The Beginning Ch. 19-20

Gone was the welcoming attitude I'd felt just moments earlier. Gone was the academic. She might have appeared softer, but I knew then, that she was no less deadly than Swati was. Maybe even more so.

"Is this the best you could do, Swati?" Lisbet had asked her, mockingly, her blade not quite pressing into my neck anymore. "The boy still seems to think that a battle will be fair, or that an opponent would wait for him to be ready."

"I tried," Swati had sighed, "but he seems to have inherited some of his father's hardheadedness. It makes getting a point across rather difficult."

"So I see," she'd murmured, turning back to me. "Now, here's lesson two, Chris. An opponent will—"

Swiftly augmenting my body to one-hundred percent, I headbutted her as hard as I could, bringing my forehead crashing down on the top of her head. She staggered slightly, and I used the opening to bring my foot up, thrusting it as hard as I could into her chest.

She flew backwards just as I had, but rather than slide across the floor, she turned it into a tumble, rolling back onto her feet and into another ready stance.

"Very good, Chris," she'd complimented me, as I settled into my own stance. "You used your head— quite literally— and got out of that situation. Now, show me what you can do."

Taking the initiative this time, I'd stayed in my augmented state, rushing across the room to attack her. I'd kept my sword low as I ran, using my momentum and a double-handed grip to drive the tip harder as I'd brought it up for an underhand swing once Lisbet was in range. She'd blocked my attack, as I'd expected her to, and I'd actually let go of my sword when it met hers.

Flowing with my movement, I'd spun around and caught my sword with my left hand, swinging it awkwardly towards her legs. She'd leapt into the air to avoid my attack, and taking a page from her book, I'd turned my spin into a tumble. Rising up into a crouch, one knee braced against the floor, I'd used my tumble to reposition my sword.

I'd clutched the dull edge of the blade with my right hand, which when combined with my stance, helped me block her overhand blow as I'd brought my sword up to defend myself. Her attack had been insanely powerful, gravity itself lending her cleave more power. It'd taken everything I had to push her back, and if she hadn't been throttling her augmentation to match mine, I have no doubt that her attack would have driven me through the floor and into the ground.

As she'd somersaulted away from me, I'd jumped to my feet and shifted my sword to my right hand, again. Not giving her a chance to recover, I'd gone on the offensive with a wild series of slashes, all of which she'd parried. She'd eventually tired of blocking, and had used the curve of her khopesh to trap my blade, and wrench it out of my hands.

I was in "the zone" by then, and had continued throwing punches at her, but she'd just caught both my hands and drawn me in close. Using her shorter stature to her advantage, she'd pulled me to the floor with her, before getting her feet against my chest and throwing me into the wall.

And yes, I crash into things a lot. And no, I don't know how to stop.

"That's enough," she'd said, as I jumped to my feet. "I've seen what you can do and know where to take you. You have potential, even though you're pretty rough. I'll work out a schedule with Swati and Senga, and let you know when you need to report for your training."

"Where will we train?" I'd asked her, relaxing at last.

"We'll be using these Training Rooms," she'd replied, as we picked up our respective weapons and returned them to their places. "I know that Swati and Senga like to train out in the forest, but I prefer to stay somewhere I wouldn't risk swallowing any insects. Meet me outside the Library five minutes before we're scheduled to train, and we'll find an empty room."

I'd nodded my acceptance, and following Swati's cues, had left the two of them to hammer out the details. I'd started training with Lisbet the very next day, and had learned that while she was nothing short of matronly outside, once we were inside a Training Room, she was a harsher taskmaster than even Swati was. She drove me hard and expected perfection, but I had to admit that I could see the results quite clearly.

"Well?" Dipankar asked, breaking through my reminiscing, "Do you actually need something, or are you going to stand there all day and block my door?"

"Sorry, sorry," I apologized, walking up to him. "I'm looking for Lisbet."

"She can't train you today. She's busy."

"It's not for training. I need her help with some research."

"Research?!" Dipankar exclaimed, taken aback. "Why didn't you say so? Desk number six-hundred-and-twenty-seven. On the left."

"Thanks."

Augmenting my body, I set off looking for Lisbet. As predicted, she was neck-deep in a pile of books and scrolls. Of course, neck-deep for her wasn't really that deep.

"Lisbet," I greeted her, slowing to a stop next to where she was sitting. She just held up a hand, indicating that I needed to wait while she finished whatever she was doing. It was something I was used to by then, so I just waited patiently, watching through her window as the wind blew sand in swirls and eddies across the Sahara.

"Chris," she said, drawing my attention away from the weirdly-calming desert vista and back to her. "What's up?"

"I need your help with something," I responded. "Can we go somewhere quieter and talk?"

"Have you eaten?" she asked, as she started the process of returning her books and scrolls.

"Breakfast, yeah."

"Well, I wanted to take a break for lunch, anyway. Your Abode or mine?"

"Could we go to yours? Rayka's still at home."

"Oh?" she asked wryly, one eyebrow raised. "Is this something she shouldn't know about?"

"Not like that!" I moaned. "I just don't want her to worry."

"Now I'm worrying. Let's get a move on so you can tell me whatever this is."

I just nodded and followed her to the front desk, where she kissed Dipankar goodbye, before waving to his Mole. Though I'd suspected as much from the very first day we'd met, I was still a little surprised to learn that not only were Lisbet and Dipankar married, they had five children as well. Though Lisbet and I had grown reasonably close, Dipankar liked keeping everybody else at a distance, and so, I hadn't really met their kids.

A short while later, we were seated in their Abode, eating burgers, while I told her all about my dream. She listened attentively, asking me questions at certain times, taking detailed notes the whole time.

"Saria, the wife, and Nandu and Priya, the kids. Are you sure these were their exact names?" she asked, as I finished my tale.

"They are," I confirmed, biting into a burger that had gone cold.

"And are you sure it wasn't just a dream?"

"No, but it seemed too real to be just that."

"I only ask because it's unlike anything I've ever come across. It clearly isn't a premonition; the speech patterns, descriptions of clothing you've given me, and the very tone of the dre— sequence itself, portray a sense of antiquity. If you were Bonded, I might have put it down to some sort of memory leaking out across the Bond."

"Is that even possible?"

"It's highly unusual, and I'd have to search for some sort of precedent, but it's not impossible. Our Companions technically retain all the memories of their past Bonds. Those memories are just locked away while their present Bond is active.

"One could postulate that under the right circumstances, some of these locked-away memories might be triggered, somehow, and wiggle their way under whatever mental block usually keeps them away."

"That's well and fine," I mumbled, around a mouthful of food, "but I haven't Bonded yet."

"That's what makes this stranger. I need some time to look into it. I'll let you know if I find anything, okay?"

I nodded my acceptance, and we spent the rest of the meal just chatting. Being as widely-read as she was, Lisbet could educate anyone on anything, and that was something I was more than happy to tap into whenever I got the chance. Time really did fly away from us, and both of us realized that it was almost dark only when Rayka arrived, having looked for me all over the Academy. We said our goodbyes then, and I headed back with Rayka, the two of us taking the long way back and actually walking to our Abode.

"I know there's something you aren't telling me about this morning," Rayka suddenly said, breaking the silence.

"I don't—"

"It's okay," she assured me, giving me a somber smile. "I know that you're just trying not to worry me. And if Lisbet is who you go to, that's grand. She's actually really well-equipped to help you work through whatever this is. Just know that I'm here if you need me, okay? I'm stronger than you know."

"Have I ever told you that I love how you've adopted saying 'Grand'?" I asked her, trying to deflect and change the topic.

She just smiled in response, telling me that I'd failed miserably. The silence between us was somehow heavier than before, and I couldn't find a way to break it before we'd arrived at our Abode.

"Rayka, wait," I called, stopping her as we entered our home. As she turned around to look at me, I pulled her into a hug, before kissing her deeply.

"My love," I said, as I broke the kiss, "I want you to know that I do know how strong you are. What happened today morning is something that I don't know how to explain. It isn't that I don't trust you to handle the weight of it, but that I don't even know what I'm asking you to handle.

"I do trust you. And I love you. And once Lisbet helps me figure out what happened, I promise that you will be the very first to know. But until then, yes, I don't want to worry you, because I just don't know what you'll be worrying about. Does that make sense?"

She just snuggled into my chest and nodded, trying to hide the slivery glint of tears that I'd already seen. I knew just how she felt. There was nothing worse for me than being completely powerless to help someone I loved.

So, I did the only thing I could think of: I swept her into my arms and carried her into the bathroom. Setting her down, I channeled some Power into the tub, filling it with water at the temperature we both loved. Stripping, I got in and looked at her expectantly.

Shucking her clothes off, she got in as well, kissing me soundly. I broke the kiss and turned her around, settling her against my chest. Her surprise dissipated as my hands went to work on her shoulders, slowly massaging away any knots I could feel.

As the knots came undone, she relaxed too, the tension leeching out of her body. I didn't even realize that she'd fallen asleep until I heard her softly snoring. Chuckling, I gathered her into my arms, and carefully carried her into our bedroom. She didn't even wake up as I lay her down on the bed and dried her off, only moving to snuggle deeper into me when I lay down next to her.

Reaching out with my Power, I deactivated all the lights, trying to relax as our Abode gave in to the clutches of darkness. I could feel my eyelids growing heavier, and I didn't try to fight it as sleep washed over me.

"Saria. Nandu. Priya."

"Saria. Nandu. Priya. Those are names I have not heard in a lifetime. They were the beginning."

Chapter 20- A Voice

27^th January, 2017
3:57 p.m.
Forest Surrounding the Academy

Senga thrust her staff into my chest, pushing me away from her and creating an opening. Rushing that opening, I swung my staff up from low guard to middle, but overextended myself, the weight of the staff pulling me deep into her range. She shifted her grip to hold the staff around the middle, sweeping mine to the outside of my body and exposing me to attack. Her altered grip allowed her to snap it back faster, hitting my head soundly, and knocking me to the ground.

"Gie up oan yer feet. I ken ye can dae better than tha'."

I just nodded and got to my feet, and she took a few steps backwards, giving me some room to compose myself. Centering myself like Swati had taught me, I pushed my thoughts out of my head and stifled my emotions. For some reason, it seemed to work better than usual.

Something had changed.

When I opened my eyes again, it was like everything was in sharper focus. I hadn't activated Battle Sense, but it almost felt like I could predict Senga's moves, anyway. Even though she was too good to telegraph her moves, I knew that she'd bring her staff up to swing at my chest, expecting me to block it.

That's when it started.

"Low to the right. Staff slack, low guard."

A voice that didn't sound like my own was suddenly in my head, telling me how to move. Trusting it form some reason, I bent and dodged to the right, letting my staff drag along the ground. Senga was assuming that I'd try to block her attack and had committed herself to her swing, so when she missed, it threw her balance off for a second.

"Middle guard. Middle grip. Quick two swing."

The voice was right. Why not follow it?

Swinging the staff up as my body moved through the dodge, I shifted my grip to the center, imitating Senga's snap swings from earlier. My dodge had taken me behind her, so both swings made solid contact with her sides.

"Butt in ground. Swing using staff. Feet out, toes pointed. Swing around. Pull staff out into upward swing into high guard."

I'd just managed to hit her for the first time that day. This was good.

She turned around quickly, regaining her balance and centering herself, before trying to take me by surprise by rushing into my guard. Rather than panic and try to block her attack, I used my augmented strength to drive the butt of my staff into the ground.

Using that as an anchor, I hefted myself up and around, keeping my body straight and rigid, and my toes pointed out. My feet connected with her chin, throwing her off her feet and flipping her backwards.

As I emerged out of my own flip, I used my momentum to yank my staff out of the ground at an angle, effectively tossing dirt all over her. She was unprepared for it, and was showered with mud and dirt as she rose out of her tumble. Some of it went into her eyes, and for a split second, she was blind.

"High guard to low. Trap staff between foot and staff. Twist right. Bend knee."

Even blinded, Senga was deadly with her quarterstaff. Better follow what the voice said.

She raised it up high, probably planning to bring it down on my head and end the spar, but I wouldn't give her that chance. Raising my own staff into the air, I lowered it a quick second before she did, gaining superiority over the tussle. Forcing hers even lower, I pushed it to the right while simultaneously moving my right leg to trap it.

Continuing with the twist, I bent my knee to bear down on her quarterstaff, using mine and the weight of my leg to wrench it out of her hands. For the first time since we'd started training over a year ago, I'd managed to disarm Senga.

"High arch kick back. Pivot along staff. Low guard to middle guard. Press advantage."

That isn't a strange voice. It's mine.

Finishing the twist, I dropped my staff low and used it to steady myself as I swung out with my left leg, kicking her squarely in the face. The force of my kick pushed her away from her quarterstaff, which meant that she didn't have the time to retrieve it. I raised mine to a middle guard and thrust it at her, knocking her to the ground. I snapped it down towards her neck, stopping just shy of her cheek.

She just looked back at me, completely stunned.

I think it's safe to say that I shared her expression.

"I tho' tha' we agreed tha' ye woonae use yer Gifs," she groused, as I snapped out of it and helped her to her feet.

"I didn't," I responded, as we put our practice staffs back in their places. "I don't really know what just happened. It was like there was someone else in my head, telling me what to do and how to react."

She looked at me in disbelief, but all I could do was shrug. I had no explanation for what had just happened.

"Well, whoever tha' is, ye should thank them. Tha's th' firs' time you've ever beaten me," she said in praise, her accent disappearing almost midsentence, as she calmed down. "Starting tomorrow, we'll be using our Gifts as we spar. Prep yourself, Chris. We're about to take things up a level."

"I will," I assured her, bowing in a show of respect, before turning around and hurrying towards the Academy. Contrary to expectations, Senga didn't press me about my sudden departure, probably figuring that I had something important to do.

I did. I needed to see Lisbet.

For the second time that week, I found myself knocking on Lisbet's door.

"Chris?" she asked, as she answered the door. "What are you doing here?"

"I went to look for you at the Library, but you weren't there. Is this a bad time"

"No, come in, come in."

She ushered me into her house, and we sat at the dining table, again.

"If this is about the other day," she said, "you should know that I don't have any information about it yet."

"It's not that. Something else happened today."

I told her about my spar with Senga, and how it'd seemed like a strange voice I'd never heard before had helped me win. I also told Lisbet about how the longer I listened to the voice, the more it started to seem like my own.

"And this isn't what you call 'Battle Sense'," Lisbet confirmed, looking worried.

"I'm sure," I assured her.

"How are your mental defenses?"

"Intact."

"Have you lowered them at any point within the last few weeks?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

Her questions were making me nervous, and I was afraid that she suspected that something was horribly wrong. I felt the dread spreading through my body, my heart hammering as I broke out into a cold sweat.

"Okay, Chris," she said, standing up, "here's what we're going to do. First, we're taking you to a Bhisaj to have you checked out completely. If they can't spot anything, I'm taking you to the Agrayodhin. She needs to check your defenses herself."

I just nodded and followed her, trusting her to do what was best. We hurried to the hospital wing of the Academy, and were lucky enough to find it empty. A Doe-Bonded Level 3 Bhisaj examined me in minutes, declaring that there was nothing physically wrong with me. Nodding as if it'd confirmed her suspicions, Lisbet pulled me along to Ronald's class.

Barging in without preamble, she pulled Ronald aside, and appraised him of the situation. Seeing both of them worried was making my own anxiety worse, but Ronald luckily knew exactly where Vaishnavi was at that time. Lisbet and I rushed after him, all three of us augmenting ourselves as soon as we were out of the Academy, and speeding through the forest. A few minutes later, we were standing under the Sacred Tree, where Vaishnavi was meditating.

"Vaish," Ronald whispered to her, crouching in front of her, "we need you."

I wondered whether he'd gotten through to her for a second, since she didn't react at all. Suddenly, she took a deep breath, her eyes fluttering open as she looked around, confused.

"What's going on?" she asked, as she stretched leisurely.

"Chris' mind may be compromised," Lisbet said, the words rushing out of her mouth.

Vaishnavi was instantly more alert, the concern on Ronald and Lisbet's faces now mirrored on her own.

"Chris," she called to me, "come sit in front of me and close your eyes. I need a Mindlink to see if everything is okay."

I did as she asked, unquestioningly opening my mind to her. She didn't waste any time, examining my defenses as soon as we materialized within the mindscape.

"They're completely intact," she said to me, puzzlement coloring her voice. "Why did Lisbet think that you may have been compromised?"