by Shay Roberts
He smiles and claps me on the shoulder. "When you can hit me, your training will be nearly complete."
"What happens when I graduate? I know the sapphire on my amulet will light up. But how? Do you cast a spell on it?"
"I'm a warrior, not a magician. The amulet knows when you are ready, and the gem will light itself."
As the weeks pass, I miss having Ayana around during the day as a translator. But I still see her every night, and she always asks me about my training.
The fighting system is really interesting. It's mainly defensive, based on the idea of being in constant motion. I've learned to sway my body like a snake, while making my movements unpredictable. The next stage of training is to make my movements seemingly predictable, and then break the established pattern to launch surprise attacks.
Most of the attacks are claw slashes, focusing on the eyes, neck, wrist, and groin, places where the blood flows near the surface of the skin. The best time to attack is when an opponent is off-balance, in midstep, or when they are withdrawing a weapon to prepare a strike.
Gammachu teaches me how to keep my face blank and move without any wasted motion, so I don't telegraph my attacks.
There's so much to think about that at the end of each day, my brain is as exhausted as my body. In some ways, Altaneen-alqital is more of a science than an art.
At first, the iron plates around my forearms and shins cause itching and chafing, but my dracoform skin quickly adapts. I wear them all the time, except when I'm bathing, sleeping, or having sex. Ayana is fine with them but I'm afraid I'll hurt her.
As the months pass, Gammachu talks more about getting into the mind of an opponent, and how to read their body language in order to predict their actions. I've never paid much attention to body language, at least not consciously. It's really fascinating, and I find myself using this emerging skill to read people around the temple, including Ayana.
Only then do I realize that she's not easy to read. It's like she's had the same training as me. She spends most of her time mirroring my own body language. This must be why I've been with her for a year now and still know almost nothing about her.
I think back to all the times I've tried to have a serious conversation with her. We've always ended up having sex. I've been feeling guilty about taking advantage of her, but maybe she's the one who's been in control all along.
Lately, Ayana has been interested in weird jewelry. I've seen oddly shaped rings, and amulets with flowers and geometric patterns, sometimes with markings that look like Arabic letters. She tells me she got them because they look pretty, but I'm not sure I believe her.
One night, I decide to go all out to learn more about her. To kill my sex drive, I jerk off before she meets me in my bedroom. I hope that will be enough to help me resist sex and keep me thinking straight.
Tonight, she appears in a light green gown, short and sheer. She wears a silver anklet and her toenails are painted cherry red.
Rather than meet her on the bed, I've taken up a defensive position at the nearby desk. I'm not sure what this desk is for, exactly, I've never used it to write anything.
Ayana approaches, dragging her finger along the wall, and perches at the edge of the desk. "How was your lesson with Gammachu?"
I'm genuinely interested in my martial studies, and normally, I'd be talking her ear off by now. But tonight, I deflect.
"It was fine. How was your day?"
She smiles, undeterred. "I spent it thinking about the things we would do tonight."
She throws her leg over the chair and straddles me, her thinly covered breasts near my face. She runs her hands through my hair, and I notice she's wearing a gold bracelet with some complex charm hanging from it.
"What's that on your bracelet?"
She shrugs, her face a mask.
"Why have you been wearing all this weird jewelry?"
"I told you, I like it."
"But why now, all of a sudden?"
She shushes me and presses her breasts into my face.
Despite my recent orgasm, I'm getting aroused. Damn it, I've got to focus!
I stand up and set her down gently on the desk. "Does the jewelry have something to do with your work here? You once told me you were a Speaker. What's that, exactly?"
"I speak to those beyond the temple. I am our ambassador."
"What about the jewelry?"
She cocks her head, assessing me. I think she's coming up with a new strategy.
"Tyler, thank you for taking an interest in our affairs. In fact, there are things we should discuss."
Now we're getting somewhere. "Tell me about these things."
"You must be curious about what happens when your training is complete."
I've never spoken to her about the Time Academy, and it doesn't feel right to bring it up now. "Yes, I'm curious. What happens then?"
"You will chart your own course. Some choose to stay and become mentors, others go out into the world and become Protectors of Creation."
"Protectors of Creation?"
"Aido-Hwedo built a beautiful world for us. Protectors fight those who would destroy it."
"Destroy it, how?"
"By consuming and desecrating the land to satisfy their greed. They are the enemies of Aido-Hwedo."
"What if I don't want to be a Protector?"
She frowns. "I think you are trying to annoy me. But as I said, you chart your own course. Tell me what you wish to do."
I suddenly realize we're talking about me again. Damn, Ayana is good.
"Okay, Ayana, I do have a plan for after my training is complete. I'll tell you, under one condition. I want to know what's up with the weird jewelry."
Her face tightens and she steps away from the desk, heading for the bed.
"I can't have sex with you, Ayana. I … took care of myself."
The truth is, I probably could have sex, but she doesn't need to know that.
She stops in her tracks and turns to me, a glint of anger in her eyes. I think I'm breaking down her armor.
"Why would you do that, Tyler? Do you no longer desire me?"
"I did it so we could have a real conversation."
Reading her body language, I see she's about to leave, so I block the door. "I just want to talk, Ayana."
She clenches her hands. "Trust me when I tell you this is not something you wish to discuss."
"I know you don't love me, Ayana, but do you care enough for me to speak the truth?"
Her eyes suddenly flood with tears. Genuine, or another strategy? I resist the powerful urge to comfort her.
"Ayana, I know the jewelry means something. Just tell me."
"Very well, Tyler. But one day you will regret being a man who must know everything."
She sits on the bed, wringing her hands. "It is not wise to have feelings for me, Tyler. Our time together is … limited."
"Oh geez, not this apocalyptic crap again. We can fix whatever bad thing is about to happen. Stop sounding like you don't want to live."
She rises, angry. "No one here wants to die, you idiot! This world means everything to me. But I must leave it behind. The jewelry represents the many things I love in this world. It is my way of saying good-bye to each of Aido-Hwedo's creations."
"You don't have to leave the world behind."
She stops to wipe away tears. "Perhaps so. But it is what I choose to do. And you must let me make my own choices."
She pushes me aside as she storms out of the room. I don't try to stop her.
The next day, Gammachu locks me in a room with a live cobra. I doubt it's connected to my fight with Ayana, but it's a strange coincidence.
The cobra has had its poison removed, but it still packs a painful bite. My job is to grab the snake without getting bit. For this exercise, Gammachu takes off my arm plating.
Without the iron on my forearms, I feel lightning fast, and I like my chances of grabbing the snake.
Gammachu watches from the corner of the room
as I approach the cobra, currently coiled in a basket.
The enormous snake rises from the basket like a bad dream, its yellow hood spread wide. Its black tongue flicks, tasting me in the air.
I'm not sure how to grab a snake so it can't bite me. I'm guessing I should hold it by the back of the head.
I try circling behind it, but it always turns to face me. This snake isn't stupid.
Eager to end this nerve-racking exercise, I make a sudden lunge for the cobra. It bites me on the wrist before my hand gets halfway across the space between us. The thing is crazy fast, and even my dracoform reflexes are no match for it.
My wrist begins to burn, and I worry the snake still has some venom in it.
I look over at Gammachu, but his face is blank, giving me no clue how to proceed.
I watch the cobra, trying to figure out how it thinks. Its attack was incredibly aggressive. Instead of trying to dodge me, or retreat from my hand, it advanced and bit me long before I was expecting contact.
I have an idea. Instead of trying to grab the snake where it's located now, I should grab it closer in, where it's going to be when it counterstrikes.
As I lunge forward, the snake begins to attack, now shining with some strange inner light. As I reach for it, I see there are several snakes now, each a little less bright than the first. I grab for the brightest snake and catch it behind the head.
I leap backward with the hissing cobra wrapped around my arm. But I have it held securely behind the head so it can't bite me. The other snakes I saw are gone now. What the hell just happened?
Gammachu, with a huge smile on his face, takes the cobra and puts it back into the basket, securing it with a lid.
Once the room is safe from the snake, Gammachu tousles my hair. "Well done, Tyler. Your timesight was slow to arrive, but when it came, it came fast and easy. You should have no difficulty integrating it into your fighting."
"I'm still not sure what happened."
"You saw multiple images of the snake. The brightest image, the one you reached for, represented where the snake would be a heartbeat into the future. The darkest image was the snake in its present position. By fighting the bright image, you got ahead of the snake. We call this timesight. It works very well against all animals, and most people, except for highly intuitive fighters. It will become the most powerful of all your combat skills."
Gammachu's joy is infectious, and despite my snakebite, I can't help but smile. I find myself eager to tell Ayana about this. Then I remember our fight. Are we still talking to each other? I'm not mad at her, but that doesn't mean she isn't mad at me.
Later that night, Ayana comes to my room. She seems to have forgotten about our argument. I tell her about the cobra. She seems genuinely interested, and as usual, we end up having sex. I just can't help myself.
Two more months pass as Gammachu shows me how to integrate timesight into my fighting. I move from working with wooden claws to using blunt steel claws, and eventually we begin sparring.
Sparring with Gammachu is the most intense experience I've ever had. I have to fight while wearing the irons. The mental and physical effort is extreme. At the end of most days, I'm lying on the floor, gasping for breath and covered in sweat.
Gammachu is a lot older, and I can tell that he too is suffering from the rigors of the training. Each day I grow more grateful for his efforts. I'm a stranger to him, and yet he's putting his heart and soul into this training. More than once, I find myself wishing he had been my dad.
Seven months into my fight training, something weird happens. By now, I'm working with sharp steel claws, attacking sides of beef and learning how to avoid getting my claws bound in the target.
Satisfied with my progress, Gammachu pulls me away from the beef and switches me over to blunted steel claws for another sparring session.
I'm already really tired, so I know he's gonna kick my ass again, but I don't protest. I trust Gammachu and always do exactly what he says.
As we face each other, he adopts a tiger stance and I choose the snake. At this point in my training, my timesight is finely honed, but it doesn't give me an advantage here, because he has it too. Also, his arms are not bound with iron, so he has a speed advantage. My only remaining tools are trickery and technique.
Within the first five seconds, he scores two hits on me. It's a little depressing, but I'm used to it by now. I form a plan to feint high with my left claw and come in low with my right. I've tried this before and I've never gotten it to work.
This time, for some reason, I abandon the feint in the middle of its execution and turn my body over to pure instinct, shutting off my mind.
I'm not sure what happened after that, but Gammachu steps away from me.
He smiles joyfully. "You hit me, Tyler!"
"I did?"
"Yes, on the shoulder."
He embraces me in his meaty arms and lifts me off the floor.
I now understand the secret to becoming a fighter. I have to train my body to act properly, and instinctively, without thinking.
That night, I tell Ayana about my triumph, and she's happy for me. But I can't help noticing the sapphire gem on my dragon amulet remains unlit. There must be something I still haven't learned.
As Ayana crawls into bed with me, I notice she's wearing a new pair of earrings. Each is a big blue circle, surrounded by dots, and there are Arabic letters on them.
I trace my finger over one of them, unable to make sense of the design. "What does it mean?"
"That is the symbol for water. I wish to show my love and appreciation for the water on this earth."
"What do the letters spell?"
For a moment, she doesn't answer. Then her voice comes out as a whisper. "They spell a word that means good-bye."
I feel a mixture of frustration and pity. Ayana has given up on life. I have a big problem with that, yet I still keep having sex with her.
I finally find the strength to say something I should have said a long time ago. "Ayana, we should stop sleeping together. We can stay friends. You can come to my room to talk. But only to talk."
She stiffens, her face moving from anger, to despair, to acceptance. Without a word, she climbs out of bed and heads for the door.
I don't know what I was expecting, but not this. Shouldn't we be having a fight or something?
She pauses at the door and looks back at me. Is she hoping I'll change my mind?
I see a sad smile on her face as she points to my dragon amulet. Then she walks out the door.
I don't have to look down at the amulet around my neck. I already know what she saw.
The Art of Subtlety
ALEXANDER ARGYROS
Betty sits at my dining table, staring worriedly at her tablet.
The pounding noise in my bedroom has stopped, but it has Betty rattled.
She takes a quick sip of tea before speaking. "The scroll says that in the year 542 Common Era, we must prepare for the rise of a dragon shifter in the heart of Ethiopia. I know that dragons are your specialty, so I came right over."
"Fascinating! Draco Historia tells us the same thing, but warns the shifter will arise in this century."
"That's odd. I hope my translation is still useful."
"It is. Well done, Betty. What else does the scroll say?"
"That's all I have so far. It's slow work. But looking ahead, it seems to contain a prayer to someone named Aido-Hwedo."
The pounding noise returns, weaker now.
Betty stands. "Are you sure the washing machine is out of balance? It sounds like something more serious."
I try to look abashed. "I apologize, Betty. It's not the washing machine. The truth is, I have a lady friend over."
Her face falls. "Oh."
For a long while, I've been wanting to tell this spinster that I'll never be interested in her. But I need to be gentle.
"My lady friend is a bit upset because she heard you at the door. She's jealous of other women. The pounding is her w
ay of expressing her displeasure."
Betty nods, shoulders hunched. "I'm sorry I interrupted. I'll leave you to your evening together."
She hurries to the door with a sad look on her face. She stops and turns to me. "Good-bye, Alex. You're a wonderful man." Then she leaves and closes the door behind her.
Good riddance.
After locking the door, I rush into my bedroom to find Spero just inside the closet door. I could have sworn she was dead, but she's worked herself out of the tarp. She's pale as a ghost, her eyes unseeing, her hands clenching and unclenching.
I put on a pair of gloves, kneel beside her, and wrap my fingers around her neck. She's too weak to fight me as I squeeze the last spark of life from her treacherous body.
After I'm certain she's really dead, I wrap her up in the tarp again and load her into my car. The carport is connected to my apartment by a door, so I'm able to move the body unseen.
I drive her to an abandoned coal mine that closed almost a century ago and drop her into a deep shaft to join the others I've deposited here over the years.
Of course, Spero's death won't stop CCD from sending someone else to kill me. I need a plan to extricate myself from this sticky situation.
Hours later, I've time traveled back to the mid-1980s, and I'm strolling through the locker room of KoR's male cadets. I'm wearing a visitor's badge, but there's no need to disguise myself here. I didn't have a mustache then, and I wasn't bald, so no one will recognize me now. Also, there are no cameras in the locker room, so there will be no footage to examine later.
The cadets, most in their early twenties, have returned from swim class and are showering in the adjacent room. I can't see them from here, but I know my younger self is among them, so I must hurry before he returns.
Chester Davenport sits alone in the locker room. He hasn't gone to the shower room yet because he's busy recording his swim laps in a notebook. Chester, the consummate record keeper, is famous for his detailed, albeit unimaginative, reports. It's a skill that served him well as he rose through the KoR bureaucracy.
