Dawn of Man (Thanos Book 1) (23 page)

“Did he say why?” Ahnon asked, wanting to take the hurt away, and Jedek just shook his head.

Kenna reached over and held Jedek’s hand then looked back at Ahnon. “The one who was choking me said they would have the rod before the New Year,” she said.

“The rod is legend,” Ahnon mumbled.

“Rod? What is that?” Jedek asked.

Ahnon shrugged. “No one knows, sire. It was said the first sovereign carried a rod in the battle of Leviathan Isle,” he explained. “It is a legend that the orcs made a rod of oppression and the elves made a rod of virtue in the lost ages hundreds of thousands of years ago.”

“What does it mean?” Jedek asked.

“I have no idea, sire,” Ahnon admitted. “We must get you two safely to Nazar,” he said, sitting up and getting lightheaded. “Hand me my pouches,” he said, pointing.

“I gave you the last healing potion,” Jedek said though he obeyed.

“I have healing elixirs in my other pouch,” Ahnon said, reaching inside and pulling out a bottle with a deep purple liquid.

“Elixirs?” Jedek asked.

“Yes. Remember; wizards make potions, and witches make elixirs,” Ahnon said, taking a deep breath and draining the bottle. Fighting to uncurl his toes, he looked at Jedek, dropping the bottle and gasping.

“You had a witch make that for you?” Jedek asked, not wanting to know what it tasted like from the expression on Ahnon’s face.

“Hardly. I made it,” Ahnon said, feeling his body getting stronger.

“You know witchcraft also?” Kenna asked, and Ahnon nodded as he stood.

Jedek stared at him. “Drinking that many has to come with a price,” he said.

“Very good, sire, and yes, I will tire quickly over the next few days until my body recuperates.”

“Ahnon, I want you to protect Kenna instead of me,” Jedek told him.

“No!” Kenna shouted.

“Sire, I can’t,” Ahnon said, closing his eyes.

“Ahnon, please. I can’t lose her too.”

“Jedek, even if he could, I wouldn’t allow it,” Kenna said.

“Kenna, please, not now,” Jedek said.

“Yes now!” she snapped. “Ahnon is bound to you, and that’s what I want. I will stay close to you, but he is to protect you,” she said, crossing her arms.

Jedek looked at Ahnon. “Has a sho-ka ever taken two sires?” he asked.

“No,” Ahnon said, not opening his eyes.

“Can a sho-ka take two sires?”

“Yes,” Ahnon said, letting out a long sigh.

“What do I have to do?” Jedek asked, and Kenna spun off.

“Oh no you didn’t!” she shouted. “I am not going to sit by letting you throw everyone’s lives away!” she shrieked.

“Kenna, I can’t lose any more.” Ahnon and Kenna looked at his grief-stricken face and saw him still fighting tears. Kenna ran to him and wrapped her arms around him.

Ahnon walked over and put a hand on each of their shoulders. “Let’s get something straight: I can’t pick and choose who I guard if I do this. Either I save both of you or we all die together,” he said in a solemn voice.

Jedek looked down at Kenna, and she nodded. Jedek looked up at Ahnon. “Okay then. We all die together.”

“Very well, sire,” Ahnon said, heading over to his pouches. When he came back, he was holding an amulet just like Jedek’s.

Jedek let out gasp. “Ahnon, how?” was all he could say.

Knowing this would take any freedom he would ever have away, Ahnon gave Jedek a remorseful glance, but his love for them made him continue. “Are you sure, sire? Because once I give my pledge, there is no turning back.”

“Yes, Ahnon, I’m sure,” Jedek said, staring at the amulet. Ahnon placed it around Kenna’s neck and recited the oath. When he finished, the chain tightened around her neck till it was resting at her neckline.

“So be it then,” Ahnon said, looking at Kenna. “Sire,” he said, tilting his head to her.

“Ahnon, how come you already had another amulet?” Jedek asked, burning with curiosity. Ahnon sat down and looked over at him. “You knew,” Jedek said. “You have said several times you have seen things like what I looked like and who I was.”

Nodding ever so slightly, Ahnon mumbled, “Yes, sire. I have seen some of what has passed.”

“Did you know my parents would die?” he asked in an almost accusing tone.

Ahnon shook his head. “No, sire, I didn’t see that,” Ahnon said, slightly hurt.

Jedek ran over to him. “I’m sorry, Ahnon. I didn’t mean it to sound ugly.”

Ahnon looked up at him, “In your second year at the bhari academy, sho-ka to be are allowed to look into a seeing stone. The seeing stone will show you glimpses of the future, but since the future is always changing, you don’t know if what you see will actually happen. A lot of what I’ve seen has come about, and others haven’t. I can’t tell you what else I’ve seen because it would change how you would act, therefore changing the future. I did see Kenna with an amulet of mine, but when I met her, she had on Karme’s amulet, so I thought that had changed. I saw us traveling the world, and I took it as you ran away, which is not uncommon.”

“Is that all?” Kenna asked, not really wanting to know.

“No.”

“Don’t ask, Kenna; he can’t say, and I want him to know what’s coming,” Jedek said, kneeling in front of Ahnon.

Kenna nodded. “That’s reasonable, but I just want to know. Do we stand a chance?” she asked.

“Against what?” Ahnon asked, closing his eyes, appearing apprehensive.

“Surviving what’s coming.” Ahnon kept his eyes closed, not answering.

Jedek cleared his throat. “Ahnon, I want you to teach me everything you know about magic and fighting,” Jedek requested as Ahnon let out a remorseful sigh.

“
WE
want you to teach
US,
” Kenna corrected, giving Jedek a sideways glance.

“Sires, it will take time, effort, pain, and commitment. You two are now the rulers of Gratu. Do you really want to abandon the realm for this?”

“We are not abandoning the realm, Ahnon. We are just getting prepared for it,” Jedek answered. “I can appoint someone to run it in my place. Father had five men who ran the kingdom when he left the country.”

“You two do realize if we do this, it will take years, and a state of war is raging now on Thanos.”

“Ahnon, neither of us can fight in a war yet. That’s what we want to fix,” Kenna said. “If you think we can learn at Velham, we will go back.”

Ahnon nodded. “Very well. We will contact the kingdom to let them know you’re safe and appoint the board to oversee the kingdom until we return,” Ahnon replied with a weak grin.

Jedek stared at him for several minutes. “You knew that too,” he accused.

“Yes, sire, it is falling in place.”

“Can I ask you how without changing the future?” Jedek asked.

Ahnon sighed. “Looking through the seeing stone, I watched you two fighting alongside me. You were fighting like I do, so that means I trained you,” Ahnon said, making Jedek smile.

“Thank you.”

Kenna looked at both of them. “Ahnon, do we learn enough to become good warriors?” she asked.

“Yes, if you train hard, but like I’ve said, I told you, and that can change the future. It is up to you how hard you train.”

“Don’t worry; we will train every day till we drop,” Kenna assured him.

“Yes, sire,” Ahnon said, grinning. “I will tell you I got to follow us for one full day in the seeing stone, and you two made me very proud,” Ahnon informed them.

Jedek took a deep breath. “What do we do to start?” he asked.

“Listen to me at all times, and do what I say. Ask questions, and think about what you are doing at all times,” Ahnon replied. “Now, we are eating and will get ready to leave in the morning.” Ahnon got up and walked to the fire.

“Where will we go to train?” Kenna asked.

“We will travel into the Iron Mountains and build a cabin,” Ahnon said, fixing another bowl of stew.

“I thought you had estates around the world. Why not use one of them?” Jedek asked.

“Oh, I do have many estates and a sanctuary in Nazar. But others can connect me to them and might look for us there. Once we start, we don’t stop till you are ready to move out into the world.”

Jedek looked at Kenna as he asked, “Ahnon, will our kingdom be safe while we do this?”

“I don’t know, sire.”

“If we lose it, will you help me get it back?”

Ahnon chuckled. “That’s a given, sire. Where you two go, I will always be there. If I need to, I’ll hire every bhari and mercenary in the world to reclaim your throne,” Ahnon assured him. “May I ask why you two want to do this?”

Kenna stood. “I tried to fight, Ahnon. I truly did, and they just laughed at me. I don’t ever want to feel that helpless again. I’m Jedek’s wife, and I will stand beside him in battle no matter if it’s in some field or assassins coming after us.”

Jedek stood with her. “Ahnon, I watched Theobald defend my father till the last breath left his body. My father fought valiantly but was still killed. I want to know more.”

Ahnon shook his head. “Jedek, every warrior can be beaten. Even I have lost battles.”

“Maybe, but you’re still here,” Jedek replied.

Ahnon nodded slightly, unable to argue that. “Gather wood for the fire; we leave in the morning.”

Chapter 18

Stirring by the fire as dawn slowly broke, Ahnon looked over at the kids stretching out sore muscles from the exercises he’d had them doing for the last two hours. Kenna’s hair was matted to her head, and her once white chemise was now a dingy black. Jedek wiped sweat off his face and noticed Ahnon looking at them.

“There is no regret, Ahnon. I really liked that,” he said.

Ahnon chuckled and replied, “I’m glad, sire, because that is just the beginning of a long time of training.”

“I really would like something other than a chemise to wear,” Kenna announced.

“I wish you would’ve grabbed clothes instead of keepsakes before we left. But don’t worry; there is a village, three days’ travel to the east, where I will get us some supplies,” Ahnon said.

Kenna gave him a smile. “Thank you, Ahnon. I really would like to train in something other than a chemise. I don’t think anyone would be scared of me attacking them in a nightgown.”

“You’re probably right, sire,” he answered. “Kenna, we have to change the color of your hair while we travel.”

With a feral look in his eyes, Jedek spun and shouted, “What?”

Ahnon held up his hands. “Sire, her hair stands out as you well know. If anyone sees her, they will remember a young woman with long, beautiful hair,” Ahnon told him, and Jedek groaned.

“I hate dying my hair,” Kenna mumbled.

“We can’t dye it, sire. I have to change it. You can smell dyes.”

Stomping his foot, Jedek said, “You’re not cutting it.”

Kenna looked at him with daggers in her eyes. “If we need to, we will cut it.”

“No, that is out of the question,” Jedek said, crossing his arms.

Before Kenna unleashed on him, Ahnon stood. “That won’t be necessary,” he said, walking over to Kenna. Cupping her hair in his hands, Ahnon spoke and ran his hands down the length of her hair. Jedek almost cried, watching the golden brown hair turn a deep black as Ahnon’s hand slid down it.

When Ahnon stepped back, Kenna looked like a different person. “You can change it back, right?” Jedek asked with a worried tone.

“I assure you, sire, I can change it back,” Ahnon said as he fought not to smile. “I want each of you to go and bathe in the stream. We leave after we eat,” Ahnon said, throwing each of them a towel.

“Ahnon, that water is really cold,” Jedek informed him.

“Jedek, you’re filthy and stinky. We don’t have time to stop and tend to someone who gets sick from being dirty.”

“You can get sick from being dirty?” Kenna asked.

Ahnon nodded. “Yes, a small cut can fester, giving you the burning fever.”

“Troll snot,” Jedek said, kicking at the fire.

“Use the soap, Jedek,” Ahnon said, starting breakfast.

Kenna picked up a cake of the soap and sniffed it. “It smells like trees,” she said.

“Imagine that; you are washing with something that smells like what we are moving through,” Ahnon said grinning as he shook his head. Kenna blushed and gathered up her towel and soap, heading to the stream. “Minos, go with them and guard,” Ahnon said.

Minos jumped up, wagging his tail, “Play?” he asked.

Ahnon closed his eyes and started counting, almost making Jedek collapse laughing. “Minos, you have to think about something else besides play,” Ahnon said, getting his temper under control.

“Eat,” Minos informed him, making Ahnon throw his hands up in the air.

“Come on, Minos,” Jedek said before Ahnon said anything else. They followed Kenna as the light of the second sun spilled down into the forest. Small animals and insects scurried in the underbrush as the three moved to the stream. They both stopped seeing a beetle bigger than the pot back at camp cross the path they were on.

They watched the birds flying off as they approached the small stream, and several creatures jumping through the trees. “Glider monkeys,” Kenna said, pointing up as one of the monkeys opened his arms, exposing a thin membrane of skin as he jumped and glided to another tree.

“Yes, I saw some when a carnival came to Velham several years ago,” Jedek said, watching the troop of gliders bounce through the trees. When they reached the stream, he looked at Kenna. “I will stand guard while you bathe; then, you can do the same for me,” he said, turning around.

“We could just bathe at the same time,” Kenna offered.

Jedek turned red. “Ah, you…are a girl.”

“Really? I didn’t know that,” Kenna said, grinning. “Jedek, Gratu is the last kingdom that has separate baths for men and women.”

“Well, for good reason,” he said, turning around as she started taking off clothes.

“Okay, what’s the reason?” Kenna asked, getting in the water and trying not to shiver.

“I don’t know, but it has to be a good one because we go through the trouble of building two separate baths instead of one.” Kenna let out a little giggle and hurried to scrub down. Before getting out, she grabbed her chemise and tried to get the dirt out. Now, it was a very dingy gray.

When she got out, Jedek jumped in very quickly, making Kenna think he just jumped in with his clothes on. She turned around and saw his clothes on the bank. Jedek saw her looking back and dropped down in the water. “Quit peeking!”

Kenna giggled and turned back around, drying her hair, then wrapped the towel around her. “Jedek, the water is crystal clear,” she said. “I just thought you jumped in with your clothes on.” She looked back at the gliders.

Not answering, Jedek scrubbed in record time and jumped out, dried off, and put his clothes back on.

“Jedek, look,” Kenna said with a soft voice.

Jedek fought to get his shirt over his wet head, thinking something bad was around. When his head popped out of the shirt, he saw Kenna pointing. Following her finger, he saw a small animal on a tree. It looked like a small, gray bear not much bigger than a large cat. The body and face were beautiful, but the animal had a long, skinny, ugly, pink tail that was longer than the body. The tail moved gracefully around the animal but was still very ugly. “What is it?” Jedek asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen one. I think it’s an oglat,” Kenna said. “I’ve heard them described, but it doesn’t fit,” she said, moving closer. Turning its head to look at her, the oglat purred, making Kenna sigh. Minos moved in front of her, stopping Kenna from getting closer.

“No, long fur. Don’t like ugly tail,” he said, giving a soft growl. Hearing the growl, the oglat opened its mouth and gave a hiss, and its tail turned red, arching over its body. Kenna stopped, seeing the mouth full of teeth and the tail changing colors.

“Kenna, step back slowly,” she heard Ahnon say behind her. Kenna slowly moved back until she saw Ahnon out of the corner of her eye. Turning to look, she saw he had a bow with an arrow, ready to draw.

“Don’t kill it,” Kenna moaned.

“Kenna, don’t talk. It’s annoyed now, and we really don’t want to see mad,” Ahnon told her, not taking his eyes off the oglat. “Minos, come here—now.” Hearing the iron tone in Ahnon’s voice, Minos backed up. When Minos was with them, Ahnon raised his hand. “We mean you no harm,” Ahnon said to the creature.

Climbing up to a branch, the oglat turned around, looking at them. The skin covering the tail was once again an ugly pink next to the cuddly body. “Just seeing who’s splashing,” the oglat said and scurried up the tree.

“Did it talk to you?” Kenna asked, watching the oglat disappear.

“Yes, Kenna. It wanted to know who was making noise,” he said, making sure it wasn’t coming back. Finally looking down at her, Ahnon put his hand on her shoulder. “Kenna, you have to control this wonder lust for animals. One out of every three animals on Thanos is deadly to humans, and the others can hurt us. Only one out of every ten plants is not harmful to us. This is a dangerous place, Kenna.”

“Ahnon, if it wasn’t for that ugly tail, that would be the best teddy bear ever. It was so cute.”

“You were right; that was an oglat. What have you heard about them?” Ahnon asked.

Kenna shook her head in disbelief. “That can’t be right because I was told they can make the best warriors scream in defeat,” she said.

“That ugly pink tail is full of stinging hairs. You can’t see them till you get up close. Once they sting, they don’t stop. I saw a man chop his own arm off two years after he was stung. The pain never stops and never decreases.”

Fear and panic hit her as Kenna gasped. “You’re kidding.”

“No, Kenna, I’m not. The oglat can drive most attackers away just by waving its tail.”

“Ahnon,” Jedek interrupted. “Can I ask you a question?”

“If it’s to catch the oglat, the answer is no.”

“No,” Jedek said, grinning. “Did you have oglat poison on the small blades you threw and hit Ryetan with?” he asked.

Ahnon wrapped an arm around Jedek’s shoulders. “Very good, sire,” Ahnon said, pulling him close. “They are called mini blade stars, and yes, they were coated in oglat venom.”

“How did you get it?” Jedek asked, looking up the tree where the oglat ran off.

“Very carefully, sire,” Ahnon said, pulling both of them back to camp.

Jedek looked down and for the first time noticed Ahnon was only wearing a loincloth. “Ahnon, where are your clothes?” Jedek shouted.

Not stopping, Ahnon said, “Sire, you aren’t very observant.”

When they reached camp, Jedek noticed all of Ahnon’s clothes were laid out on the blanket. “Kenna, put those on,” Ahnon said, pointing at them.

“You’re like four times bigger than me, Ahnon,” she said. Seeing his face, she ran over, dropping her towel. Jedek almost fell he spun around so fast. Facing Ahnon, Jedek saw the sho-ka reach all the way up to his shoulder in his pack and pull out what looked like a wooden book. When Ahnon took the lid off, Jedek saw it was a wooden box and moved closer. Inside the box, there were three rows holding five smaller boxes in each row. Ahnon pulled one out, opened it, and dumped it on a blanket.

Jedek leaned closer, amazed, seeing a very tiny outfit, pants, shirt, surcoat, boots, and other things he couldn’t make out. “Are those doll clothes?” he asked.

“No, sire. My outfit. Move back some, sire,” Ahnon said as he grabbed some components and held out his hand toward the blanket. “Su gi kura,” he said, and a soft ball of smoke shot from his hand, settling on the blanket. When it dissipated, what were once tiny items were full size.

“I love magic,” Jedek said in awe.

“Yes, sire, it does have some uses,” Ahnon said, moving over. Jedek noticed everything was a grayish black as Ahnon lifted the pants. Jedek saw throwing knives, spikes, and stars everywhere on the pants as Ahnon put them on. Then Ahnon tightened up a lace that ran up the outside of each leg till the pants hugged his body. Next, Ahnon put on a light black shirt then put on a doublet. Like the pants, Jedek saw throwing items everywhere. Finally, Ahnon put on soft, leather boots that came to his knees and laced all the way up.

“Don’t touch any of my knives now. The venoms I have on them are not reversible,” Ahnon told them. Leaning over, Ahnon grabbed his ever-present bracers for his forearms and began strapping them on.

Jedek moved closer to him. “Ahnon, I’ve been wanting to ask you for years, but what kind of bracers are those?”

“I made them,” Ahnon said, finishing strapping them on.

“Ahnon, you can make a knife come out one and some kind of pyramid that sticks to stuff out of the other one,” Jedek said, studying the braces.

Ahnon held out his right arm, and a blade swung out into his palm. “Yes,” Ahnon said and let the knife go, and it hung below his arm attached by a string.

“What kind of string is that? I’ve seen what you do with it, and it should break,” Jedek said.

“It’s braided troll hair, and the only thing that can cut troll hair is troll teeth. They are the sharpest thing known to man.” Suddenly, he whipped his arm over his head and swung it out, sending the knife sailing through the air. The blade chopped a limb off a tree forty paces away and shot back to Ahnon, who caught it. Jedek saw Ahnon flex his arm, and the blade flipped back to the brace. Looking closely, Jedek saw the outline of the blade in the shiny metal.

Grinning, “I want one,” Jedek said.

“We have a long way to go before that, sire,” Ahnon said, laughing.

“How and why?”

“I ran out of throwing blades once and really missed not being able to hit attackers at a distance, so I developed this. It took about thirty years, but I like it,” Ahnon said and lifted his left arm. The pyramid popped out into his palm. “I made this one so I could move away or grab something without using magic. I can control both with small muscle movements.” The pyramid popped back to the brace.

“What’s with the outfit? It looks kind of like a uniform,” Jedek said.

“I look ridiculous,” Kenna announced.

They turned around to see her standing in Ahnon’s clothes, which swallowed her. His boots came up to her thighs. Jedek dropped to the ground in laughter.

“No, sire, you never look ridiculous,” Ahnon said, raising his hand, and a ball of smoke floated to Kenna. When it left, the clothes fit her perfectly.