by Simon Archer
“Hm. That was really sweet.” I smiled, both at the thought of the kind gesture and my immense relief at being able to throw myself down on a bed after days of walking. “Is he really your uncle?”
“Not technically.” She shrugged, sitting on the other bed, pulling her bag over to go through it. “He and mom were close friends, though. He was like an uncle.”
“I understand.” I sat up to pull off the shoes and stretch my toes. “Oh hell, this feels so good.”
Elle giggled as she pulled out a pair of pajamas. “You act like you’ve been through some kind of wild physical task.”
“I have!” I laughed. “You don’t understand. No one walks anywhere where I’m from.”
“What? Everyone rides horses?”
“Yeah, pretty much.” I smiled, figuring it was better to leave it at that as I stretched my arms behind my head. “Short distances, long distances, everything. I’ve never walked this much in my life.”
“Oh yeah? Well, just consider it a warm-up for what’s coming.” She chuckled to herself.
I sighed. I hadn’t actually thought about that. Physical training was going to be rough. I mean, it wasn’t as though I was lazy or out of shape, but I didn’t have much of a stable exercise routine. Okay, I didn’t have any stable exercise routine.
I looked up to say something when I stopped cold. Elle pulled her shirt off, revealing more of that athletic wrapping around her chest. She began to untie the closures on her trousers. After a few seconds of staring like a dope, I glanced away and cleared my throat.
“If you want, I can leave,” I offered.
“Why?” She chuckled.
“So you can have privacy?”
I heard her laugh, and I glanced back over to see her shaking her head, sitting on the bed as she began to pull off the wrapping around her chest. “You’re sweet to offer, but I don’t care.”
I nodded, swallowing hard and standing to change myself. Mostly I just didn’t want to seem like an absolute creep staring at her. I pulled my own shirt off, catching a glimpse of her as I did so. Her breasts were larger than they looked when she bound them up. I bit my lip as I pulled my own pants off, quickly reaching for my pajamas. It was at that point that I realized I hadn’t even pulled them out yet.
Shit, I thought to myself. I grabbed the bag and sat on the bed. It took pulling practically everything out of the bag before I could find what I was looking for, for some reason. The entire time, I was sitting on the bed in nothing but my boxers, with a less than subtle sign in my lap that I’d watched her change.
“Did you want privacy?” she asked, mirth in her voice.
“No, no.” I pulled the bag into my lap and looked over at her, now fully clothed in her pajamas, with a smile. “I’m fine. Thanks, though.”
I finally found the sleeping clothes and stood to put them on, turning so my back was mostly to her. A thought lingered in my mind, and I wondered if she was nearly as interested in my body as I was in hers. The pajamas certainly didn’t hide my erection, but it was significantly better than just being in my boxers. I sat back down to repack my bag when Elle grabbed my attention.
“Ren,” she said, “you can leave your stuff unpacked, you know. There are dressers here for a reason.”
“Oh. Right.” I smiled nervously. “Sorry. It’s just all… This whole thing still feels… weird.”
“I can’t imagine.” Elle came over and sat on the edge of my bed. “It feels weird to me, and I’m not the one in a strange world all of a sudden.”
I chuckled at that. “Yeah. Good point. It’s definitely a lot to get used to.”
“Are you okay? I know today was a lot.” She nodded, a thoughtful look on her face.
“I’m fine,” I shrugged. “It’s just something I’ve got to get used to, I guess. Your weapon, um, the dagger, it wasn’t special or anything, was it?”
“Nope, other than the fact that it was a good dagger, it wasn’t special. Neither was the quarterstaff you lost.” Elle laughed, shoving my shoulder.
I rolled my eyes and smiled. “In my defense, you left me alone.”
“You shattered a dagger with your bare hands!”
“But that’s not why you left me!”
“Well… you have a point,” she shrugged. “Ren, I really am sorry. I was scared, and I started to doubt you. I should never have left you. I told you I would help you and… You’re the one who saved my life.”
I gave her a nod. “Yeah, well, I was being an asshole. I can see why you got upset. I didn’t reassure you very well.”
“Thank you for coming back for me,” she looked at me with a soft smile.
I returned the expression. “I wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t saved me first.”
“I guess so. Are we even?” She smiled playfully.
“Oh yeah.” I laughed. “You leave me alone in a strange forest by myself to be ambushed by hunters and save you from a pack of massive wolves, and I was a little mean. We’re definitely even.”
“Hey, you were not a little mean!”
“That is absolutely a matter of opinion,” I shrugged with a smug smile.
Elle laughed, grabbing a clean roll of bandages sitting on my bed and throwing them at my face. “I’m going to sleep.”
I chuckled as she stood up and walked to the other side of the room. My eyes trailed her for a second before I looked down at the crap all over my bed. I decided to shove it all back in the bag for the time being. I could sort it all tomorrow.
“Do you mind if I put the lights out?” Elle asked, walking over to one of the sconces.
“Go for it,” I nodded, laying back on the bed. It wasn’t as nice as the one in her home, but it was certainly better than sleeping on a blanket on the ground. That was about my only standard at this point. I crawled under the covers as Elle put out the candles within the sconces, laying down on the pillow as the last one went out, and the room was plunged into complete darkness.
Her footsteps were soft against the floor as she walked back to her bed. It creaked as she crawled in, and the blankets rustled as she made herself comfortable.
“Goodnight, Ren,” she said softly.
“Goodnight, Elle.”
13
The next morning wasn’t what I would call fun.
If I had any fantasies about this feeling like a training montage in a movie, those were shattered. August had us up before the sunrise. We went out on the back patio to do something similar to yoga in the sunrise and meditate. At least, I think that’s what we were doing. I was half asleep the whole time.
Next, to wake up, August had us warm up with a workout. This workout consisted of a run, push-ups, jumping jacks, things like that, not to mention some more labor-intensive chores. I think I blanked it out from exhaustion, but I’m pretty sure we were just hauling rocks back and forth at one point.
After that, we ran drills, both hand-to-hand and with the quarterstaff. First, August and Elle demonstrated them, and admittedly, it seemed pretty badass when they did it. In my defense, though, Elle had learned this combination like fifteen years ago. It took me over an hour before I could even recall all the moves, and I didn’t successfully put it together once.
August explained that eventually, he would start teaching me new material after the drills, but I needed to get the basics down before anything else. I was certainly welcome to the idea of waiting before making the whole process even more exhausting.
After drills, we went to the patio, closed the blinds, and worked on something that seemed like meditation again to me, but he insisted this was different. It was more like guided meditation meant to strengthen our minds and whatever psychic abilities we had. He resented that term, but I knew it was the best description for what they were talking about.
The mind exercises at first seemed like they would be a break from the physical exercise, and technically they were, but it was just as tiring. August swore he was starting simply, but once he realized I could already see with
out my eyes, a process they so eloquently referred to as Seeing, he made it more difficult. He challenged me to See further, to See through the curtains, or through the walls.
Honestly, it was amazing to learn this power I didn’t even think was possible in my old life.
After that, we took a break for lunch. I almost didn’t eat, I was so tired. Almost. It helped that in the time it took August to cook, I could lie down and crash. Elle woke me up with a very incredible bowl of broth with noodles, vegetables, and meat. The broth almost smelled like tea, it was so scented. Honestly, the whole thing nearly made the morning of exhaustion worth it.
A similar afternoon followed. More psychic meditation, this time on other things, like predictions, illusions, and interpreting time, though it was less exhausting. According to August, those were all more advanced topics, so we spent our time doing small exercises meant to build up those skills for when I was ready for them.
I was just starting to feel normal again around three o’clock, but my new mentor made sure that didn’t last long. At three, we ran the drills again. After about another hour, I finally had some semblance of the combinations in my head. They were far from perfect, but if I was focused and a little bit lucky, I could shakily make it through the whole thing.
As soon as the sheer aspect of memory was no longer an issue, August began critiquing me on the moves. Sharper, faster, stronger, less to the left.
Finally, around four-thirty, we were dismissed.
Every day followed that routine. Having the entire evening to recover was my saving grace. Even as exhausted as I was every day, though, it was undeniably a little easier every day. A little. I couldn’t imagine doing it every day for fifteen years or however long this was going to take, but for now, it was manageable.
August was gracious, but he was still suspicious of me. I supposed that was fair. On paper, there wasn’t any reason to trust me aside from the fact that I seemed too weak to be any real threat. Elle trusted me now, though, and I had a feeling her faith in me encouraged him to have the same.
“You’re progressing,” he told me at dinner on the fourth day of my new routine. “It’s impressive.”
“I’m following a routine used to train ten-year-olds,” I smiled. “I’m sure that’s all.”
“Perhaps,” he chuckled, “but it’s still significant. You’re better in hand-to-hand combat than using weapons.”
“Is that normal?” I asked. “For someone to have a specialty?”
“It’s normal to train with a specialty,” Elle explained. “When I was young, I decided I wanted to use weapons, so I made sure my training focused on them. Most people don’t have a natural inclination for one or the other.”
August shrugged. “It’s possible that’s a natural result of training you as an adult. Maybe you’ve already picked up certain skills and habits that lend themselves to one rather than the other. I’ve never known anyone to do this training this late in their life, so this is a learning experience for all of us.”
“I really appreciate your teaching,” I nodded, “and your hospitality. You’re very kind to take me in. I know Elle’s family, but I’m a stranger. That’s not lost on me.”
A smile pulled at his face, and he nodded. “It’s my pleasure, Ren. I’m honored to be your teacher. Not to mention, if it weren’t for you, who knows when I would’ve seen the wild child again?”
Elle chuckled and rolled her eyes as she ate roasted pomegranate glazed chicken. Some of the stuff August made seemed absolutely revolutionary, and this was one of them.
“Elle said she started training with you when she was very young?” I asked.
“Oh yes.” August chuckled at the memory. “To this day, she’s the youngest child I’ve taught. I’ve never heard of anyone else training at that age. She knew from the day she could pick up a stick and hit something with it, that’s what she wanted to do.”
I looked over at her and smiled as she brushed her hair back over her shoulder to keep it out of the way. The way everyone described her, it was clear she was close to a prodigy. As a matter of fact, I’d watched her train separately from me with August several times, my Zinc Class curriculum wasn’t quite challenging enough for the Nickel Class girl, and she never seemed out of her depth fighting the man twice her age and experience level. Her focus and ability were admirable, yet she refused to acknowledge them as such.
“Uncle?” Elle glanced up at him, a thin crease between her eyebrows. “Do you remember Draco’s arrival in Solivann?”
He hesitated in thought before answering. “Yes. Barely. You know he arrived in Eon, so I really only heard stories. Why?”
“I’m wondering how he trained,” she bit her lip. I could tell this was something that was bothering her rather than mere curiosity. “He’s supposed to be the only person in Solivann to achieve Diamond Class. No one ever speaks about him training. If he arrived like Ren, wouldn’t he have had to train?”
August sat back, a look of surprise on his face. Clearly, he’d never contemplated this before.
“I don’t know,” he muttered at last. “I suppose it’s one of those things we all simply assumed. We knew he didn’t come from here, so people would have been patient with him at first… back then, we had no reason to fear strangers… but eventually, we heard about his success, and… I just never asked questions. I was maybe thirteen or so when it was announced that he’d reached Diamond Class.”
“That’s strange, isn’t it?” Elle cocked her head.
“If he arrived like me, wouldn’t he have started off Zinc?” I blinked.
“I suppose he would have.” August crossed one arm over his chest and rested the other on the table. “Of course, it wasn’t called Zinc back then, or Diamond.”
“What?” She frowned. This was clearly new information to her.
“Yes,” he nodded, “back then… it doesn’t make much difference, I suppose, but I believe we referred to them… Oh, what was it? I think they were named after trees! I can’t remember which ones, but I’m pretty sure that was it.”
“So why change to metals?” I asked, setting down my fork as genuine curiosity began to set in.
“It wasn’t as though they consulted me.” August shrugged. “I remember it happened a few months later. No one had ever reached Diamond Class before, it was only really a legend, so there wasn’t a name for it. We called it ‘the one above such-and-such’ or something. Draco named it Diamond Class, I think. After that, the names shifted. If I had to guess, I’d say he named them.”
“He named them after metals?” I frowned in thought. “How much metal is used in Solivann? Where I’m from, we use all seven of those and more just to make a computer, but-”
He shook his head. “Most of them aren’t used. Iron is the most common, for weapons and other tools. Silver and Gold have their uses. The others are rather rare.”
The table was silent for a moment as we all thought. I don’t know what they were thinking, but it seemed strange to me.
“How much more do you know about Draco?” I finally broke the silence.
August shrugged. “Just what’s common knowledge. He was a stranger who helped strengthen settlements throughout Solivann, so he gained some level of power through that.”
“What exactly did he do for Solivann?”
“There were entire villages that didn’t have access to water or any knowledge of medicine, things like that. With his help, they grew to be some of the most successful towns in the country.”
I nodded, tapping my hand quickly on my knee as I thought. “Which villages and towns were those?”
“I’m not sure.” August shrugged again, shaking his head. “I just heard about it. After that, he built the army. Iskage felt threatened and attacked, so Draco’s soldiers had to destroy the whole thing. Not before Iskage did a lot of damage, though. I remember at least two buildings here being set on fire with people in them.”
I bit my lip but remained silent. Something about this st
ory was obviously not right, but if August specifically remembered fires, that was at least some kind of proof that it happened.
I considered voicing the concerns that were emerging, but I stopped, glancing over at Elle. She was watching me expectantly, waiting for whatever point I was leading up to. But the last time I’d voiced any sort of opposition to Draco, it had ended in her trying to maim me with a dagger that I was somehow magically impervious to, and I wasn’t looking to repeat any of the events from that day. I simply cleared my throat and nodded.
“I’m just curious.”
August had a look on his face like he didn’t quite believe that was all it was, but he didn’t press it.
“You should know something else, Ren,” he said. “It’s not going to be easy, what you want to do.”
“I know that,” I began, but August raised a hand to stop me.
“No, I’m not sure you do.” His voice wasn’t harsh, but there was a sense of warning to it. “As far as I’m aware, no one in Solivann has questioned Draco since he arrived here, except for the people of Iskage, and that ended up pretty poorly for them. His soldiers are the highest Class fighters in the country. There’s no way to know what you’re up against.”
A slight sense of dread crept through me as he spoke, but I knew he was right. It was a reality I needed to accept if I was going to survive in a place where I was being hunted.
“When we met,” I barely managed to keep my voice from shaking as I spoke, “you could tell something was off. With the right clothes, no one else seems to question me.”
“Your hair gives you away,” August noted with a nod. “It’s the length of a Zinc Class citizen, but no one your age is that low. You’ve got to grow it out. If all someone knew about you was that you were a stranger, it would be a dead giveaway.”
I swallowed hard and nodded quickly, picking my fork back up and going back to the chicken. It was a welcome reprieve from the sudden bitter taste in my mouth.
“Ren?” Elle said. I looked up to see the concern on her face. “It’s going to be okay.” She reached across the table and set her hand on top of mine, squeezing it gently. I took a deep breath and nodded, a slight smile on my face.
