attacked.
Before Gwaynn knew what had happened he found himself on his back, his right kata knocked clean from his grasp and out of the fenced area. Nev backed away as Gwaynn sat up, shook his head clear and stared up at the Tar above him. The sun was setting directly behind Nev’s bushy yellow hair and lit it like some sort of bizarre masculine halo. Gwaynn shook his head again, then stood and gathered in his missing kata. Inside his mind was racing, wondering what had just happened. He said nothing, however, just took up his position and raised his katas; moments later he was disarmed once more and again on his back. Nev walked over and retrieved the missing kata and then helped Gwaynn to his feet. Gwaynn took back his weapon and rubbed his left shoulder where apparently he’d been struck by a hard blow, but he was not aware of when.
“You may attack me this time,” Nev said, bowed and then made ready. Gwaynn returned the bow and then rushed in, but a moment later was disarmed; this time both katas went flying from blows so hard and fast Gwaynn could hardly believe it. He stood utterly still, his mouth hanging open.
“Fetch them,” Nev said. “And attack again if you still find the need.” Gwaynn walked off, thoroughly embarrassed to be doing so. He thought his time on the island had turned him into a somewhat competent fighter, but now his confidence was beginning to waver. When he returned to the center of the corral, he bowed and while consciously holding firmly to his weapons he moved in and attacked once more. This time, however, his attack was much more cautious. The outcome, however, was no different. He was again unarmed with fast, powerful blows and again ended sprawling on his back. Nev reached down to help the boy to his feet.
“I would have killed you on the beach very quickly,” Nev said, “any true Tar would have.”
“How…how,” Gwaynn stammered.
Nev smiled at him. “You are skilled, possibly more than I was at your age, but it takes years and years to earn the title of Tar. The Executioners may well be skilled, and some may take the title of Tars, but they are not and never will be.”
Gwaynn looked down at his empty hands once more. “But how?” He asked not understanding how he could be so easily disarmed, not once but three times.
Tar Nev chuckled.
“That is a secret of the Solitaries, which goes back countless generations, all the way to Galen Dawkins himself. It is a secret I will teach you,” Nev said and slapped Gwaynn lightly on the shoulder. Gwaynn winced and Nev threw back his head and laughed. It was a laugh that Gwaynn would soon get used to, though now at the beginning he found it odd that a Master, a Solitary would find humor in so many things.
“I will tell you that though it is a great secret, at its heart, it is surprisingly simple. But for now, I’m hungry. Let’s eat and we will start you true training in the morning.”
?
“You have failed to kill him once more,” King Arsinol Deutzani said quietly, his anger barely contained. Tar Navarra seemed nonplussed, but Ja Brude sat perfectly still, his eyes never leaving the Executioner, as if he expected the man to attack at any moment.
“Our little dance was interrupted,” Navarra answered dimly, realizing that if the young Prince’s skill with weapons continued to improve it would be highly unlikely that he would be able to handle him alone. This was not the type of information he would share with the King or anyone else, but he was not above using an army to kill, if need be. He was an Executioner, what mattered was death, not how it was achieved.
“It seems there are Tars on Noble Island, and they have grown fond of the boy,” he added sarcastically, but was not about to go into the whole story behind the failure. Sergeant Lindsay and the others would also hold their tongues, if they knew what was good for them.
“I want him dead!” Arsinol yelled between bites of pork, slamming the handle of his knife on the table as he spoke.
“He will die,” Navarra stated simply.
“How? How will he die?”
“The Competitions are coming at year’s end,” Navarra said with a smile. “I believe it is still open to all the peoples of the Inland Sea.”
King Arsinol smiled in return.
“It would be dangerous to do such a thing with so many eyes present,” Ja finally spoke up.
Navarra turned to look at him, his stare making the King’s advisor uncomfortable.
“Accidents happen,” Navarra and the King said in unison and everyone smiled.
?
Gwaynn woke early, Mille’s death still weighing heavily on his mind, but thankfully he remembered no dreams from the night before. The eastern sky was just beginning to glow from the light of the sunrise to come. Tar Nev was already up and waiting for him, sitting cross-legged in the grass field in front of the cabin. Gwaynn walked quietly over to him.
“You are eager to start?” Nev asked without turning around.
Gwaynn smiled. “No more than you,” he answered at which Nev chuckled.
“That is true. I have waited a long time for this day,” the Tar answered, rising gracefully to his feet.
“Here is the first big secret,” Nev said, his twisted smile barely showing in the darkness of the early morning. He was holding out a set of katas. Gwaynn frowned. He already had a pair of practice katas, but he reached out and took the new pair, he nearly dropped them. They were heavy, very heavy. Gwaynn transferred one to his left hand and lifted them, gauging their weight. He looked up at Nev questioningly.
“Five times the weight of a normal set,” he explained. “Practice with these and your blows will be fast and powerful. Come,” he added and began to walk up past the cabin. He stopped along the side wall and picked up a pair of logs from the pile and motioned for Gwaynn to do likewise. Gwaynn tucked his new katas in his pants, very aware of their weight and selected two larger logs, hoping to impress his new master. Nev just raised an eyebrow and led him out back and onto a path that led up the slopes of Mount Erato. They followed the trail as it slanted up through the fields of grass and onto the more rocky slopes. Before they’d gone a half a mile, the path began to switch back and forth so as not to be too steep to navigate and it wasn’t long before Gwaynn wished he had chosen smaller logs. He shook his head in disgust at his earlier wish to impress. They were only about a quarter of the way up the mountain when the sun suddenly popped up above the horizon. Gwaynn stopped a moment to look back. He was surprised that he could see Herra below in the distance and beyond that the lower part of the island. The sun was a bright red ball shining through a bank of clouds just above the gleaming Inland Sea.
“It is beautiful,” Nev said and then without another word turned away and led Gwaynn higher and higher up the mountain.
Gwaynn was breathing rapidly and his legs were shaky and tired by the time Nev stopped just over three- quarters of the way to the top. Nev set his logs on the ground and Gwaynn followed suit by dropping his own, flexing his arms from the pain. The Tar then led Gwaynn to a rocky overhang and they sat on the very edge, their legs dangling out over a quarter of a mile drop off. From here, the whole of the island was visible, including the port towns of Hymnia and Euter.
“It looks much smaller from up here,” Gwaynn said as he sat next to his new Master.
“Excellent,” Tar Nev said. “But is it smaller?”
Gwaynn frowned. The question made no sense. Of course the island was not smaller. It stayed the same size no matter where you viewed it, but he refrained from answering right away. Tar Nev must have had a reason for such a question.
Nev smiled, noticing the boy’s hesitation. “Well?” he asked.
“No, the island is not smaller. It just appears so from up here,” Gwaynn answered curious about where all this was going.
“Hmmm,” Nev answered tilting his head a bit. “So you are saying that our perceptions have no affect on the outside world?”
Gwaynn thought for another moment and then nodded his head. “Yes. The island is the size it is no matter what I think.”
