Chronicles of Espiria Season 3
Episode 17 – Training Under Thane
Written by the Dude
Thane's thoughts often wandered back to his encounter with Baden in the memorial. He spent as much free time as he could trying to find a way to free Baden of whatever curse he may be under, a difficult task in a realm more used to fighting Graveborn than helping them. Still, this was no excuse to shirk his duties, so he stood silently and watched as his two best students sparred with each other.
Jacob had trained under Thane for years; he was one of the first young men he taught after Estrilda convinced the old castellan to take this position for the military, and the boy continued to prove himself a master in the making through hard work and dedication. His opponent this day, a rare Wilder student named Eironn, had shown raw, untempered talent from the day of his arrival. His form was flawless, but he had learned his blade dance on his own, with no partner, and so had never learned strategy or how to read an opponent. This was what Thane focused on in Eironn's training, and because of it, he was nearly the equal of Jacob in a matter of weeks.
As soon as Thane signaled the start of the duel, Jacob charged at Eironn, who stood his ground and waited for his moment. Eironn readied himself for a powerful downward strike from Jacob, but at the last moment, he noticed one of Jacob's tells that he was going to feint left. Eironn shifted his weight to catch the sword between his own twin blades, then twisted his blades in an effort to disarm Jacob. The human realised what was happening in time and guided his sword through the disarm motion long enough to break free of the lock. Jacob retreated a few steps, then charged again with a bit more caution. This time, Eironn sought to unbalance Jacob by going on the offensive; a pair of successive slashes, one high and one low, forced Jacob to change his trajectory as he charged. But balance was one of Jacob's strengths, allowing him to leap between the strikes and roll back on his feet in a defensive position. Eironn pressed his attack, raining slashes and stabs down on Jacob that only his great agility allowed him to avoid. It only stopped when he caught Eironn off guard by using his free hand to catch Eironn's arm. Using this moment of surprise, Jacob flipped Eironn over his shoulder. Eironn recovered himself and rolled out of the way before Jacob could deliver a match-winning strike, and was back on his feet in time to block another strike. Deciding that turnabout was fair play, Eironn broadcast that he was preparing for a charge from Jacob, an invitation to attack that Jacob could not resist. He lured Jacob into performing a powerful downward slash, but at the last moment, he twisted his body to catch the sword with his antlers. A quick twist of the head, and Jacob was disarmed. Before Jacob could react, Eironn placed the tip of his sword on Jacob's neck, ending the match.
Uncharacteristically, Thane gave no comments upon the conclusion of the match, either praising what they did well or pointing out their shortcomings; he simply let a single tear roll down his cheek. He soon recovered himself and wiped the tear as he approached the two students.
"Well done, Eironn. It has been a long time indeed since I have seen Jacob defeated."
"He is a worthy opponent." Eironn responded. "I have learned much from you both."
"Such as your decision to use more than just your blade in battle, as Jacob used his bare hand and you your antlers. You have also grown much better at reading your opponent and controlling how you telegraph your attacks. I daresay I would feel comfortable putting you in combat under Jacob."
"Then my time with you has come to an end." Eironn said with a bow. "Thank you, Master Thane, for your wisdom; I shall make use of it and pass it on when the time comes."
"It is a shame to see you go so soon, but you were a wondrous student; not since I trained Jacob and Lady Estrilda have I been so proud."
Eironn straightened back up and left the training grounds without looking back.
"Sir, are you alright?" Jacob asked.
"Yes, Jacob. Why do you ask?"
"I saw you wipe a tear from your eye before you spoke to me and Eironn."
Of course, Thane thought to himself; perhaps he trained the boy to be too observant.
"The match...the way you and Eironn seemed to dance with each other...it brought back memories of my time training with Baden Rayne."
Jacob was silent as he considered this.
"I heard that it was Baden who attacked you at the memorial."
"Indeed."
"I've also heard that you want to cure him of his undead state."
"I have made little progress in that goal, I'm afraid. And have received little encouragement but from Priestess Belinda, who is now recovering from an illness of some kind."
"If you ever need my help, sir, I am more than willing to do what I can for you."
"I appreciate that, Jacob. You will be the first to know if I need help."
Meanwhile, Oden and Silas waited in Silas' workshop for the return of Ferael and the Abomination, now also known to the Lightbearers as Baden Rayne. Oden was brooding over the events of the last few days, while Silas was busy making adjustments to Izold.
"You did well out there, my prize." Silas whispered to Izold as if to a lover. "Your failures are my fault alone; these adjustments should have been made before you were sent into battle, but I was too eager to see you in action. When next you go forth, nothing will stand in your way."
"Have you corrected his speech centers yet?" Oden asked shortly. "Listening to him speak in one word phrases is proving irritating."
"Already done, my lord." Izold replied. "Father, some of the humans seemed familiar to me. Why is that?"
"In all likelihood, the previous owner of your brain simply recognized the humans; Commander Hogan and General Estrilda are well known among the humans, after all. There is a slight possibility, however, that he knew Commander Hogan personally; your brain donor was a powerful warrior, so he and Commander Hogan may have met on the battlefield once. I would be fascinated to find out which is the case."
"Why is it relevant?!" Oden snapped. "The previous owner of the brain is no more."
"The same should have been said of my vessel."
Oden and Silas turned to see the Abomination and Ferael closing the door behind them.
"Abomination, rumors of your failure have reached my ears." Oden said.
"Your ears, my lord?" the Abomination asked with a smirk, glancing at the sides of Oden's head where the ears might have been.
"You are in no position to be impudent!" Oden bellowed. "It was you two and an army of Graveborn against two humans! It should have been no contest; the humans should have been dead by now! And yet not only did you fail to kill them, you declined to kill one when you had him at your mercy! There are those who would call that treason!"
"Have mercy on him, my lord!" Ferael begged. "His vessel fought against him for a moment and helped the targets to flee."
"Impossible." Oden said shortly. "The vessel is under so many suppression spells that his will should not even be aware of his surroundings."
"And yet, here we are." the Abomination concluded.
Oden stared at the Abomination for a moment with his three unblinking eyes, then waved his wand, surrounding the body in necromantic power. Soon, he collapsed to his knees as if bowing before Oden. When he looked up again, his eyes were clear and his mask was pulled aside. He was, once again, Baden Rayne.
"What is it you hope to achieve, Rayne, by disrupting the errands of my servant?" Oden demanded.
"Whatever I can to stop you, bitter blight!" Baden shouted defiantly with what strength he could muster. "Raynes do not pass quietly from this world! I promise you, lap dog, if I do not stop you, my niece will find a way...Gaah!"
Oden surrounded Baden with necromantic energy again; this time, it was accompanied by a scream of agony from Baden.
"I can respect your spirit, Rayne, but I cannot allow you to interfere with my plans further."
Once Oden finished, Baden slowly rose to his feet. His eyes were glazed over again, and his mask was back in place. The Abomination had returned.
"What happened?" the Abomination asked weakly.
"We all had underestimated the strength of the vessel's will; I have just corrected that mistake by strengthening the spells that keep him in check. But you and Ferael must watch him closely from now on. Do what you must, but keep the human soul suppressed."
"Of course, my lord."
Meanwhile, Treznor had tracked Torne to an abandoned farm; as he looked it over, he thought back on the way Bantus once looked before necromancy brought it to ruin. When his thoughts returned to his surroundings, he noticed bones scattered across the ground as if by an explosion. As he explored the farm and found more bones, he came across a skull that he recognized very well.
"Porter?"
Light returned to the empty eye sockets and focused on Treznor's face.
"Treznor! Well, ain't ye a sight! So ye got off the island too!"
"I did. Most of the others were able to escape as well, thanks to Nevanthi's quick thinking. But not everyone was so lucky; some souls are trapped with the sirens. We must free them from their imprisonment before we can hope to rest in peace, but there is still too much that I do not yet understand. Why do the troops swear allegiance to Prince Edwin? What could possess Thoran to allow that monster to return?"
"Ah, my boy, we fell pretty far out of the loop trapped on that island. Best ye have a seat while I catch ye up."