Hmm... clever, and intelligent.
“What are you reading?” asked Claudius as he leaned over to glance at the cover of the book which Salius held on his lap, before going on, “Ah, A King's Charge, written by Emperor Lucius, the third Emperor of the Tiburon Empire. It's a good read, very practical for an aspiring ruler.”
As Claudius leaned back in his chair, Salius spoke in surprise, as travelers were generally never learned enough to have the ability to read, “How is it that you can read?”
“Why so surprised? It's no more strange for me to read, than for you, the humble son of a farmer,” replied the stranger.
Salius paused before slowly replying, “I suppose that's true.”
They had not talked long, but it had been long enough for Salius to know and suspect two things; that Claudius was not an ordinary traveler, and also that he did not arrive here by happenstance. Salius always had the ability to read people well, ever since childhood, and while he did not sense any evil intent from the stranger, there was something else, something purposeful.
“Tell me Claudius, what is your true purpose here?” asked Salius boldly to the raggedly dressed, satchel carrying, bearded stranger.
“Now that is the question isn't it,” answered Claudius.
The stranger continued as he lifted his satchel and began rummaging through its contents, “I apologize for greeting you with untruthfulness regarding my purpose here. You see, I have arrived to inform you that you have been ordered by the King Unseen to hunt down and execute the Empress, and the three items which I am about to give will assist you in accomplishing that purpose.”
Salius laughed, “Ah, I see, so you're crazy.”
Claudius looked up with a blank stare, “Funny, and you're the one who still believes that the world is flat.”
“What...?” said Salius with an incredulous expression as the bizarre stranger motioned for him to hold out his hand.
Salius hesitantly complied as Claudius fetched out a long dagger. He pulled the elegantly designed, but not impractical weapon, out of its sheath, revealing small foreign runes carved on the side of the crescent curved blade. The eight inch long blade continued down to a uniquely forged, forward curved, wrapped handle, with a strange looking mechanism located near where the index and middle finger would be when holding the weapon in a forward facing grip.
Claudius spoke as he handed the weapon to Salius, pointing at the odd mechanism attached to the top of the handle, where it ended and the blade began, “The runes which you see spell out, Foot for Foot, Finger for Finger; but this dagger is much more than it appears to be, and that mechanism right there is the reason. My people call it a trigger, and they know the action it carries out to be something they call teleportation, or leaping. Look about, see the place you want to be, then slip your finger into the finger guard and pull the trigger. However I warn you that you can go no place which you cannot see.”
Salius was about to say something as he placed the dagger into its sheath, but he was immediately interrupted by Claudius who was already pulling out another item, “This ring, when placed on your finger, will allow you to understand and speak any language which you should happen to come across in your travels.”
Claudius handed Salius the ordinary looking black ring, before Salius replied with sarcasm, “How about my legs, got anything for that too since we're at it.”
Claudius then reached back into his bag before bringing out a tiny transparent object which appeared to contain a liquid.
“Ah yes, of course, magic water, I should have known,” Salius said, trying painfully hard to hold back another laugh.
Claudius sighed as he spoke to himself, shaking his head before addressing Salius, “I swear, I get no appreciation for my work,” then, looking back up at the twenty one year old, he continued, “Look, if you want to be a cripple for the rest of your life that's fine. But if you want to be free from that chair, if you truly want more from this life; an adventure, something amazing, something honorable, then you'll swallow this after I leave, and complete your mission. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity kid, don't throw it away out of foolish ignorance.”
There was a moment of silence before Salius responded, “Okay, even if I believed you somehow, there is no empress; don't you mean the Emperor?”
“Kill the Empress is the message, the rest is up to you.”
Salius replied with a smirk a few moments after reaching out to take the small fingernail length, liquid containing object from Claudius's hand, “The rest is up to me? What are you even talking... Ok, ok, look, if you are a king and you command someone to complete some sort of special mission for you, wouldn't it be in your best interest to make sure that said person at least knows where to start? And I don't mean to indicate that I believe you; I'm just saying, logically, that would be the case, am I wrong?”
Claudius answered with a slight grin, “You want to know where to start; why didn't you just say so? This, I can help you with. Go to the village called Lituss which lies to the east of here. Once you arrive, ask about a place they will know as the Forest Around the Mountain. Then, if you are vigilant, you should find a man there, in the forest, who will point you in the right direction. And if he likes you, he may teach you how to swing that new blade of yours; of course that's only if you survive the forest.”
The man known as Claudius, suddenly rose and walked down from the creaking wooden deck before turning as he continued, “Be confident; you have been chosen to accomplish a truly noble purpose.
"Well, you have a choice to make and, should you choose correctly, a long difficult journey ahead of you, so I shall not keep you any longer... Oh I almost forgot, as a chosen agent of the King Unseen your new name, your new identity, should you choose to accept, is Zealot.”
Before he finally turned to go on his way, the stranger finished, “I bid you farewell.”
Salius replied politely, raising his hand in return, “Farewell.”
He continued to watch as Claudius walked away in the direction from which he had come, until the man finally disappeared out of sight beyond the golden, sun shimmering, rolling hills.
What a strange... appearance. What if it is true? Could it be true?
Despite some of the ridiculous things which he had said, Claudius himself didn't seem crazy to Salius, and it was well known that reading is a mark of nobility.
An hour or two passed as many different thoughts filled Salius' mind, strange thoughts. Even though the very idea of what the man had said was nothing short of lunacy, Salius could not silence the, what if. He knew that the object which he now held in front of his face could be as perilous as poison, but there was still that, what if. The, what if, had so much power in the mind of someone like Salius, someone who was desperate to be free, to be complete.
Suddenly, because of the power, the authority he had now in this moment given to simple and desparate hope which had voiced itself subtly as, what if; he put the object into his mouth deciding that the miniscule chance of freedom was worth the potential price of crushed hope or worse, death. Then, Salius immediately closed his eyes in the grip of anxiety, and swallowed.
Nothing happened... but then... after a few moments, Salius began to feel something which he had not felt since childhood; his legs.
Could it really be working? No, it can't be.
Suddenly, Salius felt his right leg twitch. Then opening his eyes he watched as the muscles which had previously been shriveled and worthless, restored themselves rapidly to full strength. Salius moved his leg easily, as a test, before, feeling the immense joy overcome his disbelief, he leapt off of his chair and onto the ground. Tears streamed down his face as the current happiness overcame years worth of sorrow, pain, and hopelessness.
As Salius ran through the fields of tall windblown grass, he knew right then that the man who called himself Claudius had not just healed his body, but in the process, Salius felt as though his soul had also been healed. But, if what Claudius had said
was true as Salius considered, then perhaps it was this King Unseen who deserved his thanks; after all, Claudius only claimed to be a king's messenger.
Salius paused on a short hill some distance from the farmhouse and looked down at the weapon which he held in his grasp. Removing the intricately designed dagger from its sheath, Salius scanned his surroundings. Finding a spot near a tall tree which he saw in the distance, Salius pictured himself arriving there but facing in the direction of the farmhouse which was currently behind him. Then, slipping his index finger over the device which Claudius had called a trigger, he pulled it back.
Instantly he was there, standing in the exact spot which he had pictured, facing the farmhouse, hundreds of feet away from where he had just been standing. With a smile on his face he looked down at the weapon feeling his new identity as Zealot begin to take hold. Turning around to face the vast wilderness whose gates had just been opened to him, Salius' smile faded slightly as he spoke, “Very well, I will do what is required of me, King, whoever you are; but first, I must have justice.”
Chapter 11
407 Days before day 1
Salius stood, back turned toward the tree which was located one hundred feet away, holding a stick in his right hand and the dagger in his left. Upon glancing over his shoulder, Salius began his swing to the right in a turning backwards strike as he spun around pulling the trigger. Smack! His stick hit the tree mid-spin, perfect timing.
Salius had spent every waking hour practicing with the weapon over the past week. It was difficult to get the hang of it at first, but after running into the house, a rock, and more than a few trees, he began to get a feel for it; perfecting his technique, learning from his mistakes. And thanks to some sort of safety feature, which teleported him back to the ground automatically when he began to fall too fast after leaping into the sky, he wasn't dead.
As Salius began to understand how the mechanism worked, he learned things like; whatever momentum he carried into the leap was continued after he arrived on the other side, essentially merely transporting him exactly as he was going into the leap. So if he spun going into the leap for example, than subsequently he would spin coming out. Salius learned that he could not only alter the height and distance of the leap, but he could also alter what direction he wanted to be facing upon exiting the leap as well. Finally, Salius learned that if he leaped high into the air, then he would need to make another leap immediately after, otherwise the safety feature, which apparently prevented him from breaking his legs, would automatically leap Salius straight back down to the ground. He saw that he could go as fast as he wanted forward, backward, side to side, even upward; only downward momentum seemed to be monitored and acted upon, a feature that Salius had decided was actually very useful.
Looking at the many marks he had made on the tree during the day's beating, Salius reached his right hand out to rub one of the many places where the bark had been chipped away. He looked up at the tall tree's many branches which spread out from its trunk over his head. Then Salius watched, as a mild wind gust rustled the decaying brown leaves causing two to float down off of the tree, disappearing into the tall stale grass below.
Being miles away from his home, somewhere upon the endless rolling hills in between his family's farm and Minos, the small farming village which lay further to the south, Salius dropped the thick short stick which he had held in his right hand. As Salius moved away from the tree to catch a last glimpse of the sun as it fell before giving way to twilight, he marveled at the colors which reflected off of the distant clouds. He watched as a beautiful pink turned quickly to the subtle violet of twilight. Then as the twilight gave way to the darkness of night, Salius whispered into the shadows, “It is a fitting night... I will make you remember Centurion. Foot for foot, finger for finger, I will have my vengeance, and I will take from you what you took from me all those years ago... I have not forgotten... I will never forget...”
Salius, placing the dagger in his right hand, then began leaping in the direction of the dirt road which would take him to Minos.
It was more difficult to leap at night, as it was harder to see, causing him to teleport much shorter distances than during the daylight hours, cutting his overall speed down by half as a result.
Salius had told his family not to expect him back until long after nightfall, something which had become normal after the change. He liked covering vast distances which would be impossible for anyone else to traverse in one day, even on horseback. Salius discovered that he found great enjoyment in exploration, he loved to see new things, new places. In a sense, Salius was very much a new person who had been given a new start, and daily, aside from what he had dubbed, fighting practice, he fed his wanderlust. He was making up for the time lost, and his family had been very understanding of it after they had gotten past the shock which had been caused by Salius' unexpected transformation.
Salius had stunned his father, mother, and two siblings a week ago as he went out to greet them upon their return to the farm. In fact it was so unthinkable to them that they thought he was someone else for more than a few moments, his mother even going so far as to entertain ridiculous notions of diviners and skin changers. His father and brother being the first to come to their senses, realizing that the impossible had become reality, had moved quickly to embrace Salius with the women following in suit. All of them had been overcome with joy, and Salius continued to tell them all that had happened down to the last detail. After all, why would they not believe his story when the fact that he was standing before them was already not possible, yet it was. The following day was then spent in delightful celebration.
Yes things were good, things were finally good; but what remained of the old Salius was haunted by the actions of one man, and the banner under which he served. A man whose face was carved into the recesses of his mind, etched so deep that the hatred it caused threatened to rot the very soul of the newly reborn Salius. Yes, he knew deep inside that if he ever wanted to be truly free, if he ever wanted to truly embrace his new identity as Zealot, whatever that meant, then the final remnants of the old Salius must die with the Centurion.
After reaching the small sleepy town of Minos, Salius had continued on to the dirt road which led east. Then after a few minutes of leaping, he found another smaller dirt road which would lead to the nearby permanent Imperial encampment.
Even though the size of their armies are heavily regulated, the nations do rule themselves under the Empire partially, as their own entities, keeping their own peacekeeping forces on hand to enforce policies and protect their citizenry; of course that's only as long as their policies don't interfere with the Tiburon Empire's interests. However the Empire does keep a substantial military presence within every nation anyway, to protect the roads, assist local peacekeeping forces, but most importantly to keep the kings and the nations which they rule in check. The kings, while trying to glorify the power of their thrones in the public eye, are, therefore, often treated by the overreaching Tiburon Empire as mere governors and statesmen, in truth having only the power of such.
Salius finally neared the small military encampment; the encampment which the Centurion had commanded for over twelve years now, apparently with no ambition for advancement beyond terrorizing and stealing from the locals. Then laying down on a small hill to the right of the narrow dirt road which brought one up to the currently barred wooden gates of the twenty foot tall wooden wall which went all the way around the camp, he saw soldiers walking to and fro atop the wall, monitoring the surrounding area by lantern light. The hill was not tall enough to see inside the walls of the encampment, but he did get a good picture of its size; it was definitely not small, but not large either.
Luckily tonight the moon's light was relatively dim, a fact which allowed Salius to get within a few hundred feet without being seen as he hid in the brush. While laying in the grass, Salius twitched slightly upon feeling a large, slimy insect begin to crawl up his left hand. He allowed it to make its way up,
as Salius feared he might be discovered should he try to shake or swat in an effort to free himself from its hold. Salius closed his eyes for a moment in an effort to keep calm, still, and concentrated, as he attempted to resist moving during the large insect's uncomfortable march up his arm. He tried all the while to be positive by remaining thankful that it was not a serpent, scorpion, or anything else that could cause actual harm. Eventually Salius breathed a sigh of relief, reopening his eyes as the insect detached itself from his arm and crawled away.
At the same time that Salius prided himself in this small demonstration of willpower, he made a mental note of the fact that he remained unsure of his ability to maintain that same controlled will should the insect have continued to reach his face, or crawled down his shirt.
Salius had been disgusted by small and large insects alike, most specifically the slimy or crawling ones, since early childhood. He did not understand why he had this mostly unreasonable fear of the generally harmless creatures, a fear that neither his younger sister nor brother shared. But Salius knew that if he was going to be doing this type of sneaking around often, then he would need to get over it eventually, and remaining perfectly still while allowing one of the most despicable insects to crawl up his arm unchallenged, as he did just a moment ago, was a step in the right direction.
Salius refocused, putting his mind to task in an attempt to figure out how to complete the first part of this plan. Unfortunately the clearly apparent dilemma remained substantial as he realized, while watching the guards intently, that there was no way to whisk one of these soldiers which monitored the wall away, in an effort to steal his uniform, without alerting the others. Salius pondered this problem for some time as he thoroughly attempted to work through this issue in his mind. But, try as he did, Salius could find no other way around it; he couldn't just charge in, blazing with unfounded confidence, as he wouldn't even know where to locate the Centurion once he entered the encampment, not to mention the fact that Salius knew full well he couldn't fight everyone. His practice had spoken volumes about how unready he was to do this in the first place. He was still only just beginning to learn how to use the unusual weapon which he had recently been given, not to mention the fact that he didn't have any skill with a blade whatsoever to begin with. No, even though he had decided that he could wait no longer, he had also decided that fighting just four trained soldiers at a time, even with the ridiculous advantage which his unique weapon would lend, was pushing it to say the least, and any more than that would be suicide. The only thing he could do now was simply to stay in this spot for a while longer, hoping that luck would somehow present him with an unexpected gift of welcomed opportunity.
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