Book I of III: The Swords of the Sultan (14 page)

After delivering a low bow, he asked, “Yes,
my Mistress?”

She asked, “What is your opinion? Do you
think Baltor’s guilty?”

“My Mistress… no, I do not believe he’s
guilty, but innocent.”

“Very well. Keep him company in suite
twenty-two until we have made our final decision and we call upon
you again.”

With another low bow, he replied, “Yes, my
Mistress.” He then rose from the bow, and gestured for Baltor to
proceed to the door. He next escorted Baltor to the suite, which
were quite a few more hallways and dozens of rooms later.

This room was not only very beautifully
decorated, yet it contained two twin beds and a wide assortment of
entertaining board games—only once inside with the door closed did
Baltor ask, “So what do you think will happen now?”

“I don’t know, Baltor,” Humonus replied
truthfully, “but I’ve never seen the High Council to be so heated
up with one another.”

After taking a deep breath through his nose,
he added, “Well… let’s not worry about that. Instead, let’s check
out some of these games.”

Three more days passed while Humonus and
Baltor waited, yet simultaneously had fun. Mostly they played this
strategic game called voo-span (thanks to Humonus’s instruction),
similar to four-dimensional chess—until finally the time came that
the High Council called them back into their chambers.

As before, Humonus led Baltor to his chair,
before standing behind him. Baltor sat down, nervously awaiting his
verdict.

Once the boy was sitting, the mistress that
had silenced the argument spoke, “Though this decision was not easy
to come by, it is in the rulings of the High Council that you are
innocent. The Guild owes you a debt of gratitude for services
rendered. Tomorrow, you shall recommence with your training. That
is all.”

Baltor breathed a deep sigh of relief.

The High Council stood out of their seats and
most had begun to disperse—within a minute, only four people
remained in the room, Lydia, Bayema, Humonus and Baltor.

Bayema spoke first, “I would personally like
to thank you, Baltor, and I’m sure that Vakshia would have done the
same. Good luck with your training.”

“Thank you, my Mistress,” Baltor responded
with a bow.

Bayema then left.

Lydia added, “Baltor, you truly are a brave
soul. We need more people like you in the Guild. I knew that I was
right when my heart first led me to you. Oh, just to let you know,
there is a reason I was gone for so long—it’s because I found my
way back home and let my parents know that I was still alive and
well. Take care, Baltor.”

Baltor repeated his words and act.

Lydia turned to Humonus and ordered, “Take
good care of him.”

“Yes, my Mistress,” Humonus answered with a
bow. He then turned to his pupil and ordered, “Follow me,
Baltor.”

He bowed one final time before Lydia and then
he followed his drill instructor to their next destination.

The drill instructor led the way through
quite a few more hallways, until they finally returned to the room
with the fountain in it. Along the way, the student silently
remarked to himself on how gargantuan this palace really was!

Humonus turned the emerald and the trapdoor
opened. He climbed down to the bottom of the ladder, and waited for
his pupil to join him. He next led him back to the training hall
and up to the weapons rack.

Upon completion of their regular stretching
exercises, the drill instructor said, “Now, we shall go over all
those wrist stretching exercises that I was about to teach you
prior to your recent event, in which I want you to perform these
stretches every other day. What you will ultimately develop is
wrist control. Perhaps this afternoon, I will begin teaching you
how to wrestle opponents—unarmed and armed. For now, watch me
closely…”

Amidst explaining and performing the wrist
stretches and exercises, he had his student perform them as
well.

Ten minutes later, Humonus pulled two wooden
sabers from the weapons rack as he said, “Now, I want you to
observe some of my attacks that are based entirely from wrist
control.”

For the next minute, without having moved the
trunk of his body even one inch, the drill instructor’s sabers flew
in a multitude of directions that seemed to combine both attacks
and defenses. Baltor watched in awe.

Once Humonus had finished, he explained, “As
you can see, my body did not move except for my wrists and arms. My
arms simply followed the commands of my wrists—wrist control. Now
you try.”

With an instantaneous flick of his wrists, he
flipped the sabers in his hands, now extending the handles out for
his student to take. His student did.

For the remainder of that week and the
following two weeks, Baltor not only practiced and mastered wrist
control, yet he learned from his drill instructor how to
wrestle.

The very next week on Charday, two days after
Moonday, after he had already performed all his stretching
exercises by himself, Humonus greeted him at the weapons rack with
a “Good morning, Baltor.”

The student stood to his feet and replied,
“Good morning, sir!”

The drill instructor taught, “From here on
out, and this is my final lesson to you, we shall begin to
incorporate each of the individual techniques and skills that you
have learned, re-unite your body back as one, and combine it all
with the final element of speed.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Once you have mastered all of this, and the
both of us feel that you are ready, there will be a test with
graders. If you should pass this ‘special obstacle course,’ you
will be elevated to phase-three. If you should fail, you will most
likely be dead, as the dangers are quite deadly.”

“Yes, sir. Sir?”

“Yes, Baltor.”

“What does this test consist of?”

The drill instructor revealed for the very
first time, “There is another obstacle course that lies far beneath
this chasm. It is not unlike the other obstacle courses you have
already gone through, with ropes that you must cross and walls that
you must climb…

“However, all of the swinging bags have sharp
spikes imbedded into them. There are moving sword-wielding straw
dummies that will strike at you, which you must take out. There
will also be professional archers who will be aiming for your heart
or head…and there is a time limit with which you must complete it.
Oh, finally yet importantly, you must go through it all
blindfolded.”

He observed that through his explanations, an
increasing look of worry crossed his student’s face, especially the
final part. Perhaps five seconds later, he added consolingly,
“Relax, Baltor. Until both you and I feel competent, you won’t be
taking the final test. Besides, when you are finally ready, you
will easily pass with flying colors.”

“One more question, sir?” Baltor asked as his
face visibly relaxed.

“Yes?”

Baltor asked, “If I am blindfolded, how will
I know when I must jump up to a rope, dodge a spike-filled bag,
evade an arrow, or even attack armed dummies?”

“Everything in life, whether a test or for
real, will always contain signs,” Humonus answered. “Once your body
has become re-united, your senses will tell you how to interpret
those signs, what to do, and when to do it.”

“Yes, sir!”

Three more months passed as Baltor honed and
perfected his skills, including learning how to wrestle like a pro,
until his body finally acted as one, and with speed.

During that time, he only saw Lydia twice,
and both of those visits were terribly short in his opinion. He had
finally concluded to himself that the strange feelings in the pit
of his stomach, whenever she was around, was the simple fact that
he was “in love”—he wanted to see her more upon this realization,
but it rarely happened.

Finally, the morning came when he asked his
drill instructor, “Sir?”

“Yes, Baltor.”

“I feel that I am ready for the final
test.”

Humonus’s cryptic response happened to be,
“What a coincidence.”

“Why is that, sir?”

“Because last night, I swear that I had come
to that same conclusion!”

Baltor asked with surprise, “Really?”

“Yes,” the drill instructor confirmed, “I
did. Still, I would like you to practice with me for one more week,
just to be on the safe side.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Tonight, I will inform the High Council that
you shall be ready to take the test next week on Harrnsday.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Just too properly motivate you, Baltor—I
will let you know what phase three is like,” the drill instructor
promised. After taking a deep breath, he explained, “Phase three is
called Education. You may take as many classes for as long as you
wish, and as many subjects as you can handle. Just so you know,
other instructors will be teaching all these courses to you, and
not me. Of course, you can advance to phase-four without ever
having stopped phase three…

“Certainly all thieves take the classes that
pertain to thieving, like disarming booby traps and unlocking
locks—they feel these to be the most important, especially for
acquiring treasure and wealth.”

“Unfortunately,” Humonus taught, “most
thieves greatly underestimate the treasure and wealth that comes
from other basic courses from reading, writing and arithmetic, to
advanced courses like learning foreign cultures, customs and their
languages. It is in my strongest opinion that all of these subjects
are equally important, as I still take courses to date.”

The drill instructor paused for a good ten
seconds to let the words sink in, before he continued, “During the
times that you are free, you will either be allowed to continue
training upon any of the obstacle courses down here, or you will be
allowed to roam the streets on your own. Whether you wish to stay
in the bunkhouse or eventually attain a place of your own is your
choice, but you must never forget the vows you took when you first
came here, especially after I show you the secret location of the
underground latch. And that’s phase three in a nutshell.”

Though there were a dozen other questions
that instantly popped into the student’s mind, such as what
arithmetic was, to what phase-four consisted of, to how many phases
there was in total, he also realized that he needed to pass his
current phase first. Therefore, he simply responded, “Yes,
sir!”

As if to confirm, Humonus said, “For now, let
us continue training….”

For the next week, they trained longer and
harder than they had ever done before, but by now, these elongated
sessions had no effect on Baltor’s fatigue.

The night before testing day, he had gone to
bed without being nervous in the slightest bit. Once morning came,
however, he awoke to find that he was extraordinarily nervous—his
adrenaline glands rushed like there was no tomorrow, perhaps
literally!

Baltor anxiously waited for his instructor to
arrive at the weapons rack while performing all his routine
stretching exercises. Still, they did nothing to abate his
nerves.

Soon after, Humonus arrived. After he greeted
his student with a friendly smile and a “good morning,” he asked,
“So, Baltor, are you ready to take your test?”

“Sir, to be honest with you, I thought I was,
but now I’m not so sure.”

With a look of understanding, the drill
instructor replied, “Baltor, that’s just called nerves. In any
potentially conflicting situation, nerves will erupt and if
uncontrolled, you will feel weak and helpless. But once you learn
how to control them, they will be your greatest allies, ever! Take
a couple of deep breaths.”

The student did as instructed. He soon found
that his nerves began to lessen though they did not altogether
disappear.

“Sir, if I don’t make it, then I’d like to
tell you that I’m very appreciative of everything that you’ve—”

Humonus had placed both hands squarely upon
his student’s shoulders, looked him straight in the eyes, and then
said emphatically, “Baltor, you must never think like that ever
again! You are fully trained. You will make it. You will
succeed!”

The student took a couple more deep breaths,
and not only did he find himself relaxed but also ready—he finally
replied, “Lead the way, sir!”

With a nod and a small smile, Humonus patted
Baltor once on the shoulder before ordering, “Follow me.”

He led his student through several tunnels
that wound themselves deeper and deeper underground.

About ten minutes later, they entered an
enormous cavern that was twice the size of the training area.

Baltor first observed a large stadium to his
left, already filled with a large group of onlookers—approximately
seventy—pleasantly chatting with one another.

His eyes then scanned throughout the room,
and observed a dug-in path that led through a myriad of obstacles
from ropes, ladders, walls, bottomless pits, chasms, spiked bags
and armed straw-dummies that were held taut by a thin rope.

Standing behind each dummy and out of harm’s
way was a man or a woman armed with a dagger ready to cut the
ropes. He even observed that at random areas, archers stood with an
arrow already hooked in their bow. He found himself becoming uneasy
again.

Humonus allowed Baltor a brief minute to look
at the area, and then he quietly ordered, “Follow me, Baltor.”

He led his student to the beginning of the
dug-in path, stopped, and turned around to face his pupil. Pulling
a blindfold from his pocket, he said in a normal tone of voice,
“Before I blindfold you, Baltor, I shall give you one last minute
to scan your horizons.”

With a frightened whisper, the student said,
“Sir, this is a crazy-as-hell obstacle course and I don’t know if I
can do it blind—”