With his physical attacks more honed in, I allowed him to train as much as his sister did in his casting. Catherine’s capacity to cast a wind spell as she jabbed or swung with her spear made her a difficult target to get close to. The job was made even harder when her younger brother timed his own attacks well.
As he stated when we first met, Ethan could cast a bit of everything, but his flame spell was barely hot enough to cook an egg, a water spell was only useful enough to create a patch of mud, and his own wind spell was a nice breeze on a hot day. I thus instructed him to focus on his earth spells. If he correctly predicted where I was going to step, this earth spell was able to grab at my feet, forcing me to slow down to smash its hold. Sometimes Catherine took advantage and pushed me down with a strong blast of air before they each closed in.
Three days before they were set to leave, I was forced to show them my last ace up my sleeve. I had scattered several explosive stones and ignited them when the time came. The blast created a cloud of dust that hid the fact I was casting my illusion spell. So as Ethan swung at a fake copy of myself, I forced his sister to the ground. Once she was down, Ethan was much less of a threat.
As he brushed off the dirt coating him, Ethan said, “So you can combine an earth and fire spell, and cast an illusion spell? You don’t play fair, do you?”
“‘Fair’ is not a word that should exist in a warrior’s vocabulary. You’ve heard of Edith the Great?”
“Yeah.”
“Then you know how she died?”
“Yeah. A kid killed her.”
“Specifically, Etoc, through a supposedly neutral party, sent a bunch of war orphans across the border, knowing that the warrior queen had a soft spot for them. When she went to visit the group of children, one of them took out a dagger from beneath his rags and stabbed her in the heart. A great warrior, caster, and tactician was undone by a small child.”
“Caracasa still own the war.”
“Five years later and at great cost, yes. Her absence then led to a civil war that lasted a decade. If you believe my knowing an illusion spell to be unfair, be prepared to die from much more ordinary schemes.”
The day before out last training session took place, I told Aranath to allow Ethan to hold onto him for a few seconds. We both didn’t care much for the idea, but I suspected if Ethan wasn’t shown “evidence” of his improvement, then he would revert back to his former unfocused self. It was also on this day that Madam Rachel called me down to her room soon after dinner. Her bedroom was large and brightly lit. She laid on a small bed with her shriveled head poking out of some thick blankets. Her servant stepped out of the room at her request.
“You’re not finally dying, are you?” I asked in my usual tone.
“Ha! You wish. I know how death feels like, and it isn’t close yet. The Reaper stands at my door, but the lock is still hardy. Even so, it’s time I give you what you came here for. First, you will tell me about your sword. Why did Ethan change when he couldn’t grasp it?”
“Hand me over to her,” said Aranath.
I untied the scabbard and stepped up to her bed. “See for yourself.”
She sat up and her skinny fingers clasped the item. She laid it across her body. Her eyes widened, pushing out the wrinkles around them. They kept their wider shape until she turned to look at me a minute later. She said, “To think that this power will appear in someone like you after five hundred years. I suppose options are limited.” She handed me back the blade. “No matter, I don’t believe you’re a lost cause just yet. I only regret I will not be able to see what happens for myself.”
“Rathmore.”
“Yes, yes. The man I worked most closely with during the Rathmore case was Braden Silver. He works for the main Alslana guild chapter. Last I heard, he evaluates young talent for the guild, so he’ll certainly be at the tournament.”
Seeing where this was going, I said, “You’re going to want me to travel with your grandchildren, aren’t you?”
“Nonsense. I was simply going to offer you a free trip that happens to include my grandchildren. They’ll be going on a ship, giving them plenty of time to enjoy the start of the festival before the tournament begins, but you may wish to run all the way if you prefer.”
After a heavy exhale, I said, “Pay for another companion of mine, give me an extra five gold standards, and I’ll accept the joint trip.”
“Done. Now then, Braden will be easy to find. He’s a large black man, who was already quite bald the couple of times we met, so I imagine he’s without all his hair by now.”
“Is he as old as you?”
“No, but his retirement isn’t far off. Anyway, I suspect that of all the guild members I connected with in those times, he’s the most likely to have kept an ear out for Rathmore’s dealings even after his death. He also has the seniority to ask what questions he wants to Voreen’s chapter without getting stonewalled as much as most others. Tell him I sent you and that alone should warm him up to you, but I would of course mention what you saw up in the Onyx Mountains.”
“Anything else?”
A hoarse sigh escaped her. “I would say so much more if I wasn’t so damn tired. For now, I’ll simply say you need to relax more. I understand what you’re seeking, and I have no right to dissuade you from it, but do everyone a favor and don’t spill your angst on us. There’s enough of that going around.”
“I’ll keep that mind.”
“It’s all I ask.”
I emitted something that was between a scoff and a chuckle. “When was the last time you didn’t get things your way?”
“Just before I developed breasts. It’s been smooth sailing ever since.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
The evening after my last training session, I brought Clarissa to the wharf so that I could settle her in our transport, which turned out to be a single-masted sailing ship called Dawn’s Hammer. It was the day before Ethan and Clarissa would board, but I didn’t want to have to introduce Clarissa to them when their family and friends would be there eyeing her. Like most transports, the ship’s main purpose was to move cargo, but the well-kept little cabins in the central deck showed that “cargo” could include about a dozen well-to-do passengers.
Early the next morning, Catherine, Ethan, and a handful of other travelers showed up with their family and friends to see them off. It took about half an hour for everyone to board and say their farewells, and it required another half hour for the sailors to send Dawn’s Hammer into her eight day voyage to the city of Qutrios.
The fat, jolly captain wasted no time sharing personal stories with his new passengers. It was obvious he exaggerated his tales about the pirates he evaded and the sea monsters he’d seen, but as his aim seemed to be to frighten everyone, it was the way to go. I wasn’t afraid of the sea, but as I had yet to practice swimming in it, I wasn’t too thrilled with his stories either.
Giving the excuse that she wasn’t feeling well, I didn’t introduce Clarissa until the sunset cast its long shadows on the top deck. Ethan was unremitting in his questions, but Clarissa handled him well. In truth, the vampire likely welcomed the chance to exercise her mouth after weeks of using very little of it, and all without hinting at exactly how we met and what bloodthirsty community she belonged to. Though they wouldn’t use them in their matches, the siblings brought their respective weapons and did a few half-speed practice sessions with them on the top deck.
“They’re nice people,” Clarissa concluded after she entered my room later that night.
“I wouldn’t mind if you take a taste of Ethan.”
She giggled. “He does smell kinda good.”
“Does your kind find anyone revolting?”
“Believe or not, yes. Most people are more or less the same, but some do smell either really good or pretty bad. I’m not sure why, but they do.”
“I can guess that I don’t smell all that appetizing.”
“How did you figure that out?”
&nbs
p; “Based on what I’ve heard and read, the main impulse of your kind isn’t really to feed, but to spread your corruption. I’m already corrupted with something, so there’s no point in trying to turn me.”
“That makes sense… How do you think they’ll react if they find out what I am?”
“Ethan is too dense to figure it out on his own. Catherine might begin piecing things together if she sees you only in the twilight hours and never eating real food, but she’ll come to me with any concerns.”
“That’s not really what I meant.”
“I know, but it won’t get to that point.”
“Hey, since we’re going, will you enter the tournament?”
“Why would I do that?”
“I heard the winner gets fifty gold standards.”
“I have enough to get by for a little while.”
“Or you could have a little more to get by even longer.”
“You should know by now that drawing attention to myself isn’t exactly my thing.”
“But I think it’ll be fun.”
“I know what else you think might be fun, but I’m not indulging that craving either.”
“And why not? I just want to thank you.”
“Because right now it’ll mean more than just a ‘thank you’ to you. You still rely on others too much. If I ever believe that you’re finally standing on your own two feet, then I’ll fuck you.”
“Maybe I’ll use Ethan.”
“Provoking me is not helping your chances.”
She stuck her tongue out at me and left.
I mostly read the time away. I would have spent more time training, but the rocking of the boat and the limited space it offered prevented any lengthy sessions. The weather was perfect for sailing. Aranath even commented on how an old pastime of his included flying over calm seas. The ship rarely moved beyond the sight of the coast, though morning fog, night, and a few showers often hid it.
Despite the smooth sailing, I discovered that I held no love for the sea, so I experienced more relief than I liked to admit when an afternoon sun revealed the ship nearing the port city of Qutrios. As the name implied, Qutrios once belonged to a nation in Niatrios, specifically, an older version of Voreen, but that was hundreds of years ago. Since then, Alslana has had firm control of one of the largest and most important cities in all of Iazali. Only a handful of other cities, which included Alslana’s capital several hundred miles farther south, were brighter gems.
The two week festival was a week and a half away, and the town already teemed with more people than it could handle. Simply glad solid ground was supporting me, I agreed to Clarissa’s request for us all to stay at the same inn. We found one spacious and well-maintained enough at the fringes of the city a couple of hours after arriving. I then went to find the guild headquarters to find out if anyone knew where Braden Silver was. The answer to the inquiry—given to me by a well-ordered, prim clerk whose voice was wasted behind a counter—was that he wasn’t expected in the city until the start of the tournament, meaning I would have to spend two and a half weeks waiting for him.
More travelers arrived in the city over the next week, and though the official revelries had not yet begun, many newcomers already started celebrating in the evening hours. As this mostly consisted of drinking games, I wasn’t interested in joining in. It wasn’t until the actual festival started did I begrudgingly unify myself with the siblings and Clarissa in their search for festive events. As the more interesting parts of the festival happened during the evening and nights, it was easy to keep Clarissa indoors during the heat of the day and come out at her preferred hours.
As to be expected under the bluish moonlight, the entire city was alive with stranger folk. The rich intermingled freely with the poor, rambling drunkards were treated like great entertainers, and I once saw a fully-armored knight looking aimlessly for someone. Many people wore a mask so that they were free to enter one of the many masquerade parties happening all at once. Music came from lutes, drums, violins, flutes, throats, harps, and a dozen others I could and could not name. Nearly all played within the city squares, and they were often accompanied by jesters and entertainers from foreign lands with foreign animals. I was surprised to find myself charmed by the little performing monkeys dressed in tiny clothes. When no one was looking, I dropped a bronze standard in the hat.
There were also plays with the best and worst actors in the very same act, casters showing off the beauty of spells large and small, and dishes spicy and meaty. A handful of these I enjoyed more than I assumed I would, but what caught my attention the most were the often gimmicky fighting pits. Full-scale fights were being saved for the real tournament, but that didn’t stop others from creating brawling competitions with sometimes odd rules, such as fighting blindfolded or on their knees. The one that intrigued me took place on the third night of the festival. It was a fighting ring on a raised platform that involved contestants fighting with their hands tied behind their back. As I believed this a real world possibility, it took little convincing from Clarissa for me to volunteer for the next match.
The competitors I faced were brutish things that had as much grace as a rotting stump, but after I had kicked and head-butted them with little trouble, I witnessed a new contestant enter the dirt covered platform. She was a tall young red head, with long slender legs that allowed her to stand almost a head taller than most, including me. She easily beat her first opponent in a quick blur of precise kicks. What worried me wasn’t her reach and limberness, but her unmistakable training history. The other competitors appeared to be nothing more than inebriated louts trying to win a few coins and impress their friends, but from her single match I knew that she was skilled enough to be in the main tournament. Was she using this competition as a warmup, then? Whatever her reason, we met after we each disposed of the next challengers.
I couldn’t go easy on her, so when the arbiter yelled over the rowdy crowd for us to begin, I ran right at her. When I closed the distance between us by half, I sent prana to my feet. When I was just out of her range, I focused on Aranath’s training and collected the prana in my airborne foot. On coming back down, I received an even bigger burst of speed. She had backed away some, but I mimicked the speed enhancing ability in my next step and quickly got within kicking range. She dodged the initial swipes of my legs, but she was limited to an uncomfortable position as she retreated to the edge of the platform, unable to extend her own legs fully.
Still, she didn’t panic. She even got me on the defensive a few times, since I couldn’t simply take one of her kicks and expect to shrug it off. In any event, my speed training was paying dividends. It wasn’t second nature or effortless, but I held my blur of speed just long enough to give me an opening. If I had an arm free, I would have given her an uppercut to the jaw. Instead, I used a head-butt to her gut to get her stumbling. One last dash and I landed a sweeping kick on her lower left leg. Without arms to rebalance her in time, she crashed to the ground. Match over. My last opponent was the official championship round, but he wasn’t half as worrisome as the red head. His defeat meant two whole silvers.
As Clarissa handed me back Aranath—with Ethan infinitely perturbed that Clarissa held the blade so readily—the lofty red head came up to us. Behind her was a masked young woman carrying a masked little girl on her shoulders. A waterfall of wavy blonde hair enveloped the older girl’s masked face. The blue half-mask had a faded floral design and did not prevent one from thinking she must have been a gorgeous sight, and even if I was wrong about the upper half of her face, her plush pink lips alone looked worth climbing a mountain for. The smaller girl also had fine hair, but its color was a shade closer to brown than not, though I still guessed she was a sister or cousin to the other.
“Expensive looking blade,” said the red head. “I suppose that means you aren’t a commoner.”
“Neither are you. I suppose it was a bit unfair for everyone else that we practiced on them.”
“Hey, I
joined up to try and stop you. From the first match I could tell that no one else had a chance to give you a real fight. I didn’t want you to win some coin so easily.”
“Coin wasn’t my goal.”
“Are you here practicing for the tournament, then?”
“Talk to these two if you want to talk about the tournament.”
“Are you gonna enter?” asked Ethan to the crimson haired woman.
“No. It wouldn’t be fair.”
“Someone once told me not to expect fairness in battle.”
“What are you, then?” asked Catherine. “You’re too good not to be fighting for something.”
“She’s a bodyguard,” I replied, putting on my cloak. “Isn’t that right?”
“Whoa,” stated the child. “How did you know that?”
Answering for me, the blonde said, “Because Bell can’t help but be in a half stance between us and our new friends here.”
“Not only that,” I began. “I can also assume that your masks are someone’s idea of remaining incognito as you walk among the common rabble. Only nobles who can afford bodyguards are worried about such things.”
The little girl clapped. To the girl beneath her, she said, “I want him for my beau! He can fight and he’s smart.”
“She’s so cute!” said Clarissa.
“What’s your name?” continued the little girl.
“Tell you what,” I said, “I’ll give you two brand new silvers if you make Ethan here your beau.”
“Done!”
The Lone Dragon Knight Page 15
