After a few seconds they readjusted so the sound was acceptable.
“Not bad Alex, not bad at all. You can open your eyes now.”
My regular vision seemed odd after the Farsight. The first thing I did was look at my hands. I noticed with surprise that not only were they not bleeding, but there was barely a mark on them. I scanned the rest of the room. A broken Golem lay at my feet. It was face down, hand still clutched around the now V shaped crosier. Fragments of its demolished face were dotted around it, reminding me of a broken china doll. A shard near my foot was marked with XI.
I noticed the other Golem. It was propped upside down against the far wall. Its neck was twisted at an unnatural angle, left cheek crushed against the floor. Both eyes were shattered and red liquid pooled out of them like a smashed egg. Its right hand twitched, still searching for the staff which lay a few feet away from its mangled body. It had been given one task and it was still trying to carry it out. Its stony hand gave a final jerk and then fell lifeless to the mat.
Strangely even though I knew they were just clay effigies created by Faru, I felt guilty. Rachel seemed to sense my unease. “Don’t worry Alexander, they have no feelings. They may have some of Faru’s life-force, but it doesn’t mean they are alive.” She slipped from the beam and floated over to the fallen Golems. Putting her fingers to the backs of their mouths, she pulled out what looked like small flat stones.
A few seconds later they dissolved into dust. Rachel moved over to one of the weapon racks and slid out a samurai sword. She tossed it through the air. Without thinking, I caught it by the hilt and let the tip rest against floor. With a click of her fingers, the other two Golems came to life.
“Next part, weapons training. Close your eyes.”
We practiced for the next few hours. With the aid of Farsight I learned how to enter my instinctual combat state with barely a split second of thought. Rachel taught me how to handle the various weapons, using my new abilities. It unnerved me at how natural I felt wielding deadly blades and Bo staffs.
I dispatched the last Golem with a rising sword strike that removed its head. It rolled towards Rachel, who stopped it with her foot.
There was a series of clapping. I opened my eyes and turned to see Faru, Gabriella and the rest of Orion by the entrance. I blushed at the sight of the unexpected audience.
Faru clicked his fingers. The remains of the defeated Golems disappeared into dust, leaving only the flat stones behind, which Rachel picked up. He walked over to me — his footsteps making no sound on the Tatami flooring — and placed a hand on my shoulder. A tickling sensation swept through my brain and I knew that the Farsight had gone.
“Congratulations Alexander, you have reached the end of your initiation training. I have been kept appraised of your progress. I must say I’m impressed. Despite the circumstances, you have managed to keep control and are progressing nicely. You will make an excellent addition to Orion.” I felt a rush of pride. “Thank you sir.” “However, there is still the matter of your final trial. It will take place now, here.” My heart stalled. I knew that I’d have to do it, but it had come about so quickly.
“In order to fully awaken the potential within us, we must first defeat the fear which keeps it prisoner.” He called over his shoulder. “Bring him in.”
Midnight disappeared into the elevator. When he re-entered, he was not alone. Agent Noble and two others agents emerged, tugging breathlessly at ropes. As they got further into the room, I saw that the ropes were attached to a large metallic cage on wheels. Inside stood a hulking man wearing a tattered pair of shorts. His thick wrists were shackled in thick chains which linked to a bolted loop on the cage floor. Long, knotted twists of hair hung around his shoulders like jungle vines. His body was a living canvass. Countless tattoos filled most of the free space from his chest downwards. There were black flames which licked up the sides of his arms, a fearful girl being consumed by a large dog over his stomach, and an eerie moon shining behind a gothic castle on his right leg. A set of teeth marks on the side of his waist. But the tattoo which caught my attention was the crudely drawn eye placed over his heart. It seemed to stare at everything all at once — judging.
The man was a Soldier of Sorrow.
His real eyes looked dark and uncaring. He stared with little emotion around the room as Agent Noble leaned into the cage, using a large key to unshackle his hands. No sooner had this been done, that with the speed of a viper, he grabbed the agent’s arm and snapped his wrist. The sound of bone breaking echoed around the room. I gasped in horror. Agent Noble let out a scream and fell to the floor. The other two scrambled to drag him away. Gabriella swore loudly and pulled out a gun attached to her belt. The caged man shrank away from it.
“Enough!” commanded Faru. “Gabriella, holster your weapon. Agent Jones, take Agent Noble to the infirmary. Call Selene to assist. I will be along after Alexander has dealt with our unruly guest here.” He stepped forward to the cage, wrapping his wrinkled hands around the steel poles without fear. The prisoner copied the movement, but made no attempt to attack our leader.
“He was rude to me on the journey over,” the man said in a matter of fact tone. His voice sounded both thick and gruff.
“You are a despicable creature, Bargheist. I would like nothing better than to strike you down where you stand. A mangy beast put out of its misery. However, we honour our agreements. You have not forgotten the rules I trust?”
Bargheist nodded. A sure slow movement which caused more of his thick black hair to tumble around his shoulders.
“I fight the boy.” He shifted his dark eyes towards me and I recoiled. “It’s a knockout battle only. If I kill him, you kill me. Otherwise, regardless of the outcome you will ensure my safeguarded deportation back to Pandemonia.”
His words seemed to hang in the air as if they were real creatures capable of inflicting real damage. My legs went weak and I had to fight a strong urge to throw up. Faru wants me to fight that? He’s insane!
Faru made an agreeing noise and stepped away from the cage. At the same time, the sword fell from my hand, the hilt smacking my foot. I jumped in shock, tripping and landing on my backside. Bargheist threw back his head and laughed. It was a sound that could have turned milk sour. “QUIET!” bellowed Faru. Silence descended as if speakers had blown. “Alexander, please compose yourself.” I scrambled to my feet, grabbing at the sword with trembling fingers. “I can’t fight him!” I croaked instead. “He’s a psychopath. You all saw what he did to Agent Noble!”
Faru put up an appeasing hand. “I do not deny that he is a vile creature. One who made the choice to follow darkness.” The Seelian paused. “He is also the one who tried to kill you.”
My jaw unhinged. I looked at the caged madman. “T-that’s the Skinshifter? The one who chased me?”
“The very same.”
I remembered back to the other night. The way those blood-filled eyes had glared at me from the woods as their owner pursued me unrelentingly. The evil flowing from them had made my skin crawl so much it’d been a miracle it stayed attached to my body. And now here he was, standing right in front of me — and I was supposed to fight him. My heart smashed against my ribcage.
Faru moved close to me. “You have a choice. You can choose to go back to being the perpetual victim who was terrified to stand up for himself. The boy who hid in the shadows of his own frailty, afraid to stand up or speak out for fear of being crushed. Or you can choose to step out of the shadows, to believe in the potential you hold inside. The man who stands tall against his opponents…and wins.” He placed his hand on the back of my neck, a fleeting movement, but one that had a profound effect.
Thousands of images of my life flashed through my mind. They contained no moments of success or comfort. They were of times where I’d been doubled over, whilst bullies kicked and punched me; of when I’d stalked home, bruised and alone. Times when I’d cried myself to sleep in desperation. Or when I’d watched John hug Mikey and I’d stood in the doorway, wishing I’d had a father who hadn’t gone and died on me. All of the moments when I’d felt worthless, like a stagehand standing in the shadows, watching the lead actors bow on stage as roses land at their feet. The images ceased, but the impact of them remained. I coiled my hand tight around the sword hilt.
“I’ll fight.”
