Relonor's Journal

by River Gheuens

  “Can you hear me?” She had a nervous look before she started nodding her head.

  I responded to the look she gave me before the nod. “You have nothing to be scared, or ashamed, of from me or mine. You have my word that your answer will never be repeated.” She looked at me for a long time while she made a decision in her head, before shaking her head. I knew the pain she was going through, to be different.

  “Do you mind if I call my partner over to give us a hand?” Her facial muscles scrunched together in disgust.

  I pointed at Vadoma, who was standing in the dress she had worn last night, with the new slender duelists blade, which she had begun to favor, on her hip. Spencer followed my finger to Vadoma before looking back at me with confusion still on her face.

  I tried a different tactic, as I used the words someone had said to me long ago, “Will you trust me?” She was nodding her head in a shy way to me. Without taking my face from hers, I pointed towards my wench, while I crooked my finger to her in the most seductive way I could.

  What? She is mine, so I must seduce her every day. I think it is in a tome or something, which said, you must start each day anew to seduce them all over again.

  Vadoma decided to be a wench when she approached. “My Dansator al Morţii, how may I serve you?”

  Serve my foot right up your rear, if you keep teasing me like that. I am smart, so I kept my thought to myself.

  I decided to be take the moral high ground in the teasing. “My Life’s Mistress,” I stuck my tongue out at her in playfulness, which was to Spencer’s delight.

  I started unbuttoning my Kikko armor while I spoke, “Get her out of the plate mail, and into my Kikko vest. Then, take her to the Armory to have her pick out her sword. They can have that over weighted piece of steel back.”

  As they left to do as I bid, Vadoma led her by the arm as they shared smiles. Papa decided to yell to me, to get some armor on. This stopped all the training in the yard, as people looked at me, as I refastened my sword belt back to my waist and seated my weapons in their places.

  They returned a few moments later with my Kikko armor looking a bit big on Spencer. On her belt, she had a gladius on her left side, while having two kukri resting on her other hip. It was a very interesting weapon selection.

  They had both reached me when I instructed, “Match to first touch or disarmament.”

  Spencer looked at me in terror, as she was shaking her head. I knew what she was feeling. Instead of trying to use my words to get though to her, I drew my rapier before I pressed an attack to Vadoma.

  The music sprang into my head as my blade left it’s sheath. At first, the violin slowly started, then grew with speed, as I was not intending to beat Vadoma. A violin battled the notes in a festive tune. The match was to dance with her.

  Her slender blade came out in a slash, to bat my blade away, as she took a step back, and to the side, which cleared her body from the line of attack. She came in to my left, as she forced me to turn, to reposition myself, to let my blade enter the dance again.

  Her weapon came in an arch, from the left to right, which I started rotating to my left, as I was brought my blade over my head to guided her sword swing wide of my body, to continue up to the sky.

  Our dance continued for several moments, with some strikes happened around Spencer. They showed her the dance to my fighting style. A crowd had gathered to watch the dance between Vadoma and I, as I focused my full attention to the dance between Vadoma and I. My foot work was precise, as I led the dance with my feet. Then, with a flourish, I batted her blade away, as I spun away before sheathing my blade, in one smooth motion.

  The crowd let out clapping at the display of the dance, which had just happened. I turned to them, “You have other things to do besides watching us. Find those tasks.”

  Several “Samurai” or “Dansator al Morţii” were spoken to me as the crowd dispersed.

  I turned my attention back to Spencer, while I held out my hand in a gesture for her to show me what she could do. She looked nervous, as she looked to Vadoma, who gave her a smile of encouragement. She hesitatingly dropped her hands to the dual kukri on her right hip. I closed the distance before knocking her hands from falling to her weapons, thus drawing her eyes back to me. I pointed at her chest before taking a deep breath. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

  When her eyes opened, I motioned to her hands, then her weapons. She looked down at her hip in hesitation. I pushed her shoulder before taking another deep breath. She did the same.

  She let her hands fall to her right hip before both her hands closed over her dual kukri hilts. She drew both into her hands, with little hesitation. I held my hands out to the blades. She nimbly flipped both blades before handing the kukri to me hilt first.

  I stepped back to feel their weight and balance. I flipped them over in air, while noticing they were badly balanced. All the weight was in the tips of these blades, which would make them almost impossible to stop after they were put into motion. For now though, these were fine weapons. I caught the kukri from the air, by the backs of their blades, before returning the weapons to her hilt first.

  She had took a step back while she swung the weapons in a crossing pattern. Each hand came, from the side, to meet in the middle. When both her blades clanked together in meeting, in front of her body, her right foot fell back from her left foot, before bringing both kukri to opposite shoulders, like she was hugging herself. She lunged forward with her right hand, which blurred to face level, as her other blade blurred at belly level. She stepped out to the side, while using the movement to turn the blade, which was at belly level, as she dragged it up, like she was disemboweling someone. The other kukri was being flipped over in her hand, to reverse the grip, in a defensive guard.

  It was a very crude display; however, the display held confidence, as she watched some unseen attacker find their death. I smirked to her which she returned. I could work with her, while encouraging her to learn her own way to fight, with her new kukri.

  I slowly spoke, to her, to allow her to read my lips. “Spencer. I think I can help you get better with training. However, I would also like you to be one of my bodyguards. Do you accept it?”

  She pulled a piece of paper out before scribbling with her writing stick, ‘I am not good. There are better people than me.’

  I took her piece of paper, with the writing stick, before writing out, ‘I do not need good. I need someone I can trust.’

  She took the paper back to read. Her eyes met mine as she stood up straight, while she banged her fist to her heart.

  That was all I needed from the girl, as I grinned at her, while playfully shoving her shoulder. I do not think Vadoma realize Spencer did not talk, as they walked along, as she talked with her new friend arm in arm. Or she might have known, but wanted her to feel like she was a normal person.

  I had spent the day making orders. First, I had ordered a full set of Kikko armor for Spencer, which would take about a month to commission. Afterwards, I ordered a set of kukri from the Alphonse, who is one of the village blacksmiths. I gave him the approximate weight to him for Spencer. Then, I had to go to another building to order a rope ladder, after letting Vadoma tell them the approximate length from the top of the mine collapse to the floor. We were informed they would have it ready by the end of the day. We also procured four sets of rope, for emergency climbing, or anything we would need them for.

  Vadoma had got my drift. Once outside, she asked quietly, “Are you wanting to go back?”

  “Yes, wench. Plus, it will be good for Spencer to have someplace quiet to be trained. Though, I think it is more time and muscle memory she needs, than training. Unless you saw something I did not see?”

  Vadoma shook her head. “When are you thinking of leaving?”

  “A few days? Now that you are assigned to me, you do not have healer duties. But, feel free to help as much as you please, wench. We do need to help with the harvest tomorrow, then help in the bui
lding raising….” I let my voice trail off in thought.

  “Then, my Dansator al Morţii…, can I use that nickname, by the way, because I really like it? I need to make some arrangements.”

  I absently nodded to her, as I was as smart as any partner should be, and answered her, “Yes, wench” with a sigh.

  The nickname Dansator al Morţii seemed to stick. I swear I will find the Romani bard before tearing his tongue out of his head for giving me this nickname. Then, I will demand him find a better nickname like Fluffy Platypus or something.

  Entry 20

  6 Hours Before

  Groenplaats

  I finished my tale to Grand Master Alexandrew and Elder Thomas. When I was done, I let the silence have it’s way, with the sounds of Groenplaats waking from slumber, was slowly starting to happen.

  “I see.” Alexandrew said in thought. “And, when you say you can see the wind…,” he left the thought unfinished, as it hung in the air.

  “I can see the wind. I can see,” I closed my right eye, “The wind is hitting your left cheek, more than the right. I can see Thomas shaking his finger at you. I can see his wolf looking upon this with disinterest. And, I see David in that tree,” I pointed over my shoulder, to a small sapling where David was perched, as the branch sagged under his weight. I opened my right eye, as I caught Alexandrew looking to the tree, which held David.

  “I..I can s..see you are of the t..t..touched. Your w..wind potential is high. You t..t..two have not bonded yet. I..i..it will come w..w..with time. W..w..what do you receive o..o..of his talking to y..y..you?”

  “I have only talked to him when he showed me the two canvases. One was of the sky, and of what he saw while the other was….” I trailed off to think, as I was trying to form the thought into words, to properly convey it.

  “S..s..s..simple with a lot of f..f..feeling to it,” Elder Thomas supplied for me.

  “Yea. It was simple, yet it did not make sense to me.”

  “Ah.” Thomas said, as he sat there looking at his wolf, as he ran his hand over the wolf head, and behind his right ear. “Y..y..you are not t..talking the s..s..same language.”

  Alexandrew cut into the conversation. “As Thomas is bonded to his wolf, I find Thomas also has a lot of a wolf to him. Their spirits are connected by a link. When there is talk of hunting or finding, they can connect a lot more. I think the wolf is more human, while Thomas becomes more of a wolf. The aspects of the mind, mind you, not the form of the bodies.”

  Thomas was nodding his head to the truth of the words. “A..a..as he s..says. When you deal closer to t..t..the animal aspect, like hunting or flying, you will f..f..find you more of a connection. W..w..when you a..a..and David were touching, you were t..t..thinking of jumping into the air and flying. David is a bird, w..w..who loves to fly, as you said with one of t..t..the canvases. That was w..w..where you connected, through the f..f..flight. It also is much easier w..w..when you bond with your animal. And, l..l..like w..w..with all t..t..things, t..t..the more you p..p..practice, the better you will get.”

  I was nodding my head to his words as I was working them into my theories, while watching more answers find their place. That was when David decided to show up, as he land on top of my head.

  “So, I need to think of the things which he likes? Like flying, as you theorize.”

  Thomas had started to nod his head before turning it into a shake. “T..t..t..that is your problem.”

  Alexandrew spoke up. “I think you also need to tell me about the other thing, the rest of your magik of the Old People.”

  I was finding the ground very interesting, as only my bodyguards and mother knew this secret. “I can effect the air; however, it is like a simple touch is overdone. Like tapping an arrow in flight to alter the path, I shatter it while sending it to a thousand flying pieces…I can also pull power to me.”

  “Were you focusing only on the arrow when you touched it,” Alexandrew asked.

  “No. I was seeing where the arrow was going, as I saw the trajectory to the target. I asked the wind for a little help and boom. Splinters.”

  “That will take practice, I think. There have only been a few people whom have been able to touch the elements, like the Old People. I think the magik of the Old People is awakening in you. You have the same problem, as with David. You are not talking in the same language. You are dealing with the wind. You have to let go and fly with the clouds,” Alexandrew said patiently.

  “But, I am not normal, and….”

  Alexandrew cut me off, “I am not normal. This man,” he pointed to Thomas, “is my partner. That does not influence his connection with his wolf. And, this man is definitely not normal, as I would know. Who cares what normal is, when you are happy with yourself.”

  Epilogue

  Professor Ashley sat reading from the old, weathered, black affair of a journal. Her older voice was that of honey, which slowly flowed out, with the promise of sweetness to it. She put the question to the class, who sat in desks in tiers, while they had listened to her lecture. “Now, who can speculate on what exactly was her block to her blossoming?”

  A boy in the third row raised his hand. His hand turned white in her vision, as her eyes were drawn to the sudden motion. “Yes. Let us hear your theories. Count Maurice, is it?”

  The boy stood before he bowed from the waist, as his brown hair fell into his face. “Yes, Professor. I believe the sense of self had not recognized the sense of the other, thus blocking her from being one.”

  The Professor looked on the boy, while politely waiting, if he was still gathering his thoughts. When no more words came forth, she responded, “Thank you, Count Maurice.” The boy was quickly sitting down onto his seat.

  “A very interesting theory, which is drawn from her journal. This theory is backed up by Spencer’s Journal. I have the theory which states, she was not talking the language of nature. She was not living in the moment. I theorize the moment in which she had seen Mare Soră Vadoma, the person in which she loved with her entire heart, being flung through the air, brought her to that moment. It brought the science, and reality, into sharp focus inside herself.

  “Now,” the professor stood from sitting on her desk’s top, as she glanced at the clock on the wall. The clock said to her glance, there were three more moments before class was over. The Professor shifted her hips back and forth, as she settled the sword belt, which hung from her waist. The rapier, which hung from her hip, settled into place as she straightened a old sash, which was tied to her waist, the sash in which only a Samurai wore.

  “For the next class, we will cover Spencer’s Journal. Please, do not forget to do the reading of the scientific journals of Shogun Relonor and Bunică Vadoma.”

  Students were closing their journals and tomes, before putting them into their bags. She raised her voice to be heard over the noise. “On Thursday, be ready to have a full discussion of Shogun Relonor and Storm Elementals. I would like to have sound theories as to why they have only been seen twice. And, please, remember to study for the test next week. This information will be on the test!”

  Professor Ashley stood with the black clad, leather, affair of a journal, which she held in her hand, while she watched the pupils leave, as they ran off to their next class.

  She turned to the armor rack and the perch where her red-tailed hawk, Stephana, was currently sleeping on. The professor took off her sword belt and sash, before she picked up the Kiddo armor, which had a slight white glow coming from the inside, as the glimpse of Romani symbols could be seen on the inside plates. She slipped on her Kiddo armor to go have lunch with her granddaughter.

  Bibliography

  Powers that Be: Duane, Diane, So You Want to Be a Wizard, 1996 (May)

  Star Wars: Lucas, George, Star Wars: A New Hope, 1986 (September 12)

  Many Fey: Schubach, Erik, Music of the Soul, 2013 (March 17)

  The Gunslinger: King, Stephen, The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger (Book 1), 2003 (June)