Fallen Gods II

by Nick S. Thomas

  “Hey, you gonna tell us what this place is?”

  The man said nothing as they reached the center of the clearing, and other people began appearing in the doorways of the rooms around them.

  “Wait here!”

  The man went on to the largest building and vanished inside for a moment. He emerged with another man who was older, perhaps in his mid-fifties, but in good shape. He had a gray beard and tied back long hair.

  “Aaron Miller,” the older man called out.

  “I never told you my name!”

  The man continued on toward them, studying them and their equipment.

  “How do you know me?”

  “We follow all who pursue the sword.”

  “Why?”

  “To know who may be friend or foe. We must understand what potential obstacles lay in our future. He circled around Aaron. He wore black combat trousers that tapered at the lower legs, giving the impression of breeches and socks, yet in a modern fashion. A body clinging rash guard type top, also in black. He would not look out of place in the HEMA scene today. It was a surprisingly modern look for what was a secret organization practicing martial arts thought long dead.

  “So, you know me, and what I do?”

  “New York Police officer and instructor of Longsword, Messer, sword and buckler, and known to dabble in other arts, yes, we know who you are.”

  He circled him again, studying every fiber of his being. He stopped when his eyes caught first glimpse of the sword by his side, that Aaron had carefully concealed with his hand on the way in.

  “This, we do not know about.” He took a step closer, but didn’t get so close as to be able to touch the hilt. He was studying it carefully and looked perplexed.

  “This sword is not of human making,” he finally declared.

  Aaron’s eyes open wide in astonishment.

  “How can you know that?”

  “Because we study all the weapons and styles on this Earth, some to use, others to understand. We must understand all potential threats, and all possible barriers.”

  “Threats to what?” Ava asked.

  “To whatever we believe is in danger.”

  “How does that make any sense?”

  “A secret organization training up elite warriors to work in secret; you’re either trying to seize power of some kind, or…”

  He stopped and looked around at everything around them and the place they were. As fascinating as it was, it was a humble place.

  “Or what?”

  “Or they’re trying to right wrongs in the world…”

  “Of a kind,” replied the man.

  “Who are you?”

  “I am Aldred, Master of the Brotherhood,” he answered her.

  “Brotherhood of what?”

  From his silence they could tell there was far more to it.

  “I learned of Aldred from an old friend, Eli Ashcroft. He knew of you many decades ago, but you’d have to be much older. Unless...”

  “Unless I was immortal?”

  “Yes,” gasped Aaron.

  Aldred began to laugh, and the others around him soon joined in, including the man who’d smashed Aaron in the jaw with his staff.

  “Aldred is not one man. It is a title. I am one in a long line, but I remember Eli from when I was a young man.”

  “He came here?”

  “No, but we met, a fine man, and one of the few who pursued these arts long after they were dead to the outside world. It has been more than a decade since anyone but a Brother has walked that path.” He pointed to the opening they had come from.

  “That path was left for those willing and able to find it. Few ever do.”

  “We didn’t come here to join you,” replied Aaron.

  “No, of course not. You would never leave your beloved city, except in times of dire need.”

  Aaron hated to admit it, but it was true. He barely even took holidays out of state.

  “Why are you here?”

  “I need your help. This is going to sound crazy, but a war is raging, a war none of us have ever seen before…” he hesitated, as if terrified how they would take it.

  “Hades and the other gods of Olympus are down here, on Earth, fighting among us.”

  Many about them looked concerned, and that was far from the reaction they had expected.

  “Then it is as we feared.”

  “What? You knew?”

  “There are many things in this life that many do not know. The Brotherhood has encountered beings you never thought possible, things you thought would never be possible outside the works of fiction. Many hundreds of years ago, Mars himself visited us. An encounter well documented in our history, but one few but the most devout believers here still thought true,” he replied as he rubbed his beard, deep in thought.

  “You knew the gods existed, and did nothing?”

  “What is there to do? Even if they did exist, they kept out of our way, and we could do little to change that anyway. Tell me, which gods have come to Earth, and what do they want?”

  “Zeus was killed in a great civil war. He smashed his crown and scattered the Olympians. Some arrived on Earth, and many have not been heard from since.”

  “And now someone is trying to reforge the crown?”

  “Yes,” replied Aaron in surprise.

  “Don’t be surprised. Knowledge is what we value more than anything else here. The realization that the gods do walk among us is not as surprising to us as you may think. But we didn’t know about this war you speak of, and that is worrying.”

  “Hades went after the crown, but we were able to stop him. I thought we’d finished him for good, but now he’s back, and we got our asses kicked.”

  “What is it that you want from us? For us to fight this battle for you?” Aldred asked sincerely, as if testing him.

  “No, I want you to train me, so I can better fight it myself,” he replied honestly.

  “And that is why you came here? To train?”

  “I fought Hades myself, even hurt him. With an Olympian blade even a mortal stands a chance.”

  He drew the blade and held it out for them all to see. Its bronze like blade glowed and pulsated with the energy from his body. They marveled at it as if it were the most amazing thing they’d ever seen.

  “If this truly is a blade of the gods, what would stop us taking it from you?”

  “Honor. You live by a code, and you want to do good in the world.”

  “And what if I told you we were not just a force for good, but that we are a force for hire?”

  “If that were true, I don’t believe you would not select your employers lightly. Everything you have here is built on a lifelong commitment to a way of life. A good way of life, as far as I can tell.”

  Aldred smiled.

  “You are smarter than you look. No weapon shall be taken from one who comes here willingly, unless they intend to do harm with it, a core tenet of our lives. So long as you look to do no harm here, none will be done to you.”

  “Then you will help us?”

  “You are a student of the sword, and if becoming a master of it is what you truly desire, and it is with good intent that you want this knowledge, then yes.”

  “You have an army here. We could really use you in this fight,” added Ava.

  “We do not go to war lightly. We will help you reach your full potential, if your hearts are in the right place. But we will not go to war without first learning all there is to know. Even then, I rule here, but a unanimous vote would be needed before any such action. Now, let us see how much you have learned.”

  “Now?” Ava asked.

  “You must be able to fight at any time of the day, no matter how tired you are. It is morning and you are fresh, and yet you must always be able to fight at your best at a moment’s notice. Never will there be a better time than now. This here is Wolfgang.”

  He pointed to the man who had shown them in. He stretched his hand out and waited for one
of the others beside him to pass him a staff. He tossed it to Aaron, who caught it, but had a surprised look on his face. He knew what was coming next, but he hadn’t expected a fight so soon. He sheathed his sword and took off his pack, handing it to Ava.

  “You’re gonna fight this guy?”

  “I guess that’s what they want, yeah.”

  “But why?”

  “They’re testing us. Testing our skill and mental fortitude, just like we do back at the club.”

  “Yes, but we use masks, and we don’t use hardwood quarterstaffs that’ll fracture your skull.”

  “Yeah, well, I guess things work a little differently here. They were bound to be a little hardcore compared to what we’re used to. These guys don’t train for fun. They train to be human weapons.”

  “And you’re okay with that?”

  “I’d rather be somewhere else, sure, but we need this. The next time we face Hades, we’re going to be ready.”

  “Not if we die here, we won’t.”

  “If we die here, then we were never going to defeat Hades, were we?”

  “We could find another way.”

  “Take it easy. Eli lead me to this place, and I trust in him.”

  She didn’t look happy about it, but she took his gear and moved away, as Aaron and Wolfgang squared off against one another. His opponent took a side guard, the staff low and wound around his back. A stance Aaron was familiar with from his study of the weapon in his own club. But also, a guard posture he’d never been comfortable with, or able to utilize with much effect. It left the user completely exposed, and its striking options were limited and predictable.

  He smiled as if he knew exactly what his opponent was doing. Enticing him in or waiting to throw out a far-reaching singlehanded strike. He took up a middle guard, the staff extended forward toward the enemy, parallel to the ground and at waist height. It was the guard he felt most comfortable with. It threatened the enemy with the point and baited them into engaging it. The staffs were blunt; even so a thrust from one could still easily break a rib, fracture a hand, or worse. Both held the staffs by their ends, their hands spaced a shoulder’s width apart, just as the manuals had shown. Their knees were well bent and both sat comfortable in their guards.

  There was complete silence as even those training in the background stopped to watch them. Two-dozen practitioners, all with eyes on Aaron. He began to wonder how much they really knew about him.

  They could have learned it all from social media, but there’s little evidence of Internet access, or contact with the outside world generally. They do seem to know an awful lot for a group of people living in such an isolated community. There’s a lot more to them than I can see. They must have studied me and watched videos of me training. But how much?

  “Begin!”

  Neither moved for a moment, as each waited for the other, assessing every element of their body language. Wolfgang was completely calm, but Aaron was sweating. He’d been in thousands of training fights, and enough real ones, too. But this was different. Aldred had a near mythical reputation among those who had taught him, and doubt was filling his mind.

  Am I really good enough to compete with them? Can I do enough not to embarrass myself?

  But he smiled, realizing what a fool he was being. The self-doubt that overcame him upon every new experience and opponent was near crippling. He knew that, because he’d had to train it out of so many students. He took a deep breath and focused his mind. He wasn’t here to fail. He was going to give it his all to win. His breathing calmed, and he relaxed at the shoulders. Now he was ready to give it his all.

  Wolfgang was clearly not willing to make the first move, as he waited to judge his opponent by his every action, like a lion lying in wait, ready to pounce. Aaron knew these moves and what his opponent was doing. He took in one more breath of the beautifully sweet fresh air before going forward with a game plan. He thrust forward, but stopping short to bait his opponent. It worked, and Wolfgang’s staff swung out from behind him in one hand. The reach and power would be enough to smash Aaron’s staff aside, but this is what he’d wanted. He lowered the tip to avoid contact altogether, and Wolfgang’s staff flew past.

  Aaron’s staff went directly up to another thrust as he quickly seized on the opportunity he’d set up. His staff flew toward Wolfgang’s head, and he could almost taste victory. He surprised himself how easy it was, but his staff met nothing but thin air. His adversary had voided off to one side. Aaron stopped himself going forward and eating the end of Wolfgang’s staff, finding it placed firmly in front of his nose ready for him to run right onto it. He could have thrust it home, but he didn’t. Was he just baiting him, or was he showing compassion? Aaron knew the reputation of Aldred, and the reality was it was just being drawn out for maximum effect.

  He took a few paces back to recover his guard and composure. He knew what Wolfgang was doing, knew the moves and tactical choices, and still he didn’t see them coming. He’d never met someone so fast. He took a breather, telling himself it was a fluke. He just wasn’t ready, or in the right mindset. Once again, he took up his middle guard, but this time Wolfgang lifted his blade to a high guard; the staff completely vertical, reaching up for the sky, and kept close to his body, baiting an attack there. Aaron would not fall for it, as stopping whatever came down from the high guard would be tough.

  He had to be smart about this and paused to consider his options. He needed to draw the staff down, so once again he feinted a thrust forward. The suppressing cut came down to beat his staff, but he carried it away. He countered and traversed to avoid Wolfgang’s counter, which came just as it had before. Neither found their target, but as he recovered, he cut across horizontally to his opponent. His staff was thrown up by an ascending beat, and he lost hold of it with his left. A cut came at his head, and he lifted his right hand as the tip of the staff hit the ground and braced it. The staff took the blow, and he was able to snatch it back to recover.

  Wolfgang didn’t let up as a lightning fast thrust came at him. He lifted the staff into a hanging position with his right hand high, and the tip of the staff low once again. Wolfgang closed in on it, rotated the butt of his staff over Aaron’s, and locked the staff against his neck. Using the leverage against his staff and neck, he drove him down to one knee and pinned him there. Wolfgang then let go and moved away, once again taking up guard, as if to give up another try.

  He’d done better, but he could find no openings in his opponent’s guard, and barely held off the lightning fast attacks that were thrown back at him. He took up the side guard, knowing how dangerous it was. He would have to change his game if he was to stand any chance of landing a strike. Wolfgang smiled, as if Aaron had made a mistake. He came forward with a middle guard, expecting Aaron to lash out with one hand as he had, but he didn’t. He lifted the staff over his head and spun off to his right side. Striking Wolfgang’s staff away with one hand, he released his left as he spun about and cast it toward his opponent’s head. The staff cut across Wolfgang’s cheek at the very maximum extension of his reach. It opened up a small cut along the cheek. Aaron quickly snapped back the staff and recovered to guard, but Wolfgang came right back at him. He didn’t appear so much angry as determined.

  Aaron struck down toward his head, but that was parried easily. He redoubled his attack, but it was as fruitless as the first. Finally, he thrust forward, but Wolfgang dropped his staff over it and stepped through onto his inside. He tried to back away, but he was completely open. Wolfgang rotated the staff and snapped it forward to his nose. He struck lightly but with perfect precision, doing just enough damage to hurt Aaron as he staggered back a few paces. Aaron smiled as he wiped the fresh blood away. The man had gone easy on him, and it was as much a surprise as finding the place.

  “Enough!” Aldred called out.

  Aaron was glad of it. He could put up a solid fight, but there was no chance he could defeat this highly skilled and wickedly fast opponent.

  Is a
ge getting the better of me? No, I’m fitter and stronger than most swordsmen half my age. There’s something special about my opponent. There’s no doubt about it.

  Wolfgang drew his feet together and brought his staff up vertically in a salute before sweeping it aside. He followed suit.

  “For a common fencer, you are skilled,” said Aldred.

  Aaron couldn’t help but smile at the veiled insult.

  “Common?”

  Ava’s back was up as she angrily glared at him, eager to defend her friend and teacher.

  “We keep track of those who practice these arts so that we do not fall behind, but in all the hundreds of years that humankind has had to develop better methodology and superior technique, none have found it. The ancient ways that were passed down to us are still the superior ways of using those weapons.”

  “We don’t disagree. We study from the same manuals.”

  “Yes, but you study only what has remained public knowledge. Only what the masters wrote down, was published, and survived, as far as you know.”

  “You’re saying there are texts we don’t know about?” Aaron was excited at the prospect, forgetting why they were there, or the dangers they had left behind.

  “Yes, and not only written work, but methods and practices handed down to us from teacher to teacher, master to master.”

  “A living lineage?”

  “Yes. What the masters left to the world were nothing short of incredible. A window into their fight philosophy, but nothing is a substitute to learning from the masters themselves.”

  Aaron couldn’t help but shake his head, as he’d heard it all before, and maybe now he was started to respect it, if slowly.

  “And yet, no outsider has ever lasted that long. Your skills are well honed, and your experience and instinct are correct. You are a good fighter, and have all the potential to be a great one.”

  Aaron’s smile grew wider. It was the greatest compliment he could hope for, and he took his chance to once again make a plea to them.

  “We’re fighting a war that threatens the entire world. I would hope you would join that fight, but I know you cannot take the word of a stranger in this. But if you know anything about me and my life, you know where my heart is. I’m fighting for the right reasons, but I cannot do what is needed of me. I’m not good enough. Will you teach me…us? Will you give us the tools we need to win this battle?”