Spellscribed Tales: First Refrain Read Online Free Page A

and in time the lessons will start to sink in. If they are anywhere nearly as hard-headed as you were..."
    Daelen sighed. "I don't know what you're talking about."
    "Already forgotten your childhood, huh?" Leona asked. "You're what, forty?"
    "Yeah." Daelen replied. "Getting old."
    Leona watched the children, calling Talen out for slacking off.
    "You know, I hear that people in Ironsoul live for upwards of sixty years sometimes. Some of them have even reached eighty." Leona replied.
    Daelen regarded her with a skeptical eye. "Whatever gave you that idea?"
    "One of the traders that came to the gates last week when I was out."
    Daelen scoffed. "Ridiculous. No one lives that long."
    "The Spengur does."
    Daelen shook his head. "That's different. They're unnatural."
    Leona shrugged. "Just saying what I heard."
    "So I should just let them go without knowing how important their duty is?" Daelen asked.
    "They're children, Love. They don't care about duty or honor yet. At most they care that what you think is important."
    "Then they'll keep training. And fighting."
    Leona slid closer and leaned her head against his shoulder. "And they will become the best warriors on the mountain."
    Daelen laughed. "They're going to become the greatest guardians of our age. Or else."
    "Or else what?"
    "I... don't know."
    "Well, that's reassuring."
    Daelen was about to reply when a snarling, barking sound cut through the morning air. The neighbor's yard erupted in shouting, and people scrambling could be heard followed by more barking.
    "Get back to work!" Daelen called to his children, who had paused to listen to the spectacle. "It's just the dog trainer."
    The snarling was cut off with a yelp, and the boys went back to their exercises. For several minutes, they labored in silence and Daelen only called out to correct a child's form or to tell them to move to the next set. The morning passed quickly.
    Leona went inside to start preparing their meal while Daelen continued supervising the training. It was a rare day that Daelen had time away from military action to personally oversee their development. It was becoming less rare as time passed; the older Daelen became, the more readily he found reasons to stay home. It was all part of living on Balator. If you retired, you eased out of your duties so the younger could fill them without creating a power vacuum.
    Joven was starting to get tired. He had been exercising all morning and his barely developed muscles were burning. The steel plate he clutched with his sweaty hands felt like it weighed a hundred pounds, and he had to keep adjusting his grip to keep it from slipping. He would have put the thing down already since he was hardly three months into his regimen, but he didn't want to do that while his father was there. He pushed himself hard, hoping that maybe one of his brothers would tire out first.
    It was unlikely. Balen was exercising for years now, and had built up much stamina and strength. Talen hadn't been at it as long, but had found ways to put forth the minimum amount of effort to get the task done. Joven hadn't the talent for preserving energy or boundless endurance, so he had only his effort. Still, Joven pushed as hard as he could. He was young, but he wasn't going to let his brothers beat him.
    He hefted the plate over his head one last time before switching to a set of rotations holding the plate at full extension that would work his abdomen. The snarling from the dog trainer's yard picked up again, followed by the occasional whip-crack of a training lash and the coarse shout of the man who was running the latest litter of dogs through the wringer. Neither Joven nor Balen had been able to see over the fence to see what went on over there, but Talen had managed to shimmy up one corner a few weeks ago and had reported that they were training the dogs to fight and kill men.
    Suddenly a raucous of barking and pained shouts from the neighbor caused the three children to halt their exercises.