“I’m a Solitary, not an animal,” he said with a smile. “The cabin was built almost fifty years ago by the folks of Herra for Tar Chillar, my Master. Now and then they travel up and repair what needs repairing and give it a new once over with paint.”
Gwaynn looked at Nev for a moment then back to the cabin and nodded. “The flower garden?” he asked.
“Oh, I tend to that,” Nev said, as they rode the rest of the way in silence.
“That man,” Nev said, after they had unsaddled the horses and set them to grazing, “on the beach….the Executioner.”
Gwaynn glared at Tar Nev wondering why he would bring that up at this moment.
“I don’t want to ever hear you call him a “Tar” again,” Nev ordered flatly, then pulled two sets of katas from inside the out building and tossed a set to Gwaynn. “And now I will show you why.”
Gwaynn caught the katas out of the air. He was tired from riding all day and a bit hungry, but that did not diminish his desire to discover what skills this Solitary possessed. Gwaynn had been curious about the Tar ever since the Council meeting. Everyone held him in high esteem, but outwardly Gwaynn could not tell why this was so. Nev was well passed middle age, though perhaps not yet old. He was less than average height, almost stocky, with broad, powerful looking shoulders and thick wrists, not someone you would believe possessed any speed or finesse.
Nev led him into the fenced area that Gwaynn had taken for a corral earlier. Inside the dirt was soft and loose. Nev headed toward the center then turned to face his new acolyte.
“Prepare,” he said and it was his only warning, because once Gwaynn raised his katas, the Tar attacked.
Before Gwaynn knew what had happened he found himself on his back, his right kata knocked clean from his grasp and out of the fenced area. Nev backed away as Gwaynn sat up, shook his head clear and stared up at the Tar above him. The sun was setting directly behind Nev’s bushy yellow hair and lit it like some sort of bizarre masculine halo. Gwaynn shook his head again, then stood and gathered in his missing kata. Inside his mind was racing, wondering what had just happened. He said nothing, however, just took up his position and raised his katas; moments later he was disarmed once more and again on his back. Nev walked over and retrieved the missing kata and then helped Gwaynn to his feet. Gwaynn took back his weapon and rubbed his left shoulder where apparently he’d been struck by a hard blow, but he was not aware of when.
“You may attack me this time,” Nev said, bowed and then made ready. Gwaynn returned the bow and then rushed in, but a moment later was disarmed; this time both katas went flying from blows so hard and fast Gwaynn could hardly believe it. He stood utterly still, his mouth hanging open.
“Fetch them,” Nev said. “And attack again if you still find the need.” Gwaynn walked off, thoroughly embarrassed to be doing so. He thought his time on the island had turned him into a somewhat competent fighter, but now his confidence was beginning to waver. When he returned to the center of the corral, he bowed and while consciously holding firmly to his weapons he moved in and attacked once more. This time, however, his attack was much more cautious. The outcome, however, was no different. He was again unarmed with fast, powerful blows and again ended sprawling on his back. Nev reached down to help the boy to his feet.
“I would have killed you on the beach very quickly,” Nev said, “any true Tar would have.”
“How…how,” Gwaynn stammered.
Nev smiled at him. “You are skilled, possibly more than I was at your age, but it takes years and years to earn the title of Tar. The Executioners may well be skilled, and some may take the title of Tars, but they are not and never will be.”
Gwaynn looked down at his empty hands once more. “But how?” He asked not understanding how he could be so easily disarmed, not once but three times.
Tar Nev chuckled.
“That is a secret of the Solitaries, which goes back countless generations, all the way to Galen Dawkins himself. It is a secret I will teach you,” Nev said and slapped Gwaynn lightly on the shoulder. Gwaynn winced and Nev threw back his head and laughed. It was a laugh that Gwaynn would soon get used to, though now at the beginning he found it odd that a Master, a Solitary would find humor in so many things.
“I will tell you that though it is a great secret, at its heart, it is surprisingly simple. But for now, I’m hungry. Let’s eat and we will start you true training in the morning.”
ǂ
“You have failed to kill him once more,” King Arsinol Deutzani said quietly, his anger barely contained. Tar Navarra seemed nonplussed, but Ja Brude sat perfectly still, his eyes never leaving the Executioner, as if he expected the man to attack at any moment.
“Our little dance was interrupted,” Navarra answered dimly, realizing that if the young Prince’s skill with weapons continued to improve it would be highly unlikely that he would be able to handle him alone. This was not the type of information he would share with the King or anyone else, but he was not above using an army to kill, if need be. He was an Executioner, what mattered was death, not how it was achieved.
“It seems there are Tars on Noble Island, and they have grown fond of the boy,” he added sarcastically, but was not about to go into the whole story behind the failure. Sergeant Lindsay and the others would also hold their tongues, if they knew what was good for them.
“I want him dead!” Arsinol yelled between bites of pork, slamming the handle of his knife on the table as he spoke.
“He will die,” Navarra stated simply.
“How? How will he die?”
“The Competitions are coming at year’s end,” Navarra said with a smile. “I believe it is still open to all the peoples of the Inland Sea.”
King Arsinol smiled in return.
“It would be dangerous to do such a thing with so many eyes present,” Ja finally spoke up.
Navarra turned to look at him, his stare making the King’s advisor uncomfortable.
“Accidents happen,” Navarra and the King said in unison and everyone smiled.
ǂ
Gwaynn woke early, Mille’s death still weighing heavily on his mind, but thankfully he remembered no dreams from the night before. The eastern sky was just beginning to glow from the light of the sunrise to come. Tar Nev was already up and waiting for him, sitting cross-legged in the grass field in front of the cabin. Gwaynn walked quietly over to him.
“You are eager to start?” Nev asked without turning around.
Gwaynn smiled. “No more than you,” he answered at which Nev chuckled.
“That is true. I have waited a long time for this day,” the Tar answered, rising gracefully to his feet.
“Here is the first big secret,” Nev said, his twisted smile barely showing in the darkness of the early morning. He was holding out a set of katas. Gwaynn frowned. He already had a pair of practice katas, but he reached out and took the new pair, he nearly dropped them. They were heavy, very heavy. Gwaynn transferred one to his left hand and lifted them, gauging their weight. He looked up at Nev questioningly.
“Five times the weight of a normal set,” he explained. “Practice with these and your blows will be fast and powerful. Come,” he added and began to walk up past the cabin. He stopped along the side wall and picked up a pair of logs from the pile and motioned for Gwaynn to do likewise. Gwaynn tucked his new katas in his pants, very aware of their weight and selected two larger logs, hoping to impress his new master. Nev just raised an eyebrow and led him out back and onto a path that led up the slopes of Mount Erato. They followed the trail as it slanted up through the fields of grass and onto the more rocky slopes. Before they’d gone a half a mile, the path began to switch back and forth so as not to be too steep to navigate and it wasn’t long before Gwaynn wished he had chosen smaller logs. He shook his head in disgust at his earlier wish to impress. They were only about a quarter of the way up the mountain when the sun suddenly popped up above the horizon. Gwaynn stopped a moment to look back. He was
surprised that he could see Herra below in the distance and beyond that the lower part of the island. The sun was a bright red ball shining through a bank of clouds just above the gleaming Inland Sea.
“It is beautiful,” Nev said and then without another word turned away and led Gwaynn higher and higher up the mountain.
Gwaynn was breathing rapidly and his legs were shaky and tired by the time Nev stopped just over three-quarters of the way to the top. Nev set his logs on the ground and Gwaynn followed suit by dropping his own, flexing his arms from the pain. The Tar then led Gwaynn to a rocky overhang and they sat on the very edge, their legs dangling out over a quarter of a mile drop off. From here, the whole of the island was visible, including the port towns of Hymnia and Euter.
“It looks much smaller from up here,” Gwaynn said as he sat next to his new Master.
“Excellent,” Tar Nev said. “But is it smaller?”
Gwaynn frowned. The question made no sense. Of course the island was not smaller. It stayed the same size no matter where you viewed it, but he refrained from answering right away. Tar Nev must have had a reason for such a question.
Nev smiled, noticing the boy’s hesitation. “Well?” he asked.
“No, the island is not smaller. It just appears so from up here,” Gwaynn answered curious about where all this was going.
“Hmmm,” Nev answered tilting his head a bit. “So you are saying that our perceptions have no affect on the outside world?”
Gwaynn thought for another moment and then nodded his head. “Yes. The island is the size it is no matter what I think.”
“Well,” Nev said sounding for the entire world like he was not sure of this answer. “We will see.”
The Tar stood and Gwaynn rose with him. “The second secret,” Nev said, “is yet another simple one. You must make your way to this cave everyday, rain or shine.”
Gwaynn looked about and in the side of the mountain, hidden by a large boulder and a stump of a tree was indeed the mouth of a cave. Nev led the way past the boulder, picking up his logs as he went. Gwaynn followed and immediately noticed that the mouth of the cave was quite large, almost twice his height and nearly three times as wide, but it wasn’t until they stepped into it that Gwaynn noticed that the cave actually had three separate openings. The one they entered was actually the smallest and was located on the far left. Inside was a cavern almost two hundred yards deep. The ceiling was about twenty feet high and nearly flat. It was held up by three massive, natural stone columns. It was darker inside than out but it only took Gwaynn’s eyes a few moments to adjust. Near the center of the cavern and close to one of the columns were the remains of a large fire pit. Nev walked over to the pit and placed his logs onto a stack of wood. Gwaynn dropped his also.
“Please bring up two logs everyday,” Nev said then sat down, crossed his legs and leaned his back against the rock column. “You may bring a smaller pair if you wish,” he added with a smile. Nev motioned Gwaynn to sit next to him and he did so, then the Tar pulled out a feather.
“The final secret is by far the hardest to master,” he said and held the feather up in front of him, but slightly above his head. He held it there for a long moment, gazing with a slight smile into Gwaynn’s eyes, which darted from the man before him to the feather above. Finally Nev released the feather and it began to slowly float down to the cave floor. It paused midway down, but it was several long seconds before Gwaynn realized that it had completely stopped and was no longer moving downward. In fact, it was not moving at all.
Gwaynn frowned and glanced at Tar Nev, who was still smiling, his eyes on Gwaynn’s and not on the feather at all. Gwaynn glanced back and forth a few times but the feather was perfectly motionless, hanging midway between them.
“How?” Was all Gwaynn could manage, his attention riveted on the still stationary feather. He passed a hand over it and then under it, but the feather still did not move. Finally he blew a puff of air at it expecting the ends of the feather rippled but they did not.
“Are you doing that?” he asked, his mouth popping open. “How is it possible?”
“Why would it not be possible?” Nev asked.
“Gravity,” Gwaynn answered simply. He knew, everyone knew, from as long ago as old Earth, the law of gravity.
“Oh gravity,” Nev said still smiling. “I have not broken that particular law. I have not interfered with gravity, that would be much harder than what I am actually doing,” Nev added then was thoughtful for a moment. “Though I am sure it would be possible to do such a thing.”
“What are you actually doing?”
Nev broke into a laugh. “What I am doing is very similar to what a Traveler does, except a Traveler creates a bubble in space in order to move from one location to another, and I am creating a bubble in time.”
“A bubble in time?” Gwaynn asked, confused.
Nev nodded. “This was common knowledge when Galen Dawkins first led our people to this land; the same can be said about the mystical abilities of the Travelers. The ability and knowledge went hand in hand, but over the centuries, though the innate ability remained, the knowledge was lost to all but a few. Manipulating space-time is now something only the very elite can do, but the ability to do so is engineered into all of us.”
“Space-time?”
Again the Tar nodded and smiled. “Yes, time and space are irrevocably linked. What is time but the measurement of solid objects moving through space? The world spins. We call it a day. The world revolves about the sun. We call it a year. We move through space and we move through time, but very few understand what a fascinating feat that truly is.”
Gwaynn frowned.
“But remember, all speed is relative, speed of movement or speed of time, each is forever linked, though such knowledge is far from intuitive.”
“Relative?”
Nev chuckled again and stood. “I move left,” he began and moved to Gwaynn’s left. “Relative to you. I move right….relative to you. I am moving fast or slow, relative to something either stationary or moving at a different speed. If there was but one thing in the universe, there would be no speed, there would be no time.”
“To alter your speed through space is comparatively easy. All living animals can do it, but all living things march through time in regimented fashion, like prisoners heading for the gallows. This does not have to be so. It is possible to alter the speed of time. Your body will do it naturally in times of great danger and I will show you how to accomplish the feat consciously.”
Gwaynn rubbed his forehead, which suddenly hurt. “But is such a thing possible?”
Nev laughed again, knowing that he was stuffing his new pupil’s head to the breaking point. “Well, yes! It is done naturally in nature. This was understood long ago. Gravity effects time, as does speed. Both stretch the fabric of time so that it passes differently to those in different locations. If nature can do this without conscious thought, why not man…consciously. It is not so amazing. To a tree the fact that you can walk and move through space is miraculous, but trees are easy to impress. I’m telling you now space and time are one, moving through one is no different than moving through the other and even trees can move through time.”
“And I can do such a thing?” Gwaynn asked, as the feather finally continued its decent to the cave floor.
“You can,” Nev answered with a nod and retrieved the feather. “It is possible for us because centuries ago, on old Earth, our ancestor Galen Dawkins was altered, changed at the molecular level. Unknowingly he was given the ability to control the nature of his atoms, even his electrons. As his descendants, we also have that power. We have the ability to make our bodies, down to our very atoms, coherent.”
“Coherent?”
Nev laughed. “Enough for now. Just be aware that you too will be able to manipulate both space and time.”
Gwaynn’s eyes flew suddenly wide. “You can Travel,” he stated.
His master nodded, encouraged by his new protég
é’s mind. He reached into a sack he carried at his waist and pulled out an apple. He tossed it to Gwaynn and retrieved another for himself.
“I must warn you,” Nev said taking a bite of fruit. “This secret should not be used lightly. It takes a great deal out of you.”
“I can learn to do this?” Gwaynn asked, still suspicious.
Nev nodded. “You have been engineered to do so,” he answered and took another bite of his apple then he pulled out a small block of cheese, which he shared with Gwaynn, though the Tar ate most of it. Gwaynn sat silent, thinking, hardly noticing when Nev plucked out a handful of sugar cubes from his pocket, these he did not share with Gwaynn.
“Depending on the strength of the bubble, you will need to eat large amounts of food and possibly sleep as well. It takes a good deal of energy which must come from somewhere.”
Gwaynn was silent for a moment, pondering this new information then he glanced up at Nev.
“Can all Tars Travel?”
“They all have the ability, but not the knowledge. Please keep this information close. Neither the Travelers, nor our good High King would be too thrilled to know that some Tars can now Travel.”
“Can other Solitaries travel?”
Nev nodded then began to build a small fire in the pit. “Yes, but only a handful of them. Most still do not even realize it is possible. Most feel it is a skill only a Traveler can master, though what the Travelers themselves believe I do not know.”
Gwaynn sat thinking while Nev got the small fire going. Once it was burning pleasantly the Tar handed the feather to Gwaynn.
“To accomplish this thing is very difficult in one way and extraordinarily simple in another. Once you can do it you will look back and wonder how it was ever possible that it was beyond you.”
Gwaynn nodded, completely attentive to what the man before him was saying.
“First you must learn to control yourself, your mind and body,” Tar Nev said very seriously. “You have come a long way in controlling your body, and for one so young, your mind is surprisingly calm. But it was your attitude that truly made you attractive to me. You have a strong, persistent positive attitude despite the many tragedies that have befallen you. And that my young friend, is a very rare thing. Many both older and wiser than you have fallen into despair and cynicism and in that dark hole all learning ends.”
The Black Horseman Page 15