The officer walked quickly towards the man Harald had kicked, and slapped him so hard he hit the ground. “What the fuck is this?” she asked sharply and kicked him in the side of his head.
“We… we,” the man stammered.
“Yu dumb fuck, I’ll have you spent a term on the prison world of XXXXX,” she growled angry, and then looked at Harald, and the womans eyes changed. She dropped to one knee and lowered her head. “My lord,” she said respectfully. “I am sorry. I will deal with these…”
“No need,” anther voice came out of the trees, and Harald turned to look at the familiar voice of Nena Woodsmith, his mother’s shieldmaiden on top her own Borca with rifle aimed at the soldiers. “These men will face the lord’s justice.”
Harald had never been so happy to see Nena. He should have known his mother would continue to have him watched, no matter how old he got, and he had never been happier.
“Lord Harald, Jae, Gwen, Winnifred, Joslyn get behind me. Reinforcements will be here in a moment to deal with these scum.” Nena said but her rifle never moved from the soldiers.
Harald moved his Borca, along with the others and passed by Nena.
“Good job lord,” Nena said as they passed, and Harald smiled. She had trained him well, and that praise watched away any fear that remained in him.
