William of Archonia: Redemption

by Jarod Meyer

  “Before you begin your training, you must first learn to forget the rules that governed your time on Earth. As Archonians, we are no longer bound by those laws. The same object here can be as heavy as an ox, or lighter than a bird.”

  “So, what exactly do you want me to do?” William asked.

  “Lift it,” Brock said, gesturing towards the massive stone.

  “What!? That’s impossible,” William said.

  Brock shook his head. Then with hardly a second look he bent down and lifted the stone straight off the ground with one hand. He lifted it high over his head, and paused at the top.

  “Impossible does not exist here, little brother.”

  He dropped the stone to the ground. It hit with a great thud, dust kicking up all around. William stood there stunned by this feat. The stone looked to weigh tons.

  “There are a stack of these on the other side of the training grounds,” Brock said as he walked off. “Come find me when you’ve put it in its place. Then and only then can you begin your combat training.”

  William watched him walk off, before turning to stare at the giant block. He sighed heavily, and approached. He squatted down and tried to dig his fingers underneath it, but there wasn’t even any place to grip. He would have to tip the stone a little to get his hands below it. He took a deep breath, and planted his shoulder against the rough block. He heaved with all his might, but the stone wouldn’t budge. After a few more seconds of straining he gave up.

  What the hell, he thought.

  William knelt there for a moment, pondering his short, if not eventful immortal life. He had smashed through a brick wall with one swift blow, and had taken on a creature much larger and stronger than him. He had already done the impossible since arriving here.

  This should be easy.

  He got to his feet again, and crouched low. He focused his thoughts on something light. Like a box full of pillows. He imagined that the stone was just that, and lifted. There was a lot of pressure, and it definitely felt heavier than a box of pillows, but he felt it move, and when he opened his eyes the massive stone was leaning ever so slightly off the ground. A smile spread across his face, but as soon as he lost his focus the weight came back, and the stone fell to the ground.

  “Well. It’s a start,” he said, patting the stone, and shut his eyes again.

  He gazed skyward. The sun had moved a great distance, in fact, it was almost directly overhead now. It didn’t feel like it, but he must have been at this for hours. He had managed to push the massive stone about two feet while it was still on the ground, but had not had any success in picking it up completely. He was getting nowhere. The sun’s continual barrage forced him to ditch his leather chest piece. The heat continued to beat down on his back, forcing him to take breaks from pure exhaustion.

  More time passed. He had managed to lift one side of the stone up a few feet into the air, before his back gave out. He staggered to his feet, every muscle aching and sweat covering him in a heavy sheen. The heat only got worse, and with no discernable breeze, he didn’t know how much longer he would last.

  When William started his task to move the giant rock the training grounds had been bustling with life. Soldiers had been training, sparring, and marching. Now the grounds were empty. He fell to his knees, and sank a fist into the ground out of frustration. The stack of massive stones had to be miles away. He hadn’t even managed to move his stone out of the circle yet.

  William gasped for breath, and closed his eyes. He was never going to be good enough. Teachers told him he wasn’t smart enough. Drill sergeants told him he wasn’t strong enough. Hiring managers insisted he wasn’t an ideal candidate. Evidently they all rang true, in life, in death, and even now.

  William was filled with sadness, but also rage. He was fed up. His muscles tensed and quivered, as rage built inside. It burst forth when he couldn’t contain it any longer. He yelled until his voice echoed across the empty grounds. His cry was long and loud, but it did nothing to stifle the anger.

  William opened his eyes, jolted into action. He slammed his bare shoulder into the hard stone. It tipped a couple of inches, allowing him to grab the bottom of the stone, and heave again. His fingers crushed into the stone, making a place to grip. This time he did not even think about how heavy it was. It was light in comparison to his burdens. This gave him strength, and the stone lifted off the ground. He ran, even though he couldn’t see where he was going.

  He pushed forward, the awkward shape of the stone hindering him only momentarily as he sought to regain balance. Then he lifted it over his head. At that moment he saw the fence surrounding the sparring circle, and without thinking he leapt into the air. When he came down he stumbled, and it was just enough to make the stone shift out of his control. It came crashing down, and landed on its side with a thud. William fell face first into the sand again, but he did so with a triumphant smile. He hooted and cajoled at his victory.

  This is easy, only a couple miles to go, he told himself.

  After what seemed an eternity, the sky finally began to get dark. William walked slowly with the massive stone on his back. The days were longer in this world, which was apparent. He hoped the nights would be equally long. He felt like he could sleep for an eternity.

  His muscles ached before, but now they felt like they were ready to tear apart. Cramps began to bite into his coiled muscles, making his whole body shake in protest of the weight. He didn’t know how he had found the strength to complete the task, but after many hours he finally managed to reach the great stack of stones. It was only then that he realized there was an empty space for his particular brick. About five stones up and three stones in.

  Great, he thought to himself. Now I simply have to toss this thing up there.

  William was a changed man. His sopping wet linens were beginning to dry in the cool evening air, and his aching muscles were past the point of pain. He was numb. He couldn’t feel any of it, the pain, the anger, the rejection.

  One last little toss, he thought with an exhausted laugh.

  With almost zero effort, he tossed the massive stone like a shot put directly into place on the stack. William watched the rock slide into place, and collapsed onto the ground, laughing in both triumph and relief. He had spent the entire day fighting, breaking himself down, stubbornly refusing to do it any other way than his way…the hard way. Then, when he was emptied out and hollow, he found the strength he needed inside.

  He stared up into the sky, gazing at the black canvas speckled with celestial bodies. It looked unreal, like something out of a dream. Large colorful planets hung unmoving in the black. Some had rings around them, like Saturn, while others appeared as multi colored balls of gas, like Jupiter. It was beautiful, just like everything he’d seen in this place.

  He sighed and got up, beginning to jog. It seemed a new wave of energy had overtaken him. Even sprinting seemed to be easier. In fact, he felt light. He jumped into the air, and cried out as he flew easily twenty feet into the air and almost gapped half a football field before landing. He caught himself, and took a few more strides before jumping again, this time with more might. He rocketed into the air, letting out a cry of joy as gravity released him from a lifelong bond. The five mile hike back to Valhalla took minutes. William didn’t even seem to notice.

  He walked up the wide steps to the side of the building, and entered a corridor lit by what looked like lamps. They gave off a very bright, white light, and upon closer inspection they appeared to be crystals. He had expected torches or even a light bulb, but the crystals emitted a soothing white light that illuminated the white stone hallways around them.

  He had taken a few steps down the hallway when he heard voices. He recognized one of them instantly. How could he forget it? Especially when the person the voice belonged to treated him like dirt when he first arrived in this new world.

  He slowed as he came to a four way intersection. The voices grew louder, so he peered around the corner. Meredox stood in
a pool of shadow between lamps, talking with another figure. William didn’t recognize the other man’s voice, and he was cloaked, so it was impossible to see his face. They whispered back and forth secretly.

  “It will happen, and when it does, I need to know that I can count on you,” Meredox said. His curly black hair left his face in shadows.

  “You play a dangerous game, Meredox. If we are discovered…” the other man said, but was cut short by his shadowy companion.

  “The council is blind. They have sat too long in their high chairs. There will be nothing to stop it,” Meredox finished.

  The voices slowly faded as the two turned and walked down the corridor. William dared not show himself. He was confident he had just overheard the two men scheming some sinister plot.

  After waiting a few moments William set off again, finally reaching his barracks. It was quiet inside. He assumed that perhaps others in his unit were sleeping. He opened the door quietly to a surprising sight. Half a dozen initiates sat cross legged in a circle around a very bright light. They sat on small mats, each with their eyes closed. William didn’t know what they were doing, but he also didn’t want to interrupt. He crept past to look for his bed, but quickly realized that there were no beds. William looked around, turning in confusion and almost ran into Brock.

  “Well hello there, little brother. Glad you could join us.”

  William startled, and jumped back.

  “Good grief, Brock. Don’t you have better things to do than scare the crap out of me?” William asked.

  “Well, I wish I did, but there you have it,” Brock said, chuckling, his blue eyes flickering in the lamp light.

  “Well, what do you need? I was just looking for my bed,” William said, hoping that Brock would inadvertently explain the apparent and odd lack of beds in his chamber.

  Brock simply laughed. “We do not sleep in this world.”

  “What!?” William exclaimed.

  “You heard me. We do not sleep here in Archonia, we have no need. Our bodies are no longer physical they need only what rest the mind can give,” he said.

  “I’m exhausted. I’m not sure if you noticed, but I just moved a twenty ton stone about five miles in the blistering heat, and it only took me about twenty hours, according to that crazy clock over there,” William said, pointing to a clock on the wall.

  “Oh come now, give yourself some credit. It was only nineteen and one half hours,” Brock said mockingly. “Believe me, you will not be able to sleep a wink. What you need is to meditate. Your mind only thinks it needs rest. Do you think you actually used any muscles out there today?”

  William gave Brock an incredulous look and shook his head. “Okay then. I’m gonna meditate over here in the corner.”

  “Very well. I will be back to fetch you in the morning.”

  “Oh boy. Will I get to move two rocks?” William asked sarcastically.

  “I am afraid tomorrow you will start drill, and then you will really wish that you could sleep,” Brock said, before disappearing out the door.

  William found a couple of spare mats in the corner, and piled them up into a makeshift mattress. He relaxed for what seemed like the first time in days. In fact, he’d already lost track of how long he had been here.

  Forget sleep, was he hungry? The only thing he’d eaten since arriving was that small fruit from the street vendor. He also had not needed to use the restroom, if there were any, which made his mind wander even more.

  If I don’t need to eat, then I probably don’t need to piss or shit, he thought.

  His heart jumped, and he checked to make sure that nobody was looking, before lifting the waistband of his linen slacks to make sure that his parts were still there. He breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed it just to be sure. He wondered why he still needed his manhood if he did not need to use the bathroom.

  He looked across the small room and his fellow initiates. They looked peaceful, sitting in a circle around the bright crystal, their eyes closed, and their breathing soft. It sure looked like they were sleeping.

  His eyes felt very heavy, and he tried to focus on sleeping, but when William closed his eyes he felt uneasy. There were ten other men sitting around a strange glowing crystal, only feet away, and he didn’t know any of them. His mind began to wander, and before he knew it three more hours had passed, and he had not fallen asleep.

  William finally decided that Brock wasn’t trying to lead him astray. So he decided to listen to the large man’s advice. He sat up, and closed his eyes, slowing his breathing while he tried to clear his mind.

  Questions flooded into his mind, but he silenced them. Instead, he focused on his task with the stone, and slowly relived every detail. His head swam and he lost all sense of time. William opened his eyes after what seemed like minutes. He was sitting in the exact same position, only now there were two massive eyes staring back at him.

  “Rise and shine, little brother. It is about time you came back to us,” Brock said gruffly.

  William’s eyes were still adjusting to the light pouring in through the windows. Brock didn’t waste any time in picking William up off the floor.

  “Uh… morning,” he said slowly, “how long was I out?”

  “Wait, how long are the days here?” he blurted suddenly, the questions flooding back in.

  Brock smiled and said, “Each day is fifty hours, and each night is the same. Each hour is one hundred minutes long and there are one hundred days in a month, and ten months in our year. No seasons and only inclement weather when the keepers deem it so. You are in a new world, my young friend.” He began to walk, so William followed, trying to soak it all in.

  “I was out for fifty hours?” William asked.

  “You needed a nice long meditation, your first day was long,” Brock said, not looking back.

  “Feels like I’ve been here for a week,” William replied. “So, where do you go to meditate?”

  “I do not need to meditate very much anymore. I get a few hours in every couple days,” Brock said.

  William wore his confusion openly, so Brock continued. “Well, do not look so shocked. Some of the older Archonians do not even need to meditate at all anymore.”

  “I stacked that rock about one hundred more times last night while I was meditating,” William said flatly.

  “Did you? Well that certainly is interesting. Everyone is different.”

  William remembered stumbling upon Meredox in the hallway.

  “Hey Brock, I have something important to tell you,” William stated seriously.

  “Oh, and what might that be?”

  “I saw Meredox last night,”

  “Did you now?” Brock asked, seemingly indifferent.

  “You are not the fondest of him are you?”

  “You could say that again,” William replied sarcastically.

  “Well, what was old Meredox doing that seemed to catch your interest?”

  “He was sneaking around the corridors last night, talking with someone. They were talking about something that was going to happen, and that the Synod would be too blind to see it,” William said quickly.

  “Are you sure you were not imagining things? You were out in the sun for quite a long time,” Brock said with a smirk.

  William retorted, “I know what I saw, Brock. There is something about him that I don’t like.”

  “William,” Brock said seriously. “Meredox is one of the Grand Justicars. He would never do anything against either the Synod or Archonia. It is his job to see that our laws are interpreted. He is watched by the Synod, and by Achilles. He could never betray us. I’m sure that whatever you heard was nothing.” Brock’s tone was edged with a hint of finality.

  William gritted his teeth. No one seemed to ever believe him. Why would they start now? Fine, he thought, he would just have to keep an eye on Meredox himself.

  “Why does he hate me so much? If he is so omnipotent, why does he treat me like a piece of shit?” William asked.

>   Brock sighed heavily and spoke. “All I know is that he had a brother that he was very close to. They both lived in Archonia for many years, but his brother eventually turned to wickedness, and was banished from Archonia forever. He begged the council to let him have another chance, but they sent him away anyway. Now you are here, getting a second chance. You can only imagine how that would make a person feel. Regardless, this is not something you will need to worry about. You will not be seeing very much of him. Come now, there is much to be learned, little brother.”

  * * *

  Brock informed William that he was already behind on his training schedule. He gave William an enormous map, which was almost no use at all. There were so many corridors, rooms, and nooks in the castle that he didn’t see how anyone could find anything.

  Eventually William gave up on using the map, and just asked people where his lectures were. Some gave him disgusted looks, while others looked annoyed, but usually pointed him in the right direction, Their frustration annoyed him, but did not discourage him. He responded kindly and thanked them, which felt odd at first, but he could see a definite change in their mood when he did.

  Kill them with kindness, he thought.

  He had been placed in a group of ten recruits who, like him, had to undergo initiates training. Some had already lived in Archonia for many years, and only now had decided to join. A man, Chen Li, was a business man in his old life. Apparently there wasn’t much business in Archonia, so he chose the path of the sentinel in favor of boredom.

  One had to go through initiates training, regardless of their path. Yet their choice of the three branches determined the level of training they would receive in certain areas. Sentinels did not have nearly as rigorous training as Guardians. Yet, not every person made it into the Guardian’s core if they chose it.

  He met a woman named Natalia, who had long flowing red hair. She had been studying for forty years to become an Adjudicator. Only by personal invitation could someone become an Archonian Adjudicator. To be one took a keen mind, she told him.