by Lance Wilson
“Attonnan, do not try to speak. This was not part of your training. Elana will be severally punished for this, and then thrown out of the ebony hand to become nothing more then a servant. I shall talk to me healers; I can make you as good as new, I promise. But there is time enough to talk about that later, let me get you down and get you to bed” Fuma says and walks back to the ropes.
With all the gentleness of a father he undoes the chains and lets Attonnan fall on to him. Fuma has to catch his breath when the stench of blood and rotting flesh hit his nose. He shall bath him and then send him to bed. Carefully he picks Attonnan up in his arms and carries him out of the room. Before he is even that far down the hall Attonnan has blacked out. He carries Attonnan all the way to the bathhouse then once making sure Attonnan is propped up and not going to sink and drown he steps outside the door and summons a servant. The servant seeing the signal walks up and then places his hand over his chest in salute.
“My young apprentice Attonnan is laying in the bath, I wish him to be washed and then taken to my room. I also wish that the healers be brought to my room once he is there. Do you understand” lord Fuma says and looks square in the servant’s eyes.
“Yes my lord” he says and then again salutes Fuma.
With that lord Fuma walks off to go back to the room and washes the puss, sick and blood off of himself. Elana has done him a favor, Attonnan is ready for the final test, the rage and hate he felt showed him that. But on the other hand she did push the limits he will have to punish her but the question is, how. He knows that he has some time though.
Attonnan wakes from his sleep lying in a warm bed. He tries to open his eyes but like in his dream they are fused shut. Gently he reaches up to feel the skin but instead he feels soft gauze. He lets his hand drift down his face to see what else might be wrapped. He finds that they did not wrap his mouth but instead filled the back of it with cloth, and then wrapped the end of his tongue. Taking a deep breath he begins to hear things. Concentrating he sounds he is sure that they are voices. But he is guessing that the gauze is wrapped around his ears as well as his eyes since everything seems muffled. Concentrating he is sure that he recognizes the voices. There is a deeper one that he had to think about, concentrating hard on the way the pitch changes as the person talks. Listening he find that the voice is lord Fuma. The other voice is lighter higher pitch. Focusing on the way the pitch changes he can tell that it is lady Elana. For a bit he tries to focus and see if he can hear the conversation, but the gauze is wrapped too well over his ears and all he can get is the sounds but no words. Lord Fuma catches the sight of Attonnan lifting his head out of the corner of his eye but then focuses back on his argument with lady Elana.
“Do you have any idea what it cost me to keep healthy? What you cost me. You had better have a good explanation for what you did.” Fuma says his voice low but still cold and heartless.
“You asked me to show him the meaning of pain, and so I did. I did only what you asked of me my lord.” she replies trying to convince herself that she can fool her lord. Make him think that she was doing only his orders and not actually avenging the way that he pushed her aside for him.
“My healers told me that you caused puss filled blisters to grow and stay on his intestines, that would have caused him days of pain. Tell me how that is part of this training” He asks knowing that she knows how this whole system works. She causes the pain, and when he passes the test he goes to Fuma who in turn draws him closer trapping him deeper into his claws until soon he is a mindless automatons who will do all that he is told.
“I thought you told me to bring him to the vary threshold of pain. Isn’t that what I did. How am I to do my job when all you do is limit me? If you want him to be the powerful warrior you think he could be then give me my space to work” she says and turns her back to him. That should do it, the anger and fury of the moment should convince him that
“Did you honestly think that I would fall for that, oh no I’m limiting you. You had better start paying attention to who you are dealing with. I am Fuma Hojo, apprentice to the great Dagoth Ur. You know the way this worked and you knew that you would face my wrath if you did not do as you were told. I admit that I pushed you away on our night, but this was something that couldn’t be helped and I had to continue with the training and making sure that I drew him in. that however is no excuse for what you have done. You could have ruined everything. Your rash mindlessness and anger has put us far ahead of schedule. He is ready for the final test. However you must be punished, and the punishment will fit the crime.” Fuma says and with lightening quickly reflexes he grabs her by the shoulder and pulls her around, then with his right hand he grabs her face and digs his claws in to keep her from struggling and pulling away. He then reaches for her arm and pulls off her glove. He holds the fingers so that the metal claw is between the thumb and two fingers. He then brings the metal, eagle like claw to the side of her head.
“Since you enjoy screams so much, I believe that is what I shall take away from you, the sound of screams. He then tilts her head so he can look into her ear. Then with needle like precision he slowly pushes the eagle like claw into her ear. Attonnan snaps so that he is sitting up straight as he hears the high pitched screams of lady Elana. Blood pours out of her ear as he twists and then pulls the claw out. Still holding her head with his clawed right hand he tilts her head to the other side now looking into the opposite ear. Just like the last one he slowly pushes it into her other ear. Lady Elana lets out another high and horrible scream as blood pours out of the ear and begins to dribble out onto the floor. In that instant lady Elana’s world went silent. He had taken sound from her. She stares at him, shocked and horrified at this.
“Now leave my sight until I can find a suitable place for you” he says and points to the door knowing that she can no longer hear him but will understand at least that much
Horrified she can feel her body trembling, he has never done this to her before, sure he had punished her before, but to take away her hearing, she will never hear the sound of screams again. Trembling and cowering from her lord she leaves the room. Who is this Attonnan and why is he so much more important then her? Once she is gone lord Fuma walks over to Attonnan and sits in a chair beside the bed
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you” Fuma says and smiles at him, he knows that Attonnan cannot hear him but he is sure that the smile is still being transmitted.
“What, what happened to lady Elana” Attonnan asks his voice shallow and weak
“She had to be punished for what she had done to you. What she did was not part of the training. You see she was angry at me and then decided that she would take her anger out on you” He says calmly and watches as Attonnan lowers her head
“You didn’t answer my question, what did you do to her” he asks turning his head so that he is facing lord Fuma.
“I see, your concerned, why” Fuma asks calmly and smiles at her.
“I don’t know, but, I just don’t know” Attonnan says hanging his head.
“Let me help you, what she did to you was a crime, I only served up justice” Fuma says and lets her hand run over Attonnan’s face and gently strokes his hair.
“You said I was ready for the final test, are you sure, Elana said that I had failed this last test, failed miserably as a matter of fact” Attonnan says wondering what is to happen next.
“I do believe you are ready, but not tell you heal. My healers have told me what has been done to you and what they have done. It will take a few days, but I think that I could have the test ready for you before we get to the city of Vivec” he says thinking that if it is ready, then maybe, maybe he can get him to be seen by his own master, master Dagoth Ur. Dagoth Ur, the last man of the ancient dragon clan of Dagoth. He is the master of the old and ancient clan, but his skills are nothing of the ancient clan. If his teacher and master can meet this young ma
n, if he can give him the mark of Dagoth, then he can make this young man a force, the vary force of nature that he knows he can turn him into. All he has to do is pass the test and he is already sure that Attonnan can do it. He is not sure from where this strength comes from, but he is glad that he has it. For once Attonnan can harness that strength, and then he will control Attonnan and that power.
“Rest for now, rest and heal, let me handle the rest, all you must worry about is healing” Fuma says and with one last stroke of Attonnan’s hair he gets up and walks out of the room gently shutting the door behind him.
Attonnan only lies there once Fuma had gone. With his sight and hearing now gone his mind begins to feed on itself, he begins to hear things. Like whispers in his mind, whispers of a voice he has never heard before. No matter how much he concentrates he cannot hear words, only the faint whisper it is like the wind but he can tell it is trying to talk to him. He just can’t hear it. Concentrating as hard as he can he begins to hear the whispers change pitch it is defiantly trying to speak to him, but what is it saying, why can’t he understand it. He wonders if perhaps he isn’t just hearing it cause he wants to. That with his sight and hearing gone his mind is just playing games with him. That is it that has to be it. Letting out a sigh he gives into the idea that the whispers are just in his head. Then laying his head on his pillow he falls back into a deep sleep. Attonnan only sleeps for a few hours, four at best before he wakes with a start. He remembers it was a nightmare, something, something about a war, was it about the elf wars, or, or another war, something before his time. His teacher Vulge always taught him that all wars are really all the same war. One side disagrees with another, both refuse to find some kind of middle ground, and lives are lost. But this war, there was something, something that really hit him. The problem is that he no longer remembers anything. It’s just like a trying to catch an apparition with your bare hands. As his mind calmly settles itself over the dream he begins to hear the same whispers in his head. Like the last time it is like the sound of the wind, the pitch changing here and there, so badly he wants to concentrate and listen hard enough to make it out, but just, just when he gets close enough it vanishes in the vary same wind that carried it to his mind. Shaking his head he turns himself so he is now sitting on the side of the bed. Taking a deep breath he places his feet on the floor and stands up. Fuma told him that his sight would come back, that his healers had done everything they were told and that he would be fine. But what if he isn’t, what if he isn’t fine, what if he never gets his sight back, she ripped out his eyes and how is it they could put them back. No he cannot trust that his eyes will work he has to learn how to be blind. Calming himself down he takes his first step forward. It is slow and awkward. Slowly carefully he begins to walk forward, it only takes a few seconds before he bumps into a table. Growling he takes a few more steps and then slams his shoulder into a wall. He growls and lets out a sigh. This will take time, even if he has failed the last test and he is now useless to the Hojo clan, he must at least learn to live a life of simplicity. If the healing did fail and he has lost his sight, maybe lord Hojo will let him move into a small house and try to live out the rest of his life the best he can. Taking a deep he turns slowly around and tries to walk back to his bed, twice he bumps into a table and then the a wall once but finally he his hand find the edge of his bed. Slowly he sits on the side of the bed and lowers his head. That’s all he really wants, a simple life now. A small house, he can figure out how to do the things he needs to survive, maybe he’ll get lucky and try to look up his family. As these thoughts run though his head he hears the door open, he can hear the footsteps coming to him.
“Your up, and I see you’ve been trying to move around” it is the familiar sound of his lord’s voice.
Lord Fuma takes a quick look around the room. Two of the tables have been toppled over things strewn on the floor.
“I was trying to learn how to compensate for the loss of my eyes” Attonnan says calmly taking a deep breath
“The loss of your eyes, you are to calmly lie down and sleep, you are healing and your body will need rest. And your final test, it will take everything from you. As for your eyes, how many times to I have to tell you, my healers have restored your eyes.” lord Fuma says and lets his hand brush though Attonnan’s hair.
“What if there not better, what if it fails” Attonnan asks calmly but Fuma can hear the worry and strain in his voice.
He should be strained, if he is of no more use to him then he will simply execute Attonnan, there is no point in having a fallen prince of the Unagi clan here. But Attonnan doesn’t know that, he will not know that. His healers have told him that the herbs and magic used to restore him. Worked perfectly and he has only one more day to heal and then they will take off the bandages and let him get used to sight once more. A day without sight is can make things difficult. He shall have a whole day, to work on his sight again. Let light and color flood into his life again.
“I have told you that the healers assure me that you will see again, as perfectly as you did before.” lord Fuma says and continues to stroke his hair.
“Lord Fuma, have you found anything on my family, a while back you said you would look into it” Attonnan says and looks up at where he thinks Fuma is.
“As you know, they were split and sent to the separate clans. That is all for now. My focus has for now been on you. I shall take the steps for your family after we get back to the Hojo clan. Until then, focus on your test; focus on what will be called of you. Here is some tea, it will help you sleep” Fuma says and then takes his left hand and places it onto Attonnan’s hand. He then guides Attonnan’s hand to the cup so that he may drink.
“My lord, I have just awakened from sleep, shouldn’t I stay awake a bit longer” Attonnan says calmly and smiles at him.
“No, your body has reached a toll and it needs rest. I am sure that you think you are ready to be walking around, your spirited, but you need rest, I know what is coming ahead. You will rest when I say so.” he says and with that releases the hand holding his cup.
Attonnan only hangs his head, of course he will drink the tea, lord Fuma is a good man and only looking out for his best interest. But he doesn’t want to sleep, he doesn’t want to have nightmares of war, or hear voices in the wind. Taking a deep breath he smiles and drinks deep from the cup. The tea has a sweet and calming taste. All the time he is drinking the tea lord Fuma is stroking his hair. Once the cup is finished Fuma takes it from him and then gently takes the cup from him. It takes only a few seconds for Attonnan’s eyes to grow heavy. Calmly Fuma lies Attonnan down and before he even gets to his feet the young prince is sound asleep.
Attonnan wakes again, this time he does not sit up with a start, instead he is tossing and turning and then falls off his bed. His bed sheets are soaked with sweat, his body trembling. Why, why is he having these dreams of war, and what war is it. Why can’t he remember, is it the elf wars that his father was trying to stop, is this about Mecmed and how they are going to try to invade all the elf lands, force them under the rule of one man. Or is it a war just in his mind, something he has made up. Slowly getting to his feet he feels around and finds the edge of his bed. How long has he been asleep, an hour, couple of minutes, maybe the whole day. Slowly he gets back on his bed and hangs his head, this has to stop, and he has to stop having nightmares. Like the last time as soon as he wakes the nightmare is gone, only vague impressions of it remain, ideas, thoughts, nothing more. Attonnan keeps his head low, taking long deep breaths to calm down. This is just the way things are, people have nightmares all the time and they don’t fret about it. It is then that the whispers begin, this time Attonnan does not concentrate on them, he has given in to the idea that they are only in his head, and the torture and loss of his sight have made him nuts. Calmly taking a deep breathes and then slowly, carefully he stands up. He has to learn how to move without sight, without sound. He then t
akes a slow and unsteady step. If he remembers the room right, the door is just ahead, if he could just move straight. Calmly he takes another step, moving with caution, keeping his focus on the steps, one foot right in front of the other. Just like the last time he stumbles on some kind of side table, something hits the ground, but he can’t hear anything break, but that doesn’t mean much, it could just be that his ears are muffled enough by the bandage that he couldn’t hear it break. Taking a few more steps he bumps into a wall. Attonnan only hangs his head. He prays the healers are right and that he is able to see by the next mourning, but if he can’t, then he will have to take his time, get to know to the way this could work, like all things he has wanted or had to learn, he will have to work hard and have patients. Just then Attonnan can hear the door open again.
“I thought I told you that you require rest, you should not be wandering about, you should be laying down sleeping. I know what is ahead and you will need everything for it. Don’t you trust me” it is lord Fuma’s voice as he gently shuts the door
Attonnan hears him cross the room and then walk over and gently places his hand on Attonnan’s shoulder. Then gently he guides Attonnan over to the bed again.
“My lord, I do trust you, but I do not wish to rest, if the healers are wrong” he starts but is quickly silenced when Fuma places two fingers over his lips.
“My healers are never wrong.” he says and Attonnan can hear him walk over and pick up the table.
“No one is perfect” Attonnan says hanging his head; he dares not get his hopes up.
“I am not saying they are perfect, they are not, not by any means, but they dare not tell me they can do something when they cannot. Lying to me has a rather harsh punishment” lord Fuma says in a sick and yet playful voice.
“What if they did, what if they did lie and this goes wrong?” Attonnan asks, he must not pretend that the idea does not excite him, to be able to see once more.
