The Weapon Bearer (Book 1) (40 page)

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Kilen woke slowly as Leroy and Ted brought buckets of water, whiskey, food, and new bandages into the room. He found that the strength had returned to his limbs, but that every time he moved he felt scabs under the dressings break open, starting the bleeding and pain to bloom once again. The others managed to help him to a seated position and began applying new bandages and feeding Kilen a kind of gruel. Leroy and Ted worked in silence and only spoke to coax Kilen into taking another bite. The wounds were not deep but they were too numerous to count, blending in with one another. Leroy worked a salve into the wounds that alleviated some of the pain, allowing Kilen to move and test his arms. The bandages contained the bleeding and provided the pressure they needed to clot. While they worked to put Kilen’s clothes and armor on, he found the ribbon hanging from his blade and remembered why he must endure this pain. The color blue became a sort of focal point as he rose and left the two men to clean the room of bloody bandages and water.

He found Gortus kneeling on the same sword arena that they he had bled all over the day before. His sword lay on the ground in front of him. Kilen approached the arena and once again felt the ability to use magic leave his body. The effect made him stop to keep himself upright. Slowly he moved to kneel beside Gortus breaking open more wounds and flaring pain. He felt a steadying of his mind, and he felt more focused.
I am here, together we can complete this.
Max’s voice had never been more determined or comforting to Kilen. Joahna seemed to be nervous and very cautious. Kilen pulled his sword free of the sheath and laid it on the ground in front of him, watching the ribbon flutter in the morning wind. Gortus once again said a prayer but remained kneeling with Kilen on the ground.

“Before we begin today, you may ask me whatever questions you want. You might not get the answers you need, but I will answer truthfully.”

Kilen thought for a moment treasuring a moment before pain begin anew slithering on the ground. “Why do I lose my ability to use magic every time I am near you?”

Gortus chuckled before answering, “You really are new to this magic world aren’t you. We Kapal are said to be born of anti-magic. Everyone’s ability to use magic dies near us. The ability makes us very powerful fighting against wizards and assassinating kings. We are feared because of this trait born into us, but it also makes us weak. The Kapal people lack the ability to use magic also. Your sword in my hands is nothing but a normal sword. When I fight soldiers, I fight them on equal ground. When I fight a wielder it gives me an advantage, because they lose the abilities they rely on to keep them alive. After I train you, I think you will be the biggest threat to the Kapal nation.” Kilen thought on what he had just heard. Max and Joahna chastised themselves for not thinking to inform him themselves.

“Why do you train me then? If I am a threat to your nation.”

“You are my destiny,” Gortus put a hand under Kilen’s arm to help him to stand. When they did, Jace and Twilix were approaching the arena. They said nothing, but instead put down stools to sit on as they watched over Kilen and Gortus. “My presence around Twilix makes her uncomfortable. She lacks the power to fight me like a wizard fights. Her presence here should speak of her feelings for you. You should trust her.” Without a moment to spare Gortus pointed at the ground on the outside of the ring. “Continue my child.” Kilen reassumed his position, carefully lying flat on his stomach, and slowly reached forward to begin the day of misery again. The wounds reopened and began to throb more with every pull forward, he continued to move forward in his endless circle of torment. Max held back what pain he could, allowing Kilen to continue to move.

When Kilen had made five complete circles, he found Gortus’s black boots standing in his path. He stopped only for a moment, but he knew that he would have to go inside the circle over the smooth ground, or choose to move outside the circle crawling over large stones. Joahna finally spoke up,
It’s a test, take the path less chosen.
Kilen heeded his words and started to move to his left crawling over the large rocks baring his way. They scraped under the weight of his chest on his breastplate, and snagged and ripped off bandages on his legs.

When he made his way back into the circle on the other side of Gortus he heard the command he had been waiting for, “Stop.” Gortus came to squat in front of Kilen, and whispered to him. “You have grown this day, Stand for a moment.” When Kilen had risen to his feet he saw the profuse bleeding on his clothing from the broken bandages underneath. Gortus walked away and spoke with his back turned, “You only have a moment Twilix. You may heal him.” She sprang to her feet and moved quicker than Kilen had seen her before and landed a hand on his unsteady head. Magic flowed into his body as flesh reknit pulling wounds closed in a flash. The bleeding stopped, but Kilen felt only the searing flow of cold water magic flowing through his body. The healing seemed to last hours and it was more painful than he had imagined it could be. When she finished Kilen was relieved but shivered from the cold magic that had flowed through him. Joahna and Max seemed to shiver also.

Never I have ever seen anyone heal so many wounds so quickly
, Joahna seemed astonished and afraid of Twilix. She removed her hand from Kilen’s head and slumped against his metal covered chest. Jace was at her side in a moment, taking her weight from Kilen. Jace helped Twilix walk back towards the castle.

“I’ll help her to her room, Kilen. Concentrate on the training, I will look after Twilix.” Now knowing she was being taken care of, Kilen tested his freshly healed unbroken skin and smiled. He felt the numerous scabs break away and sloth off his skin underneath his armor. Gortus approached and the magic vanished from Kilen, making his armor heavy.

Gortus stood in front of Kilen and clasped him on the shoulder, “Welcome to a new age. You have become a crawler. This age doesn’t last nearly as long, nor does it take as long to master. You will now crawl the path that you were doing, this time on hands and knees.” Kilen opened his mouth to ask why he was doing this, or why it would help him learn to fight. He felt like he was wasting his time, but Gortus held up a hand to silence him. “You, however, haven’t reached an age where you can speak. Start crawling. You will understand soon enough.” He assumed his squatting position, as Kilen slowly moved back to the edge of the arena. He got down on all fours and started crawling, the laps went faster and there was a lot less pain involved with each circuit. Before Kilen knew it he had forgot he was crawling around the circle. He was listening Max and Joahna talk about their training experiences, mischief they had gotten into, and their worst enemies. Kilen heard Max mention that he was a personal friend of the Fire Realm’s king. They had grown up together, practiced, and learned to fight together. They were as close as men could become without being inside another man’s head. Kilen chuckled at the thought and Gortus looked at him questioningly. He wondered if he would stop the training if he knew the truth, or what Kilen thought was the truth of his own sanity.

Leroy arrived with the noon meal and gave Gortus a plate of steaks, small potatoes, and beans. Kilen received a bowl of the same gruel he had choked down before bed and again in the morning. Leroy apologized for not having something more suitable now that Kilen could manage eating properly. “I assure you, Leroy, that Kilen should be able to eat whatever you serve from now on. He has progressed from his spoon feeding age.” Gortus said, chuckling as he savored the thinly cut seasoned meat. Kilen finished quickly and started to crawl without command. His knees and hands were beginning to get a little sore, but nothing like the pain he had endured before. Kilen tried to count how many times he had been within moments of losing his life since he had left Humbridge. His thoughts were cut short as Gortus rose and performed a devious act. He reached his gray hands into a pouch at his belt, pulling small jagged rocks from inside and began sprinkling them in Kilen’s path.

Kilen had no problems avoiding the rocks as long as he was careful. As he continued to listen to the men in his head he would find himself putting his knee on a pebble. Kilen had to keep his mind on the act of crawling. He continued to crawl late into the day. When Leroy arrived with the evening meal Gortus rose from his squatted position. “Stand Kilen, you have reached a new age. I will not make you crawl any longer. You have reached the age of standing. I will warn you that it is not as easy an age as you think.” Gortus smiled a devious smile foretelling of trials to come. “Tomorrow we will resume your training. Tonight Twilix wanted to train with you. She said you should come to the king’s gardens, so eat quickly and make your way there. I will see you at first light.” After that he uttered only grunts between bites as he dug into the whole chicken Leroy had brought him. Kilen ate quickly the pieces of chicken he was brought. The vegetables seemed to vanish. Finally Kilen took a bite of the bread and realized that he had become use to the spice in the food. He no longer was tormented by the burn in the food. He finished his plate and grabbed a raspberry tart as he ran to meet Twilix, pleased to be able to run freely again. He made good time running through the castle, which earned him strange looks and gasps as he passed servants in the halls. When he arrived at the gardens, Twilix was seated on a bench holding the same book. She closed it promptly and looked up from where she sat. Her eyes were lined with dark circles and her whole demeanor seemed to droop. She had put too much effort into healing him and he saw the result.

“I am glad that he let you free of your training to join me.” She smiled, “I was worried that he would ruin us both if he continued throughout the rest of the day. You seem to be doing well now though. How was the rest of the training?”

“It was not as difficult after the first, I just had to crawl on my hands and knees. Gortus said that I was finished with all of that. It seems he will have more surprises for me tomorrow.”

“Well I will be sure to be there to watch then,” she patted the space next to her on the bench. Kilen sat next to her, “I was going to try and show you how to summon an elemental today. Unfortunately, I don’t think that I have the strength to show you the way.” Kilen sat silently waiting for her to tell him what she had planned to teach him instead. “Let’s just practice the forms for summoning an elemental, and I’ll do my best to describe it to you. Can you do me a favor and help me to the ground?” Kilen helped Twilix to the ground where she laid on her back and Kilen laid next to her. She laid silent a moment before speaking, “It seems I lack the strength to make it rain, could you?” Kilen had never tried making it rain before. He had always just gathered the water to himself and focused it into whatever he needed. He felt the water in the air and started gathering it into small beads of water until they started to fall on their own. The task was relatively simple and soon the ground was wet and the plants in the garden were drinking fervently. Twilix smiled, feeling the water on her skin. Even Kilen felt a little rejuvenated by the rain. Suddenly he remembered the rings on the necklace around his neck. He fished them out of his shirt and undid the chain to relieve it of one of the rings. Then reclasped the necklace around his neck he turned to Twilix.

“I think it would help if you wore this,” he said offering her one of his father’s rings. She looked at the ring and then at Kilen.

“Thank you but it’s not necessary. You will need all the energy you can get for his training tomorrow.” Kilen smiled and then put the ring in her weak hand and closed it around the ring.

“You are the reason I was able to complete the first set of training. Besides you need to recover more than I do. I feel better than I have for a while. You used all your magic to restore me and I offer this for just one night so that you will be able to assist me if I need it tomorrow.” She knew it he was right.

“One night, that is all. You will take it back in the morning so you will have it to train with.” She took a moment and held onto the ring, “It does feel good to have some strength back. I think I might even be able to train you a bit today. Let us begin. We start on the ground because when we summon an elemental we will lose control of our bodies. So relax and concentrate on the elements around you. Feel the water on the ground, the soil, the plants, the birds, and all the magic around you. You are a small part of the magic and must realize that you can control the other elements around you and use their energy in it.” Kilen tried his best to do as she asked. He looked at every detail of the world around him using the water vision and reaching out to the feelings inside the plants. They were happy in the garden and paid him little mind. “Now to form an elemental you must first form its body. You will be able to form different shapes later, but for now form water about your size in the form of a man.” Kilen gathered water from the air and the water that laid on the stones from the rain, forming a man to stand in front of him. “When I first learned to use an elemental, I tried to picture myself inside the form, to see through its eyes. I tried to picture what it would look like, to see myself lying in front of it. I would put my mind inside the elemental until the two merged and I only felt my real body, relatively. I had it described to me as though you were sick with fever and seeing yourself outside your body. Like your mind was floating just outside.”

Kilen knew the feeling of being outside of his body when sick. He had been very sick only two winters before and nearly died from fever. He tried to remember what the feeling was like. The more he tried the more he felt the individual limbs and fingers of the water form in front of him. He pushed trying to assume the water as his body and something snapped in his mind. A small reverberation, as if something had just disappeared. Kilen opened his eyes, the feeling of loss overcame him. Sorrow sank into his bones. A feeling of homesickness overcame him and then he saw it. The elemental moved, it looked around the garden moving of its own accord. “Very good Kilen, it would help if you closed your eyes and looked through only one pair.” Kilen closed his eyes and observed the elemental through the water vision.