A whole month. 30 days. Had he really trained with Acktredd for that long? It felt unreal. Not in the way that killing a rasker or blowing fire from his mouth was. It was a lapse, like he had gotten into a car and nearly driven off a cliff without realizing. He had never done anything in his life, in 24 years, with the same intensity he had devoted to training. It had almost consumed him entirely.
Yet, as he practiced two spear thrusting techniques under the burning yellow sun, he was grateful. Without the brutal experience of his workouts, he would have fainted already. The armored tunic he wore and the thick white cloak over it were soaked with so much sweat he could probably wring it out and fill up a whole pitcher.
His training also taught him something so valuable he could never thank Acktredd enough: focus. For the first time in his life, he was in tune with his body: the way it moved and how he could move it. Learning the basic spear techniques was much easier because of this.
When Instructor Jower went through the basics, which was rare, David observed closely: the way his fingers gripped the spear, the curling muscles in his arms as they delivered a deadly thrust.
Now when he practiced the forms, he noticed if one of his fingers strayed from their grip or if his arms became too lax during a strike. Every part of his body was a living breathing thing, and they all had their own role to play.
Still, he was far behind the rest of the class. From what Faya told him, most of the recruits had already been at the training ground for 3 or 4 wiqs (he also learned a wiq was 10 days).
While the others participated in light sparring and mock duels, he practiced his forms at the back of the class.
It was isolating, knowing he was the worst and having everyone else know that too. The other recruits mocked him. They said he was thinner than a peasant farmhand. A starving dog Acktredd had abandoned.
He almost never actually heard these things though. When he was practicing his forms, he was back in the iceberg; there was only his body, his spear, and a polar focus.
He usually learned what the other recruits said about him during lunch with Faya.
"Today, Edra, the stout man with fuzzy black hair, called you the worst recruit in Shadekiller history. I told him to duel me, and then we would see who was truly the worst. He turned very quiet after that. It puzzles me how humans go out of their way to speak ill of those they do not even know. If I speak ill of another, it is after I have looked them in the eyes and they have treated me wrong. Do they lack the patience to wait that long?"
"We do tend to be impatient, yes."
"But you are not impatient, David. You do not seek reprisal for their comments. If I were you, I would have confronted them long ago. And if they still chose to insult me, I would skewer them with my spear. If you asked me to skewer them, I would."
David was about to spoon a huge clump of rice and marinated beef into his mouth, but stopped half-way. "Really? You know we only met a few wiqs ago…And I'm fairly certain that would get you kicked out."
"Then so be it. Finding a friend is much harder than finding a spear instructor."
An ember of warmth sputtered in his soul, like a torch dropped into a dark well. David was not used to being called a friend. The right thing to do would be to acknowledge Faya as his friend as well, but…he was not the best at that sort of thing.
A witty remark, or what he thought was witty, would have to do. "Hmmm. I thought you were my rival."
Faya chuckled. "Once you've learned the spear forms, perhaps."
Everyday after lunch, they attended two classes separate from their spear training.
The first class was focused on creatures, which seemed to be this world's catch-all term for non-human animals. David's instructor for this class was named Quil. She was tall and wiry, like a rusted spring, and had erratic gray hair that coiled past her shoulders.
When describing a creature, she would first go through where it was most often found, then its physical characteristics and appearance, then its behaviors and tendencies, and finally its abilities. She rattled these facts off like she was reciting them from a ten thousand page book. Her descriptions were so long-winded many recruits would start to doze off before she even made it to a creature's abilities. In such cases, she would quietly walk up to the sleeping student, a glassy smile on her face, and then snap her wooden cane at their knees, jolting them awake.
David never fell asleep in her class. Not because he was scared of her cane (he was), but because the information she provided was invaluable. He had already learned that there were five types of Shadebringers (fire, stone, water, light, wind), and of various other creatures Kleymon had never told him of, like the Nerodae and the Pyre.
After his second time attending creature class, he went to Cyst (who he had now learned was a Pyre), and asked if he could have paper and pen to take notes during class. With the usual light smile dancing on her lips, she told him paper was a valuable commodity, but that for him, she'd get some.
It was a comfortable exchange, but there was a reticence between them that had not been there before. During his 30 days of training, not once had she spoken to him. She was surely busy, but he had expected…something. A visit. A conversation. Her presence would have brightened any of the days he spent in constant pain, secluded with Acktredd. The morning when she led him to the training room, he started to believe he could count on her, that she had his back…
He left her office reminded of the fact that the Shadekillers were using him and that the training he was undergoing was under the threat of death. He had to find a way back to Earth soon.
During a run with Faya the next day, David took his first steps towards returning home.
As always, the sun painted a blistering hot orange over the red-domed city, and anytime a breeze swept past, he relished it.
He heard Faya speeding behind him on his 5th lap. David was still on his second. He called out to him.
"Faya! Can we talk for a moment?"
A bronze blur rushed past him.
"If you can keep up with me!"
He laughed. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned being rivals.
His strides grew larger, legs tightening with effort. Five strides: one big breath in. One stride: one short breath out. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat, until he was barely matching the Niven man's graceful strides.
"Faya…do you…know the…white robe at the training ground?" It was not easy to talk and run so fast.
Faya glanced at him, hardly breaking a sweat.
"Her name is Lez. We are on good terms. She likes me because when I duel I inflict injuries that are precise. These are much easier to restore than the injuries other recruits cause."
That did not surprise David. Faya had an interesting mix of compassion and indifference to violence.
"Perfect…could you…bring her…to my room tonight?"
"David, there are other ways to go about this. We can go into the city on our next off day, visit the brothel district if you'd—"
"What?! No, that's not…what I meant. I need her to restore me."
Faya's wheat-gold eyebrows arched in concern. "Are you injured? Should we slow down?"
"Not…currently. But it's possible…I will be tonight. Sorry…I realize that doesn't…huff…make much sense."
"It does not, but I will bring her, regardless."
A needle of guilt pricked at David's heart. What have I done to deserve his friendship?
He could not recall the exact day, but when he was still training with Acktredd and on one of his daily runs, Faya had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, running beside him. They had talked a bit but mostly ran in silence. The next day they ran together again. Over a week or so they began to talk more during the runs, about the training ground, about the recruits, and about human nature, which Faya found fascinating. When David's training and seclusion had ended, he was put in the same spear class as him. Now they ate lunch together, and when David continued to train after the other recruits went to sleep, Faya would come and give him guidance on how to improve.
The needle of guilt wilted. He realized that a friendship does not need to be built on great acts of service and brotherhood. It is small, little things that start friendships.
He said thank you, and Faya simply shrugged, increasing his speed until David gave up on trying to keep up with him.
During spear class afterwards, he trained alone, as usual. It had been around a wiq since he had started, and he felt confident in his basic thrusts, guards, and strikes. As he practiced, he noticed from the corner of his eye that Jower was straying from his usual position next to the duels, and moving towards him.
The rocky old man spoke from beside him."Your thrusts lack any strength. You could not kill a tree if you tried. But, your form is excellent. You start sparring with us tomorrow."
David broke his concentration for a moment, looked at Jower and nodded, then returned to the forms.
After spear training there was lunch and then creature class. Following this was his second class of the day, "History".
"So, we left off yesterday with the founding of Auros Lepida by Kadmos, the first man to kill a Shadebringer. After its founding, creatures all over the land flocked here, to the only city safe from Shadebringers. Kadmos welcomed them all, and when the streets were filled to the brim and every house occupied, preparations began on constructing Auros Doro and Auros Toxo. As our two sister cities were forged, Kadmos created the inner structure of the Shadekillers. His most trusted companions, those that had helped him hunt the first Shadebringer, he anointed as his Blades. They were the greatest weapons of the Shadekillers and still are today…"
The instructor for this class, Patar, was a short middle-aged man with dark and smooth clay-like skin. His face was constantly morphing into different expressions to fit his stories, and his voice carried an infectious enthusiasm that entranced the entire class.
David understood now what Cyst meant when she said a story was good because of the way it is told, not the content. Patar could tell him about what he ate for breakfast and he'd be on the edge of his seat.
Though he was in a world where fantastical creatures were ordinary, he could not help but be highly skeptical of the tales Patar weaved. Not once was there mention of the sources these stories—which he claimed happened hundreds of years ago—came from.
He did find the history of the Shadekillers interesting and wanted to discuss Patar's stories more, but unfortunately, Faya had little interest in them, and often slept during class. Without Faya to talk to about them… his choices were limited. Most of the recruits seemed to dislike him, and he was not compelled enough to try to change their opinions. There was Cyst, but he couldn't face the quiet tension he knew still lurked between them.
Eventually, he decided to visit the library, hoping to see if it held any answers. It was hidden out of sight, in the right corner of the training complex, behind a paint chipped red door. Five shelves of books were in the center of the room, with a few square wooden tables circling them. As he had expected, Klin was seated at a desk just in front of the entrance.
A second after David opened the door, Klin's ink quill snapped, and he tossed it behind him, muttering and grabbing a new one from a drawer in his desk.
David took a calculated risk. Instead of greeting the angry white-bearded man that still hated him, he nonchalantly walked past him and began to inspect the shelves.
After a few seconds, he breathed out a quiet sigh of relief. No angry yelling. Just the continued scratch of Klin's quill on parchment.
The first shelf he looked at was nearly empty. The few books there were illegible, paper yellowed with age, inked words that had bled together long ago. The shelf after this one was half full, with books, scrolls, and red clay tablets. Most of the books were again of no use, and the characters on the clay tablets were written in a language he did not recognize. He carefully unfurled one of the scrolls. In elegant cursive, the scroll detailed a list of construction materials for a, "great castle to tower above Auros Lepida, and act as the beacon of light for the Shadekillers." The other scrolls on this shelf were of a similar logistical nature; there were construction lists, trading proposals, and what David found most interesting, a list of required tributes from the sister cities, Auros Doro and Auros Toxo. He spent the rest of his freetime before he was required to return to his quarters looking through scrolls. Usually, this was time he would use to continue the exercises Acktredd had taught him, but he was enjoying the detective work in piecing together the history of this city.
Just as he was putting away the last scroll on the shelf and getting ready to leave, he heard the screeching of wood on the stone floor.
"Ye like readin' court scrolls thet much?"
Klin had turned his chair around and was facing him.
He responded honestly. "They're interesting. And they seem to be more…realistic, compared to the stories they tell recruits in class."
"Thet they arre. Whateverr they tell ye in class is worse than a fool's truth. Ye know, ah was workin' on writin' the real history of this shite cult before ye got meh kicked out of the castle."
Cult? Huh, now that I think about it, that does seem like an apt word to describe these people.
David swallowed nervously. "Ah, sorry about that. I'm not sure why the Blades sent you here with me."
Klin shook his head in resignation. "Well, whets dead is dead. Only thing ye can do now is remunerate me."
What? Is this old man trying to extort me?
"I don't have any coin. The only thing I own are the clothes on my back. What exactly do you expect from me?"
A devilish smile lit up Klin's grim face. David was shocked. He didn't even think Klin could smile.
"Ye know how te wrrite dont ye?"
"Uh...yes?"
"Come beck 'morrow. Got things for ye to copy."
Klin screeched his chair back around so that it faced his desk and returned to writing.
"Lev meh library now."
David left, his brain mushy and unsure what to think. Back at his quarters, finished with classes for the day, he opened up the wicker basket Acktredd had left him. He grabbed a jar of yellow sap and slathered it over his arms. Sap-jumpers hopped out of the wicker basket and suctioned themselves to his arms.
He had grown used to their prickling and, in a sick sort of way, had started to enjoy the sensation.
After an hour of exercises, the spider-like creatures had eaten off all of the sap from him and hopped back into the wicker basket of their own accord.
Just a few minutes later, a quiet knock on his door.
"Greetings, David." Faya covered his face and yawned as he spoke.
"Greetings Faya, and Lez."
Lez stood next to Faya, her face a pale void, empty of anything but cool calmness. She wore a white tunic and long white robe, the shadow of the hood hiding her hair.
"If you need restoration, let us do this quickly." Her voice was squeaky and brisk.
She brushed past him and into his room. Faya followed behind.
David closed the door and started his awkward speech.
"I am going to attempt to do something. It is…possible that it may cause me a lot of pain. I may even faint. That is why you are here."
Faya looked at him, clearly confused."Why not…just not do it then?"
"I concur." Lez said.
"It's something I have to do. Sorry, that's all I can say."
"Very well. Get on with it then." Lez motioned him to start.
David closed his eyes, then stretched his arm out, his hand tightened into a fist.
First, the portal.
Instead of the thinking of his apartment on Earth, or the forest Tunk had found him in, he imagined the marketplace of Dracon.
Gray cobblestone. Red canopies. Heavyset merchants in bright green and purple tunics. Rail-thin humans ambling through the market, inspecting the leather sandals and dirt-crusted vegetables. The atmosphere of the place is as heavy as the weight of the fiery sun above.
YES! YES!
He could feel the cobblestone of the market beneath his feet.
He began to open his fist slowly, eyes still closed.
Wait… NO!
The cobble suddenly turned into a thick gray sludge, locking his legs in place. He winced as a sharp pain blared like a shrieking alarm in his head. The pain stung and burned more as he tried to escape from the sludge.
He opened his eyes. Until that moment, he had been sure that he was creating a portal, but now there was nothing but the gray stone wall of his room, and the empty palm of his calloused hand.
Another failure.
He signed and sat on his cot, breathing in and out deeply, trying to regain his composure. He could feel them staring.
"Alright. I was trying to do something, but it didn't work. That's fine. There's still one more thing I want to try though." He stood back up.
Faya looked at him, even more concerned than before. "You seemed to be in pain. Are you sure you want to keep doing…whatever you are doing?"
He was, in fact, not totally sure. His heart was beating out of his chest, and the thought of trying to manipulate flames after what had happened in the Sun Chamber was terrifying.
But he had to try. If he ever wanted to regain control over his life, to escape from this world, he needed to be able to use his abilities.
"I'm okay, Faya. Just need some water."
He took a swig from one of the jugs in his chest, and then began.
While at the training ground, he had frequently thought about what went wrong in the Sun Chamber. He knew so little about the laws of this world, about how the transfer of abilities actually worked, that it was difficult to even hypothesize what could have happened. The only thing he felt sure about was that he had tried too hard to bring the flames out, something had gone wrong and trying to force them out had only made things worse.
This time, he was going to take things slow. He would start back at the beginning: the disconnect.
The tool is separate from me, but free for me to use how I wish.
An unnatural warmth, like a waft of hot air from an oven, enveloped his hand. Yet, there was still no flame.
This tool is made of flame. It has weight. The weight of an orange blade that wraps around my hand.
A bright red ember sprang from his hand, flitting through the air. It turned to nothingness as it floated towards his bed.
David's whole body flinched, like he had been struck by lightning. There it was again, the agonizing pain in his head. His body grew warm, then hot…
Before the searing heat burned any further, Lez placed her hands on his chest; cooling restoration emanated through them.
He took a deep shuddering breath. His legs started to wobble.
Faya moved to him quickly, wedged his shoulder underneath David's armpit and then set him down on his bed.
Lez stared at him. There was a twinkle in her eyes, like she was looking at a new specimen.
"Would you care to explain what just happened?" She asked.
"Uh…no. I'm sorry. If you want answers, ask Cyst."
The skin around her eyes bunched up in anger. He returned her dark gaze with a tired one of his own. That wasn't intended to make her more angry, he was just tired as all hell.
She stormed out of the room. "I work for the Shadekillers, not recruits. I expect payment for this service. You know what I like, Faya."
The door slammed shut and they heard her footsteps marching down the hall.
"What does she like?" He asked, partially because he did need to know, but also to avoid discussing what had just transpired.
Faya said nothing for a moment. "Do you have an ability, David? A spark flew from your hand."
David tapped his bare foot against the stone floor. He had prepared an explanation, a lie, for this situation. But he hated lying. Evading, dodging questions he could do, but lying made him feel like a slimy worm, especially when it was to the only friend he had in this world.
He opened his mouth, hoping magic words perfect for the situation would materialize, but none did.
Faya was his friend, but this was his life. Could anyone in this world be trusted with his life? A small lie…surely that was fine?
"I…ate a Flamebringer. Sometimes I can control its abilities…sometimes I can't."
Whywhywhywhywhywhy why did I say that?
Faya's already serious face turned to a stony mask.
"You…ate a flamebringer?"
I could say I was joking. That I misspoke.
"Yes."
"I…hmmm. I was not expecting you to say that. I am unsure such a thing is even possible…but I trust you. I've never told you of my past, of how I came to the Shadekillers, and I don't expect you to tell me of yours either. The paths we travel and the stains we leave behind are often dark and bloody. Returning to them is painful…best we leave them to fade from memory, right?"
David exhaled and smiled. Telling him the rest would have been difficult, and he would most certainly sound insane.
"Right. Thank you Faya, for being my friend." A lump caught in his throat. He swallowed quickly and it left.
Faya's face lit up, a wry grin stretching from his chin to cheeks. "I think you mean rival. You have mastered the forms, have you not?"
"I, uh, yea, I think so. How about we duel tomorrow, rival?"
Faya shook his head and moved towards the door.
"I don't duel on free days. Let's go into the city. We'll need to get Lez's payment."
"What is her payment?"
"You'll see." He winked and left to return to his room.
David fell back onto his bed, exhausted, as he always was at the end of the day. He had been unable to create a portal or use any flames. Complete failure. But, he still had a friend. He may have learned something else too. The sharp pain in his head that happened when he tried to use his abilities, it almost felt like a bite…
The next morning, Faya and David woke early and headed to the gatehouse, the only way in and out of the training ground. On free days, which David had only had two of so far, the gatehouse became crammed wall to wall with recruits, all jostling to get out and enjoy their limited time in the city.
After the recruits made it out of the gatehouse, it was a free for all sprint to get to the nearest platform.
After they had been in the cramped gatehouse for ten minutes, Faya whispered, "Get ready to run to the plat station. Follow me and try to keep up."
Faya was five or so inches taller than most of the recruits, so he could easily see how much farther it was till they would make it out of the gatehouse.
In a minute, the recruits at the front came tumbling out of the gatehouse, pushing, clawing and in general acting like children that had been told only one of them could go to the ice cream buffet. Most of them were in their twenties, around David's age.
As soon as they stumbled out of the gatehouse, Faya leapt over three recruits that had fallen to the ground, and hit a dead sprint, running east of the complex towards the first huge trench surrounding Lepida.
If David attempted the same jump, he would undoubtedly land on one of them, so he moved towards a more empty path to the left, then began sprinting, letting his strides grow larger and larger, and faster and faster.
A few recruits who had gotten to the gatehouse the earliest that morning boarded the first plat and were whizzing around the trench already. They stuck their tongues out at the other recruits that would have to catch the next one.
Faya was already about 50 feet ahead of him, and 20 feet away from the station where the next plat was about to arrive.
The morning wind today was ferociously cold and his legs were burning from the effort to catch up to Faya. It felt spectacular.
He zipped past other recruits, vaguely hearing a few say something that sounded like a curse, but he was so focused on maximizing each of his strides and his breaths that they could be wishing him good luck for all he knew.
Faya made it to the plat station, along with eight other recruits. The plat could only fit ten people total.
The station was about 30 feet away now. Faya was yelling at the top of his lungs, jumping and waving his arms up and down like a madman, telling David to hurry up.
There was no one ahead of him, so he should make it there first.
Boots crunched on the dew grass behind him.
He glanced to his right, and saw a stocky man with short fuzzy black hair and a thick mustache, nearly matching his speed. The man smirked at him, the way a cruel boy smirks as he burns insects alive with a magnifying glass.
This is the guy Faya told me about. The one that said I'm the worst recruit in Shadekiller history. What was his name? Ed-something? Shit, doesn't matter.
Ed-something, his milky white face red and straining with effort, surged a few steps ahead of David. His legs were short but as thick as tree trunks.
David strained, calves tightening even more, and caught back up, running almost beside him.
Fury gleamed in the stout man's eyes. He veered closer to David, and in a smooth, practiced motion, brought his left elbow down into David's gut. Hard.
The blow sucked the air out of him, and he had to slow down to a jog as he tried to breathe.
Ed-something pulled ahead, 20 feet from the station.
David regained his breath and scanned the ground.
There.
Back to a running pace, he plucked a stone the size of his fist off the ground. The man was bulky, so a shot to the back might not deter him enough. A shot to the head could kill him, which would be a bit much for a few mean comments and an elbow to the stomach.
He willed himself to run even faster, then, about 10 feet from the man, he launched the rock.
Crunch.
Well, there wasn't a literal crunch sound. But it did smash directly into the soft flesh under his knee. Ed-something yelped and fell face first into the ground.
David ran past him, and finally made it to the plat station, sweating and out of breath. The other recruits waiting there were talking amongst themselves in small groups. A few glanced at him, then looked away, like even looking at him made them sick.
Faya clapped him on the back, looking like a proud father.
The next plat whizzed across the tracks of the trench and shuddered to a stop at their station. After a vehement "NO" from all the recruits when asked if this was their first time riding a plat, they crowded together onto the shiny black circle, and each grabbed one of the ten handlebars.
The operator placed her hand in the square opening in the middle of the plat. In seconds, the carved flames that danced over the gleaming black surface lit up orange. The plat surged forward, shaking a bit at first, but eventually smoothing out as they traveled further.
To their right, they whirred past vast square fields of golden wheat and small wooden cottages with smoke rolling out of their chimneys. Far past these farms, was the massive white bone wall that surrounded the city.
Though he already suspected it, David learned in his History class that the wall was constructed from the bones of dead Shadebringers. Kadmos started it when he created the city, and it continued to be built from the ribs, spine, and leg bones of Shadebringers, until it was finally finished 200 years later. It was at least 50 feet tall, and the jagged bones were melted together, conjoined at freakish angles.
After a few minutes on the plat, the golden fields and even the wall disappeared from view. In their place was a light green forest that covered the land. The forest seemed less chaotic than the one David had met Tunk in. Oak trees with moss lazing up their broad trunks stood powerful over meadows of cropped lavender grass. It seemed like a nice place to escape from the toils and dangers of life in this world.
"Dont…be..foo". Faya said something but he couldn't make it out over the whirring of the plat.
"WHAT?" David shouted.
"I SAID DON'T BE FOOLED. IT LOOKS PEACEFUL BUT THAT'S JUST THE SURFACE. ONCE WE GET FARTHER IN…IT WILL BE DANGEROUS."
David looked back at him, his eyebrow raised. "IS THE CREATURE WE'RE HUNTING FOR LEZ IN THERE?"
"IT IS. BUT WE'LL COME BACK LATER. FIRST WE NEED SOME WEAPONS. AND SOME WINE! OR ALE IF YOU'D LIKE!"
"WE DON'T GET MANY FREE DAYS", David said. "WHY NOT BOTH?!"
Faya grinned, like he was hoping that would be his answer.
A glimpse of the sun's golden skin peeked through the clouds, fighting the cold wind rushing over them with rays of warmth. It seemed impossible, but in a world that had broken him, in a world he was trying to escape from, David found himself looking forward to the rest of the day.