the training of a squire
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2022 11:58 pm
Searing 60, 122
He had risen with the dawn, as had become his habit unless he was absolutely exhausted. Upon waking, he had washed himself and readied breakfast for both himself and Mathias. It had not been a glorious breakfast as Talon was not much of a cook. He knew how to make enough for something to be filling on the road but that was about it. After gently waking Mathias, he had allowed the young man time to get himself ready before telling him to be ready to join him off to the side of the house. As the sunlight warmed him, Talon closed his eyes. He let it bathe his skin in warmth and radiance. He let it wash over him, soothing some of the non-physical aches that lingered inside of him. As he did, he let his form shift. He exhaled softly, allowing his mind to drift loosely as he briefly let the veil of his mortality fall away.
The glory of his divinity manifested in the light of the dawn, crowning him as the Dawnking. He spread his wings, the sunlight being drawn to the silver feathers. Refractions of light bounced off of his wings causing a kaleidoscope of colors to fill the small yard in which he stood. While he was not at the full extent of his glory, having given a piece of himself to the Whisperer, he remained near that precipice. He opened his eyes in order to stare at the sun with a content smile. Then he cloaked himself in the cloth of his nimbus allowing it to wrap around his body. The light grew brighter around him, filling his body with warmth until finally it faded. In the place of the pale skinned Avialae of Siltori heritage, there stood a man with sun-bronzed skin. The blue-violet markings upon his body were now a silver-white to match his hair. His silver eyes were now a winter grey. The most startling feature about him was the lack of wings upon his back.
“Holy shit…” Mathias whispered softly. Talon turned his head slightly in order to look at him. Mathias was staring at him with open awe. There was more emotion in the young man’s face than perhaps he had words to express. A misting welled up in the young thief’s eyes.
“What are you?” He considered the question. Should he tell the young man?
“I am many things.” He spoke with a bit of wistfulness. “I have been many things.”
Lifting a hand, he looked at the bracer that was upon it. One of the manifestations of his servitude that he could not remove. He closed his hand into a fist.
“Today, and moving forward, I am Daemon.” He turned to more fully face the young man. Mathias swallowed as he looked him up from head to toe. “That will be the name I carry with me into the lands we will be visiting soon. I suggest you begin using it.”
Mathias nodded. He stood awkwardly there, clearly wrestling with his own thoughts. Talon regarded him.
“Something troubles you?” He gave the young man his space, giving him time to process his thoughts.
“Am I really cut out for this?” Mathias gestured to him. Talon could not immediately answer him. The power to see the future was not one that he possessed under normal circumstances. The weave of fate was something he could perceive as it pertained to his own domains but it was a rare occurrence that he could translate what he saw.
“That is up to you. Do you wish to be?” He kept his tone neutral. Mathias shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t know. You’re…well…you. I’m pretty sure you could take on a dragon if you wanted to.” He had, in fact, fought a dragon before or at least, his other half had prior to their union. He had been largely an observer in that particular instance. The blur of lines between the part of him that was Arcas and the parts that were Talon were not easy to discern. He did not want them to be easy to discern. His soul ached to be one again, to the degree that there was no difference between Arcas or Talon. The handful of days where they had finally been whole again had been few but even so, it was a unity of mind and spirit he wanted again. He did not confirm or deny having fought a dragon before.
“One of the greatest and bravest men I know, was just an ordinary man when we first met. He had no confidence. He hated himself. He walled himself off from the world and other people around him.” He smiled softly. He had only vague recollection of Rickter from following the time after the ascension. But those memories were warm and caused the emptiness in his chest to ache even more. He touched a hand over his chest and rubbed at it.
“Gee, that is very inspiring. What happened to this guy?” Mathias tone was dripping with sarcasm as he rolled his eyes but he did not mind it.
“I gave him a chance. I pushed him to believe in himself, to trust in the belief that others placed in him. Now he is one of the most formidable warriors in all of Karnor.” He gestured to Mathias. “I say this to tell you that if you wish to become great, if you wish to become stronger, smarter, faster, if you wish to make the dreams in your head into a reality, then the only path to them is to try.” He let that settle in as Mathias wrestled with his own thoughts. After a minute or so, the young man sighed and stepped forward.
“So what are we doing this morning anyways?” Talon smiled and stepped forward. With a wave of his hand he snapped two branches off from nearby trees. Using the Sculpting of his kinetics, he reshaped those branches into swords. He reinforced their internal structure so that they would be better suited for the task at hand. Grasping one, he tossed the other to Mathias who flailed to grab it, dropped it, but then picked it up. He looked at it, then looked at the one in Talon’s hands.
“What do you know of swordsmanship?” Mathias shook his head.
“Nothing. I know a little bit about how to use a dagger but…uh…I didn’t really go looking for fights.” He gave a nervous laugh. Talon nodded. From their interactions, it was clear that stealth and scouting was more of what Mathias was accustomed to. Where they were going, that would be incredibly useful. However, he would need to teach the young man to defend himself.
“There will be fights where we are going.” He spoke plainly. He did not know much about Solunarium beyond what he had read so far. What he had read however, he knew that the lands themselves were dangerous. “The desert lands of the Atraxian Expanse are filled with dangers of all sorts. Wyverns that can tear men in two, elementals that can sunder city walls, monsters that can crush skulls with their bare hands.”
Mathias went wide eyed and clutched the wooden sword to himself a bit more tightly.
“Th-that sounds terrifying.” He looked about ready to drop the sword and head for the hills. Talon walked forward and placed a steady hand on his shoulder.
“I will protect you, Mathias. As you will have duties as my squire, I have a responsibility to teach you and keep you safe. Part of today is to prepare you for the road ahead. We leave early in the next season. What I teach you between now and then is simply the basics, your lessons will continue when we get there.” He squeezed Mathias shoulder. The young man regained some of his color and nodded.
“Okay.” He took a steady breath.
“Relax. Today we are simply going to go through the motions. Now, take a deep breath.” Mathias drew in a deep breath as he was told. “I want you to widen your stance.”
The day began with Talon going through motions of how Mathias needed to properly hold a sword. He would believe the young man when he told him he knew nothing and so he would start from the very beginning. He could not hope to teach Mathias everything between now and when they left for Solunarium. By the time they finished training, the sun was much higher in the sky.
“Ow.” Mathias plopped down onto the grass. He sprawled out, chest rising and falling at a heightened rate. Talon simply chuckled. While he had not worked up much of a sweat himself, he could see that these exercises were very unfamiliar for his newfound squire. They had a great deal that they would need to get covered.
“Your muscles will become accustomed to the exertion.” He extended a hand to the young man who looked at it warily after the amount of drills they had performed that morning. After a moment he took the hand that was offered to him.
Talon hoisted his squire up to his feet.
“Come. You need to stretch. It will be sore now but you will thank me for the exercise later.” Mathias sighed and together, Talon began showing him a series of stretches in order to help lessen the tightness that would collect in his muscles.
“Will you be teaching me magic too?” Talon chuckled as the young man joined him in stretching his legs muscles.
“Yes. The expansion of your mind is just as important as the fortification of your body.” Talon reached down, grabbing his ankle as he felt the muscles in his hamstrings stretch with the exertion. He took a few deep breaths as he maintained the pose. He then inched his way down to grab at the sole of his foot in order to further extend his stretch.
“What all do you know of magic?” He looked at Mathias as the young man copied the stretch that he was performing. Mathias proved to be much more limber than he would have initially thought. In hindsight, it should not have been surprising. The life of a thief required a great deal of acrobatics from time to time.
“Not much. I know that magic comes from Runes. That about sums it up. My mother didn’t have much time or the energy to teach me more than that. I know enough to use my Semblance.” Talon relaxed his pose as did Mathias. Hearing the young man’s education on magic or the lack thereof, was something he expected.
“Then we will begin your education shortly after lunch.” Mathias practically groaned at that.
“Can’t we rest for the day?” The young man looked at him miserably. Talon simply laughed.
“Oh, my squire! I told you not to be so quick to thank me. There is much you must learn.” Rising to his feet he motioned for the young man to do the same. Patting Mathias on the shoulder he ushered him back toward the lighthouse so that they could fill their stomachs after the morning’s exertions.
“Why do I get the feeling that this will be even harder than the sword exercises?” Mathias shook his head. Talon simply chuckled. He had faith that the young man would catch on quickly.