The Habit of the Sorcerer

by J J Moriarty

  “Seems contradictory, right?” Aliya said.

  “A little”, Hyzou said.

  “Training. Training is the bit in the middle”, Aliya said.

  “Oh”, Hyzou said.

  “For each and every possible outcome you will face in a battle, you will learn a way to react. Once you’ve learned this you will practice it and practice it and practice it until it is so burned into your brain that you will not need to think. Fighting will become as automatic to you as breathing”, Aliya said.

  “Every possible outcome?” Hyzou asked. “How could we prepare for that?”

  “Rather simply, in fact. This is even easier to do because you have but one opponent”, Aliya said.

  “I’m listening”, Hyzou said.

  “No matter how powerful your Qi, you will never be as physically strong as a Colossus. Nowhere near. This beast will tear you apart if it catches you”, Aliya said.

  “So I run away from it”, Hyzou said.

  “No. There’s nothing surer to lead the beast to catch you than to just run away all the time. A Colossus is stupid, but it is still a predator. It will realise what you’re doing after a while, it will learn, and it will catch you. No, you must alternate. Always”, Aliya said.

  “Alternate how?” Hyzou said.

  “When the Colossus attacks you, you avoid him. When neither you or the Colossus are attacking each other, you must harass the beast. Make it aware, not only that you are not afraid of it, but that you are going to annoy it too. Kick sand at it, shout at it, spit at it. Anything. Just always harass an enemy when you are not fighting. And finally, in those moments, and they will be brief, when the Colossus is on the defensive, you attack”, Aliya said.

  “Does a Colossus go on the defensive?” Hyzou asked.

  “No. Not in the same way that a human would. But it will lose sight of you, it might slip, it might get stuck somewhere. You must attack at those times. It will keep your actions unpredictable enough so that the beast won’t just corner you eventually”, Aliya said.

  “To kill it, I’ve to strangle it”, Hyzou said. “How do I work that in?”

  “A fight is divided into three distinct parts. The opening, the fight itself, and its close. Though obviously these are usually so short as to be one fluid action in most fights. Let’s make sure you can survive the fight before we worry about how you might end it”, Aliya said.

  “So that’s it, learning manoeuvres between now and the fight?” Hyzou said.

  Aliya laughed.

  “So you’d wish. No, no. You have a powerful Qi, Hyzou of Nuyin. You’re the strongest human I’ve ever met. But you still have the same body. The Qi makes you stronger, but you are still limited. You’re still built like a child, pudgy and slow. I will make you a soldier, first and foremost.”

  “What does that mean?” Hyzou asked.

  “Physical training and discipline. Before all else”, Aliya said. “Learn your manoeuvres, and become the strongest you can be. Then we can worry about how to strangle the Colossus.”

  Hyzou nodded.

  “Now, up you get, it’s time to work on your fighting stance. Abe has been training you to stand like a common infantryman no doubt. The first step will be to show you how to stand like a Servant of Qi”, Aliya said.

  Hyzou stood.

  “The Servant enters the fight standing on the balls of his feet”, Aliya said. “Do so.”

  Hyzou did so.

  “Face me with your full figure. I want to see as much of you as possible”, Aliya said.

  Hyzou did so.

  “Now you’re ready to fight me”, Aliya said.

  “Abe said…” Hyzou began.

  “That a soldier shows as little of his body as is possible to the enemy. I know. But a Servant of Qi need not worry about how much he shows because he plans to move quickly enough to get out of the way. An open body is unpredictable, impossible to read. Stay that way”, Aliya said.

  “Yes, master”, Hyzou said.

  “Unpredictability is your greatest weapon”, Aliya said.

  CHAPTER 22

  “That’s enough.” Aliya said.

  Hyzou allowed himself to collapse on to his ass. He was coated in sweat, and each breath was an ordeal. His lungs were on fire.

  “Abe...” Hyzou said between deep breaths. “Will wake soon.”

  “And you’ll just give him some rice wine if he does”, Aliya said.

  Hyzou huffed.

  “Tell me about it, tell me what I want to know”, Hyzou said. “Please master.”

  Aliya looked at him.

  “I assume we’re not talking about a Colossus here?” Aliya asked.

  Hyzou shook his head.

  “About your father?” Aliya said.

  “Please”, Hyzou said.

  Aliya sighed.

  “Go get some water first, you’re thirsty”, Aliya said.

  “Yes, master”, Hyzou said.

  He arose and walked over to the bucket by the side of the garden. He lifted it and took several gulps. Then he showed the bucket to Aliya.

  “Want some?” Hyzou asked.

  She shook her head.

  Hyzou returned to sit beside Aliya. She looked down upon him.

  “I knew your father for a long time”, Aliya said. “I was four when I met him. I came from the west, the Mountain Cities. I was sold by my parents to the Servants of Qi, who bought me as a child because they recognised my ability.”

  “I met a lot of children when I first arrived in Uqing. Most Servants are trained from youth, and there were a lot of us learning there”, Aliya said. “I knew your father. And his two younger brothers.”

  “Younger brothers?” Hyzou said, shocked. “I didn’t know.”

  “You are not so lonely as you would think, Hyzou of Nuyin”, Aliya said.

  “My father didn’t have brothers”, Hyzou said.

  “Of all the secrets you’re learning about him, this is what surprises you?” Aliya asked.

  “He never told me anything about them. How did they die?” Hyzou asked.

  “One lives, still. As far as I know”, Aliya said.

  “I have a family?” Hyzou asked.

  “You do”, Aliya said.

  “I can’t believe that”, Hyzou said.

  “There’s more”, Aliya said.

  “What’s that?” Hyzou asked.

  “A year ago, a man, a hunter brought Pharaoh Ganymedes a gift. The Colossus”, Aliya said.

  “I know. I’ve heard”, Hyzou said.

  “You know that beast, how difficult it would be to catch one. Haven’t you ever wondered who it was that did it? Who was strong enough to cage a Colossus in the wild?” Aliya said.

  “I never thought about it”, Hyzou said.

  “I have”, Aliya said, “and I found out.”

  “What does this have to do with my father, master?” Hyzou asked.

  “Because it was your father’s brother that captured the beast”, Aliya said.

  “My… My uncle?” Hyzou said. “The living one?”

  “He was a tyrant, your uncle, when he had a sword in his hand. Not the brightest, and in no way a leader. But a more skilled warrior I do not know”, Aliya said. “Recently, I’ve been trying to reach him. To find him, to get him to help you. I’ve taken some ekstasis, but I couldn’t find your uncle’s soul anywhere in the wilderness.”

  “Why would my father hide his brother from me?” Hyzou asked.

  Aliya sighed.

  “I’m sure you’ve heard of the Anarchy”, Aliya said. “It was the age when everything fell apart. Starvation, the pox and the plague ran through all the Crown Cities. People became desperate, and civil war arose everywhere.”

  “Not so long ago”, Hyzou said.

  “Yes. You were born towards the end of it. During the Anarchy Mygst came to Piquea, grievously wounded and sick. He had been stabbed, you have seen the scar from that injury I assume?” Aliya said.

  “He told me he fell down a set
of stairs as a child”, Hyzou said.

  “No. He was wounded in a brutal attack. A blade was put through his back”, Aliya said. “In the same attack one of his brothers were killed. After the attack he crawled to Piquea and sought my help. He made me swear several vows, the most important of which were that I would hide him and all his children from the Servants of Qi. Pretend he had died. I nursed him back to health and when the time was right I sent for his wife and child, who were in Vymnym, to come and live in Piquea.”

  “I wasn’t born in Piquea?” Hyzou asked.

  “You moved there when you were almost two”, Aliya said.

  “I can’t believe it. Was my father Piquean?” Hyzou asked.

  “No. He wasn’t either”, Aliya said.

  “Where did he come from?” Hyzou asked.

  “What lies to the north of Lamybla?” Aliya asked.

  “Farms. Villages. Towns. I think”, Hyzou said.

  “And further north?” Aliya asked.

  “The mountains”, Hyzou said.

  “What’s in the mountains?” Aliya asked.

  “Uqing”, Hyzou said. “The city that’s home to the Servants of Qi.”

  “That’s not all that’s in the mountains”, Aliya said. “There are other villages too. You should see the mountains sometime Hyzou, there are people who live in the cold valleys and peaks that don’t even know there are other humans in the world beyond the twenty or so that make up their village.”

  “Mak came from such a village?” Hyzou asked.

  “Your father’s name is Mygst. And yes, he came from such a village, though he never saw it. It’s been gone a long while”, Aliya said.

  “What do you mean?” Hyzou asked.

  “Mygst was born there, nothing else”, Aliya said.

  “He was taken? By the Servants?” Hyzou said.

  “In a manner of speaking, yes. A party of bandits had run to the mountains from the Lake Cities. They passed by Uqing, and so a group of Servants were sent out to track them down. They went deep into the mountains, and it was too late when the Servants managed to find them in the end”, Aliya said. “The bandits had come upon a village and burned it to the ground, killing all that were in it. The Servants made short work of them.”

  Aliya continued. “The bandits even looted and burned the village’s temple, a small wooden building that was a shrine to whatever strange gods they worshipped there. But when the Servants came upon the burned-out shell of the temple, they heard something strange.”

  “What?” Hyzou asked.

  “The howl of a baby. The floor of the temple was false, there was a chamber underneath. There were two women down there, both were deep into their labour. Between them was a crying baby, only six months of age”, Aliya said. “They took them up to the best shelter they could find, and the Servants delivered the babies. The new-borns were saved, the mothers were not. They died on that cold night, and the Servants were left with three orphans to care for.”

  “The oldest, the baby who was six months of age, they named Mygst. That was what the two women had called him, although it could just have been the word for baby in their language. The mothers died before the two new-borns could be named, so the Servants just named them Luan and Orman, after the two stars that were highest in the sky that night”, Aliya said.

  “Orman, Mygst and Luan were taken by the Servants back to Uqing. They were fostered out to local families. They were to be raised as farmers around Uqing. However, it became apparent very early on that all three had a strong Qi. Undeniably strong. They were taken on by the Servants and trained”, Aliya said.

  “I have an uncle. My last surviving relative”, Hyzou said.

  “Perhaps not”, Aliya said.

  “Perhaps not?” Hyzou said, sitting forward in his chair.

  “Yes. There is another. Orman had a daughter. She was in the womb when he died”, Aliya said.

  “A cousin?” Hyzou asked.

  “A cousin”, Aliya said.

  “Do you remember her name?” Hyzou said.

  “Iset”, Aliya said. “She is a Courtnoble in Yobo.”

  Hyzou frowned.

  “A Courtnoble? How could that have happened?” Hyzou asked

  “Yoboan politics are complicated, perhaps some other day I can tell you all about it, but for now this will have to do”, Aliya said.

  “Yes, master”, Hyzou said.

  “Eighteen years ago this summer, the winds from the south were weak, and not enough rain fell from the mountains during the summer – only a fortnight of monsoon. No rains meant no rice, which meant that the people went hungry. That meant civil war”, Aliya said. “The beginning of the Anarchy. I remember it well, it was that year I was made Archaier.”

  “I was drafted in upon occasion to defend the interests of Uqing at the border, but in general I was posted in Piquea”, Aliya said. “I was a diplomat even then. Mygst, Orman and Luan however, they were warriors. They fought for the interests of Uqing in every civil war in Sira Su.”

  “Five years of brutality throughout Sira Su. Towards the end of it, a thief stole from Uqing, and the three brothers were sent after him. Into the rainforests. I don’t know much about what happened. But on their return, they were ambushed. The ambushers drove a spear through Mygst’s back. Luan cut his way out and managed to escape. The tribesmen executed Orman, and left Mygst to die from his wounds”, Aliya said. “They underestimated Mygst’s powers.”

  “He crawled to Piquea. A hundred miles, and he crawled it. Found a way to get the word to me. My old master, in Piquea, half-dead, of course I had to help”, Aliya said.

  “It was strange, but nothing as strange as what he requested. He wanted to leave the Servants, to hide from the Servants. I thought he was delusional at first, it took twenty-two days for the fever to break. However, when he finally awoke, he was even more adamant. He wanted me to swear. To break my own vows to the Servants. There’s probably no one else I would have done that for, except for your father, and the Sparrow. The men who trained me. I trusted his judgment, and if he felt it was necessary to hide, then I would help him do that. He didn’t even want his surviving brother to know. He wanted to hide his child from the Servants, made me promise to do that too”, Aliya said.

  Hyzou looked at Aliya.

  “You’re telling the truth”, Hyzou said.

  “I am”, Aliya said.

  Hyzou breathed deeply.

  “I don’t know what to make of it”, Hyzou said.

  “Make nothing of it. Just remember that your father was a good man. And that he loved you. That’s all that matters”, Aliya said.

  Hyzou nodded.

  “Yes, master”, He said.

  “Now, let’s go through kanta five again. Once more before dinner”, Aliya said.

  Hyzou arose.

  CHAPTER 23

  “Do you remember your myths, Hyzou?” Aliya said.

  They were sharing a bowl of snake stew.

  “I do”, Hyzou said. “Every festival. Every play.”

  “I’d say you liked them when you were a child. Am I right?” Aliya said.

  “I did”, Hyzou said.

  “Boys like you always liked their myths”, Aliya said.

  “I’d visit the temple just to read them.”

  “Which was your favourite?” Aliya asked.

  “As a child? When Vishi created the vultures”, Hyzou said.

  “I’ve never heard that answer before, but I always liked that one too. Usually everybody only loves the one myth”, Aliya said.

  “Lorikuy’s madness”, Hyzou said.

  “Didn’t you enjoy it?” Aliya asked.

  “I’ve always found it disturbing”, Hyzou said.

  “It is. A little. But it’s also important”, Aliya said.

  Aliya slurped her soup. She drank the bowl dry, then placed it, empty, onto the table.

  “All Servants know it”, Aliya said.

  “Do they?” Hyzou said.

  Aliya took
up a handful of nuts. She chewed on them, the cracking noise echoing through the empty house. Nothing woke Abe these days, all he needed was rice wine.

  Aliya began.

  “From space there fell two gods, Tym and his lover Spich. They gave form to what was formless, through the twins they gave birth to. Vishi, the God of Nature, created life. Thanatis, her twin brother, was the God of Death”, Aliya said.

  “Blei, the God of Water, was their third child. He held sway over the elixir of life – water. Their fourth child, Bvontei, was the strongest of all their children. The God of Weather, he rules as Patriarch of the Pantheon today”, Aliya said.

  “They died, Tym and Spich. They found that though they were immortal, time still ached upon them with weariness, and they walked together, hand in hand, into the void. This alarmed their four children, who wondered whether the time would come where they too would wish for the void. They took action, and action came in the form of the children they decided to have.”

  “Thanatis, who despised his siblings, was the first to conceive a child. With his twin sister he created Orgy, the God of Chaos and Entropy. His duty done, Thanatis returned to his fortress in the underworld, and has not been seen in the realm of the living since. The God of Death ruled the realm of the dead, and all was as it should have been.”

  “Bvontei and Blei loved their sister in a way Thanatis could not, and the three of them together created the Pantheon. They had many children. However, for the purposes of this story, only two matter. They were the two of greatest significance, in any case. The first of these was Andras, the God of War. The first ever warrior, Andras was something the world had never seen before, and he shaped it forever in his image. But the influence Andras wielded on history was nothing compared to what his twin brother did. It became clear soon enough that Logos, the God of Knowledge, was the most powerful creature in the world.”

  “The son of Bvontei and Vishi, he explored the domains of all the other gods. The creatures of the world, he found them too. Logos created the special bond between gods and men – though men were young then, he recognised in them the supremacy they held over all beasts. Logos was so brilliant that he could use his reason to predict the future, to understand the past, to react to the present. He emerged as the prominent deity in the entire Pantheon. He mapped the skies and the world, he wrote our scriptures and stories and even our children’s rhymes.”