The Weapon Bearer (Book 1) (39 page)

“Stop my child,” that was all Gortus said, but the words were sweet, ringing in Kilen’s ears. The rhythm of the dragging had been ingrained into his mind. He continued without thinking or knowing where he was. He only knew that he was living in pain and suffering. Gortus helped Kilen to his feet and put Kilen’s arm around his neck, carrying him. Jace helped on the other side. “You have to walk now, but only a short way. Your bed awaits you now Kilen. You’re training is done for the day.” Kilen’s head hung low, he was too exhausted to hold it up. He saw his pant legs were shredded and covered with blood. The flesh on his legs was exposed, bleeding from hundreds of tiny cuts made by dragging over the rocks. As they walked over the arena Kilen noticed that the outside where he had been crawling was a path of red dirt. He had bled in a circle on the perimeter of the arena.

Kilen lay in bed and Gortus and Jace both moved to put bandages on his legs. The water stung as they poured it over his flesh to clean the wounds of dirt. Kilen heard two men arguing as he struggled to maintain consciousness, but it was not the two men in the room with him.

Max, you pushed his body too far. He should not have been able to continue. You pushed his body where should not have gone.

This boy is our key, he is our survival. He has to be pushed, I did the only thing that I could. I kept us in this training. You should be thankful for that
.

Kilen was thankful, “Thank you.”

All four men seemed to respond in unison with, “Your welcome.”

“He will heal with the aid of his sword throughout the night. In the morning he will eat and return to the arena. You will not heal him, I will know the difference.” Gortus laid a hand on Kilen’s now unarmored chest, “Good work today, child. Better than I thought a weak lander could manage. I will see you as the sun rises.” He departed the room and left Kilen in Jace’s watchful eye.

“I am sorry, Kilen. I had no idea that this would be the torture you would have to endure. I would have never asked you to do this. You can quit anytime you wish and I will train you the best I can.” Leroy entered and Jace passed on the instructions from Gortus. Leroy started to feed Kilen and prop him up to give him water and his special tea. He re-bandaged the wounds using some slaves he quickly made and gave him seeds to chew on to help him sleep. When he was finished he placed Kilen’s bare hand on his sword and watched over him through the night.

The day was relatively cool outside the castle with a small breeze for a spring day. Inside the castle the temperature was stifling. King Atmos had already removed several pieces of armor and loosened the front of his jacket in order to stay cool. He had retreated to one of the tallest towers to escape the heat and opened the wooden shutters to the windows to let the breeze flow through. Even here in the observatory tower he felt the heat coming out of the holes used to heat the castle in the winter. The tower also provided a great view of the castle grounds, which he had watched for most of the day. Wizard Brandon also sat with him in the tower, being the earth wizard councilmen he provided wisdom and his opinions. The king had spent most of his day watching over Gortus and his new student, the weapon bearer, or “double bladed sword” that Brent had referred to him as in the coded letter.

The king viewed the boy as dangerous, as a threat to the nation that he had built. Time would only tell how long his sister would need to train before he gained a third element on his blade. He knew he had to take the blade to keep him from gaining the third mark. “Brandon, if the boy doesn’t meet my requirements of being a scout do I keep his sword, or does it belong to Wizard Calvin?” Brandon tapped his pipe with his finger as he drew deeply on the tobacco.

“I believe the terms you set stated that you would gain ownership. The blade doesn’t belong to the wizard, just the service of the user. If the weapon bearer doesn’t meet his wizard’s requirements then it’s the wizard’s job to dispatch him.”

“So Wizard Calvin would have to remove Kilen if he tries to defy me or my laws?”

Brandon stood, still drawing on his pipe let the smoke roll from his mouth as he spoke, “For him particularly. If he doesn’t pass the requirements the sword becomes yours. Normally, it would belong to a wizard, but he is a second generation bearer. His father completed the service to the wizard, and that makes Kilen the owner of the sword whether or not he serves you.” He took another draw on the pipe. “Although, the requirements of your agreement would make you the owner of the blade if he does not pass your tests. If he does pass your requirements, as soon as he is finished in your service he keeps the blade. My lord, if I am not speaking out of turn, if Kilen passes your requirements, he could become a very dangerous player in the world. It would only take…”

The king cut him off before he could finish his sentence, “I know very well what it means, Brandon. Which is why I have set the bar very high for the boy. What I didn’t expect was for him to gain such allies in my own service. He poses to be a very great problem if he is able to keep up with Gortus’s training.” A loud pounding at the door brought the King’s attention. “Enter!” he shouted at the door. A guard entered the room bowed with spear in hand.

“Captain Lorusk and a recruit have arrived, my lord.”

“See them in, corporal,” The king went back to peer out the window. He intently watched Kilen dragging himself in a blood soaked circle wondering what training Gortus could be performing. Captain Lorusk and a large boy entered the room and Lorusk assumed a kneeling position behind the king. The boy followed but did not bow his head when he kneeled. The king turned and approached the pair looking them over before dismissing the guard. “Stand,” he commanded them. The boy did, but slowly as not in any rush to comply with the king’s commands. “Captain Lorusk, please wait over there, and make yourself comfortable. Have some wine and some of my tabac if you wish.” The captain did just that, while seating himself in one of the chairs near the wall. The boy stood as tall as but wider than the King or the captain. The king walked circles around him as the boy met his eyes whenever he crossed in front. He was arrogant and overconfident, the King knew he could use that. “Chit, is it?” The boy nodded, still meeting the king’s eyes. “I hear that you are from the township of Humbridge in the Water Realm correct?”

“Yes,” he said defiantly.

Captain Lorusk spoke up around his small pipe, “Mind your manners, boy. Don’t forget who you talk to.”

Chit looked back at the captain and saw the seriousness in his face. “Yes, my king,” he corrected himself.

“What can you tell me of the weapon bearer Kilen Everheart?” Chit’s face was a look of confusion as he looked at each person in the room to see if it was the truth.

“Kilen is a weapon bearer?” he said.

“One more disrespectful word out of your mouth, boy and I’ll beat the defiance out of you.” The captain’s voice was lined with a venomous tone.

The king held up a hand to the captain to silence him. “Kilen is a weapon bearer twice over, and an armor bearer twice over. Now answer my questions.”

“I did not know that he was a wielder. He has always been quiet, playing a self-righteous pain. My father always compared me to his behavior in public. His family is rich, but they squander their money refusing to help the towns economy my father says. Instead they send Kilen to lend a hand instead of providing money to help the families there.”

“You sound as if you don’t like Kilen. Why is that Chit?” Chit took a moment to consider the question before answering. He was bending the truth already, but he could lie and it would take a long time for the King to find the truth even if he did send someone to check his story.

“The sword he carries was given to me by his mother. He attacked me and took it after his sister tried to kill me.” The wizard stood and walked over, hearing Chit’s reason for hating Kilen.

“The boy’s mother had no right to give you the blade. If you still possessed it, the council would order it be returned to him. A weapon bearer’s blade must either be taken in battle or be passed from father to son. The blade was never truly yours. You can give up the misplaced hate, Chit. Besides I see that you have a blade.”

“Kilen gave me this after I arrived, it’s another ploy to keep me out of his way. He will probably act self-righteous here as well.” Chit growled, trying to keep the composure of having been so close to having an elemental blade.

The king returned to the window and said nothing. He watched Kilen dragging himself along the ground in the fading evening light. Finally he spoke to everyone in the room but no one in particular. “I have a request of all of you, but first I must bring you into the picture. I will ask that no one will speak of what I tell you here today. I ask you give the oath before I speak a word.” He turned and met each of their eyes. Lorusk knelt before the king.

“I give my word and oath by my life that I will not speak of what is discussed in this room today.” He clasped his hand to his chest and the King nodded in acceptance. The wizard and a reluctant Chit followed his example.

“Good, I have spoken with Wizard Brandon here and we are in agreement that Kilen poses a threat to my kingdom. If Kilen completes his training he will become a full weapon bearer and come to the employment of a wizard to pay for his sister’s training. If this happens, eventually his sister will be trained and allowed to leave her confines, giving her the opportunity to imbue his sword with a third element. That act would give Kilen the right to claim either the wind or water kingdoms as his own, and cause confusion and a rebellion in that kingdom. We, as men in this room, cannot allow that to happen, so I have devised a plan to stop him from completing his training.” He stood in front of Chit, looking into his eyes, “You will meet him on the training grounds in battle at the end of the training period. I will see to it that you are given the best instruction in earth magic and in the sword so that you will be able to defeat him in a one on one fight. When Kilen loses to you in battle, he will be unworthy to keep the blade he possesses, eliminating the threat to this kingdom.”

Chit spoke before the others and without permission, “What do I get if I do this thing that you asked?”

“For starters you get to keep your insolent tongue,” finally Chit lowered his eyes as he had crossed the line too many times. “Wizard Brandon will receive my blessing to become my personal adviser for training Chit in earth magic using the rings I provide him. Captain Lorusk, I would ask you to personally train him in the combat with the sword and other weapons. You will be rewarded with the blade that Kilen now carries. Chit if you can beat him in the arena you will be rewarded with a promotion to sergeant and given one of the earth rings you use to defeat him. You will become an armor bearer. Do any of you have any problems with these assignments?” The men remained silent, except for Chit who began to hum a battle song and smile a devious smile. “Captain, you can use my private training room for his training in the sword. Chit, you will be excused from all the classes that would normally be needed to complete such as cooking or bandaging, so that you can focus on the skills needed to beat him. Do not miss a minute of training. Go and start now.” Lorusk bowed to the king and Chit finally followed his lead in bowing, only slower and not as deep of a bow. They left and closed the door behind them leaving Brandon and the King to talk. “Brandon, I know that you are to train the new weapon bearers. I ask only that you prolong teaching Kilen any skills that he doesn’t already know. Leave him to discover the magic on his own if he can.”

“I will delay him if at all possible my lord. I do have one worry, sire”

“Well, speak your mind wizard and advise me if you can,” the King added as to bait the wizard into believing he was already his new wizard advisor.

“My lord, I see one flaw in your plan. If Kilen is able to summon an elemental in the battle with Chit they will be on unequal ground. Twilix tells Mary that he exceeds all expectations and should be summoning an elemental by the end of the month. My lord, I believe her. He fought Mary’s elemental and won. Chit will not be an even match in magic.”

The king was starting to turn red with anger as the wizard spoke, “Well, what then do you suggest we do, give the brute an elemental weapon also?”

“No, my lord, I would suggest that if he does summon an elemental. You would allow me to summon one for Chit and fight him on equal ground.”

The king smiled and the anger faded from his face, “You are already learning to advise me. Train him well. He must be able to meet Kilen on the battle ground with equal footing.”