by Beaux Riley
"You think because my home is burnt, that my life is all over? I am alive. Why do I need to worry about these bitches, when I have my own hired protection, Lord Kimura?" Pate had beaten Kilo is the game of sarcasm, getting a nod from Kilo at the point he'd just made.
"Two women. That was all it took to destroy two towns and an entire race of people. Are your guards anything short of gods?" Kimura asked in a calm manner. Pate shook his head, realizing the severity of Kimura’s words.
"How can we as a handful people, stop monsters like that?” Pate said in an apologetic tone. Kimura felt the change in Pate's voice meant that his point did come across. It was not in such a way that he wanted to shoot down their concerns. These newly imbued people needed understanding. They needed purpose.
"We have, my brother and I, played a game of cat and mouse with the Char for a short time. When Vinesca had the ego to set a trap for me, I knew she wasn't scared." Crowlis stepped towards Kimura, sitting beside him as he listened in. "She stole records from Lizoke and that allowed them to find out that Aedrius died in Stoneholt. What they don't know...is that more Light users have been born."
Asa sat contemplating. His life would have started over the day he retired from the Zirris. Asa would have started a shop and lived an easy life as a travelling merchant. He realized that dream wasn't possible right now.
"So for all that Saebel knows, we are lost or dead." Asa understood the hood of anonymity that Kimura had given them. They had a chance to do something meaningful. Kimura nodded at Asa, as they seemed to understand each other. "We have a real chance to do something. I'm in for the long run."
Kilo tapped the wall a few times and Lizoke stared at her unblinkingly.
"I'll go wherever Lizoke goes. It's my job to protect her." Lizoke hugged Kilo's side and nodded.
"I'm not much of a fighter. I did kick a few soldiers who were rowdy in the library, out on their butts." Lizoke made a few other the others in the room laugh out at her comment.
Kimura turned to the few who had been silent until now.
"Jaya, Angaea...Cray, I would like your input in this."
Cray Romsworth was turned away during the entirety of Kimura's discussion with the others. He'd been one of the most unique cases that Kimura had come across. Cray's right arm was not of flesh and bone, but was that of metal, springs, cogs and looked like the inside of a rare clock. When he moved it, gyros and metal clashing against itself could be heard. Cray had hair the color of sand and eyes to match. His clothing was similar to Asa's in the plain sleeveless shirt and shorts.
Cray looked over at Kilo and Lizoke. His eyes tended to wander the figures of the women in the room, more than their faces. The women he'd been standing with were much shorter than him. The one he assumed was named Angaea was a redhead with sharp eyes. Cray noticed that Angaea was looking back at him and smiled and he turned his head. As Kimura began to request their input, Cray spoke up.
"I think we all can agree that there is a lot to take in. I didn't expect to come and find my cousin with a building and a silver haired giant on her." Cray said jokingly. Kilo glared at Cray.
"I think I like you, Cray, you're an ass." Kilo sneered.
"No, we have an 'Asa', already, love." Cray retorted, pointing over to Asa.
"Jokes aside, I think I understand what is at stake here." Angaea began to say. "Kimura, thank you for protecting us. Jaya is a bit shook up. So please, give her some time and she'll give her thanks as well."
Kimura bowed his head in Angaea's direction.
"If everyone is in agreement, I would like to begin teaching you how to harness the Light. It will take a great deal of time and effort, but you lot seem capable. I am not the best teacher as my lessons were far from finished with Zahn." Kimura said as he stood up and walked over to the door that Asa had entered. He turned to the group and raised a hand, making the room glow brightly. Jaya looked in awe at the orb that appeared seemingly from nothing in Kimura's palm.
"That...is...beautiful.” Jaya said, awestruck at the radiance of the Light. “We can conjure that?”
“You can do much, much more.” Said Kimura.
Chapter 6- Zimae
Each time you fail, you learn a little bit more.
That was the lesson that Kimura continued to teach his students. The Light was proving a difficult thing to actually teach. There was little uniformity in how he could pass down his knowledge. Weeks had passed since the tragedy occurred in Maiden’s Point. It was rumored that the people of Saebel, Averia and even the Ela’syn would help rebuild the trading hub. As Kimura had taken the recovering recruits, the true meaning of their sacrifices were harder on some and lesser on others. Midian was much more alive with them, as Kimura saw it.
In the early morning he witnessed Jaya conversing with the monks who had spent a great deal of their time in the enclosed farming fields. It was hard for him to take in understanding that not all paladins could be soldiers.
Am I even really a combatant like Asa or Crowlis ever could be? I fought off those barbarians, but I didn’t even kill a single one. Blood like that never washes off. What we witnessed in Stoneholt. I pray the survivors can recover from that…
Jaya was with about three bald headed men who seemed to take a fancy with her. She was a very shy woman, but her uniqueness lied within her actions and less from her words. Kimura had always been worried she’d not been eating enough in the last few weeks since their arrival. The adaptation worried him. Giving up their families and previous lives to protect them from being used as a tool against the paladins in the future, felt selfish on his part. Asa seemed distant from his family as Kimura had taken notice. He’d spent a great deal time with the sickly-skinned Kilo and Lizoke. Perhaps it was that the two had taken fancy to one another? Kimura thought a relationship could be dangerous, but also healthy. The Paladine finally stood a chance. With these people, Kimura believed it possible to find more potentials in the future.
“Jaya, are you bothering the poor men?” Kimura came down the small pathway into the fields of corn, vegetables and other assortments of edibles he couldn’t name off the top of his head. She was kneeling down, sharing a piece of watermelon with Lin Kin, of all people. He had taken a real liking to Jaya ever since she’d shown little progression in the first lessons of using the Light. Lin had mentioned to Kimura that every time Jaya had touched a fruit or vegetable that it tasted sweeter or as though the harvest had brought in the best potential of the vegetation they favored.
“No, unlike you savages who want to use the Light to fight, I think it can be used for some things, much more practical.” Said Jaya in a matter of fact tone. She tossed a piece of melon to Kimura, who was in fact in the mood for it. He quickly tried the red fruit, realizing that Lin Kin was truly onto something.
“Lin, perhaps she can endow the fruit to be more mature.” He said, spitting some fruit’s seeds. Jaya gave a look of annoyance as Kimura practically ignored her. She tossed an already eaten melon skin at his face and he felt awkward.
“Sorry. Keep this in mind, Miss Jaya. A true paladin can use their power in many ways. War and fruit may be different, but the element has chosen you for a reason.” Kimura’s response to Jaya left her thinking.
“Thanks for those kind words, teacher.” Jaya said in a snarky tone. “Perhaps if you are nicer, I’ll be sure to share some of my silly fruit with you.”
“That’s not what I mean at all. You are all unique individuals, Jaya. I learn more about our power as I teach it to you.” Said Kimura, feeling the sticky remnants of the melon on his face. She smiled and pointed to his face.
“A bit of seed.” She said laughing. Lin smiled and Kimura removed the culprit melon seed from his face and turned back towards the temple.
“Lessons start in an hour. Don’t dawdle, alright?” Kimura didn’t turn back but could hear Jaya taking a bite of another fruit. He knew she heard him. The defiance that Jaya showed was always fun for him. She was an interesting person, to say at the leas
t. Though each of the trainees presented their unusual quirks in the past few weeks.
Kimura recalled their first day in the temple. As they gave their expected ‘ooh’s’ and ah’s at the hidden temple within the forest, it was noted that Asa and Crowlis remained silent throughout their entire tour of Kimura and formerly Aedrius’s, home. Lizoke had holed herself up in her room for several days, depressed at the loss of her job, her career and all of her possessions. Well in a correction, Kilo had recovered the journal that Lizoke held onto. It was the only thing that the frizzy haired half-elf carried with her.
The others made it a point to explore and see what all Midian had to offer. As being a thousand year old monastery, it proved to be rather boring in the ways of the people, but the sheer size of the temple was amazing to behold. There were at least a hundred monks living on the grounds, and many performed the menial tasks needed for the bare essentials. Kimura understood that this place was nothing in terms of a vacation, but what he had to teach them would make up for that.
***
Archen Crowlis was a quiet man. His short time in Midian didn't seem to affect his inability to speak with others. He normally sat on the overlook, which was positioned right by the stairway leading into Midian's interior. His view was to his right a field of wheat, corn and other assortments of vegetables being grown. To his direct front was the cavern that allowed entrance into Midian. Crowlis remembered how cramped it was entering the temple grounds for the first time. It was a surprise that the hidden passage way through the east of the horse stables, was in fact, the only other means of leaving the temple grounds. Occasionally, monks would be making their way back into the temple via the main staircase and he would be greeted, only giving silent glances and a respecting nod. On other times throughout the day, he would be approached by a brave child and they'd sit and ask about who he was and where he was from. Crowlis's disposition was hard to break through. Angaea would occasionally call him the 'silent giant', just by how taller he was than Asa or any of the other trainees.
Kimura was just making his way out from the fields with his talk to Jaya when he stumbled across Crowlis sitting alone, as per the usual. Kimura occasionally bet with himself that the man would be doing something productive, but even he could not get into the man's mind and understand what makes him tick. He approached silently stepping until Crowlis waved his giant, small banana sized fingers back at Kimura.
"How can I help you today, Kimura?" Archen asked, in a respectful, yet quiet tone.
"I spent some time speaking with Asa about military fighting styles. Yours is quite unique, isn't it? You use a shield primarily as a battering weapon." Said Kimura.
"It's effective. My short time in the Zirris was well spent learning how to hone my skills with a plethora of weaponry. Shields are simple, rarely break and do not need sharpening like swords or pikes." Crowlis said musingly. Kimura was surprised Archen spoke this much.
"I would like to work on a skill I think you can appreciate. The Light can guard you as well as your shield can." Said Kimura, making a circle in the air with both of his hands. Archen looked at Kimura curiously and considered how such a feat were possible. Kimura beckoned Crowlis over to him and the two stood about ten feet apart. Kimura held up his left hand and with his right, his index and middle finger began to glow furiously. He positioned his right hand over his left and began to draw a circle in the air. What looked to be a small line of gold surrounded Kimura as he held up his left arm as though he were wielding a shield. "Now. Hit me." Crowlis gave a surprised look.
"You'll get hurt." Said Crowlis, afraid for Kimura's demonstration.
"I know, just hit me as hard as you can." Said Kimura confidently holding up his arm, almost taunting the taller man. Crowlis lifted himself and with his right arm, he released a punch at Kimura's head.
His fist was met with an invisible force that made itself known immediately. The Light formed a circle that could now be seen and bounced Archen's entire body off of the teacher. He was thrown off of the temple overlook and landed hard on his back. Archen coughed and ached. Kimura peered his head over the edge and saw Crowlis looking up at him, baffled.
"That, my friend, is MY shield." Kimura laughed a bit. "I'll teach you how to master it so that you don't need to rely on a metal slab to protect you."
"Don't talk that way about Sheila." Joked Crowlis. The older man stood up and made his way back to the overlook. "How would one break that?"
"When properly conjured, it’s not possible without a force I'm not even sure can be summoned." Said Kimura. He paused for a moment and considered the question again. "Maybe knocking the ground beneath someone." Crowlis kept note of that. "I'd like you to practice first the motions, then summoning the shield. Once you feel confident in maintaining it, we'll begin sparring matches."
"Understood." Crowlis said, almost saluting. Kimura laughed a bit. Waving off the old Zirris's constant respect, Kimura nodded his head and made his way back into the temple. He had a great deal of work to do for each of his students, and every one of them had a unique method he had to accommodate. While some proved easier than others, he considered how his new lesson plan would be beneficial for each of them. Bringing in their proficiencies and incorporating that into the Light's strengths was more important than making mindless soldiers. Paladins were much more than that. Showing them how that was true, was the real challenge.
One's a botanist, two are former soldiers, two others are former guards...and we have a librarian and a mechanist. At least there is a variety. Kimura thought to himself.
As he made his way down the halls, passing the banquet hall and he finally approached the hallway that housed each of his student's rooms. After this many months, three counting and going on, Kimura could almost tell who was in their room and who was out trying to keep themselves occupied between lessons. He stopped for a moment, deciding who he would address next.
Eight doors, one for each of us. He looked to his left at the first door.
Asa Koen Omni. A real potential there. Headstrong, and he’s been a leader. I wonder how this kid will be when he masters the element…
Kimura stepped to the next door beside Asa’s room.
Kilo Dans Thou. The flirting between those two is so obvious.
He chose to pass the third door. Other than sleeping, Lizoke Adestrin was always in the library. She was given permission by Zerick to reorganize their tomes, texts and ancient writings. It kept her occupied and while she was learning as much as she could from Kimura, the paladin worried she’d not be able to wield the Light in any fashion. But he was not the kind of person to simply give up on someone. Let her become comfortable here and she’ll learn faster than any of them.
He then finally stopped at the fourth door on the left before the hallway came to an end.
Angaea Riddin. The door had her initials on a simple wooden plaque. Kimura considered her a worthwhile case. While she failed to become one of Stratus’s soldiers, she made long strides to follow Kimura’s lessons perfectly. He was proud of her commitment. If the only redhead in all of Ethra that he knew was his most accomplished student, why not?
Before he could knock, Angaea sprouted out of the door. She smiled at her teacher and bowed deeply, leaving an awkward silence for Kimura. He’d never grown accustomed to respect from others.
“You don’t need to do that every time you see me, Angaea.” Kimura said softly. She rose and smiled brightly. Her disposition was welcoming. She’d been alone the entire day since everyone else was preoccupied.
“Yesterday, you showed me how to maintain an orb, what can I try to master today?” She asked excitedly.
“You managed the illumination technique better than I did. I wanted to teach you something that one of the former Zirris are working on right now.” Said Kimura pointing a finger at her. She was curious at first. The word ‘Zirris’ seemed to trigger negative emotions in her. Kimura paid close attention to these little details. Angaea spoke only a couple times abo
ut how she failed and embarrassed herself in front of half of Saebel. Stratus singled her out and she was removed from his training exercises, claiming that her ‘figure’ was only worthy of making families, not protecting people. Angaea had new opportunities from the life she once had settled for. Now it seemed that a new person came out from that fire.
“Who will I be dueling?” She asked.
“That, is a secret. Being prepared for the worst is something we all must be. You won’t always have the convenience of knowing what will happen next.” Said Kimura. “I live every day knowing that the Char is still out there and I’ll never know what will happen if they strike. I can only be prepared.” He held up three fingers. "You have three days to master it. At that time, I will have you spar and I'll decide how we proceed."
She took a minute to understand the severity that Kimura lived under. He was always worrying, yet he hid it very well from them. “I’m sorry.” She said, not knowing why she apologized just then. A flow of emotions came down Angaea’s body.
“No need to be.” Kimura said patting her shoulder.
“I have a question for you, teacher.” She asked coming in close to a whisper to him. Kimura tried not to react but nodded his head. “Is it possible…to sense the emotions of others…like us?”
“It’s not impossible. The Light has taught me that the elements speak to us and aid us. You might have taught me something to practice later on.” She was closer to his face than she needed to be. Sadness, anger, determination and fear all swelling inside him. But empathy, understanding and focus drove him. She could feel that. His emotions changed at the moment she moved closer and he stood back. “Today I am showing you how to defend yourself with the Light.”
Angaea, slightly embarrassed with herself nodded and watched as Kimura made circular motions over his left arm. “You will want to master this more than other abilities. Defense matters more than trying to kill your opponent. Remember, pushing through one door means more are open to you.”
