"Bastien! Wake up!" I heard my mom call from across the house.
Reluctantly waking up, I rubbed the sand out of my eyes. "Yes, Mother!" I responded, getting ready to start my day.
The first thing I have to do everyday is shower, but where you live in a clan house with tens of other people it becomes a race to the washroom. I'm still a child, so I use the women and children's bathing area. Getting out of my pajamas, I picked up a face cloth and a brush before heading in. The bathing room wasn't very packed, just some of the older women bathing the little kids of the Droheck clan. Following proper bathing etiquette, I scrubbed myself off before entering the water; scrubbing my scales is a real challenge, needing a brush built for scrubbing floors to get them clean. Washing hair is easier, but I need to be careful with my short curls.
After washing off the soap and drying, my scales sparkling, I went back to my room to get ready. My room doesn't' have much floor space, but me and Mama Rana built a bed off the ground so I could put my desk underneath, and my dresser and toy box against the wall. I had to go to school today, so I put on my uniform; a clean, white shirt, brown vest with buttons together, matching trousers, dark boots, and the blue armband with my school emblem secured above my right elbow.
Fully dressed, I go down the hall to eat breakfast with the rest of the clan. It's basically cafeteria rules, pick up a plate and silverware, get any food that's available, then find your place at the dinning table. Grabbing a ham steak, bowl of oatmeal, and an apple, I went to my seat between my Mother Lanie and Mama Rana.
"Are you excited about today?" Mother asked me, pinching my cheek.
"That's right, it's our little man's big day." Mama pinched the other one.
"Mom." I struggled free, embarrassed by the affection. "I'm not a little boy anymore. Did you forget, I turn 10 today."
That's correct. Today, I, Bastien 'Bash' Ortega, son of Rana of the Ichth tribe and Lanie the Dogkin Artificer, has turned 10 years old. According to Ichth tribe customs, I am now viewed as an adolescent, and as such, I shall be entrusted with more responsibilities befitting my milestone.
"Remember, we're having the party at 8pm, so make sure to have as much of your homework done before then." Mama told me as I finished eating.
"Ah-ha." I said as I swallowed the last bite of ham. "I have to go to school, love you!" I announced as I grabbed my backpack off the entrance hook and ran off to school.
The greatest part about living in a subterranean city, almost all walkways are scores of feet above the ground. Running to school because I was running late, I take my usual shortcut by jumping from one of the high bridges to the bridge below, making sure not to crush my legs on landing. The second greatest part, dwarven schools are open to all residents regardless of race, class, or place of origin.
The Sardonyia Academy of Magic taught a large variety of races from native dwarves, halfling, and other fey beings, to me, the only non-fey student. The fortress like school was carved into a section of the mountain with two massive statues at either side of the school gates.
Ring Ring Ring Ring Ring Ring Ring Ring
Just as I approached the entrance, the bell rang. Not a second to waste, I needed to push it to class 5C. Bursting into the room and around the cluster of desks until I reached mine in the fifth row to the far right of the room. By the time the bell finished ringing, I was in my seat, technically not late.
"Mr. Ortega, you're late." Our homeroom teacher, Instructor Hilltop, was a punctual man with no tolerance for rule breakers.
"Actually, Sir. I was in my seat right before the final ring, according to the school bylaws, I was on time." I defended my own "punctuality".
"Try to arrive to class without nearly breaking down the door from now own." He responded in a dry tone as class began.
As a student of magic academy, I have to attend the primary morning classes. The material is straightforward, but the lectures are so boring that most days I find myself drifting off to the magic curtains along the wall; curtains that depict images like sunshine and stars, and while daydreaming I wonder what those things look like in reality. Soon, class came to an end and students report to their chosen magic tracks; of the possible choices, there was Mage, Healer, Artificer, Magic Warrior, or Summoner, but my track is Artificer, specifically Battle Artisan.
"Another morning of torment has come and gone." Cliff, my gnome friend who sits next to me in class, joked about how boring lessons were.
"You said it." Amber, a fire pixie, agreed with our friend.
"I'm just glad we can get lunch now." Hearth, my oldest friend and a dwarf, complete our group. "Bash, are excited for your party tonight?"
"I sure am." I didn't hide my excitement. "In Lizardkin culture, I'm basically an adult now."
"Please, you're barely older than." Amber countered. "You may have scales but you're more human than beast, maybe your father-" The red pixie caught herself. "Sorry, I forgot."
My friends know me well, well enough that I'm half-human, but I've never met one nor my father before. It was a sensitive topic to me, something I didn't like to discuss if I could help it. I had lunch with my friends at the sandwich cart before leaving for blacksmithing lessons with Mother Lanie at the engineering department. Compared to my morning classes, Mom was better at engaging me into the lessons; she told me that in the short time I've been learning, I've made excellent progress. After my mom's two hour lesson, I go to meet Uncle Ra'sh and Uncle Cavadier for my martial and magic combat training until supper. Before I can go however, I need to go to the school and pick up my gear; as a Battle Artisan, I need to construct my own weapons and armor to get credit.
"Bash, how have ya been boy!" Uncle Ra'sh greeted me as I approached him and Cavadier with a massive trunk on my back. "Looks like your magic circulation training has improved your strength."
"It has." I agreed, letting the trunk land on the stone floor with a loud thump. "This trunk weighs a good 2.5 tons with all my equipment, but two years of training with you has really helped."
Getting ready, I opened my trunk and put on my control bracer. Channeling magic through it, the rest of my armor flew out the trunk and fastened itself to my body; the dwarven steel cuirass, pauldrons, gauntlets, cuisses, poleyns, and greaves secured on my body. Armored, I then pulled out my weapon; a giant mallet of dwarven steel with a head about the size of a 15 gallon barrel and weights at least 1 ton, connected to a special handle of my design that my bracer channels my magic thru.
"You ready?" Cavadier asked, amused.
"Almost." With a whistle, I summoned my steel construct from the trunk, my metal giant tortoise, to jump out. "Now, I should be ready."
Today's training was more intense than usual, mostly because it was also an evaluation of my progress so far.
Because of the weight of my equipment, I'm not a speed oriented fighter but my time of training with Ra'sh and Mama Rana has given me better control over large weapons than most people. My mechanical tortoise, Tank, is a magical innovation I learned to build to increase my ability to fight multiple opponents. As part of my magic training, Uncle Cavadier has instructed me in basic magic since I began learning the alphabet. For several hours, I would participate in sparing, written instruction, and practical tactics and strategy. By the end of our training, I was left exhausted on the cold floor.
"You did well." Cavadier commented. "Maybe after one or two more years of training, and you could be strong enough to face one of on your own."
"Thanks, Uncle." I began removing my armor. "How is my magic training progressing?"
"So far, fire magic is your strongest element, with a great affinity for light; but you also have an equal proficiency with Earth and it's Alchemy variant." Cavadier mused to himself. "The way you use fire reminds me of how your father..."
With that comment, they both went silent. "My... father, he was good at fire too?"
They looked away from me. "We should get going, your party begins soon."
Being the oldest child in the Clan, my birthday is well celebrated with my parents, the clan, and my friends from school. The celebration was split between two groups, adults and minors; the minors were put in the courtyard to celebrate while the adults were drinking inside. The feast was wonderful but like at every meal I had to fight to get my plate. After eating, me and the other kids played party games, and then we moved to the presents; the important ones was my parents' gift of a pair of goggles like Lanie's but enchanted to see in night-vision and inferred, and my friends pulled together and bought me a monogramed dagger. After the celebration, I went back to my room to finish my homework for class tomorrow.
Knock Knock
"Honey, did you enjoy the party?" Mama Rana knocked, Mother Lanie beside her.
"It's fun." I answered; alone with my parents, I felt I had to ask them a question that's been on my mind for a while. "Mom... what was my dad like?" This caused them to freeze for a moment "It's just... you never really talk about him with me, and I want to know more about him."
They both walked in and closed the door. "Sweetheart..." Mother Lanie began. "Your father is a wonderful man. He's kind, smart, brave, and will always do the right thing."
"But..." The next question was harder to ask. "Why isn't he here... didn't he want me?"
"Of course..." Mama Rana continued. "... We've been wanting to tell you this for years, and now we think you might be ready to know." She looked at Mother Lanie to confirm. "Before you were born, your father, Aiden Ortega, was taken from us by slavers. When we learn of this, we came here to the Paganish Realm to find him, but then we discovered I was pregnant with you, and we decided to stay in Sardonyia for a while so you could have a real childhood."
"It's true." Mother Lanie continued. "While we raised you, Uncle Louis and Mr. Eddy have been searching for your father on our behalf." She moved closure to hug me. "Bash, a few weeks ago, when Louis and Eddy returned from an expedition, they told us that Aiden had been sold to a sky city called "Kenley Valley"." She pulled out a poster, unraveling it to show me it was of Kenley Valley. "However, it will be impossible for us to go find him at this moment, but with time and planning, we hope to organize a search party to bring him home to us."
"Honey, do you understand?"
It was a lot to take in, but I understood. "Uh-ah, thank you both." Saying that, my parents kissed me on the forehead and left my room. "Kenley Valley... I got my work cut out for me."
Alone, I snuck out the window and climbed up to the roof of the clan house. Keeping extra quiet, I walked across the roof to one of the stone pillars holding up the city ceiling. A good part about being half-lizardfolk, my natural strength is higher than a human, and learning how to strengthen myself with magic, I can climb up the pillar using my pinching strength. A long way up, I reach my secret hideaway.
Using my training in architecture and stone-working, I built a small, suspended workshop in the ceiling of the cave. When I overheard Uncle Eddy and Louis talk about the sky cities, I knew it had to be related to what happened to my dad; so, every night since then, I've snuck out to come here and work on my secret project. I got my friend Amber to ask her mother's connection in the night market for a special item I needed, and it was only yesterday that I got it.
Heading to my project, I pulled it out of its hidey hole in the wall. According to Amber, it's a device people in sky cities call a "touchscreen"; when I first saw one on display at the museum, I tried to find a lost one by talking to traders, but it only got the parts for the rest of my invention, a transmitter. I took the touchscreen, plugged it into the makeshift transmitter, hooked it up to the handmade battery to give it power, and activated the transmitter. Typically, the "electromagnetic waves" can't pass cave stone, but to counter act that, I built sent the mechanical mouse I built burrowing up top to act as an antenna.
"Alright, I hope this works." I pushed the on button, and the touchscreen powered own. "Perfect." The signal was weak, but I was able to get a fait connection to the sky cities transmissions. "Link established."
I had no clue where my dad was, but now I have a way to search for him. "Don't worry, Dad. I'll find you."
