A Warrior's Path Page 21

  General Vethisir fumed into the castle through a private side door that faced the field of Ionotu. He stomped loudly up the stairs and made his way quickly to the east wing. In truth there were several corridors in each wing, but they all had one main corridor from which they broke off to lead in many twists and turns that made each section seem much larger than it really was.

  The general was virtually running down the main corridor in the east wing now. He came finally to a set of double doors, the last in the hallway. He clearly heard the king's voice through those doors. Vethisir almost pushed right through those doors, so furious was he, but then he remembered himself. He rapped three times loudly against the polished wood and stepped into the room.

  “Who else has come to join us?” the king called out, but his voice died away.

  Vethisir stood frozen. The king lay on volumes of satin and sheer sheets between two naked women. It really didn't appear as though he had been expecting the general.

  “Your pardon, sire,” Vethisir mumbled and turned to leave.

  “Halt!” called Orbein. “Obviously something important brings you to disturb my relaxation. Speak your mind, general.”

  Vethisir turned back, but kept his eyes lowered. “It is the shapeshifter, highness. He meets with the seer again.”

  Orbein heaved an irritated sigh. “Vethisir...go back to your field. Count yourself as fortunate to have erred before me on a very good day.”

  The general stood there in shock for a moment, then turned and walked slowly out of the room, closing the door gently behind him. How had he been so foolish? He saw now that he should have recognized the trick as the shapeshifter had set it in motion. He had let his anger blind him, and that was not a mistake he would soon make again when dealing with Agucho. Vethisir may not have been the wisest of men, but he was reasonably intelligent. The Fiu-Het had struck the first significant blow of a personal war with the general, and it was one that he would pay for. The tactician who had gained leadership of the Dark City’s army would see to it.

  14. Awakening

  Standing a few feet apart and facing one another, both Urietsin and Kiusu breathed deeply, their eyes closed. They were as still as the mountain upon which they stood, but their stances were relaxed. A long moment of silence was punctuated by nothing more than the almost imperceptible motion of the air. The two men seemed to be in some form of synchronous meditation.

  Suddenly, Kiusu's fists were in motion, or must have been because in one moment they were one place and in the next another without seeming to have ever been any place in between. First a right, then a left to Urietsin's chest, both of which were picked off cleanly by the Swift One's equally fast parries. The right fist came in again, but upward toward Urietsin's jaw in an uppercut meant to knock a man unconscious, but again the young warrior proved the swifter, leaning just out of reach. Kiusu kept the momentum of the fist going up and then around to his shoulder to shoot straight out at Urietsin's face. The Swift One waved the attack away with his deflecting forearm. Again the old man continued, this time with the momentum of the inside block, to bring the same fist around in a backfist. Again, Urietsin sensed the tactic and continued leaning his body out of the way of Kiusu's seeking fist. Not ready to abandon the use of his right just yet, the elderly master shot out a double front punch aimed for his opponent's chest. Both of the Swift One's hands shot up and in between Kiusu's arms, continuing upward; the punch sailed harmlessly over Urietsin's head.

  Kiusu decided to change his tactic. With both of Urietsin's incredibly fast blocking hands up high, the old man brought his leg up, bent at the knee, then thrust his foot out in a straight kick aimed for the Swift One's gut. To his credit, the young warrior managed to exhale completely and tighten his stomach, bending quickly to absorb some of the impact. Ultimately, the kick was true, and Urietsin was sent stepping backward to maintain his balance.

  Urietsin opened his eyes, which had remained closed since the beginning of the lesson. He frowned at the old man staring back at him, rubbing the slight sting he felt upon the skin of his abdomen. “You cheated,” he defended.

  Kiusu raised an eyebrow. “Indeed?”

  “You kicked me,” the younger man explained.

  Kiusu nodded, but his look was still doubtful. “Do you think that men do not kick in a real fight?” he asked.

  “Well, no,” the Swift One admitted, “but neither do they fight with their eyes closed.”

  “There are many times when your sight may not be available to you, though I am confident that such instances will not prove a significant challenge for you.” Kiusu meant the compliment sincerely.

  Urietsin merely responded with a slow nod.

  “Truly, much of your skill lies within your instincts. They are so finely tuned that one might mistake them for future sight!” the old man beamed. “I remember receiving many more such hits from my master in that exercise.”

  The Swift One's eyes softened as he imagined a young and inept Kiusu. “Well, regardless,” he said, his expression now jokingly suspicious, “the lesson was to stand in one spot while we sparred. You lifted your foot.”

  “And yet here I am, still in the same position. Standing on one foot is still standing. My kick did not require me to move away or forward. I did not jump, nor did I crouch. I stood here and defeated you fairly,” Kiusu explained. “Let us not forget that I made six offensive moves prior to that kick. How many had you made?”

  The question was clearly rhetorical, but not boastful. Yet still it stung the Swift One's pride. He knew the value of a well-placed counterattack. He regarded his mentor sheepishly. “Your strikes came too quickly. I needed to focus my energies on defending myself,” he said.

  The old man shook his head. “You are very fast, Swift One,” he began, emphasizing Urietsin's nickname. “As fast as any young warrior I have ever seen, and I have seen many in my long life. If you spend all of your energy solely on defense, you will tire before you can mount any offense. To what good will all that defense come if you are still defeated in the end?”

  Urietsin looked down. He nodded slowly.

  Kiusu grinned. “Come, strike me,” he commanded.

  The young warrior stepped toward his master, his arms at his sides in a relaxed position. He stood staring into the old man's eyes for some time. Urietsin didn't build up to the strike. He didn't wait some predetermined time to execute it. He simply let the moment happen, letting it be as much a surprise to him as it would be to Kiusu. In this way he could attack without giving his opponent any advanced warning. The pupil's left arm twitched, and his fist was there, seeking the face of the man standing opposite.

  Kiusu's left arm, likewise, rose to meet the strike. The well-practiced master met his attacker's wrist with the side of his palm and pushed the fist aside, stepping away and letting Urietsin's momentum carry him beyond balance. As the Swift One's arm neared full extension, Kiusu's palm rolled fully onto his student's wrist. He gripped it and turned it toward himself. Urietsin's arm was now fully extended and locked uncomfortably into a position that forced him to turn his body away, but he did not need to look to feel the old man's right fist planted against his elbow. A strike that, if properly executed, would have shattered the joint and rendered his arm useless.

  Kiusu released the young man and watched him step away with a look of comprehension. “You see?” he asked. “You can easily turn many defensive moves into offensive ones, even using your opponent's own momentum against him.”

  Urietsin nodded. Of course he understood. He even remembered using a similar tactic against Reniu when he had fought the big man as a new recruit in the imperial army, blocking the man's eager kick and holding the leg up to strike the felling blow. Of course, Reniu's thick limbs did not move nearly as quickly as his master's. The Swift One bowed reverently to Kiusu.

  Kiusu returned the bow, offering as much respect to his student. “I must know, Swift One, how you perceive my strikes without your sense of sight,” he said, indi
cating that the young man should walk with him.

  After a long pause, during which Urietsin looked down deep in thought, he replied, “It is difficult to explain. Without my sight it is as if all my other senses are heightened. I hear the sound of your strike whipping through the air. I feel the air move as your strike cuts through it. And it may sound strange, but I am certain that I can sense your intent to attack. It’s almost as though all my other senses work to form a second sight.”

  The master smiled at his student. “Exactly,” he said. “You see, Swift One, using your other senses to compensate for lack of sight is a broadening of your perceptions. Such a broadening gives you a much clearer and truer sense of the interactions that occur in existence. You have proven yourself skilled at this with your physical senses, but there is so much more. If you go beyond the physical, you will begin to see that the possibilities for those interactions are boundless.”

  Urietsin listened quietly. He was coming to understand Kiusu more with each exercise. When the old man waved for him to follow, he went willingly, curious to see what his next lesson would be.

  The two continued walking until they came to a small clearing. A large flat boulder sat within a circle of stones. It was the meditation spot that Kiusu came to frequently. Urietsin noticed a broken pole at one quarter of the circle. The other half, lying several feet away and topped with a scorched ring, piqued his already heightened interest.

  The Swift One watched as his master entered the circle without a word and sat upon the boulder. Seemingly from nowhere, the old man produced a small pebble and placed it before himself. As Urietsin looked on, he recognized that Kiusu was now falling into a deeply meditative state. He was sitting cross-legged, his eyes were closed, and he was breathing deeply.

  Several minutes passed, but Urietsin watched patiently. Eventually, Kiusu's eyes opened. The Swift One looked around curiously. He was about to ask the old man if he had missed something, when he realized that the lesson was not yet ended. Kiusu stared at the pebble, and immediately it rose into the air. It hovered for a moment, then slowly began to circle the master's seated form. Speeding up, the tiny rock wove tighter and tighter patterns around his body until, all at once, it stopped right in front of Kiusu's face. Slowly, it sank down to his lap, and once again, he closed his eyes.

  After a few short moments, Kiusu stood. He noted the look of incredulity upon the face of his young student. He chuckled. “A mere trick?” he asked the young man.

  Urietsin shook his head slowly and went to make several responses, but failed entirely. In his time with the old man he had seen some amazing things, but nothing for which he couldn't find some kind of explanation. Surely Kiusu had performed seemingly impossible feats of strength, but Urietsin realized the truth of ultimate focus. This seemed somehow beyond even that. That Kiusu had manipulated this pebble without even lifting a finger stunned the young warrior. This appeared to be real magic.

  “To do such things,” began Kiusu, “requires that you understand this one fundamental truth. Your body is merely a physical tool that your spirit uses to interact with the corporeal world. Transcending the bonds of your physical being, you will come to perceive that your spirit is an integral part of all that is. Because your spirit is connected to the essence within every tiny piece that makes up the universe, you have the ability to manifest change in the physical world by altering that which you perceive from the spiritual world.”

  Still in awe, the young warrior stepped into the circle of stones. If he had heard the explanation that Kiusu had just given, he made no indication. His eyes were locked on the small pebble that now sat upon the boulder. The old man moved aside and allowed the Swift One his inspection. To his surprise, Urietsin climbed on top of the large stone and sat down before the pebble. Kiusu grinned and stepped backward out of the circle to observe this necessary, and likely revealing, moment.

  Kiusu watched the Swift One close his eyes as he went deep into his own meditation. He looked on curiously, but with great hope for his student. He knew that it was not reasonable to expect Urietsin to succeed on his first try. The old man wished he could let it happen on its own, if for no other reason than to see if the talented young man could do it. But Kiusu did not have the luxury of time, as he did when he was younger and a student himself. Beating back the rising guilt that he had been feeling since Urietsin's arrival, the master went within himself and was quickly swimming through the strands of infinity. He reached out to the Swift One.

  Urietsin opened his eyes and regarded the tiny stone with them, as well as with a spiritual sight that had nothing to do with any physical organ. He keenly sensed all that truly existed around him, as he had begun to do frequently in meditation. His spirit reached out for the pebble, wrapping all of his thought around it until he thought he or it would explode from the pressure.

  Kiusu could feel the spirit of the Swift One all about. It was strong and energetic, so much so that he feared his own spiritual presence would be discovered. He reassured himself, insisting that he was merely helping Urietsin to see, not to do. The old man ignored the tiny voice within that told him there were no shortcuts to these lessons, and he radiated his understanding of the multiverse to his student's spirit. He could feel a rise in tension in the surrounding atmosphere and realized that the young warrior was nearing the moment of truth.

  Things far more detailed than anything Urietsin had yet experienced rushed past him in a flurry of indiscernible colors and shapes. They played in the periphery as the young warrior’s focus on the pebble intensified. He was desperately curious about the pervasive understanding he knew was swimming all about him, but he was even more desperately determined to accomplish the task at hand. Just as he felt his being intertwine with every part of the tiny stone, three familiar faces shimmered in and out of the infinite swirling. Three warriors looked on sadly.

  Suddenly, the moment was gone. Kiusu could no longer feel Urietsin's powerful spirit. He saw the young man's form slump considerably. The Swift One looked up at him with forlorn disappointment. Then, unexpectedly, Urietsin fell backward off the stone, unconscious before he even hit the ground.

  When the young warrior opened his eyes, he found himself lying in his makeshift bed in Kiusu’s hut. He could smell dinner cooking nearby. A few moments later, the old man approached holding a small cup of fresh tea. He offered it to the Swift One.

  Urietsin sat up and quietly accepted the steaming cup, though he made no move to drink. He simply looked at it thoughtfully. After several minutes passed in seemingly uncomfortable silence, the young warrior finally spoke.

  “Seishin?” he asked.

  “Yes, Urietsin, what is it?” Kiusu returned hesitantly.

  “How does death fit into this multiverse you always speak of?”

  The old man nodded and heaved an almost relieved sigh. “Death is a part of an ongoing cycle. Without death, life would not be possible. Death simply means a part of something that was once living becomes a part of something else that is alive, which will in turn fulfill the cycle and become part of something else living once it’s spirit has passed from the corporeal universe.”

  Urietsin pondered this. “What of the spirit? What happens to that?” he asked.

  Kiusu smiled. “The spirit is a small piece of the infinite energy of the multiverse. When it leaves the physical body, it returns to that energy to be used again for all life in the multiverse,” he explained.

  While this was generally reassuring to the Swift One, there was something about it that still left him feeling empty. Surely, life needed energy from existence, which made death a necessity, but the good that came from such loss was little solace when men’s lives were stolen in their prime. And the beauty of the cycle of birth and rebirth did little to alleviate the lingering guilt of one who felt even remotely responsible for such loss.

  * * *

  Though the year was beginning to wane, and the cool months were fast approaching, the weather showed no signs yet of gi
ving up the warmth of summer. From the moment of dawn, the comfortable, if cool, temperature of the evening quickly rose to that of an early summer's day and continued to hold well after dusk. This did not make it incredibly uncomfortable outside, but under the dark hide of his tent, in the camp by the Shionen forest, General Etrusin of Kilelu felt a stifling heat. The daylight beat upon the outside and bothered him as surely as if the sun had come out of the sky to pound literally upon the tightly pulled flaps. The invasion of the sun's actual light through those flaps, however, seemed to agitate the general even more than the racket of the heat. He spent most of his time shut away in the privacy of that tent, no matter how hot it became, staring at the faint outlines on his map of the eastlands. But no man could withstand the sweltering temperatures within that small shelter day after day. Thus it was this day, when Etrusin finally emerged from his tent, albeit for a few short moments. When he reentered, he left the flaps, thus far so tightly drawn, open.

  The soldiers in the camp were relieved at first to see that their commander was out and about, but quickly resumed their concerns as they noted his appearance. The general was a bit disheveled. He was unshaven and looked quite scruffy with uneven patches of scraggly hair growing on his chin and an almost full, but untrimmed, moustache. The hair on his head looked little better, sticking to his scalp and forehead with the salt of dried sweat. His koje and formal breeches were wrinkled and creased. He seemed to have just woken up from a month-long nap.

  So, despite the fact that Etrusin's tent was now open to the camp, few soldiers approached. They all went about their business, training on the open ground and maintaining the site. The veteran soldiers gave the newer members their orders, and things went about as usual. But even those veterans were unsure about disturbing the general, who seemed constantly preoccupied by something. It was a visitor to the camp who finally entered through those flaps without hesitation.