Ascendancy Origins Trilogy

by Bradford Bates

  “Ever since that bastard Mathew broke my arm, I don’t have the same confidence that I did before. Other students have noticed, and well some of them have been getting a little rough with me. Today I decided I had enough of their shit, so I was about to retaliate.”

  “And Frank knows about this?”

  Gavin stopped walking and looked in my eyes searching for something. Whatever he found there must have reassured him because he answered. “Actually, I think he encourages it. You know some bull about being a warrior and being able to stand up for yourself. That’s easy to say when it isn’t five on one.”

  “My first instinct is to talk to Frank about fixing this.” I watched Gavin tense next to me and knew then that he thought that would only make it worse. Thinking about what he said and their attitude, stepping in to defend him probably would. “In this case I think what we need to do is train you how to do it on your own.” I watched as his shoulders slumped.

  “I’m not sure that I can.”

  “Trust me, if you made it this far, you can.”

  “Do you really think so?” he asked, his back finally straightening.

  “I do.”

  “Then what are we waiting for?”

  “Gavin, how do you feel about baseball?”

  “It’s a little slow for my liking.”

  “Well it’s a game of anticipation.”

  “Can I anticipate while not watching baseball?”

  I let out a little laugh. “Trust me when I say, you are going to want to watch these baseballs.”

  I led Gavin towards the opposite side of our base to a private workout facility for those already in the Ascendancy. We walked towards the back of the training field and stopped. I had Gavin work through some forms for me, just checking on his balance, and if he had mastered the basics of hand to hand. Everything looked ok, so I asked him to wait while I secured some additional training tools.

  When I came back I had five baseballs in my arms. He looked at me a little apprehensively but I could see he was interested. “Today we are going to work on your defensive magic.”

  “With baseballs?”

  “Well I find they leave less of a lasting impression than, say, a fireball.”

  “Point taken.”

  “So how is your shield work?”

  “It’s ok.”

  “How many attacks can you block at once?”

  “One, maybe two.”

  “So your shield work is shit.” His shoulders slumped again. “Don’t worry about it, when we are done you’re going to be able to wipe the floor with those guys.”

  “The shields are helpful and all but I need to be able to attack.”

  “Is that what Frank is teaching these days? He never had much aptitude for something that takes a little more discipline. The first thing we need to do is make it so you can live long enough to attack. Back up about fifteen feet. I’m going to start with one baseball and then add more until you can’t block all of my attacks.”

  His shoulders slumped again, but he moved into position. I was going to have to start really slow to build up his confidence. “Keep your personal shield in place at all times, and then create a separate shield that you can move to deflect the attacks before they hit you.”

  “I’m ready.”

  I didn’t wait long before I sent the first baseball hurtling at him. I sent it at him fast but dead straight. He blocked it well; I used the ball’s momentum and sent it back at him. He blocked it again. Next I curved the ball in the air and he blocked it. I was starting to feel a little more confident that he had it down, so I sent the ball at him faster and faster, he blocked every single one. I sent the next ball back at him from above, and launched a second ball straight at him. He blocked the first and got his shield around in time to barely block the second one.

  Now I could see the intense look of concentration on his face. I slowed the attacks down again, not wanting to break his confidence. At first I sent the baseballs at him two seconds apart and always from different directions. Once I could tell he could do that I started sending them at the same time. A few slipped through his defense but for the most part he did better than I had expected. I decided it was time to toss a third ball into the mix.

  I followed the same strategy for this session. At first I sent each ball towards him with a second or two of delay. He blocked most of them but a few more were breaking through than I liked. When I started sending all three at once, two out of three were hitting him almost every time. I could see he was getting frustrated so I started to build in the delays again, only his performance didn’t get better. After hitting him with all three baseballs two times in a row I stopped.

  “Gavin, what’s going on? You were doing so well.”

  “It’s impossible to keep up with all of those attacks. Once I get hit a few times it breaks my concentration, and then I can’t get back in front of them.”

  “Well when you’re in battle there are going to be times you get hit, and you have to refocus.”

  “I know, maybe I’m just not cut out for this.”

  “I think you are, we just need to work on a few things. The more you practice the easier it gets. With enough training you will be fine. The only question now is, do you want it?”

  “I do,” he mumbled.

  “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear that.”

  “I do!”

  “Good. From now on you only work with me. Your training is going to be intense, physical in the morning and magic for the rest of the day. Think you can handle it?”

  “I know I can.”

  I walked over to him and placed an arm on his shoulder. “In two months I’m going to send you back to Frank, and we are going to wipe that grin off his face.”

  “I just have two questions, John.” I raised my eyebrow and motioned for him to continue. “Why me, and can you really block those five balls at once?”

  “For the first part I hate to see talent wasted, and for your second question, it’s been awhile since I tried but I’m sure that I still can.”

  “Prove it.”

  “Done.” I scanned the gym for someone to help me give Gavin a tiny demonstration of what was to come. The only person I saw that could help was Joshua. “Hey Josh, you got a second to help us out?”

  He looked up from the bag he had been punching and gave me a questioning look. “I think I can spare a few moments.”

  “Good. I want to show Gavin here a little bit of the blocking technique I’m teaching him.” I tossed the five baseballs at Stillman’s feet.

  “With baseballs, how quaint.”

  I walked back until there was about twenty feet between us. “Just shut up and try and hit me.” I was little bit rustier than I would have liked to admit after taking a month off. But after the first few bounced off my shield I fell into a rhythm. Sometimes he sent one followed by four, sometimes it was two and three. They always came from different directions and I blocked each one of them individually. The key was to be able to create multiple shields and move each one independently, instead of trying to move one shield around to block all five attacks. It took an intense amount of concentration, but didn’t require much magic. After four minutes of every ball being blocked, Stillman dropped the balls back to the ground.

  “Not bad,” Joshua said grudgingly.

  “Not bad, that was freaking amazing!” Gavin shouted. “You really think I’ll be able to do that?”

  “I think you will.”

  “If you have John as a teacher then there is no doubt that you will be able to do it,” Joshua said before walking back towards his training bag.

  Things had been slightly strained between us since I had made the deal with Cane to get the potion that saved Sarah’s life. He thought it was reckless of me to put myself into the service of a Demon, and frankly I had to agree. So far he had kept his mouth shut about it but I could tell he was still disappointed in the choice I made. If he had ever loved someone the way I loved Sarah he would know,
there was really no choice at all.

  Gavin looked towards me waiting for instructions. “Go to your gym and get in a small workout. You have the rest of the day off and tomorrow we start training properly.”

  “Yes, sir,” he said and took off at a run.

  I hoped this would be just what it took for him to gain the confidence he needed. Now I had to figure out how to tell my wife that I would be training him every day for the next two months. I shrugged my shoulders and started to head home. Something told me she would be excited about me staying out of her hair. Sarah hated when I doted on her, she was an Alpha and having someone help her made her feel weak. Plus she needed to get back to training with the pack and that was something I couldn’t help her through, no matter how much I wanted to.

  3

  Edward

  New Ashton Mining Colony 1350

  “Word from the guards is that it’s your last day in the pit,” Chris said.

  “It should be, but I won’t believe it until they actually take me out of here.”

  “I’m not sure how I’ll survive when you’re gone.”

  “Just remember what I taught you, and make sure to fight. No one down here will give you respect for free.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  “I know you will.”

  I walked out of the room we had shared for the last year. It had been hard in the beginning, but after I made a name for myself fighting, I had claimed Chris for my own. His life improved dramatically under my protection; to start with he was no longer subject to daily beatings and worse. I spent my free time teaching him how to fight, hoping that when I left he would have some chance of defending himself.

  A year in the pit hadn’t done much for me, except to shred every last ounce of fat off of my frame. Down here food was earned, and as many fights as I won I still spent some of my time hungry. Along with my fat went most of my empathy, if it wasn’t for my time spent with Chris I surely would have lost that as well. Somehow, against all odds, despite the fact that horrible things had been done to him, he retained a sense of hope that one day things would get better. I was pretty sure that was going to get him killed.

  The guards lowered the platform down into the pit and I climbed on top of it. I looked at Chris and could already see three men fanning out around him. Before the cavern cut off my view I got to watch as he made two of them pay dearly for their assumptions. I felt a small bit of pride that I had done that. Maybe he would be ok after all.

  The grate slid into place on the platform at the top of the pit. I had to squint my eyes against even the faint light from one small lamp in the room. The same guard on my first visit was there waiting for me, he was just as stoic as the first time I met him. He motioned for me to follow and led me back into the room with the chair. This time I was allowed to use a normal shower and when I was done I climbed into the chair with no complaints.

  The same woman who had cared for me on my first day appeared and this time she wore a smile. “I see that you survived. You came out a little skinny but no worse for wear I take it.”

  “It just feels good to be clean again.”

  “Well, you aren’t done with that yet.” She pulled out a set of shears and a straight razor.

  A year ago, looking at those tools in the hands of someone I couldn’t trust while being strapped to a chair would have terrified me. Today it felt almost normal. She worked on my hair first, cutting away the tangled mess and evening it out as best she could. Then came the razor. As sharp as it was it still pulled at the hair on my face. I winced a few times, funny how pulling out some facial hair could still do that to me. You would think my face would have toughened up after being used as a punching bag so often.

  When I had been cleaned up she laid her hands on my chest and sent some of her healing energy into me. I felt the bumps and bruises I had forgotten about heal. I almost felt whole again. The guard unstrapped me from the chair and led me back to the shower. While I was in it the woman exited the room. When I finished cleaning up I was again led to a room full of clothes. These clothes were slightly different than the clothes I had been offered for my time in the pit.

  “Pick out one of everything. Make sure it fits before we go,” Sam stated.

  I moved through the bins picking out clothes that fit. With my leaner body it was hard to find anything that was just right. Things were either too tight or hung off of me. I decided to go with something a little looser. The last item I picked was a blue jumpsuit. It had an insignia of the mountain on it in gold. It looked like I was finally going to be put to work.

  I was led from the clothing back towards the warden’s office. If anything, this time he looked even unhappier to see me. When I sat down, Sam moved behind me and tapped me gently on the shoulder with his billy club, just a not-so-subtle reminder that he was there.

  “It seems today we finally get to introduce you to the rest of our family. After a year in the pit you have seen the worst we have to offer, now you get a chance to see the best. Step one toe out of line and I’ll send you back to the pit so fast your head will spin.”

  He waited for me to say something but I stayed silent.

  “Do you understand me!”

  “I understand.”

  “Good. Personally I wanted to leave you down there, but Adam came to check on you and when he found out where you were, well let’s just say that’s why you are being moved on time.”

  “Thank you for your generosity,” I managed to get out. I hated this man as much as I hated his brother. A bunch of power hungry assholes willing to ruin someone’s life so they could make a few more dollars. It took everything I had in me not to jump across the desk and kill him. But if I was going to be forced into serving my term then I was determined not to do it in the pit.

  He gave me a look, no doubt trying to decide if I was being smart or if a year in the pit had truly broken me. “Sam, please escort the prisoner into the colony. He will be joining bunkhouse five.”

  “Yes, sir.” Sam poked me with his baton indicating it was time to get up.

  I gave the warden one last look but he had already dismissed my presence as irrelevant. Sam led me towards another lift and this time he climbed aboard it with me. I was surprised when the lift started that he chose to talk with me.

  “I don’t think you will mind it up here. Sure the work is hard, but you get two meals a day and a bunk to sleep in. There are guards stationed through the camp, so the general environment is going to be a vast improvement. Bunkhouse five is kind of a raw deal; it’s the closest to the latrines, so every now and then you get a pretty good whiff.”

  “I’m sure it will be ok.”

  “Just do me a favor. Adam asked me to keep an eye on you. Don’t do anything to get tossed back in the pit. I’d hate to have to tell him.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  “Oh, I almost forgot. He told me to tell you that he set your wife and son up with a cottage and land to farm, as well as a generous monthly stipend. From what he said they are doing very well, your son is actually being apprenticed as a smithy.”

  I felt a tear streak down my face. “Did they send any word?”

  “I thought he would have told you himself. He told them that you had died in battle and that what they were receiving was because of your sacrifice.”

  “Well at least that’s something.”

  “It’s more than most men’s families in here received. Be grateful for that.”

  “When I get out I’ll show them exactly how grateful I am.”

  Sam gave me a look that said he knew I was talking about something else but was choosing to let it go. When the cold air brushed against my cheek the tears that had fallen were swept away on the wind. I felt my heart harden. I would show them just how grateful I was, I would show them all.

  Time trickled by at first but eventually the days blended into months, the months into years, and finally when I looked up into Adam’s face decades had gone by. He looked the same a
s always, and I was sure that outside of the daily labor sculpting my body I looked the same to him. I could tell by the look on his face that he came bearing bad news. There were only two people in my life that meant anything to me, so something had to have happened to one of them. He looked down at me with sad eyes and motioned towards the table.

  “Sit,” I managed to get out before my throat closed.

  “Edward, it is good to see you again.”

  “Please dispense with pleasantries, if you cared about my fate you would have resolved it long ago.”

  “I can’t tell you how sorry I am. I’ve tried everything I could think of to get you out.”

  “Spare me your platitudes and tell me why you have come.”

  “I have bad news. Your wife Alina has passed away.”

  “Just tell me if she went peacefully.”

  “She did, she faded away in the night surrounded by family and friends.”

  “And my son?”

  “He is still alive and runs one of the largest smithies in his hamlet. Men travel from all around to have him work metal for them. He has a family of his own now, and two young boys.”

  “Does he even remember me?”

  “My understanding is your wife never let him forget that his father died a hero.”

  “It’s true that part of me died when I was betrayed, another part died today. Soon there will be nothing left of the man you used to know.”

  “Edward, please do not say such things. You have forty years left on your sentence and when you get out I will make sure that you want for nothing.”

  “That won’t bring my wife back.” I could feel the anger starting to flood my body. “That won’t put her back into my arms. That won’t let me see her one last time. That doesn’t fix the fact that my son grew up without a father.” My body seemed to stand up on its own, the rage making my magic crackle even through the runed cuffs that I wore.

  “It won’t, but all I can do now is try and make amends for what has happened.” Adam stood and moved around the table to stand beside me. “If I could do more for you I would, but in this matter my hands are tied.”