by S D Huss
“Well?!” she yelled, as she spun to walk out the door.
Katrina flinched again and darted after the Dae warrior.
“What a terrible fate,” Boros said, shaking his head while the doors slid closed.
“What the hell is she thinking?” Robert said out loud. “You’re both crazy.” His attention turning to Daniel.
Daniel sighed and shook his head. -So much for sticking together- he thought to himself.
chapter 17
The first two weeks of Katrina’s training were filled with menial tasks and mind-numbing exercises. Her body ached every morning in her new quarters at the Regios estate, but still, she woke eagerly to begin her days. She had not yet successfully used her Dunamis; the elusive power was always present but remained unused. Avria did little to coach her in this, but that did not keep the young woman from spending long hours of the night using all her strength to try and manipulate a hand full of dirt that she’d brought to her room. It felt as if every failure brought her just a little closer, so she would curl up and tend to it like a flame.
Katrina sprinted to the main courtyard of the Regios estate where she was supposed to meet with Avria at first light. Her boots threw clumps of dirt and grass up as she took a shortcut over one of the family’s many lawns. It became somewhat of a challenge for her to arrive before her new master, but until now she had always seemed to show up late no matter what time she woke up. Walking up slowly and naturally was not cutting it any longer, today she was going to win.
Katrina burst from the trees surrounding the courtyard. It was empty, and with a grin on her face, she stopped in the middle to stand at the position of attention. -Finally- she thought to herself.
“You’re learning. That's good.” a voice called from behind her. Katrina spun to find Avria sitting on a stone bench that was against the treeline. Her grin disappeared and she bowed hastily. “My apologies, Lady,” she said.
The Dae woman stood gracefully, she was not wearing her crimson cloak today. Only her bone breastplate over a purple tunic, leather pants, and fine boots. She was also wearing her bone sword across her hip and holding two wooden ones in either hand.
“Today you will begin learning the incisor.” She said, tossing her student one of the wooden blades. Katrina caught it with relative ease. Her reflexes were becoming much faster. Things that normally would have been difficult to accomplish were becoming increasingly easier. Her body was stronger and faster. Exercises that normally would have caused her to collapse were now a mere inconvenience. She flexed her fingers around the wooden hilt. The leather wrapping around it creaked under the stress.
Avria began to walk out of the courtyard toward her estate’s practice field, and Katrina followed in tow.
“We will begin with the fundamental stances and forms.” Avria started, bringing her sword above her head and crouching in a strange pose. “This is called Crest form. It is designed to incorporate the Dunamis for defensive and countermeasures.”
She arched her weapon broadly over her head, and from side to side in a fluid motion.
Katrina recognized this motion from the battle she witnessed in the Glade. Nasha used it to defend against Boros’ elemental attacks.
“The movements are smooth and precise; mastery of this form will grant you a dependable and near impenetrable defense.” Avria shifted her weight to her right leg and performed several different sweeps and slashes. She was graceful and beautiful while executing the deadly dance. She stopped abruptly and pointed her blade at Katrina. “Now you try,” she said. “Widen your stance.”
Katrina obeyed her mentor and went through the beginning motions of what she knew would be a long process. The girl had never picked up a weapon in her life, never having had the need to. So, she stood awkwardly at first, wobbling through the different movements, receiving hard hits from Avria’s wooden sword when a mistake was too grievous to ignore. Still, however, she strode onward, practicing the sword Crest movements like a dance.
Katrina practiced until mid-day; she looked up at the star that hung above them, warming them like the sun back home. Sweat was now dripping down her face and she rubbed it from her eyes with a sigh. Avria was a harsh taskmaster, allowing few breaks, but she approached Katrina with a water flask and some food wrapped in a cloth.
The two women sat in silence together on one of the stone benches that surrounded the courtyard, eating bread and small fruits with dried meat.
“Can I ask you a question, Lady?” Katrina asked, still getting used to the new customs she was now forced to follow. One of the more difficult was referring to her new mentor as Lady or Ma’am.
Avria just nodded, disinterested, still eating her food.
“I still can’t seem to use my power… I know it's there, but… I have been trying every night. It’s driving me crazy.”
Avria looked to her with eyes narrowed. It was clear to Katrina that she had not fully grown to trust her. -I’ll have to work on that- she thought.
“Well,” Avria said, swallowing her food. “That will definitely be a problem. We must deal with this; and why haven’t you told me?”
Katrina looked at her squarely. “Well, Ma’am, you're not the most approachable person I have ever met, and I felt like I should try and solve this problem myself first.”
Katrina braced herself for Avria’s now well-known temper to flare, but she said nothing. She shrugged her shoulders and looked forward again, taking another bite of the dried meat. “Well, I suppose that’s a respectable reason,” Katrina smirked as she saw, from the corner of her mentor’s mouth, a small smile appear.
The two finished their modest meal and resumed their training.
Later in the evening, nestled in her quarters, Katrina found herself again holding the clump of dirt in her hand. Her eyes flared intensely at it, attempting to force her will upon it, and the blood vessels in her head began to bulge at the strain.
“Dammit!” She yelled in frustration. the urge to throw the dirt across the room.
She closed her eyes and felt her power again, pulsing steadily behind a locked door. The feeling was maddening; why couldn’t she reach it? Katrina again looked at the ball of dirt, then in the lost memory of how she found her power in the first place, she remembered the energy that ebbed from the sand below her feet in the earth shrine. How she felt its connection, the call of the element itself.
She looked again to the dirt in her hand, and instead of attempting to push her own will upon it, she felt in the dirt itself. At first, there was nothing but the throbbing of blood pumping through her hand. But as she looked deeper, she could feel the light ebb of power from the element. She held it in her mind, and slowly pushed with all the tedious control she could muster from the power in her body into it. As she did, the dirt rose from her hand into the air.
Katrina let out a sharp laugh in defiance to her earlier struggles. She smiled and stood as the dirt obeyed her will to float. The feeling was strange as the dunamis pulsed in her steadily. There was a unique sense of balance, chaos, and serenity as she watched the small bits of dirt dance in the air around her fingers. It was a balance that she felt would most certainly crumble if she lost her control, but for some reason, it all seemed so right. The risk was there, she could feel it clearly. However, regardless of this ever-present danger, it almost seemed easy to manage.
The next morning brought another rush to the meeting area. Katrina bounded quickly through the estate grounds, all the while keeping that same ball of dirt in perfect stillness as it floated in front of her face. She had practiced all night, barely able to sleep from the excitement, and this little trick was something she was eager to show her master.
She darted into the courtyard and saw Avria standing in the center, again holding the two practice blades in her hands. Her master’s eyes widened at the sight of her coming to an abrupt halt in the center of the courtyard.
Katrina’s smile broadened, and with a slight gesture of her hand, brought the ball
of dirt before Avria.
There were no words that needed to be spoken, Avria’s facial expression said enough.
“I found it, my Lady,” Katrina said, gesturing her hand and extending the ball of earth to float several feet before Avria.
“So it seems…” Avria stepped closer and inspected the ball of dirt, her eyes scanning over the rough surface.
“I must admit, Katrina, this is quite unusual for a Dae who first discovers her Dunamis.” She reached her hand out and touched the dirt, pushing with her fingers to see if it would move or not. The small clump of dirt did not budge, only shed bits that floated alongside it.
“The connection is strong.” Avria looked to Katrina with a hard glance. “You will be very powerful, my dear.”
Avria handed her the wooden blade she held in her left hand. “For today's exercises, I want you to maintain your ball of dirt. Keep it as it is, unmoving and strong; I will test it from time to time, so be aware of that.” She gave it a light tap with the blade she still held.
Katrina nodded eagerly and assumed her ready stance for the Crest form. Avria began going over the movements again, faster than she did the day prior, making quick strikes at her with the flat of the blade. Each time she did, Katrina’s nerves flared at the sudden impact. The Dae woman was extremely fast, moving at a near blinding speed.
The hours crawled forward and the bruises multiplied, but she found that with every passing moment her connection to the small and seemingly insignificant dirtball was growing stronger. Avria changed her tactics throughout the training sessions, incorporating a small bit of Dunamis in every aspect of her movements. Katrina found the change to be frustratingly difficult to manage. Diminutive changes to a person’s body during combat can have an enormous effect on every move, granting incredible boosts to a person’s strength or speed. It was absolutely nerve-racking to be at the receiving end of such tactics, but to Katrina’s astonishment, her body and mind were starting to react much faster to the changes. Still, she found herself clumsily whirling her blade around, knocking it into her knees and the occasional hit on the head.
Katrina sat on the stone bench next to her master, gasping for air as sweat dripped from her face. Avria handed her a canteen of water after taking a long drink, her own grey skin slick with beads of sweat. The two sat in silence as Avria unwrapped the bandages she had around her hands to protect them from the wooden blades.
“I must say, Katrina, I am very impressed with your progress so far.” She turned her head to look at her. “And believe me, I do not say that lightly. I have trained with many Dae in the ring, from the greenest novices to the most infamous blade masters. I am not easily impressed.” Her eyes glanced to the ball of dirt still floating around her student. “The fact that your Dunamis is still being used is remarkable. There are many limitations to the continuous use of this power. It weakens you over time, and makes even the smallest movements difficult after extended use.” Avria raised her hand before her and gracefully opened her fingers to reveal her palm. There was a faint buzz that began to radiate, and before Katrina’s eyes, a bulb of electricity bloomed. It wasn’t the violent crackling one would be used to seeing for this power. Instead, it flowed out like water and meticulously formed what looked like a flower that hovered above Avria’s palm.
“It’s beautiful…” Katrina said, her eyes clinging to the sight before her.
“This is called Amurii,” Avria said flaring her hand and causing the bloom to expand and brighten. “It exemplifies the purest form of our power…” Her eyes gleamed with the shaped web of energy, and for a moment Katrina saw her not as the stern and feared warrior she had come to know, but as a young and innocent girl. The moment ended as Avria clenched her fist and the light faded.
“There are many in our society who strive to excel in this type of Dunamis. They spend years studying and practicing it to perfect elaborate and intricate shapes… Some of them are indeed quite beautiful.”
“So… it is a form of art then?” Katrina asked.
Avria smiled slightly at the statement. “I suppose you could say that. It is absolutely some type of art… like music for your eyes.”
“Can you tell me about the Dunamis,” Katrina asked, “Uh, my lady.” She added at the end.
Avria exhaled, her irritation starting to show. “There are four groups within the Dunamis.” She held up her hand. “I will start with yours, Dae-Voh.” She held out her index finger. “Dae-Voh, as I’m sure you have already guessed, have the power over the soil.” She held out another finger, counting off as she explained. “Dae-jin, the power over the wind. Dae-Leu, over water, and Dae-Rah, over fire.” She paused to take a drink from her canteen. “There are many variants of these, as over the millennia the bloodlines mixed and interbred. But mostly they are of these four categories. The most common of the variants is, of course, mine. Dae-Jinroh, those of us who have the ability to harness lightning.” Avria paused again, taking a moment to gather her thoughts. “There are some Dae who can use multiple elements of Dunamis, but they usually go to one of the Libreos to learn that.”
“What’s a Libreos?” Katrina asked.
“A subject for another time, Katrina. What’s important now is learning to control your Dunamis.” Avria said, continuing to eat her lunch.
Katrina willed the ball of dirt to float before her. The small collection of grains seemed much heavier than it did in the morning. She closed her eyes and tried to deepen her connection. It was then that she felt overwhelmingly exhausted. Her breathing became haggard and her eyelids heavy. The sudden change caused her to slump, and the ball of dirt fell to the ground, only to break into pieces. Katrina struggled to hold herself up by stretching her arms to grasp the bench, but she began to crumple. Her body lurched over, and she hit the grass with a thud.
◆◆◆
Daniel took a deep breath, doing his best to ignore the stinging of sweat dripping in his eye.
“Pull!” An instructor bellowed beside Daniel and his small squad of whelps. There were eight of them, all holding a long chain in a line pulling against another squad of eight. It was a traditional game of tug-o-war to Daniel, but to the Dae, it was called “Exodus”.
Daniel was the last man in the line, usually referred to as the anchor and usually the strongest or heaviest in the team to make it more difficult for the opposing team to win. He found himself in this position because he observed that his strength as of late had been increasing at an alarming rate. Things that were taxing or difficult in the past now seemed to be quite easy. Running or doing military-style exercises brought little exertion compared to his Dae comrades.
“Pull Spirit sent!” A whelp called in front. Daniel dug his heels into the ground and pulled back, holding much of his strength in reserve.
Each side attempted to bring rhythm to their pulling, one whelp calling cadence to pull in unison. Each attempt was entertaining, to see one call out and lose his place in the struggle. This was all familiar to Daniel from his time in the military, and it brought comfort to some degree.
There were grunts and exasperated gasps on either side until Daniel’s team finally proved victorious. The other team was pulled into a large pit of mud in the center, clearly intended to be a humiliating end for whoever ended up the loser.
“Enough, Whelps!” Bellowed the Yellow caped instructor. “The winning team stand over here with me. The rest of you disgusting little fools get back into the grinder!”
Daniel and his small squad moved with as much speed as their tired bodies could, and stumbled behind the instructor.
The last few weeks had been tedious if anything. Daniel spent the vast majority of time waiting to fall into a new series of whelps. There are only so many fresh warriors that can be sent at a time, so they held them in receiving barracks until there were enough for a full training battalion. To Daniel’s surprise, the population of Vul-De Rah was more than just the bustling capital, it also included nearly two dozen smaller villages in the terri
tory. They all paid taxes and owed loyalty to the Ignos clan and its Hego. Hego Agron, in turn, paid taxes and loyalties to the King of Lokkadonia, King Yomin, and he did the same to the High King located in Torre’ territory. The whole structure seemed somewhat familiar to Daniel, reminiscent of the ancient political climate in Norse culture, or even Feudal Japan. Either way, he did what he could to learn of the larger picture. In the time spent waiting to be picked up into Series, he learned what he could, but did try to keep to himself. The Dae whelps that trickled in did little to approach him anyway, huddling together and whispering questions and rumors to one another.