RHEN

by Charity Kelly

  “You’re not good enough to fight with weapons yet, Tgfhi,” Ceceta said.

  Tgfhi’s horrified expression to her comment made his friends laugh.

  That night, during the B.A.C. meeting, most of the male students in the room pressured Rhen into including them in his fight class. Charlie’s friend Stanley was the worst. He fell on the ground in front of Rhen, tears streaming down his face while he begged Rhen to teach him how to fight. When Rhen said, ‘alright’, the room erupted with cheers.

  Rhen arrived at the stadium the next day to find half of the student body milling about in the center of the main field. “No way,” he said, turning to walk back towards the main school building.

  “Oh, no you don’t,” Tgfhi told him. He grabbed Rhen’s arm and pulled him back towards the stadium. “You promised to teach all of us last night. Now you have to deliver.”

  Shaking his head with dismay, Rhen mounted the stairs to the stage in the front, lower section of the stadium. As he walked towards the microphone, he noticed most of the Thestran Royal Family in the audience, as well as a few elves, wearing what appeared to be military uniforms. An elfin army? he thought before laughing at the idea. Rhen turned away from the microphone, but not before everyone had heard him laughing at them. When he had gotten himself under control, Rhen faced his ‘students’.

  “You are the sorriest bunch of losers I’ve ever had to train. If you were Surpens, I’d kick your butts out of here and go to lunch. Pathetic.”

  The stadium was silent. Tgfhi was shocked. He wasn’t used to being on this side of Rhen.

  “This is going to take some time,” Rhen murmured. He glanced at the faces in front of him. “I’ve taught Surpens how to fight for years, but we use our skills daily. I can’t understand why most of you would want to learn how to fight? Your soldiers have been trained to do your killing for you.”

  Rhen sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I require my men to be flexible. In battle, flexibility can mean the difference between victory and failure. Why don’t we start by seeing how flexible you are? Can you touch the ground in front of you, without bending your knees?” Rhen watched as his students struggled to touch the ground. Most of them couldn’t even touch their shins. “Well, I guess you have your homework for tonight. Those of you who can touch the ground, move over to my right. The rest of you move to the left.”

  “For the students on my left, pair up and follow my movements.” Rhen turned and handed Tgfhi one of his battle swords. “Attack me.”

  “Really?” Tgfhi asked. He held up the sword to admire its shine. “You want me to strike you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Ok.” Tgfhi rushed forward, but Rhen stepped out of his path. Miscalculating his speed, Tgfhi ran several steps past Rhen before he could stop himself. Rhen laughed at him.

  Flushed with embarrassment, Tgfhi turned and raced back towards Rhen, with the sword held high. Rhen spun around, when Tgfhi tried to bring the sword down on top of him. He knocked the weapon out of Tgfhi’s hands and twisted Tgfhi’s arm backwards, causing Tgfhi to bend over in pain. “That’s the move,” Rhen told his students. “Try to catch your partner’s arm and twist it behind them in this manner. Practice amongst yourselves. One of you attack, the other defend. Then switch off.” Rhen released Tgfhi and tapped him on the back. His gesture made Tgfhi feel better. There was no shame in being bested by the best fighter in the Universe.

  Pointing towards the right side of the field, Rhen said, “Okay. Let’s see how flexible you really are. Follow my movements. If you can’t do them, move to the middle of the field.” Rhen glanced back at Tgfhi. “Did you touch your toes?” Tgfhi smiled and nodded. “Good,” Rhen said, sounding pleased. “Now, follow along.”

  Rhen reached down to put his palms on the ground. He kicked his legs up, so he was in a handstand, flipped over backwards into a backbend and stood up again. Only half of the students on the right could follow his movements. Rhen laughed at the sight of the students sprawled on the ground in defeat. Like most of them, Tgfhi got into the backbend but couldn’t get himself back up. “Work on that,” Rhen told Tgfhi.

  Turning, Rhen pointed at the remaining 35 students. “Let’s have some fun, shall we?” He jumped up, did a back flip in the air and landed on his feet. Five students succeeded. Rhen winked at Tgfhi and then did a front flip. Only three students were able to follow him. “Okay,” Rhen said, pointing at the remaining students. “You can join Surpen’s military. The rest of you are fired.” Rhen laughed and motioned for the three students to come up onto the stage. Rhen demonstrated a defensive move for the students in the middle and right sides of the stadium to practice then turned to greet the students, who had arrived on stage.

  “What’re your names?” he asked.

  “I’m Jack,” a young, brown-haired, blue-eyed elf said, putting out his hand to shake. Rhen looked at Jack’s hand and saluted. He had never gotten used to the Thestran’s habit of touching hands in greeting. Jack was wearing a white t-shirt that had the words ‘Air Elves Shine Brighter’ on it, so Rhen knew which tribe he was from. He nodded at the two elves standing beside Jack. “And you?” he asked. The man had brown hair that was streaked with blond highlights and light blue eyes, while the woman had long black hair and green eyes. She reminded him of Sage. Rhen guessed she was a Water Elf.

  “I’m Aaron and this is Sarah,” Aaron said, pointing at Sarah.

  “Nice to meet you.” Rhen took in Aaron’s well-developed muscles. “You don’t go to the University, do you?”

  “No,” Jack admitted, answering Rhen’s question for Aaron. “I’m too young and Aaron and Sarah have already graduated.”

  Rhen had figured as much. Aaron’s facial features and muscles fit those of someone in their mid-twenties, not a student at the University. “How did you find out about my class?” Rhen asked.

  “We heard about it from Charlie. He told everyone you’d be teaching a fight class,” Aaron told him.

  “Charlie,” Rhen hissed, through clenched teeth. Of course, it would be Charlie.

  Pointing at Aaron and Sarah, Rhen said, “You two pair up and Jack, you get Tgfhi.” He showed them a defensive move then told them to practice. Turning, Rhen jumped off the stage and made his way over towards the first group of students, who couldn’t touch the floor. He walked amongst them, giving advice and helping them with the moves they were practicing. Rhen showed the students different techniques that would work better for their size and shifted them around into proper groups.

  When he was finished, Rhen moved over to the other groups, repeating what he had done with the first group. He then returned to the stage, where he fought with Aaron, Jack, Sarah and Tgfhi. Rhen took one more trip around the field before the end of class then instructed his students to remember the group they were in for tomorrow’s lesson and left to meet Ceceta.

  Tgfhi caught up to Rhen as he entered the University. “That was awesome! We get to do that every day?” he asked.

  “You get to do it twice a day.”

  “What?” Tgfhi asked.

  “I promised your father I would teach you how to fight. If I’m going to do that, we need to work on it twice a day.” He climbed the stairs towards the dining hall. When they reached the student dining hall, Rhen went over to their table, as Tgfhi joined the lunch line.

  “So,” Ceceta asked, when Rhen sat down across from her on the bench. “How was it?”

  “Yeah,” Latsoh said. “We were watching you from the windows of math class. It looked like fun. How did all of those students get time off to attend your class?”

  Rhen shrugged. He didn’t feel like talking, because most of the Thestran Royal Family was walking towards him with trays of food. They sat down around him, chatting about his class. “Nice class,” Reed complimented.

  “Yes,” Lilly said. “It was a lot of work, but you didn’t feel like you were working.”

  “I loved it,” Rachel told Rhen. “I can’t wait to do it again tomorrow.�
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  Rhen nodded his thanks.

  When Tgfhi entered the room, he found there weren’t any seats available for him at his usual table. He approached his friends with his green plastic tray in hand and stood beside the table looking morose. Crystam tried to move over to make room for him. Tgfhi would’ve fit in the space she’d freed up, if he hadn’t of grown. He was too big now. “I guess I’ll catch you guys later,” he said, walking over to another table to sit with some kids he knew from his Chemistry class.

  Rhen felt the Headmaster’s hand on his shoulder. “I hear you’ve decided to teach a fighting class after all. Thank you. I understand your first class was amazing. Everyone is talking about it.” Rhen nodded. “I knew it would be successful, but I didn’t realize how popular it was going to be. I’m afraid we have to change the time of your class. It seems too many students want to take it. I’ve just had complaints from every teacher at the University. Most of their students skipped class today or stared out the window, watching your class. Would you mind if we moved the time of your class to right after dinner?”

  “No,” Rhen told him.

  “No?” the Headmaster asked. “No, you don’t mind or no, we can’t move the time of your class?”

  “Can’t fight on a full stomach,” Rhen told him. He lifted his fork to his mouth, a piece of raw meat dangling from the end.

  “Oh, yes, of course, you’re right. Sorry. How about before breakfast? First thing in the morning?”

  Rhen shook his head. “Surpen prayers,” he told the Headmaster, after swallowing.

  Professor Dewey had forgotten that Rhen was a religious man. “What if we did it right after your prayers? You usually work out for two hours before your prayers, right? Will you be too tired to teach in the morning after your prayers?” Rhen snorted. It was all the approval Professor Dewey needed. “Great, we’ll move your class to first thing in the morning, before breakfast. We’ll just delay the school day by one hour. I’m sure the teachers will be happy to hear that.”

  As the Headmaster returned to his office, he noticed groups of elves wearing military clothing practicing defensive moves on the school lawn and wondered about the logistics of charging them for taking one course.

  That night, Rhen showed Tgfhi some fighting techniques in his apartment. They wrestled over and over, until Tgfhi was panting with exhaustion and Crystam yelled at Rhen to let Tgfhi study, because he had a test tomorrow. “We’ll practice every night during study group,” Rhen told Tgfhi. “In time, you’ll be as great a fighter as General Bosternd.”

  Instead of smiling at this news, Tgfhi looked upset. “I wanted to be as great a fighter as you.”

  Rhen laughed. “No one will ever be as great a fighter as I am.”

  Tgfhi grunted and picked up his books. He couldn’t disagree.

  Rhen’s fight class became the most popular class at the University. The Elfin Royals had thought their soldiers were in shape, until a few of them had been placed into the beginner section of Rhen’s class. Once that had happened, the Elfin Royals made Rhen’s class a requirement for all military personnel. Less than a week passed before individuals from other planets began to appear to take the course as well.

  When Rhen needed a victim for one of his lessons, he glanced up at the seats behind the stadium’s stage and spotted a Zorthan boy watching him. “You,” he yelled, pointing at the boy. The kid sat up straight and pointed at himself. “Yes, you, come here,” Rhen told him. The boy jumped up and ran down the stadium’s stairs to join Rhen. “What’re you doing here?” Rhen asked, when the kid appeared by his side. He heard several people in the crowd gasp, at the site of the dark haired, dark eyed Zorthan on stage.

  “I’m watching,” the boy said.

  “I know, but why?”

  “Well, I wanted to take your class, but the Thestrans won’t let me, because we’re a part of the Convention.”

  “I’m in the Convention,” Rhen said. The boy shrugged in response and Rhen shook his head. He moved the kid over to Sarah and showed her how to hold the boy, without hurting him while she fought to defend herself. Tgfhi, Jack, and Aaron then took turns in holding the boy, fighting against Rhen.

  “Did you like our last Conference?” Rhen asked the kid while he lunged at Aaron. Rhen maneuvered past the boy with grace, scoring a hit on Aaron’s cheek.

  “No, it was boring. Didn’t you think? I saw you hanging out with the Vivist kids by the pond. That game you play with them looks cool. I can’t wait until I’m old enough to join in.”

  Rhen laughed and moved the boy back to Sarah, to help her with a move she was having difficulty with. “You can join us at the next Conference. I’ll let you be on my team. We always need more players on our team. The Vivists have a nasty habit of killing at least one of us during each game.” He finished Sarah’s lesson and bowed to the Zorthan. “Thank you for your help young Prince. You’re welcome to join my class every day, with or without, the Thestran’s approval.”

  “Really?” the boy exclaimed. “Thanks. You’re the best. Wait till my friends hear. They already think you’re amazing, because you can survive a Vivist’s sting.”

  Rhen paused. “That’s not true. You know no one can survive a Vivist’s sting.”

  “But you survived a Rasack bite,” the boy said loudly enough for all to hear. “We thought that meant you could also survive a Vivist’s sting.”

  Rhen frowned. No one was supposed to know that he had been bitten by a Rasack. Only a handful of his most trusted men were aware that he was bitten while saving Bosternd’s life. Rasacks were almost as poisonous as Vivists. In the history of the Universe, only a few people had ever survived their bite, and those who had, were known to have amazing powers. Rhen needed to find out how the boy had heard about his run in with a Rasack. Leaning backwards towards the microphone, he announced, “Class dismissed.” Rhen picked up the boy and walked out of the stadium towards his apartment, carrying the kid in his arms.

  Ceceta decided it was a good thing that Rhen had missed breakfast that morning, because the entire Thestran Royal Family sat at their table, grilling her about Rhen’s run in with a Rasack. Ceceta was starting to get a headache from playing dumb. When it was time for class, the Thestrans followed her, taking seats around her as they waited for Rhen to arrive.

  Rhen strode into the room, right before class began, feeling angry at himself. The Zorthan Prince had only heard a rumor that he had been bitten by a Rasack. He had panicked for no reason. The boy didn’t have any details and knew no more than what he had said. When Rhen noticed his family was waiting for him, he cringed. If only he had dismissed the Zorthan Prince’s comment.

  Before Rhen could take his seat, the Thestrans started to ask him questions. Rhen stared at them with a blank expression on his face. He wasn’t going to answer. When his family realized this, they quieted down to let Rhen’s teacher begin.

  As soon as class was finished, they leapt forward, cornering Rhen by the classroom door. “Rhen, please,” James said to his brother. “Is it true? Were you bitten by a Rasack?”

  Rhen nodded and stepped sideways to leave. “How long ago was that?” Rachel asked.

  “A while ago,” he said. He pushed William, to make him step backwards.

  “How did you live?” Reed asked.

  “God healed me,” Rhen told him, making his way out of the room. He jogged to catch up to Ceceta.

  “That’s not an answer,” William said. “The Genisters don’t heal anyone.”

  “Well, we’ve seen Rhen’s healing powers,” Sage said. “They’re amazing. Perhaps he can survive a Rasack’s bite.”

  “It’s possible, but not probable,” James said. “Rhen must have more powers then he’s letting on. We need to know what they are.”

  Chapter 22

  Surpen Palace – Andres’ Study

  Loreth floated down into Andres’ study and zapped him with a small blast of electricity. Andres fell to the floor shaking and gasping for breath.


  When the bolt had passed through his system, Andres sat up. “Yes,” he asked, clenching and unclenching his hands to rid them of their numbness. Loreth had been crueler to him lately and Andres wasn’t sure why. He figured it had to do with Rhen’s continued absence, but he wasn’t positive. You never knew what Loreth was thinking.

  “It’s time,” Loreth said, taking a seat on Andres’ chair. He was ready for Andres to retrieve Rhen and declare war on Thestran. The Thestrans seemed to care about Rhen now. They would be done in by his betrayal, maybe even die from the shock of his duplicity. Loreth chuckled at the thought.

  Andres wasn’t sure what it was ‘time’ for, but he was too afraid to ask. “Of course,” he said, rising to his feet.

  Loreth could see, from the expression on Andres’ face, that he was clueless. Gods damn the Genister’s Code Book. If he hadn’t of signed the Genister’s laws, he would’ve taken care of the Thestrans himself. The whole thing was maddening. One break of the law and every Genister would come forth to destroy him. Damn them, Loreth thought. It would be so much easier, if he could use his powers to destroy the Thestrans; his puppets took forever to get anything done.

  “It’s time to remove Rhen from Thestran,” Loreth said. “Bring him home.”

  Andres breathed a sigh of relief. He wanted nothing more than to bring his son home. He hated the fact that the Thestrans were around Rhen all day long. “At once,” Andres said. He reached out for a bell to call his servant. Loreth waited as Andres told his aide to send word to Rhen that it was time to come home.

  “Excellent,” Loreth said, when they were alone. “Once Rhen has returned, prepare for war.”

  “Yes,” Andres said. He bowed while Loreth flew up into the air, disappearing through the vaulted ceiling.

  An hour later, a letter was delivered into Andres’ hands. It was written on plain, white paper and tucked into a cheap envelope. Andres opened it and read:

  “Thank you for your note Dad, but I’m staying at the Elfin University. My being here feels right and I’ve been learning a lot about the Thestrans. Although I will not be returning home right now, please remember that if you need me for a specific task, I will return immediately to assist you. Rhen.”