Center of the Universe (Only the Inevitable Book 1)

by N E Riggs

  Scatha dragged her back to her feet and pushed her away. “Phera!” she shouted.

  Bellon walked out onto the mat. Unlike Niam, he didn’t hesitate, immediately throwing a punch at Scatha. Bellon was bigger and tougher than Niam or Scatha, but he fared only a little better. Just like Niam, Scatha first let him attack. It was longer before she went on the offensive against him, but when she did, Bellon ended up on the mat as quickly and as effortlessly as Niam.

  Anur went next. To David’s eye, she didn’t seem as good as Niam or Bellon, but her movements were still smooth and fluid, and she could bend in all sorts of amazing ways. As he watched, David wondered if his fellow acolytes had been training their entire lives. Anur too ended up on the mats as Scatha effortlessly took her down.

  Conal got put through the wringer out next, and David finally realized they’d been called in the order they’d finished the race so they’d have enough time to cool down. Conal had more skill than the girls, but not their speed or flexibility, and he wasn’t as powerful as Bellon. David tried not to feel depressed as he watched.

  Finally, Conal pulled himself off the mat after being thrown down, and Scatha called, “Kemp!”

  David walked out towards her, trying not to fidget. He had some skill in fighting. He’d spent his youth beating up bullies and he’d taken karate lessons for four years when he was younger. He hadn’t practiced in years, save for some basic forms, and was very rusty. Looking at Scatha, he wondered if he should fake less skill. But he was sure to be the worst anyway, so why bother pretending even less skill than he had?

  So, he went on the attack against Scatha right away. He was slower than he’d been as a teenager, and less precise, but his body remembered more of the moves than he’d thought it would. Scatha dodged a punch, and he wondered how he compared to the others. Then he pushed the thought aside and concentrated on the fight. He attacked cautiously, knowing it was only a matter of time before Scatha retaliated.

  Sure enough, after about a minute, Scatha suddenly shifted her stance and moved towards him. David slid to the side, hoping to avoid her, but she swerved with him. Her arms wrapped around his torso and the world spun. Another moment later, David lay on his back on the mat, stunned.

  Scatha yanked him back to his feet and pushed him off the mat to join the other trainees. “Pathetic, the lot of you. With skills like that, none of you would have made Sword Priest four years ago.” She scowled harder at that. “We will practice basic movement. Do what I do.”

  The trainees stepped back out onto the mat and spread out. Scatha moved through some basic forms, her movements slow, graceful, and powerful. David and the others copied her, though the others were much better at following than David was. Scatha ran them through the form three times then had them continue without her lead. She wandered among them, correcting mistakes and gradually having them move faster.

  After at least fifteen repetitions, Scatha nodded. “Continue to practice that this evening,” she said. “I expect you to be able to perform it tomorrow morning. For now, we’ll move onto the next skill you must master.”

  The acolytes followed her off the mats, and David wondered what the next exercise would be. His body ached, and he wasn’t sure how much more he could handle. To his relief, the next thing was survival skills, and they were able to sit down and relax for that.

  Scatha showed them how to make knots in a rope and covered basic first aid. As she talked, David wished he had a pen and paper so he could take notes. Especially when Scatha said she’d be testing their memory of this tomorrow as well. The others had com pads which they used to take notes (well, Bellon had one but didn’t use it), but David had to sit and wish his memory didn’t suck so much.

  After her lecture, they broke for lunch. The cooker had been pre-programed with a limited number of meals, each incredibly healthy. Scatha left them alone as they ate.

  “This is much harder than I expected,” Conal said between bites of his salad. “I knew Sword Priests were talented, but Scatha is amazing.” His eyes shone in admiration.

  Bellon sneered at him. “She’s a Vicar. Of course, she is. And you should be better too.”

  Conal glared, bristling. “I’m no slouch. I bet I could beat you.”

  “Of course, you could,” Bellon said, staring at Conal’s much smaller frame, clearly unimpressed. Conal scowled harder and made as if to stand, but Anur grabbed his arm and pulled him down.

  “Stop it, both of you,” she snapped. “We’re all acolytes. We’re all equal. Aeons willing, we’ll all become Sword Priests too, so we should get along.”

  Bellon snorted. “With skills as horrible as yours? You shouldn’t be an acolyte. Four years ago, you wouldn’t have even been made an acolyte.”

  Both Anur and Conal glared at him this time, half out of their chairs. Niam bit her lip and stared down at her food. Before the argument could degenerate, David said, “Scatha said that too. My Lost Priest said something about Aeons disappearing almost four years ago and some sort of desolation?”

  “This is why travelers shouldn’t be allowed to become priests,” Bellon said, glaring. “You don’t even know about that?”

  “No,” David said, trying not to get angry. “That’s why I’m asking.”

  Anur sat down and resumed eating her apple – at least, David thought it was an apple, even though it was pale blue. He hadn’t tried his yet. It would take more courage than he currently had to eat something that made him think of mold. “Aeons left Bantong almost four years ago,” Anur said softly. “It was a horrible time for everyone in Bantong. For six thousand years, Aeons had been here, teaching us and ruling us and protecting us. Oh, sometimes he would travel to other worlds, but never for very long. The desolation began when he left us for good. The people of Bantong fell into depression. The economy started to fall apart, because people weren’t working as hard and weren’t buying things. The priesthood started to collapse too. Almost all the Beloved Priests left. The other sects also lost many of their people too.”

  “Even though there were less priests, the need for priests was greater than ever,” Niam said. Apart from the vow, David thought this was the first time he’d heard her speak. “With Aeons gone, the people need the priests to teach and protect and heal. So now it’s easier for people to become priests. They take almost everyone who applies.”

  David raised an eyebrow. Brigid hadn’t mentioned that. “Really?” He wondered if that meant he hadn’t needed to take the vow.

  Niam nodded. Mostly to herself, she murmured, “I wonder if I would have made the cut before the desolation.”

  Anur reached over from where she sat beside Niam and clasped her shoulder. “I’m sure you would have. You’re amazing.”

  “Thanks,” Niam said, flushing and smiling. “I thought for a long time about not trying.”

  “Well, it’s good you did,” Conal said, grinning across the table at Niam. “Anur’s right. You’re very good. And anyway, there’s a greater need now for Sword Priests than ever. Anyone with talent should join.” He scowled suddenly. “Those who don’t join are worse than those who feel the desolation.”

  Anur raised an eyebrow at that. “You know someone affected by the desolation?”

  Conal nodded. “My best friend. We trained together, promised each other we’d become Sword Priests together. But after Aeons left us...” He sighed. “Every day, he practiced less, he was less passionate. A year ago, he stopped training entirely. He told me to stop training too, but I refused.”

  “Good on you!” Anur said, nodding. Niam smiled too, and even Bellon seemed less sour. Anur raised her arms in the air, folding in her thumb and pinky and pointing the other fingers up. Solemnly she said, “One day, Aeons will return.”

  Niam raised her arms too. “Until then, we will not despair.”

  “Until then, we will guard Bantong from all evils,” Conal said.

  “Until then, we will stand strong and remain loyal,” Bellon said.

  The fou
r of them turned to David when he didn’t say anything. He quickly raised his arms too. “Um, ditto?” he said. Anur, Conal, and Niam laughed, and Bellon rolled his eyes. They lowered their arms and returned to their meals. David took a cautious bite of his blue apple. Then he put it down. He didn’t actually know what moldy apples tasted like, but this didn’t taste like a proper apple. “Why did Aeons leave?” he asked. He remembered the picture of Aeons and how sad he’d looked.

  The others didn’t answer right away. Finally, Niam said, “Because the Nephilim killed his Beloved.”

  He shivered a bit at that. Brigid had mentioned the Nephilim once, and he’d read about them in The Traveler’s Guide to Bantong. They were apparently the worst sort of monster imaginable. The Guide said that the Nephilim were monsters from another world, cruel and powerful and intelligent. It said they lived for thousands of years and could destroy whole worlds. Apparently, Aeons had fought the Nephilim thousands of years ago, and had defeated them. From what he’d read in The Guide, David had assumed the threat of the Nephilim was no more. It seemed that wasn’t true.

  The rest of lunch passed in silence. They cleaned up after themselves then returned to the gymnasium. Scatha had five agitators with her. “Take one,” she said to them. “It is now yours.”

  David let the others choose first. The agitators all looked the same to him. He picked up the last one. It weighed maybe a pound, he thought. The metal of the agitator felt cool in his hand. He cautiously traced a finger over the controls, barely touching them. There were two controls near the trigger, placed where the bullet chamber would be on an Earth gun. He kept the barrel pointed towards the ground.

  It felt strange to be holding a firearm. He’d never used a gun. His parents had been liberal and had hated guns; another reason they hadn’t wanted him to join the army. After their deaths, he’d been too poor to waste money on a gun.

  Scatha led the acolytes over to a shooting range. It didn’t have to be in a separate room like a shooting range on Earth: as David already knew, agitators were much quieter than guns, making only a faint hum when used.

  “First, we will discuss basic safety,” Scatha said. She held up her own agitator and pointed to one of the controls on the side. “This is the safety. Before putting your agitator away, make sure it is turned on.” Obediently, David looked down to check that the safety was on. Scatha continued, “Next is the setting. There are three: stun, kill, and vaporize. The vaporize setting has been disabled. You will never turn your agitator to kill unless ordered otherwise. Save for combat situations, you kill keep your agitator off unless ordered otherwise. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, ma’am!” the acolytes chorused. David looked down at his agitator again. It was set at stun. It was comforting to see that there were such settings, especially since he probably wouldn’t be able to hit a target if his life depended on it, he thought while recalling his utter lack of talent with the practice chakrams.

  “This is the scope,” Scatha said. She flipped off her safety and pointed her agitator at one of the targets. A faint red beam appeared in the center of the target. She didn’t fire. She turned back to the trainees and said, “You will each practice hitting targets. Remember to first check that the setting is on stun before turning off the safety. You may begin.”

  David took his place across from the far target, next to Bellon. As instructed, he first double checked that it was on stun before turning off the safety. There was a faint click when he did so. He swallowed at that. He glanced at the others. They’d already raised their agitators and were shooting. Bellon and Niam hit dead center.

  He took a deep breath and raised his agitator. A soft red dot appeared on the wall to the left of the target. David turned his wrist, and the dot flew to the right of the target. He raised his other hand, using both to grip the agitator. He shifted more slowly. Finally, the red dot was near the center of the target. He took a deep breath and twitched a finger, pressing the trigger. A faint hum sounded, and a beam of red light streaked out from the agitator. At the same time, the agitator seemed to jerk in his hand. The dot moved below the target, and the beam of light hit the wall, leaving a faint trace of soot.

  He hadn’t thought there’d be a recoil. He sighed and gripped the agitator more firmly. He centered the scope on the target again and pressed the trigger. He braced himself and this time the agitator only pushed his hands off target a little. He didn’t hit the center of the target, but he did hit the edge. He grinned broadly.

  Then he turned to see how the others were doing. The grin fell off his face. Every single one of the them hit the target every time. Conal didn’t always hit the center or get off shots as quickly. Anur wasn’t very fast, but accurate. Niam and Bellon were like machines: they shot almost constantly, hitting the center of the target every time. They were so bored they’d change the angle of their shot to make it more difficult.

  “Keep trying,” Scatha said from behind David. He jumped and glanced over his shoulder at her. “Ignore the others.”

  He nodded and turned back to the target, raising his agitator again. Once more he carefully placed the dot in the center, braced himself, and pulled the trigger. The recoil threw him off even less this time, and he hit just a little to the right of the target.

  “Again,” Scatha said.

  She kept them shooting for about an hour. By that time, David had managed to hit the center of the target five times. But he could consistently hit the target, and he could shoot faster, so he felt proud enough of himself. He guessed agitators were probably easier to use than normal guns, but he wasn’t complaining. He was sure he’d be terrible with a normal gun.

  Scatha had holsters for them to carry their new agitators. After checking everyone had remembered to turn on the safety, she led them in calisthenics, stretching, and weight lifting for an hour. Bellon could lift an amazing amount of weight, and Anur bent in ways that should surely be impossible for a normal human. David was just glad they were doing something normal.

  After calisthenics, Scatha led them to a large side room. David stared in amazement at the obstacle course. There were ropes and ladders to climb, swinging logs to avoid, very small stepping stones, and mud everywhere. He hoped there was time in their schedule after this for a shower, because he was definitely going to need one.

  Eventually, they’d have to be able to go through the obstacle course quickly, but for now speed didn’t matter. Which was a good thing for David, because he barely made it at all. By the time he finished, he was covered from head to toe in mud. Niam looked just as bad as him, and Conal wasn’t much better. Bellon had done better, and was only a little muddy, but Anur had gotten through the entire course with no mud on her at all, except her shoes. Scatha let them go off to clean up before dinner started. David spent nearly an hour in the shower before he got all the mud off of him.

  He was last to arrive at dinner, and was surprised to find Scatha present at the head of the table. The other acolytes ate slowly, watching Scatha. When David finally sat, she flipped out a com pad and placed it on the table. “During your lives as lay-people, you may not have observed all the rituals. Now that you are acolytes, you will do so. Breakfast will be taken in silence so you may meditate upon Aeons, Eternism, and your duties as priests. Dinner is the time to discuss passages from The Tome of Ages. When you become brothers and sisters, you will discuss passages freely. For now, I will lead the discussions.” She paused to take a few bites of her meal. “I have chosen to read a passage about Mesi Yewi, the first Sword Cardinal. This is from the Book of Quetzal, chapter 7, part 1.”

  She leaned over the com pad and started to read – she must have The Tome as an e-book on it, or whatever the Bantonan equivalent of an e-book was. David let his mind wander, not even trying to listen as he ate. He thought he might be eating some sort of fish, but he wasn’t sure. He assumed, as a Sword Priest, he’d only have to worry about fighting. He’d never given much thought to the priest part, even with the vow he’d taken. Br
igid never tried to proselytize him – but then, she’d apparently thought he believed in Aeons, albeit with a different name. If he was going to have to sit through readings like this every night, he was going to get very bored, very fast.

  Scatha finished the reading after just a few minutes. Leaving the com pad out, she said, “Thoughts?”

  David froze, terrified she’d ask for his reaction. But this seemed to be a volunteer-only discussion, since Niam didn’t say anything either. David didn’t follow most of it, save that Bellon thought Mesi had been right about something, while Scatha, Conal, and Anur disagreed.

  When everyone finished eating, Scatha called the discussion at an end and put her com pad away. She pulled out a sheaf of papers and passed them around. “Your schedules for the next three months. Make sure you’re on time.” Then she left the kitchen.

  David studied the papers he’d been handed. Every day for the next three months was scheduled. Most of the activities they’d done today were listed again, along with chores, protocol lessons, occasional outings, weapon specialty lessons, and free time in the evenings. David was relieved to see he’d mostly be doing cleaning and laundry rather than cooking. He didn’t trust himself with a cooker, since he didn’t know enough food names.

  “What are protocol lessons?” he asked.

  “They teach you how to behave as a Sword Priest,” Anur said. At David’s look, she added, “You’ll learn how to address other Sword Priests who outrank you, priests of other sects, how to deal with civilians after attacks, and how to deal with off worlders.”

  “It’s very important you don’t embarrass the sect,” Bellon said severely. “You’re more likely to make mistakes than anyone else here.”

  David frowned, but he couldn’t really deny it. “What about weapon specialty lessons?”