Enjoying a Break

Gularzob stood beneath the wide branches of an old oak tree, his large frame braces up against it with his arms crossed. His chin was pressed down to his chest and his eyes were closed, giving off the impression that he was asleep against the tree. However, he was actually taking a break from the noise of the city in order to quell the beginning of a panic attack inside his chest. He had been away from the capital for several years as he completed his training at the stronghold, and so it had been a very long time since he had been completely crowded by a suffocating amount of people that would just not shut up.

Lowering his hands to his waist, he hooked his thumbs in the thick leather belt that went over the leather apron he wore when smithing. He wore no top underneath, but did wear sleeves made of dragon skin that went up to his elbows and down to his wrists to avoid burns when working with the hot coals. He wore thin trousers with leather padding on the front to protect from, you guessed it, possible sparks that resulted from the forging process. Opening his eyes as he heard voices approaching him, he groaned at the thought that it might be more customers vebturing outside the city walls to request an orser when he realized the direction the voices were coming from.

Looking up and across the rolling plains that lead to the walls on the western side, he saw a pair of people walking towards him with a horse with them. He laughed to himself as he looked out, understanding the significance that came from cutting down the trees on this side of the city. Their oldest enemy was the Kingdom of Verden, therefore it would make most sense that an attack would come from the west. With that in mind, the trees had been cut down so that any advancing army would be seen from miles away, giving Dalen scouts time to look through the forest for any flanking maneuvers before launching a counterattack against the invading army.

He was not able to distinguish much about the duo, but when the wind shifted towards him and away from them, he could begin to smell them. Narrowing his eyes, he pushed off from the tree. It had been ages since he had seen a fae, especially one that walked out in the open and in the company of a human no less.