That afternoon was Valen's first swordsmanship lesson in the Legion. All along the way Frank kept giving him tips and pointers for his first day. And while Valen already knew most of them, he let Frank go on undeterred, entertaining him.
They were waiting for him when he got there, judging by the impatient looks on dozens of legionnaires.
"Good luck." Frank said. "I'm going to go, swordsmanship and me don't really fit."
Valen nodded, patting him on his shoulder, "I'll catch up to you guys later."
As Frank left, the instructor walked up to him. He was old for a demigod, in his late twenties.
"New guy finally decides to join us, eh?" He said as he got close to him.
Before Valen could respond, he spoke again, "Ah, I'm just kidding. You aren't late."
Valen nodded and made to join the crowd, but the instructor stopped him. "Oh no, you won't be joining them yet."
Valen raised an eyebrow, "Why?"
"Because," he said, gesturing to him to walk, "you are a beginner, they are not. I'll be teaching you one on one until you get to their level."
"Alright."
He turned to the rest of the class, "You know the drill. Find a partner and practise every maneuver at least three times."
Like a well-oiled machine, they fell into place, forming over a dozen pairs.
"My name is Ajax," he said, extending his arm. "Yes it's the same as the one in the Iliad, and no, we are not related." he added as if he had answered that question too many times.
"Valen Steensen."
He nodded, releasing his hand and walking back, "Now, let us begin."
Valen shrugged, summoning Stormguard, and bending his knees.
"Whoa there." he interrupted, raising an arm. "We're not going to be using actual swords yet, just wooden practice ones for now."
Valen raised an eyebrow, before sighing and sheathing Stormguard. He didn't remember ever having to use wooden swords.
There's a first time for everything I guess.
"How did you even get that thing." Ajax breathed out as he picked up two practice swords and threw one to Valen.
Grabbing the sword by its grip, Valen said, "I don't know, but all I know is that it was a gift."
"Huh," he took a stance, "well then. Defend yourself."
With that warning, he lunged forward. His sword held more like a rapier as he battered Valen with quick precise stabs.
Valen was forced on the defensive, using the flat of his sword to defend against his adversary. With each blocked strike, he took a step back. After the eighth strike, his foot scraped against the edge of the podium.
"Is that the best you can do?" Ajax asked, as his last strike grazed Valen, barely missing him.
While Ajax was still in motion, Valen took the opportunity to swiftly move out of the way; reversing their positions. Before he could regain his balance, Valen pushed him off with the butt of his sword.
"No," he said, looking down at him, "that's not the best I've got."
"You don't fight like a Roman." Ajax said, pushing himself off the ground.
"I was never taught like a Roman." he answered simply.
"Someone taught you how to fight?"
Valen hesitated, "Yes, but the memory of it escapes me."
"Regardless," Ajax shook his head, "the legion fights as a unit, and the way you fight does not fit in."
Valen shrugged, "Then let me fight alone."
"No can do." Ajax said. "You're a part of the Legion now, you must fight with it."
"..." Valen stared at him for a moment. "Can I leave and fight independently alongside the legion?"
"Desertion is a crime punishable by death." he said. "Anyone who abandons the Legion will be killed on sight, his remains used to sate the gods."
"That's a bit harsh, no?"
"Not at all, it's what deserters deserve."
"I see." Valen said, taking his position at one end of the platform.
I'm leaving this place as soon as I regain my memories.
After bathing and having lunch with his newly made friends, Valen was ready to go back to the sword fighting arena, but the sudden blowing of a horn made him stop.
The officers at the praetor's table got to their feet—even Dakota, his mouth vampire-red from Kool-Aid.
"The games begin!" Reyna announced. The campers cheered and rushed to collect their equipment from the stacks along the walls.
"What games?" Valen asked, confused as he followed the rest.
"War games." Frank said solemnly. "Tonight is Siege, one team defends the fortress, and the other tries to breach it."
"What fortress?"
Frank said nothing and pointed ahead, Valen's eyes followed his finger until they fell on a stone fortress with an iron portcullis, guard towers, scorpion ballistae, water cannons, and other defences Valen couldn't quite make out.
"I could've sworn that wasn't there this morning." he muttered.
"It wasn't," Hazel said, "they built it today."
"I beg your pardon?"
Hazel grinned. "Legionnaires are trained to build. If we had to, we could break down the entire camp and rebuild it somewhere else. Take maybe three or four days, but we could do it."
"That's, uh, efficient?" Valen said, before shaking his head. "So we have to break in right?"
Hazel nodded. "Somewhere inside, the First and Second Cohorts are keeping their banners. Our job is to get inside and capturethem without getting slaughtered. We do that, we win."
A memory flashed by his eyes, of a creek in the middle of the woods and a younger him holding up a flag pole like a trophy, yelling something inaudible to him.
"Capture the flag." he whispered, a sliver of his memory returning to him for a moment.
"Coincidence much?" he muttered, smiling, before the memory left him again.
They marched to the center of the Field of Mars and formed ranks. The Third and Fourth Cohorts assembled as far as possible from the Fifth. The centurions for the attacking side gathered for a conference. In the sky above them, Reyna circled on her pegasus, Scipio, ready to play referee. Half a dozen giant eagles flew in formation behind her—prepared for ambulance airlift duty if necessary
"You're not going to wear any armor?" Frank asked once he noticed Valen standing in civilian clothes.
He shook his head, "It interferes with how I fight."
"But without any protection…"
"I'll be fine." Valen reassured him."I just won't get hit."
"That's easier said than done." Hazel said. "Are you sure you'll be fine?"
Valen nodded, "Yeah, don't worry about me."
"If you say so."
"What about a weapon?" Frank asked, seeing how he hadn't picked up a gladius.
"I have my own," He said, flicking his fingers as a Stygian Iron weapon materialized in his hand. Frank would have mistaken it to be made entirely out of shadows had he not seen the imperial gold components.
"Stormguard," Valen explained, "it was…a gift."
"I'm sorry if I brought up any bad memories," Frank said, he knew how that felt all too well.
Valen shook his head, "It's quite alright, my memories are too jumbled to know if it's bad or good. Anyway, we just need to get the banner then right?"
"Yeah." Hazel said. "Usually we get eliminated early. They'll throw us at the walls first to soften up the defenses. Then the Third and Fourth Cohorts will march in and get the honors, if they can even breach the fort."
Horns blew. Dakota and Gwen walked back from the officers' conference, looking grim.
"All right, here's the plan!" Dakota took a quick swig of Kool-Aid from his travel flask. "They're throwing us at the walls first to soften up the defenses."
The whole cohort groaned.
"I know, I know," Gwen said. "But maybe this time we'll have some luck!"
Valen raised a tentative hand.
"Yes?"
"If we find out where the banner is, I could shadow travel in and out of there with it."
"You can shadow travel?" she asked.
Valen nodded, "Yeah,"
"How many people can you take with you?" Dakota asked.
Dakota looked thoughtful for a moment, before snapping his fingers to get everyone's attention. "Alright, new plan."
It took a bit of convincing before the other centurions agreed, given the fifth cohorts notorious history.
The horn blew once again, and the cohorts began advancing. Only the fifth remained back, huddled in a circle around Valen.
Valen let out a deep breath, "Here we go."
His shadow began expanding, merging with the shadows near it. With each new shadow, it grew darker until it was impossible to see the grass upon which the shadow fell.
"At your command dear leader." Valen said through grit teeth, holding the massive shadow together was no light endeavor.
"Hold." Dakota said, looking over the shoulders of his comrades. He watched patiently as the first and third cohorts charged at the fortress, and finally engaged its defenses.
"Now!"
In the blink of an eye, they were inside the fortress, surprising all of the residents within who were busy playing cards, throwing darts, and goofing around.
Shaking off the disorientation, Dakota yelled, "Fifth cohort, spread out!"
They exploded in chaos, the unexpected arrival of forty campers took them by surprise and before they could even process what was going on, their numbers had thinned to a mere dozen.
They glanced around each other, before sighing and dropping their weapons, surrendering.
"It worked." Dakota said, sitting down beside Valen. "It really worked."
Valen smiled, "Yeah, I'd get looking for the banner if I were you."
"The legionnaires are looking for it, being a Centurion allows me to slack off from this."
"Are you sure you should be saying that out loud?"
Dakota shrugged in reply. A moment later, a legionnaire came in with both banners in hand, it was hard to make out his face under the armor, but Valen could see he was grinning.
Dakota was instantly on his feet, "You found it, good job Bobby."
Bobby nodded, "We don't have much time, they're gonna breach the fortress anytime now."
Dakota nodded, turning to Valen, "I know you're exhausted, but can you get him out of here before the first or third cohort gets here?"
"Please, I could take the entire cohort halfway across the country before I get exhausted." Valen said, getting up.
Dakota frowned, "Why were you sitting idle then?"
Valen grinned, "Same reason as you."
Without waiting for a response, he grabbed the legionnaire and warped them out into the fields.
Reyna flew down on her pegasus, coming to a stop before Valen and the legionnaire. "The game is won!" she announced. "Assemble for honors!"
Slowly, the campers regrouped on the Field of Mars. The fifth cohort was overjoyed, winning their first game in a long, long while. They circled around them, chanting their names, and would've gone on had Gwen not intervened.
"Guys, I know you're excited, but let's wait until we get back to the barracks for the festivities, eh?" she yelled, momentarily gaining their attention.
The legionnaires mumbled amongst themselves but fell in line nonetheless.
"Who was the first to enter the fort?" Reyna demanded.
"It was Valen," Dakota said, "he shadow traveled us in there."
"Technically, we arrived at the same time." Valen said.
Reyna looked amused, "Unfortunately we don't have enough mural crowns for the entire cohort, you'll have to do."
Valen shrugged, "I don't even know what that is, but sure."
It was a badge, a golden badge shaped in the likeliness of a laurel wreath. Back in the barracks, Valen was treated as some sort of hero, where before most would have ignored him, but now they seemed eager to make his acquaintance. It got tiring after a while.
Another horn blew, signaling curfew, and the lights began flickering off one by one.
"You did great," Frank said, once the excitement had died down somewhat.
Valen shrugged, "The same strategy won't work next time."
He nodded, "I bet they're thinking of putting defenses on the inside next time."
"Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen."
"I know right?"
Valen smiled, "Goodnight Frank, I'll see you in the morning."
It took Valen a few hours to fall asleep. But when he did, he wished he was still awake. Visions flew past his mind, visions of a goddess in chains, of a hideous reptilian monster, and of a mountain in the sky.
It was like someone was digging a knife into his brain, each of these images reminded him of something, something he was a part of. But he could not for the life of himself figure them out.
An image flashed past his eyes, of a man who looked just like him, holding a pitch-black bident in one hand, grinning at him as if mocking him.
He awoke at the first sign of sunlight, his dreams had left him more weary than rested. He sighed, pushing himself off his bunk. He was the first one awake, so he got the bathroom to himself. When he got out, he could see a couple of them awake, bleary eyed, and stumbling their way out of their bunks.
He sighed again, his eyelids felt heavy, "I desperately need some coffee."
Valen was on his third cup when the others arrived. Frank took one look at the table and sighed, "Please don't become another Dakota."
"Coffee." Valen said, as if that explained everything.
"I'll drink to that!" Dakota joined them, a can of kool-aid in his hands.
"So, what's on the agenda for today?"
"Hunting." Dakota said, plopping down beside him.
"Hunting?"
"For Octavian," he explained, "he needs something bigger than rabbits to look for Jason."
"Jason?" Valen echoed, that name sounded familiar.
"He was our other Praetor, he disappeared last October and we've been trying to find him ever since." Frank said. "Hey, do you reckon you might have seen him?"
Valen shrugged, "Maybe, what did he look like?"
"Purple shirt, blond hair, blue eyes, with marks on his arm like ours." Frank blurted out.
Valen's eyes glossed over, he could vaguely remember someone with those features riding on a metal dragon. He latched on to the memory, he would not let it leave him. He only needed to focu-
The blowing of a horn interrupted his line of thought, and the memory escaped like smoke in a bonfire.
"Dammit," he whispered, "I almost had it."
"That's our cue," Dakota said, "They usually pick one from each cohort, since you're the new guy, they won't pick you, probably."
Just then the augur entered the mess, and began heading right towards them.
Dakota muttered under his breath, "Fuck me, again?"
He sighed and stood up, "Fine, I'll get my-"
"I'm not here for you Centurion," Octavian cut him off, "I'm here for him."
Valen blinked, "Me?"
"Yes, you. Meet us at the field of Mars in ten minutes, unless you fancy cleaning the stables." Saying that, he left as swiftly as he had entered.
After a moment of silence, Valen spoke, "I thought you said I wouldn't be picked."
"Normally they don't, but it seems Octavian has something against you." Hazel said, "You'll be fine, it's not that bad."
Frank nodded, "They'll just expect you to capture it, since it's your first time, but other than that you just need to tolerate Octavian."
"Don't worry," Dakota slapped his shoulders, "If you die, I'll place a can of coffee by your pyre."
"Uh, I appreciate it?" Valen said, sighing, "I better go then, I'd rather not clean horse poop if I can avoid it."
"Valen," Hazel said as he began to leave, "we'll have our talk once you get back."
Valen glanced back at her and nodded.
They were already waiting for him when he got there.
"You're late," Octavian noted, "I'll let it slide this time since I'm so generous."
Valen resisted the urge to roll his eyes, he glanced over the other three members, two boys and a girl.
"Right, introductions. I'm Valen Steensen, I don't remember my parentage, but it has something to do with shadows."
They glanced at each other before one of the guys stepped forward, "Marcus Henderson, pleasure to meet you."
The girl went next, "Leila Ramos, daughter of Ceres and Centurion of the fourth cohort, hopefully we get along well."
The last member sighed, before grudgingly introducing himself, "Larry, son of Mercury."
"If you lot are done, shall we leave?" Octavian said impatiently.
They headed straight for the hills, keeping an eye open for any beast that they might encounter.
Octavian suddenly halted, and turned to look at Leila, "Well? Did you find anything?"
She restrained from rolling her head as she knelt down, reaching out towards an overgrown root. She closed her eyes, as her senses mixed with the forest, most animals cause disturbances in the forest wherever they went, allowing her to almost pinpoint its location. But there were none in the vicinity.
Valen watched her closely. What she was doing felt awfully familiar to him, as if he had done that before.
She shook her head, "There's nothing here."
Valen wanted to try it out himself, see if he could do something similar, when the group began walking again.
They walked for a few more minutes before coming into a clearing, Octavian looked at LEila with a raised eyebrow, and she sighed, getting ready to kneel down again.
"Hold up," Valen interferes, "let me try something."
"What are you planning to do?" Larry asked as Valen walked to a nearby tree.
"Just give me a minute." Valen said, kneeling beside it and dipping his hand into its shadow. Instantly his mind was connected with every shadow in the nearby vicinity, and his vision warped and distorted.
Everything instantly went black and blue, and the existence of thousands of souls became clear to him. From the smallest of insects, to his companions, to a larger soul a few hundred metres to their north. He stumbled back, disoriented by the overload of information.
"You alright?" Leila said from beside him. Valen looked up, she was standing right beside him with Marcus and Octavian waited impatiently with Larry at their original position.
He nodded, "I think I found something."
"You did?" Marcus asked, surprised. "How?"
"I'll explain later," Valen said as he connected with the shadows again. This time he filtered out the smaller souls and focused on the more significant ones.
Marcus' soul reeked of blood and steel, his soul was a mix of red and grey. War. Leila's was the opposite, it smelt of freshly tilled soil, and had a brownish green hue. A few feet away Larry's soul was a pale gold in color, it was filled with tiny gold particles flitting around with as if they were in a hurry. Octavian's soul was the weakest among them. It was mostly grey with flecks of gold in it.
Valen shook his head, he had a job to do. He focused to the deer shaped soul he had sensed to their north and honed in on it, burning the memory in his mind.
"There's a deer roughly 700 metres to our north." he said, getting up.
"How do you know?" Octavian said with barely veiled suspicion.
"I sensed its soul." Valen said. "Just as I sense how absurdly weak yo-"
"He's right." Leila interrupted. "I sense something eating the undergrowth there."
"It could easily be a monster he's guiding us to."
"A grass eating monster?" Marcus said incredulously. "I think we'll be fine if it's a herbivore."
"Even if it is a monster," Valen said, "which it isn't since monsters have no soul. There's five of us. Well, 4 fighters at least. We'll be fine."
Leila nodded, "A monster would disturb the flora a lot more."
"Fine, but don't come to me when it turns out to be a monster." he relented, and they continued on their way. This time being a lot more silent.
They could see it now, a single deer, standing by its lonesome; separated from its herd. Octavian glared at Valen, signalling him to capture it.
Seriously? Valen stared at him. Mighty helpful you lot are.
He sighed, turning his gaze towards the animal. He need to incapacitate it without killing it, but how was he supposed to do that?
His eyes fell to its shadow. If I can take it by surprise by shadow travelling then maybe…
He shook his head, that wouldn't help him capture it. What if I send it back to camp? But then it could run away, and make an even bigger mess.
He paused, If I can use the shadows to teleport, could I use them to bind the deer? But shadows aren't corporeal.
He stared at his own shadow, willing it to rise from the ground in the shape of a knife. Surprisingly it complied, a pitch black knife rose up from his shadow, and when he reached to grab it, he could feel it physically under his palm. Huh, not so incorporeal after all.
He began advancing towards the deer, focusing on its shadow and watching as its edges began stretching out like needles. He flicked his finger, and it rose like a viper, snatching the animal within it, and incapacitating it almost instantly.
He let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, and walked out into the open. One of the tentacles had wrapped around it's snout, preventing it from bleating in alarm.
"Are you guys gonna help me to carry this back or am I supposed to do it myself too?" he asked, looking back at their hiding spot.
Slowly, one by one, they came out of the bushes.
"You're a son of Pluto, aren't you?" Marcus asked.
"What?"
"Sensing souls and manipulating shadows both fall in his domain." he explained. "Not to mention shadow travelling."
Valen frowned. "When you put it like that…" he turned to Octavian. "Then, why did you call me a dominant of Scotus?"
"That is what you are," he said, "a host of the old ones."
"Host?"
Before he could get an answer, the shadows under them rippled. A hellhound lunged out of them, its maw wide open to eat Octavian whole.
Valen acted quick, a ball of hellfire shot out of his hand, hitting the hellhound point blank. At the same time, the roots under it shot up, skewering it. And a golden sword embedded itself in its open maw. Meanwhile, Larry grabbed Octavian and dragged him out of harm's way.
The hellhound dissolved to golden dust.
"I told you it was a trap!" Octavian yelled, glaring at Valen.
"Octavian," Leila said, "just because you think he wants to kill us doesn't mean he does."
"To be honest, I wouldn't blame him for trying to kill Octavian." Marcus mutterred.
"You're not helping." she said through grit teeth.
"A son of Pluto leads us straight to a hellhound" Octavian said, pointing at Valen. "We all know that they listen to the Lord of the dead."
Valen chuckled, "Kinda racist no? Assuming a son of Pluto is automatically the culprit of a hellhound attack?"
"He's got you there." Marcus said. "As modern demigods, we really should adapt to the mortal world you know? Racism, homophobia, etc. are frowned upon now."
Octavian glared vehemently at both of them. "Don't you see legionnaire, it's too convenient to be anything but a trap."
"I don't know who to support here, but shouldn't we wait until we get back to camp to have this conversation?" Larry said.
"Oh? And what if he has another ambush planned? Would you care to take responsibility then?"
Valen sighed, "Fine, I'll go back alone and turn myself in if that's what you want."
"Do you expect me to believe that instead of running away you would turn yourself in?"
"I'll go with him." Leila said. "I'll make sure he goes straight to Reyna."
"See that you do." he seethed. "I'll see to it that the traitor is hanged."
If they decide on hanging me, I'm making a run for it.
Valen sighed, grabbing Leila's shoulder. And before she could object, they melted into their shadows.
They appeared by the praetorian gate, surprising nearby campers.
Leila blinked, "Did you just shadow travel us back?"
Valen shrugged, "It's faster than walking."
"How far can you travel before you need to come out?"
"I don't know, jumbled memories remember?"
She sighed, "Let's get you to Reyna."
"And Octavian thinks he summoned the hellhound to kill him?" Reyna confirmed.
"More or less," Leila said.
Reyna sighed, "Tell him to come in on your way out."
Leila nodded and left the Principia. Moments later, Valen walked in, "You called for me?"
"Yes, sit." she waved, pinching the bridge of her nose. She snapped her fingers, calling Aurum and Argentum to her. The two metallic dogs sprinted to her and sat down on each side.
"Tell me, did you or did you not summon that hellhound?"
"I did not." Valen said confidently. "If I wanted to kill Octavian, I'd make it less obvious and I wouldn't do it with so many people around."
Reyna glanced at her dogs, but they showed no signs of moving. She turned back to Valen, "Do you want to kill Octavian?"
"Not yet, I have nothing against him other than him being an annoying entitled brat of a legacy." he spat out.
"Yet?"
Valen shrugged, "I cannot guarantee that my stance about killing Octavian will stay the same in the future."
"So, you might kill him then?"
Valen nodded, "If he is an obstacle to my goal, whatever it is, I'm not beyond killing a man."
"You realize that makes you a safety concern right?" Reyna said, raising an eyebrow.
Valen shrugged again, "It's a possibility, not a certainty. So as long as Octavian doesn't cross the line, it should be fine."
"And what exactly is that line?"
"For starters? Trying to kill, or hang, me or any of my friends."
"I'll keep that in mind." she said. "You can leave now."
Once outside, Valen made a beeline for Temple Hill, to the shrine of Pluto. He looked up at the statue of his father, holding the helm of Darkness under his arm. Sighing, he sat down beside it.
What Marcus had said about his parentage resonated with him. A son of Pluto, he could see that being the case, not to mention how his soul all but confirmed it. A mass of wispy black flames marred by the occasional lightning.
He did not know what the thunder symbolized, but the flames all but confirmed it. He held up an arm and allowed the hellfire within to manifest over it. The red-black flames washed over his hand, illuminating his face in a reddish hue.
"Pluto, huh." he whispered, extinguishing the fire, "Anything you can do to fix my memories, Father?"
Of course, the statue didn't respond, but someone else did.
"Father?"
Valen looked up at Hazel standing by the door.
"Your father is Pluto?"