The Soul of a Warrior
By: Tellemicus Sundance
Chapter 8--Second Chance
The light faded and Ulrich found himself resting against the wall of the pit. His face was hanging limply to the side and his hair fell into his eyes. Reaching up to brush it away, he stopped. Then he looked at his hands, surprised to feel a small amount of strength inside them. Relief and simple joy rose inside of him. A small smile blossomed on his face as a laugh escaped.
As Master Maki approached the pit, it suddenly erupted with a loud, joyous laughter. Peering inside the pit, he glimpsed a sight that was almost startling. Ulrich had climbed to his feet and was dancing around, laughing and shouting his thanks to some unseen force at the top of his lungs. He kept up his blissful dance until exhaustion and his aching sides forced him to kneel down.
"Boy!" Maki barked down at him.
Looking up, Ulrich climbed to his feet and shot a carefree grin up at Master Maki. It was peculiar to him. Could the boy's mind have finally snapped from his constraints inside?
"You have two choices: fight or die," he said, careful to keep his confusion and curiosity clear of his face and voice. "The council has agreed that this shall be your last chance. What is your choice?"
"I'll certainly kill someone when I get out of here!" Ulrich called out, his expression finally returning to normal. Crossing his arms, he looked up at Maki with a familiar stoic face.
"Good," Maki said smiling. "You're finally learning."
The warmth of the water from the hot spring felt wonderful on his body. It relaxed his tense muscles and helped him calm himself. For the first time in almost two days his body was at last at ease.
Scrubbing the scum from his hair, Ulrich glanced suspiciously around him. He was in a secluded portion of the forest, less than ten minutes walk from the village. The sunlight danced through the forest canopy as he cleansed himself. The pool was a wedge shape up amongst a large pile of rocks near the base of a collapsed part of a ridge. It was deep enough for Ulrich to completely submerge his body and wide enough for him to float spread-eagled on the surface.
Pulling himself under the surface, he held his breath as long as he could. Opening his eyes, he looked up at the wavering image of the forest above him. Shaking his head to move his hair from his field of vision, he smiled. It was a sight he'd never seen before, it was almost beautiful.
Rising to the surface, he found his hair sticking to his face. His bangs reached as far as his cheeks. Smirking he wiped it away and swam over to his pile of clothes. Yes, he would definitely need to cut his hair and soon.
It was as he was pulling his new clothes on to him that he heard something. It sounded like a branch snapping. Dropping his shirt to ground, he scanned the area around him. The forest seemed to have gone strangely silent.
As quietly and slowly as he could, Ulrich slipped his sandals on to his feet. Kneeling down, he picked up his shirt and started slowly walking back to the village. Something was definitely different now. He could feel it, like an approaching storm in a cloudless day.