by Jez Cajiao
“Now I am proud of you, boy. Soon, you face the rest of your clan, and we shall not be ashamed of you. In these short months, you have become a man. Respect to you, my brother.” It was easily the most he’d ever said to me, probably twice the total number of words he’d ever used around me in one go before, in fact, but I felt pride radiate through me at his words. He may have been enthralled to the Baron, but his skills and his dedication were his own, and he’d beaten me down and remade me. In a few short months, he and his assistants had literally rebuilt me from the ground up. I’d walked in here a boy in many ways, but looking at myself in the mirror, I was stunned. I’d seen the changes day by day, but seeing at the full extent of them now, I had to admit they’d done an amazing job.
I stood just over six foot two inches, but where I had been…well… a little overweight before, with a good layer of fat to keep me warm, now I looked like an Olympic athlete. Heavy muscles, lean waist, and the reactions of a snake, with blood dripping from my injuries and a steely glare in my eyes. Yeah, I thought, I wouldn’t want to fuck with me!
I checked the time, finding it was lunchtime already, I must have spent hours beating that wood, so I stopped for the day. None of my trainers complained. They all had a word of wisdom or a cheery clap on the shoulder for me, and even my guards smiled and nodded to me. I ate a good meal and relaxed, forcing my body to wind down in preparation for the next day. I spent the rest of the afternoon asking questions of the guards and my trainers. I arranged a meeting with both the arms master and armorer the next morning to choose my equipment, then decided to retire for the night. Jenny and her friends were waiting for me. This time, I didn’t refuse them, and the night passed in a sea of bliss. I’d spent the day working some muscles hard, and that night the girls worked others. As I finally dropped off to sleep, I had one last thought.
I was as ready for the fight as I could be.
Chapter Six
The next morning, I was awoken by all four of my maids, who were fully dressed, thankfully. Jenny opened the curtains as the others arranged a large Full English Breakfast on the sitting room table for me: tea, toast, fresh orange juice, the absolute works. It was the kind of food I adored, and I thanked them heartily before plowing into my meal. I barely surfaced for air as the girls talked, preparing my clothes, cleaning the room, and generally trying to distract me from what was to come.
Once I was finished, they lined up and curtsied to me in unison, wished me luck and then, with tears in their eyes, they ran out.
I dressed quickly and walked to the armory. I’d been here plenty of times by now, but the sheer size of the room never failed to amaze me. It was bigger than I had thought it needed to be when I had first seen it, but I’d quickly learned that the huge variety of weapons and armor meant it needed every inch of the space, and more besides.
I’d been allowed to choose whatever I wanted from the room and was assured that the others would be given similar equipment. I sorted through it quickly, ignoring the majority of the room. I’d spent hours considering it over the last few weeks, and I’d come to the opinion that, while I was strong enough to wear something like plate mail, I had not had more than a few sessions of using it. If others were wearing it, they’d probably have had years of training, and would butcher me. Speed and surprise were my best choices. Well…. That, and my array of dirty tricks.
I picked leather body armor, bracers, and greaves with solid steel plates built in. They were a little bulkier than normal leather, but offered far more protection without the debilitating weight issues of heavier armor. I also choose a few ‘toys’ from the assassin’s gear section. Throwing stars, thin dirks I secreted everywhere I could, and a loop of razor-wire that came built into my belt. They’d be nasty surprises for someone. I tried a variety of helmets on, but in the end, I choose a black helm from the assassin’s section again. It was a cross between a ninja’s traditional movie headgear and a plain leather helm, and it only minimally restricted my vision while showing only my eyes.
When it came to weapons, I played to my strengths again. A weapon referred to as a Naginata was easily my favorite. It was a cross between a sword and a spear, but not as unwieldy as a polearm and others of that ilk. It stood seven feet in length, three feet of sword tipping four feet of solid oak, with the last half foot sheathed in metal. This section came to a wicked pointed end. The polished wood was smooth to the touch, yet I’d never found it slippery or unwieldy. The entire thing was made with a mix of old school and modern techniques. Everywhere I looked, I saw attention to detail, and it was beautiful to boot.
I paired it with two short swords, both in back sheaths, the hilts showing above either shoulder. Despite the way all the movies made it look, it made them a bit unwieldy to draw, but I found that it worked better for me than having the swords banging off either hip. A mace hanging on a belt loop and a dagger on the outside of each shin completed my arsenal.
When my trainers saw me, they all started grinning…and then laughing their asses off. I got a variety of comments from how pretty I looked, to suggestions to include a cannon, a missile launcher, and a trebuchet as well. I looked at myself in the mirror and, with a sigh, I found I had to agree.
With all the daggers, throwing stars in a bandolier across my chest, dirks, throwing knives, the mace, the swords and the Naginata, I was *slightly* overloaded. I could walk…. but probably not run for long. My speed and ability to dodge would be crap, even with all the points I’d added in. I looked myself over in the mirror and realized I’d probably only managed to carry it all so far because of the Pearl’s enhancements to my body.
I went back to the drawing board, and my trainers helped me, offering friendly advice and a few pointed reminders. I stripped out almost all the weapons, keeping the razorwire in the belt, the Naginata, a pair of thin dirks that were hidden in my bracers, and both swords. I got a lot of mockery for the swords, but I liked them, and I was a lot better with two swords than a shield and sword combo.
Looking at the pile of weapons I had left behind, I kept thinking ‘Just one of those, and the two throwing daggers….and maybe…’ Nope! I have to be strong!
As I made to leave the room, the trainers all lined up and saluted me, right fist to heart, as they did the Baron. I froze, unsure of what to do, but then my training kicked in and I returned the salute. As I walked past the last of them, I felt something pressed into my hand. Looking down, I saw it was my iPhone and Airpods. After everything I’d been through, it was a tiny and unimportant thing to have them returned, but it meant a lot to me.
“They’re locked down to prevent calls and outside access, but that doesn‘t mean you can’t listen to music, lad,” West said. I grinned at him and he winked back at me before saluting as the others had. As I walked through the halls, everyone I passed did the same. Even the guards at the Baron’s door saluted before knocking and requesting entry. Once they had permission, they let me through, but they followed me in, and the guards already inside the room hefted their weapons. Obviously, trust only went so far.
That was fine, though. Considering what an asshole he was, I’d have no issues kicking his ass. Especially after finding out the depths of his evil nature? Yeah, I’d use the Naginata on him, happily.
“Humph. A flair for the dramatic, I see. Typical Earthborn. Anyway, I’ve summoned you this morning for a very simple reason: your Dreams.” I froze like a deer in the headlights. I’d meant to ask him so many times, but never had the chance.
“Yes?” I asked cautiously “What about them?”
“The rune I gifted you with, show me…now,” he said, gesturing at my chest. I drew a deep breath, and bit down my instinctual response. I exposed my chest, looking down hesitantly. I’d tried to avoid looking at it since he ‘gifted’ me with it, but he grinned at it so proudly, I couldn’t help it.
It was maybe six inches across, and looked vaguely familiar, despite glowing faintly with an eerie green light.
“What the hell is
this? It looks…weird, but…”
“Ha! Your Han dynasty recognized a symbol of power for what it is. They called it ‘Demon,’ but in fact, it’s a containment rune. It can trap a demon!”
“What the hell is it doing on my chest, then? I’m not possessed, for fuck’s sake!” I snapped at him. “And what the hell are the dreams?”
“Watch your tongue, boy!” he snarled back at me. “The Dreams first. They are a very simple spell, designed by the Emperor as a last-ditch effort to save people if they ever needed help and the legion wasn’t around. They were primarily for monster outbreaks, that kind of thing. He commanded that the Summoning Stones be built, and stocked them with all the various weapons the rider would need.”
“Rider?” I asked faintly, not wanting to interrupt.
“It’s what we called the one controlling the construct. The common people began calling them a ‘Mana Wight,’ as it is essentially a form of condensed mana that is forced into a body created by a spellform. Anyway, they are one of the reasons we rebelled against the Emperor. Who wants to be made to travel to some village every time some brat gets eaten by something? He said we were the rulers of all, and so should be the servants of all. Preposterous!” He shook his head in disgust and I stared at him, wondering how many times I’d been summoned as a ‘Mana Wights’ over the years.
“The thing is, we learned how to stop being called. At first, it was a way for us to retain contact with our realm, and that was a wonderful thing, but we were always summoned to some monster, demon, or war, which meant we never got to enjoy ourselves properly, plus any injury followed us back here! So, we finally discovered the rune needed to stop the summoning, and I’ve gifted you with it. It was a gift, to make you safe. All you have to do is tell me the truth, and in return for my generosity, you can do something for me…”
“Go on, Baron, I’m listening…” I said, even as my mind whirled.
“All you have to do is put on a little show for me when you’re in the arena. Falco has crossed the line, and if you do end up fighting his representative, I want you to make sure he understands the cost of it. I want you to cut him limb from limb, then heal his wounds, leaving his son, or nephew, or whatever, as a limbless freak as an example! Oh, and take his staff while you’re at it!”
“His staff?” I asked, frowning at him.
“His cock, boy! I want you to cut it off!”
“Get fucked.” It slipped out before I could stop it. I took a deep breath and hurried on to attempt to forestall the shock I saw in his eyes. “I’m not torturing someone just because you don’t like their relative! Besides, what is going to happen to the people that I could have saved, now that you’ve cut me off from the Dreams?”
“Don’t you snarl at me, whelp!” he snapped back. The guards around me stepped closer, raising their weapons to their shoulders and taking aim. “Who cares what happens to the sheep? There’s always more of them, so stop your whining. You put yourself in that situation. You took the wounds because you were too slow, too clumsy, or too weak!”
“I took them because I could save people!”
“Exactly! You chose to take the wounds. Don’t try to deny it! There was always a choice!”
“Deny it? Tommy and I were discharged from the fucking army for them! We both lost our places because they thought we were self-harming! We spent years in therapy as bairns. I kept being told I was crazy because of my dreams. They medicated me to all hell to try and stop me from doing it! Now you say its normal?!? That we all get them?!” I was furious. I didn’t even know why, really, except that maybe if he’d found me as a child, I’d have known what was going on. However, I had to acknowledge that him finding me while young would have been worse than anything I could imagine. I didn’t know what to think, or what to do. I just wanted to punch someone really hard.
“And your question?” I ground out, trying my hardest to stay in my seat and prevent myself from attempting to beat his teeth down his throat.
“A voice, a change, a difference of some kind!” he snapped, sitting forward in his chair, hungry for the answer. “Any change you’ve felt since the rune activated…anything at all…”
I realized that I’d not felt the voice’s presence since then, not heard it, nothing. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of that knowledge, though.
“No, nothing. What voice?” I answered curtly.
“Bah! I should have known. They said he’d give up by now; maybe they’re right…” he muttered, sitting back in the chair and gnawing on a knuckle in thought.
“Who?” I asked, trying not to swear at him.
“The others, of course, you fool!” he replied distractedly as he stared off into the flames of the fireplace. “They said the spell had failed, that the old fool had tied his consciousness to the entire bloodline. They claimed it’d eventually drive him mad and he’d seek dissolution rather than go on…we killed everyone that showed the signs…we must have gotten him…we must have…”
“You killed who? Your bloodline…your KIDS?” I whispered. The horrified shock clear in my voice drew him back to reality as he straightened up.
We sat staring daggers at each other, both hating the other, but needing them as well. I was the first to break, taking a deep breath and looking away. I had to swallow my pride. I needed to reach Tommy. “What else do I need to know?” I muttered to him.
“Nothing! That was the only reason I had to summon you, and your last chance to show proper humility, possibly earning a real gift from me to aid you. Now? Hah! Why would I bother?”
“Then I’m free to leave?” I asked. When he snarled at me and gestured at the door, I did just that, jumping to my feet and stalking out. I had some of the answers I’d needed. I knew what the Dreams were and why I got them at least, and now I knew that it’d be an easy way to spot any others like me, cursed with the Baron and ilk’s bloodline. They’d all suffer the same way Tommy and I did.
I shook my head as I stalked around the citadel, ignoring people and fuming all the way.
I resolved to do it. I’d fight in this tournament, as it seemed either I’d win, or I wouldn’t have to worry about it. Now that I knew about the dreams being ‘real,’ I found that I had fewer inhibitions about violence. I’d killed hundreds in that world over the years, always in self-defense, or to defend another, but still, I just had to keep doing that. They’d attack me, after all, so my conscience would still be clean.
I even bumped into West as I wandered around. I was surprised when he passed me a book and told me to read it when I had the chance. It was a dog-eared copy of Ascend Online by Luke Chmilenko. I was touched, but I couldn’t resist the chance to get a dig in.
“West, seriously? I didn’t know you could read?” I said in mock amazement.
“Aye, well, laugh it up, you ugly bastard. Unlike you, I have good taste!” he replied.
“Seriously, man, who did you steal this from?” I said, shaking my head in mock sorrow. “I know you, West. Your ‘reading’ consists of books about a big dog called ‘Spot’ and the pop up catalog for ladies of negotiable affection …” West cut me off with a well-timed clip across the back of my head, but we both grinned at each other.
“Just take it, lad. Put it in your bag or whatever and read it when you get bored. We both know you’ll love me for it.”
I grinned and clapped him on the shoulder as we went our separate ways, his obviously well-loved book tucked into my bag.
A few hours later, a guard jogged up to me where I sat in the gardens, looking out over the snow-covered mountains. He saluted before speaking, which was a nice touch, I thought. “My lord, the Baron orders you to head to the helicopter pad immediately. He said that if you are late, you will be left behind.”
I snorted in contempt. We both knew the Baron wouldn’t leave without me. The crazy old sod needed me to fight. He just has to be a prick all the time, couldn’t take a day off, could he? I thought to myself.
I made a point of saunt
ering along the corridors, taking my time approaching the rear helipad, but the arrival of six more guards, with orders to drag me if they had to, finally forced my hand and I set off jogging. I reached the helicopter just in time to hear the Baron’s screaming fit about ‘lazy, disrespectful sons.’
I grimaced at him as I climbed in and quipped, “Been waiting long? You should have said you were in a hurry….”
The throbbing vein at his temple and the bright red of his skin convinced me to leave it at that, though. I wouldn’t have put it past him to kick me out here and write off his losses.
It took less than an hour to get to the airport, but the flight to the meeting place took another six hours, time that I spent enjoying the book West had given me. We finally landed late evening, in mountain territory in southeast Greenland. According to the map, it was considered deserted. Now that I was here, I could see a good sized airport, bigger than those on most of the Greek islands I’d visited. The surrounding hills had guard towers, if you looked hard enough, and there were good roads, a small town, and a harbor full of ships, from private yachts to what looked like modern warships. I looked around in stunned silence for a while, until I couldn’t take anymore.
“I thought Greenland was empty, or at least hardly any people. It looks like one damn big piece of ice from Google Maps!”
“Huh, and you believe them, I suppose? Good. Shows our money and influence isn’t entirely wasted, then. This is the portal base; it’s neutral territory. The Great Houses agreed we would build it so that none would have to accept an enemy into their lands. Even an idiot like you can see the sense of this, surely?”