"Private Warden Zarath Ironclaw, from this day forth you, your dire wolf and your sworn brother Private Warden Tharon Ironclaw, who has already assumed his duty and begun his training, will be assigned to your current squadron under Captain Warden Emrick Lupin, and form a new Vanguard unit of this Chapter." Wing Commander Thalia's voice was firm and commanding as she spoke to Zarath the other wardens of officer ranks dared not try to speak or make any noise as she spoke.
"Your mission will be as followed, One you will up hold the very being of a warden, though our goal is the eradication of the blight your duty first and foremost is to protect the innocent, even from enemies not of the blight, second you will up hold the rules of this Chapter, third you will defend your fellow wardens with your life if need be. And finally, you will seek out and destroy our ancient enemy wherever you found it." Wing Commander Thalia delivered this order with practiced ease years of command showing as she said the finial word.
With those finial words Zarath was fitted for a new set of armor, much different than what he was used to. The dwarven smiths took into account his natural physiology, from his tail and retractable claws, even how Tharon had told them about his speed and his preference to fight with a bow and short sword. Zarath's new armor fit him like a glove, the leather trousers which had a hole for his tail, his knee high boots which left the toes exposed just enough so his claws could come out even his gloves where fingerless but the tops armored like plate gauntlets, his helmet was cut to rest gently atop his muzzle but so he could still open his jaw to use his powerful fangs, a new cloth shirt, then over lapped with a leather chest guard, his arms were covered in leather bracers and his shoulders and chest finial topped with a plate chest guard and topped with short chain mail and blue and white surcoat.
For his weapons his wyvern bone longbow was reinforced with a thin and short metal blade running along the limbs and even over the grip basically a dual bladed sword, as well he was given not one but two silver longswords, Emrick explained that a warden is always given at least one weapon they are not familiar with as a challenge to over come there weakness, Tharon had explained to the Emrick how Zarath was in a fight, his speed was his strong point but also he could be very brutal when it came to killing so the longswords were meant so Zarath could learn better control as they weighed more and had a longer reach.
After this Emrick took Zarath to the training ground or the walled off back courtyard of the town hall that had been turned into a training ground. There Zarath's new and old friends were training, while Hura and Alaric's griffon Storm Wing were lazing about in the shade of a nearby tree, Zarath quickly noted how different everyone looked in their warden's armor.
Tharon, the largest of the group in height and weight, looked like a silver giant, Zarath so use to seeing his friend and sworn brother in leather and fur pelts, and usual without anything covering his top half, was now fully dressed in a custom full plate suit, his helmet complete covered his head unlike Zarath's, Tharon would have to remove his helmet to eat or drink, his large gray tail popped out from behind him a small hole cut in his trousers to allow this. Tharon's wyvern bone spear serrated with the wyvern's teeth was now tipped with metal that was poured over top the edge of each tooth and the sharpened spear tip, metal grips with leather installed to allow for single hand grip or both hands, the wooden buckler replaced with a full metal kite shield.
Tharon was sparing with Dagna their dwarf friend who wore a similar set of full plate custom made for her shorter size. She swung an impressive double sized great ax like it was a weightless feather, smashing it hard against Tharon's kite shield, Tharon thrust his spear towards her, which she blocked using the wooden shaft of her ax to redirect the blow away. Both of them moved as if the heavy plate they wore weighed nothing.
"Looks like our captain finial dragged the mutt out here." Sha'lara's voice cut through the sounds of metal's clashing against metal. Zarath turned to see here and stopped as he took in her silver and black fur, use to seeing this female cat in almost see through clothing, he was taken aback by how good she looked even in full armor. Sha'lara wore mostly leather from shoulder to toes with a few pieces of heavy plate to protect vital spots like around her neck and chest, much like Zarath's boots the toes were exposed to allow her claws out, her gloves fingerless on her hips was a set of twin curved blades clearly of Felinar design, and a short spear on her back, "What I may be forced to wear this armor but I refuse to fight with human or dwarven weapons." Her tail swayed behind her as she looked away not sure why she felt embarrassed to have Zarath stare at her, though that feeling quickly faded when Lyra popped out from behind her.
"Hey Zarath check this out its this cool new thing the wardens gave me." Lyra beamed as she held out a chain sickle, the weight on the end of the chain shaped like one of her paws. Her new armor was a mix of leather and chain mail, the silver chain mail was a sharp contrast against her reddish fur, her tail wagged quickly behind her, and just like Zartah's and Sha'lara's armor the toes and fingers were exposed. "The also upgraded my knives pretty cool right, right." her excitement was the same as always.
It was only Alaric, the half elf left who wore armor that seemed to match him perfectly, he wore a cross between plate and leather with a mix of chain over his stomach, on his right shoulder guard was a cross surrounded by wings and on the left was the normal griffon emblem of the wardens. Alaric had a sheathed short sword on one hip with a book and medical bag on the other, in his hand was a full-length Quarterstaff each end had a rainbow-colored jewel in it, these jewels where actual a metal called Mysticite often used by spell casters to focus their spells or to enchant and enhance weapons and armor, Mysticite was also extremely dangerous in its raw form known as Etherium or unrefined Mysticite was volatile and could easily explode when in contact with magic which is why only the dwarves of Thrumdar mined and exported all Mysticite to human and elvish lands.
"What do you think to much for the squad's healer." Alaric laughed at his own joke, knowing full well even as a healer, but as a warden first he would still be involved in fighting. And as a future Sky Warden a warden bounded to a griffon and used as aerial calvary fighting in the nastiest battles yet.
"Alright listen up." It was Emrick that broke the group's comradery as he spoke, he looked over the group of young recruits of his order. "Look you six are going to be a team from now on, must of the other Wardens have already deemed your squad the misfit squadron and for good reason most squads are mostly comprised of humans, with a few nonhumans, but your entire squadron is far from human." Emrick pointed to Zarath, Tharon and Lyra. "First off we have three wolfkin who not only surpass well pretty much most races when it comes to speed and strength, I've fought wolfkin Krellar before and it wasn't much fun, we have a Felinar princess with a massive attitude problem, but she is definitely the most agile person here, and then we have a dwarf and a half elf." Emrick rattled on about how their species and racial abilities made them a much deadlier fighting force than most of the wardens in the order let alone the chapter stationed at Frontier, with training and a few more years of experience under their belt they would make the most formidable unit in the chapter.
"So, to sum it up Zarath is in charge from now on." Emrick's comment was quickly met with protest from Sha'lara. "What you're putting the mutt in charge, did you forget I am royalty."
Emrick let out a deep sigh. "Look Sha'lara, the only one that would probably follow your lead is Lyra, and secondly your father is a gladiator so even if your mother is the dessert queen you never had a chance at the throne, and we all know that Dagna is a terrible leader or do you want a repeat of the Fay horse incident." Sha'lara couldn't voice any complaint after that, clicking her tongue as she scoffed.
"Besides Thorne and Lyra already listen to him so, yeah Zarath is in charge." Emrick waved as he started to walk away from the group. "Well, you all have fun figuring that out once you guys have things sorted out, I will give you your first assignment."
"Did the guy that's supposed to be in charge of our training just leave." Dagna asked as the group watched Emrick walk away, before everyone turned to Zarath.
"Alright fine so the mutts in charge, now what do we do?" Sha'lara was still clearly not happy about not being put in charge of the squad but just crossed her arms and turned away slightly.
"Why is it I'm a mutt but you call Lyra by her name when we are both wolfkin?" Zarath was a little confused, he hadn't known Sha'lara that long, but he knew that she knew his name.
"Because you're a mutt and I actually like her she at least understands proper fur grooming and her skill with body paint is amazing for some one who only just started to learn it." Sha'lara stated with a matter-of-fact tone in her voice.
"Alright, well, I guess, we should do some practice fights to see how best we can work together, or at the very least we should figure out or formation for actual battle." Zarath scratched his chin.
"That sounds like a good idea, though as a spell caster and healer, I would prefer the back ranks as much as possible." Alaric stepped forward as he spoke. "I can mostly use defensive magic and have a few long-ranged attack spells, but I specializes in healing. Plus, me and Storm Wing can eventual act as aerial calvary in a way."
"It will be nice to have a healer and spell caster on the team and from the looks with everyone else it kind of rounds it out." Tharon rubbed his belly through his armor, a common thing for him.
"Well obviously me and Tharon will be the groups tanks." Dagan smacked Tharon on his upper thigh since she couldn't reach his back given the height difference, her accent became more apparent as she laughed.
"I'm fine with what ever my skill set allows for me to be where I am needed given the situation." Sha'lara's tail flicked as she continued to pout about not being the leader of the group.
"Well given what everyone has said, I think we should have Tharon and Dagan in the front, Sha'lara and Lyra can take the sides they are both pretty fast so that will help out a great amount, then we can have me in the middle with my bow and Alaric in the back." Zarath looked at everyone to see if anyone had a problem with that idea.
"I could still use a bit of practice, with a bow, and definitely this new weapon." Lyra held up the chain sickle her usual shy demeanor.
With the formation of the group decided in a combat situation, thus the training and sparing began. In the weeks that followed the group trained in one-on-one sparing matches as well as group training. During the day the group spent on the training fields or patrolling the town of Frontier as well as the surrounding areas. During the nights they spent studying the blight and the blighted through the collective text of the Wardens Keepers.
The seasons slowly changed from the late spring to the early fall, Zarath, Tharon and Lyra slowly integrated themselves into living in a human town. The people had grown used to seeing many different species and often dealt with outsiders traveling through the Heartlands into the kingdom of Eldoria.
Tharon quickly established himself as the strongest of the wardens even among the veterans, his size and weight alone gave him the advantage, Lyra quickly grew close to many of the towns people often helping out in the kitchens just like back home for her, and Zarath quickly became the fiercest of the new recruits, using his heightened instincts to take advantage of his skills, he was often described as being more wolf than person. Alaric was already well known to be the most educated of the group, being the son of two wardens he had a family reputation to up hold, Dagan had quickly become a small menace to the other wardens, pulling pranks and often being seen at the local tavern, her skill in combat was the only reason many of the higher officers tolerated her, and lastly Sha'lara had quickly taken charge of the of the wardens supplies, granted the old dwarf that was the quarter master was still in charge but he just stopped arguing with her when she would force her way into ordering things, though many of the wardens didn't complain about the new bedding or better food.
Now the true journey that Zarath and Tharon had set out on those weeks ago, from their simple clan's nomadic camp to the heart of the Heartlands and now here with the Wardens the ones they sought out now joined with their new companions would soon learn that the darkness wasn't the worst thing to fear but what lay waiting in the dark.