AN: Early looks at chapters are available through the author's discord server: /hJrfday
Also available on discord: Audio chapter readings, fan art, and more.
...Kami Miyako Prison, the day after Zesshi's introduction (C42 'God Rising')
Climb was physically comfortable, but he was mentally agitated. Zesshi had hammered the ever loving shit out of him, and even with the healing potion, knowing his body was whole again, it was embarrassing, it was frustrating, and it could even be called terrifying. How could he protect the princess if he couldn't protect himself?!
He shook his head and got up, they...or rather Zesshi, had left him a practice sword, so he got to using it, he drew the outline of a body on the wall, and tried to strike the same place again and again and again. The constant repetition creating muscle memory that would be faster than the mind itself. He practiced his thrusts, he practiced his spinning slash, he practiced strike after strike without flinching at the ache in his muscles, forever beating against the wall of his innate limitations.
He took a break only to drink water, and then he got down to do pushups, and that was how Zesshi found him. He didn't look up when she entered, though he could feel her smirk as she closed the door behind her.
She watched him for a few seconds, and then sat down on his back with one leg folded over the other, the sudden weight almost caused him to collapse, but he wanted to wipe that smirk from her face, so he stabilized himself and groaned out pushups without pause until his body simply could not lift itself anymore, and he fell in a heap, and she remained seated all the way down, she got up with a laugh and seated herself in a chair, he heard her set something down on the table, and he rolled over on his back with a panting sigh and looked up at her.
She gave a little clap that might have been sarcastic.
"Still weak huh?" She asked with disappointment.
"I guess so. But I won't stop!" He snapped out.
"Good. Get strong enough, and I'll let you have me." She grinned, and all he could do was roll his eyes and slowly get up, when he did, he saw there was a covered tray on the table, she lifted the top of it off, and there was food underneath.
"You're bringing me food?" He asked, dumbfounded.
"You don't eat?" She asked with curious sarcasm.
"What, of course I eat, its just...you're not the usual type of jailer." He said.
"Because I'm so pretty?" She said, teasing him, and he rolled his eyes again, wondering why strong women seemed to enjoy poking him so much.
Before he could answer, she gestured to the table and said, "Just enjoy it, sit, eat. I can't exactly having you starve to death." She said bluntly.
He obeyed her instructions and poured two cups of one, though he cut his own with a half cup of water. The meal was simple, cooked chicken with a slight coating of cheese, a bowl with beans, and a bowl of greens. Filling, not fantastic, but nobody who had ever almost starved to death was ever tired of food thereafter when it came to them, so he ate gratefully while she drank and watched him in silence with her head resting on her upraised arm and elbow on the table.
When he finished his meal he said a simple 'Thank you'.
"Polite." She said.
"Shouldn't I be?" He asked.
She shrugged. "I admit I thought you'd be raging at me, cursing, swearing, promising to kill me, maybe try to make a break for the door since I know you saw I didn't lock it behind me when I came in."
Climb shook his head. "Disgraceful conduct from me is a disgrace to Princess Renner, besides, I"m not an idiot, I know I can't beat you, I know I can't outrun you, even if I could lock the door behind you and run, I'm quite sure you could just take the door apart and catch me."
"Good call." She said. "If you had, you'd have ended up in a less comfortable cell than this one, and if you'd succeeded, well the princess would be dead by sunset tonight." She added.
Climb was silent at that.
"Not a bad job on those pushups by the way." She said.
"Uh...thank you...I think." He said.
"I thought you'd collapse when I sat on your back." She said with a laugh.
"Of course not, I know I'm weak, but even I'm not that weak." He said.
"I suppose you're going to practice as soon as I leave again?" She asked him.
"I am." He said, "Boredom aside, I must grow strong enough to protect my princess." He said with stark determination.
"Alright, well I'll help you out with that." She said.
"How?" He asked dubiously.
She approached the drawing on the wall that he'd made for his strikes.
"Are you practicing chaining your attacks together?" She asked.
"Just perfecting the strike itself one at a time." He said.
She cocked her head and shrugged her shoulders, "Not a terrible way to go, but you need your attacks to work together in sequences, simply put, you are not competent on the defensive, you're just not strong enough." She saw the confusion on his face and let out a heavy sigh.
"OK look, I'm very strong, if someone attacks me, I can adequately defend against them for hours, long as I need to, long as I'm having fun, they'll tire themselves out and when I'm bored I can kill them easily. You can't do that, you have to be constantly on the attack, when in doubt, strike, you keep them on the defensive, and you have a chance, even against someone slightly stronger than yourself." She said, and approached the outline on the wall.
She took up the chalk he'd used and began to mark places on the body. "These are weak points, the places where anything short of top quality magic armor is useless. Throat, joints, eyes, groin. Chain your attacks to those points, and you'll force even the best opponent to have to interrupt themselves to stop the strike because a sword in the eye will finish almost anything." She said.
"I'll leave you to your practice, and see you tomorrow." She said and walked towards the door, taking up the tray.
He rose and bowed deeply at the waist.
"Thank you for the instruction, I will do as you say." He answered.
He did exactly that for the next four hours until he could barely move. He drank more water, then drew a bath for himself, grateful that there was a pump and a way to wash up, and went to sleep afterwards.
Zesshi made a point of returning to him the following day, just as he was waking up.
"Come with me." She said, and opened the door.
Uncertain, but remembering the scenes from terrible books he'd read where the jailer leads the prisoner outside, just to kill them and claim the prisoner was trying to escape, he hesitated.
"Let me guess." She said, "You've read those books too?" She asked.
He put one hand behind his head and looked down sheepishly. "Yeah..."
"Same. By the gods they're awful, who really does that?" She asked sarcastically and they shared an eyerolling moment.
"Well relax, this isn't that. I'm taking you out for some exercise. You're the princess's dog right, well dog's have got to be run or they'll get flabby." She said with a wicked smile that told him that her teasing was not intended to be as cruel as it might have otherwise been taken to be.
"You're not..." He began and she interrupted with a laugh.
"Worried that you're going to try to escape?" She fixed him with a death stare.
"That would piss me off." She said.
"Ahhh..." He said hesitantly.
Her face returned to its bland neutrality. "No, I'm not worried you'll try to escape, or take a hostage, or do anything stupid, you're no match for me or any of the hundred ways I could kill you before you could even regret the choice, so with that understood, do you want to come out and get some air in the court yard or do you want to stay in your room all day?" She asked bluntly.
"I'll come outside." He said.
"Good boy." She said, as if speaking to a dog.
"Why me...why always me?" He wondered aloud as he followed the laughing Zesshi.
The courtyard where he was held was very large, he had seen that from the window in his room, he had a very good view of what lay below, the stone walls were well built and clearly maintained with care, there were towers at equally spaced intervals, and the area was busily trafficked by many people, all of whom appeared to be healthy and reasonably well dressed.
He got an up close look at that when, after a walk down a long winding spiral stairway, he exited a large oaken door and found himself in the sunlight again.
"You do live in a beautiful place." He said to Zesshi.
"Thanks I guess." She said with a disinterested shrug without looking back at him.
"OK, here is what you're going to do." She said and pointed to one corner wall. "Run to that corner, then turn left and run to that corner, then another left to that corner, then another left and past me. Just a complete loop, and do it till I get tired." She said.
"You mean till I get tired?" He asked.
"No." She said flatly, "Now move!" she said, and at the sharp command, he sprinted along the wall, past curious onlookers who wondered why the handsome young blonde boy was running so hard, he hit one corner, then another, then another, then another, then another, and finally he blew past Zesshi who was standing there with her scythe looking bored.
"Faster!" She snapped, "Is that how fast you'd move if your princess were in danger?!" She shouted at his back, and he ran harder. He ran and ran, and every time he came around again, she said, something critical about his ability to protect his princess, and he tried desperately to continue. He had no idea how long he'd been at it, as he ran along the opposite wall he saw her simply resting the butt of her scythe on the ground and spinning it around. People passed by and gave her a wide berth, she appeared disinterested and neither greeted others and nor was she evidently being greeted either. As he made the final turn towards her she shouted at him, "Oh no, Climb! Your princess is going to die, you have to hurry, don't you want to protect her!" It was all the motivation he needed, he felt like his lungs were on fire and his blood was acid consuming his flesh, but he didn't care, he sprinted the final stretch and collapsed just a foot beyond where Zesshi stood.
He lay on his back, sprawled out and looking up at the sky.
"Not bad for a weak little runt." She said as she bent over his prone body.
As he lay there looking up at her, he gave her a weak smile and raised his arm slowly and gave her a thumbs up.
"Ahhh...ahhhhh...ahhh...thanks...I think" He gasped out from on the ground.
"Zesshi...exactly what i this? Did you catch him trying to escape and beat him to a pulp?" A voice asked from behind her.
Climb turned his head to look past her to see the source of the voice. He saw a clear eyed man in fine robes with his hands held behind his back who was looking curiously over at the virtually immobile climb.
"Do you see any bruises Raymond? Any blood? Of course not. I just took the princess's dog out for a run, you've got to exercise dogs you know, or they'll get soft and fat." She said with a mixture of humor and annoyance.
"Can he get up?" He asked.
"Ask him." She said.
Raymond moved a little to one side.
"Can you get up, boy?" He asked.
Climb began to gingerly lift himself, rolling on to his front and pushing himself up to one knee, and bracing himself against the wall, he forced himself to stand.
"So you're going to live then." He said with a measure of sarcasm.
Climb took a better look at him, he appeared to be in his thirties, but there was a suspicion in him that the fellow Zesshi called 'Raymond' was in fact older, in his forties perhaps, he had a lean frame that spoke of considerable exercise and self discipline, he presented a favorable view.
"I will sir. Thank you." Climb huffed out, still leaning with his hand against the wall.
"I'm not a knight, and I'm not that old, you can call me by my proper title if you insist on formalities. I am Cardinal Raymond Zarg Lauransan, one of the leaders of the Slane Theocracy. If I remember correctly, your name is Climb, isn't it?" He asked.
"It is sir...ah...cardinal." Climb said, catching himself, before the impact of the title hit.
"Wait...Cardinal...leader's of the Slane Theocracy...so...are you why I'm...here?" He asked in disbelief.
"Me personally?" Raymond asked, "No, if I'm going to be blunt about it, I didn't like the operation that took you and I voted against it."
Raymond's voice was more than a little bit miffed as he relayed that bit of information.
"He's why I'm the one guarding you." Zesshi said, jerking a thumb in his direction.
"I...see. May I ask why that choice?" Climb asked.
Raymond chuckled, "Because she's absolutely awful about following orders." He said and Zesshi grinned as she took a water skin and handed it to the very thirsty Climb.
He waited until they nodded for him to proceed, and he tilted the skin up, tilted his head back, and he guzzled it down hard, the crystal clear sweetness of fresh clean water was like a godsend to the exhausted young man, and what he didn't finish drinking, he dumped over his head to cool him off. He shook is head thoroughly back and forth, casting off droplets of it.
"See, a dog." Zesshi said and gestured to Climb, causing him to blush and Raymond to laugh.
"Ahh...sorry..." Climb said awkwardly
"No no, its fine, I was a soldier for many years, I know how good it feels after hard training to have cool water poured over you. And I may be a leader, but I'm not so stuck up that I can't bear the thought of a droplet of water striking my robes."
"Forgive me, but...isn't following orders better than not following orders?" Climb asked.
Raymond's face turned regretful. "It should be, but not always, and if someone tells Zesshi to do something she isn't inclined to do already, well...she won't do it. Since she's as powerful as she is, nobody can make her, she obeys orders either because she wants to do what she's being told to do, or because she trusts the person giving the orders to have a good reason for it that she doesn't quite know yet. Given the circumstances, I prefer her way of thinking, so when I lost the vote, I lobbied to have her as your personal guard due to the 'significance of the operation' and that vote I won."
Zesshi snorted.
"But...how do you know which orders to follow and which not to?" Climb asked.
"You're a soldier aren't you?" Raymond asked, gesturing to the door leading back inside, and Climb obediently handed back the now empty water skin to Zesshi, and walked through the door, winding his way back up the stairs.
"Yes si-Cardinal." He replied.
"Serving the princess directly?" He asked rhetorically.
"Yes." Climb answered.
"You obey her every order?" He asked.
"I do." Climb replied.
"I heard a story awhile back, a report really, about a raid on a brothel, your name came up, rescued some poor women who had been forced into prostitution. That was good work." Raymond said.
"Thank you Cardinal." Climb said.
"Your princess coordinated that, didn't she?" He asked.
"Yes Cardinal." Climb said as they drew nearer to his room.
"If she'd ordered you to murder the girls you found there instead of rescue them, would you have obeyed?" He asked curiously.
Climb was stunned at the brutality of the question.
"I...no I couldn't do that?" He said, "And princess Renner couldn't ever order something like that, its not who she is."
"If she were the sort of person to give that order, would you follow her?" Raymond asked.
"No. I couldn't." He said.
"But you followed the King didn't you? By extension I mean." Raymond asked as Climb opened the door and stepped inside, holding it open for his jailer and the cardinal, who stepped in behind him.
"I suppose." Climb replied.
"Then...surely you know that kings all order the deaths of many more innocents than that, its unavoidable, being king requires a certain hardness, a willingness to make the cold decision that costs lives." Raymond said firmly. "I am guiding my country, well assisting in its guidance anyway, during wartime, I make decisions over a table here that will see men and women die who I have never met and who have never harmed anyone. I'm no different from the former King of Re-Estize, or the Sorcerer King I fight against, or the Emperor of Baharuth, or any other ruler, in that, all royal rulers are as brothers and sisters." Raymond argued.
Climb thought it over, Zesshi seemed disinterested, she simply put out a few cups and poured tea for herself and the cardinal, and put water at the table in front of Climb, more to busy herself through the boring part than to be polite.
"So you ask how you know what orders to follow and what ones to disobey, I think that question first has to be answered with the question of how do you know WHO you should follow and WHO you should obey. You say your princess is not bloodthirsty, that she cares for her people and no doubt think she'd be a good Queen to a country. So...if you're right, then following her, seems like a good idea. Even if she does give an order that sounds awful...you would trust that she has a good reason for it, wouldn't you?" He asked.
Climb nodded. "I suppose, I mean I can't imagine a good reason to just kill a bunch of helpless slaves, but I also don't have to worry about that, because she's the kind of princess who wouldn't do this, I have chosen the...right person to follow, as you said, Cardinal."
Raymond nodded, "Very good, but of course when we die and stand before the gods, can we say to them, 'I was ordered to do that thing, I was commanded to do that other thing, I had no choice but to obey, I was only following orders?' Do you think the gods would care for such excuses if we violated their will?" He asked.
"I don't know much about gods, but if I wouldn't accept that answer, I doubt any gods would either." Climb replied.
"Very good, now, if the gods wouldn't accept that answer after our deaths, and you would not accept that answer from a subordinate, why then would you accept such an answer from yourself?" He asked simply as he picked up the cup of tea and drank slowly.
Zesshi drank quietly and smirked a little bit as she watched Climb grow a little flustered.
"Ahh...I don't know what you mean?" He asked.
"Every man and woman is first and foremost accountable for their actions to themselves, then to their neighbors, community, nation, world, and the gods, in that order. You must understand that every action you take, you have to know that you can live with it forever, I was a soldier for many years, some in the past have called me a hero, and I sit serenely here because I did not destroy my conscience by my actions. Perhaps I made some bad calls, some choices I regret, but come down to it, and I did not sell my soul to vile impulses, if someone gave an order that ran counter to what I thought was right...I refused to follow that order." He said bluntly.
Climb thought it over for a moment and dropped a slice of lemon into his water, it splashed gently and the ripples went out from the center, struck the sides of the cup, back to the center, and back out to the edge of the cup again, repeating the cycle several times under his eyes.
"In the end, we have to make our own choices, for good or bad, and think for ourselves on what is right, and act accordingly, if we choose with care what course we follow, what leaders we obey, then we should seldom be faced with conscience trying moments where orders issued would turn us into monsters. And if there are no good leaders, then it falls to us to BECOME good leaders, even though we may have to live with the bad decisions of others, no matter how high we rise." He said with a sigh of frustration.
"You talk a lot Raymond." Zesshi said bluntly.
"Worth saying though." Raymond retorted and looked back over to Climb. "Zesshi is here as your guard because I trust her not to do anything stupid just because some idiot with rank tells her to do it, and just because someone is in charge, that does not mean they're not a complete moron totally unsuited to their position of authority in every conceivable way."
"Ahhh...I see." Climb said, then stood and bowed. "Thank you Cardinal for taking the time to speak with this humble...ahhh...well prisoner, and also, thank you for the decent treatment, it is better than I expected to receive while in the 'care' of the Slane Theocracy. If you will excuse me though, I'm sure I stink enough that the gods themselves would turn away, and so I need a bath." He said somewhat humorously.
"Of course." The Cardinal said, and stood, "Zesshi, come along, don't embarrass the boy by watching him bathe."
She finished her tea and set the cup down. "See you later cherry boy." She said with a grin and a little wave.
As the door was locked behind them and they descended the stairs, leaving a red faced Climb behind them, Raymond looked over his shoulder at Zesshi and said, "See, I told you that you'd find that one at least a little interesting."
"Yeah, just a little, not as boring as most." She said with a largely faux indifference just as they exited the tower door, and went their separate ways.
AN: Well here is the first chapter of 'Enemy Mine' and I hope you enjoyed it. This story isn't quite so action heavy, but it does play in to an important event coming up, and its an opportunity to further develop characters that frankly rarely get much in the way of attention. I KNOW...I know...a few of you are like...'But...but...but God Rising! The war! What are you doing?! You're torturing us you sadist!'
Well the answer is simple. God Rising's format is shifting just a little bit. Instead of multiple perspectives outlining everything in every chapter, I'm giving more focus to one perspective at a time, which is much easier to write and lets me add in more details, and concluding that perspective with a lead in to the next. However, because of the sheer volume of material to present, it is NOW taking longer to write than it was before. I wrote the entire fall of Prart in about a half an hour to an hour. But now some chapters are taking 2-3 hours because I have to go back and check myself to make sure I didn't create any conflicts.
You'll STILL get lots of 'God Rising' material, I'm NOT taking multiple weeks off from it (when have I EVER done that?) I'm just building up the characters and the world a bit more with some additional material, as Taming of the Beasts is near its conclusion, I wanted new things to write about along the way to explore new concepts, under developed characters, and make the events that are going to take place shortly, make more sense.