Outlander Ch. 06

"He deserves to know. No man should face his fate ignorant," Ithos said.

Garek glanced at his old friend, surprised that his gruff first officer was arguing for the Outlander. He smiled. It seemed Jack's stubbornness had impressed Ithos more than he had let on. "I worry that if he knew the truth, he would run from us the first chance he gets."

"Maybe you underestimate him."

"Perhaps, but what would your reaction be if I told you it was your destiny to lead a people you don't know or care about to victory over a foe that has decimated every army sent before it?"

Ithos only grunted in response.

"No, it is too early for him to know the truth." Garek said. "He has to find something here that matters enough to him to fight for."

Ithos looked skeptical. "Any idea what that might be?" he asked.

"Only God knows," Garek answered, but his eyes flicked to his daughter as she moved around the main deck pretending she wasn't watching the sword practice.

"Sweet Aramon!" Ithos suddenly exclaimed, diverting Garek's attention back to the Outlander. Jack was climbing back to his feet after taking a blow to the ribs. "He never stops getting up," Ithos continued. "The man's got grit if nothing else, I tell you."

"That he does, my friend," Garek agreed. "That he does."

"Well, once we deliver him to the King he won't be our problem anymore," Ithos said.

"Do you think it's going to be that simple?" Garek asked.

Ithos grunted, but Garek wasn't sure whether he meant yes or no.

Jack was on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion. Sweat was running off him in rivulets and he could only breathe in short gasps when Kairn finally called a halt to the training session. Jack joined the others at the water barrel and drank deeply when it was his turn. Even tinged with the taste of wood and tar from the barrel, the water tasted as sweet as anything he had ever drunk.

Sorceress Emma moved among them as she did each day after they finished their training, inspecting them for injury, healing the arm of one, the broken finger of another. When she came to Jack, he made no protest as she took his face in her hands. He could see the tendril flow into her from the leyline, suffusing her with a golden glow. The pain in his bruised ribs lessened almost immediately, but didn't completely go away. She also didn't heal the blisters that throbbed on his palms after hours of gripping the hilt of the practice sword.

"Why doesn't she heal us completely?" Jack asked Kairn when the Covenant witch had left, rotating his arm and wincing from the bruises he had sustained.

"Your muscles need to be broken down to grow stronger," Kairn explained. "Your hands need to blister to form calluses. If she healed us completely we would not grow strong. To our bodies it would be as though we never even practiced."

"I see," Jack said.

Kairn laughed at the regret evident in Jack's voice. "Cheer up," he said and clapped Jack on the shoulder causing him to wince. "You did fine for your first time. Keep showing up and I'll make a swordsman out of you yet."

After Jack had moved away, Grelik moved up beside Kairn. "I'll wager five coppers he won't get out of bed tomorrow, much less show up for training," he said, gesturing toward Jack.

"I'll take that bet," Kairn said.

* * * *

Later that evening Jack stood at the rail staring into the sky at the leyline. The sun was setting and the fading light lit the clouds in a myriad of orange and purple hues, but did nothing to hide the shimmering line that spanned the heavens.

He glanced over when someone moved up to stand beside him. He was surprised to see it was the Captain's wife.

"Sorceress," he said in greeting. It was what the crew called her, so Jack decided it was best to be prudent.

"Outlander," she replied.

"Please," he said. "My name is Jack."

"Very well, Jack," she said, "But only if you call me Emma. To tell you the truth, all that Sorceress nonsense gets tiresome after a while. Emma is the name my mother gave me, and I think it's a good one, don't you?" she smiled at Jack expectantly.

Jack laughed. It was his first real laugh in quite a while. "I do," he said. "Emma was my grandmother's name."

"Really," she said. "How extraordinary."

"Well, she was an extraordinary lady, as are you, I suspect," he said grinning, put at ease by her easy manner.

"Flatterer," she laughed and cuffed him on the arm. He laughed with her and together they watched the sun set, neither speaking as the glowing orb slipped below the horizon.

Jack let the quiet stretch for a while before asking, "Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Hmmm?" she asked, then said "Oh, yes" as though just remembering. "Ava tells me that you can see the leylines?"

"Well, so far I've only seen the one," he said glancing up at the shimmering cord arcing across the night sky. "There are more?"

She nodded. "If you were to travel far enough around the world you will leave this one behind and discover the others. Is it beautiful?" she asked wistfully.

"You can't see it?" he asked, turning to look at her in surprise.

"Even the most powerful among us can only sense the leylines. You are the first person I have ever heard of that can actually see them," she said, regarding him seriously.

"What does that mean?" he asked.

"I believe it means that you have within you the latent ability to become a very powerful warlock, perhaps even an arch-mage."

"Me? A warlock? You can't be serious," Jack said, shocked.

"I am," she replied. "But you need to be taught to harness Lord Aramon's Gift, if you are to reach your full potential."

"What if I don't want to be a warlock or an arch-whatever?" Jack asked carefully.

"Why would you not want to be who you were meant to be?" Emma asked.

Jack thought for a moment and decided to deflect the question with one of his own. "What are the leylines, exactly?"

Emma recognized the evasion but let it pass for the moment. "The leylines are the power that holds creation together," she answered.

"How does that work?" Jack asked, confused.

Emma thought for a moment. "Imagine a wall made of wet rock. If you pour the mixture and let it harden, then hit it with a hammer, it will crumble. But if you lay down a lattice of steel rods and pour the mixture over it, then you can hit it with a battering ram and the wall will hold. Creation is the wet rock and the leylines are the steel lattice."

"That makes sense," he said. "But then why doesn't my world have leylines?"

"Your world simply lies in the space between the steel rods, but it benefits no less from the strength of the overall design," she answered.

Jack tried to picture the Earth as he knew it, with a network of unseen leylines supporting the planet in the vast emptiness of space. The mental image should have been alien, but somehow it made perfect sense.

His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the Lady Viviane, who led Aiden by the hand. Once again, Jack was struck by the contrast between the Lady Viviane's ethereal beauty and grace and Aiden's hulking form and child-like innocence.

"I am sorry to interrupt," Viviane said to Emma, "but I am about to put Aiden to bed and have brought him to say goodnight."

"That's quite all right, child," Emma said, smiling forlornly at her son.

"My Lord, give your mother a hug goodnight," Viviane said.

Aiden shambled to his mother, wrapped his large arms around her, and stooped to lay his head on her shoulder. He held her delicately as though afraid to hurt her with his considerable strength.

Emma embraced him and gently stroked the back of his head. "I love you, my son," she said. "Sleep well." There was the glint of moisture in her eyes when he released her.

"Goodnight, Aiden," Jack said politely.

Both Emma and Viviane looked shocked when Aiden stepped forward and embraced the Outlander. Jack, taken aback, hesitated then patted the big man on the back. Emma smiled gratefully at him. Jack acknowledged her thanks with a nod over Aiden's broad shoulder.

Aiden released him, stepped back, and looked at Jack with the seriousness of a child who has something important to say. "Pretty," he said and pointed at his wife who smiled sadly.

"Yes she is," Jack told him. "Very pretty."

"Come, my Lord," Viviane said, taking Aiden by the hand. "Goodnight," she said to both Emma and Jack, before leaving them to escort her husband to their cabin.

"Poor child," Emma said as they moved away, though Jack wasn't sure if she meant Aiden or Viviane.

"Why do you call it Lord Aramon's Gift?" he asked, returning to their earlier subject.

Emma turned her attention from her son and daughter-in-law and looked at Jack. "I am not much of a storyteller, but I can tell you the tale as it was recorded in the Tome of Aramon if you wish," she offered.

"Please," Jack said.

"Very well," she said. There was a short pause as she collected her thoughts. "Long ago, mankind had no access to the leylines or knowledge of their use. We were subservient to the Elvenestri who ruled us and kept us in a state akin to slavery."

"Wait," Jack interrupted. "Who were the Elvenestri?"

"The Elvenestri were the first of God's children, blessed above all others," she explained. "They were long-lived, elegant, and refined. Into their care were given God's second creation, man, as well as all the animals of the earth, sky, and sea. For thousands of years they cared and nurtured mankind as an older brother would care for a younger, but over time they began to view man as inferior and began to harness the power of his labor to make their own lives easier and richer.

"Mankind yearned to be free and tried to resist, but one of the gifts God gave to the Elvenestri was access to the power of the leylines. With that power they were able to crush any and all resistance. Man cried out to God for help so He sent his Son made flesh, Lord Aramon."

'God's Son made flesh?' Jack thought in shock. It had been many years since he'd set foot inside a church, but even he had no trouble recognizing that phrase.

Emma paused for breath, seemingly unaware of his surprise. "Lord Aramon spoke to the masses, but not of rebellion. He spoke of peace, and love, and forgiveness. He gathered multitudes as he traveled to the Elvenestri's capital city. When he arrived with throngs at his back to implore the Elvenestri to turn from the path they had chosen, to turn back to the purpose God had intended for them, He was seized by the Elite Guard, and his followers dispersed by the power of the leylines. Thousands died as the Elvenestri mages called down destruction on Lord Aramon's peaceful followers."

"What happened to Lord Aramon?" Jack asked, curious to see how much this world's history paralleled his own.

"He was brought before the ruling council and denounced as a heretic and servant of Karak."

"Who's Karak?" Jack asked.

"Karak is the evil that opposes God in all things," she said. "He is the father of wickedness and hate."

"I see," Jack said, his mind churning.

"A giant stone was brought to the central square," she continued, "and Lord Aramon was lashed to it. He was whipped and stoned, but would not renounce his claim to be the son of God. Each day when the sun was highest in the sky, the council came and gave him the chance to recant his heresy. For seven days this continued until Lord Aramon's mortal body was on the verge of death."

"Did no one help him?" Jack asked.

"None could," she answered. "Close to death, he gave the council a final warning, turn back now or a doom of fire and blood would befall them. The council laughed at his words and ordered one of his guards to disembowel him. Without hesitation, the guard took his sword and slit open Lord Aramon. As his life's blood washed over the rock he cried out to his heavenly father. He implored God to give his younger children the means to fight their oppression and called for him to curse the Elvenestri for their evil."

She paused for a moment, and Jack waited quietly for her to continue. "From that day forward mankind had access to the leylines, and the long lives of the Elvenestri were taken from them," she continued. "From that day until now, their lives are as short as ours. The war that followed lasted for a hundred years but eventually the Elvenestri were defeated and man became the dominant force in the world. That is why we call it Lord Aramon's Gift," she finished.

Jack was silent, thinking. "On my world my own religion has a story that is very similar," he finally said after a few moments. "There are a few differences but much of it is alike."

"And why wouldn't it be?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked.

"God and Karak exist throughout all of creation. It only stands to reason that Lord Aramon also existed on all the worlds that had need of him."

Jack had to admit to himself that it did make a certain amount of sense, however implausible. If someone had told him two weeks ago that other worlds existed and were as close as a step through a doorway he would have said they needed to see a whole team of psychiatrists. Jack's ability to accept the implausible had grown a great deal since then.

"Now, Jack, why would you not want to learn to use the power of the leylines when it could possibly save your life and maybe even the lives of others?" Emma asked and held his gaze, silently demanding an answer.

Jack looked away. "Emma, this is a lot to take in," he said. "I need time to think it over."

Emma resisted the urge to tsk in irritation. All men were stubborn but the Outlander seemed to be exceptionally so. If she pushed him he would dig his heels in and resist as hard as he could. Why men couldn't see truths as plain as the eyes in their heads she would never know. She took the only option open to her at the moment. "Very well, Jack. Think it over, but don't take too long."