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[Knightfall]

Dabuk hated the labyrinth. After nearly a week of training, the young ranger was still unable to find his way in the training labyrinth under the Tiger Guild. It was a basic test or so they told him. If you can’t make it out of the labyrinth without getting lost, then you’d never be able to navigate the maze-like streets of Fruen above.

“Again,” Mesik wasn’t discouraged. After all, the labyrinth was more than a training ground, it was a test of one’s instincts and reasoning. It had taken him weeks just to understand what the point was. “You’re still not thinking. Don’t just walk around, think your way through this.”

“Damn it,” Dabuk was hard to frustrate but even his patience was wearing thin. “How is this suppose to help me find my way around Fruen? I’ve seen the streets above, and it’s not anywhere near this complex.”

“So your saying the challenge isn’t fair?” Mesik was using the classic test questions to put doubt into the young half-elf’s mind. “Who are you to say what is fair or not? You’re not the Guildmaster!”

Dabuk didn’t waver. “That doesn’t matter, it isn’t fair, not for me, and not for anyone else. Even the Guildmaster would become lost down here.”

The boy was smart, Mesik would give him that. “Ok then, say you’re right. The labyrinth challenge isn’t fair. How do you get out?”

Dabuk looked around hopelessly lost. He knew there was something he was missing. He’d followed the winding and twisting of the labyrinth without any luck. He had tested the walls for secret doors and traps but nothing had come up. There weren’t any, which only made him more puzzled. He had tried to map out the labyrinth, but the maze was so complex he’d need more than the simple tools they had allowed him.

The walls were solid stone, too thick to break through, and stretched up to the height of a two-story building. The walls were porous and cracked from age, so he had made sure to climb up and check the higher sections for openings like windows and doors. There hadn’t been anything of note other than the labyrinth didn’t have a ceiling. Obviously, to simulate having an open sky above you. He had stood on top of the walls and looked over the vastness of the labyrinth hoping for some clue or landmark.

A thought flashed through his mind. No, it couldn’t be that easy. “Ok, the labyrinth isn’t fair. That is obvious. But what if I had help? Can I ask for help?”

“You could, but no one I known has ever been able to make sense of this place.” Mesik smiled.

“So you’re telling me no one has ever gotten out?” Dabuk was dumbfounded.

“I didn’t say that.” Mesik grinned.

“Can I just ask to be let out?” Dabuk had considered that the challenge had something to do with pride.

“Sorry, it’s not that simple. But you’re starting to think more; you’re considering the options. That’s a good start. Now, it’s time to make a decision, which way?” Mesik’s job was to confuse and push the boy.

“Let’s try this way,” Dabuk sighed.

“Lead the way, trainee.” Mesik thought the boy had it but not quite.

The two Tiger Guild members continued to pace through the training labyrinth; Dabuk grumbling and searching for a way to make sense of it all.

* * *

“Leaving again so soon, are you lad?”

“Aye, father. You know how restless I am here. I need to go places and see how other races live. I don’t know why I need too. I just do.” Dvalin Thunderstone stowed away his meager traveling possessions.

“I know, I know. I was just hoping you’d stay longer this time, my son.” Brekk Thunderstone dared to dream that his stout son would eventually learn to love the stone and hearth of their clanhome. “After all, the summer festivals are in full swing. I was hoping you’d enter the hammer throw in the Onyx Athletics Tournament this year. It would be a great honor for the Thunderstone clan if you competed, and you would easily win.”

“Aye, but the games are not my thing, father. You know that. We’ve discussed this over and over again. Something else stirs my blood other than stone. I don’t understand it, but I want to and, by Moradin, I’m going to figure out my place in the world, my way.”

“Aye, so you keep telling me.” Brekk didn’t know what else to do or say to convince his son to love the stone and mortar halls of the Dwarven City of Milo. Not to mention the hundreds of years of tradition that went with being a member of the Thunderstone clan. “So, where to this time?”

“Fruen,” Dvalin replied.

“A human-dominated city, in the middle of summer. The stink will be terrible.”

“Perhaps,” Dvalin moved to his stone pallet and gathered up the last of his gear. “Fruen is one of the major port cities of the Eastern Shores. It has a long history for a human-dominated city as you say. Plus, I feel like I need a new challenge. I’m going to attempt to join the city watch or perhaps work as a bodyguard for a while. It will be good experience.”

“Good experience! Protecting fat human merchants and ungrateful, unpolished citizens.” Brekk was against it but knew better than to voice it openly. “I hope you know what you’re getting into?”

“Aye, so do I.” Dvalin shouldered his pack grabbing his axe.
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Up next... the journey to Fruen. But who's journey? Also, more in Milo.