That night I slept like a rock. I didn't even dream which was almost disappointing. I had fallen asleep overly excited about the new adventure that awaited me at the break of dawn.
Dawn broke but it was the smell of eggs that woke me. I opened my eyes to find a tall man standing over the fire with a pan and spatula. He looked down at me at that moment and smiled.
"Morning." he said. "I didn't think I'd see those eyes open before sunrise."
"You mean the sun's not up yet." I laughed.
"Eggs?" he asked and handed me a plate.
I took the plate from him. "So when are you going to start telling me about my powers."
"All in good time my pet. All in good time."
"Oh all right." I gave up.
We ate our breakfast in silence. When we were done he got up. "Get dressed, I'll be back for you in one hour." I just nodded and he disappeared into the trees.
It didn't take long for me to dress and pack up all my stuff. I was done before my hour was up. As I waited for Xavior to return I thought about all that has happened in the past twenty eight hours. I had left home and now I was going to go off with a complete stranger just because he offered me the world. Something about this whole scenario was making me feel a little uneasy but there was something about Xavior's offer that I just couldn't resist no matter how much I wanted to, or knew I should for that matter.
Pools of sunlight was starting to form on the forest floor. A fox appeared amongst the trees and lingered for a second before it got scared away by Xavior's return.
"Ready to go?"
"You bet." I said hooking my backpack over my left shoulder.
He held out his hand to me and I placed mine in it. He held it gently. "Tell me, how do you feel about instant transportation?"
"Say what now."
"Otherwise known as teleporting. You know, moving from one place to another in the blink of an eye." he explained.
"I've heard of it but obviously never actually done it. I always thought it would be fun though."
"Excellent." he sounded pleased.
It felt as though every molecule in my body was vibrating on its own. My insides felt as if they were being compressed. My stomach was full of butterflies but whether it was from excitement or just the shivering I could not tell. Moments later we were standing in the middle of what looked like a training camp. The tents where the soldiers slept were to the east side and to the far north was the main tent equipped with all the things needed to make it, what can be called, the command post tent. Tables with maps and battle strategies, some chairs and from what I could see measuring instruments and compasses.
All around the wide open space of the site other soldiers stood in groups between two to four soldiers per group. They were all dressed uniformly in comfortable black training gear. They were either practicing hand to hand combat or sword fighting in pair or in the larger groups doing physical exercises.
"More black I see."
"I told u, I like the color."
A girl a few years older than me and some what taller come trotting towards us. She was wearing sweat pants and a sports top. Her dark brown eyes were sparkling at our arrival. Her long black hair were tied in a high pony tail and still hang to the middle of her waist.
"Master..." the word caught my attention immediately. I was rather expecting General or Commander but most certainly not Master. "I am at your service."
"Zanepher, this is AJ. If you don't mind a roommate would you please escort her to your tent and help her settle in. And both of you report to me in one hour."oo
"Yes, Sir." she said and held out her hand to me. "Come on, we don't have all day." I took her hand and it seemed as if she was going to explode with joy. "You and I are going to be awesome friends, I can tell." she said as we walked over to the tent closest to the main tent.
"Is that so?" I teased. "How do you figure that?"
"Because Xavior bunked you with me. He wouldn't have done that if he didn't think we were going to get along."
"I see. In that case I think I should warn you, I'm not very neat. At home my stuff was always laying around the house. But I'll try to keep things neat since I'm sharing your tent."
"Oh that's okay, I don't mind messy I've never been much of a neat freak myself. Just keep your mess on your side and we'll be fine."
We reached the tent and she pulled the door flap open to let me in. She wasn't kidding. All around the floor stuff was laying around. I stepped in first and she followed letting the flap close again. She quickly cleared most of her stuff from the floor and made everything into neat piles. The tent was quite large and there were two beds - one to each side.
"All the tents are equipped for two people. You can have the left side. All laundry are collected on the last day of every week. Xavior has very strict rules and I suggest we go over a few of them."
"Sure, lay them on me." I said as put my backpack at the foot of the bed and went to sit in the center of the bed. It was unexpectedly soft and comfortable. Zanepher followed suit.
"Rule number one, unless he says otherwise you address him as Master or Commander but he prefers Master. Rule number two, no one talks back to Xavior unless they want to be banished and believe me you don't want that. And the third most important rule is that you never question his commands."
"Sounds reasonable, logical but why do you call him Master?"
"Because that's what he is. The master of all the soldiers here. He controls every one in one way or another."
"Fascinating, but I can hardly see how that can be grounds for a healthy army."
"You might not see it now because you are new but you will in time." she smiled but there was something off about it, like she didn't really believe what she was saying and yet she did.
"If you say so. So what's the deal with this place? I mean why does it look and feel like a campsite in the middle of a war zone."
"Xavior likes to move around a lot. He says he goes where the recruits are. And it keeps things interesting."
"I can see why and it makes sense. So how long have you known Xavior?" she didn't answer, our hour was up in it was time to report back.
I followed Zanepher to the main tent where Xavior was already waiting for us. He was holding two cross-hilt swords with one and a half inch wide double edge blades.
"I thought learning to fight started with hand to hand combat." I said eyeing the swords.
"It does. These are for Little Miss Zanepher over here." he looked to Zanepher "Make sure they're spotless." he sounded strict and very serious. She took the swords and left us. "Right then, lets get started."
He put his right hand on my upper back and directed me to the center of the training field where another man stood waiting for us. He was tall and seemingly obnoxious as he stood with his hands behind his back - in military form. He looked at least eighteen with his curly blond-brown hair that hung just above his neckline. The shirt he wore was a tight fit that accentuated every masculine curve of his upper-body. His robust upper arms, shoulders, chest and perfect abdomen chiseled into a six pack. As we came to stand within three feet of him I was able to see his dark green eyes examine me from head to toe and back again.
"See something you like, soldier?" I said looking him square in the eye.
"That remains to be seen." he replied and I just raised an eyebrow at him.
"AJ, this is Toby. He's going to be teaching you how to throw a proper punch." he gave Toby a nod as if answering an unasked question. "I'll leave you to it then." Xavior left us and went back up to the main tent.
Toby and I stood staring at each other in silence for what seemed like a long time. Eye to eye. Hands behind our backs. Waiting...
Without warning something hard connected with my stomach and sent me flying backwards through the air. I landed twenty feet back from where I was standing, winded. Toby was standing in exactly the same position as a second ago but with only his left arm extended, palm facing forward, in front of him. His right hand was still behind his back. A moment later he was standing over me reaching out to me with his left hand. I took it and he pulled me up.
"What the hell was that. How did you get over here so fast?"
"Not important, what is important though, is that you have a lot to learn about fighting. I think we'll just start with basic movements today. That being footwork, strikes, kicks and blocks. The day is long enough for us to be able get though all of them before nightfall."
"No doubt about that. I'm a pretty fast learner."
"Great then let's begin. We'll start with strikes and steps and them move to blocks and kicks." he said and started to show me the main basic hand and foot movements in the art of fighting. By lunchtime we had gone over all the moves at least twice before we headed for the food tent. I was starving. In terms of food I've had better but looking at my circumstances it could easily have been worse. After lunch we worked on the block and kick movements which I found was a lot more complicated that the steps and strikes. And it only got worse when we started with combinations of the four.
I went to sleep that night, tired but content with myself. Toby was a hard man to figure out but he was a good teacher. I wondered why he was training me when I had agreed to be Xavior's student. My dreams were filled with the day's events. I couldn't remember when was the last time I'd had so much fun.
I awoke while it was still dark, the stars was the only light in the darkness and judging by there position the moon had just set. It was - what they called - the darkest hour of the night. All was quiet; all the others were still asleep. I was standing just outside our tent, looking all around me as if I was looking for some other movement but even the plants and trees around the meadow was still. I had tried to go back to sleep but I had never felt more alive so I just got dressed and went outside to not disturb Zanepher. I was amazed at how bright the stars were shining without the moon. I walked to the place where Toby and I trained the day before and just started going over the moves he'd shown me. After some time had past I felt as though someone was watching me and I stopped to look around again but saw nothing. I was still the only one awake.
Dawn broke a few hours later and the camp started to come to life. Two by two soldiers emerged from their tents, heading either to the dining tent or a tent behind the command tent that I had not noticed until now. I figured that must be the ablution tent. I joined the others for breakfast and after I had taken a very cold shower reported to Toby for training.
We immediately started with full on fighting and I wasn't faring to well against the highly skilled Toby who was kicking my butt left right and center. Of course it was to be expected since I was still new to this but to Toby it didn't matter how much of a novice I was. He just kept coming at me harder and faster with every attack.
We would start by standing face to face a meter apart from each other. Then he would lead an attack with his left hand - after the third time he had made the same move I started to be able to see it coming - I would block with my right arm and counter strike with my left or at least try to but he was always too fast and would block my attack. That's when he would grab my arm and throw me to the ground. At least that was what he always intended but most of the time he would miscalculate and I would end up crashing into a tree. In the blink of an eye he would be standing over me and pulling me up just to start the whole thing all over again. Some how, no matter how hard I tried, I was just always to slow to prevent being thrown across the training grounds.
By what felt like the hundredth tree I smashed into I was really starting to get sick of it but Toby had made it clear that he wasn't going to let of before nightfall or until I had gotten at least one attack sequence right. I had to put an end to it and fast.
We started over again. Standing face to face. He lead his attack with a left hand punch then - turning side ways - a kick. I blocked the punch but his foot connected with my abdomen and sent my flying backwards yet again.
What happened next took only seconds to play out.
Toby came over to where I fell. I lay on the ground - not moving with my eyes closed. The darkness engulfed me. One question racing through my mind: How was I going to beat Toby? It seemed hopeless. He was just to good.
It was then that it hit me... if I could read his mind... know his strategy beforehand then maybe just maybe I could win. Now the question was how to do that. I had only ever gotten into my brother's mind and that was only because we were close... And every one who knew me to erase their memories of me but I had no idea how I'd done it. I tried to remember those two events. It was only the day before yesterday but it already felt like a lifetime ago. There was the darkness that had come over my mind but what had brought it on? It came to me... desire. Pure untainted desire first to know the secret in my brother's mind and then that of sparing my family the pain of my disappearance.
I focused on my desire to end this infernal torment of being tossed around like a cheap toy. My mind went blank. I focused on the mind of the man standing over me and found myself standing in front of a brick wall.
Great, mental defenses, just what I need. I thought sarcastically. I took a breath. Nothing was getting in my way. I was going either through the wall or over it. I analyzed the wall up and down and left to right. Going over it did not seem possible. That only meant that one way or another I had to get through it. I rammed the wall with all my strength... kicking and punching it but it was no use. The thought of just giving up crossed my mind but it was not an option right now. Once more I took a deep breath. I placed my right hand to the wall and focusing on willing the wall to fall. I don't know how it happened but I felt the texture of the wall change. I took my hand away and with all my remaining strength tried kicking at the wall again. The wall grumbled into a thousand peaces at my feet. I was in. I could hear his thoughts.
"What's taking so long. I know I didn't kick her that hard."
I opened my eyes "Finally" he thought.
"What took you so long." he said as I took his hand and he pulled me up. I just smiled at him and we returned to the center of the training grounds.
"What are you smiling about?"
"You'll see." I said putting up my fists and dancing on my toes like a boxer.
We took our starting positions. Toby's thoughts sounded as clear in my mind as my own.
"Left hook, right kick"
I blocked the punch and jumped backwards to avoid the kick.
"Right punch, spinning back kick, left punch, right punch"
I ducked the first punch, blocked the kick and the second punch. The last punch I ducked again but as I did I launched my fist strait for his stomach. I summoned all my strength and with the desire to send him flying I connected my fist with his rock hard body. Though it wasn't enough to send him flying, he staggered backwards. When he regained his balance he looked mad.
"How in the blazes did she do that" he thought at the same time as he said: "I'm impressed. I was beginning the think we were going to be here all day."
"Wouldn't you like to know. What do you say we really get this party started and maybe you'll find out." I said and Toby's expression showed clear confusion.
When we broke for an hour after lunch to rest and so that I could recharge a little the connection between Toby's mind and mine was broken. It was very tiring to keep such a connection going. I was still not completely sure how this telepathy thing worked but after we had eaten and rested it took a few minutes but I was able to reconnect our minds. I know it gave me an unfair advantage but I didn't care. I was done being thrown around like a rag doll. We spent the last hours of the day sparing and every now and then Toby's attacks would still be to fast for me to stop and I would go flying again. It seemed that Toby got madder and madder with every fight I won, almost like he knew for a novice of my standard I couldn't have gotten this good, this fast. I couldn't tell for sure because he wasn't really thinking about it. The only thought in his mind was about beating me. Every move he made was calculated, precise and perfectly accurate and the angrier he got the faster his movements became and the better he fought.
As the sun started to set Toby finally decided to call it a day.
"That's enough for today. We'll start with weapons at dawn tomorrow." he said and waked away towards the tents.
She really did learn fast, maybe a little to fast. We'll see how she fairs when I put a sword in her hand. She's going to pay for humiliating me today. Was that last thing I heard him think before the connection between our minds broke because I was too tired to keep it open any longer.
I was exhausted as anyone would be after the day I'd had. All I wanted to do now was grab some dinner and go to sleep. As I started to follow Toby's lead I heard something rustle in the nearby trees behind me. I turned around and saw nothing but a clear path leading into the woods. It was as if an invisible force was drawing me to it, calling me to follow it. A call that I answered. When I had wandered about fifty meters away from the camp and into the woods I stopped. In front of me in the middle of the path amidst a pool of sunlight stood a red fox. It was a female and I had seem her before. I recognized her as the same fox I saw out side the clearing where Xavior found me two days ago. She had such soulful eyes and the moment I looked into them I was spellbound in there gaze. We just stood there staring at each other for a while then something started to feel very wrong and uncomfortable in my mind. It felt like someone was trying to breakdown a door. I realized that it was this fox trying to enter into my mind. It didn't felt like she meant me harm by it, but more like she just had an urgent message to deliver. So I opened the door to my mind and let her in.
"Who are you."
She didn't answer me, she only said: "No matter what happens, never forget who you truly are." she looked sad. A moment later she broke the connection. What was that suppose to mean? I thought as I watched her turn around and disappear into the trees.
As I walked back to the camp it hit me, I just had a very short conversation with a fox. The more I thought about it the more insane it sounded. I figured it was best not to speak of it to anyone.
Back at the camp most of the soldiers had stopped training for the day and was heading toward the mess hall for dinner. I wasn't hungry and so I just went to my tent. I passed out before the last light of the day turned into the night.
All night I dreamed of the fox and what she had said. What did she mean? No matter what happens, never forget who you are. It didn't make a lick of sense. Why would I forget who I am? I startled awake all too soon. I was still tired and want to go back to sleep since it was still dark but to no avail. Frustrated and tired and got out of bed and went out side. My body ached all over; I could barely move but I pushed through the pain like before by telling myself that I there was no pain to feel. Once outside I saw that it was more or less the same time I had woken up in last night. I could feel my senses clearing as if the night air itself was replenishing my strength where sleep and rest had failed.
Dawn broke all to soon and Toby joined me on the field. He was holding two swords.
"Here," he handed me one of the swords. It looked the same as the swords that Xavior gave Zanepher the day I came here.
The sword was easy to master and the more I practiced the better I got at controlling my telepathic powers. And because of that Toby had me learn a new weapon every day and when we had gone through them all we started over.
Before long my first month of training was over.