Chapter 3: More questions than answers.
My first day training under the old man. I didn't know what I was expecting, but it surely wasn't this!
He had me run laps after laps. I was thoroughly drenched and was thirstier than a desert before the first hour, he didn't offer me a drop to water my patched throat. By the hour I was sure I was about to die a second time, and collapsed onto the dirt.
The clearing where his hut used to be was scrubbed clean. There was no trace of the carnage from yesterday, everything was kempt.
Even more surprising, a new hut has been built not far from the first. Roy was perched on the roof, smoking a pipe, watching me struggle with amused eyes.
He doesn't seem to like me much.
The girl, was a little ways off to the right. Going through the forms of a martial arts dance. It was beautiful. She moved with lithe grace, like a cat. Flowing from one move to another in a single continuous motion. I watch her for a few minutes, before the sound of the old man clearing his throat shattered the spell that enchanted me.
I turn to find him standing besides me. When did he get here? Why didn't I hear him? Everyone says I have sensitive hearing, but they seem to be useless against this old bat. His fur cloak have been replaced by a black garment.
He looks at me without passion. Reinforcing my suspicion that he doesn't like me very much. At least he tolerates my presence and is willing to teach me. He produces an axe, I didn't notice him holding one earlier. Where was he hiding it?
The axe is an old tool, well used and maintained. With chips in the blade. The handle was wrapped in dark thick leather, it was heavy.
"Chop it down." He points to a tree in the near distance. "It's called a mountain ash." He starts walking away.
"Can I get some water first?"
"No." Came the reply.
Resigned, I head for the huge tree. It is huge, at a glance I would say it was about forty-fifty feet long, with thick trunks. It's bark a dark gray, the flowers are clusters of small white slender leaves. It gave off an air of majesty.
I heft my axe, two handed and swing.
I kept at it for thirty minutes straight, my mind clear. Complete focus on the task in front of me. The world narrowed to that one point, two existence; me and the tree. All else became irrelevant.
My thirst? Forgotten! My weariness? Erased! A new energy floods my body.
Swing! Pull. Heft. Swing!
Each swing growing more powerful. I didn't notice.
Swing! Pull. Heft. Swing!
CRACK!
I stumble, jaunted out of my rhythm. I stare down at my hands, they were blistered and bleeding. I broke a nail or two. That wasn't all I broke apparently. The handle of my axe has splintered down the middle, and the axe head was on the floor.
The mountain ash was still standing. But just barely. Another ten minutes of swinging and it would've succumbed to my efforts. I fall to my knees, exhausted beyond measure.
The energy suffusing me has fled.
"Hmm. Not bad." Roy stood by the tree, observing my handy work. He drops a canister on my head. It hurt but I didn't care, I take a long drink, the water was cold and fresh.
"Come. I will explain." He doesn't make a move to help me up. I struggle to my feet and follow him to the new hut.
I slump on the hardwood floor, barely able to lift my head.
"I believe introductions are in order, my name is not Roy. Call me Quan." He began without preamble. "I am from a small family in the prestigious Hira clan, you wouldn't know it..." He smiles a little at the slight barb. Mocking me with his knowledge. Then he continues.
"... I was exiled, for actions I am not willing to discuss. When we leave, you'll be coming with us. This is my daughter." He looks to the girl, who was perched by my side.
"What's her name?" I inquire.
"What?" He seems confused.
I take her hand in mine, expecting her to pull away. She doesn't. "What's her name? What's she called?" A sinking feeling settles in my guts. "She doesn't have a name..." I say. Voice barely above a whisper.
"No. Her mother was supposed to name her. She... Died during childbirth."
"I'm sorry."
"It's in the past. In any case, we've been..."
I cut him off. "She needs a name. Give her one."
"You're not going to let this go, are you?"
"Not until she has a proper name, No!" I intoned.
I stare him down, refusing to back down. He shrugs.
"You name her. It better..." He says.
"Kassia." I blurt out before he could finish talking.
"Like the flower?"
I nod.
We both turn to the girl, she stares at me. Slowly she nods acceptance. Once. Twice. Then gives me a radiant smile. I find myself smiling back. I may be blushing.
A gentle finger taps me on my shoulder. I find Quan staring at me, unamused. "Don't flirt with my little girl. I'll kill you again, get me?"
Despite his serious tone, I laugh. A gentle voice --- raspy, fragile and shaky from disuse --- joins me in laughter. Kassia was laughing!
We stare at each other; Quan and me. He laughs, it sounds like the bellow of a mad man. He seemed to shed the weight of years in a moment.
I wonder when was the last time he heard the voice of his daughter. That's when it clicked...
"Quan, how old are you?"
"Mid thirties."
I make a strangled sound, making him glare at me.
"Why do you..." I motion over my face.
"Look sixty?" He says. The words a sigh escaping his lips. A far off look in his eyes. "Well, I guess I can tell you. Honestly, I expected to have to kill you today, but fate has other plans for you..."
"Kill me?" I croak. Jumping to my feet in a blink. Startling Kassia, she looks up at me with concern.
"Calm yourself boy. I'll explain, but first I would have your name."
"Heron." I sit on the floor. Kassia still hasn't let go of my hand.
"No last name? You're an orphan, I should have known. Annabelle did send you here yesterday..." He picks up a carving knife and a piece of oakwood the length of a grown man's leg, he gives it a little twirl and starts whittling away with his knife. "This does simplify things, I'll adopt you."
"As for why I look this old while still being in my prime years; let's just say I carry a curse."
I wanted to ask about this curse but knew I'd get no answer. Instead I said the next best thing.
"When do we leave?"
"I'll get to that. But for now, I'll explain what happened yesterday and why I was sure I would have to kill you today." He eyes his work. It's still too early for me to guess what he's carving. "Long ago, long before my time. There existed five beings with so much power, they were labeled as walking calamities. This was long before the first voyager."
"What's a voyager?"
He points at me with his knife. "You're a voyager, boy. I won't be sharing that information with any one if I were you. It's something you must keep to yourself at all cost, otherwise you life comes to a quick and violent end.
"There's no proper name for these five beings, but generally they're called dreadgods. The ring on your finger used to house one such dreadgod, Ashur the undying."
I touch the serpent tattoo on my chest. Suddenly feeling a jolt go through me.
"Yes. You're now bound to a dreadgod." He gives me a meaningful look. "Ashur is powerful. Very powerful, but the others are even stronger. Although, Ashur is self aware, he is not just a mindless beast, unlike the others. I wasn't sure if the binding was strong enough to hold it. But he did pick you himself." He shrugs.
"So I pushed you to your limits today, if you had shown... Signs; I would have ended you. I know you don't understand now, but you will."
He was right, I don't understand anything he just said. His words fill me with more questions than answers.
I am host a snake god?
But I know how to listen, I know how to learn. So I stay quiet and attentive.
What signs was he talking about?
"The world is filled with energy, everything has a certain amount of this energy in them; humans, beasts, even trees. This energy is called Vita. Without Vita one simply cannot exist, it is the force of life itself. Refining and harnessing this energy is the crux of... Ascension.
"Everyone is born at a base level scholars long past dubbed the copper stage. At this level, one's core is underdeveloped, they would need training and guidance on how to pull Vita from the ether. When one's core is full; this doesn't take much time really, a skilled child can hit maximum in two days --- depending on the source of Vita. Not every environment is overflowing with it."
"Forming nodes from the core to the rest of the body, is the next step. Connecting mind, body and spirit. At this point one can break into the next level of ascension; iron rank." He gives me a smile filled with teeth. "That's the foundation of every path. If your foundation at iron rank is sub-par... Let's just say things get tricky trying to ascend further."
"How many ranks of ascension are they?" Curiosity overcomes me.
"For now, all you have to concern yourself with is the one before you. You'll learn more when you hit iron."
He snipped my query in the bud. I know I'll get no further information on that topic.
"But you my goodman, are a voyager." Again, he gives me that nasty smile. "That's why I pushed you today, your body is undergoing changes. I'm sure you might have noticed, unless you're a feckless idiot." He motions to the mountain ash.
I nod in understanding. A voyager is one bound to a dreadgod. I'm only nine years old, there was no way I should've been able to cut down a tree that tough in what... Forty minutes? Give or take.
"The dreadgod I bound to you can be a weapon that propels you to the very peak of ascension. Or it will be your doom."
"Currently, Ashur would be busy filling your core and building nodes, when it is done, it will seek you out. Do not give in. Or it will consume your mind." He gives me a serious look. "I feared it would have taken over your mind already, hence why I expected to kill you today. I estimate it would take two days for Ashur to complete this task."
A dreadgod inhabits my body, and might steal my mind. The thought sends a shiver down my spine. But also a little bit of excitement.
Quan answered some of my questions, dodged others and flat out ignored a few. But the days training continued.
I managed to fell the mountain ash within minutes of acquiring a new axe.
On my way back to the orphanage, I dissect the information, his words leaving me with more questions than answers.
That night I lay on my bed, unable to sleep. Restless energy overflowing in me. I get up, careful not to disturb anyone.
Sitting under the oak tree. I try to meditate as Quan taught me earlier today. I calmed my mind and let it sink into the well of consciousness.
The world falls away and I'm suddenly standing in a dark room. A pair of burning red light above casting a bright sanguine illumination on the surrounding, yet I could make out nothing. I stare up at the light. They blink.
With a start, I realize they were eyes. Huge eyes, attached to a gigantic serpents head. I could not make out the rest of it's body.
This must be the dreadgod.
"You must be Ashur." I say, voice firm. Oddly I felt no fear.
"Greetings human. Indeed, I am Ashur, the undying. I believe we have some things to talk about."