The Cavalier

by Jason McWhirter

  But it did, and in a flash. One minute he was seeing and hearing everything, and the next he was slammed back into his own mind. The conscious link he had achieved to Ty’erm was tenuous, and it had come and gone quickly. His eyes fluttered open adjusting to the morning sun that was now rising over the tall snow covered peaks. Jonas lifted his body in the air flipping down into the sitting position that Kiln had taught him, both legs crossed and his back straight. He was looking right at a smiling Kiln who was sitting similarly.

  “You were out for quite some time,” Kiln said.

  “Really? It didn’t feel like it. I felt like I could barely hold on to it.”

  “You will have more control as you practice,” Kiln promised.

  “It was amazing, Kiln. I did it. Not for very long, but I did it! It was the most incredible feeling,” Jonas said excitedly.

  “I know. Wait until you can do it at will. We will keep practicing, Jonas. You have done well.”

  “Thank you, sir, for teaching me,” Jonas replied, his eyes sparkling with joy.

  ***

  Many weeks went by, but for Jonas it felt like he had lived with this group of men his entire life. He felt so at home with these men that it was hard for him to imagine not being with them.

  Kiln stepped up his training and they began to use practice swords. Kiln did not believe in using wooden swords for he felt they did not have the weight and feel of a real blade. Kiln and his men trained often and they had long ago taken two swords and dulled the edges and blunted the tips so that they might use real steel.

  Dagrinal was right, there is always someone better. Kiln was the most incredible swordsman he had ever seen. Jonas was not sure that even Allindrian could beat him. Kiln fought with sword and dagger for he was ambidextrous, just like Jonas. Kiln urged him to spar with two weapons, which of course, was much more tiring and difficult. Learning to fight with two blades was like starting all over again. They would spend every morning running, stretching, and meditating, while the afternoons were spent working the farm and tending to the cattle. The evenings were used for sword play, which Jonas enjoyed the most. He excelled quickly. His tenacity and drive to work as hard as he could pushed him to gain new abilities and skill. Jonas learned quickly and after a year of training he could best everyone, except Kiln.

  ***

  It was a cold night and Jonas, Kiln, Lambeck, Diomond, and Anders all sat by Kiln’s hearth sipping a thick coffee from Annure. They could only get the coffee once a year when Kiln’s men made the long trip, so it was rationed out sparingly, usually on cold winter nights. The rest of the men were already in their cabins tucked into their warm beds.

  Jonas had yet to bring up the fact that he was a cognivant. He had enough on his mind already without trying to worry about that, but he felt that this was the time to talk about it, and maybe these men would know something about it that might help him.

  “Sir, do you know anything about cognivants?” Jonas asked.

  Everyone looked at Jonas, wondering what would bring up a question like that. Kiln took a sip of his coffee and said, “Why?”

  “Well…” Jonas paused taking a sip of the warm black drink. He had always been direct and truthful so he figured why stop now. “I am one.”

  “What! You’re a cognivant?” asked Lambeck skeptically.

  “I am. I found out during the fight with the giants last season.”

  “How did you learn this?” asked Kiln, now interested.

  “I stopped one of their clubs in mid-air and forced it back into its face,” Jonas replied, remembering back to the fight.

  Kiln took another long sip of his coffee while the other men looked at Jonas with wonder.

  “What else can you do?” asked Diomond.

  “I don’t know. I haven’t tried anything. I was hoping that someone might know something about it. I’m not really sure what it is.”

  “Cognivants are called IshMians by the elves. They are extremely rare and they can be very powerful. This is indeed a useful weapon if you are so gifted,” Kiln said.

  “Try to move something,” Ballic suggested.

  “I don’t know. I have never tried it since the battle, and that just sort of happened,” replied Jonas taking another sip of his coffee.

  “Move my cup,” Kiln said, setting his empty cup on the table.

  “Really, you want me to try?”

  “How else will you know what you can do?”

  “Okay, I’ll try,” Jonas said, setting his mug down and staring at Kiln’s cup across the table. He slowed his breathing, concentrating on the mug of coffee. He imagined the cup lifting in the air. He kept looking at it but nothing happened.

  “Look at the cup and imagine that you are actually lifting it. Pretend that your hand is touching it, and that you can lift it. Try again,” ordered Kiln.

  “Okay.” Jonas thought back to the fight with the giants and tried to remember how it happened. He and his friends were in danger, and it was the threat that awoke the power within him. He thought about what it felt like, and what he saw in his mind’s eye when the power erupted.

  Jonas looked again at the cup, visualizing his hand reaching across the table and touching the mug. He slowed his breathing down like he had been taught and focused on the energy to lift the cup. In a flash he could see in his mind the energy between him and the cup, and he could touch the energy with his mind. It was a strange realization as Jonas suddenly made sense of what he was seeing. Everything around him was made up of the same energy, everything was touching everything. With that thought in mind he lifted the cup in the air holding it two feet above the table. The four men looked on with eyes wide.

  “Now, move it about the room,” ordered Kiln quietly.

  Jonas concentrated on the connection between his mind and the cup. In his mind’s eye the link was energy that he could actually see, just like he did during the fight with the giants. Jonas knew that no one else could see the link, but he could.

  Jonas’s head began to ache slightly as he concentrated on the spinning mug. He spun the cup through the air easily. It whipped around the room with great speed before he brought it right above Diomond’s head.

  “Don’t even think about it, Jonas,” Diomond said playfully as he kept his eyes on the cup above him.

  Jonas smiled and set the cup back down on the table. He had a slight headache and he absently reached up to rub his temples. Everyone looked at Jonas and grinned with excitement. It was infectious and so he forgot about the minor headache and smiled back.

  “Gentlemen, we are in the presence of an IshMian,” declared Kiln grandly as if he were introducing royalty.

  ***

  The wound in the Greever’s chest had healed, but it had taken a long time. The beast would not forget that magical axe that had cut through its muscle and bone. It had been a long while since the demon felt that kind of pain, but it would take more than that to stop the hunter. The demon feared nothing, except for its master, Gould the Tormenter.

  The Greever also knew that the man who had summoned him, if you could call Malbeck a man, was Gould’s general in this world. The beast knew that its master had plans for this pitiful plane of existence, and that this powerful man, or demonoid, for he was definitely part of the evil that created him, was its master’s link to this land called Kraawn.

  Malbeck was furious that the Greever had not accomplished its task. But instead of sending the demon back to finish the hunt, he had sent the Greever on another hunt, one that it relished. This new task promised the beast plenty of blood; blood that tasted better than most since it pulsed with the white light of the Ru’Ach. The demon loved the feeling of that pure light being extinguished by its claws and teeth. These were hunts worthy of its powers.

  ***

  “Alright, Jonas, try and stop the rocks as we throw them!” yelled Lambeck as he and Kiln gathered up a handful of stones about thirty paces away.

  “Okay!” Jonas yelled back beginning to calm his mi
nd. It was easy for Jonas to concentrate on one stone and stop it, but it got more difficult when he had to concentrate on several.

  They had been practicing his IshMian skills trying to figure out the extent of his power. They had learned quickly that it was a skill, something that required practice and mental strength. They also learned that his power was also tied to his ability to enter Ty’erm. As that skill progressed, so did his IshMian powers. It was like his brain was a muscle, the more he used it the more power he could draw upon. Any expenditure of this power caused him headaches, and the greater the use of the power, the greater the severity of the pain. It was difficult to do it quickly but he was getting stronger and faster the more he practiced.

  Jonas had learned the hard way that if he tried to focus on each object individually that he couldn’t stop them all. He still had several bruises on his body from stones that made it through his mental barrier. Jonas had learned that he could actually create an invisible wall of energy that could block a larger amount of objects. It was a strange feeling for Jonas, one that he couldn’t really explain. He began to learn things about the world that were strange concepts to him. In his mind’s eye he could see that everything had its own energy, including the air that connected everything together. Jonas thought that he must be actually seeing the Ru’Ach, the energy of all things. That is how he could control objects and even people, he learned. With his mind he could actually touch everything around him. The farther away the object, the harder it was, the more objects there were, the harder it was. The more powerful the person, the harder they were to control, which caused more severe headaches. If he used his skills for a long duration, or concentrated heavily on something large or far away, it would also cause him severe headaches. They got so bad a few times that he collapsed in pain, his head swimming with dizziness. It was a powerful skill but not without its drawbacks.

  The rocks flew in quickly, one after the other. Jonas held up his hand and concentrated on creating an invisible wall of energy. In his mind’s eye the particles in the air in front of him spun into a translucent wall of force, and the rocks smacked against it silently to fall to the ground. He could have held them in the air but it would have taken more energy, and caused a more painful headache. The rocks kept flying and Jonas continued to hold up the energy barrier.

  Jonas smiled inwardly, thinking back at the rocks that had broken through his barriers in the past, and came up with an idea. He concentrated harder as more rocks flew at him. He held a handful in the air until Kiln and Lambeck exhausted their collection. It was a strange sight to see ten rocks floating in the air as if they were stuck in something. Jonas smiled outwardly sending a burst of energy into the rocks. They bolted back towards Lambeck and Kiln like they were flung from a sling. He could have directed the rocks anywhere he wanted, but he didn’t want to cause them too much pain.

  The look on their surprised faces was payback enough when the rocks flew back towards them. They both turned covering their heads as the rocks landed around them. One hit Lambeck in the leg and a second smacked hard into Kiln’s back. Jonas laughed out loud at the two men who were cowering like children.

  “They sting, don’t they?” laughed Jonas as both the men stood up glaring at him. Soon his laughter was contagious and both men were fighting back smiles trying unsuccessfully to look mad. Jonas’s head ached from the exertion but it didn’t stop him from losing himself in laughter. It had been a long time since he laughed like this and it felt good. It wasn’t long before everyone was laughing, the sound bringing warmth to the chilly mountain air.

  Jonas continued to work on his skills as a cognivant, and his training with Kiln and Lambeck progressed daily. He continued to grow in strength and confidence. His body was lean and hard; any residual fat long ago burned from his muscled frame. He could now fight for a long while before Kiln was able to score a hit with either of his blades.

  Jonas had thought himself good with a bow, but after training with Lambeck he realized that he was just a novice. Lambeck continued to teach him how to track and survive in the wilderness and how to shoot with speed and accuracy. He had set up a training course for Jonas to help sharpen his skills. There was a trail through a thick neck of woods near their home and it was here that the archer set up a shooting course. He made human targets out of old clothes and straw and positioned them in various concealed locations. He was able to rig a couple to spring up on bent sticks that he would trigger by releasing various ropes. They were crude set ups but they were adequate enough for the element of surprise.

  But for other simulations he had Ballic, Anders, Wil, and Cormac help by positioning themselves behind various large trees, randomly holding out training dummies as Jonas moved through the course. They complained bitterly about the job, not thinking it wise to be holding targets for Jonas’s arrows.

  “What if he misses?” asked Ballic as he reluctantly took position behind a nearby tree. He held a crude bust of a man on the end of a long thick stick.

  Lambeck laughed handing Cormac his dummy. “Keep your arm behind the tree and it won’t matter.”

  “Easy for you to say since you’ll be safely out of the way,” muttered Ballic.

  “Don’t worry, the arrows don’t have barbs so we can withdraw them easily enough,” Lambeck said, continuing to goad the young men.

  Lambeck got everyone positioned behind various trees and bushes and ran back to where Jonas was waiting at the head of the trail. “Okay, Jonas, nock an arrow and proceed when I yell it’s okay. I’m going to get in position now.”

  “Very well,” Jonas said, adjusting the quiver on his back.

  “Remember, quick shots. Do not wait to aim. Practice on visualizing the target and releasing the shaft in easy fluid movements.”

  “Okay, I’m ready.”

  With that Lambeck ran back down the trail taking up position behind some bushes. He had three different lengths of ropes on pulleys that all converged on his position. He could release any rope at any time and a dummy would spring up along the trail near Jonas.

  Jonas lightly moved down the trail, an arrow nocked and angled to the side, eyes searching the area for targets. It was only a sloppy training course, but nonetheless Jonas’s pulse began to race and his heart was pounding in his chest. He took several deep breaths trying to calm his nerves. And of course that is when the first dummy sprang up behind some bushes.

  Jonas pivoted smoothly to the right, drawing back the string and firing quickly at the moving target. Since the bust was on a bent stick it continued to sway back and forth after it was released. Jonas’s arrow seemed to be on target but the dummy was shaking so badly that it missed it by a finger’s length. Jonas swore softly, quickly drawing another arrow and launching it towards the target again.

  Just as he released the second shaft he heard movement to his left. He kept moving forward as he drew again, pivoting to his left and finding his target. He released the shaft, shuffling forward to take cover behind a tree. He knew that in a real combat situation the enemy might be returning fire and that it was important to take cover when it was available.

  Lambeck had taught him to always move, always look for cover. Never stay in one spot, even if it was only a few feet to the left or right. If you are stationary you offer an easy target for an enemy. Sometimes the difference between life and death was just inches.

  Jonas glanced back at his first target noticing that his second arrow was embedded in the dummy’s chest. He drew another shaft, nocking it quickly before stepping from behind the tree and moving quickly but surely down the trail. The second target he had hit swayed gently back and forth and Jonas noticed that his arrow had stuck into a wood branch under the bust. He swore softly as it was not a killing shot. It would have hit a man in the groin or a leg, enough to maim him temporarily, but not necessarily enough to take him out of the fight.

  But Jonas had gotten control of his nerves. He was focused, his heart beat smoothly, and his bow arm was steady. Slowly he bre
athed, his eyes scanning the forest in front of him like those of a hunting cat.

  Right in front of him, no more than five paces away, sprung a third dummy. Jonas drew back firing just before he dived to his right over his shoulder so he wouldn’t damage his bow. In the real world an enemy that close would surely have a weapon with which to fire, so any hesitation would have cost Jonas his life. His aim was true and his arrow hit the bust dead center, penetrating all the way through and disappearing into the woods.

  But Jonas didn’t have time to relish his skill as the two trees in front of him came alive with movement. He noticed two different dummies peek out from behind the tree. They did not extend very far from the protective cover of the tree, which caused Jonas to chuckle slightly as he thought of the complaints from Ballick and the rest of the men who were charged with holding the dummies.

  Jonas fired quickly, shuffling forward so as not to stay stationary, and drawing another arrow. His first arrow took the closest dummy in the face, but just as Jonas fired his second arrow the last dummy ducked back again behind the safety of the tree. Jonas’s arrow flew by harmlessly as the dummy popped back out on the other side. But Jonas had already strung and drawn back a third arrow just as the dummy reappeared. Jonas’s bow twanged as the shaft was released. The range was close and the arrow slammed into the bust knocking it from the grasp of whoever held it. Jonas heard a surprised yelp from someone behind the tree and he guessed it was Anders.

  Then Jonas heard a screaming charge from behind him.

  Jonas spun, simultaneously drawing another shaft, and saw a wooden bust of a man running at him with all speed. The dummy was made of planks of wood and it came complete with outstretched arms, legs, and even a head. It was made extra wide so the person holding the dummy from behind was completely shielded.