The Ranger (Book 1) (20 page)

Vincent yawned and sprawled out on the grass. As the sun finally set, he found himself getting more and more agitated. The others, however, were napping contentedly, seemingly oblivious to the heat. Vincent grumbled to himself as he tried to find a comfortable patch of ground.

He had just got comfortable when Silva appeared at the door.

“Vincent,” Silva called, “I need to ask you something.” Silva returned again into the cabin.

Dusting himself off, Vincent got up and followed him. The inside of the cabin was much cooler than outside. It was one large room with a desk covered in papers, maps and books sitting against the far wall. A large table with several chairs stood in the middle of the room, and a small cot was nestled in the corner, near the desk. Trent and Silva were seated at the table.

“Take a seat,” Silva said warmly, indicating the chair across from him. Vincent sat down, uncomfortable under the scrutinizing gaze of Master Silva.

“Vincent,” Silva began, “I would like you to tell me what happened inside the tower.”

Vincent looked at Trent, who nodded encouragingly, before he began. He recounted from when they entered the tower. Silva sat quietly, listening intently, and nodding. As Vincent reached the encounter with the Lich, Silva stopped him.

“What did the Lich look like?” Silva asked, “Describe him to me.”

“He looked like a skeleton with worn skin stretched over it,” Vincent began, but he was interrupted once again.

“I know what a Lich looks like,” Silva said, a hint of irritation in his voice. “What was it wearing?”

“Umm,” Vincent thought hard, trying to remember every detail of the Lich’s clothing. “He wore a long scarlet robe, he had a carved wooden staff, and he wore a strange black pendant in the shape of a howling wolf head.”

“Are you sure?” Silva asked earnestly.

“Yes,” Vincent said, he felt less sure of himself now. Silva seemed to deflate momentarily, before returning to his normal, energetic self.

“This is unfortunate,” Silva muttered. Vincent looked at him quizzically, so he explained. “I sent Trent to recover a very special pendent, the brother to the one worn by the Grand Abbot. It holds the power to grant a token to an individual. Had the Lich been wearing it, then I would know for certain that it was destroyed; but now, I have to wonder if it has fallen into the Magi’s hands. But that is another matter that will require much thought.

“That will be all for the report,” Silva said, looking at Trent. “You and the others may go.” Vincent got up and started heading for the door with Trent, but Silva stopped him. “One more thing, Vincent. If you wouldn’t mind staying, there’s something I’d like to talk to you about.” Vincent returned to his seat.

“Trent tells me you had a dream last night that woke you from your sleep. Is this true?” Silva asked, his face revealing nothing.

“It is,” Vincent answered hesitantly.

“I see,” Silva said pensively. “Tell me of this dream.”

Vincent recounted the dream. Silva listened quietly. When Vincent had finished, Silva sat quietly thinking for a long time before speaking, choosing his words carefully. “You need to be mindful of your dreams, especially as a Pallàdrim. They will often come after moments of extreme exertion with your token. The Goddess uses dreams to teach and warn us; I’m sure Master Auna told you something of this.”

“He said they can tell us the past, present, and future,” Vincent replied with a nod.

“Not quite,” Silva said with an amused smile. “They do tell us things as they were and are, but it doesn’t necessarily show things as they will be; it shows things as they
may
be.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“When the Goddess shows us the future, it’s a glimpse of how things will be, if we don’t do anything to change it. In other words, it’s a warning. It’s like she’s saying ‘This is going to happen. What are you going to do about it?’ If you do nothing, then it will occur exactly as you foresaw. But if you do something differently, learn some new skill, go somewhere else, avoid certain people, then you can change the future, and the dream was nothing more than that.”

“But how do I tell the difference between a dream and a warning? And how do I know what I have to do to change what may be?” Vincent was very concerned now.

“That is a very difficult skill to learn,” Silva said solemnly, “one that I haven’t yet mastered. But as for changing the course of the future… you must figure out what it was that made you weak in the vision, and make that weakness strength. For example, the dream you had before leaving the abbey. You said that Thomas moved too fast for you. He had obviously become a Magi; therefore, you must learn to be faster than a Magi.”

“It’s not possible to move that fast,” Vincent said incredulously. He blinked, and Silva was gone.

“But it is,” Silva said from behind Vincent, “And I will show you how it’s done. You may go now; return to your cabin and rest.”

Vincent got up quietly and left Silva’s cabin, Silva’s words spinning through his head. Suddenly, a realization came to Vincent. Silva had said that Thomas had become a Magi in his dream. That couldn’t be true; if it truly was a vision of the future, Vincent had to keep that from happening.

He walked slowly to his cabin and collapsed on his bed without undressing. He reached out and grabbed the small wooden sword from his bedside table and looked at it. The smile returned to his face as he forgot his worries and relived the emotion of being with his father.

Chapter 12: Furtivos

The rest of the company was sitting in their customary places as Vincent entered the Hall the next morning. The usual pot of porridge sat bubbling away over the fire. He sat down and spooned himself a big bowl and started eating as fast as he could.

He had only taken a few bites when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Vincent looked up to see Master Silva looking down at him, smiling.

“Good morning Vincent,” Silva said cheerily. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yes,” Vincent said as he gulped down another mouthful.

“Wonderful,” Silva seemed to smile even more. “Lauren,” he turned his attention away from Vincent, “if you don’t mind, I have a special training assignment for you.”

“What kind of assignment,” Lauren was staring at Silva suspiciously.

“A fun one,” Silva replied enthusiastically.

“Very well,” Lauren still seemed very suspicious, “I’ll do it.”

“Great,” Silva clapped his hands, “go get your things; you’ll be gone from camp for a while. We leave in an hour.” Silva waved to the others and left the Hall.

“I knew it,” Lauren said, tossing her bowl angrily to the ground. “As soon as I get back he sends me right back out. I don’t even get a day to rest.” The rest of the company snickered at her.

“You walked right into that one,” Weston laughed.

“Yeah, well, at least I’m not sitting here getting fat,” she grumbled angrily as she stormed from the Hall.

“I’d better get going too,” Vincent said, putting down his third bowl of porridge. “I’ve got to get back to my training. I’ll see you guys latter.” He got up and started toward the door.

“Hey, wait for me,” David called, swallowing his last mouthful of porridge. “I’ll go with you. I need to brush up on my token anyway.” He scrambled to his feet and left with Vincent.

“I don’t know if I’ll be much use to your training,” Vincent said as they walked. “I’m just working on concentration.”

“Don’t worry about it,” David said, waving off the comment. “I think we can still have fun while working on your concentration.”

“If you think so,” Vincent said hesitantly.

“I know so,” David laughed. “Besides, I’m curious to see just what you’re capable of.  Lauren told us some incredible stories about what happened inside that tower.”

“Lauren was probably exaggerating,” Vincent replied, feeling awkward.

“We’ll see about that,” David said as they reached the field. “Now, let’s have some fun. You make any preparations you need. I’ll be waiting.”

Pulling out his tinderbox, Vincent squatted down and started a small fire. He embraced his token and took hold of the little flame, suspending it in the air above his hand. The ball burst into roaring blue flames. It took very little effort now to maintain his concentration.

“So,” Vincent said as he tossed the ball from one hand to the other, “what did you have in mind?”

“First off, I want to know just what you can do with that ball of fire,” David stated bluntly.

“Not a lot,” Vincent admitted. “I can move it from place to place, and change its size, but that’s about it,” he said as he sent the ball whizzing around the field.

“Have you ever tried to do anything else with it?” David asked.

“No,” Vincent was intrigued by this idea.

“Try this,” David was trying hard to mask his excitement, but was doing a poor job of it. “See if you can flatten the ball into a disk.”

Vincent looked at the ball and visualized it flattening in his mind. The ball started to warp and bubble in the air. It was difficult to control. Suddenly, the warping ball burst, exploding in a rain of fire. Vincent could smell his singed hair as he quickly brushed the sparks from his clothing. David stood chuckling to himself.

“Try it again,” David suggested.

Vincent made a ball and started over. Again, the ball warped and bubbled, but this time it didn’t explode. It was lop-sided and warped, but it was a disk. It took him several more tries before he got it right, but it finally flattened into a thin, perfect disk.

“I did it,” Vincent shouted excitedly.

“Good,” David said, trying to keep his composure, “it’s a start. Release it and do it again.”

Vincent released the flames and they returned to a ball. Again he visualized the ball flattening, and again the ball distorted until it flattened to a disk. He continued molding the ball into a disk until he could do it without effort.

“Excellent,” David congratulated him. “Now we can have some fun.” The green glow of earth surrounded David’s hands. “Let’s try some target practice.”

“With what?” Vincent asked.

“I’ll provide the targets,” David smiled, “I want to test your power.”

“Try me,” Vincent said as a smile crept across his face.

“Let’s see if you can hit this with one of the balls.” David thrust his hand into the air. A large ball of earth shot from the ground.

Vincent shot the ball of fire at the moving target. The balls collided in a fiery explosion. The fire dissipated, revealing that a large chunk was missing from the earthen ball as it fell to the ground. The ball hit the ground and sank, without leaving a mark.

“Good,” David said, slightly in awe. “Now try it with the disk.”

Another ball shot into the air. Vincent hurriedly formed a new ball of fire and flattened it into a disk. He hurled it at the flying ball. The fiery disk cut through the ball, cleaving it cleanly in two. Vincent released the disk and it puffed out.

“I wouldn’t want to get hit by one of those,” David’s mouth was hanging open and his eyes were wide with shock. “Right then,” he said, shaking himself out of it, “Let’s do some more, but we’ll go faster this time.”

Another ball shot from the ground. This time Vincent was ready with another disk. Again, the ball of earth split in two. The pieces hadn’t hit the ground before the next ball shot up. Vincent could hardly keep pace as the balls kept appearing; faster and faster.

They continued for some time. Pieces of earth rained from the sky. With every disk Vincent formed it more quickly.

Vincent shot one final disk into the air, but there was nothing there for it to hit. Vincent turned to David. To his surprise, David was crouched down, breathing heavily. Sweat poured from his face.

“Are you alright?” Vincent asked, slightly concerned.

“Yeah,” David panted, “just fine.” He continued to gasp for air. “We’ve been at this for almost an hour, and you’re not even winded. Lauren was right.”

Vincent released his token and helped David to his feet.

“Let’s go,” Vincent said as he helped David toward the Hall. “I’ve done enough for the day anyway.”

The sun was climbing high into the sky and burned brightly. The shade of the Hall was a welcome relief.

They sat alone for some time, David recounting stories about the others while Vincent laughed. Near midday, Trent showed up and started roasting some rabbit on sticks around the fire. He looked up after he had the rabbit cooking. David still looked exhausted.

“What happened to him?” Trent asked.

“
He
happened to me,” David said with a laugh, pointing at Vincent. “I thought I’d try training with him.”

“What were you two doing?” Trent asked.

“Target practice,” David replied.

“Sounds like fun,” Trent said dryly.

“Yeah,” David laughed. “You know, I’m not even very hungry. I think I’m going to go rest for a bit.” David got to his feet and stumbled to the door. He paused at the door. “Let’s do that again tomorrow.”

“If you think you’re up to it,” Vincent said as David finally stumbled out the door. He grabbed a stick of rabbit and started eating.

Training with Trent that day was much as it had been before, as was training with Weston. Still, Vincent was sore all over as he made his way back to his cabin that evening. The next week of training proved to be the most profitable yet. Thanks to David’s help, he had more control over his token. His stamina was up thanks to the sword training and he had finally gone a day without being tagged by Weston.

Vincent stretched as he thought about how far he’d come in a week. A satisfied smile crept across his face. Slowly, he pulled himself from bed as the early morning sun crept in through the window. He quickly dressed and headed for the Hall. To his surprise, he found Silva sitting there alone munching on a small spit of meat.

“Good morning Vincent,” Silva said without looking back. “I hope you slept well. Come, have some rabbit with me.”

Vincent sat down next to him and accepted the offered meat.

“I’m impressed, Vincent,” Silva said thoughtfully.

“With what?”