Macha's Journey

He took her to a side street in the guild"s shopping area. The shop was in a little back alley a few turns off the main street. He liked the quality and customization that this shop had to offer. Unlike the shops on the main street, this shop was a small family business.

The two of them entered a small shop with opened doors. There were many wooden figurines that dangled from strings at the shop entrance. As they walked further in, Macha could see stone figurines with more detail displayed on the walls.

A woman greeted Tyr and Macha with a bow. She had her brown hair in a high ponytail and wore an ap.r.o.n with slacks. After her greeting, she asked with a wide smile, "Captain Tyr, what can I do for you?" She appreciated the Captain"s patronage over the years.

Tyr walked past her towards the back. "I need to pick up a mount for my secretary. Bring out the S grade figures," he dictated. There was a small room in the back and he opened the door, sitting himself down in front of the desk.

Macha looked around with starry eyed excitement in her eyes. She knew nothing about the quality of these figurines, so she followed Tyr into the room and sat down next to him. "Do I get to pick what type of animal I want or does it have to do with magical affinity?" She was excited about the process and sat at the edge of her seat.

The woman came into the room, holding a black wooden chest. She put it gently on the table. Another worker came in and poured wine for them to drink before closing the door. "What type of mount are you looking for?" the woman asked Tyr.

"I want one that is easy to ride, low on the ground, has high acceleration, and maneuverability." Tyr sipped his wine and turned to Macha, "Do you care what type of animal it is?"

Macha"s eyebrows twitched. She didn"t realize, so many factors went into picking out a mount. "Uh... something soft would be nice."

The woman nodded and opened up the third drawer. "I think this would be perfect for your secretary." She held the figurine out for Tyr to inspect.

Macha craned her neck to see it. The figure was made of brown serpentine stone and that had small runes engraved on it. It showed a cheetah sitting down with its fangs bared and the runes looked like its spots. Macha thought it was beautiful.

Tyr turned the figure over in his hand. He looked at every rune, inspecting the whole thing with care. "It"s all right, but I want to add climate controlled seating to the saddle," he specified while handing it back to the woman.

The woman bowed and left the room with the figurine.

"Don"t I get to pick which one I want?" Macha asked petulantly. She felt annoyed that they ignored her and that she did not get to pick out which mount she would get.

Tyr looked at her, confused because he saw out of the corner of his eye, that she liked the figurine. "I thought you liked it. Should we pick a different one?"

Macha frowned and made a small pout. "I did like it. But no one even asked if I did. Maybe I wanted it in blue or something."

Tyr hid his mouth with his hand and laughed. "You can"t get it in blue. It"s a cheetah. Besides, I didn"t have to ask. It was written all over your face."

The woman came back with a measuring tape and a thin book. After jotting down Macha"s measurements she asked Tyr which saddle he wanted.

Tyr slid the book over to Macha, "Which one do you want?" He realized Macha wanted to have more say in this process. The saddle was mostly for aesthetics, so it did not matter which one she picked.

Macha looked at the different saddles. There were ones with low horns, high horns, no back, high thrown-like backs, and armor. She took a while to flip through the book and decided on a medium back saddle with a high horn. After she decided, Tyr made a few final alterations to the saddle based on his experience.

After they finished ordering, the final touches took a half hour to be completed. When the woman returned she handed the figure to Tyr and thanked him for waiting.

Tyr led Macha outside and taught her how to summon her mount. She focused on instilling her figurine with chi and thin wisps of light came forth from her body. The soft light enveloped the figurine, seeping into the carved runes. From the idol"s mouth a bright golden light flowed out, which took the form of her cheetah. The brilliant illumination solidified, and the cheetah growled as it came to life.

Macha rushed to pet the animal, and she jumped up and down with delight. "He is so beautiful! I love him. Where do I pay?"

While Macha was summoning the cheetah Tyr had paid for it. He lied and said, "The mount wasn"t much just one month"s pay. I"ll take the expense out of your paycheck." The climate-controlled seating he ordered was equal to one month"s pay for her. He saw this mount as a minor investment. With Macha coming along to the anniversary party he would have some fun, so buying her a mount was nothing to him.

****

Macha and Tyr set out the next morning. On the road, Macha would reach down periodically to pet her cheetah, which she named, Chester. They rode for hours, but the saddle felt comfortable and the long travel time didn"t bother her.

Macha looked around at the orange and red sea of leaves that swayed in the wind. The crisp air blew and shook the leaves from the trees. She glanced over at Tyr, who scanned the horizon. He had a look of concentration on his face. Macha liked that his eyes reflected how focused he was on his task. Right now his mouth created a flat line as he looked around. She had never seen him so focused and she decided it made him appear more alluring.

Tyr was looking for a place to make camp. It would be dark soon, and he wanted to find a place with a good vantage point. They were technically in the outer-reaches and it could be dangerous if he didn"t choose a good place. He pointed to a small hill to their right. "I think we should make camp there for the night."

****

After dinner, Tyr and Macha talked about his family"s estate. She was curious about why it was so far from Ma.r.s.eille. He was about to answer her when he noticed movement in the darkness coming towards them. There was a small party approaching them.

When the group drew nearer, Tyr could see that they had their weapons drawn. "Get behind me. We might have to fight. Focus on defending yourself if that happens," he ordered her as his eyes frosted over.

A tanned man who had an enormous spiked tetsubo resting on his shoulder sauntered towards them. On his left, a large boar with long metal caps on its tusks stamped the ground. The coverings made the boar"s tusks elongated. To his right, a woman held a great axe in her hand, twirling it in her hands while smoking a cigar. Behind them was another man who held a crossbow pointed towards Tyr.

Tyr drew his lances. "Move along," he warned. This group wielded S grade weapons on them and carried themselves with confidence.

"Put the weapons down or my friend here is gonna shoot. We just wanna take your stuff n" have some fun wit" girl," the tetsubo wielding man drawled.

Tyr snarled, "Last warning. Move along. I don"t want to hurt you." The man"s comment had p.i.s.sed him off, but fighting would only put Macha in danger.

"Shoot "im," the woman ordered, spitting her cigar on the ground.