Maroz 6 - New Found Powers

Thunder seemed to shake the ground as Willim’s feet splashed through puddles. The rain that had poured for three days straight had him drenched from head to toe but he paid it no mind. All of his focus was on the man in front of him. Rohan Cleese was a master with the sword and he was not taking it easy with Willim in his lessons this day. Twice the man had nearly run him through with the wooden staves that made up the practice sword and likely would have if Willim had not twisted aside as he tried parrying his teacher’s blade. More than a few bruises had marked his ribs and back from when he had been too slow. When another crack sounded as the wooden blade found its mark again, Willim’s anger took hold of him and he charged Cleese, only to find himself suddenly on his back in the mud, his teacher’s sword pressed against his throat.

“You let your anger get the best of you. All that will come from letting your anger loose will be your death. Don’t let it run loose like a rabid dog lad, learn to focus it. Wild anger will get you killed but a focused anger can become a weapon. A focused anger will give you strength you never knew you had.” Pulling the practice sword away from Willim’s throat, Cleese stepped back. “Now go get cleaned up. I have more important matters to attend to than to teach you all day.

As the Lieutenant walked away, Willim climbed to his feet but did not move to get cleaned up. Most every hour for the recruits were spent in training and each recruit was given an extra hour a day to train in what he wanted to learn the most. Every day Willim came to the swords to practice and quite often would practice the forms even after Cleese had gone. Today would be no different.

Picking up his wooden practice sword, Willim took a long breath and slowly let it out to clear his head. Bringing the blade up, he thrust it out and brought it back again, dropping the point towards the ground. One form led into another and before he knew it he had lost himself to the practice. He was only working the forms a short time when a rough voice sounded from behind him. “I have been in need of some practice boy. Let’s see how you do with real steel.”

Willim recognized the voice immediately and turned to face Madolin Gills. The man still had not forgotten how Willim had bumped into him and wanted revenge for looking bad when the elemental tied him up. “I told you I was sorry Gills. Why do you press me so?”

“Because I don’t like you boy! Do I need a better reason?”

Before Willim could reply, Gills advanced with a real sword in his hands. As he was wondering how he would ever defend himself with a wooden practice sword, someone shouted his name. Turning his eyes to look, he was just in time to see another young recruit throwing a sword in his direction. The sword landed a few feet behind him, the blade sticking into the ground. Willim grabbed the hilt as Gills charged and it was all Willim could do to fend him off. ‘Flight of the Dragon fly’ turned into ‘Strike of the Adder’ and after ‘Whispering Death’, Gills went right into ‘Windmill in a Storm’. Stepping back, Willim looked down at a small slice in his left forearm. Only a slight scratch, but it could have been much worse. ‘Dragon’s Tail was defended by the ‘Whirling Windmill. Over and over again they came together only to separate with Willim bleeding somewhere new. Gills had been playing with him and Willim knew it, his forms just slow enough for Willim to defend while taking a small cut to a shoulder or a short slice to a thigh. Suddenly Gills eyes seemed to light up with anticipation. He would go for the kill now.

Gills’ sword seemed to come from every direction at once and some how Willim countered each move his actions almost without thought, then suddenly Gills sword twisted and flicked, pulling the blade out of Willim’s hand and sent it spinning through the air. Willim tried backing up hurriedly and losing his balance he stumbled backwards and fell to his back. Gills stood above him with a wicked smile. “Give my best to the writhe for me when he takes your soul boy!”

Lying on his back helpless while seeing Gills turn the point of his sword towards him and drawing it back, Willim knew the man was going to run him through. A small hint of surprise made its way through Willim’s feelings as he realized he was not afraid but angry. He did nothing to deserve this and he had been nothing but respectful to this man. He had been walking with a tinge of fear in the corner of his mind for weeks, always keeping an eye out for Gills and now the man would kill him for something as simple as accidentally bumping into him. I don’t deserve this!

“What was that boy? Speak quickly before I kill you!”

“I said I don’t deserve this!” Willim shouted the words as loud as he could and rebelliously threw every ounce of anger into them and at Gills. “I did nothing to you! I don’t deserve this!”

There were more recruits watching than Willim had thought and most of them began to gasp at the same time Gills began to scream. Dropping his sword, the man grabbed at his head, his eyes wide with pain as flames spurted out of his mouth and nostrils then from his eyes. Within seconds Gills whole head was engulfed in fire that grabbed at his clothing and strove to cover the rest of his body. Willim kicked and pushed as he scooted away from Gills as fast as he could and watched as the man fell to his knees then onto his face. The screaming ended moments before the thrashing legs stopped moving and all Willim could do was to stare in shock as the flames chewed away Gills flesh.

The others around them began muttering and telling each other what they just saw as if the one they were telling had not just seen the same thing. Willim tried to ignore them as he stared at the now charred remains of Gills but one word kept grabbing at his attention. “Elemental!”

Trying hard to convince himself they were talking about someone else Willim shook his head, but he knew. He knew all too well the fire had come from him. He did not want to be an elemental though. All he wanted to do was get through his term as a soldier and head home. Once someone was known to be an elemental they were forced to stay in the army or be hunted down. Rumor had it that Tremores had been in the army for twelve years now. Twelve years! Again the word ‘elemental’ caught his ears and Willim jumped to his feet, rounding on the crowd around him.

“Stop saying that! I’m not an elemental do you hear me? I don’t want to be!”

Every last one of them snapped their mouths shut in fear of drawing his anger. Especially the veterans who understood more than the recruits that a young elemental could lash out with his newfound power, out of anger before he realized what he was doing, as Willim had just done to Gills. More than a few of them stepped back, wetting their lips in fear.

“Son, I think the first thing you need to do is relax.” Willim recognized the voice and turned to face Tremores himself, but the veteran elemental continued on in a soothing and calming voice. “I know I wouldn’t want you to do anything that might hurt anyone on accident and I am pretty sure you wouldn’t want to either. But if you do have the ability to control fire as it would seem that you do, well anger is one emotion you want to stay away from. Believe me!”

“I don’t want to be an elemental Tremores. I just want to live an ordinary life when my term is up.”

Tremores nodded understandably while wrinkling his nose. “Let’s take a walk lad. We can talk somewhere more private and I would prefer to get away from this stench. Gills smelled bad enough when he was alive, but this is more than I can handle.”

The two men turned to walk and stopped as Captain Hanier and another fellow came walking up to them. The other man was someone Willim had never seen before. His thick long mustache seemed too large on his bony thin face, yet the man carried an air of authority that even over shadowed the captains. Tremores spoke in a hush voice that only Willim could hear. “Laine Askew, Malok’s personal advisor when it comes to military matters, though Malok never consults him. Just let me do the speaking.”

As the two men reached them, Laine spoke up first. “I hear there has been an incident Tremores.” The man’s deep voice was shocking in comparison to his thin features. “A new elemental it would seem.” Of course the man already knew. Malok had spies everywhere in the city, especially here in their campgrounds. Someone must have gone running as soon as it started for Laine to be here so quickly with the captain.

“Yes sir.” Tremores answered. “He had no idea he had the ability until Gills tried to kill him.”

Laine turned his attention to Willim, his hard eyes firing arrows at the younger man. “I suppose this is him? What’s your name boy?”

Willim stared for a second before realizing he had to answer. Dropping his eyes to the ground he spoke almost too quiet to be heard. “Willim sir, Willim Pillar.”

“Speak up boy. I am not in the habit of straining to hear what soldiers say to me.”

A small spark of anger rose up in Willim. Though he knew it was the last thing to do he wanted to shout his name in the man’s face. Lifting his eyes to meat Laine’s, Tremores saved him from his own desires when he spoke first. “Forgive him sir. It is quite the shock the first time one manipulates an element. He is still shook up over it.”

Silence seemed to stretch before Laine finally answered. “Very well Tremores. Help him as much as you can. We can always use another elemental around here.” Before he was even finished speaking, Laine began to walk away with the captain at his side.

“Don’t you worry too much about Laine, Willim, the man can be insolent as hell but he won’t cause much of a problem for you knowing you can twist an element. You are too valuable now.”
“Can I stop it?” The surprised look on Tremores’ face urged Willim to explain. “I don’t want the power or the fame Tremores. I want to stay normal. Can I be cured from this?”

A hard chuckle escaped the older elemental’s mouth before he could stop it, then considering it a second he let his laugh out freely as he reached up and around Willim to grab the tall younger man’s shoulder. “You are not sick lad. It is nothing to be cured. Can a woman be cured of womanhood? No, she is just a different kind of human than man is. You are not sick, just different.” The glum look on Willim’s face spoke volumes and Tremores knew he had to cheer him up. “Many creatures, including humans go through changes in their lives that they do not like. Yet they don’t spend the rest of their life unhappy do they? You will get use to it Willim, the day will come when you don’t think twice about it anymore, you’ll see. Don’t fight it, just accept it and you will be much better off.”

As they walked past a cook fire, Tremores reached down and grabbed the end of a small twig. A flame still licked at the other end. “Let me show you something lad. Hold out your hand.”

Holding out his hand, Tremores put the flame under Willim’s hand. As soon as the flame touched his skin, Willim jerked his hand away with a curse and glared at Tremores as he moved back a step. “What in the blazes was that for?”

A mischievous look fell over Tremores as he smiled and answered. “That was a simple but very important lesson lad. However well you think you can manipulate, twist or control fire, it can still burn you if you do not have control over it. You would be surprised at how many elementals have died because they thought they were safe from their own powers. Now for your second and final lesson, follow me.”

At the edge of camp, the two men stopped, staring out at a barren field. Nearly a mile across, there were relatively few clumps of trees with a few small ponds and here and there a patch of charred ground where nothing had begun to grow back and likely would not for years to come. Curiosity got the best of Willim as they stared at the field and he asked Tremores the obvious question.

“It is the learning grounds Willim and your home for the next week. Every time a new elemental discovers his powers, he is a threat to all those around him until he can learn to control it. Even another elemental that has the same ability cannot do more than show him what he can do. He cannot on the other hand show him how to do it. Manipulating the elements is more like breathing than riding a horse. It’s not something to be taught, you just do it.”

“What about food and fresh water?” Willim asked.

“Every day you will be brought food and water. Men will leave it on that stump out there.”

Looking at the dejected young man, Tremores felt a pain for him. “Look Willim, I know it sounds bad, but it’s not really. Just spend your time trying to master your abilities. Soon you will be back in camp and others will look to you as a king in some ways. And trust me; you won’t have anymore like Gills bothering you either.”

Willim stared out at the field and sighed heavily. He did not want to be treated as a king and he did not think he would ever just accept his abilities. “Some how I think I would have been better off to let Gills kill me.” Tremores opened his mouth to reply but Willim didn’t give him the chance before he started off without looking back.

Continue to .... Maroz 7 - The Lord of Death