The Adventurers Guild by Zack Loran Clark & Nick Eliopulos

Author:Zack Loran Clark & Nick Eliopulos
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Book Group
Published: 2017-11-23T05:00:00+00:00

The guildhall was slow to rouse itself after the festivities of the night before. It was past noon before Brock and Zed began to hear the sounds of movement and voices from outside the bedroom, and when Hank the physician appeared with lunch for Jett and chased the boys off, they found the common area crowded with slow-moving, unwashed men and women all pitching in to clear away the worst of the mess.

Syd, the dark-skinned boy with the tri-horned helmet, approached them from across the room, taking long, languid steps. “Your friend is in the training yard,” he said placidly. “She’s beating up my friend. It’s pretty funny.”

The lack of emotion in his voice didn’t make him seem especially amused, but he led them out the side door to the training yard.

Liza was there, hefting the shield she’d claimed from the wall downstairs along with a wooden training sword. She was battering away at Fife, whose own training sword lay at his feet as he clutched his shield with both hands.

“All right, Fife?” Syd called from the sidelines.

Fife peeked around the edge of his shield while Liza hammered away. “This is strategy! It’s called the turtle maneuver. You’ll—ow!” he cried, as Liza swiped at his exposed ear.

Syd rolled his hooded eyes at Brock and Zed. “I guess sometimes the best offense is a good defense. And sometimes the best defense isn’t very good.”

“Whose side are you on?” Fife cried.

“Hers,” they all answered in unison.

Fife finally yielded, and only then did Liza show any sign of fatigue. She dropped the shield and rolled her shoulders, smiling at the new arrivals. “Who wants a go?”

“I should warn you,” Fife said, wincing as he unwrapped his aching fingers from his shield’s handle. “She’s got a good arm.”

“Not just for a girl?” she teased, apparently alluding to some earlier argument.

“Yeah,” Fife said. “A girl minotaur.”

“There’s no such thing as a girl minotaur,” Syd said flatly. He pointed to his helmet. “Horns.”

While Fife puzzled that one out, the confusion written plainly across his face, Lotte appeared with a shield nearly identical to the one Liza had been using, but it shone with newness, its edges unmarred and unblemished.

“Try this,” she said.

Liza lifted it, and she grinned.

“Better?” Lotte ask.

“It’s perfect. The balance is much better.”

“We didn’t have anything quite in your size,” Lotte said. “So I made one.”

“You made this?” Liza said, smiling widely now. “For me? Just now?”

Lotte returned the smile. “Well, I had to keep occupied this morning while you all made nice with the king.”

“I thought you were the quartermaster,” Brock said.

“Quartermaster. Blacksmith. Sometimes I cook.” Lotte took Liza’s old shield from the ground. “We all have several roles here. We have to, since Frond insists we’re to remain self-sufficient.” She kicked Fife’s forgotten training sword Brock’s way. “Now pick up that sword and let me show you what your role is as an apprentice. Mostly, it’s a lot of crying while I’m thrashing you.”

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