“It’s not as bad as you think—being part of the infantry. Regardless of how unglamorous it sounds, you do get to take part in the action, and even if you defeat only one soldier from the other side, that’s one step closer to victory for the rest of us. Besides, think of how tired Sages would be if there were no infantry. They’d have to take out every little soldier that crossed their path, and even Sages—despite their finesse—are still human.”
“The weak can fight the weak. I get it.”
Arimus laughed as he placed a hand on James’ shoulder.
“No one is forcing you to stay, James. If you don’t want to be here, then it’s best that you leave. The last thing anyone needs is to have to fight next to someone they can’t trust their life with.”
James hesitated.
“I understand, it’s just that I need some time to really get over the fact that I failed. It happened so fast…but I genuinely want to try the next test.”
“If that is the case, then you can go with the next group into the forest. They are leaving in an hour. When everyone arrives, I’ll elaborate on what needs to be accomplished. You stay here while I go retrieve your group leader.”
“Okay,” James said as Arimus walked off, his strength seeming to radiate from every step he took. James stood in the courtyard, looking around at the various blade markings in the stone walls. He put his head down in shame as he stared at the new gravel beneath his feet. Crunching it noisily to entertain himself, he barely heard someone come up behind him.
“What’s wrong, James?” a soft voice inquired behind him. James turned to see the lunch lady without her usual garb, wearing a frilly green sundress despite the chilly weather. Her hair was neatly braided and bound into a neon green scrunchie. By her side stood Kyran, emitting darkness and gloom as always.
“Oh, nothing really. I was just thinking about a couple of things.”
“Don’t hurt yourself,” Kyran replied and Chloe punched him in the arm. Kyran shot her a look of surprise, which due to Kyran’s stoic character, wasn’t much surprise at all.
“Don’t mind him,” she apologized. “He just has a cold heart and can’t relate to little things like emotion.”
“I would be more familiar with emotion if you’d allow me to see more than overbearing joy,” Kyran stated.
“I figure that’s the emotion you need most. Besides, if you can’t even get the hang of the first one I show you, why would I show you others?”
“I figured you might want to mix it up a bit.”
“Why?” Chloe asked slyly. “Does my ‘overbearing joy’ bother you?”
Kyran pretended to think about it and Chloe punched him in the arm again. James coughed lightly and they turned their attention back to him.
“Are we boring you?” Kyran asked flatly. Chloe looked toward the courtyard doors.
“You’re about to take your third test, aren’t you?” she asked. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure you’ll do fine.”
“This test shouldn’t be underestimated,” Kyran interjected. “A good number of recruits die in that forest.”
“You always say stuff like that…” James muttered under his breath.
“I’m sure he’s heard about that already,” Chloe said, ignoring the comment. “I’m only saying that he shouldn’t get nervous about something he knows nothing about.”
“Is there any reason why he shouldn’t be nervous?”
“James,” she said, leaning towards him. “All you have to do is ask the Maker to help you and I’m sure he will.”
Kyran scoffed and Chloe frowned at the response.
“Just because you’d rather rely on your own strength doesn’t mean you should laugh at mine.”
“I’ll admit that you can fight well, but I would hardly chalk it up to the Maker.”
“Why don’t you try talking to the Maker for once and see where that gets you.”
“You do your way. I’ll do mine,” Kyran brooded. The conversation was getting a little too awkward for James.
“I didn’t know you could fight,” James told Chloe. Kyran seemed to drift off into his own thoughts.
“Better than Kyran actually,” she practically sang. Kyran scoffed again.
“I don’t know how you can say such things when our fighting style varies so greatly. Chloe is a close and personal fighter. The kind that relies on brute strength while I rely on stealth and speed.”
“But if we were matched up one-on-one, who would win?”
“I hardly think that’s an appropriate question.”
“Because you already know the answer.”
“I didn’t say that. Only that the question makes no sense since we fight so differently.”
“Basically, you’re saying I’d win.”
“What do you think, James?” Kyran asked innocently. James gulped. Kyran was the last one he wanted to disagree with.
“Well…I mean, if she relies on strength, it wouldn’t take much to knock you out, but then again, if you’re faster, she might not even hit you.”
“HA!” Chloe triumphed. “I told you I’d win.”
Kyran fought back a smile as he watched Chloe laugh in victory.
“He didn’t even answer the question correctly. And you interrupted him.”
“Is there a wrong way to answer a question?” she challenged just as James heard a cough behind him. James turned to the left to see his mentor standing in the background with an amused look on his face. Apparently, he had been there for a while, and was obviously used to the endless ranting of his fellow cohorts. James laughed at the sight, wondering just how many times Arimus had witnessed such a spectacle. Chloe and Kyran straightened up but stayed at ease, waiting for Arimus to speak. Behind him stood nine recruits, also confused about the playful exchange between their superior and the “supposed” lunch-lady. Chloe nodded her head toward the Academy doors, signaling it was time to leave, and Kyran nodded in agreement. Everyone watched silently as they skulked away like children that had just been scolded.
“I didn’t know Chloe could fi—” James began, but didn’t get to finish as Arimus quickly covered his mouth.
“We’ll talk about that later.”
“Okay.”
James suddenly noticed Achan in the crowd, who in turn gave him a smirk of recognition.
“I was right,” he silently mouthed toward James who tried to maintain his composure. Arimus gently pushed James towards the group and he stood in the front row, blank-faced and confused as they awaited instructions.
“Listen intently,” Arimus stressed as he revealed a cache that he had been carrying over his shoulder. “This is your next test. The infantry examination. Now, first things first, if you decide to take this exam, you cannot quit. Once this starts, it goes to the bitter end. Should you decide to quit, and leave the group to return from the dark forest, I assure you, you will not survive long. This test is actually far more dangerous than the Sage exam due to its unpredictable outcomes. I must also add that this exam tests many things: teamwork, perseverance, loyalty, determination, and self-sacrifice, amongst others. The infantry only prevails when everyone is single-minded. While a Sage uses his own power to engage with enemies, the infantry are made of separate but equal parts of one body. The muscles, the brain, the nerves, the heart, all the way down to something like your left foot’s big toe. Every piece of the infantry serves a purpose and cannot survive on its own. No infantryman can make it without a friend by his side. This is unquestionably a team mission.
“The ten of you have been selected according to your strengths and weaknesses, to balance out the others in the group and help each other go forward. It is up to you to find out what those strengths and weaknesses are. The closer you get to one another, the longer you’ll make it. During the exam, there will be a few of the proctors from here at the Academy closely watching. Although you’ll never be aware of where they are, I cannot stress this enough: they will not save you. If they did, it would defeat the w
hole purpose of this exercise. And at the end, if you make it, you will be evaluated on whether you are able to join the infantry or not. Now, who wants to go home?”
The recruits stood there silently, no one daring to look like a coward before their superior.
“I am not joking. You can die out there. Do you understand?”
The recruits bellowed an enthusiastic “YES SIR!” and Arimus shook his head in disbelief. James knew what it meant immediately. No one would sacrifice their pride to leave the Academy in front of so many people. No one wanted to admit that they were afraid, although each of them were. There was no telling what was in the forest, and according to Arimus’s words and Kyran’s ominous foretelling, it couldn’t be pleasant.
“The test is, at first glance, simple. Here…” Arimus handed a granulated, rocky stone to one of the recruits. The stone emitted a strange, faint orange-yellow glow, and the group looked at it in awe. James thought about poking it, but decided against it.
“That is a very important stone, so your success of this mission is vital. What you have to do is transport this stone to the shrine at the end of the forest. Retrieve the stone that is in its place and bring it back here. Only if you accomplish this will your exam be a success. Also note that this is a team pass or a team fail. That is all. You have three days.”
The recruits examined each other closely as Arimus opened the courtyard doors, signaling that it was time to leave. As they strolled out through the doors one-by-one, Arimus handed each of them a medium-sized standard-issued sword to take with them. James suddenly noticed that he was the only one without a backpack full of goodies. Arimus placed his hand on James as he was the last to leave.
“I’ve got your back, James,” he said as he handed James a small knapsack. James took it shamefully as Arimus laughed.
“That is how the phrase goes, isn’t it?”
“Thanks, Arimus.”
Arimus nodded and waved good-bye as James began walking, shaking his head in irritation.Why am I even here?he asked himself as the group silently walked on, toward the bridge that led straight into the dark forest. He looked back to see if Arimus was watching, but the proctor was long gone. Sighing, James thought about whether to disappear or not when Achan put up his hand, signaling a stop in the procession. Everyone halted immediately, glancing at one another nervously. What was wrong?
“Pep talk, people,” he called out as everyone placed their teary eyes on their leader. “Now I know this is a test, and I know there was a lot of talk about life and death and impending doom and all that, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun, right?”
The recruits muttered amongst themselves. The only thing that was audible was a loud whisper from the back asking if Achan was crazy.
“I know you think I’m crazy, but I’m dead serious. This mission will be as enjoyable as you make it. Don’t get me wrong. I’m scared too, but if we just huddle around like a bunch of terrified kittens, all we’re going to do is make mistakes and get ourselves killed. We have to trust each other and rely on one another if we’re going to make it. One of us failing could result in us all failing. I’ve never been as far into the forest as we’re supposed to go. Neither have you. But you know what, we all share a common experience that the creatures in that forest would cower in fear about if they knew the truth—we’ve all faced the Sage test. Whether it was against someone in-training or not, we’ve come up against a force that is greater than anything that forest can throw at us. We’ve come up against an adversary that could sense our every movement, read our body language like an open book, and had the ability to kill us with no more than a sigh, yet we are still here. We faced our fears to persist through three whole days of agony, perseverance, and humility to come to this point. All the recruits who didn’t make it past those three days are long gone. They are quitters, and we are better off without them. So what if we’re not Sages? So what if we don’t have prestige and glory? So what?
“A vessel needs a captain, but it cannot run without its oarsmen. A business cannot strive without its employees. A king is nothing without subjects to rule over. The Sages would be nothing but fairy tales from the past if the infantry hadn’t continued to sing their praises and train new recruits. We were not born for greatness. We were not born from nobility, but as the Maker is my witness, we are the nobility. Once a person becomes a Sage, their path is declared and set for the rest of their lives, while we may go on to not only fight for and defend our Kingdom, but to also enjoy it, gaining the privilege to start families and rise as one when we are displeased. Arimus said it best, ‘we are not many, but they are few.’ The same applies here. I went through the Sage test only because I had to. This is where I belong. I wanted to be in the infantry because I needed to encourage my fellow men to know who they are, to let him know that we are just as important! So let us go into that forest and complete our mission with our heads held high and the pride of our people bellowing from our lips! We are the heart and soul of the Kingdom of Allay! We are the infantry!”
The roar of the group was deafening. James pumped his fist into the air with a renewed purpose swelling his courage and confidence. They were only ten, and ten recruits at that, but they were a vein in the heart of Allay, and they had a job to fulfill.
Achan smirked at his team in pride and waved a “let’s go" toward the forest. He was ready now. It wasn’t the forest he was afraid of, but the team he would lead. Should any one of them be so scared as to not carry out an order, the entire group could be lost, and that was what he loved about the infantry. A Sage was a loner, a vagabond that went from battle to battle under order of the King. The infantry had each other to lift their spirits and carry them through hard battles. Brothers to keep each other company. On top of that, an infantryman could fight with honor and immediately go home to his family. What more could one ask for?
Chapter 8 - Haze
“Well, this is boring,” one of the recruits sighed as he chopped a swinging branch in half. “And I was so fired up and ready to go too.”
“What’s your name, again?” Achan inquired.
“London.”
“Okay, London. Shut up.”
London snapped his head back in surprise and began to say something but decided against it. He fixed his gaze straight ahead and kept walking.
“Why do you think he scolded him?” James whispered to Rahima, a noticeably quiet girl that held the rear of the line. Achan kept telling her to move closer to the front, so that one of the men should keep the rear, but she walked so slowly, she always fell back into place. James reluctantly kept watch with her on Achan’s orders, despite wanting to talk with the leader himself.
Rahima barely said a word no matter how much James spoke, and it wasn’t long before his mind drifted to Catherine and her playful nature. If she were in the forest with them, the only downside would be that they would probably make too much noise, laughing and carrying on. James chuckled to himself despite Rahima trying to answer his question.
“London was scolded because one person affects the entire group, whether they realize it or not. London’s complaining too much. That will start making everyone else irritable, and then no one will be on alert.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” James said as he leaped over a puke-green puddle that nearly claimed his boots. He immediately realized that he had traded water in his boots for a wet slap to the face from an unseen branch that dangled over the puddle. Rahima shook her head in annoyance. She probably thought he was trying to be cute. James grunted at her response. He hoped she knew that the only reason he was in the back with her was because he had to be, and not because of her charming personality. Tyler—a pale and lanky boy with broad shoulders—kept glancing back at James with suspicious eyes, as if there were something going on between the two of them.
“I’ll be right back,” he said to Rahima, trying to move forward in the line without raising Achan’s awareness. Achan was busy explaining to Aqua the mechanics behind one of th
e other Kingdoms. James tapped the boy next to Tyler on the shoulder, but he couldn’t remember who he was. They had all given their names earlier that morning, but James had only been half-paying attention for his day dreams trying desperately to play up what it meant to be an infantryman. When Achan had spoken earlier, being an infantryman had sounded glorious, but the more James thought about it, he came closer and closer to deciding that what Achan had said was the same as trying to call someone who shoveled manure, a waste sanitation engineer. Of course it sounded prestigious, but at the end of the day, they still shoveled manure.
“Yes?” the boy asked politely as James motioned toward Rahima.
“Do you mind taking over back there? She’s driving me nuts.”
“Achan wouldn’t like you undermining anyone on the team.”
“I’m not insulting anyone, I’m just saying that…well, you know how Arimus said the team was forged based on everyone’s strengths and weaknesses? Well, I think I found our team’s weakness.” The boy laughed and scratched the back of his head.
“Alright, well, I guess I’ll walk with her.”
“I really appreciate it, uh…um…I’m James.”
“The name’s Chrillian, but thanks for trying to remember. Next time, pay attention, Larry,” the boy said as he pulled back to line up with Rahima. James laughed silently.
I wonder when it will hit him that that’s not my name.
“Everyone, hold it here,” Achan called out. The group came to a halt. James threw up his hands in defeat. Of course the group was going to stop for the night the moment he found a replacement to walk with Rahima.
“There’s going to be three recruits on guard at all times. They’ll switch off every hour. I know that three sounds like a lot, but we still haven’t encountered anything yet, and it’s better to be safe than sorry. No heroes tonight, please.”
The group began sitting in a circle as three volunteers took their posts by carefully chosen trees. Achan ordered someone to build a fire and for everyone to sleep with their sword in hand.
The Works of Julius St. Clair - 2017 Edition (Includes 3 full novels and more) Page 16