The Sunblade Chronicles Ch. 02

"Very well," he agreed. "I am ready." He hoped this was not somehow an enormous mistake, despite his heart telling him that it wasn't.

"Repeat after me," Elaina instructed, leaning forward. Such a sensation of weight settled on the room that Aran didn't even notice the way her cleavage pressed against the front of her blouse. "I am a vessel of Aros."

Aran drew a deep breath. "I am a vessel of Aros."

"I dedicate my body and soul to Aros' will."

"I dedicate my body and soul to Aros' will." Gods, but these words were so final, so absolute. There would be no turning back.

"I will use my gifts to protect and uphold the worthy, and to cast down the unworthy."

"I will use my gifts to protect and uphold the worthy, and to cast down the unworthy." Aran could feel the words settling on him like a tangible thing, embedding themselves into his heart.

After the words were spoken, there was a long silence. Elaina gazed into Aran's eyes for an uncomfortably long time before she stood, waving him back down when went to do the same.

"For tonight, we are done," she told him. "You have taken your first steps into a much larger world, par'vala. Rest now. Eat or bathe if you wish, but know that tomorrow we begin at sunrise."

Looking out the window behind him, Aran thought that dawn might only be a couple of hours away. The events of the night suddenly caught up with him, and weariness flooded into his awareness.

Elaina left the room and closed the door behind her. Exhaling, Aran stood and stripped down before collapsing onto the bed. It was a good feather mattress, soft yet still firm.

His eyes slid shut, and sleep came quickly, even with visions of Heralds and Elves and Dwarves and Paladins whirling around in his head.

*

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CHAPTER 2.3: A Larger World

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Aran's door burst open and crashed against the wall. He sat bolt upright, wide-eyed, heart racing. Had the Heralds found him?

No, it was Elaina darkening his doorway, and Aran's eyes nearly fell out of his head at what she was wearing. The first rays of the morning sun illuminated her quite clearly. She sported a filmy, transparent robe that stopped at her upper thigh, just below her bottom. The lavender garment hid absolutely nothing while creating a sense of allure and eroticism.

Her body was as lush as he had dreamed during his brief sleep. Her breasts were magnificent, sitting large and proud on her chest and showing no hint of sag under their weight. Pink nipples capped the creamy mountains, indenting the robe in two points no larger than the last joint of his little finger.

The sash was tied at her navel, and beneath it Aran could actually see her sex. The cleft between her full thighs was completely bald!

Aran's cock roared to life at the same time he realised he had never crawled beneath the blankets before going to sleep. He cursed and covered himself with his hands. Not knowing what else to do, he sat there blushing as red as the dawn outside.

Elaina regarded him, one hand on a round hip, her face expressionless. "This," she gestured to her robe, "Is a vaima. It is traditional dress for an arohim, except when fighting, or when it is appropriate to dress otherwise. You will wear one, too, but not until you have earned it."

Aran wanted to laugh hysterically. He would not be found dead in something like that!

"That," she pointed at his crotch. "Will happen often during your training until you learn control. Do yourself a favour and get used to it quickly. It will expedite your studies."

Aran wanted to crawl into a hole and die of shame. The most beautiful woman he'd ever seen and here he was sitting naked on his bed trying to cover an erection.

Elaina clapped her hands sharply. "Enough dallying!" Her voice was different than yesterday. It had been soft, feminine, and smoky at times. Now, it was commanding and brisk. "The training yard awaits. Be there in two minutes or you will earn your very first penance before you even begin!"

At that, she flowed from the doorway, giving Aran a very nice look at her behind. If he was confused last night, he was downright flummoxed now! Unable to fully process what was happening, he dumbly climbed from the bed and picked up his satchel. Opening it, he was pleased to find his mother had packed him a spare change of clothes and a heap of food.

His stomach growled loudly when he saw the half-dozen apples, a big packet of dried meat, a loaf of crusty bread wrapped in a cloth, and even some cheese! But he ignored his grumbling belly; something told him he did not want to see what a penance set by Elaina looked like. He dressed quickly and rushed from his room and down the stairs, finding his way to the rear door of the Chapel after making only two wrong turns.

Elaina was waiting in the training yard, standing there in the early morning sun looking like something out of an adolescent fantasy. Golden rays caught her hair, making it glow as it shifted ever so slightly in the soft breeze. Her robe rippled over her body, and Aran's mouth went dry as he looked her over again. He hoped she didn't find it disrespectful, but he couldn't help it!

"Strip," she ordered him as he approached.

Aran froze mid-step. Did he hear her correctly?

"It would be unwise of you to make me repeat myself, par'vala." Her eyes were hard, her tone harder.

Aran's frustration, bewilderment and embarrassment collided inside him, boiling and churning in a maelstrom of emotions. She wants me to take my clothes off! He thought in panic.

Then something snapped, and hot anger bubbled to the surface. He'd fled his home, perhaps for good, only a few hours gone. He'd left behind his mother, his best friend, and a girl he cared about, whom also cared about him. He'd trekked through the bloody Emerin forest all night, only to hear that he was a bloody arohim, of all things! And now here he was, after barely two hours of sleep, dragged down outside by a near-naked woman who might very well be as insane as she was beautiful.

She wants me naked, I'll bloody well get naked! Looking Elaina dead in the eye, he pulled his shirt over his head before lifting each foot to remove his boots. He forced his hands not to shake as he unlaced his breeches and pushed them down to his ankles before stepping out of them.

There was only a moment's hesitation before his smallclothes followed, leaving him as bare as he was born. Regrettably, his erection prevailed, jutting out before him obscenely, but he stubbornly kept his hands at his sides.

'Any minute now, Jered and Jillia and Brago bloody Doonan are going to appear and say this was all a practical joke,' he thought grimly.

"Good," Elaina said nonchalantly. "You will learn to be comfortable with your body. It is your gift, your weapon. It can deliver protection or pleasure at your calling. Being naked enhances your awareness. Close your eyes."

Aran did so, and Elaina began to lecture him. "A Paladin has many abilities. The vala provides us with strength, stamina, endurance. It will keep your body in peak condition and make you immune to sickness and disease.

"It also enhances the senses, giving you awareness of all things around you, out to a certain distance. The stronger you are, the greater the distance."

Her voice was moving. She must be walking circles around him as she spoke. Aran opened his mouth to ask a question, but a sharp "Silence!" from Elaina shut him up.

"The vala also seeks to unify, to bring love and peace. This can happen through friendship, and leadership, but often it is most effective when done through intimacy, passion, and sexual union."

What did she just say?

"That's right, par'vala," Elaina confirmed, her voice now back in front of him. He thought she might be closer than before. "The vala will reach out to those around you and offer you to them in whichever way they are most likely to receive you. At least until you learn to control it." She paused for a moment, then added, "It is amazing how many people, deep down, desire freedom through intimacy above all else."

The voice started moving again. "You will be tested, par'vala. The vala will know the deepest desires of those it touches, and you will have women breaking down your door to lie with you."

That explained what was happening back home over the last few months. All the village girls acting crazy around him.

"You will be tempted," Elaina warned. "The vala will make you a superior lover, and you will be free to taste the delights of any willing woman as many times as you desire. But that is not the true purpose of your gift. It is merely a pleasant consequence."

This was starting to feel more like a dream with every word. He could have anyone he wanted? Gods, what would that be like?

"You must respect it!" Elaina barked. "It is the power to unify, to align, to merge, to bring peace. But it can cause chaos if not used with care. Imagine this ability unleashed in a town, or city, where thousands of people reside. All eyes would turn to you, and your passing would be like a boulder thrown in a pond.

"Remember that you are arohim, and much of the Human world believes you to be evil, corrupt, perverted, according to the so-called teachings of the Heralds of Dawn. Keeping a low profile will serve you well.

"Your training will last approximately one year, par'vala. You are not to engage in any sexual activity whatsoever during this time with the exception of self-stimulation, else the pact we made will be voided."

Aran was undecided how he felt about that. He'd never been with a woman, so he didn't know what he was missing out on, really. He knew he wanted to try it, though. And a whole year with Elaina running around dressed like that? He wanted to groan in frustration.

"Conversely," Elaina continued. Your vala will not become fully available to you until you do have sex. This is the safest way to train par'vala, and it is the way it has always been done. You will spend the next year learning the necessary skills to control your vala when it fully manifests."

Elaina said nothing for a time, and Aran wondered if she was still there.

"Open your eyes," she said finally. Aran did so, finding her standing directly in front of him. Her eyes seemed to dig into his soul. Her lips called him to kiss them, her body begged him to touch it...

His cock throbbed insistently, and she was standing so close it almost brushed her robe. He wanted her more than he'd ever wanted anything in his life.

"This," she told him softly, her voice back to that sultry tone from yesterday. "Is just a taste of what the vala can do." After a moment she stepped away and the intense desire ebbed, leaving Aran with merely the more ordinary level of desire a man would feel for a woman such as Elaina.

"Now," she said briskly. "It is time for your first exercise. Attend me."

Aran did his best to focus on her words and not her lush body as she began teaching him the basics of fighting with hands and feet. The art was called mohar, and five minutes into the lesson, Aran could tell it was going to be a long journey.

*

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CHAPTER 2.4: Training

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"Get up!" Elaina bellowed from where she stood over him. Her feet were set shoulder width apart, the right foot back a little, and her hands were held upright in front of her chest, fists loosely closed.

Aran was lying flat on his back in the dirt yet again. He'd been flipped, tossed, shoved and tripped a hundred times since this morning, and his sweat-soaked skin was caked in grit. His body ached all over from head to toe as he squinted up at the sky, noting with dread it was only just past midday. How much longer would he have to endure this torture?

With a laboured grunt, he pulled himself to his feet, for once not stopping to ogle Elaina's all-but-bare form. Her lack of covering was bothering him less and less by the hour. He was becoming more concerned with surviving the day than he was getting an eyeful.

He rubbed his chest with a wince. Who knew a woman could hit that hard? He wouldn't make that mistake again. Mostly she'd been displaying ways to tumble your opponent, to use his body weight and forward motion against him. The punch had caught him by surprise.

To Aran, she was no longer the most attractive woman in the world. She was a bloody caged tiger, and he was stuck in the cage with her.

No sooner had he set his feet in the base stance of the mohar than Elaina came at him again, her feet sliding smoothly across the dirt. It was a rather elegant form, a little like dancing, though much more violent.

Her jade eyes were hard, her brow drawn down in focus. Aran tried to follow her movements, to study what she was doing. She threw a fist at his face, but this time he saw it coming and knocked it aside, turning her just above the elbow as she'd shown him. She spun with the momentum and came back around with the other elbow, aimed at his sternum.

'She's too fast!' Panicked, and not wanting to take more hits, he stepped backwards. She followed with a kick aimed at his gut, and Aran's alarm melted before a sudden surge of anger. 'What's she trying to do? Knock my bloody head off? It's my first bloody day!'

Time slowed down, and Aran's body was flooded with warmth that quickly became heat. Elaina was poised on her left foot, and her right heel was slowly extending toward his middle as if she were pushing through molasses.

This was what had happened with Brago and the rock. With a smug grin, Aran seized her ankle with his left hand and kicked out with his right foot, intending to take her other leg out.

His grin slipped when she leaped into the air and spun faster than thought, lashing out with a kick that took him flush in the right ear. There was a moment of blackness before his vision returned, sparkling at the edges. His ear was ringing like a bell, and throbbing like mad.

His cheek was pressed into the dirt again. Blinking, he pushed himself up, shaking his head. 'Mad bloody woman! How am I supposed to learn to fight when I'm on the bloody ground all day?' He wanted to shout, to curse at her, but his mother had raised him better than that.

"That was good," Elaina said. She relaxed her stance, dropping her arms by her sides. "You touched your vala that time."

"It didn't bloody help me," Aran muttered, wiggling a finger in his ringing ear. "And I didn't have much choice, did I? You were trying to beat me to a pulp!"

She stepped closer, a small smile on her lips. Aran suddenly became very aware of Elaina the woman again. "Your vala will not respond if I sit you down and feed you sweetcakes all day, par'vala," she said sternly. "You must be pushed. Think back to other times you accessed its power. What was happening?"

She was right. Brago and the rock, and then later when the big oaf attacked Aran behind the inn. He nodded reluctantly. "I apologise," he said sincerely.

"It is nothing," she replied curtly. "But do not make a habit of talking back, else I will stop pulling my punches." Her level look showed she meant it. "Again!" She barked, stepping back a few feet and lifting her hands.

Aran groaned inwardly. His arms protested as he raised them, but he set his jaw and readied himself anyway. 'I'll be damned if I give up after only a few hours. She's going to have to break me in half before I quit! I'm doing this for you, Ma.'

Elaina swept forward again, and Aran met her as best he could.

*

The sun was just above the western treetops when Aran was finally allowed to limp back toward the Chapel. A few minutes ago, Elaina had abruptly announced today's lesson finished before marching off, leaving Aran to drag himself from the yard alone.

He felt like he'd been pulled backwards through a knothole. He was a mass of bruises and scrapes, and he was sure he had several strained muscles. He'd long forgotten about not being permitted clothing, but what Elaina said about nudity heightening one's awareness of one's body applied to the good and the bad.

Never in his life had he been so exhausted. Not even when he'd spent three days forking hay for Jered's pa from sunup to sundown. With a strained grunt, he pushed the heavy blackwood door open and went inside.

'She could have left the bloody door open for me,' he grumbled internally as he slowly made his way toward the bath chamber. It would take him an hour to get clean, and that's if he didn't pass out in the bath and drown.

The sunstones in the hall were alight, indicating Elaina had passed through recently. When he reached the bath chamber, he stopped in surprise. Elaina was in there, down on one knee and lighting the fire on the right wall. The left one was already crackling, freshly lit.

She straightened, turning to him. The sunstones in here were still dark, and the firelight played across her creamy skin. She still wore her vaima, her mind-addling body as clear to him as if she were nude. As worn out as he was, Aran's heart kicked over a little faster. A warm, gentle hum started up in his gut; his vala coming to life again.

Three more times today he had briefly brushed the strange power, though it had aided him not. His humiliating trouncing had continued uninterrupted the whole day.

"You worked hard today," Elaina said, strolling around to the valves set in the floor on the opposite side of the bath from entryway. She knelt to start the water running, and as she turned the valve, two steady streams began to flow from the two round holes in the side of the deep stone recess. The bath began to fill quicker than Aran thought it would. At this rate, it would be full in minutes.

He said nothing as Elaina rose and looked across the bath at him. He was barely able to keep himself upright. He went to lean against the stone wall, then grunted at a sharp pain. That's right; he'd fallen hard on that shoulder earlier. He was sure it was heavily bruised, but it was hard to tell due to the thick coating of dirt and dust clinging to his skin.

"I thought we could bathe together," she suggested, reaching for the sash of her robe. Her voice had changed back to how it was yesterday. A soft, smoky caress that promised pleasure unknown.

Aran's gut fluttered as she pulled the knot loose on the sash. Her robe came open, though it caught on the insides of her magnificent breasts, leaving a strip of bare skin down her midriff. Her smooth, bald sex was visible between her generous thighs, just below her flat belly.

The heat inside him flared again, hotter this time, and Aran felt his cock begin to lengthen despite his weariness. His skin tingled uncomfortably, particularly where he'd taken hits today.

"Would that be acceptable?" She asked coyly, knowing full well that no man with an ounce of blood inside him would deny her. A small smile curved her lush lips.

Aran just nodded, too tired to be embarrassed about his nudity or his wayward prick. "This is your home," he sighed. "You don't need to ask me."

She nodded. "This is true, though I thought I would observe manners, in this instance." She shrugged her shoulders and the robe slipped to the ground, leaving her completely nude. The steam billowing from the water below shrouded the voluptuous beauty, giving her an ethereal cast, like a siren standing in a sea of fog.

Aran squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, wondering if this was all some crazy dream. When he opened them though, Elaina was stepping gracefully down into the water on the left side of the bath, where steps were cut in. Her breasts swayed gently with every step, a hypnotic dance that made his loins ache with desire.

Once submerged to her shoulders, Elaina sighed contentedly. "You should get in, Aran," she said languidly, floating on her back with her eyes closed. "It's perfect."