Zachania (8 page)

When Talon
arrived at the school that was designated to him, he was shown into
the schools great hall. Talon smiled to himself when one of his
escorts told him that this was the school of Chow, the oldest in
the city and commonly regarded as the best. Its Principle was the
old and wise General Chow who was held in great esteem by all who
knew him. Talon and his two escorts waited in the hall for his
audience with the General, he waited patiently until he heard the
sound of footsteps coming from an adjacent passage. Talon’s first
impression when he laid eyes on the General was how militarily he
looked, Chow had the face of an old man but the body and poise of
someone much younger, he strode into the hall with two companions
behind him who showed there obvious difficulty in keeping up with
him. He was dressed in what Talon was soon to discover as a
Generals uniform, a hard leather vest and a pleated kilt with a
large General’s sword strapped to his waist. He wore boots of the
finest leather. Talon was greeted warmly as the two men exchanged
polite conversation about the journey and Talon’s background etc.
then after a brief ceremony Talon was sworn into the royal
guard.

Three years
passed very swiftly for Talon as he excelled in his studies, Talon
was now twenty one years of age, he had gained maturity and
discipline and now looked every bit the soldier that he was.

He had also
proved to be very popular amongst the cadets at the school, and had
made many friends, all of which seemed to look up to him and trust
in his council.

Talon had now
learned all there was that the school could offer him; and was in
need of further tutelage, education that the school of Chow could
no longer provide.

At the end of
every Imperial calendar year in the month of Uprek, three
candidates of the schools highest merit would be granted a great
honour. The three cadets would be chosen at the ‘Grand Festival of
Pass’ to expand their Imperial careers in the Emperor’s mysterious
Palace lands. There future would be secure as they would be
immediately given the rank of Captain in the elite Imperial Palace
guard. Many secrets, traditions and ancient knowledge of the Empire
would be made available to them.

The rank of
Imperial Palace guard Captain would hold rank over every soldier
based in the provinces of Kratos. Even some General’s based in
Kallick town could not enter the Palace lands.

The honour was
immense, behind the great wall of Tash, the paradise known as
Palace lands was a gateway to greatness.

This year’s
Grand Festival of Pass was presented with all the usual pomp and
splendour. Generals from all over Kratos lined the stage in their
most ceremonious costume.

Traditionally
the three chosen cadets would not know of their advancement until
the schools principle General Chow proclaimed them, though this
year it was no secret as to who the chosen ones were going to
be.

Talon had been
told all through the year that he was a certainty to be chosen,
both teachers and cadets had remarked on it.

One of the
schools teachers had even told Talon that he was ready to be chosen
the year before but could not be because a cadet had to serve three
years of study.

The young
cadets congregated in the schools great Gusack hall. Talon stood
out amid his friends as they all waited for General Chow who was
dressed in the traditional Festival of Pass Renthall raiment to
read out the names.

The cadets
stood in absolute silence as Chow unrolled his scroll and placed it
on a podium before him.

“Welcome cadets
to yet another end of school year and another Grand Festival of
Pass. It is a time when all of you can weigh upon the past year and
the work that you have accomplished. A time for you to judge how
your tutelage has progressed. And a time for the pedagogues of this
great establishment, to feel pride at the achievement that they
have helped three young gentlemen, begin their careers in the
highest status of the land. These three young men, who soon I shall
declare have been granted the opportunity to walk upon the road of
greatness. And make No erratum, that is precisely what they are
being awarded with today.”

“Get on with it
man!” One of the cadets standing at the back of the hall suddenly
shouted in a jovial kind of tone which in turn had the whole hall
both teachers and cadets burst into fits of laughter.

Even General
Chow began laughing as he raised his arms in applause.

“Once a year I
get to wear this ridiculous costume, so if I have to wear it then I
am going to make you look at It.” the old General replied
sarcastically back to the cadets.

“And if you
interrupt me again I may even dance in It.” he added as the cadets
then began a slow clap and shout out for him to dance.

The mood of the
hall remained jovial for a few moments as General Chow made no
attempts to quash it as the Grand Festival of Pass was always a
celebration, a time of great rejoice when teachers and cadets mixed
with no rank between them. It was a gentleman’s affair which always
had an atmosphere of equality.

The General
waited for a few moments letting the boys have their fun until he
finally silenced them by holding up his hands “I see you are all
very eager to begin with the celebrations, so without further ado
here are the names.” he added as he lifted the scroll up from the
podium into his hands.

“The first name
upon this list, belongs to a gentleman who has astounded all who
have tutored him with his ability to learn and the enthusiasm that
he has shown.”

“Flaffy, the
dog!” A cadet mockingly shouted out as he called out the name of
the General’s dog.

Chow nodded his
head and smiled broadly before deciding to just get on with it
quickly.

“The three
cadets chosen for the Palace guard are Talon Tallasian, Rensus
Kallick and Callia Kallick.” he shouted above the laughter.

The whole hall
then suddenly burst into cheers as Talon and his two colleagues
were hoisted up onto the shoulders of the cadets and paraded around
the hall, where everyone began congratulating them. The
celebrations continued until it was time for the wine and ale to be
served which was a good reason for the mood to relax.

Once a few
rounds of drink had been served, the General of the school, General
Chow and his special guest of honour an old and powerful General of
the Empire began to seek out the three chosen cadets.

The first one
they looked for at the behest of the guest of honour was Talon who
they found amid a bunch of men huddled around him at the far end of
the hall standing next to the bar which was serving the ale.

General Chow
gestured Talon to come over to him then began his greeting by
introducing the respected General at his side “Talon, this is
General Krustov, you will be seeing a lot of him in the Palace
land.”

“It is a great
honour to meet you General, I have studied your soldiers doctrine
on countless occasions.” Talon replied humbly as he bowed his head
gently.

“Ah…my book on
the principles of a soldier! ......... Written in my youth while I
studied at the school you shall soon be attending.” Krustov
answered before he turned to Chow.

“Are you still
using that old book Chow.” he added.

“That book will
be used for as long as there are military schools.” Chow
replied.

“Nonsense!”
Krustov barked in cheerful embarrassment.

“On the
contrary General your doctrine is a masterpiece of literature, it
cuts through all the nonsense and gets straight to the point, it
reaches the feelings of a cadet and echoes what one is thinking. I
owe much of my advancement to the hours spent studying it.”
Interrupted Talon

General Krustov
calmly raised his head, as he felt impressed at the cadet who stood
before him “ articulate, confident ... And full of self-belief,
this cadet is worth watching.” he silently thought as he studied
Talon’s face.

“General Chow
has told me many good things about you Talon, he tells me that you
have been his finest student since many a year, I will look forward
to seeing you in the Palace land, and I hope that you are prepared
for the task that awaits you. The Palace land can be quite daunting
you know.”

“I feel that I
am ready sir!” Talon replied as he showed a confident nonchalance
in his tone.

“Yes I believe
you are.” Krustov silently thought as he smiled and half turned
around lifting his arm in a waving motion to Chow to move on.

General Krustov
waited for Chow to walk by before he turned his head back towards
Talon

“I shall
celebrate well tonight sir.” Talon suddenly commented to Krustov’s
shock as the General leaned towards him.

“How did you
know that I was going to tell you to celebrate well?” Krustov
snapped in surprise.

Talon raised
his shoulders and smiled confidently “it seemed the thing to do
General!” He replied

The old General
held his beard as he gazed deeply into the eyes of Talon, he felt
suddenly fascinated by him and which was worse he began to feel
intimidated by him, Krustov nodded his head in mutual respect for
him before he finally

Turned and
walked away.

As the General
walked away he found himself puzzled by the confidence and mature
arrogance of Talon. It was not just a man feeling proud at being
chosen, this was something different. It was not like a braggart
who was boasting his success, it was more of a confidence, a
self-belief that he was totally in control of every situation that
arose, but the way Talon did this in a very mature and
unthreatening way left Krustov deeply impressed.

As Krustov
mixed with the other cadets he could not help himself being drawn
to Talon, he could hardly take his eyes of him. Krustov positioned
himself in the background and silently studied the young cadet; he
stood motionless for ages as he watched his every move.

Krustov called
out to General Chow who he noticed passing nearby.

“How does he
get on with the other men?” Krustov asked Chow as he pointed out
Talon.

“He leads
them.” Chow replied as Krustov suddenly noticed Chow’s pride in
Talon, almost like a father’s pride.

“How do you
mean?” Krustov asked.

“He is like a
magnet to them, somehow he always seems to know what the other
cadets need or want to hear.”

“Yes, I have
noticed how the other cadets flock to him. Chow I want you to bring
me his papers first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Is anything
wrong?”

“No not at all,
I just want to discover more about him.”

“As you wish.”
Chow replied a little puzzled.

“Speak to no
one on this matter; just be at my office first thing.”

“Of course
General!”

As General
Krustov left the hall he turned to take one last look at Talon.
Talon was standing in the centre of a crowd of cadets as they were
congratulated him when suddenly Talon turned to look directly into
the eyes of the General. Talon smiled warmly at him before turning
back to his friends.

The General
left the hall with a mixed feeling of anxiousness and intrigue “how
could he have known I was looking at him” he asked himself.

It played
deeply on the mind of Krustov and he could not believe that with
only one meeting with this cadet he could feel himself feeling
intimidated and upstaged. There was a strangeness to Krustov
thoughts as he contemplated on how this twenty one year old cadet
could make one such as him with all his experience and wisdom feel
afraid. Talon was like a magnet to the cadets but to Krustov he
brought fear; fear that this cadet seemed to be reading into the
very depths of Krustov’s thoughts “I must study him with caution.”
Krustov whispered to himself.

Later that
evening Talon and a group of his friends had ventured into a
military tavern in the centre of Kallick town which was commonly
known as a rough part of town, but Talon and his group now full of
ale were keen to continue their celebrations deep into the
night.

Once inside the
tavern they began drinking heavily as they threw their Krasos
around the bar in boyish and arrogant manner. Talon however sat
quietly as he enjoyed the antics of one of his friends who began to
sing a song.

Across the
tavern sat a group of seasoned soldiers who were drinking quietly
to themselves. It was obvious that they were growing tiresome of
Talon’s rowdy friends. The rowdiest one who had just sung out loud
a song was now fast becoming very drunk, he began to sing again as
he was asking everyone in the bar if they would like a drink. He
was the son of a rich General and he was throwing his gold Krasos
onto the bar in an arrogant and pompous way.

Once he had
asked everyone in the bar what they drank, he turned his attention
towards the seasoned soldiers, he staggered his way across the room
and threw his hands hard down onto the table

“Join me for a
drink.” he drunkenly shouted “anything you want!” He added

The soldier
seated in the middle looked at his fellow soldiers and laughed
before turning angrily back towards the joyful cadet.

“Get out of our
face boy.” he growled to the drunken boy who was way too drunk to
realise the soldiers menace.

“I just want to
buy you a drink, anything you want.” he persistently replied.

The soldier
rose swiftly to his feet now clearly angered as he reached across
the table and grabbed the cadet around his throat, the cadet was
then pulled forcefully across the table and twisted onto his back
so he was lying face up

“So you want to
drink with us then do you boy?” the soldier shouted as he
forcefully pushed his tankard of ale down onto the boys mouth and
then pushed hard forcing the cadets mouth to open. Talon’s friend
began to cough and choke as the soldier grabbed his companion’s
drinks and repeated the violent act.