The Awakening (The Stones of Revenge) (19 page)

“I see in you a strength beyond your years. You may one day face a decision that will hold the fate of the whole of the realm in the balance. Until that day, I will be your master. You will address me as such and you will do exactly as I say.”

“What is my first task, Master?”Landon said returning her bow with his own.

“Retrieve your sword for it must never leave your side. Your blade is an extension of you. To lose it means death. Therefore, you must climb that mountainside with it unsheathed and make it to that ledge.” Aratus pointed to an outcropping of rock in the closest cliff about halfway up. Landon could not believe this was his first task.

“Can’t I start with something easier like footwork?” he asked.

“You could not hold onto your blade at the easiest flick of my wrist. To defeat your enemy you must learn this above all else. I will give you until sunset to make it to the ledge. Should you fail, I will no longer be your teacher.” Aratus ended her instructions by sheathing her sword and sitting down upon the grass waiting for him to complete his task.

Chapter
Eighteen

Apprentice

Landon looked to the large cliff and took a deep breath. He had never accomplished anything like this before. He didn’t even know where to begin. Picking up his sword, Landon walked over to the wall face. He placed his hand on the rock to feel its smooth structure. There were many grooves within the rock crisscrossing each other. He assumed he would need those to hold onto. He reached up with his right hand while holding the sword in his left and tried to find something to grab onto. Nothing availed itself. He moved to another area to find a starting point.  Finally, he found a deep gouge in the wall and placed his foot inside. It was tight enough to hold him but loose enough to remove his foot.

He stepped into the rock and pushed himself up to find another hand hold. He grabbed it with his free hand and found himself hanging against the cliff. He looked up for another handhold and found one a few inches above the first. He could not let go of the rock without falling and he could not put his sword down. He did not know what to do next. His grip, however, was failing. Landon decided he would try to reach higher with his right hand and let go of the first hold extending himself as high as he could to reach the second. As he did so he slipped and fell off the wall.

He hit the ground with a hard thud. Luckily, he was only a few feet off of the ground. He looked back at his adversarial wall and decided to formulate a plan. His first solution was to hold the sword in his mouth. He put the blade up to his lips and tried to bite down; however, the thickness of the blade made it impossible to hold in his mouth. He knew that he could not let go of his sword or risk failing the test. He also knew that he could not climb unless he let go the blade. He stood there for a few minutes attempting to solve his dilemma when a loophole occurred to him.
Master Aratus said I could not sheath my sword, but she did not say that I couldn’t momentarily let go of it. If I could somehow let go of the sword, reach up with a new hand, find a good hold and re-catch my sword, I should be able to do this.
Logically it seemed to make sense, but Landon was unsure he could actually perform the task. He decided he had to try.

Landon placed his foot in the crack and reached up to grab the first hand hold as before. Pulling himself up into position, he steadied himself for the move. He knew that all he had to do was pull himself up before he caught the sword in the other hand. He tried it. The blade went into the air. He pulled himself to the new hold and grabbed it with his left hand. Then he reached out for the sword and felt it touch his fingertips before falling to the ground below. He was excited. Though he had not caught the sword, he knew that his plan might work. It was just timing he needed to perfect.

He dropped back down to recover his weapon and tried the maneuver again. Again he was unsuccessful but he was improving. Time and again Landon attempted to switch hands while ascending the wall. Each time the sword would fall to the ground but Landon refused to give up.
If I give up now, I give up on the world. I cannot fail.
He tried again to perform the maneuver. This time it worked! He had made it to the next step. The next attempt would not be as easy. Neither would each move up the mountain. The stakes became more intense at every level he moved up. Landon tried not to think about the dangers and instead focused on his task. Each hold was more difficult, but each forced Landon to concentrate all the more. Each step he took up the mountain was another devoted to the hold, the sword, and his timing.

Ten steps up, he mistakenly looked down. Sweat was already making his hands slippery. All at once fear grabbed him. From his vantage point, he might as well have been one hundred feet off the ground. He clung to the rock afraid to move any further. Down below, he saw Aratus sitting still in a relaxed position. He began to resent her. He returned his attention to the cliff. He did not want to continue, but he also knew the consequences.
I cannot take another life.
All of the people in the Realm. All of those families. Children. Each one of them unknowingly was counting on him. And he wasn’t even sure that if he did complete his training he would be able to go through with it.

He knew Gavin deserved death. But did justice have to come from his hand? He never wanted this. He never asked for this. All he ever really wanted was his parents and a quiet life. That desire for adventure was all a lie. He would take it all back if it meant just one day with his parents.

My parents,
he thought.
They sent me on this journey. They wanted me to experience this. If they hadn’t died, I wouldn’t be here.
This was the source to his ring’s power, he knew. But this thought grew in him.  Slowly, other thoughts began to coalesce with it like pieces of puzzle. He began to understand.
And if they hadn’t, the world wouldn’t have had someone to defend it.
He became more resolute.
Maybe this was all planned. Maybe everything was meant to happen this way. Maybe God had already determined all of these events from the beginning. If so, then my future has already been written. I’m either going to fail or succeed no matter what.
He let go of his fear and clung to this idea. He let it drive him to keep going. He didn’t know the outcome, but it no longer mattered to him. He gained a powerful reassurance from the thought that his life and actions were all predetermined whether true or not. He was chosen to wield the ring, and he was chosen to keep the world safe. Nothing was an accident.

He reached up to grab a new hold. The sword flew into the air, and he caught it with confidence. Again he moved up. Another step. Then another. If he fell, that was all a part of the plan, too. He believed it wasn’t. He knew he wasn’t going to fail.

About an hour into his climb Landon decided to look up. The ledge was only a few more holds above him. He was exhausted from the hard work. Beads of sweat had been pouring from his body the entire ascent. He took a minute to catch his breath. Climbing a mountain was the most taxing physical event he ever undertook. Again Landon tossed the blade and moved his hand up. He reached out for it and as it touched his fingers, the sweat caused the sword to slip. He tried to catch it again and accidentally hit into the air. This was a lucky happenstance as it allowed him another chance to catch hold of it. He wiped his brow with his forearm. Landon refused to break his concentration. He maneuvered again. This time he had no issue. He was now only two more steps from the ledge.

He moved up once more, but this time disaster struck. As he reached for the sword, the hilt slipped through his fingers again. This time he was not able to bounce it back up to himself and had to reach out with his foot to catch the blade. This caused him to lose his sure footing and swing his body out against the cliff. The sword, however, caught on his shoe. Landon frailly raised his foot to his free hand. The weapon was so delicately hanging on that one sudden movement, one burst of wind and the whole task would be for naught.

Slowly, he raised his foot towards his body. The blade dangled in the air. Landon had to look down to reach the blade and suddenly the weight of his task dawned on him. He was hundreds of feet above the ground and one false move would mean his death. The confidence he found just an hour ago left him. He couldn’t believe Aratus would make this his first assignment. He tried to calm himself and thought about the outcomes if he did not complete his mission. He heard the screams of the women and children and the sad faces condemning him for their fate. He would not let that happen. He reached down with all of his strength to retrieve his weapon. He could feel the edge of the blade on his fingertips. All he had to do was reach just a little further. He remembered his fight with Gavin in the shack and how he had to do the same thing with his power. He mimicked the same stretch.
Further. Just a little further.
  Finally, he felt the blade in his grasp. He pulled it up to himself and found his footing.

The ledge was only one more step away. Landon set the sword on the ledge and reached up with his last bit of strength to the ledge’s edge. Weakly, he pulled himself up and rolled over to the cliff side finally feeling free to breathe easily. He had done it. He had accomplished his task. Elation swept over him. He had never felt prouder in all his life. He stood up and took his first real look at the hidden oasis he was in. It was even more beautiful from this perspective. He looked down to see the proud, beaming smile on Aratus’ face, but she was nowhere to be seen. He couldn’t believe it. His master didn’t even watch him accomplish his task. Anger burned inside of him for having to complete this task without any accolades for it.

Suddenly, a voice rang through the cave behind him. It was Master Aratus.

“Well done, apprentice. I did not believe you would finish so soon. I am more than pleased with the result. Now, prepare.” Aratus raised her sword into an attack position. Did she really expect Landon to fight her after that task? He did not feel he had the strength to stand let alone fight. But Landon had promised to obey his master’s every instruction. He fetched his sword and stood with it in front of him. His back was against the cliff.

Aratus was not patient and quiet this time. She moved like lightning. Her first thrust was at Landon’s midsection which he only narrowly avoided by tripping over his feet. He was so near to the edge that his movements caused many pebbles to plummet over the side.

“Move quicker,” Aratus instructed.

Landon tried to move but his body would not let him. He got to his feet only to meet the flat of a blade against his ankle. It knocked him down again. As he rose to his feet a second time, he felt a sting where she had hit him. He was certain she had cut him.
This has to be the craziest woman ever!
he thought. But Aratus would not let up. She backed Landon into the cave which was almost pitch black. He could only just make out her silhouette against the setting sun.

He knew there was no way out of this, and he knew he could not beat her. But he needed to prove he was worthy of her training. He cemented his mind on fighting until he either passed out or was killed. He lifted his sword ignoring the pain and lunged back at his master. She easily knocked his sword out of the way, but Landon did not let go of it. Instead he moved with it back into the sunlight. Now he had the advantage of sight. Aratus was extremely fast but she had a predictability about her. She constantly aimed for his legs, so Landon played on this. Instead of attacking, he let her advance upon him. Expecting a blow to come at his legs he waited until she struck then jumped.

Landon miscalculated, though, and received a thud into his side. The edge of Aratus’ blade had sliced his side. At the same time, however, the flat of her blade had smacked him in the ribs. Landon doubled over in pain.

“I am impressed that you are beginning to study your opponent, but do not get cocky. The best fighters constantly change their style and pattern during a fight,” she crowed. Landon could not breathe. The wind had clearly been knocked out of him, and he didn’t know how to react. He did not want to give up, but he literally could not fight. He needed to regain his breath. He feared his master would attack while he was defenseless.

He was proven wrong, however, as she simply waited for him to regain his composure. He stood tall feeling the pains in his ankle and ribs. He didn’t know how much more he could take. This time he was determined to get a hit. Somewhere. If nothing else just to back her up slightly and prove there was still a mystery about him. He lunged at her and felt her move to the right. But this time instead of using his sword to counter, Landon used his fist. He tossed the sword into his left hand and hit Aratus in the chest with a backhanded blow.

She was obviously taken aback, for she paused and recoiled. Her face did not hold confusion, though. She was smiling. She stood tall and sheathed her sword.

“I am greatly impressed with you, Landon, son of Jediael. Let us retire, and I will tend to your wounds.”

Landon was confused. He did not remember telling her his name. People kept doing this to him. “Wait. How do you know my name?”

“Aldous sent word of you coming before he died. He requested that I train you. I sent him the riddle he gave to you.”

Landon was aghast. He could not believe his naivety. After all the time he spent with Gavin and he truly
had
not learned anything from him. This was going to be a reminder to him. Everyone has something to hide. For whatever purpose, good or bad, there is always something people are withholding. He was going to make sure he did not make this mistake again. He followed Aratus into the dark cave.

After a long while of walking in darkness, Landon saw lights ahead. There were candles illuminating the walls showing that the cave closed in. They lit a hallway. At the end of which stood a large door. In front of it, on either side, were two large torches. The door was similar to the room in which Landon had first awakened. Aratus opened it revealing a grand dwelling place. He entered and absorbed what he saw.

In the center of the room there were five massive pillars with ornate carvings which rose toward the ceiling and disappeared into shadow. Rows of candles illuminated them. In between the pillars a large fire raged flanked by two large cushioned seats. They looked as though they were made for a king. Along the far wall stood a bookcase built into the rock. Thousands of books lined the shelves. Behind the fire, a massive winding staircase wound its way to a second floor which encircled the entire room. Landon was in complete awe.