Throughout the day, he began to see Karl everywhere. Every shadow took on his shape. Every movement from the corner of his eye made Theo jerk his head around. Every touch was a potential death blow. He knew he was being paranoid. Theo hadn’t actually seen Karl since the large man had entered the monastery, but the possibility of running into Karl at any second haunted him. It was making Theo’s nerves raw.
When it was time to meditate, Theo took his typical place. A figure approached him from behind. Theo jerked around, ready to fight. To his surprise, it wasn’t Karl. It wasn’t a man at all. He let out a small sigh of relief. “You startled me.”
“It’s just me.” Cierra sat down beside him.
It seemed like her anger at him had faded. Theo was surprised, as he relaxed a little because of her presence. “I thought you were someone else. You know, you really shouldn’t sneak around like that. It’ll get you killed one day.”
“I know who you thought I was. You know, if you’re tense all day, you won’t be able to fight well. You’ll be exhausted. Also, just for the record, I wasn’t sneaking. That’s how I usually walk.”
Theo groaned quietly, and rolled his shoulders, trying to loosen his muscles. “I can’t exactly relax with him roaming around. I should have known it was too good to be true, for him to be dead. Next time, I’ll separate his head from his body myself. That way we’ll know for sure that he isn’t going to come back to life.”
“I know what you mean. I want him dead, too. You know, Makram didn’t completely shut down the idea of proceeding early. He just said that we shouldn’t do anything without talking about it more. With your help, I think we can convince the rest of them, but we have to work together.” She maintained a small flame of hope that they could get the mission over with quickly, before the festival was truly underway. In Cierra’s mind, that was the only way they had a genuine chance at survival. If they waited until Dargani was in full swing, there would be too many high-ranked Yasta warriors on site. She was ready to get away from them all. Being surrounded by Yasta day after day made her skin crawl.
“I’ll do anything.” Theo felt hot vengeance roaring inside him, like an insatiable beast. The darkness he had felt since he had first killed someone, with a lasana blade, was calling to him. He had never wanted to give in to that part of himself more.
“Good.” Cierra crossed her legs. Her knee brushed against his, but this time neither of them recoiled from the contact.
Her heart raced, but she blamed it on the rush of excitement at the thought of taking out the Yasta. Her revenge was close. All she needed to do was persuade the rest of the Strike Force Retaliation team, then Karl and the rest of the Yasta would get what was coming to them. She honestly believed that with Theo on her side, they might be able to convince Makram. Cherish had seemed too sympathetic with the enemy lately. Cierra was pretty sure the other woman wouldn’t agree to help them. Irane and Makram, on the other hand, would be possible to sway.
Bells chimed overhead, signaling that mediation was beginning. Silence filled the large room. Daily meditation was lost on Theo. He couldn’t even enjoy his typical nap. He was on a hair trigger alert. Adrenaline flooded Theo’s body. He felt wired, and jittery, and having Cierra’s knee pressed against his wasn’t helping the situation. Even though it made him nervous, he didn’t want the contact to end. The way things had been going between them, he wasn’t sure when he would have the chance to enjoy a small touch like this again.
Someone sneezed in another part of the room, and Theo almost jumped out of his skin. He let out a frustrated sigh. Cierra was right. He was wound too tightly. If he kept it up, it would drain his energy. For the rest of their meditation time, Theo tried to focus on each individual muscle in his body, willing it to relax some. If he could heal himself, why couldn’t he use his gift to coax his muscles into loosening up?
After meditation, everyone went off to their training classes. Cierra headed off with Makram, as Cherish approached Theo. “It looks like you two patched things up.” She playfully punched him in the arm.
“I don’t know about that.” Theo scanned the crowds for any sign of Karl. He was still on high alert.
“You two looked cozy enough. I have augmented eyes, remember? I see more than most.” She winked at him.
The tips of Theo’s ears turned red. His lips pressed together into a thin, embarrassed line. “Nothing like a common enemy to bring people together, I guess.”
“Maybe so. Relationships have been based on less.”
“Huh?!” Theo’s eyes widened at her implication. “No, it’s not like that!”
Aphano was standing in front of the class, as the last few students filtered in. “I’m glad you could all make it. We have a special treat for you today.”
“No training?” Theo whispered under his breath hopefully to Cherish.
“Theo, I’m glad you’re managing to stay awake today; however, if you feel there is somewhere else you would rather be…” Aphano let his voice trail off.
Cherish leaned in close to Theo’s ear. “Aphaians have excellent hearing.”
“You couldn’t have told me that before I made a complete ass out of myself!” He hissed back at her, and tried not to make eye contact with their teacher. It simply wasn’t his day. He wished he could just go back to bed and restart everything over. Theo’s shoulders slumped dejectedly. Even though he wasn’t looking at Aphano, he could feel the Aphaian staring a hole into him.
“Have you decided to stay, then?” Aphano raised his feathery eyebrow and stared down his beaklike nose at Theo.
“Yes, sir. I apologize. It was a disrespectful joke. It won’t happen again.”
“See that it doesn’t. Now, back to what I was saying. We have a special treat today. We should consider ourselves blessed. A guest warrior monk will be giving us a demonstration. He is a great lasana blade warrior with years of service under his belt. If he had been gifted by Batumah, there is no doubt in my mind that he would have already been a Brother Superior by now. In fact, he may even have taken over my job, if that were true. Please welcome our demonstrator, Karl.” Theo’s blood ran cold. Karl was going to be teaching his class? What kind of sick joke was the universe trying to play on him?
A large man clomped into the room. His heavy footsteps echoed off the walls. Even though Karl looked deceptively heavy, Theo had seen firsthand the kind of skills he had behind a blade. Karl surveyed the room, taking stock of the fresh crop of potential Yasta monks. Most of the them wouldn’t make it past their first real fight. The thought of weeding them out made Karl smile. “Thank you for the warm welcome. Thank you, Brother, for the high praise, as well. Unfortunately, even though I am a dedicated warrior to the Yasta faith, I have an artificial knee.” Karl took his fist and knocked on his knee. “Since I have this metal knee—a gift from man—Batumah was unable to bestow a gift of his own on me. It has made me impure. However, without this gift from man, I would not be able to do Batumah’s bidding. I am pleased to serve him in whatever way I can.” Karl faked a humble bow before the students. They were practically eating out of his hand.
The class filled with excited murmurs about their guest. Cherish leaned in towards Theo. The other whispers camouflaged what she said, even from Aphano’s keen ears. “That’s not true. I was given a gift, and I’m even less organic than he is. I can’t even see any metal in his leg. He’s using it as an excuse. I wonder if the rest of the Brother Superiors know that.”
“Wait, you have a gift?” Theo looked at her confused.
It dawned on Cherish that he hadn’t been around when she was explaining it to Cierra. “I’ll tell you about it later.”
“Why don’t we jump right into the demonstration? Are any of the cohorts in your class gifted with healing? I would hate to permanently damage a recruit that was still learning.” Karl chuckled to himself and scanned the room.
Aphano’s sharp eyes landed on Theo. “How lucky for us that you decided to stay, Theo. Come to the front of t
he class.”
Theo stood up. There was no avoiding it now. Karl knew he was there, and if Theo was there, he would probably assume that others from the Carbonari were there as well. Theo quickly considered trying to kill Karl in a way that would look like a training accident. After all, he was new, and didn’t have as much skill or discipline as someone in the advanced classes. He wasn’t sure what the punishment would be for killing another Yasta accidentally, but he didn’t think he would survive it. That was a risk he was willing to take. If he could get rid of Karl once and for all, it would be worth anything they could do to him. The others could still get revenge for Mari and Remi, and everyone else that had died because of Karl, and the corrupted Yasta.
“Don’t dawdle. We don’t want to waste our guest’s time.” Aphano urged his student forward.
Chuckling, Karl drew his lasana blade and twirled it through the air. “You can’t blame the young pup for being intimidated. Arm yourself, boy.”
Aphano started to hand Theo a practice blade, but Theo reached past him and grabbed one of the spare lasana blades. The Brother Superior cleared his throat worriedly. “Until you are more well-seasoned, why don’t you utilize one of our dulled blades?”
Theo kept the lasana in his hand, and took a step towards Karl. “Our guest is undoubtedly more skilled than I am. It should be easy for such a notable Yasta warrior to best an acolyte, no matter what blade they are armed with. Besides, one blow from his lasana blade would render any other sword useless.” He looked pointedly at Karl, and smirked. “Unless you doubt your superiority, and would prefer me to have a lesser blade.”
“Let him keep the lasana. Let’s see if this pup has any bite to go with his bark.” The large man narrowed his cold eyes at his prey.
Karl took the initiating stance they had all been taught. Theo mirrored him. Suddenly, with a lunge and pivot, Karl darted forward. There was a stinging sensation along Theo’s neck. He lifted his hand to touch the spot, and was surprised that blood was gurgling from his throat. Theo suddenly remembered the first time he had ever seen Karl fight. It had been back on Carristoux in an alley between two vendor booths. Some thugs had tried to rob them, and ended up on the wrong end of Karl’s sword. Theo could still see the blood sputtering from their throats, in his mind. The faces of the other students mirrored his own from that night: a mix of being astounded and disturbed.
Theo quickly remembered his training. He thought about the muscles and arteries where Karl had sliced him. The flesh began to knit back together. Eventually he could breathe again. Blood stopped pouring down his neck. Theo felt his anger swell. He lifted his blade to the ready position.
“Never underestimate your opponent. Even someone big like me can be surprisingly quick on his feet. A blow like that on someone who can’t heal quickly will be the end of them. Remember to conserve your energy. If your first blow can be the last, make it happen. Just like your mothers told you not to play with your food, I’m telling you not to play with your kill.” Karl swept his blade quickly through the air. Loose droplets of blood from the sword’s first contact with Theo splattered onto the floor.
Karl and Theo began to circle one another. The irony of his speech was only evident to Theo and Cherish. Playing with his kill was exactly what Karl was doing, and they both knew it. Cherish resisted the urge to run to Theo’s rescue. She had to trust that his gift would protect him. Making a move now would be suspicious. She silently prayed to Batumah to protect him.
Darting to one side, Karl faked a jab, and then dropped down to avoid Theo’s counter swing. From his position on the floor, Karl sliced through the bottom halves of Theo’s legs. He toppled to the floor, just like Gopa had fallen from the mountain after Cierra had run her blade through him. Theo couldn’t stop himself from screaming. He urgently tried to regrow his legs. The pain pulsed through him with intense agony. The world was turning dark around the edges. Eventually, he was able to stem the blood and regrow his severed limbs.
“With a lasana blade, any blow can be a lethal one. All you have to have is the skill to get close enough to make the cut.” Karl was still trying to teach the class. It was clear that most of the students were so shocked by the brutality of the demonstration they were no longer listening. Most of them were farmers or shop keepers in their normal lives, before coming to the monastery. They had never seen such destruction so up close before. Karl relished their pale faces. Aside from getting to torture Theo, he might be able to weed out some of the weaklings. A few of them already looked as if they were ready to bolt from the room.
Theo teetered to his feet. It was hard to stay conscious from the loss of blood. He could still see, but it seemed like he was looking out of a tunnel. All he could focus on was Karl’s massive figure. Theo swung his blade. He was fueled only by anger and pain. Sparks flew as blow after blow landed. Karl was able to block all of his swings, but the ferocity of Theo’s anger propelled him forward. The blades sung in the air with each impact. It was a symphony of sparks, grunts, and metallic chimes.
Suddenly, Karl lunged at Theo. Instead of countering the blow or stepping out of the way, Theo allowed the blade to spear him up to the hilt. Karl’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment. He was sword deep in Theo’s guts. With a sadistic smile on his face, and revenge in his eyes, Theo lifted his own blade to Karl’s neck. It was an unexpected move that his opponent wasn’t prepared for.
Theo started to draw the blade in a sweep along Karl’s throat, but something was wrong. Everything sounded like he was underwater. The rest of his vision started to fade. Theo could feel warmth spreading under his back. It occurred to him that he must have fallen somehow. A chill began to set in his core. The world went dark.
Six
Theo awoke in a strange bed. Of course, after sleeping on the floor for weeks, any bed at all seemed strange to him. Looking around, he thought he recognized the room as the one in which he had first awoken, when he was carried to the monastery after his first-time healing. A female figure was shrouded behind some fabric, which was draped around the bed. It hung from ceiling to floor like a privacy screen. It seemed that no matter how much they fought, Cierra was always there for him when he woke up from one injury or another.
A small smile spread across his face. “You know, we really must stop meeting like this.” The woman stepped between an opening in the fabric, and Theo immediately turned bright red. “Grandmother Yasta! I’m so sorry. I-I thought you were someone else.”
“I should hope so.” She looked at him in concern. “However, I do agree that we should stop meeting like this. How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine.” He was a little confused by the question. “Is there some sort of recharging needed for my healing gift? Why did it take so much longer this time? Am I only allowed to heal so many times in a day or something?” It had never occurred to him that there might be a limit on what his gift could do. No one had mentioned anything like that before, but then again, they Brother Superiors weren’t always the most forthcoming.
“Theo…” Grandmother Yasta let her voice trail off, while she thought of how to answer him. “You didn’t heal at all. I had to heal you.”
“What?” Theo’s eyes widened. “I don’t understand. I have the gift of healing.”
“What Batumah gives, he can also take away.”
“So, what? He can just take away a follower’s gift just because he feels like it? What if it’s a matter of life or death? If you hadn’t been here, I would have died! What kind of a god does something like that?” Theo was indignant.
Grandmother Yasta sat down, on the bed beside him. Her eyes were crinkled around the edges. She looked at him with kindness, as if she really were his grandmother. “Perhaps it is not our place to ask, ‘what kind of a god does something like that?’ Perhaps what we should be asking is ‘why do you feel that your gift is an obligation, that is owed to you, rather than realizing it is a privilege?’”
“But it was a gift. Who takes back a gift after it
has already been given?” Theo was becoming peeved. What kind of game were the Yasta playing at?
“I would think that answer would be obvious. It is typically a parent or guardian that takes away a gift after it has already been given.” She smiled at him and patted his arm.
Theo wasn’t exactly sure what point she was trying to make. “You mean as a punishment?” The thought made him remember his own children. They may not have had much, but he remembered grounding them from their toys when they had been disrespectful towards their mother. Maybe the older woman had a point after all.
“I supposed you could say that. I prefer to think of it as incentive to do the right thing. Just as it is a parent’s job to make sure their children grow up to be well-meaning parts of society, it is Batumah’s job to guide us towards goodness and light. He is all-knowing. Compared to his wisdom, even I am childlike.”
He considered what she was saying for a moment. “If that’s true, then what lesson was he trying to teach me?”
“I don’t know. That is for you to discover. Only you and Batumah know what lies in your heart.”
Theo looked at the hem of the blanket draped over him. “Is it possible to regain your gift after you lose it? If you were found worthy once, can you be found worthy again, or is it a one-time chance?”
“Through Batumah, all things are possible. I think that if you figure out the lesson that he is leading you towards, and you learn from it, then there is certainly a chance for you to regain your gift. Batumah loves us like parent loves a child. Sometimes that love may be tough, and we may not always know why something happens to us, but keep in mind that everything happens for a reason.” Grandmother Yasta paused for a moment. “Why don’t you try to think of it this way? If Batumah had waited to take your gift from you until you were in the middle of a real battle, you certainly would have died. Instead, he took it from you here, where I was able to heal you, and where we can now discuss everything. If that is not an example of a kind and loving god, then I don’t know what is.”
The Relissarium Wars Omnibus Page 34
