Age of the Gods: The Complete, twelve novel, fantasy series (The Blood and Brotherhood Saga) (37 page)

Garret and the dwarf Zorbin followed Lord Sirus across the courtyard to the southeast. The head of the Knights of Valdadore led them down the many stone levels back towards the outer wall of the castle. Sirus was a tall man and appeared to be in his early to mid-forties. His fiery red hair was cropped just below his jaw and fell evenly on either side of his head, and he wore a beard and mustache that he kept well-trimmed. He was nearly the same height as Garret though much thicker of muscle, and though he was more than double Garret’s age, the knight’s pace was a quick one that Garret struggled to match. Sirus walked with purpose and Garret noticed that the stout dwarf was forced into a jog to keep up.

They passed quickly between all the varying spires and towers and came once again to face the immense stone wall that surrounded the castle’s grounds. At the southeastern corner, there stood a long, rectangular building made of the same stone as every other structure within the castle. It was only a couple stories tall and had windows at regular intervals along its length. Directly in the middle of the building stood a massive wooden door that was reinforced with blackened iron braces. The crest of the Knights of Valdadore was also upon the door in the form of a brightly polished plaque. As they neared the building, Sirus slowed his pace and eventually stopped and turned to face both Garret and Zorbin.

“This is your new home men, at least for now while you are in training. This is where all the knights live whilst they are in the city, though most are now with the armies to the south. Garret, you may come with me. Zorbin, go and fetch your mount from the city stables and bring it here. I will have a stall prepared for him when you arrive.” Sirus gave his instructions quickly and turned again to begin walking anew.

Walking beside Sirus as they approached the massive wooden door to the building, Garret was fortunate he now slowed to a normal man’s pace.

“Garret, I am happy with your decision to join our ranks. If I have assessed you correctly you shall make a powerful addition to the Knights of Valdadore. I am afraid, however, your training will only consist of the necessities as a war is about to start in the south and before it does, I will be needing to return to my men there. I hope to have you ready by that time so that you can accompany me. The same goes for Zorbin Ironfist. You first must learn all you can about the gift you possess as well as swear your soul’s allegiance to Gorandor. Then we will do weapons training until such time that our mighty god sees fit to bless you with his power. When you are blessed, and I feel certain you will be, I shall teach you to master control of the gift. Once you are able to wield it without hesitation, and without thought, when it is second nature, then we will leave the city. You and Zorbin have many long days and weeks ahead of you, perhaps even months if we are lucky. We will be training hard in the days to come, so prepare yourself for little sleep, sore muscles, and a weary mind. I have already asked Karishtala to send us one of her healers so that we may train you beyond your normal physical limits. Though I know not what lays ahead for you, Garret the Hunter, I can promise you this. You will be well versed in all the weapons I am familiar with. You will be in top physical condition, able to fight for days without rest or food. Gorandor willing, you will be blessed with a great gift of power and you will be trained to wield it as best as I am able to,” Sirus gave Garret a moment for the words to sink in before he continued. “You and the dwarf have come at a crucial time, Garret. The knights only number eleven at this time. With you and Zorbin we will make thirteen. Two men might not sound like much, but two knights can sway a battle in our favor. Zorbin will return momentarily I presume, so we will wait to enter until he arrives. In the meantime, perhaps you can tell me what you know of the knights and Gorandor’s gifts.”

“First I would like to ask a question, if you don’t mind.” Garret waited for Sirus’s nod of approval before continuing. “I realize you are the head of the knights, as well as a lord. You also are now my instructor, so what title should I call you by?” Garret asked unsure of what to call the man as to not offend him.

“Titles mean little to me, Garret, and so you shall simply call me Sirus. Though I am indeed the sworn leader of the knights, we hold no ranks amongst each other. We are all equals, we are all brothers,” Sirus said with a twinkle in his eye and a grin on his lips.

“Well then, I suppose I will try and answer your question,” responded Garret. “I have seen very little of the knights to be honest. Our meeting upon the road was my first encounter. A few days ago, I watched through the eastern gate as two knights fought each other. I got to see them in their blessed form, and also witnessed them changing back to their normal size. That is all I really know but Ashton has told me that Gorandor’s blessings vary a little, though all of his gifts are for battle. I am afraid I am quite uneducated on the subject.” Garret answered, cursing his ignorance.

“So you got to witness the transformation on the sparring field then? The knights you saw were Jordin and myself. Our blessings, like the king’s, are blessings of size and strength, which is common among the knights. Eight of us share the same blessing at present to varying degrees. We are fairly evenly matched, Jordin and I. When in our blessed forms, Jordin is smaller than me but we are equal in strength. My only advantage when sparring with him is my size. Being bigger gives me a longer reach,” Sirus told Garret.

“When you change from normal size to giant size, how is it that your armor and weapons change too?” Garret asked.

“Good question. As with all of the gifts, our power is given by our god and flows through us into the world. We then mold it to our purpose as best as we are able, within the limits the god has set upon his blessing. As long as I am in contact with something, I can shift its size along with my own when I make the transformation. The more items I shift, the more power I consume from Gorandor and the more I have to concentrate upon focusing the gift. Sometimes, when it is needed, I shift upon my mount allowing us to travel great distances quickly. But when you are in a battle, you need to be able to focus on your surroundings so it is best to shift the fewest items possible so that your concentration is not divided too severely. Does that answer your question?” Sirus asked, hoping he hadn’t missed any details.

“Yes, I think I understand it now,” Garret stated in earnest. “What other blessings do the knights have in their arsenal at present?”

“Another good question, Garret. I think your training will go smoothly if I judge your mind correctly. There are three others among us who each have unique blessings from Gorandor. The first of whom is Malik. The best way I can describe his gift without you actually witnessing it is to tell you that he can split. Malik has the ability to duplicate himself several times, and his conscious is present within each copy of himself. He can form two, four and even eight exact replicas of himself to perform great feats in battle. The more times he splits, though, the more concentration is required so he usually stops at four. It is a great blessing to be had. Though he does not possess the strength greater than a single man, imagine if you will, eight men fighting with a single mind with no need of communication. Men can train together to learn each other’s fighting styles and learn to act as a unit, but Malik can face multiple foes by himself and work with such perfect precision that no force of equal numbers has a chance to best him. His ability is great on the battlefield but often Malik is used for another purpose. Imagine if you will a sprawling battlefield, where all of us knights fight on different fronts, where we cannot communicate our needs to one another. Message runners are often targets for archers, but Malik can split to join several of us on the field simultaneously and can relay information instantaneously. That, Garret, is a great gift in a war. The drawback is that this ability comes at a cost. If any of his duplicates is injured, they all are injured, and Malik feels the pain multiplied.” Sirus explained with a grim look on his face.

“I hope I can see that soon. It’s not too hard to imagine, being that I am a twin, but Seth and I are two different people. It will be interesting to see eight of the same person,” Garret remarked, still imagining what it would look like.

“Next up would be Philip,” Sirus continued “He is not much older than you, as he was chosen at the last ceremony two years ago. Philip’s blessing is one of speed. He can move so fast that you can hardly even see him. It is a great gift, again very useful on the field of battle, but as with all gifts it comes with limitations. Philip’s training was so painful we had to have an entire staff of clerics here at all times. You see, each of us has to learn our own limitations, and none of us before had seen a gift like Philip’s and so none of us were able to help him to establish his limits. Philip can move at amazing speeds, but it is very dangerous. He has to gradually build his momentum or else he can injure himself. Fortunately his gift also allows him to heal quickly, if not he probably would not have survived his training. You see if Philip were to jump or start running at full speed from a dead stop, the force and speed of his movements would tear his muscles and break his bones. He has to plan well ahead and gradually change his pace. In battle he has to predetermine every impact of his blade. If he were to strike a blow at full speed to a shield or someone’s armor, he would likely shatter his arm and possibly his shoulder. But don’t think that his constraints make him weaker than the rest of us. In sparring Philip is a very formidable foe. He can anticipate and dodge nearly any blow you launch at him. He too can attack and retreat before you even know what hit you. He is no less intimidating than myself in battle, though we usually use him to ambush the enemy. With the gift that Philip possesses, he can make an enemy believe they are facing a large force when in truth he is the only one attacking them. He is young so he likes to tease and torment his foes a bit, but I think eventually he will grow out of that,” Sirus said with a smile. “That only leaves Horace. His is a gift of two parts. Horace has strength more than that of a single man, though it is not enough to match the strength of those of us blessed with size shifting. He too has a special sight, not with his eyes but with his mind. He describes it as being able to see what will happen only a few seconds before it does actually happen. Horace lives every moment of his life twice, so to speak. He knows always what is about to happen if it directly affects him. It works like this. Horace sees in his mind an arrow striking him in the chest. He steps to the side, then watches as the arrow flies past him. Horace only gets injured by choice. If he has no other options, he will choose to take the blow that deals him the least damage. He is an amazing asset in battle, and a royal pain in the ass on the sparring field,” Sirus grinned. “Horace is the only one of the knights to best me in battle,” he added, explaining his humor.

“That is amazing,” Garret stated, already getting excited. “I hope I too am blessed with a gift as useful as the rest of you.”

Garret and Sirus stood in front of the massive wooden doors to the home of the Knights of Valdadore. They were both thinking silently when they heard a loud thundering coming across the courtyard. Turning to see what they assumed to be a horse approaching They both looked on in wonder as Zorbin rounded the corner on his heavily armored mount. The dwarf rode a beast unlike any other the knight or Garret had ever seen before. As Zorbin thundered up to them, they stared at the animal bearing the dwarf in a mix of shock and amazement.

“Gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to Xanth,” Zorbin said in his deep guttural voice as he reined in his mount.

The beast appeared to be a giant wolf, though it was hard to tell with all the armor it wore. Bright intelligent blue eyes beamed out of a slit in the beast’s helm. The top of the helm was fashioned to fit tightly to the animal’s head leaving only two holes for its gray, pointed ears. The helm was hinged at the jaw which now fell open in a canine-like grin revealing two rows of razor sharp teeth. The armor covered nearly every inch of the beast. At the joints it was layered in plates, allowing the animal to move freely without restriction. The saddle was not so much a saddle as it was the back plate of the animal’s armor fashioned with a seat and handles. The entire suit of armor was made with dwarven precision. Though this example was crafted for an animal, no detail was forgotten. It was tempered and light weight, polished to a shine. The beast’s head, neck and shoulders were covered in spikes and its paws were encased in giant armored claws. It looked terrifying yet the dwarf sat easily upon it as he let the humans inspect his mount.

“He is amazing,” Garret remarked. “Is he a wolf?”

“Yes, he is indeed,” Zorbin answered. “He is the son of a pack leader of one of the great mountain Dire-wolf packs. He has been my friend since childhood, and if it is acceptable to the knights, I should wish for him to stay at my side instead of in the stables. Besides, horses tend to not like him much,” Zorbin added with a smirk.

“He is welcome to stay with you so long as he does not hinder your training,” Sirus stated. Next he addressed the wolf. “And it is an honor to meet you, Xanth.” Much to Sirus’s and Garret’s surprise, the wolf nodded once and lowered his head in respect, snapping his jaw shut as he did.

“He understands what we are saying?” Garret asked, amazed.

“He does not so much understand our words as he does our meaning and intentions,” Zorbin replied.

“He is indeed a magnificent animal,” Sirus said. “Let’s go inside and get you two settled in, and let Xanth get out of his armor so that he might relax. The two of you begin your training tonight.”