Legacy of the Defender (The Defender Series Book 1)
Page 3
“What should I call you? Master? Teacher? Sensei?” I asked him as he walked back in the cave leaving me alone with the smell of my rejected breakfast. He did not answer. He walked away.
I stood there contemplating what had occurred. Confusion set in and I paced the mouth of the cave. My nerves felt jumbled. A creeping sensation made me feel out of place and out of time. I had no clue where I was. Who the strange, cryptic man was that had made me feel amazingly comfortable with him despite the oddness. My unease was in truth over the witnessed devastation. It went for miles, as far as the eye could see.
Growing up in the forest, I had an appreciation for nature. Sure, we cut down trees for wood to burn but we never took too much, and we always used what we took. We owned the land, or technically my parents did. So much death and destruction put a hole in the middle of my chest that I could not just ignore. I could not bear it anymore and went back inside the cave to the fire pit. The man appeared to be meditating on the ground.
Sitting down on my sleeping mat, I let my gaze fall on the flames. Runes danced within. My focus fell to all of them...not just one. The chaotic dance lured me in. There was no way to tell what the full spectrum of each image was until my gaze locked on one, and it expanded. The man had told me, that with proper focus, all of history was open to me. I picked a rune and thought about yesterday and the creature. An image came up of the two of us riding down that road after leaving the lake.
A feeling of control popped into my mind, so I imagined moving the image forward to the spot to where the Sasquatch stepped out. Sure enough, there it was in all its mystery, moving like a giant upright ape but with Neanderthal features that were drastic and pronounced.
I watched it walk out of the woods and step onto the road. Focus was difficult. The image shifted to the Sasquatch, and the view changed to what it was seeing. Excitement mounted when I heard my voice call out to warn the creature. Then the squeal of tires came from its left as the car rounded the corner. The car passed in front of Sasquatch. I could see it clearly. It swerved into our lane. I heard bike metal break and the sound of bodies hitting the hood.
The impact was sickening
It is a strange feeling to see oneself flung at incredible speed into a tree. I could not believe the contact with the car did not kill me. The look on my face was horrific; as my body hit the tree, there was an even more bone breaking thud. I lay there like a limp rag doll. Blood came from every orifice on my face and ran down my clothes. My blood covered the ground around me like a balloon with red paint exploding from it. It had even shot out of my eyes. The tree was covered.
It was horrific to gaze upon my face. The expression was that of death. Tears welled up in my transfixed eyes and started to roll down my cheeks when a hand on my shoulder squeezed. I could not look away from this image. My body was broken. Both arms and legs twisted the wrong directions, and it appeared as though my torso caved in a little. There was no breath. This viewpoint was not the Sasquatch’s, but mine, and it hung in the air in front of my body.
I could not break my stare. A figure appeared and laid a hand on my body in the image. It had many bracelets and other ornate pieces of jewelry made of carved wood inlaid with precious metals. It looked familiar, and I glanced over to the hand on my shoulder. They matched. My gaze returned to the rune and watched the hand touch my forehead. A white glow flowed from it and traced the outline of my body in the image.
Moments passed the flesh and bone began to mend. Everywhere glowed white for several moments then faded. My head and one leg remained damaged. Femur bone protruded from the leg and blood trickled from my eyes and ears. Ribs popped back in place, and my chest began to rise and fall in short breaths. I glanced at the man next to me, tears still falling from my eyes. I died yesterday and had just witnessed myself brought back to life.
He looked back at me with smiling eyes with a partial grim look upon his face and nodded. He knew I understood what had happened. The image faded when I stopped focusing on it, but I no longer cared. We stared at each other, and before I knew what I was doing, I rolled to my side onto my knees before him. I bowed before him and felt his hand upon my head. It was warm and comforting. The weird aspect of his presence and mannerisms became an intrigue to me now. I sat with my hands at my side and my head bowed. Emotions ran strong. A few tears fell.
“Dieter. You have seen something that most people cannot handle in your position.”
I looked up.
“What do you mean?”
“Others have tried and could not cope with their death. You have passed the final test far sooner than even imagined.”
“I thought you said there were only three tests?” I asked, puzzled.
“You are correct; those were to get you ready to train. Students then spend years in training and eventually they want to see how they got here. As you know, you had a very horrible accident. Right before that happened you showed compassion on something that invoked fear in the heart of men – men who are ignorant of their own roots. Your compassion for all life is the basis for your skills and will be the source of your powers. You discovered your origin within the first few moments of your new life, and you did not lose yourself in pity or grief. You recognized what you saw and accepted it.”
“Wait, Master, do you mean I am ready?”
He laughed quite heartily at that for several moments.
“No, my son, you have not even begun yet. Get some rest.”
“What should I call you then?”
“I am not your master, but your teacher. One you will learn to rue before tomorrow is through.” The words hung in the air for a second before hitting me. I was about to start something, and I had no idea what to expect. But in truth, I was already committed to it, for this man had brought me back to life. I was lost in my thoughts for a second. The tears stopped. My life had a purpose for the first time. I bowed before him.
“Oh get up; we will have none of that.”
“I thought that I shou…”
“Do not think anymore. Do as you are told and you will be better than any man on your entire planet or in the heavens” The words hit me hard. How was I supposed to do that? I could not even beat Jason in sparring.
“You will be able to soon.”
Did he just read my mind? I thought.
“Yes.”
I shuddered. This was not going to be fun. Reflections in the light danced off the flames as we sat there staring at the fire. I was rather unnerved by my teacher whose I name I did not know. He had the ability to read my mind, even as I sat wondering what his name was. Not only could he read my mind, but he could also speak directly to me. It was comforting to know I would not be alone in my thoughts – which someone would always be with me. At the same time, I would not be alone in my thoughts! He would know everything, I thought, before I realized it. This scared me. My privacy was a thing of the past.
He sat across from me. His open eyes reflected the dancing fire like it was alive. He mediated. The Flames moved at their own rhythm. He appeared to command the fire. Thoughts drifted to what else he could do. Could he shape water to his will? Perhaps the wind itself held no sway over him. Such wonders I was beginning to see as they unfolded before me in this land. Where ever “this land” was.
Sleep started to take me when a whisper in my mind came...ever so subtle. “I am Malnuras.”
I did not even jump. A smile crossed my lips.
III
Test
The bright morning rays peeked over the realm and found their way into my eyes. I tried to fight off this intruder by swinging at it with an open hand, not realizing it was only the sun. My efforts seemed in vain when suddenly it went dark. My hand lowered instinctively, only to feel something strike me right on the sweet spot, still sore from yesterday. I winced and coughed as the rib moved. My muscles started to spasm. Both eyes shot open, and I struggled to focus on the shadow.
“Get up. It is time to train,” said a voice.
I started to mumble under my breath about unfair treatment and got another jab to the rib. It amazed me how fast he was. For someone who gave the appearance he was not martial in any way, he regularly beat the daylights. Fortunately, he used lessons to do it. He saw me wince and lose my balance only to catch it again before falling towards the fire. A very warm stone saved me. A few choice words escaped my lips while I regained my feet. Holding my side, I managed to catch my breath.
“It is not healing yet?” he asked.
“No, it is not. I think that staff strike broke a rib.”
“That is unfortunate. However, you cannot allow it to slow you down. When you are surrounded by your foes, they will not relent just because you are wounded.” He poked me in rib on the most painful spot and I nearly blacked out.
“I get the point of the lesson, Master,” I said, grimacing.
“Stop calling me that. I am not your master. I am your teacher. Soon you will meet the one that you will call master,” he said.
“When will he come?” I asked.
He ignored my question. It seemed to me that whenever I asked an obvious question, there was never an easy answer. He spoke in riddles. A forthright answer would be nice. Watching martial arts movies taught me that masters were always full of riddles. Once, after he punched me in the face, I asked him why.
“Because I can,” was his response.
My nose remained broken for weeks because he kept smacking it when my attention wandered.
It took weeks for me to get used to his constant strikes. Then one day they stopped. When asked why he stopped the response was always silence. His ways seemed odd on so many levels. My training was never dull.
My studies progressed from basic hand-to-hand fighting, which I loved, to an introduction to weapons. Jason tried to teach me staff, but that did not prepare me in any way for the first day of weapons’ training with Malnuras. Without a word, he attacked me with his staff and managed to break mine in two. I attacked with a flurry of blows using the two halves, but it did not matter, for none of them landed. My surprise was apparent, yet he did not break a smile or show any emotion during the brutal onslaught.
As we trained, Malnuras finally told me about the hand-to-hand style he had taught me. He said it was the art taught to many warriors of the ancient world. The Spartans had mastered it and even changed it to become the root system for all the martial arts back on earth. They called it pure form. It was fast, deadly, and beautiful all in one motion. The Spartans took the grace out of it and made it straight killing. I had never thought of myself as graceful, but now, after many days of learning, he handed me a staff.
“Defend yourself.”
We sparred for quite a while. Then he hit me so hard I flew back and landed flat on my back against a jagged rock. My rib was obviously broken again. The beating he delivered was brutal, but my state of conditioning could usually take it without breaking too many bones. Exactly how many times my muscles had been sprained or torn during training was beyond counting. This time it was severe enough that he stopped and addressed the damage. To both our surprise, the rib was protruding. His ability to heal me was still very weird for me. It took a while to accept that magic existed and that there was more to the world than even the world knew. Seeing it, as he mended my flesh, was unreal.
It soon became commonplace to me. Injuries occurred less and less due to my learning how to fall, roll with a punch or kick, and take a hit properly. In turn, he healed me less frequently, teaching me to rely on my body to fix itself. My life had turned into daily damage control because even though my skill was good, his was masterful. I had to get faster and act, not react. My strength was building up to be able to hold my own weight in any position, and my reflexes were coming along to the point that falling and losing my balance was rare. Although they were superior, my teacher’s skills had wisdom and experience behind them. He always found an opening, and it always hurt.
Our campfire was still burning hot, providing much needed warmth. The sun’s rays began to warm the ground, and the mist rose gently, blocking the view of the mountains. The mist showed no signs of dissipation. Sometimes it hung thick like a veil cloaking everything in a shroud of moisture.
Our camp was located in a small valley that had a box end canyon a few hundred yards deep. It would be difficult for something to traverse the surrounding terrain to get at us. Without knowing what to look for, there was no real path to the untrained eye. In the event a random intelligent life form happened to see the carefully concealed pathway, it would not know there was a camp nearby without the aid of other senses. The fire was not only smokeless but also created by unnatural means unknown to me.
There was always food ready to go in the morning. Some meat that tasted like bacon, though a mystery, cooked to perfection every time. Hard-boiled eggs sat nestled in a bowl covered with a towel made of some strange looking fiber. It was delicious food and stayed with me for most of the day. An assortment of different fruits and vegetables always grew near the camp even when we moved it. With so much plentiful food, the need to snack or eat very much was not there.
After breakfast, my first task of the day was to head to a river that was about a mile or two away and wash my clothes from the day before while bathing. Malnuras told me that staying clean was just as important as eating good meals. A healthy life style was something I learned at home but had never truly put it to the test before, as my mother provided all of these things for me. It fell to me to handle this task myself after my teacher threw me in the water fully clothed to bathe and wash the smell. I smiled. That day seemed so long ago already. My teacher had a sensitive nose, but it was more about establishing dominance over me or maybe even just teaching me a lesson about taking care of me every day.
As I left, Malnuras had his nose in his tome. I was barely outside of the camp when I heard his voice. "Do not forget your sword."
"Pardon me teacher, no offense but that is not for real fighting. I am just doing my laundry. I am sure you can smell me." He did not speak another word as I departed with my task.
This morning was an exceptional day being that I could barely move but strangely felt good. The trail to the river was not a rough one but did require good balance and land navigation skills to avoid many cuts and bruises. It took me about thirty or so minutes I guessed, since I had no clock or watch, to traverse the terrain that day. Walking did hurt from yesterday’s lesson, but each step and knowing how good the water would feel gave me new vigor, and I stepped up my pace. It was hard not to hasten my steps, but I learned that lesson already. We chose our camp with this in mind.
Standing over the river, I gazed at my reflection and then looked at a low hung tree behind me near water. It showed me to be a little taller with a pronounced jawline. Mirrors did not exist here, and the last time I used one was the morning my life changed in fact. Days ran into weeks or months. How much time had passed escaped me now? It was a different feeling knowing that your body was lying in some bed in a hospital asleep. Malnuras did not tell me what the condition was other than being in a coma, only that I was recovering from the accident. Having seen the actual event, it had not been a pretty sight. Sadly, my memory of it was sparse so seeing it first hand by using the campfire was the only real way I could see it. It all seemed so long ago.
My thoughts went to Jason for a few moments, wondering how he was and if he recovered okay. Maybe he was out in the woods. Did he even think of our time as friends or our adventures? I could not imagine what he must have been going through regarding that day’s events. I hoped he was okay. He had to be. Aside from my stepfather, he was the toughest person I knew in my life. Nothing could keep him down.
My thoughts shifted to the girls at the lake. Had Jason gone back there later in the summer? Was he dating one of them by now? He always had better luck with the ladies. The crazy things we were doing to try to impress them by jumping our bikes off the dock made a smile for a moment. The other girls name still escaped me.
It was so many days ago, I lost track.
Malnuras had really yet to tell me where we were. He simply referred to it as a realm that was not on earth. The only time he ever really talked about it was the first few days after we arrived. I asked if we were somewhere on earth; he cuffed me on the back of the head, telling me to focus on the task. Never striking me out of anger, he always had a purpose to it, even if it felt abusive. I always felt he had a reason for it other than to cause me pain. Strangely, he seemed to be doing what my father failed to do: make a man out of me the right way.
I fell back into my task of cleaning my clothes. The substance used was like soap, but would not hurt the river. I did not know its composition, but it did the job even in the cold water of the river. Even when rinsed, the residue from it vanished as if it was never there. In the end, the clothes were clean and smelled good. Many moments passed trying to figure out what it was which delayed the task of cleaning my clothes. My previous tardiness earned me undesirable tasks usually involving a shovel and the latrine we had made near the camp.
The river moved with its gentle current. I could wade across it without the water reaching my chin, fish swimming around my feet the whole time. Sometimes they brushed up against me, which used to freak me out. It was sort of funny that I did not have to fish for dinner. I simply walked into the water and grabbed one or two. They tried to get away once that happened, but it was almost as if they knew they were to become dinner and did not swim away at my approach. Sometimes, they even came up to the shore and swam around me while I washed my clothes or myself. The shoreline allowed me to step down into a slight rocky bottom, which made it ideal and was why I came to the location. The depth was about two feet right at the bank.