Eden-South (22 page)

“My leg honestly is really sore, though.
Those things have some sharp teeth.”

“I don’t doubt. Well, we’re here now, so you
go up to bed and get some rest.” He smiled, thanking her and
referring to her as Mom. “Okay, that is the last time I feel bad
for you, you brat. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She turned and walked
toward the main hall, a slight smile on her face. Aiden turned,
chuckling to himself, and headed straight up to his room for some
much-needed rest.

On the fourth morning, Aiden woke up to find
the High Priest in his room. He screamed in surprise, apologizing
at once.

“No need to apologize, my son. I should be
the one to say sorry; I didn’t mean to startle you.” Alistair was a
tall man, his presence instantly giving you a sense of his
importance just from the way he carried himself. Sitting up, Aiden
kept the covers on, too embarrassed to get out of bed in just his
underwear.

“How is your leg this morning?” the High
Priest asked.

Aiden looked down nervously. The old man
waited patiently, making Aiden finally give in. He threw off the
covers so his wound was exposed. The green paste still lay thickly
over the injury, making it hard to see.

“Let’s get it cleaned up,” the High Priest
said, heading to the bathroom and coming back with a towel and a
basin of water. He sat on the edge of the bed by Aiden’s feet. “Let
me know if I hurt you.” He started to rub the paste off, using a
bit of force since the stuff stuck to him like glue. Surprisingly,
it didn’t hurt. When he finally stopped, Aiden looked down to see
how bad it was. All the colour in his face drained. He looked up
questioningly at the priest. “Just as I expected,” he said, almost
to himself.

The place where the animal had torn his
flesh was completely healed, just like his injuries before. Aiden
had thought it wouldn’t be possible, since this wound had actually
needed stitches to keep the skin together. The High Priest
literally brushed away the thread that had once kept his skin
closed, revealing a perfectly healed spot, with no trace of the
bite.

“I don’t understand,” he breathed. Alistair
looked up and smiled at him.

“Some things are just beyond our
understanding, my dear boy. We need to go see the King. He is
waiting for us.”

When they entered the throne room, Aiden
could see the others waiting with the King. The room was a massive
hall, the walls made of a dark wood with gold sconces lighting the
place in a warm glow. The ceiling held a massive chandelier that
had what looked like thousands of candles. There were paintings of
angels and what Aiden assumed were the God and Goddess on the
ceiling. The only pieces of furniture were the throne, which sat on
a raised platform, and a table that looked like it was placed there
momentarily. It didn’t really fit the room, so Aiden assumed they
had brought it there only for the time being. The throne was a
massive chair made of gold and wood. The crown sat on a deep purple
cushion, gleaming in the pale light. Aiden could see rubies and
emeralds embedded in the crown, which sparkled as he walked toward
it.

The King and his Chancellor started to walk
toward them, leaving the others behind. Wolf and Logan stood beside
the table, looking down at something that lay across it. Felix and
Elisa looked at Aiden with concern on their faces.

“How is he?” the King asked, not Aiden, but
the High Priest.

“As good as new,” Alistair announced,
smiling. The King slowly nodded, understanding his meaning.

“So it is as we thought,” the Chancellor
said. Wolf and Logan were looking back at him now too, confusion
written on their faces. The four of them started to walk toward the
table, with neither the King nor the Chancellor addressing Aiden
directly.

“We are extremely pleased that you are okay,
Aiden,” the King finally said to him, as they approached the rest
of the group. “Do you mind if I see the area that the beast
bit?”

Aiden nodded his head and pulled up the leg
of his pants to reveal the untouched patch of skin. Wolf gasped,
being the only one who had seen how bad the wound had been.

“How is that possible?” he asked, bending
down to look closer.

“We need you to explain to us what happened
when you fought the animal,” the King said, purposely ignoring
Wolf’s question. Logan and Felix looked at him with expressions
just as shocked as Wolf’s. Only Elisa kept her face neutral, hiding
her amazement.

The large wooden doors that led to the
throne room slammed open, and large boots came stomping toward
them. Aiden looked back to see Captain Turk rushing in.

“Sorry I’m late,” he apologized, following
everyone’s eyes to Aiden’s leg. “Interesting,” he muttered, almost
to himself.

“Aiden was just about to tell us the story
of his fight,” the Chancellor explained. They all remained quiet,
waiting for Aiden to begin.

All eyes were on him expectantly, making him
nervous. His mouth felt dry, and the air inside the room suddenly
felt hotter. Clearing his throat, he tried to sound as sure of
himself as he could. “Well, the beast attacked me, throwing me to
the ground, but I hit him off with the butt of my axe so I could
get on my feet. Then I just dodged his attacks until I could strike
him in the skull with my axe.” He shrugged.
What else is there
to know,
he wondered.

“How did you manage to do that, child?”
Alistair asked, encouraging him to elaborate.

“Um, well, he bit my leg,” he said,
motioning to the now clear spot on his thigh. “I noticed that when
he tasted my blood, he appeared to forget about me and my attacks.
He was in a trance, I guess, so I used that opportunity to strike.
I don’t think he knew what hit him.”

The King slapped his hands together,
laughing loudly. “That’s it, then,” he exclaimed. “We confuse them
and get their attention with blood, and then kill them.”

“It does seem simple, but I don’t think it
is so,” Alistair commented, visibly bringing the King’s mood down.
“The beasts most likely crave fresh, warm blood, from a live
source. Our men don’t all heal like this young man here, so it
won’t be as easy to find a way to distract them. How do you suggest
we do that?”

They all sat in silence. “What about
animals?” Aiden suggested. They all turned to him, making him
nervous again. He went on to explain. “Perhaps if we bring some
livestock, maybe sheep, we can let them graze in the field where we
choose to fight. This might draw them out, and take their attention
away from us as we approach them.”

“I’ve seen what they can do to other
animals,” Captain Turk said. “They would tear them apart in
seconds. We wouldn’t have a large window of time.”

“It still has merit,” the King replied,
slapping Aiden on the back. “Anything is worth a try.”

“We don’t know how many they will have,” the
Chancellor argued. “We can’t afford to sacrifice too many animals
at a time of war.”

“He has a point,” Alistair commented.

“Then we’ll bring what we can afford to
bring, and hope that it helps lower their numbers by at least a
little. The taller beasts are easier to kill, because they stand on
only two legs. Their hearts are more exposed than these hog-like
creatures. You almost always have to get them in the skull, and
that is extremely difficult due to the speed at which they can move
their heads.”

The mention of larger beasts made Aiden’s
skin crawl.
There are more,
he thought anxiously. What was
he getting himself into?

The King walked over to the table, motioning
for them all to gather around. A massive map of Eden was laid out.
They all studied it silently until the King pointed at a large
green area between the mountains and the Capital City.

“Emerald fields,” he said. “That is where we
will fight.”

“Why there?” asked the Captain. “It will
take us almost a week to get there. A week of travelling won’t let
our men have a lot of time left to train.”

“We can’t have it too close to the city,” he
argued. “They will send another troop around us, attacking the city
to distract us from behind. We need to keep the people there safe,
and the only sure way to do this is by taking the battle farther
away. It is still close enough to access our resources if the
battle drags on.”

“We’ll have the river too,” Logan added,
pointing to a painted blue line on the map. “We can try to lead
their men and beasts toward it. They won’t know the current like we
do, so it will work to our advantage.”

“Good point, lad,” the Captain said, nodding
his head. “What do you think, Ottman? You’re from the north
originally. Do you think they’ll go there?”

“I don’t see what other path they would
choose. The river is at its thinnest there, and as mentioned
before, they don’t know the current. There aren’t very many active
bodies of water where they’re from, so Brutus won’t want to bring
them through a deeper or wider area of the river, at risk of losing
some of them. He’ll need all the numbers he can get. It is right to
assume they’d pass through there. We can be there to greet
them.”

“I’d better get the men ready then,” the
Captain said as the final decision was made. “There will be a lot
to pack if we are to get moving.”

Everyone started to disperse, the meeting
officially called to an end. As Aiden went to leave, the King
called for him to stay a minute.

“I don’t want you to misunderstand what I’m
about to say,” he began, walking over to sit on the edge of the
platform the throne sat upon. He patted the spot next to him for
Aiden to take a seat. “I want you to be in the front line when the
beasts come out,” he said as Aiden sat down. “I can only assume
that they will send them out first, in order to thin out our forces
before their men attack. The more they can do with those magical
monsters, the more they can save their numbers. Since you have
fought one before, you’ll understand their movements better than
the others.”

He felt hot as he listened to the King. In
reality, he much more preferred to just stay in the back, like he
did in class at high school. It was easier in the back—no one
noticed you there. In the front, all focus was on you.

“Please don’t think that I am using you as
bait, since you have a remarkable ability to heal. The men look up
to you now; you’re the only one to defeat one of these in
hand-to-hand combat. I don’t think you realize how many men we’ve
lost to these animals already. If you lead, the men will be
encouraged to follow, will believe that you will lead them to a
victory.”

“What if I can’t?” he interrupted.

“It is not up to you to actually win this
for everyone, but to make them believe they can do it themselves.
Leading has everything to do with encouragement and faith, and
nothing to do with our actual abilities. We just need people to
believe we can do things, so that they in turn believe the same for
themselves. It is fate that will decide who can actually deliver
and who can’t.”

Aiden nodded his head in understanding. “I
will take this responsibility on, and I pray for us all that it
works.” The King smiled thankfully. “One thing, though,” he added
as they both got up. “I want my friends with me.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

When he left the palace, Wolf and Logan stood
waiting for him. They both wore huge smirks that made Aiden
instantly on guard.

“What’s going on?” he asked hesitantly.

“Looks like you’re ours today, newbie,” Wolf
said, smiling. Logan laughed an exaggerated evil cackle, grabbing
Aiden around the neck into a headlock.

“Let’s go!” he exclaimed happily.

The three of them headed out of the city
walls, where three horses stood waiting. Felix stood there white as
a ghost, holding their weapons and shields in his hands.

“Oh, don’t look so scared, Felix,” Wolf
said, laughing. “It really isn’t that hard.”

“I’m not scared to fight,” Felix said
defensively. “I’m scared of this miserable beast you call a horse,”
he said, nodding toward Wolf’s mount. “He bit me!” he accused. Wolf
laughed.

“He didn’t get his name for nothing!” He
smiled, slapping Felix on the back. “All right, you two, today we
learn to use what Logan has taught you, and what I have taught you,
and put them together. It is one thing to fight on your own two
feet, but it is a totally different experience on the back of a
horse. You need to learn your balance, and the space in which you
have to fight. You need to be conscious not only of your own
health, but that of your steed as well. The men that will attack
you will go for your horse just as quickly as they will you.”

“You must be in tune with your animal,
understanding their movements, while still focusing on your attacks
and blocks,” continued Logan. “If you can handle it, it would be
better to carry both a shield and a weapon. This would, however,
require you to know how to ride without holding the reins. That
might be too much for you to start with, so we’ll stick to just the
weapon and see how it goes.” Aiden’s head was already beginning to
hurt.

“Now, get saddled, boys. We have a long day
ahead of us!” Wolf barked, the large smirk still stuck on his
face.

Aiden could already tell this was going to
be a rough one, ending in him being thrown or falling off his horse
again. He sighed as he lifted himself up, reaching his hand out for
Logan to pass him his axe. He watched Wolf with Felix, helping him
get settled.

“Hey, Aiden,” Logan began as he checked all
the straps on his saddle.

“Yeah?”

“How did you heal that fast?” He saw Wolf
and Felix both looked over interestedly out of the corner of his
eye. All three waited for him to answer.

“Um, I don’t know,” he lied. “Must have been
that green crap.”