NexLord: Dark Prophecies (30 page)

Lor stopped five paces in front of the four
boys, with her eyes downcast.  "I am here to tell you the
truth, and to apologize."

Most of the boys were puzzled, but Aerin
thought,
I
 think she is finally going to do
it.

"I would like to apologize for misleading you
all, and letting you think I was something other than what I
am.  It has taken the last request of my mother, just
before she passed away today, to give me the strength to come clean
with you all.  I beg your forgiveness for what I'm about
to reveal."

"Oh just tell us, it can't be that bad,"
Gandarel stated impatiently.

Lor's
face came
back up with her
familiar strength back in her
eyes.  With iron courage showing in the rigid set of her
shoulders she looked at her friends.  "What I'm about to
tell you changes nothing about how you are to treat
me.  For reasons of my own I
have
led the life of a young boy, but I am not."

"What are you then, an old man?" Gandarel
asked.

"No, I am a girl."

If Lor had told them that she was made of
cheese, it wouldn't have shocked the boys any less.

"But..." Dono said, a hundred things flashing
through his mind, answers fitting questions he hadn't even
considered in the right light before.

Of
them
all,
Gandarel was the only one angry.  To his credit, he held
onto his anger in deference to Lor's emotional state from the loss
of her mother, but inside he felt anger and even dismay; Lor's
skills in some areas were better than his.  He had always
had a hard time with Lor's abilities in acrobatics; her
coordination and speed were incredible.  Knowing that she
was a girl made that knowledge even harder to take.

Katek frowned at this development as well,
but he was not angry, just puzzled at reconciling a simple fact,
which he immediately stated in his outspoken way, "Girls should not
fight."

Lor bristled; her emotions were running on a
short leash as it was.  "I dumped you on your butt the
first time you tangled with me, and I'll do it again if I hear such
nonsense, and that includes any of you!"

This is what Mara had been waiting for, so
she stepped forward.

"I am the teacher here, Katek, and I decide
who I will teach.  Lor is gifted in her own ways and
tougher mentally than many of you at this point.  In my
youth, women fought just as much as
men
and were usually tougher, meaner and more
ruthless.  Just because the ‘sport’ of gladiators does
not include women, doesn’t mean that a woman can’t
fight.  Don't insult Lor with your pity, or your
overprotection."

Aerin spoke up at this point, "Yesterday we
all considered Lor our friend and our companion in
arms.  Does learning that she is a girl change her into
something new today?  Her skills, her pride, her courage
are still the same.  If you think about it, this news
doesn’t really change anything, she's still the same old
pain-in-the-butt she's always been."

Lor gave him a look of mock anger, "Hey, I'm
not sure if that helps or hurts."

Katek shrugged, he had said his
peace. 

Gandarel swallowed his anger and said nothing
more.

But where Gandarel had felt anger, Dono felt
hurt.  He spoke quietly, "Couldn't you have told
me?  I was your best friend, once."

Lor’s forlorn smile was sad with the regret
she felt for deceiving her original friend in the world, "You still
are my best friend; my being a girl doesn't change
that.  I didn't keep this from you because I didn't trust
you, Dono, I just wasn't ready to admit I was a girl to anyone,"
and Lor’s voice dropped to almost a whisper, “not even myself.”

Dono nodded in acceptance of her answer,
though he did not completely understand.

Mara placed a hand on Lor's
shoulder.  "Now, young lady, you couldn’t wait to do
this, so against my better judgment, I have let you get it over
with now, however, it is time for you to keep your end of the
bargain.  I want you in your room resting for the rest of
the evening."

Lor nodded dutifully, "Yes, Sen Mara."

Mara bid the four boys good-bye and took Lor
to her new room.

Chapter Nine

"And I saw that for the son of the Warlord
to be the savior of the world, he MUST stand prepared before the
Wall of the Chamber without fear while the
sie
ge of his city still
stands."

-  From the Prophecies of Gold

Their quarterstaffs beat a frantic tempo of
wood smacking wood, as the two boys circled around the
courtyard.  Gandarel smiled as he nearly scored on
Aerin's right shin, but Aerin's riposte made Gandarel spring
backward
and wiped away the brief
smile instantly.  They were well matched.

"Enough for now," Mara exclaimed, as she got
to her feet.  She wore one of her simple dresses today,
but her gray and black peppered hair was done up in a tight bun to
the back of her head, a sure sign they were going out into the
city.

Tocor smiled at the boys.  "A good
display, though you were suckered in on that opening,
Gandarel."

Gandarel looked crestfallen, but when Aerin
started to smile Tocor fixed his bronze gaze steadily on the young
boy.  "But you failed to finish your ploy off, Aerin, and
so squandered your only advantage."

Aerin deflated.

Tocor smiled at them.  "Still, I
see some promise in you both; we won't toss you in the street to be
beggars, yet.  I want you two to go through that whole
sequence again slowly and tell me where you made your
mistakes."

The two boys knew better than to argue with
Tocor, so they started from the beginning.

A few minutes later Mara and Tocor walked out
of hearing range to talk. 

"You are working them hard today, what do you
think of their skills?"  Mara asked.

Tocor pursed his lips for a moment and his
bronze irises were like whirlpools to his mind.  "They
are good, Mara."

"Just good?"

"The best I have ever taught.  Even
they don't know how good they
are
since they have only been measured against themselves and of
course, Yearl and
me
, and you know
our advantages."

"Yes, I concur; not only doesn't it surprise
me, I expected it.  You realize that it was
inevitable?  For almost three hundred years people have
been gathering and believing in the coming of these
children. The world doesn't know who they are yet, but most of
the people in this world believe in their coming.  There
have never been humans with the talent and potential that these
five youngsters possess.  They pick up another weapon or
discipline like a child picks up a game."

"When they finally discover their supremacy,
will it go to their heads?"

"It's up to us to be there, and make sure
that they learn to use their skills with restraint."

Tocor nodded.  "I will do my best,
but I worry, they are so young to know the ways of such deadly
battle."

Before Mara could answer the two boys
interrupted, they had finished going through their last bout in
slow hits.  Gandarel called out to Tocor.

"Are we going to do sword practice now?"
Gandarel still favored the sword.

Mara headed for the door that opened out into
the city streets from their courtyard.  "Not today...
come along, I have a new lesson for you to learn."

The two boys looked at each other in
consternation, when she started talking like this they never knew
what to expect, but they put up their staffs on the rack and
quickly followed their teacher.

Aerin looked
around
but saw no sign of Lor, Dono or
Katek.  “Should we wait for the others?”

Mara shook her head, “No, I think you two
will do for the moment, this is something different than our normal
training.”

The two boys looked at each other and
shrugged.  It was to be a far more interesting day than
either boy anticipated.

Gandarel looked around for his familiar
guards, but they were not evident.

Mara caught his look and explained, “I have
them enjoying a rest and a drink; I explained that your lesson
would go on for some time under my direct care.”

"Is Yearl around?" Aerin asked of Mara, in
the time he had known the Willowman he had never learned how to
keep track of the mysterious man, yet Mara seemed to always know
when he was near.

"No, we are on our own today, I think you two
should be sufficient protection," she said with a sly smile.

Both boys felt a swell of pride, and
unconsciously began to scan the surrounding crowd and street for
dangers.  Mara noted their concentration and smiled
inwardly.

Aerin spotted a group of younger children,
perhaps six to eight years old.  They were playing a game
in the side streets.  When he saw them Mara stopped and
watched as well.  Gandarel looked impatient, but Mara
shushed him and watched with Aerin.

To begin the game one child would spin around
with his eyes closed until he suddenly stopped.  Whoever
he was pointing at was deemed the Screamer.  He would
fall to the ground and scream while the others went and
hid.  After a short time he would get up and give one
last loud yell, and then come hunting for the other children. The
Screamer then searched, and the first two he found he had to chase
and touch.  The first one he touched had to freeze in
place. When he touched the second child he would scream and both
frozen players would now join him in the hunt.  The three
of them would now search out the remaining
children.  When any one of the three Screamers discovered
one of the hidden players they immediately screamed until the other
two Screamers ran over.  Then they would circle the
captured player while holding hands and chanting a children's
rhyme.  If at any time during the rhyme another child
revealed himself and ran between two screamers, forcing them to
break their circle, the captured child was freed.  The
Screamers had to run back to the 'fortress', the place where the
first screamer had started, before being able to return to start
the search.  If the captured child was not freed, he
became one of the Screamers.  The game went on until
everyone was caught.

"Ring around the one that's found," three
children chanted while they circled around the captured one
within.

"Hold him still to break his will," they
cried out, raising their hands and stopping.

"He is deceived and now believes," they
chanted as they brought their clasped hands down to touch the
victim.

"And now he's one of us!” the new Screamer
gave a loud scream, and the four of them went hunting the other
players.

"It's just a kids game called ‘Break the
Circle’, come on, let's go," Gandarel stated, taking hold of
Aerin's arm.

Mara held her cane up, blocking Gandarel's
path.  "You don't know this game, Aerin?"

"No, I never played it as a child."

Gandarel spoke with
sarcasm.  "Where have you been, locked in some
trunk?  Oh, that's right, your dad kept you locked in
books."

Aerin punched him.  "Oh, and you
know so much, locked up with all your teachers on how to
dress."

Mara
rapped
Aerin lightly across the shins.  "Enough of that, now can
either of you tell me what that was all about?"

"The game?" Gandarel asked.

"Yes, the child's game," she answered.

"It's about finding hidden kids and capturing
them, what's there to know?"

Mara fixed him with a stern
look.  "What's there to know?  A lot more than
is in that big empty space you call your brain.  Many
things have roots in history, even children's games."

"And I suppose this one has some great
significance?" Gandarel noted.

"What if I told you it was a clue to the
Wraiths and how they are created?" Mara suddenly asked.

That caught even Gandarel's
attention.  Everyone had heard of the fell Wraiths of the
Last War.  Mara had taught them a little about Wraiths in
the past. 

"What do you remember from my lessons about
Wraiths?” she asked, leaning on her cane and watching her two
students.

"They are evil beings ruled by hate, it is
the foremost emotion of their life.  They collect it and
use it as power," Aerin recited.

Mara nodded.  "Good, and what else,
Gandarel?"

"They can freeze a man with a scream of
hate."

"Yes... now, knowing that, look at this
children's game, what do you see?"

Aerin thought about it for a moment,
remembering.  "The Screamer, the one who is
'it'.  Is he supposed to be a Wraith?"

Mara nodded.  "And he has the power
to freeze someone with a touch,
though,
in truth, that isn't necessary, but what else do
you see?"

Gandarel didn't want to be outdone by his
friend.  "They can make new ones by surrounding a player
with three of them."

"Exactly, it takes three Wraiths to turn a
human into one of their
kind
.  That person must have a great hate in
his heart, but that isn't hard to find.  Once turned,
they are lost to hate forever.  Remember this children's game
and what it teaches, it and many other things around you, that you
take for granted, are clues to the knowledge you
need.  Knowledge is power.  But come, this is
not our lesson for today, just a side note for you think on
later."

They traveled through the city until they
reached an area not familiar to either boy; there
was
a small open market and some shops along
both sides of the street, with hanging signs that depicted the
wares and services they offered. 

Aerin noticed the road sign mounted on the
corner building telling them they were at the crossing of Sekel and
Netter Streets.  Aerin recognized where they were headed,
and for the first time put the name 'Netter Street' together with
sayings that Lor used... something about the crazies on Netter
Street.