by Jason Tesar
Suddenly one of his enemies lunged forward and Kael realized that he had let the man get too close. He dodged to the side as the man swung his staff in an overhead motion, trying to bring it down on Kael’s head. Kael raised his staff and deflected the blow to the side, sending his enemy tumbling past him into the sand. His knuckles ached as he realized the blow glanced off his hand. Kael quickly swiveled around and jabbed the man in the back with his staff.
“You’re out,” said Ukiru to the monk from a short distance away. The monk stayed on the ground and pretended to be a slain enemy.
Kael turned back to the group only to find that two others were advancing at a run. It was too late to run away from them. He instantly made the decision to run at them and try to break through, which would place him, once again, beyond the reach of the other five enemies. It was only an instant before the two were upon him. The man on the left swung his staff at waist level and the other man jabbed for the chest. Kael spun to the left and blocked the jab, throwing the enemy’s staff in the way of the second adversary. The two blows met each other as Kael used his spinning momentum to dodge to the right of both men.
“What are you doing?” Ukiru yelled from across the arena.
Kael decided that there wasn’t enough time to stop and defeat the two men. Instead, he ran for the safety of the open area behind the other five men. Ukiru was shouting something in the distance, but he wasn’t paying attention any more. The pain in his hand fueled his frustration with this exercise. I guess I’m just supposed to run around until one of them wounds me enough to slow me down. That’s no way to fight.
As he ran to the edge of the arena it occurred to him that he just didn’t trust any of the things he was being taught. Is that what’s bothering me? As the thought came, it triggered a memory from two years ago when he pointed out a flaw in one of the attack stances that Ukiru was teaching. The awkward position left the attacker unable to step backwards quickly and, therefore, the attacker would not have enough time to react if the defender decided to rush him. He had never seen Ukiru lose his temper the way he did that day. After being scolded and belittled in front of the rest of the young men, Kael was sent to his room without dinner and was not allowed out until the next morning. Ever since that day, Kael began to find problems with many other things about their training. It eventually bothered him so much that he devoted much of his personal time to developing his own methods of combat, though he would never have the chance to use them anywhere other than in the privacy of his own bedroom.
The seven remaining enemies stopped in the middle of the arena at Ukiru’s command. Kael could see the instructor’s face, flushed red with anger. “You men,” he shouted at a group of other monks who were standing nearby. “Join in with the others.” At his command, twenty other monks joined the ranks and Kael’s enemies almost tripled. “If you insist on disobeying me, this will indeed become a painful lesson.”
The rest of the students were watching intently.
Maybe I will get the chance to put my private studies to good use. Kael closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He tried to put everything out of his mind but the awareness of his own body. Ukiru’s yelling voice slipped into silence. The vision of twenty-seven monks with wooden staffs blinked out of sight and quickly gave way to silence and darkness.
Kael could feel his heart beating heavily in his chest.
He could feel his lungs expanding and contracting as air rushed in and out of his body.
The sand moved beneath his feet as he shifted his weight from left to right.
There was another sensation as well, just at the edge of his perception, but still out of reach. It nagged at him until the sound of approaching footsteps caused him to open his eyes.
Suddenly, in that instant, he saw and felt the position of every man in the approaching group. Not only could he see and hear the enemies approaching, but he could actually feel them as if they were an extension of his own body. It took only a fraction of a second for him to know where the weakest point of the mob was. And that was where he ran. The faces of the monks dropped as the young man charged willfully into the insurmountable odds.
Kael closed the gap on the group before they had the chance to shift their order around to meet him. Even if they had the time, there was hardly any reason for twenty-seven men to think about the perfect way to approach one young man. And that was the weakness that Kael planned to exploit. As he came within striking distance, Kael twirled his staff above his head in open rebellion against the instructions of Ukiru, and brought it down at the limit of his reach on the head of the closest man. The blow caught the monk by surprise and shoved his head downward toward the sand, causing him to topple forward.
Kael kept his forward momentum and stepped onto the monk’s back, springing off of his defeated enemy in a spinning motion. His staff flicked outward as he spun through the air, smacking into hard surfaces in rapid succession. Kael didn’t have time to notice what he had struck until he landed in a somersault and came to his feet again. Turning around, he saw the group now trying to deal with the changing direction of their prey. Four men were lying on the ground, holding various parts of their bodies in an attempt to soothe their pain.
He had just broken through the thinnest part of the mob and would not get the same opportunity again. The remaining men split into two groups and began to circle back on Kael, trying to flank him on either side. Before they could get into position, he sprinted to the left and watched as their ranks broke formation. The men in front ran as fast as they could to keep Kael from getting around the left side of the group. As the closest man approached he swung his staff in a level arc aiming for Kael’s head. Kael ducked under the attack and rolled onto his back, sweeping at the man’s leg with his staff. The counterattack caught the monk on the knee and brought the man to the ground as well as two others behind him who tripped over their fallen comrade.
Kael tried to keep his momentum, but was too slow in getting to his feet. By the time he regained his footing and spun to meet his attackers, they were too close to run from. He crouched into a defense position of his own making and waited for the men to advance. The rear group spread out to encircle him as the group in front attacked to keep him from running.
Three monks advanced and the one in the middle jabbed his staff out at Kael. Parrying the jab with a two-handed block he struck the monk in the face with the same motion. Before the attacker on the right had time to bring his staff up to protect himself, Kael spun around and jabbed his own staff into the man’s stomach. The third monk swung for Kael’s head and Kael dropped to his knee, spinning his staff once above his head and smashed it into the man’s chest, driving him backwards into his group.
Kael could feel a blow coming for the back of his head and spun to block the attack, but he was too late. The staff knocked him on the side of his head and dazed him for a moment. Then he was jolted by another blow to his back. Several more strikes crashed into his body before he fell over to the ground.
“That’s enough.” Ukiru’s voice stopped the attackers and they slowly backed away. Ukiru stood over Kael and stared at the defiant young man. After several seconds of silence, Ukiru spoke. “Take him to his room.”
Kael felt his arms lifted as two monks dragged him from the arena. He could see all of his fellow students watching in stunned silence as the men removed him from the training area. Even though he had taken several hard blows, Kael didn’t feel very much pain. He decided that it would be best, however, to let the monks continue dragging him as if he couldn’t walk. When they reached his room, the two men laid him down on his bed and left without saying a word. Kael rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. He couldn’t remember now why he had done what he did. He only knew that it was important at the time. An appropriate emotion might have been regret, or even anger, but he just felt numb. One day, those buried emotions would come boiling to the surface, but for now he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
When he awo
ke it was to the sound of the others returning from their meditation the following morning. Loud footsteps pounded down the hallway as each of his fellow students came back to their rooms for a change of clothes before breakfast. Kael looked down at his own body, still dressed in the dirty clothing from the previous afternoon. A soft knock at the door came as a surprise to Kael who rarely had anyone else in his room. Not lately anyway. Usually, the others would gather in Soren’s room if they wished to socialize.
“Come in,” he called.
The door opened and Ukiru stepped inside, carefully closing the door behind him. Kael’s heart, which was so willing to defy this man yesterday, now trembled at the coming confrontation. Ukiru walked over to the bed and sat down slowly next to Kael with a calm look on his face.
“Are you hungry?”
The question seemed out of place to Kael. “Yes,” he answered, not noticing his hunger until Ukiru mentioned it.
“You may come down to breakfast after we are finished talking.”
“Okay,” Kael responded, still unsure of how to read the man’s body language.
“Are you hurt in any way?”
“No. They’re just bruises; they’ll heal.”
Ukiru breathed deeply and exhaled. “What were you doing yesterday? I was trying to teach you all how to stay out of danger and you ran straight into it. I don’t understand why you disobeyed me.”
Kael wanted to explain everything to him, but how could he? How was he supposed to tell his mentor of seven years that the methods he is teaching are wrong? What words could he possibly use to explain what was impossible to prove; that he just knew something was missing? “I don’t know,” he mumbled instead. “I don’t know.”
Ukiru was obviously hoping for more of an answer and waited for Kael to elaborate. When nothing more was said, he stood up and walked over to the window. “You want to know what I think? I think that you still look back to your old life and wonder what would have happened if you had never come here.”
Kael shrugged his shoulders, not really agreeing, but not necessarily disagreeing.
Ukiru continued. “This world rejected you and you were nearly dead when I found you. By the authority of the All Powerful and the direction of our High Priest, I saved you from that life and gave you the opportunity of another. This life,” he motioned with his arms, “is a blessing. It’s a chance to see what the All Powerful may accomplish through us. But I don’t believe that you have given yourself wholly to it, or to him.”
Ukiru spoke truthfully. Kael realized in that instant that he hadn’t. Hadn’t fully given himself to the training. Hadn’t given himself fully to the god that Ukiru so often spoke of. As soon as Ukiru mentioned the All Powerful, Kael felt a twinge of uneasiness. He had never been able to reconcile his religious instruction with the concept of a single god that he had learned from Saba all those years ago. Maybe my former life is really holding me back. “Sometimes I feel like I’m just going through the motions, like this whole place is just one big exercise.”
“Exactly,” Ukiru spoke, suddenly looking encouraged. “Isn’t that what life is, a preparation for what is to come when we die? But that doesn’t mean that we should walk through life as though our actions don’t matter. They do matter a great deal. This life is where our character is shaped and we become who we are supposed to be. I think that you are holding back in many ways, that you are keeping a small part of yourself reserved. You must trust that the All Powerful can do great things through you if you surrender yourself completely to him.” Ukiru paused to look more directly at Kael.
He’s trying to make sure that I understand.
“The humorous part about all of this is that, even though you are holding yourself back, you are still the most talented of all the boys here.”
Kael wrinkled his eyebrows. “That’s not true.”
“Why do you disagree?”
Kael looked to the window and let his mind wander through all of his years of memories at the monastery. In every subject, whether in the classroom or the arena, Kael knew that he excelled. He wasn’t always the best, but he was always near the top of his class. “Soren beats me every time in war strategy.”
“Yes, but that is only one area. In the years that I have known you, I have seen glimpses of absolute perfection in individual combat that the others cannot even touch. Just think of what you could become if you would only trust my instruction.”
Kael looked down at the bed and fumbled with the edge of his blanket.
“Please trust me; it is the only thing holding you back.”
Ukiru stretched out his hand and waited.
Finally, Kael grasped it firmly. “You’re right, I’m sorry.”
Ukiru smiled. “No words, only actions.” It was a saying that he was fond of and Kael thought that it was appropriate for the situation. “Now, it is time for breakfast,” Ukiru said, walking to the door.
“I’ll be there as soon as I change my clothes.”
“Very well,” Ukiru said and quietly left the room.
Kael lay back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Ukiru was right. He had been holding a part of himself back, following all of the rules, but never really giving himself to his studies. Especially during meditation, when they were all supposed to focus their thoughts on the All Powerful, he always felt like it was make-believe. Maybe I’m the one who is fake!
He knew that there was only one more year until their pilgrimage and he decided to forget about everything that had just happened. He knew that he had to push aside his feelings of mistrust and forget about the combat methods that he was developing on his own time. He could see how all of these things were clouding his perception. One more year. I need to see what I’m capable of.
Another knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. “Come in.”
Soren’s faced peeked around the door. “How are you doing?”
“Fine,” Kael replied.
“Are you coming to breakfast?”
“Yeah, as soon as I get changed.”
Soren walked into the room and smiled. “You’re still wearing your training clothes. You didn’t have time to change since yesterday?”
“No,” Kael replied with a laugh. “I fell asleep as soon as I got back to my room.”
“Oh,” Soren said, searching for the right words. “What happened yesterday?”
Kael exhaled loudly. “I’m not sure. I guess I just got frustrated with constantly retreating and running. I didn’t think that running was the best way to deal with eight enemies, but I guess I was wrong, huh?”
“Yeah. But it sure was a good show,” Soren said with a mischievous smile. “You were amazing. I’ve never seen someone move that fast before. You must have defeated a dozen of them before they got you.”
“…nine actually.”
“They looked like they hit you pretty hard,” Soren stated, but it was more of a question.
Kael pulled his shirt off and showed him the bruises that were still forming on his back.
“Oh yeah,” Soren said, “those’ll be good ones in a couple of days.”
“Oh well,” Kael offered, “you always say the best lessons are the ones you learn, not the ones that you’re taught, right?”
“That’s right,” Soren replied, walking over to the door. “I bet you’ll never forget this one. Anyway, you’d better hurry before the food is all gone.”
“Okay, I’ll be there in a second,” Kael called to the retreating footsteps.
* * * *
The air smelled clean and fresh following the recent storms that had passed over the city, washing everything with three days of rain. The bright sun was out now, drying the soil and a fresh humidity hung in the air. Maeryn sat on the steps of the garden and watched Aelia play in the flowers with one of the servant girls. Nearly seven years old now, she was looking more and more like Adair every day. Lemus had no suspicions about the child’s origins. Once he believed something, he never again questioned it. His stubbornn
ess was a large part of his detestable personality, but it had a positive side.
The sound of rushed footsteps brought her out of her thoughts as Lemus entered the garden from the courtyard on the opposite side. He strode across the groomed soil in a hurry. Maeryn hoped that he would ignore her and keep walking by, but to her disappointment, he stopped briefly in front of her.
“Come with me,” he commanded.
Maeryn looked to Aelia who was oblivious to anything but the clump of newly picked flowers in her dirty hand.
“She’ll be fine,” he added, hurrying up the steps and into the house.
Maeryn rose to her feet and tried to keep up with Lemus’ pace.
Lemus stopped at the nearest room and motioned for Maeryn to follow. Once the two were inside he shut the door. The dusty room was strewn with books and papers. Several pieces of furniture were piled on top of each other in one corner. Adair had used this room to store things that he didn’t want elsewhere in the house and it looked as if it had not been entered since then.
Lemus was visibly angered. “Many years ago, you mentioned a man who trained birds to fly between cities. Where can I find him?”
“Oh,” Maeryn said. “That was such a long time ago. I’m not sure if he still lives in this region.”
“Well, where did he used to live?”
Maeryn had to resist the desire to ask why he needed this information. When he was in a mood like this, he needed to feel important. She decided that it was best to just answer as soon as possible. “His name was Cornelius. He used to perform tricks with his birds in the City Square to earn money. That was the only time I saw him.” It was the most direct answer she could think of.
Lemus nodded his head and his anger seemed to be pacified slightly.
After a moment of silence, Maeryn thought it was safe to ask questions. “What’s wrong?”
Lemus looked up from staring at the ground.
Maeryn thought he might be waiting for her to ask.
