The Ranger (Book 1) (30 page)

Just as Vincent was about to dash across the square to the sanctuary, the sanctuary doors crashed open. Two men stood silhouetted in the entrance. Vincent carefully edged through the shadows, trying to get closer to the two figures.

“You have failed us for the last time, Patrick,” the taller of the two said menacingly, his booming voice echoing across the square. “You were told to stall the Rangers until we arrived and could properly deal with them, yet you let them go.”

“Forgive me, my master,” Patrick squeaked. “The Rangers were suspicious of me, and they had Master Auna with them; but I did send that band of thieves after them.”

“Fool,” the tall shadow snapped, slapping Patrick so hard it knocked him off his feet. “A band of thieves would never be a match for a Pallàdrim; and these Rangers were no ordinary Rangers, they knew Furtivos.”

“Then you mean…” Patrick said, a mounting tone of fear in his voice.

“Yes,” the shadow hummed menacingly, “you allowed the Chosen to escape.”

“Forgive me,” Patrick whimpered throwing himself at the specter’s feet. “I swear I didn’t know. I will do better next time. Please, spare the life of your faithful servant.”

“The Magi are not without mercy,” the specter said, kicking the groveling form of Patrick, “but we will not overlook your failings again.”

“Yes, my master,” Patrick said gratefully.

“The next time the Rangers come here, they had better not escape,” the Magi said threateningly.

“Of course, my master,” Patrick stammered, still bowing on the ground. With a final kick, the Magi departed into the night. After ensuring that the Magi was indeed gone, Patrick hurried back inside the sanctuary and closed the door.

Vincent stood in shocked horror as the light from the sanctuary disappeared. He quickly started backtracking his way through the city, desperately wishing he had heeded the council of Master Auna. One thing was now certain: the sanctuaries were no longer safe.

He edged his way out of the city gates. The night was dark. Clouds once again filled the sky. Vincent hurried along the empty road toward the Ranger Encampment, praying that he would have the strength to make it back. Vincent’s legs burned as he ran and his breath came in ragged gasps, but he kept moving. Vincent knew that if he stopped he would not be able to start moving again.

Vincent and Lauren reached the gate of the encampment just as the sun peeked over the horizon. Vincent could have cried. He walked through the gates and collapsed on the ground, too tired to move anymore. He was vaguely aware of people running to him, shouting something. Then he was being carried; where to, he didn’t care. He was so tired.

Vincent closed his eyes, and knew no more.

* * * * * * *

When Vincent woke, his whole body was sore, but he had energy again and could move. He sat up on the small cot where he had been laid and looked around. He was not in his cabin.

It took a few minutes for him to figure out where he was, and why he was there; but finally he recognized his surroundings as the sanctuary at the Ranger’s Encampment. The memory of the previous day’s events came flooding back and he quickly looked around to find Lauren. She wasn’t there.

“Vincent,” came a quiet voice from the door. Silva had entered the sanctuary and was weaving his way through the tables to where he lay.

“Master Silva,” Vincent said quickly, “the sanctuary at Senno, there’s a priest there; he’s working for the Magi.”

“I know,” Silva said, trying to calm Vincent down, “I just received a message from Jerome. It’s being taken care of as we speak; but there are more important matters to be dealt with. Did you retrieve the package?”

“We did,” Vincent replied, pulling the small box from a pocket in his tunic. “The Fire Stone is safe.”

“You’ve done well, Vincent.” Silva said, opening the box and pulling out a small stone in the shape of the Token of Fire, dangling on a gold chain. It emitted a faint red glow. “Things are proceeding as Jerome predicted. The Magi are indeed on the move.” Silva seemed lost as he spoke. “There is so much yet undone, so much I will be unable to accomplish.” Silva paused, staring into space.

“Vincent,” Silva said at length, “You’re father once guarded this stone. He was wearing it the night he died. I searched for days before I found it. I need you to take this stone. You will be its keeper from now on. It must never be allowed to fall into the hands of the Magi.”

Vincent took the small red stone from Silva. He gazed into the stone. Despite its size, it seemed to go on forever. He hung the chain around his neck. The stone was warm against his chest.

“Our time is running out, Vincent,” Silva said, standing up. “I know you’ve been through a lot, but we need to continue your token training. I didn’t want to rush it like this, but recent events have forced me to accelerate things. I need to make sure you are ready to become a Pallàdrim when the Magi make their move, and I don’t know how long that will take.”

“Alright,” Vincent said, getting up as well, “I’ll grab my swords.”

“You won’t need them,” Silva said, stopping Vincent. “This is for your token, the last step to becoming a Pallàdrim.”

Vincent’s heart leapt. He had no idea that he was so close to becoming a Pallàdrim.

“Then let’s get started,” Vincent said excitedly, embracing his token.

“Calm yourself,” Silva said, firmly. “This is nothing like anything you’ve ever done before. This stage of training took me years before I completed it. We have to speed this up for you as you may only have a couple of weeks, at most.”

Vincent stopped in his tracks. What kind of training could this be? It had taken years for Silva to learn and he now had to learn it in under a month?

“Come,” Silva said, motioning for Vincent to follow him, “Lauren has already been training for a couple of hours. You’ll never catch up if you don’t hurry.”

“Lauren is already training?” Vincent asked in shock as he ran to follow.

“She has always been incredibly resilient,” Silva said, leading Vincent through the small gate and into the woods. “The fact that she even survived this ordeal is proof of that.”

Silva continued to lead him through the woods, around the back of the encampment walls. He left the wall, heading west. Vincent continued to follow, curious as to where they were going. The sun was starting to peek over the horizon when Silva stopped next to a large lake. Vincent could see some sort of cloud on the water, but couldn’t quite make it out.

With a flick of his wrist, Silva sent a large fireball into the air. The cloud dissipated in the water, revealing a figure standing on the surface of the lake. The figure quickly moved toward them. As it got closer, Vincent realized that it was Lauren.

“Lauren has been working on this training for some time,” Silva said as Lauren joined them on the shore. “So you’ve got a lot of work to do to catch up.”

“It’s good to see you too,” Lauren said sarcastically.

Silva laughed as he continued, “As I said before, normally this type of training takes years, but we need to speed up the process. So, you will be training under the direction of an elemental, as they have the most intimate knowledge of how a token works.”

“So how does one summon an elemental?” Vincent asked.

“It is slightly different for every token, but the principle is always the same,” Silva explained. “For the Fire Token, you start by drawing the symbol of fire on the ground.” Vincent did as he was instructed. “Now you place your hand on the symbol and embrace your token.”

The familiar red glow surrounded Vincent’s arm as he placed his hand on the symbol in the dirt. However, the glow quickly drained from his hands, following the lines he had drawn on the ground which started to glow bright red.

“Now stand back,” Silva snapped urgently. Vincent jumped back just as a pillar of fire shot into the air from the mark on the ground. The fiery figure of a man stepped from the flames.

“I am Mayberry,” the figure stated. “Who has summoned me?”

“I have,” Vincent replied, uncertainly.

Mayberry stared at Vincent for a second before recognition dawned on his face. He smiled.

“So we meet again, Chosen One,” Mayberry laughed. “Shall we continue our fun then?”

“Mayberry!” Silva’s voice caught his attention and he turned.

“Ah, Jason,” Mayberry purred, “It has been far too long since we last played.”

“I am not here to play today,” Silva replied, sounding almost disappointed, “I am simply overseeing the training of the boy.”

“Then what do you wish of me?” Mayberry asked with a mock bow.

“Prepare him to awaken,” Silva replied. “That’s all that stands in his way.”

The smile on Mayberry’s face grew larger and slightly more menacing.

“But Master Silva,” Vincent interrupted, “you said this was token training. I didn’t bring my sword. How am I supposed to fight him unarmed?”

“This
is
token training,” Silva laughed. “Weapons are useless here.” He paused. “I would love to stay and watch, but there are other things I need to attend to. All your other training schedules are suspended. You are not to leave here until Mayberry tells you that you are ready.”

“Be off then,” Mayberry cut in. “Leave us to our fun.”

Silva winked at Vincent before walking over to talk to Lauren. He paused only a second before heading off into the woods.

“Now,” Mayberry smiled, “Jason wants me to prepare you.” He rubbed his hands excitedly. “Embrace your token,” Vincent obeyed and a red glow surrounded his hands.

“Now what?”

“Pull in as much energy from your token as you can manage,” Mayberry snapped.

Vincent obeyed. The warmth flowing from his token started to intensify as the red glow around his hands grew larger and deeper in color. Slowly, the glow started spreading up his arms, rolling like flames as it went.

“Jason has done his work well,” Mayberry said approvingly. “You have excellent control of your token now. However,” Mayberry added abruptly, “you are approaching your limit.”

“I know how much I can do safely,” Vincent cut in defensively. “I’m working to be able to endure longer while using my token.”

“That is the problem,” Mayberry scolded. “Everyone has a limit as to how much energy can be channeled at one time through their token, and that limit doesn’t change. You may be able to do it longer, but the maximum remains. For most people, their limit will only allow them to perform simple tasks; while others, like you, have a very high limit and huge stamina that allows them to perform the most complex of tasks.”

“If my limit is unchangeable, then what is the point in training?” Vincent asked, confused.

“It’s true that a limit cannot be changed, which is why you must be freed from your limit. You must exceed your limits, destroying them, if you ever hope to become a Pallàdrim. Once done, you will be able to pull as much power through your token as you physically can as a mortal; without being completely consumed by it that is.”

“There has to be a catch, or we would teach this to everyone,” Vincent reasoned.

Mayberry took on a sinister smile. “One doesn’t simply exceed his limits. You must be forced beyond them. You will be required to pull so much energy from your token that it feels as if your body will explode, and then you must draw more. You will be brought to the point where you either break the walls, or you die. Are you sure you want to follow this path?”

Vincent thought long and hard before resolutely nodding his head.

“Good,” Mayberry purred, “then let’s begin.”

Vincent pulled his flint from his pocket and made some sparks, which he quickly grabbed and formed into tight blue balls around his hands. Mayberry sneered disdainfully as he changed his own hands to match Vincent’s.

“We start now,” Mayberry whispered.

He shot faster than Vincent could follow, coming up behind him and attempting to land a blow on Vincent’s back; but Vincent managed to throw himself out of the way just in time. He could feel his back blistering from the heat that had passed so close to him. He thought for a moment of what would have happened if he had been hit. Vincent forced the thought out of his mind as he allowed Furtivos to flow through his body.

“Impressive,” Mayberry said, sounding slightly surprised. “You managed to learn Furtivos. You truly are full of surprises. Now the fun truly starts.”

Mayberry sped up. Despite the advanced techniques Vincent was using, he was having trouble keeping up. Mayberry remained at a speed that Vincent could maintain, with difficulty, but every time Vincent tried to speed up, Mayberry was already going faster.

After about a half an hour, they stopped. Vincent put his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. Mayberry gave him little time to recover before he continued the onslaught. They continued that cycle for the remainder of the day and most of the next.

After about forty minutes of training on the third day Mayberry pulled back and raised his hand.

“You’re not getting it,” Mayberry said, sounding frustrated. “You need to channel more energy when you’re using Furtivos. The more energy you channel, the faster you will move, and the closer you will get to your limit.”

Vincent sighed as he tried to catch his breath. He embraced his token again and tried to channel more energy into his body as he used Furtivos. It was like trying to pull a drawn bowstring further than it was meant to go. They continued the pattern from the day before. After every break in fighting Vincent tried to pull a little more, and every time it got a little easier.

Around noon on the fourth day of training Mayberry stopped them again.

“This is getting us nowhere,” he grumbled, “and you are exhausted. Still, you have done well to develop your endurance to this level.”

“But why stop now,” Vincent asked, “I’m at my limit, with a little effort I could be pushed over.”

“Your limit,” Mayberry mocked. “You are nowhere near your limit, fool. You are simply experiencing exhaustion from extended high level token use. To my knowledge, you have reached your true limit only once, in the tower of earth. With time, and your stamina, you could one day train yourself to be able to last hours in combat under the effects of Furtivos. There is no limit there. It is the amount of energy you can channel at one time that is limited.”