Chapter 7 - Rylian's Identity

"You. al..most killed.me.!" Jessie spat at me. My heart skipped a beat and sank deep into the recesses of my darkened chest. I felt blacker than night itself.

"I.I'm sorry. I don't know how."

Jessie grabbed the dagger, and with one swift movement pulled it right out of her body. Her face nearly crumpled under the pain. She started to mutter.

"It's.alright, hold.on."

She put her hands to the air and gritted her teeth, trying to withstand her anguish. I was still in shock at what I had done. It was the first time in my life that I had hurt someone, anyone, and it was a new burden for me to face.

A mass of light blinded me. It shone lime-like and radiated all over the darkened sky that stood before us both, and when I looked up I saw that the light had engulfed Jessie completely. I got to my feet and watched at the stupendous powers that she was demonstrating, and I was able to feel something new. It was like a sixth sense of some sort, a new way of looking upon people. I was able to sense how powerful Jessie was, and how powerful I was. And it was obvious now to me what I had been up against. This woman was at least 30 times stronger than I. But the question still remained. How the hell was I able to beat her? I knew now that she had been telling the truth, her disappearance was down to pure speed. Her movements were so fast that they couldn't be detected by normal human eyes. It was amazing. And I now knew what they were training me to become.

I looked up and was astounded to find that Jessie was standing over me with a grin upon her face, and the dagger in her hand. She reached out to me.

"Go on Rylian, take it."

I reached out cautiously, for I was still wondering about what had just happened. I took the dagger in my hand, and put it back into the sheath.

"What just happened Jessie?"

"I was able to cure myself. I have the power to heal anyone. And as for you. I was pretty impressed. You caught me by surprise alright. And you didn't know how to do that?"

"No way. I've never even been in a fight before."

Jessie laughed aloud, and I stepped forward.

"You've NEVER been in a fight?! How could that be true!? You were able to get up behind me for goodness sake!"

I looked at my feet, as if I had done something truly wrong.

"I'm serious. I can hardly even remember what happened, and I have no idea how. I wish I did, I really do."

Jessie sat down, and started thinking to herself. At least that's what it looked like.

"You seriously. don't know? Wow."

We stayed in the same place for the next five minutes, and there was no movement or noise from either of us. Finally Jessie lifted her head.

"You and I. we're going to train, harder than anyone's EVER trained before. You have potential Rylian, and I intend to bring it out. You have more potential than I've ever seen in my life."

I looked at her, and tried to say something, but there was nothing I knew of that would benefit.

"Come on Rylian. It's time.we have to do this while we're still young!"

And so the training resumed.

My pain was immense and my senses challenged, but I kept on going and I kept on moving for the next four hours. It was the worst pain that I had ever experienced, but what kept me going was the fact that occasionally I was able to burst into the power that I had experienced earlier, and top my assailant for power, speed and agility. Now that I was able to sense the power of different people I knew how strong I had the potential to become, for when my true strength built up I could feel it all over my body, and I knew at those moments that I was stronger than Jessie by around five times. The feeling of power was something else, and it provided me with a new way of life.

After the four hours of endurance, Jessie placed her hands upon her knees, and kneeled down upon the ground before me. I took a step back and she looked up at me.

"You're a special case Rylian. There's never been anyone like you."

I turned with my back to her, and looked up into the sky, which seemed to be tinted with an orange glow.

"What are you talking about. I'm no different, not where I'm from."

"You're no different? Do you want to know something Rylian? I am the second strongest warrior in our entire tribe. You know how many times I've been defeated in battle? Once. And that was our leader, Jaria."

".Jaria.?"

"Yes, she may look old but appearances can be very deceptive. However, your power. you are the only one apart from her that has been able to hurt me in 9 years, and it wasn't just once, you were able to do it three times."

That was pretty true. She had to heal herself after the third time I got her. But it was hard for me to believe.

"What are you saying? That I'm some sort of super warrior?"

Jessie simply put her hands into the air, and I felt the light of her healing power engulf my body. It was a fantastic feeling. I would have to learn that one myself.

"Alright, I'm sure you feel pretty good, so we're going to step it up a little. No more weapons, you use your body to fight now."

I was a little apprehensive, and she spotted this quickly. I think she was looking for it.

"Rylian, this is important! Hand to hand is the basis of all combat. Only a fool trusts his life to a weapon. But be warned, I'm not going to hold back now."

"Fine by me, I'm ready." I said to her. I didn't know why, but after she healed me I now felt a lot stronger than I had before. It wasn't simply the feeling of health. it was something new, different. I focused and tried to sense our powers, and I realised something unbelieveable. My strength had undoubtedly increased after being healed. I was now around twice as strong as I had been before, and I gasped when I realised it. I put my hands to my side and grinned. She was going to get quite a surprise.