The Weaponsmaster

Chapter 17

            Drea looked at Shawn and studied him for a moment. He had been a human like her and understood how she felt. She looked at Korena next. She was the first woman, which means she had a lot to prove. That’s when Drea realized that she herself was the first human female. Talk about having something to prove.

            The two of them looked down at her. Korena was only slightly taller than her. She spoke, “We’ve shown you visions of our lives. Do you remember?”

            The visions… The first two that she had were the one where she went to the throne room and the one where she was sparring with the girl. Korena and Shawn’s voices were familiar, and now she knew why. She was in Korena’s body when she went to the throne room and she was in Shawn’s when he was sparring with the young girl.

            “I was one of the most powerful Weaponsmasters to the surprise of many,” said Korena.

“And I was one of the most tactical,” said Shawn.

            Korena looked Drea in the eyes. “You have great power Andrea, and now it is our job to teach you how to use it.”

            Drea was having a hard time believing everything. She was supposed to be a real hero now and was supposed to protect everyone. She’d only wanted to keep her family safe, but now she’d be keeping everyone safe.  

            “How?” asked Drea. “How will you teach me?”

            “Through your subconscious, otherwise known as your dreams. You’ll wake up remembering everything you’ve done here as if you were awake, but you should probably try a few of these things in the real world to be sure you can use them.”

            Drea was already feeling pretty overwhelmed, but she did have one more question: “What will you teach me?”

            “Everything you need to know to fight and protect,” said Korena, a stern smile plastered on her lips.

            “Do you know what this job entails?” asked Shawn. He was looking more serious than she’d seen him. Drea hesitated, so he continued. “You’ll need to be able to kill off these Lori without hesitation, and when the time comes, you’ll need to be able to fight their leader. Can you do that?”

            Fight their leader, Alka? She was their only hope, but she couldn’t stop the flood of doubts flowing through her mind. She’d only been a Kaienshi for a few weeks and now she’d have to defeat the Lori’s leader? Even though they didn’t have all the artifacts, they were only one away, and there was a pretty good chance they’d find the last one.

            “How can I beat something like that?” Drea felt defeated.

            “We will teach you.” Korena looked straight into her eyes. “You have the most power of any of us. You will be one of the strongest.”

            Drea hesitated. She was speaking to two of the stronges Weaponsmasters and they were saying she’d be stronger. She wasn’t sure if she believed them, but thought it was worth a shot. “If you’re willing to teach me, then I’m willing to learn. I’ll do everything I can.” She didn’t really want so much responsibility, but she didn’t want to let anyone down either. She didn’t have too much of a choice.

            The two of them smiled. “Very well,” answered Korena. “We’ll be coming to you in your dreams to show you what to do. Be aware that we can contact you when you’re awake as well.”

            “We can also put you to sleep if we need to.” Shawn said nonchalantly. “That’ll only be when it’s urgent though.”

            Drea nodded. “Are we starting now?”

            Korena shook her head. “There’s not enough time. It’s morning. Now wake up. Wake up!”

            Drea sat up to find herself in her bed, the sun streaking through the window. The last thing she remembered was Korena’s smile and the wistful tone in her voice.

            So I’m the new Weaponsmaster… she thought. How strange. It was a surreal feeling to know that she was so important. She got up out of bed, going through her normal morning schedule. Her life almost felt like a dream now that it had become so distorted.

            The day proceeded normally with not even a Lori around. The normalcy almost seemed like a false reality to Drea as the information she had received whirled around in her head. She still couldn’t believe that she was the Weaponsmaster, that she was the Kaienshi’s hope. What a heavy burden it was to carry.

            That afternoon, Drea went to the waterfall to try and practice materializing the weapons. Korena and Shawn hadn’t shown her what to do, but she’d known about it since her fight with the Lori a few weeks back. She’d tried a few times prior, but was never able to do it. It seemed like it was what made her the Weaponsmaster, so she figured she should try to do it.  

            The only way she knew how to learn new things was to meditate and extend her mind. If anything, it’d help her to clear her head. Pictures and images, along with motions came to her; her mind was once again flooded with memories. She saw Shawn with the young girl, Korena with a man and hundreds of other Weaponsmasters. Thousands of weapons came into her mind: the staff, tons of different scythes, swords and knives, shuriken, every weapon imaginable. Drea knew how to use them, but there were just so many to go through.

            After about an hour, Drea felt completely overloaded trying to process names and weapons. She stopped extending her mind, but still sat with her eyes closed so she didn’t faint or something. That’s when her cell phone went off in her bag. She opened her eyes slowly, the meager light stinging her pupils.

            It was Jackie. “Hey Jackie what do you need?” Her voice cracked a little from not speaking for a while.

            “Where are you, I thought you were coming home.”

            That’s right. Without Danny, Drea had to come home on time every day. She forgot. “Um, I was just looking over something with Karen, I’ll be home in a few.”

            She clicked the phone off before Jackie could respond. Here she was trying to live two lives at once. It seemed impossible to try and be that hero while being just another normal high school girl. Jackie’s phone call was just another reminder of that.

            Drea picked up her bag and ran home, still thinking about all those visions. Hopefully that night she’d learn how to fight like a real Weaponsmaster. Hopefully she’d learn the answers to all her questions.