He took it back and stared at the page. "Why? What's wrong with it?"
"I can't read it." I looked at his face. "Oh! Did you write it? I'm sorry. I can't read that. Were you a doctor in another life or something?"
He laughed at that. "No, sorry. No doctor."
Finally, we got down to work. He read out the subjects, and I jotted them down. When he was finished, I stared at the list of subjects and frowned. "Why does Keogh want the guys to learn all this?" Nothing made sense to me. The subjects seemed to be random mish mash. I couldn't even find any kind of pattern. "I mean why would vampires ever need to know about colours? Or… the History of Magic, and… witchcraft?" I shook my head in disbelief. I had to try and create lesson plans on witchcraft? How the hell was I going to do that? And the History of Magic? For real?
"It's important to know the history of anything and everything relevant to Serentis being the Keeper… The Flames… and other potential risks. We might encounter none of what we study, but without the history… you can't learn and prepare for something that could happen. We could be doomed into making the same wrong choices."
"Okay. So you're saying that you need to study witchcraft, in case you… what? Come across a witch?" I laughed. It all sounded so weird. Even talking about it was making my skin crawl.
"Yes," Diego replied. "That's correct."
My head swung slowly towards him. "Do you mean to tell me that there are such things as witches and wizards?"
"Of course there is. Haven't you ever read the ancient books of magic? Haven't you read about the witch trials?"
"Yes. Of course I have. But the witches weren't really witches. The rumour is they used that excuse of witchcraft to get rid of whoever they wanted to."
"Then how do you explain some of the weird things that have happened?"
I stared at him in confusion. "Like what?" Where was he going with this? Was he trying to prove that witches were real?
"Witches have been around since early times," he began. "Some witches were simply natural healers. Some used herbs that cured people, and therefore they were called witches."
I understood that. I'd read about that.
"Even in the bible, in the book of 1 Samuel. It tells the story of King Saul and how he sought out the Witch of Endor to summon a dead prophet."
I blinked. "Wow!" I hadn't heard that.
"Most witches perform using… I suppose you could call them prayers. To some people that's what they are. To others," he shrugged, "It's witchcraft."
"So how will studying the history of witches help vampires guard Serentis and Alex?"
"Okay. Let me put it this way. Suppose you're guarding Alex and a woman dressed all in black appears before you. She's dressed all in black, even has a pointed hat."
I laughed and nodded. "Okay. Go on."
Diego grinned and then continued. "So this witch appears right. She reaches into a pouch, pulls out her hand and throws stardust in your eyes and tells you to sleep."
I laughed out loud.
"Right," Diego said. "You're laughing. Now supposed it's the middle of the night. The witch appeared in front of you as if by magic. She throws the stardust. Tells you to sleep and what… What will you as a guard do?"
I thought about it. Then said. "Well, I suppose I'd wave the stardust away first and then…"
"Ah…" Diego said. "What if you believe in witchcraft?"
I stared blankly at him. "Um…"
He nodded. "That's what I'm talking about. Some of these vampires grew up with the knowledge that witches were real." He leant in closer to me and whispered, "They saw weird things happen that they can't explain. They were there during the witch trials. They saw witches tested and failed. Now think about the scenario of the witch suddenly appearing and throwing the stardust."
I gaped at him. "You mean they would believe it's a real witch and what… fall asleep?"
He nodded. "Yes. Some would fall to the floor. It may take them a few minutes to realise they were still awake. But they would assume they were strong enough to fight off the stardust. In those couple of minutes, Alex would be dead."
I shivered at the mention of Alex being killed. I thought about what he'd said. It could happen like that. I had to remember these vampires had been alive for many years. They'd come to accept the old ways as real. I realised it was going to a bit to convince them otherwise.
I looked back down at the list of subjects. "Okay, I can understand the history of witches… but what about colours? Why is it important to study colours? How will that help them?"
Diego nodded, then began explaining.
"Colours are important to know because they impact everything around you. For example, did you know certain colours affect your emotions? Colours can affect anxiety, your pulse, blood flow even arousal," he whispered.
I knew my mouth was open as I stared at him. "Wow! Okay. I get that colours can affect you… but how does colours relate to protecting Serentis and Alex?"
"Okay," Diego said. "Let me put it this way. The colour red signifies passion… but it also invokes the fight-or-flight response."
"Huh!" I thought about what he'd just said. "So… if the vampires are fighting people dressed in red, it could either make them fight harder or flee?"
Diego nodded. "That's correct. Now… if we're fighting people dressed in yellow… it could put us all to sleep."
I laughed. "I can't see that happening."
Diego shrugged but didn't answer.
I thought about what he'd just said. "So learning the colours will help them the vampires be aware of how their emotions are being affected."
Diego grinned. "Yes."
I nodded. "Okay. I got that."
"Have you ever heard of the Stroop Effect?"
I shook my head. "No. What is it?"
"Basically, if you see a group of words written in front of you… for example… the first word is green. Right?"
I nodded.
"Okay. Now suppose the word green is written using a blue pen."
I frowned.
"Now when a person goes to say that word… will they say green or blue?"
"Huh!"
"The same as if you the word is white. The word is written using a blue pen. What word do you say aloud?"
"The stroop effect huh?" I jotted it down on my pad. That would be something I would definately look up.
"Okay. You've convinced me."
"So you're not going to run screaming from the room in case a horde of vampire's attack you now?"
I laughed. "Not right now. Maybe later."
Diego threw his head back and laughed out loud.
I became mesmerised in his face.
He snapped his fingers in front of me.
I jerked back. "Sorry. Got carried away."
He laughed. "So. Where are we up to now?"
I sighed and looked back at my pad. It had notes all over it. I really hoped I'd be able to understand it all later.
We spent the next couple of hours working on the subjects and trying to get a better grasp on what was needed… and in what order. I began to realise this was going to be a huge undertaking. It was not going to be something I could do in a couple of hours.
I stretched my arms above my head as Diego read out the next subject. "War strategy? How are we supposed to teach war strategy?"
"That's easy," Diego looked over at me. "We'll need to consider both theory and practical. You won't be involved in the practical though."
That was a relief. I was beginning to panic about training these guys with swords. I couldn't even imagine myself holding a sword, let alone training someone with one.
"Regarding the theory of war strategy… to put it bluntly, I think we can use a popular book as a general reference. I'm considering 'The Art of War'."
"Oh, yeah. I know that one." I jotted down the book name. "So, how are we going to teach that?"
"Well, I thought the best way would be to analyse battles from history."
I frowned. "You mean like the world wars?"
He nodded. "Maybe down the track. But first I suggest we consider some of the earlier battles."
"Earlier battles? Have you got any in mind that you're referring to?"
"Come on, I'll show you."
Janey
Diego got up and began walking out of the room. I rose too and followed him as he walked through doorways, and large rooms, that I had no idea what they were here for.
"Oh, my God! This place is huge!" I was falling behind as I gazed at the wonders around me. I'd never seen such an enormous house.
"Yeah, we're still investigating parts of it. I can't even tell you how many rooms there are, or even how many levels."
"Levels?"
"Yeah, there are more levels underground."
"Wow!"
He stopped at a doorway to a small room. I just about ran into him as my eyes were staring at the surrounding wonders. Inside, I could see a desk, a chair and a computer. Nothing else. The computer looked like someone already set it up. He sat in the chair and looked at me. "Sorry, there's only one chair in here. I'll have to get another one brought in."
"Don't worry about it. It's fine," I told him. I appreciate the stretching. I've been sitting for too long, anyway." After sitting for hours, my body was cramping. It felt good to stretch my arms and legs and get the blood circulating again. I watched as he opened up a web browser and tapped on the keyboard.
After a few minutes, he showed me three sites. The first one detailed seven classical maneuvers of war. And then went onto explain each one. The first one referred to penetration of the centre. My mind focused on the word penetration and my thoughts drifted. My thoughts, along with my eyes, shot over to look at Diego. I had a sudden visual of him lying above me.
I must've made a sound or something, because Diego stopped explaining. He turned his head and looked at me. "Later, if you want to, we can."
I gaped at him as my face resembled the colour of beetroot. I could feel the heat growing on my cheeks.
He laughed and continued explaining the sites he found.
I forced myself to forget the visual imagery and concentrated on his words.
The second site he found was in strategy and tactics. This site explained that tactics is the art of using troops in battle. Strategy is the art of using battles to win the war.
The third site was detailed knowledge of offensive strategy, defensive strategy and strategic concepts.
"These are just three sites." He turned his head to look at me. "It shouldn't take us long to find more. And, look at this."
He turned back to the keyboard and tapped it again. This brought up another site. "Look at this one. This battle happened on Friday, 25 October in 1415. It's known as the Battle of Agincourt. And look, here," he pointed to an area on the screen. "Here, it lists the numbers of people in the attack. It says there were about ten thousand knights and men-at-arms. It also says there are seven accounts of the battle and that three are from eyewitnesses. And look here," he was tapping on the screen again.
It wouldn't take a brain surgeon to see that showing me detailed knowledge of battles excited him.
"See here," Diego continued. "It explains the strategy that was used, the opening moves in the assault. Do you see where I'm going with this?" He turned his face to look at me expectantly.
His eyes were almost glowing with pleasure. His excitement was growing by the second. I'd never been involved in war of any kind. I had always considered it a waste of lives. "So, how could we teach this?"
"Well first, we'd need to research the battles. Pick some that are worth studying. By that I mean we can find enough information to set out a brief. Plan it like the attack has never happened. Then get the students, in groups, to strategise the battle plans and see how that compares with what happened. You never know, some students might come up with something different from what happened. We'll also need to consider weapons. I mean, back then, the weapons they were using were primitive, compared to what we have now. I think they had swords along with bows and arrows. Maybe we could arrange training on using those weapons as well?"
And… I'd lost him. "Diego!"
He stopped talking and looked at me. "Sorry, I'm getting carried away."
I laughed. "You think?" I paced around the room, thinking about how we could do this. "Okay, this will take a lot of research. Neither of us will have that kind of time. We need others to do this."
He looked at me as if I had stuck a pin in his balloon. "That will be difficult."
"Why?"
"Well, we can't use anyone here because they will all be students in training. So they can't research what they'll be learning."
"So we need outside people. We'll need to get outside people anyway, to teach some subjects."
He shook his head. "That brings in security concerns."
"Okay, we'll have to think up something, though. Someone has to teach it. I don't have the skill set necessary to do it. Let's leave this for now and go back to the other room and go over more of the subjects."
As we walked back, I pondered over what we'd discussed. "What will we use for an assessment then?"
Diego looked over at me. "What?"
"Well, if we have war strategy training, there has to be assessments. What do you think we can do for an assessment?"
"Oh well, we could have teams. Teams to reenact a battle."
"What, you mean a physical assessment with real weapons?"
Diego nodded. "Why not? They would need to understand the topic to do the assessment. It's a great way to test what they've learned. It's not like they'll get killed, or anything. They're vampires. We're tough to kill."
"You won't be that tough to kill if they use bows and arrows. I imagine a wooden arrow through the heart would end most vampires?"
He looked over at me as if he hadn't contemplated that possibility. "Well, yeah, I guess a wooden arrow through the heart would end anyone, including humans. Okay, we might have to consider some protective gear."
I laughed. Diego hadn't given this idea much thought at all. But if he wanted the assessments, it was something he really was going to have to consider.
Janey
We'd filled the table with sheets and sheets of paper.
"Okay, where are we going to get information for these subjects? I mean, there's one subject here entitled 'The History of the Demon Realm.' Do you know of anyone who's been to the Demon Realm? Because, believe me, I have never been there, so have no idea what's there."
Diego looked at the paper and then back at me. "No. But there are quite a lot of books in the library on the demon realm."
I gaped at him in disbelief. I was pretty sure my mouth was hanging open. "You're kidding?"
He shook his head.
"Wow! Can I take some books home to read?" My mind went off on a tangent. I loved reading. Had done since I was a child. I suppose that's why I ended up being a librarian. But I'd never seen books on demons or the demon realm before. I was looking forward to researching them for this course. I couldn't even imagine what would be in a book on the Demon Realm. But, it would certainly be interesting reading.
"Go for it. Just don't take them all. We need some here for research."
I nodded.
"How about we break for a while?" Diego suggested.
I dropped my pen onto the table and I brought my fingers up to rub my eyes. I glanced at my watch and freaked out at the time. We'd been at it for hours. But there was still so much more we had to do.
"Come on, Janey. It's the first day. We can take a break."
I nodded as I rubbed my eyes again. "Yes, I suppose we can. I just need to figure out this last bit, first." I picked up the pen I dropped and focused my attention on the paper in front of me. "Then I can stop for a while."
"What are you working on?"
"I'm trying to figure out the overall goals of the course. All I've got so far is to create super-soldiers."
Diego no
dded. "Yep."
"Well, what next? Super-soldiers who can fight? That sounds redundant."
"Okay, what about super-soldiers who can fight both mentally and physically?"
I nodded. "Okay, I can go with that. Super-soldiers who can fight both mentally and physically... but why?"
"Why, what?"
"Why are they going to fight both mentally and physically? Why are they learning to fight? What is their end goal with this fighting?"
"I see where you're coming from. Okay, give me a second."
I watched as Diego got to his feet and paced back and forth in front of the table. He was muttering to himself as he paced. I watched him pace. His head was looking down but, his back was straight. I noticed again just how tall he was. Every time he turned to pace back, his long black hair which was hanging down his back in a tight ponytail, would flick out behind him. He gave the impression he was in constant motion. Every part of him.
"I've got it!" he jerked around and faced me.
I jumped in my seat. I had been so intent on watching him, I'd forgotten the aim of him pacing. He leaned over the table, in front of me. "What is it?"
"Super-soldiers who can fight, both mentally and physically, to overcome any supernatural challenges."
"Huh!"
"Well?" he edged back a little but still looked at me.
I used those seconds to comprehend the words he said. "I like it." The meaning of his words was becoming clearer. "Though, would humans attack Serentis for any reason?"
"Well, humans will attack vampires. There have been many instances throughout history. I've never heard of humans attacking The Keeper of the Flames and Veil, though, and that's the focus this training is supposed to prevent."
"Okay, fair point. Say it all again."
"Super-soldiers who can fight, both mentally and physically, to overcome any supernatural challenges."
My hand scribbled it down on the page. I lifted my eyes to look at Diego. "Should it be vampires?"
"What?"
I looked back down at my notes. "Well, shouldn't it be vampires who can fight. It will be vampires in the classes, won't it?"
The Demon Realm Page 4