Chapter 11

Whispers of the Past

And so it came to pass that Grey, only nine years old, began his training in the Vanishing Sky Style. It was the summer of the eighth era of mankind. An auspicious time that knew not of war but of adventurers and knights.

In a white room in which all things could be seen. Grey swung his rapier. Six teacups were set on a table in front of him. The first cup was only a few ounces. The last cup weighed as much as a watermelon.

Grey lifts each cup lightly by their handle using the tip of his rapier. The cups are filled with tea and when one spills he must try again. Training is slow, but after many weeks his sense of touch has gotten quite excellent.

Iris is there next to Grey. They play a game with one another to increase his sensitivity. She taps the floor with a wooden sword. He is to tell her the direction it came from. She does this repeatedly, and then takes his hand. She dances with him. Her graceful movements help him remember the vibrations a person makes when they walk. And how to tell how heavy a person is by the sound of their footsteps. At first, Grey is embarrassed at his attempts to dance. Iris's movements are tender and elegant. His are clumsy and ugly.

Struck by unhappiness, Grey diligently applied himself to his training. He taps and listens to the people passing by the training hall. The scuffling of their boots. The laughter in their voice. By the third month his senses have become sharp.

He was not yet able to lift all the cups of tea, only the lightest of the six, but he could walk with the sophistication of a high born noble. His footsteps light and lovely.

"Grey, if you had more charm even I would marry you," giggled Ciara. She had been watching his progress, and liked to play with his long hair. It was braided, a grass hair clip allowed him to brush it to one side. On this day, they were taking a break from training. Oswin came up behind them, carrying his spell book .

"Hello my friends. I have almost mastered fireball and Iris said that I have to choose between an element before I dive too deep into magic. Fire. Earth. Water. Wind. Which one do you fellows think I should I pick?"

"Lucky," grumbled Grey. "For you to say of such things. I envy you. Didn't Iris say it took people a year before they mastered that spell. You only did it in three months."

"That's right!" laughed Oswin, haughtily. "I am a genius! A super genius! Even Buddha would praise me."

"What Buddha," muttered Ciara, brushing Grey's hair with a comb. "Grey, don't pay that little show off any attention. You may not have gotten better at magic, but in sword fighting you would beat him in two. It should be enough that you are skilled at one thing than weak in everything."

"You know that is the same thing Iris told me," said Oswin, crossing his arms. He looked at Ciara a little surprised. "And I thought your head was made out of fluffy clouds. So the coconut has finally been cracked."

"Are you saying I am a coconut?" said Ciara, puffing her cheeks. "Don't you know I have two big fists? I'll split your coconut and your bananas in half."

Oswin grinned.

"Two big fists? Don't you mean two chubby cheeks. Try and catch me then! Fatso!"

"Ugh!"

Oswin ran off. Ciara chased him. Grey shook his head. He wondered if a day would come where these two would ever be able to sit in a room without trying to beat one another. He placed back his sword into his sheath, and cleaned the leather handle with vinegar. Ham ran to him from the entrance of the hall. She had started training too, in her own way. Grey had taught her about breathing techniques to help her utilize her own strengths.

"Are you off somewhere?" asked Ham, happily. "Let me climb on your head. It's gotten so soft and comfortable."

Grey tied his hair in a bundle and put Ham on his head.

"I am off to the library. Today Iris has finally given us a break so I thought I might visit a familiar place."

"Are you not afraid they will point at your eyes again?" said Ham. When Grey had gone out alone. People would stop and stare. Lately, he had not seemed to mind as much.

"I think it is fine now. People stare because something is unusual, but I have been walking down that street so many times. They might even be expecting me."

"If you say so," said Ham, snuggling.

The library was in the residential district of the city. Grey passed a peach blossom tree, near the central plaza, and arrived at the gate. A man in fine velvet greeted him and opened the door. An elderly man stood at the counter wearing glasses and a long robe. He had a beard which drooped down to his waist.

"Ah, it is you child." said the elderly man, straightening his glasses. "Have you come again to read? What will it be this time?"

"Yes," said Grey, greeting the elderly man politely. "Could you tell me which way to the history section? I am looking for things during the Chaos Wars."

"Are you looking for something in specific?"

"Not really. Anything during that time will do."

In truth, Grey had become fascinated by the Knights of Orbis. Their tales of heroism. The  battles they fought. It was surreal and otherworldly. An era where the world hinged on the edge of a sword and mankind was on the precipice of defeat. When he thought of such stories his heart was filled with excitement.

"Left side, fifth aisle." said the elderly man. "If you are looking for the histories of men during that era you'll find that in the eighteenth aisle before the Poetry Section."

"Thank you, sir." said Grey. He made his way to the fifth aisle and picked up a random book. He sat near a corner, and opened the page. Ham popped her head out of his hair.

"Another book?"

"Yes," said Grey, nodding. "Could you tell the first character on the page?"

"Will you feed me some delicacies?"

"I will feed you the best roasted ham dish, the Jealous Maiden's Secret Delight. The pork is fried in a large roaring oven, seasoned with salt and spice, and cooked with ash seed. It is then washed with wine, and laden in a shelf for sixty days. The smell is said to be the most heavenly, that even a mile away one can smell the fragrance."

"Hue~" drooled Ham, "How can you get something like that when you are only a kid. I don't believe you!"

"You do not believe me?" giggled Grey, "Then never mind the Jealous Maiden will just have to find a new lover."

"No!" said Ham. Her whiskers twitching in eagerness. "I want to eat. No take backs. I will bite you."

Grey laughed, feeling Ham tickling him at his neck. "Okay, but read me the letters and then I will feed you."

"But Grey!" whined Ham, "Are we not best of friends. Do you not feel my fur and think I am cute and fuzzy."

Ham rubbed lovingly on his cheek. "Please! Give me a nibble? One bite, before we start."

"Not until we are done reading," said Grey, shaking his head.

"Stingy!"

"Prudent," giggled Grey.

Ham looks at the first word on the page.

"The first character is Human."

"And the next one?"

"Forest? Wait, my eyesight is not so good."

Ham leaps from Grey's head and down to his lap. She looks over the book.

"It looks like the word for river.  It has two lines going down."

"That means city," smiled Grey. "Quick. What is next?"

~~~

Human City of Polach.

Diary of Captain Arteri.

587 A.C.

The battle is harsh. Marina doesn't think we can hold Polach. The rituals holding up the barriers have failed and those monsters now pour through the riverbank. I'm afraid to ask what has happened to those men at the basin. Polach is a coastal city, and if we lose here we have no way of crossing the narrow straits of Osann-cha. We will have no way home.

The hellbound now strike at us on a daily basis. Just last night, fifty men disappeared with nothing but their screams to tell us they have gone. I have told the men to keep the torches lit at all times. That the creatures spawn in the darkness and fear the light, but what are men to do against such things? These soldiers are peasants and cattle-farmers. They know nothing of magic and are spooked at the sight of their own shadows. There is only one thing they are good for and that is to die. Die so that others can survive. I can only pray that after so many are dead there will be someone left to save.

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Life was originally not meant to be like this. It was meant to be a hard day's work plowing the field in a pasture with servants attending to my needs. I had a family. Two children and a wife. How long ago that must have been? I have not thought of them since the fifth invasion. Thirty years ago. The war has gone on for six hundred years and some say the monsters will not stop until all men have been slain. Till we are wiped from existence. I say unto them. Let them come and wipe me out. I shall kill the next one that makes it past our barricades, and the next, and the next, till there nothing left of my body for the carrion birds. If there is no hope. Then I have nothing to lose.

If there is one sliver of hope I share, it is that we now have knights accompanying our company. They appeared in the mid-morning at the height of the engagement. I have not known many knights in my lifetime but their battle prowess is well known. They do not fear monsters like we do and charge full hardly into their ranks. The unity of their spirits. Their war hardened cries. Marina thinks quite highly of them. Even our Lord Commander has asked to see them after the battle to share in drink and food so that they may discuss stratagems for our ongoing skirmishes.

My hope is that we stave off the invasion long enough for the inner kingdoms to prepare their defenses. I don't believe we will win. I am sick and tired. And news around the camp have grown more grim with each passing day. A moment ago, I overheard a man wailing that the Demon King could not be killed. That the entire Kingdom of Servalis was annihilated. Millions sent to the afterlife. None were spared. Against such a thing are we not dead men walking our last steps?

~~~

"Grey? Is that you?"

Grey closes his book. Ham hides back into his hair.

"I knew it was you," said the girl, standing by the bookshelf. There is a basket in her hand, the smell of pastries fill the air. "You are always here looking at some book."

"Ran?" said Grey, "What are you doing here?"

"I had deliveries to make in the morning, but my dad let me out earlier today. So I happen to come to the library. What are you doing here?"

"Um," said Grey, turning the book over. "I am reading a book."

"Tales of Chaos," said Ran, reading the title. "Stories during the Chaos Wars from the Sixth Era. That sounds complicated."

"It is not that complicated," said Grey, smiling. "I like it."

"You like it cause you are so smart," said Ran, "Mr. Smarty Pants!"

"I am not that smart," said Grey. "I'm just a little smart."

"Well, not-so-smart-grey," giggled Ran. "Did you want a cookie? I know you do not like it when I feed you, but maybe today you are hungry. I have extras."

She brings out her basket. The aroma of chocolate whiffing into the air.

Grey's stomach rumbles..

"I...I guess I will take one today," said Grey. He had not eaten earlier and did not wish for his stomach to be growling on the way back to the inn.

He bows respectfully to Ran.

"Thank you for the meal."

"Oh it's nothing," said Ran, blushing. "Okay, open your hands. And there. One Golden-Eyed Dragon Cookie."

Ran drops the cookie in Grey's hand.

"My mom made too many this morning. So I have plenty leftover."

Grey takes a bite, and feels his body grow lighter. His mind less burdened.

"Are these cookies enchanted?" said Grey. He had heard some foods had special properties that could help a person in a pinch.

"No," said Ran, shaking her head. "but my mom gets a lot of the ingredients from the forest. Maybe, it tastes a little funny because of that."

"I see. They taste really good."

Grey takes another bite, savoring the flavor.

Ran scoots a little closer, watching him intently.

"Tell me Grey. How are you able to read if you can't see. I have always wondered."

"A secret," said Grey, smiling. "Did you come to the library to read a book?"

"I didn't. You know my reading is not so good. I came because I know you might be here silly. You look so lonely. They say if a kid is lonely they turn into a troll. So I have come to rescue you from your fate."

"My fate?" smiled Grey. "I am not lonely. I like being alone! Besides, what kind of troll can be so intelligent."

"One that hides in the library and never comes out," giggles Ran.

She pokes him in the tummy.

"Hey!"

"You are looking a lot healthier. Are you eating right?"

"You don't need to feed me," said Grey, shaking his head. "The guild provides me with money. I have food. It's just I forget to eat sometimes."

"That's because you train all the time," said Ran, "One day of rest every two weeks? Is that not torture for you? You should rest more. Here let me try something with you."

Ran places her hands on his head.

"What are you doing?"

"I am making you feel more comfortable," giggled Ran. She pulls his head on her dress. "Is my clothes not soft enough to be your pillow. See, nice and comfy. Take a nap."

The softness of her thighs pressed against his cheek. His heart felt warm.

"My mom says it helps my dad when he is tired. How is it? My mother's secret technique! Lap Pillow!" said Ran, happily.

"It is not so bad," said Grey, relaxing. A pleasant feeling rises from his chest up to his throat. He does not know what to call it, but it feels a lot like when he releases his aura.

"Then stay there and rest," smiled Ran, petting him on the head. "Is your training going well? You will be leaving soon right?"

"Training is...hard," said Grey, hesitantly. "I don't improve much and I keep messing up my stances. My skills right now are in swordsmanship. The lowest level. It is better than nothing I suppose. So I am not that worried. As for the trip, I am leaving in two to three days. We have to gather a few more supplies, but all my belongings have all been packed for the journey."

"Where will you go?"

"We will head up Norwood, to the Misty Veil, and into the Summer Lands. The forest is teeming with beasts so we will follow the main road up the mountain pass. I am not sure where our final destination is yet, but Iris is planning it out. She will tell me if I need to know."

"Iris is your teacher right?"

"Yep. My second teacher. She is a good person."

"Will you write to me?"

"I could?" said Grey, "but I'll be back in a few months? We can talk then can't we?"

"We can but," said Ran, fidgeting. Her mind seems to search for the words. "I need help in writing. Yes! That's right. So writing to you will help me improve my language. Will you not write to me? My dad did say language is the root of all knowledge."

"Well, I guess I can get familiar with the messenger pigeons," said Grey. "I have not used them so I will learn a bit about them on the road. Okay, I will write to you. But I can't promise it will be every day."

"Thank you."

"It is no trouble."

"So, can tell me again about that girl, again? Mylene. You did not get to finish the story you were telling me last time."

"My time in the prison? I guess I did not finish. It was not a happy ending, so I did not feel like continuing."

"But she's still alive right? Somewhere out there?"

"She is...alive," sighed Grey, remembering how he had saved her. "And one of these days. I will find her. I definitely will."