by W. C. Jasper
Prince Jared: “Thaymas has not yet trained on his speed, you will be training him for speed today. And so that you don’t beat him to death, you will be wearing these.” Prince Jared threw four thin metal bracelets to her. The bracelets were made of a metal called ‘krinim’, which was one of the heaviest metals on Earth. Akini put one bracelet on each of her limbs and practised a few punches, kicks, and aerobatic and acrobatic manoeuvres. Prince Jared pulled out four more such bracelets which were bigger than the ones he gave to Akini and put them on his hands and legs, and walked into the lake.
Akini signalled Thaymas to follow as she too walked into the lake. Once they had walked into the water about seven feet deep, the ground levelled. Prince Jared was practising numerous kinds of complex moves and combos a few feet away from them. Standing in the sapphire blue, pellucid water, Akini and Thaymas could see the Prince’s moves quite clearly with little to no effort. The water was so pure that there was virtually no irritation with open eyes in the water. Thaymas marvelled at the fact that even in the water, and with the heavy bracelets he wore, Prince Jared’s movements were still almost as fast as Thaymas’ on the ground. Akini gestured to Thaymas to focus on her as she took her stance to spar.
Humans in those days could also hold their breath underwater much longer than today, and exceptional warriors such as these three could stay underwater even longer. They had already been underwater for about 40 seconds when Thaymas and Akini started sparring. The weights had slowed Akini enough to prohibit her from annihilating Thaymas, and his superior intellect gave him enough edge to defend himself well. After sparring for almost two minutes, both of them surfaced to breathe in air and then quickly resubmerged.
Prince Jared continued practising his moves while also watching their sparring. After about 30 minutes of continuous sparring with breaks only for getting air, Thaymas’s speed had already increased a little. With the weights holding back Akini, they were evenly matched for Thaymas to get value out of it in terms of his physical training. Akini was a natural learner, and with the slowed-down speed in the water, studying Thaymas’ moves and integrating them into her technique was even easier for her. After about 80 minutes of sparring, Thaymas’ body was now reaching its limit; but he had learned by now that he had to push his limit, so he continued to push himself. Akini’s body too reached its limit after 95 minutes of sparring; but she was never one to let her body dictate what she was going to do, she was far too stubborn and prideful for that. And there was no way that she was going to stop until Thaymas stopped. They both pushed their bodies to the limit as they continued to spar for over a total of 130 minutes when Thaymas’ leg gave way and he fell to the ground; as Akini saw him collapse, her body that was also running on fumes now, shut down and she too fell down on the lake floor.
Prince Jared picked up both of them and put them both on one shoulder each as he carried them out of the lake. The pack had carried quite a few provisions, which included materials for tents. He quickly pitched a tent with extremely thick leather that also covered the ground below. Once he closed the tent completely, the tent was quite warm even without having a fire going. He let them rest for a while as he went hunting and brought back a wild boar for them to eat.
Akini was the first to wake up. She found Prince Jared reading a book as usual, and started eating the well-cooked boar meat without uttering a word. Prince Jared awakened Thaymas and asked him to eat. Thaymas ate to his fill and spoke, “Well, I will be honest, I did not expect my speed to improve on the first day itself.” Akini guffawed for a long time unable to control her laughter as Thaymas asked sheepishly, “What am I missing here?” Akini stopped laughing after ten more seconds with great effort and answered, “The blood of the House of Rash-Yaph is running through you, and yet you could only keep up with me despite the krinim bracelets holding me back. Only a weakling like you would feel good about an insignificant amount of progress such as this.” Prince Jared spoke, “You both have had sufficient rest, time to move. Time to spar again, let us move, kids.” Everyone moved out of the tent at once and Thaymas warmed up as Akini put on her weight bracelets once again. As soon as she had put on the bracelets, instead of warming up, she gestured to Thaymas to attack without taking a proper stance.
Thaymas launched a powerful straight punch at her face with his right hand. Just as his fist almost touched her face, he felt his intestines scream in pain as Akini sent him flying back with her knee. Thaymas was sent flying over four feet and clutched his stomach in pain as he landed on his feet. Akini had made up her mind to show Thaymas how inadequate he truly was, and Prince Jared was certainly happy to see it.
Thaymas launched another attack as Akini stood still without making any move. Thaymas deployed a very well-crafted combo as Akini dodged the first strike to deliver a vicious uppercut that sent Thaymas flying straight up into the air. As Thaymas’ stunned body started its descent back to the ground, Akini jumped into the air to match him at three feet above the ground, took a mighty deep breath through her mouth and swaying her legs, clobbered him with a devastating left punch. This was probably the worst hit he had ever taken. As he landed eight feet away, Thaymas felt as if his mind was being pulled out of the Earthly realm. As he stood up, it took a while for his consciousness to completely return to planet Earth.
Akini: “It seems that me going easy on you in the water gave you an inaccurate impression of the difference in our class. Do remember that I am still not being as punishing as I wish to because of this soft-hearted sap here.” Prince Jared made a silly face expressing shock as if asking for some respect and dignity. It obviously had no effect on Akini as usual as she continued, “You are the absolute worst kind of warrior I know… Blessed with royal blood and the supernatural abilities that go with it, and yet you waste it away because of your cowardice and sloth.”
Prince Jared decided to weigh in, “Thaymas, it seems you have not yet realised one crucial thing. When it comes to speed, you are lacking not just in physical speed, but also real-time decision-making and strategizing because of your lack of battle experience. And while your visual gift is quite special, your eyes are not fast enough to track Akini’s movements. You have never pushed yourself when it comes to speed. Even when we trained in the water, it helped your body to become faster, but your eyes have still not had any real experience in high-speed combat. And as you know now, we are racing against time, so we have to move this along as fast as possible. So, here’s what I am going to do, Akini is going to remove her bracelets and have as much fun with you as she chooses, and the only way for you to escape the punishment is to land one clean hit.”
Akini dropped her bracelets and smiled devilishly with smugness in expectation of a delicious treat headed her way. Her smile was scary enough to send shivers up Thaymas’ spine, but this was not the same Thaymas that had first arrived in Radaa. He shook his head violently and exhaustively facing up, and then facing down, fluttering away his fear; as they both proceeded to take position four feet away from each other.
Thaymas’ eyes were now more focused than ever as he launched at her. Thaymas made an awkward left knee-raise and stomped on the ground in front of her as Akini stood baffled at this odd and purposeless move. Prince Jared smiled as he saw the future oh so very clearly. Now that Thaymas was close to her, he raised his right knee and Akini put up her left hand in front of her to block it. But as soon as it reached above waist-level, he proceeded to stomp her feet. Thanks to Akini’s speed, she was able to respond to it at the very last moment and slimly evaded the attack as she pulled her left leg one step back. Thaymas knew that this is exactly how the exchange would go and now that his leg was dangerously close to her, he only had to jerk his right knee to hit her left knee with his right foot. As his foot was about to strike her knee, Thaymas felt a monstrous slap to his left cheek that sent him flying across two feet to his right.
Thaymas’ incredibly smart and creative combo was unfortunately undone by Akini’s physical speed. And since the spe
ed her eyes were used to was far too great, she was able to counter his wonderfully planned combo even better. Thaymas lifted his face buried in the snow and as soon as his face surfaced above snow level, he felt a punishing kick to his lower back that sent tremors through his body. After seven minutes of gruesome punishment with being thrown around like a doll and being pummelled like a punching bag, Thaymas stood half-conscious with his face almost completely bathed in blood.
Akini: “Prince Jared would like me to continue, but you know what?” Her eyes flared and her voice hardened as she continued in anger, “It would be an insult for me to once again put my hands on scum like you. You are not only a waste of time for me, but you are not even worthy training material without any handicap to hold me back.” After having said her piece, Akini put on her clothes and walked towards Fuoco. As she sat on Fuoco, Thaymas spoke loudly with an injured, yet steadfast voice, “We will fight again in two weeks, exactly in 14 days will I fight you again.” Breathing was clearly a painful and difficult task at this point, but he continued, “And I swear on my honour as a warrior of Jerudia, I will knock you to the ground.”
Akini smiled and proceeded to turn to him, “On what account do you call yourself a warrior? On the fact that you fired a single arrow at one guard of Gessold? Do not delude yourself; you are nothing more than a soldier. An average soldier. But, I will take your challenge. I will take it on your honour as a soldier.” Akini started to walk away with a steady and tigress-like gait as Thaymas stared on. As she started riding off on Fuoco in all her glory like a badass, a sudden cry escaped her mouth. One of the bigger krinim bracelets launched by Prince Jared had dug quite deep into her back and the pain of the projectile attack had reached deep into her bones. Akini winced and grasped her back, looking at Prince Jared with an upset frown like a child staring in displeasure as Prince Jared spoke with a stern and monotonous voice, “Who told you, you could leave, Miss High Priestess? Take off your clothes and spar with me, I too need to train. And you,” he said to Thaymas, “put on these bracelets and train in the water. Your focus is speed. Your objective is to achieve at least 85 percent of your normal speed on land inside the water.” Prince Jared put on three broad bracelets on each limb and sparred with Akini as Thaymas put on the thin bracelets and trained alone in the water. As Thaymas trained inside the water, his mind also wandered and pondered about how naturally and freely Prince Jared hopped from one character to another in a matter of microseconds.
After the training, the three of them rested on the shores of Lake Kakulam, enjoying the ever-enchanting view of the magnificent lake. Prince Jared and Thaymas rested as Akini brought them a deer, all-cooked and ready to eat. She called for the wolf that carried the vessels and cutlery and set the meat in front of them. Everyone started eating as Akini spoke, “One of these days it will be your turn, weakling. I will be keeping count of all the times your turn is being skipped because you are too weak, and once your body becomes strong enough, you will be making up for all the missed turns.”
Thaymas spoke, “Aani, why is it that you force Princess Jeniah to such a tight and… demanding… such a tough schedule?”
“So she does not turn out to be a slothful, unskilled dimwit like you,” replied Akini as soon as his sentence ended.
Prince Jared expressed his agreement with a funny smile and raised eyebrows.
After swallowing the food in his mouth, the Prince spoke, “Our father raised us with an extremely strict schedule because he believed that we, as the House of Rash-Yaph, carried the greatest burden to serve mankind. He always said that we were gifted with these supernatural powers because we were chosen to be servants to mankind. He always said that it was our prime purpose on this planet. And as servants, we carried a responsibility to take very intentional care of our body, soul, and spirit to make sure that we are always at our best to serve mankind. Except, I… was always,” he prefaced with an odd expression, “special. Appa noticed at a very young age that while I liked and even enjoyed order and discipline; once I lost my way, it was far more difficult for me than the average human to gain it back. Appa made sure that I understood this and always stayed vigilant about it. He exhaustively tattooed it in my brain. Our beloved Princess Jeniah, thankfully, is the perfect child. She got the best qualities and talents of mine while dodging the bad ones. And she also got the best of my wife’s. While she has not inherited this weakness of mine, she is still human. And humans… are…. fragile… Even the best of us, the strongest of us, are fragile. A good father, a father who truly loves his child does three things. 1. He makes sure that his children always know that they are loved and receive expressions of their father’s affection; 2. He punishes and corrects his child when they do something wrong and sets clear boundaries for what is acceptable for the human experience on this Earth; and 3. He makes sure his child understands the importance of discipline and what are the necessary things one ought to do for ensuring a healthy spirit, soul, and body and makes sure that they live by it. He does this to ensure the well-being of his children. The way Brother put it when he was taking over the reins of parenthood when Appa passed away was, ‘A father who does not spank his child when necessary, actively hates and brings destruction upon his child.’ Of course, no child will ever like it when it happens. But when the child grows up, they will inevitably see that everything their parent did was to ensure the best life possible for them.”
Thaymas and Akini sat quietly, chewing their food as well as their thoughts over what the Prince had spoken. Prince Jared continued after a while, “Brother is a master weaponsmith, woodworker, sculptor, and jewel-smith because he is a builder… a creator. Building things is a part of who he is. No one had to discover it for him, he just started building things since we were young. He is undoubtedly the greatest weaponsmith to ever exist. Similarly, no one had to discover for me that I am a singer, a musician, a song-maker, and a maker of instruments. I am one of the greatest musical instrument-makers that Jerudia has seen because my father made me study the art when I showed passion for it. These things that we do… they nourish our spirit even more than they nourish our mind and body… they build and develop the essence of our spirit as much as they do it for our soul. We are all born with multiple talents. Appa always said that Sathyam never made any human who had only one talent, we are all given numerous talents that take a lifetime to unwrap. But then, there are those talents that are more crucial to our identity and destiny, these… we need to unwrap as soon as possible and develop them, for they take us closer to the fulfilment of our purpose on this planet. Usually, they can be identified by our strongest desires… A natural need for some activity that pulls us to it… Like an artist’s need to draw and a dancer’s need to dance… My Jeniah sings far more beautifully than me, and in time she will be an even greater singer than her mother…” Prince Jared’s face suddenly turned pale in melancholy, but he corrected himself and continued with a bright and gleeful smile, “My daughter has the sweetest voice that has ever existed… and making sure that each and every talent of hers is nurtured and developed is my job.”
Thaymas was now far more casual with the Prince and behaved with him as family, and not his lord or his master. He was comfortable enough to ask him anything he wished to. Even though no ordinary person could have seen this based on what had transpired so far, Thaymas could see by now that Akini was as precious and as close as family for the Prince. Knowing this, he spoke, “I am guessing that Jeraash-aani and you continue to remain so intimate because he took up the parental role for you. But even so, I cannot quite understand how Maomi-ka became so intimate with you.”
Prince Jared lay down flat on the ground with his palms behind his head and peered into the sky as he answered, “Well, for one thing, Appa always raised us to be this way… His enjoyment and need of kissing us and embracing us as we grew older never waned in the smallest degree. Appa always intentionally tattooed in our souls the importance of expression of our love and affection for one another every day
. Ever since I was a baby, Brother had inconceivable affection for me. And ever since my mind could comprehend the things of the world, I can remember Appa constantly teaching us three things: 1. It is always the responsibility of those who are older/greater to protect and care for those who are younger/lesser. And that it was my job as the younger brother to understand that Brother always had only my best interest at heart and trust him with absolute abandon. 2. Never hold back in expressing your love and affection for the ones you love. And 3. If something goes wrong, even if the lesser one commits a mistake, it is always the fault of the elder; for the one who knows better always bears the responsibility and accountability.”
Akini and Thaymas listened intently as he continued, “Appa always said that if I ever did anything wrong, it was not my failure, but it was Brother’s and Appa’s failure that I erred. So even if Appa had not passed away, I think Brother and I would still be as intimate… I… Ye…” Prince Jared sighed as he tried and failed to form his thoughts coherently and translate them into verbal communication. He sat up after a few seconds and continued after a while, “Thaymas, I am not someone who is sure that Sathyam is the one true God…” Thaymas was shocked and looked over at Akini in disbelief. Akini gave no response to him as the Prince continued, “Calm down, Brother. I am allowed to believe or disbelieve what I want… I do follow our religion, and I do live by Sathyam’s precepts because my father and brother trust Sathyam with absolute certainty. And I trust my father and brother.” Thaymas’ brain was overflowing with many disturbing thoughts as Prince Jared took a sizable pause before continuing, “One of the reasons this world we live in does not make sense to me is because of how much it is flooded with evil.” It made no sense to Thaymas for Jerudia was a utopian kingdom, and things that could be termed ‘evil’ were quite rare.