by Logan Jacobs
“Just watch me,” Incrassatum said in a huff.
She took the sword off the woman and held one blade in each hand while Spodium stood back and waited for her trainer to teach her some tricks.
And there was certainly a lot to learn from a woman like Incrassatum.
Incrassatum was the toughest woman of the estate and a woman who took no prisoners. She would inflict the most gruesome deaths on those who deserved it, too, and was the one the Master would send if anything grossly illicit had been done by the target. This way, we ensured the worst of the kingdom suffered the slowest and most painful deaths.
Incrassatum excelled at work like this.
She was a straight talker, and a straight killer, but she was also one of the best trainers we had.
In our line of business, we couldn’t afford to be lax, especially when introducing a new person into our estate. They couldn’t learn that we would give them leeway, and they couldn’t learn that it was okay to miss their shot. They had to know this job was unforgiving, and so were the people who worked here.
Incrassatum was the best person to ingrain the ideals of the estate quickly and effectively. She put fear in those who dared to step out of place, and her unassuming looks made her even deadlier when she did.
“Watch me, girl,” Incrassatum repeated in her usual cold tone. “See how I’m moving the sword as if it is part of my body?”
She swirled the sword up and down with the rhythms of her body, before stabbing it into the air as if there was a person there.
“Like that, see?” Incrassatum said to her student.
“I see,” Spodium mumbled.
“It’s all one swift movement,” she continued. “Up and down, around, and stab. You want to be quick but agile. If you just start waving it around, you will not be consistent with your movements, and you will not be able to handle where it goes.”
She tossed the sword back to Spodium and started doing the movements for her to mirror.
“Movements first,” Incrassatum growled in a dismissive tone.
“Yes, ma’am,” Spodium quickly agreed.
Even though she was harsh, it was apparent Incrassatum cared deeply about the training process. She was thorough and precise, and she would never let someone out in the field if they were not truly ready.
“Like this?” Spodium asked as she gave it a somewhat nervous attempt.
“Yes,” I assured her from the sidelines. “But more confidently. Shoulders back. Now, bring those movements to life and use the space around you… not so rigid. That’s it.”
I continued to watch as Spodium started to move more fluidly with her weapon, and her torso glided from left to right as she became more confident in her position. Even Incrassatum spared a small nod of approval, and she gave the woman a moment to find her paces before she continued.
“Okay, now I’m going to jump in with a sword and you have to combat me using those same movements,” the trainer said and started to lightly slash the sword against hers. “Keep the movements.”
I was impressed with how quickly the trainee was already showing improvement, but I’d expected as much. Most women of determination proved to be good students among us, and Spodium was built sturdy enough to grow into a force to be reckoned with. Within another few minutes, her stubborn focus on effort outweighed her nerves, and I had a feeling Incrassatum would be pleased with the woman within the next couple months.
I left the pair to their sparring match and headed to the far back edge of the grounds to train alone.
Not that I always trained without a partner, but I’d generally found I did better alone. This was true in my training as well as in my work, and these days, if I did pair up with someone, it was to help them learn a bit. I never minded helping the other residents of the estate, but that wasn’t what I had in mind today.
Especially after discovering I was in line to take the place of Master Abbot. Now, my training meant more than ever.
But as I approached my usual spot, I noticed a silhouette hidden in the shadowed corner. It was a smallish child, and I recognized him as one of the three kids in our estate. He’d been here for under a year, as far as I could recall, but I’d never had a reason to speak with him before.
“Hello?” I said as I came to a stop.
“You are Dex, right?” he asked.
The young child slid out of the shadows and into the light where I could see him a little better. He looked about eleven, had a huge mop of dark hair that fell over his eyes and rounded cheeks, and was quite thin for his age. His cotton overalls were stained with sweat and a little bit of blood, though, so I assumed he must have started his training, even though I’d never seen him on the outside grounds before.
“Yes, I’m Dex,” I returned. “What’s the matter?”
“Master has assigned me to train with you today,” he said in a small, stoic voice. “He said you will be taking over my training from now on.”
“Uh…” I swung my head back to the building to look for the Master, but he was nowhere to be seen. “Alright, then, sure. Do you have any weapons on you?”
I had wanted to train alone today, but instead of complaining about it, I saw it as a teaching opportunity.
“Yes,” he smiled and marched back over to the shadows where he pulled out a sword that stood almost half as tall as him.
“So, who has been training you so far?” I asked the boy as he approached again.
“Master at first,” the boy answered. “Then yesterday it was Pamphrus, but we weren’t a good fit, so the Master said I should try you.”
“Right,” I said as I carefully jumped into the pit and placed all my weapons except my sword behind me. “Let’s start, then. Nothing too strict, yet. I just need to get an idea of where you’re starting from.”
I held up my sword as he held up his, and we began to parry with each other while our blades hit with only a light force at first. I noticed that his form was impeccable for a boy of such a young age and with such a heavy weapon. We swung our swords back and forth while the rest of the assassins trickled into the training ground and started their day’s practice, and the kid was quick to try his hand at some light footwork, even though he tripped quite a lot in the effort.
Pamphrus himself came near us and gave the boy a disconcerting look before he set himself up to practice his axe-throwing skills in the rugged grounds above the ledge. He had tattoos circling his biceps, and a few long strands of hair formed in the center of his chin to make a beard. Both sides of his head were shaved while a bun of hair was tied tight at the top, and his eyes were always dark and blackened around the edges with coal.
“Be careful with that one,” Pamphrus shouted over to us. “He’s still way too wet behind the ears for that kind of swordplay.”
“He’s doing good,” I replied, though I kept my eyes focused on the button-nosed boy and gave him a smile.
“Thanks,” the kid chirped.
Pamphrus scoffed and continued to throw the axe into the thick trunk of a nearby tree, and every time he split the bark, he’d wrench the blade free and wait for the wood to repair itself before hurling the axe at it again.
The boy and I continued to parry as the noise of blades clashing became louder all over the grounds. He was powerful with his sword, and with every slash, I challenged him more until we were fighting as if we were in battle with each other. Well, as much of a battle as I would risk with a kid his age.
“You are a bit experienced,” I shouted above the clanging of blades. “How long have you been practicing?”
“Since I arrived here six months ago,” he called back.
“You show more experience than I’d expect of someone with only half a year’s practice,” I told him.
My words made him smile, and he continued to swing his sword harder. I was still only using an ounce of my true strength against him, but I could see a cocky glint coming to his eyes, and I smirked as I recognized the carelessness seeping into his movem
ents. The longer we sparred, the less deliberate his swordwork became, and I spotted at least fifteen mistakes he was making.
He really was wet behind the ears.
“Let’s step this up a bit, then,” I said and raised my eyebrow.
Then I dodged his next strike, twisted away toward the back wall, ran up it, and flipped over as my sword swung in a three-sixty over me. I pushed my heels into the ground the moment I landed and rushed toward the boy with all my force and my blade raised.
The kid was quick, and he blocked my swipe before he slid on his legs and pushed himself between mine to get out of range. Before he managed to stand up, though, I flipped around, and with one quick motion, I slammed the sword down against the floor right next to his shoulder.
The boy’s breaths came rapidly as I stood over his body and smirked.
“If you were in combat, I would have just killed you,” I remarked and pulled the sword back.
Then I stationed it just over his neck, and he took a big gulp and looked me in my bulging eyes.
“Get up,” I instructed him. “You’re good, but let’s not get too careless. Let’s go again.”
The boy scrambled to his feet, and we faced each other on opposite sides of the fighting pit while I gave him the count.
“One, two,” I said and held my sword in position. “Three!”
The boy ran toward me with full pelt and let out a hard grunt. He swerved around me and used the platform to jump up onto and then jump off of.
“Arrghhh!” he yelled as he attempted to plummet the sword into my head.
I dashed out of the way, and with one quick swoop of my feet, I buckled his knees and watched as he fell to the ground again.
Redness came over him, but then a strange shade of gray passed over his forehead.
“No!” he gasped.
Suddenly the air around him went gray, and a wisp of dark fog began to rise around his head. It looked like the smoke from a flame that had just been extinguished, but inside the smoke was the image of a lost soul.
Its eyes were dark and lifeless, and its mouth was nothing more than a gaping black hole.
Small screams started to billow from the eerie face, as if the soul was burning, and it rushed through my ears and made me drop my sword. It was so deafening that the screams made my mind go blank, and for a moment, I felt like I’d been drained of all my memories and of everything I was.
The boy started to panic as the noises grew louder, and the wisp billowing from him became bigger. It started to coil around his neck and twist, and he cried out in pain.
“Calm!” I shouted. “Just calm down and breathe.”
“I fuckin’ told you,” Pamphrus snarled in my direction.
I turned and saw Pamphrus held his hands over his eyes and pushed into his sockets. It seemed he was far enough away from us to not bear the brunt of whatever was happening, but he was still affected enough to go as pale as a sheet.
Suddenly, the boy let out another scream, which caused the wisp to fly off from his neck and shoot in my direction.
I managed to dodge it and watched as the strange, smoky orb circled back around and landed on the debilitated child.
“I can’t!” he screamed. “It’s hurting me!”
“Stop screaming!” I demanded. “Stop shouting and let your body go limp.”
“I can’t!” he repeated.
“Just trust me,” I yelled. “Do it!”
The boy took a gulp and laid down on the floor of the pit and let his body stay as lifeless as he could. He was shaking all over and kept his eyes tightly shut, but slowly, the dark entity started to lift from him. Then it floated up into the sky, and as the deafening screams finally ceased, it disappeared altogether.
The boy shakily sat up from his position, and he braced his palms on his knees as he tried to gather his breath.
I swiftly sheathed my sword and ran to the boy.
“Are you alright?” I asked him. “Do you know what that was? I’ve never seen it before.”
“I know,” Pamphrus snarled. “It’s from him. He pulled that shit yesterday, too.”
“Pamphrus,” I shot a stern look toward him.
“What?” he replied. “He could have murdered the both of us, and you know how important we are around here.”
Pamphrus was a strong man, but even his massive stature couldn’t hide the fact that he was terrified of the small boy who sat just a few feet away from him.
I continued to warn the tattooed man with a look, and he eventually rolled his eyes and went back to practicing his combat.
“Well?” I asked the boy. “What was all that about?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “It happens sometimes. I can’t control it.”
“That mist just strikes on its own?” I clarified.
“Yes,” the boy nodded and looked sorrowfully at his small wrists.
“Has the Master seen?”
“Yes.” He nodded. “Master said he didn’t have time to train me properly, but it’s something he’s seen before.”
“Does he know what it is exactly?” I pressed.
“He said that I should be the one to find out for myself,” the boy retorted as his shoulders slumped. “But I think it might kill me before I ever do.”
“Hmm,” I mused, and I searched his neck for any signs the darkened wisp might have left behind, but there was nothing. Then I looked toward the sky to see if the eerie orb had returned, but the air was clear. “Does it happen often?”
“Quite frequently,” the boy responded. “Usually, it isn’t as bad as this. It’s only when I’m angry or frustrated that the smoke tries to hurt me like that. Even then, though… I’ve never thought it would really hurt me. It really hurt me just now.”
“I see.” I nodded. “What is it like the other times?”
“Sometimes, it just appears and follows me around for a bit,” the kid explained. “There’s times when I don’t even notice it’s there until I see it disappearing. Other times, it kind of clings onto me a bit and won’t leave me be. It depends what it’s feeling on the day, I suppose, but it used to happen barely ever. Maybe once a month, I don’t know for sure. For the past year, it’s been coming more and more often.”
“As in…” I led.
“Maybe once every two days,” he confessed.
I pushed my teeth together and allowed the wind to pass through the gaps. I tried not to let my concern show on my face, and I knew the kid wouldn’t be able to read me, but I couldn’t shake the phantom feeling of the emptiness the strange wisp forced on me.
“If you ask me, he’s been cursed,” Pamphrus interrupted.
“C-Cursed?” the boy stuttered.
“Pamphrus,” I scolded again. “Let’s not make harsh judgements if we don’t know for sure.”
“Fine,” he huffed and threw the axe against the tree once more.
“D-Do you think I’m cursed?” the boy asked me.
“I cannot say,” I admitted. “I have never seen anything like this before apart from maybe…”
And then I finally understood what was going on.
This boy was a conjurer, but not a simple conjurer from the estate on the other side of the kingdom.
He was also a mage.
I could tell because he needed nothing other than himself to call up this spirit, instead of just using fetishes, totems, and idols like most conjurers, and he was clearly too powerful for his own good already, but he reminded me of myself a bit.
There was a time in my life when I couldn’t control my mirrors. If I brushed up against any human or humanoid, I would transform into them in a matter of seconds. Training this out of me was difficult, but I also had no one to follow.
This boy was special in a similar way, but there were plenty of other conjurers walking around this kingdom. I concluded this was why the Master didn’t shelter him from the rest of us in the same way he’d done with me.
And why he had sent the kid to train with me
at last.
There were clearly enormous risks surrounding the boy’s powers.
My best guess was that the darkness he conjured was the spirits themselves, but he didn’t really know how to conjure them or which ones to conjure specifically. He was far more dangerous than any of us weapon-wielding assassins because he didn’t even understand who he was yet.
The Master never brought anyone into the estate residency by accident, either, and I knew there was a deeper reason as to why the boy ended up in our care one day.
“How did you come to the estate?” I asked the boy.
“I was an orphan,” he admitted with a half-hearted shrug.
“I was an orphan, too,” I replied as I gave him a small smile. “And I’m guessing that, like me, the Master noticed something special in you?”
“Well, not really.” He scratched his head. “Actually, he saved me in a sense.”
“What do you mean?”
“The gray stuff was coming down on me like a cloud by the edge of the forest,” the boy recalled. “It had only ever happened that heavily twice before, but I was staring at it as it fell from the sky and started wrapping around my feet.”
“And then what?” I pressed.
“Master saw it happening to me,” he said. “I couldn’t take my eyes off the thing, like it was forcing me to watch, but the Master managed to get my attention and then banished the cloud himself.”
“I see.” I nodded.
“The Master asked me who I belonged to, and I told him that I belonged to nobody,” the boy continued. “Then he asked me if things like this were normal, and I told him the same thing as I told you. He said I could learn to control the gray stuff one day, and that’s when he brought me back to the estate. Said that if I ever wanted to leave, I was more than welcome to, and I never had to partake in any training if I didn’t want to, but I did, so… now I’m training, and such.”
“I understand.” I smiled.
I helped the boy stand up and watched as he dusted himself off and then drew his arm across his nose, wiping away the splutter that had exited his mouth when the strange wisp tried to strangle him.