Watching Jeed from the short distance as the old man wrote in his ledger, Willim wondered why the man lied. He knew a heart attack when he saw one. He had seen two of his Aunts die of heart attacks right in front of him. But if the old man wanted his heart problems kept a secret then so be it. He would not be the one to squeal.
“Pay attention lad! If you get yourself killed I could care less but it won’t be because I let you daydream rather than learn.” Willim had not seen the Lieutenant come up to him and jumped a little at the sound of the man’s gruff voice right next to him. The Lieutenant stared at him a moment longer before speaking again, this time in a gentler voice. “I like Jeed boy. He deserves better than how he is treated here and the fact you tried to help him is the only reason I didn’t lay the flat of a sword across your head for not paying attention. But my generosity only goes so far!”
Walking back out to the front of them, the Lieutenant went back to instructing them on the use of a sword again and Willim put the old man out of his mind. After all, he was now getting lessons on the sword and he had wanted to be good with one since he was a little boy. Ramos snickered slightly as he nudged him with an elbow while Lieutenant Cleese had his head turned and Willim had to grin back.
The first week of training went by pretty quietly with the exception of one recruit who lost his balance and tripped while doing the forms with a real sword. As he fell forward, the tip of the sword drove into the ground causing him to fall against it, leaving a deep gash across the inside of his left arm. Blood poured out of him faster than Willim would have ever believed from such a wound and before the instructor who was on the other side of the practice yard could get to him the bleeding stopped and the young man laid motionless. There were other wounds and plenty of them but it was that one deadly wound that stuck inside of every recruit’s head. The instructor turned the accident into the point of his next lesson. There was a main artery high up under the arm and when cut you would bleed out quickly. In most armor, that was an exposed area and a killing blow if the opportunity ever arises.
It was the second week when trouble began. During some free time, Willim walked along with Ramos discussing their lessons, when a soldier stepped around the corner and Willim walking backwards at the moment crashed into him. Both of them fell to the ground and Willim jumped up quickly and offered the soldier a hand as he apologized. Rather than taking his hand, the soldier jumped up and seized Willim by the front of his shirt and shoved him backwards and drew his sword. The sound of the sword rasping against its sheath caused a few others heads to turn but nobody moved to interfere. “You’re gonna pay for that boy!”
“Whoa, mister, I said I was sorry. It was a mistake!” Willim backed away with his hands out, desperately trying to figure out a way to defend himself. Not much was coming to mind. Even if he had a sword of his own already, he would be no match against a veteran and by the looks of the scar on the man’s cheek he had seen some action and his being alive made it evident he had likely won. Pleading with him did no good though and as the soldier advanced, Willim could see a gleam in the man’s eyes. This fellow didn’t mean to just teach him a lesson but very well meant to kill him.
Suddenly a large clump of soil seemed to get caught on the soldier’s foot and he pitched forward, his eyes wide with surprise. As soon as he hit the ground, Willim watched in amazement, as roots seemed to sprout up and wrap around the angry soldier’s legs and arms.
“What the…” Then a look of understanding swept over the man’s face as he began to glare around at the others until he found what he was looking for. “Tremores, this is your doing and you know it. Let me up or…”
“Or what Gills? What will you do? Scream for help like a girl? You’re tough enough to pick on someone weaker than yourself, so what’s so bad about me picking on you? Its about the same match up wouldn’t you say? Oh, bit it’s different now that you are on the other end of the rope this time, isn’t it?”
Willim stared at Tremores for a moment before suddenly realizing what was happening. “You’re an elemental!” As soon as he blurted it out he wished he could have had it back. It was difficult enough to keep from standing out among the veterans. Everyone else seemed to take Tremores as a fact of every day life. Blurting out the obvious only served to make Willim look more like the new recruit than he was.
As the roots loosened and drew back into the ground, Tremores spoke again to Gills. “Now get on your way Gills and leave the recruits alone. Find your fun using the enemy not our own. Yes I am an elemental, one of only three in this army who have enough strength to matter much; the other two are out on patrol. Just so you understand, I am still a man so don’t go staring at me in awe every time you see me like so many others do alright?”
It took Willim another second to realize Tremores was speaking to him. “Huh? Oh, yeah, you bet. Thanks for helping me out. I’m betting I didn’t have much of a chance to come out of that alive.”
Tremores chuckled slightly before answering. “Well I am not sure just how much I helped. ‘Gills’ likes to kill and he looks for the slightest excuse. He will want you dead now and he will look for you to be alone.”
Willim stood silent for a moment while studying the elemental and was slightly surprised the man did not look any different than any other man. His long brown hair was pushed back into a ponytail and he wore a beard and mustache that he kept trimmed neatly, then suddenly Willim saw one difference. Tremores was a shorter thin man but he held an air of confidence that most men don’t have. He supposed that if one has his kind of powers, it would naturally give a man confidence in himself though.
“Better to be alive and worrying about tomorrow than not having a tomorrow to worry about.” Ramos had been standing in silence and when he spoke, it made Willim's nerves jump just a little. He had forgotten his friend was with him.
“Well, just the same you two take extra care for now. I will see what I can do about Gills for you. The Captain will do most anything to keep me happy here, he’s afraid I might defect to another army if I am not happy.”
Willim and Ramos shook hands with the elemental and went on their way, both deep in their own thoughts. They were a long ways from home and now they had made their first enemy in Gills. Yet maybe they had also made their first friend in Tremores.
Continue to ... Maroz 5 - A Writhe Attacks
My Novel
An aspiring author, I am self taught, and still learning. I now have two fantasy novels self-published and will soon be publishing Maroz as an ebook.
If you read any of my books and enjoy them, please return to the place in which you got the book and leave a review. Every bit helps.
If You Plan on Reading One of my Books....
Please go to my Author's page Kenneth J. Ester and read "Hell in a Storm" first. I personally feel it is a better written novel than Maroz, and more likely to be enjoyed. Hell in a Storm is the first book in the Demon Siege Trilogy. Book two, "The Descent of Darkness" is now also available.
Maroz - The Novel
I appologize for any inconvenience. As a now self published author, I have decided to add Maroz to my published books list. I am presently going through the book and re-editing it, and boy did it need it. I cannot believe how far I have come since writing Maroz. However, I am confident that this will make Maroz for a much more enjoyable read and as soon as it is available for purchase, I will post it. As well as editing the story, I am also changing the names of many characters, as I did not feel the names we passable once I started reading it again.
If you read any of my books and enjoy them, please return to the place in which you got the book and leave a review. Every bit helps.
If You Plan on Reading One of my Books....
Please go to my Author's page Kenneth J. Ester and read "Hell in a Storm" first. I personally feel it is a better written novel than Maroz, and more likely to be enjoyed. Hell in a Storm is the first book in the Demon Siege Trilogy. Book two, "The Descent of Darkness" is now also available.
Maroz - The Novel
I appologize for any inconvenience. As a now self published author, I have decided to add Maroz to my published books list. I am presently going through the book and re-editing it, and boy did it need it. I cannot believe how far I have come since writing Maroz. However, I am confident that this will make Maroz for a much more enjoyable read and as soon as it is available for purchase, I will post it. As well as editing the story, I am also changing the names of many characters, as I did not feel the names we passable once I started reading it again.
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