The Celestial Paladin
CHAPTER 7
A TIME TO PREPARE
Rodregas woke up first, at dawn. He stayed in his bed just thinking and reviewing all that he had gone through in the last few days; it was a lot to adjust to. When the others got up they ate some of the supplies, including the last of the fresh bread. They had plenty of cheese and, at the moment, an endless supply of apples.
Rodregas had an idea about how he wanted to start this new day. “Doi’van, Imeralda,” he said getting their attention. “I have not told you much about my past. But, as a teenager I served as a squire of the knightly Order of the Soaring Heavens”.
At their nod he added,”I was never raised to knighthood, as I had neither the noble lineage nor the martial prowess. My life as a squire was a good life, one I appreciated more afterwards than when I was living it. Both the knights and the squires always started off the day with a prayer to the Celestial Gods. I have not done this in over forty years, but I am going to start again and I would like you to join me if you would.”
The two looked at Rodregas, they were very different people, but they both seemed unsure what to say to his request.
Finally, Doi’van nodded at Imeralda and said to Rodregas, “It has been too long since I have prayed as well, it would be good for the soul. Please lead us in prayer.” Imeralda did not say anything, but she nodded and followed the two of them outside.
Rodregas knelt in the grass facing the sun, the sign of the All-Father in the celestial heavens. He reached out and wove his fingers together; he pulled his thumbs down and opened his woven hands in the ancient symbol of opening oneself to the gods.
“Dear Celestials in the heavens, we open our hearts to you and we accept our duties as your warriors here in the world. Let your courage fill our hearts and your strength fill our arms. May we know the guidance of your twin children, Honor and Justice.”
He then knelt down and pulled one of the two short swords from his weapon harness; he crossed his arms and laid the blade across his own upper arms. It was possible, only with great concentration to do this without dropping the sword or cutting himself. His instructor had taught the squires this simple prayer. It guaranteed that the squires stayed focused during meditation.
Doi’van and Imeralda looked at him as he knelt in the grass with the sword naked on his bare arms. Rodregas spoke carefully so as not to tip the sword and said, “It is called sword meditation. My instructor would start us out with the prayer and then we would meditative on our duty.”
“For how long?” asked Imeralda.
“Until you are sure of what your duty is,” Rodregas replied, hearing the voice of his old drill Knight Captain. All the instructors had been retired knights who enjoyed teaching the squires. He did not think the two would join him for this but both pulled their weapons and imitated his position, Doi’van with his large great sword balanced on his powerful arms, Imeralda grabbed her bow instead of a short sword, which with her lack of training was probably a good idea.
Rodregas focused inwards and resumed his meditation. He was finding it wonderful to do the meditation again; Rodregas had a lot of good memories from his life as a squire, before everything had gone wrong. Part of him felt uncomfortable for doing this again, like he no longer had the right. But once you are raised from Page to Squire as he had been, you always got to keep the title of Squire.
Squires who were not raised to knighthood were much sought after; their martial training and their education, especially in law and etiquette, were a great foundation for many careers. As Rodregas knelt on the ground balancing the sword across his arms, and the sun warm on his face, he thought back to that time when he had used his Squire title to get into the officer academy in the Ramig Empire. Though giving up his dream of becoming a Knight of the Soaring Heavens had been hard, Rodregas had thought that he would become a successful officer in the army. Unfortunately, things had gone far amiss and he had never known success.
Rodregas shook his head. He was focusing on the distant past, not his duty. That is what this meditation was all about, so what was his duty now? Killing Immortalists was not something that he, or even the three of them together, could just start doing. The problem was not just the individual Immortalist; many an angry town would have killed the local Immortalist Sorcerer after having their people taken.
Anyone that struck back at an individual Immortalist would face the wrath of the Guild of the Celestial Path, which included not just the god-like power of the Guild Master and his various sorcerers, but also the army of the Guild known as The Immortal Guards.
While not a large army, they were the most feared warriors in the world. The leader of The Immortal Guards was called the Commander General, and Rodregas knew of his deeds and background though he had never met him. General Rigoria had once been the Grand Marshal of the same Knightly Order that had trained Rodregas.
The Order was unique in that it trained not just in the various martial arts but also in the magical, and recruited those who had magical power, but lacked the temperament or intelligence to be a sorcerer. Instead of working toward the power of sorcery, they underwent the Sigil ceremony, gaining a magical enhancement but losing the versatility of a true mage. Gaining such sigils was outlawed by the guide except for their own warriors, but the Order of the Soaring Heavens was also the traditional sources for the Gods own Paladins, and even the Celestial Guild had never dared to anger the gods by interfering with their use of sigils.
Rigoria had been one of the greatest of the Order of the Soaring Heavens, but he had grown old and his health had failed him. When tempted by the Immortalists with a new body, he had accepted. Even though such action was anathema to the very teachings of the Order, he had become an officer of the Immortal Guards, and eventually their leader. Several of the most powerful Knights had over the centuries, formed the officer core of The Immortal Guards. These Knights traded their honor for near immortality in the Guards.
The Immortal Guards were all sigil warriors with one or several magical enhancements. They also had the best resources of the entire Eastern Realm, the most powerful enchanted armor, the best weapons; their officers rode Dire Beasts for steeds. Taking on a sigil warrior would be a huge challenge for Rodregas, or at least he thought it would be. He was still unclear of how strong and fast he was. His stomach hurt from his wound, but not as badly as it should. Clearly, the first step in his duty was to heal up from his wound and relearn how to fight in his new body.
When he got up, Imeralda was already standing but Doi’van remained kneeling in thought. He nodded to Imeralda and she quietly followed him back into the barn. About ten minutes later Doi’van joined them and they started to plan how to clean up the barn.
There was also the matter of the house, which was a more natural place for the three of them to shelter, but Rodregas was unsure of the Dire Cats. They decided to spend the rest of the morning cleaning up the barn for the horses, and then, after lunch, Rodregas would go and see if he could figure out the intentions of the lionesses.
With the three of them working, they cleaned up the barn quickly. While they were able to move the dirt and debris out, it was still just bare walls and stone floors. After a brief meal, Rodregas headed over to the main house.
Rodregas admitted to himself that he was nervous. The Dire Cats where magnificent beasts. He had no desire to hurt them, and less to be killed by them; but was unsure of how they could share the farm with them.
Like the barn, the house was made of perfect cut stone that looked almost new; everything else had gone back to nature. Rodregas circled around to the back where the stone steps led to the cellar. He was sure that originally that there had had doors covering the entrance, but of course, they were long gone.
Rodregas smelled what he would find well before he came around the corner. Next to the entrance was the corpse of a large bear which had recently been killed and partly eaten. It had been a magnificent creature, the largest of the local black bears that he had eve
r seen. Rodregas realized that it had been a Dire beast, drawn here by the safe magical energies.
Next to the dead bear were the two Dire Cats. Rodregas had gone around the corner thinking they were in the cellar, but instead found himself no more than twenty feet from them. He froze; the two cats seemed to be expecting him. They both watched him with steady eyes. One reached out with a huge paw and dragged the dead bear’s body closer. Did it think he was here to steal it?
The danger of the Dire Cats was crystal clear. He had not even heard them fighting, and yet they had killed a Dire Bear while Rodregas and the others slept! The good news was that they both seemed very full, and if anything, had a sleepy look to them. Rodregas guessed that he had awakened them from a nap.
Rodregas had to remind himself that he needed to develop an understanding with the lionesses. Predators like them worked on a very simple alpha relationship; the strong ruled. They were Dire beasts, but he was the equivalent of a Celestial Beast. He was alpha; pound for pound Rodregas would be stronger and quicker than even these two beasts.
Of course, each animal seemed to weigh almost twice as much as he did. Still, Rodregas knew with sudden clarity that he needed to establish himself as the one in charge. If he did not establish his leadership, the next time the Dire Cats were hungry they would try eating one of his party, or at least one of the horses.
Rodregas walked over to the bear corpse and as he approached, both cats seemed to fully wake up and took on a crouch stance. He pretended to ignore them and pulled one of his short swords out, in a casual way.
Rodregas kept his focus on the bear; he knew that lionesses in prides do most of the hunting and the alpha males simply ate after the kill was done. He started to cut away a large chunk of the bear’s haunch to take back to the barn for their dinner. One of the lionesses growled and bit down on the haunch not far from him. His heart stopped for a moment. Rodregas thought she was going to take his hand for a second.
With his free hand he made a fist and slammed the side of her head. Not with all his strength, but still a serious hit. She grunted and let go, growled and stepped over the bear’s body. He slowly reached up, and using the full strength of his body, pushed hard on her muscular chest, pushing her away from the bear’s haunch. He then ignored her and went back to cutting the haunch loose. He waited but the two lionesses seemed to have gone from aggression to napping, with him missing the transition.
Slowly, Rodregas got up with his bear haunch and took it back to the barn. He met the surprised look of Doi’van and Imeralda with a half smile, “I hope you like the taste of bear?” As he was unsure of how old the meat was, he immediately started a fire and started to cook it. As he worked on preparing the fire he explained what had happened.
“Are you suicidal?” asked Imeralda in an angry voice. “I know you felt they were not a danger, but to walk up and take the food from two Dire Cats? That is just asking to be killed.” Her voice was unusually high pitched and she was shaking her head in disbelief.
“The Dire Bear must have been living in the cellar,” said Doi’van. “I bet they actually had to go in and kill it there. We probably did not hear the battle because it was underground. They probably dragged it out after. It is said that Dire meat makes you strong. Not sure if that is true though.” His voice, in contrast to Imeralda’s, sounded completely normal.
“Don’t you care that he did something so stupid?” asked Imeralda.
“Well,” Doi’van replied slowly, “the cats are obviously connected to him due to his Celestial lion essence. He freed them and now he has found a rich place for them to rear their young if they are pregnant from the mating. But with beasts like that, you are either in charge or you are game. I think that he probably did the right thing. No way to know for sure, but they did not rip him apart, so we will say he was very brave and not very stupid.”
Then he added, “Of course, if you had asked me before hand, I would have said that taking food from a Dire Cat was a very stupid idea.” He finished with a smile full of sharp teeth almost a match for the lions and in a casual movement lowered his horned head in what Rodregas thought might be his equivalent of a shrug.
The next morning they repeated the Morning Prayer and meditation ritual. This time while Doi’van joined in, Imeralda mostly watched. Afterwards Rodregas said to both, “I have been thinking that we are probably going to be here a few weeks while I finish healing up from the knife wound. I want to make the most of the time.”
Doi’van said, “I have a feeling that you have some sort of training in mind.”
Rodregas nodded and said, “I have developed some bad habits the last few years; I know my technique is rusty and now my timing is all off with my new body. I am not sure what your training backgrounds are, though.” He said, waving at Imeralda, who often of late was holding her Black Yew bow close with an intimacy that spoke more of a caress than holding a weapon, “Clearly, Imeralda likes the bow.” Rodregas continued, “Even though Imeralda plans to stay out of the middle of things, learning some basic hand-to-hand and sword fighting is a good idea. Doi’van and I can spar with each other, which will help us get used to fighting against the sigil warriors of The Immortal Guard. So, I think we should practice every morning until noon, then work to try to get the farm cleaned up during the rest of the day. At dusk we can work again on our fighting technique.”
Doi’van nodded and said, “Before we battle a group of Immortalists or The Immortal Guards, we need to get some decent armor and weapons. They will have the finest equipment that the Guild sorcerers can make or buy. While the two of us might be a match for most of the sigil warriors’ one on one, their equipment will make them hard to beat.”
“I agree that has to be something we figure out,” Rodregas said, “but, I am actually thinking decent horses might be more important first.”
“Horses? How will that help us in battle?” asked Doi’van. Rodregas responded, “Well, a true trained war horse can help directly, but what I am worried about is escaping after an attack. Even if we have a successful raid against an Immortalist, we will need to be far away before a large group of The Immortal Guard can track us down. The Immortal Guards, or at least their officers, use Dire Steeds. If we are mounted on regular horses and they come after us on Dire Steeds, well, they will track us down and outnumber us the first time we strike.” Doi’van nodded at that. Rodregas had the impression that he had not thought of anything but the actual fight.
Imeralda said, “Ok, that is all fine. You two need to find Dire Steeds and magic armor and weapons before you fight the Immortal Guards. Good luck finding that up here in the mountains. What I need, and I think you two do as well; is to practice magic.”
Imeralda smirked at their expressions. She continued, “Look, I am partly being selfish. Once I have sufficient control, they cannot steal my magic. So, while I don’t disagree that it would be a good idea for me to practice some fighting skills, I also think we should all think of practicing magic.”
She paused and said in a flat tone that highlighted her seriousness, “The Immortal Guards are made of sigil warriors who have sacrificed their ability to cast magic spells for one or more permanent enhancements. This makes them powerful warriors, but also limits their magic to the one or two sigil abilities. We need some sort of counter to this advantage. If we practice our magic every day, we should make a little progress even without any teachers or books.” She finished with an upturned eyebrow.
She seemed to think that Rodregas was going to challenge her statement, and argue that they should just focus on the martial training. However, Rodregas had been a squire of the Order of the Soaring Heavens, one of the few orders that required magical learning of all its members and one of the few groups that knew the secrets of Sigil Searing, the permanent inscription of sigils onto one’s magic.
Unfortunately, the secret of sigil magic was given only to those who made knighthood. Still, one had to learn enough
magic to make the inscribing possible and that early training he had.
“I totally agree,” Rodregas said. “I know only what is taught a squire of our Order, but that I am happy to share. Hopefully, we can learn the basics from each other. I also have a few books that I took from Ravenhurr’s library. I was going to sell them, but if you want to look at them later and see if there are any that might be of use, you can check them out,” Rodregas said.
“Really, you have books on magic?” she asked with an eager tone. "Can you show me now?”
Rodregas hesitated; he did not want to show her the books right away. Instead, he wanted to see what kind of training Doi’van had. But he had never been able to turn down a beautiful woman. “Sure,” he said walking back to the barn and the wagon. Rodregas jumped on the back, making the wagon squeal in alarm at his weight, and opened ‘his’ trunk and pulled out the last blanket left in it, the one he had wrapped the books up in.
Rodregas unrolled the blanket on the back of the now mostly empty wagon showing the dozen books that he had saved from Ravenhurr’s library. Imeralda reached out for one of the closest, but then stopped as her fingers touched them, as if a spark of lightning had hit her. Obviously, she could feel that same power Rodregas had. That was interesting.
She then ran her hand from one to the next until she had touched all twelve books. Then, she looked up and her expression reminded Rodregas of some girl who had gotten the perfect mid winter gift that she had been dreaming of.
“These are not books on magic,” she said. “These are Grimoires, several of them of great power.”
“Really?” Rodregas said, “I was a squire who learned a little magic, but I really can’t say that I know the difference between a book of magic and a Grimoire.”
Imeralda looked surprised and said, “Oh, you guys must depend on the oral tradition. That is a hard way to learn. The symbols and geometric figures that form a powerful spell are often too complex to learn from just the spoken word.”
Rodregas cut in and clarified, “I mean, in the order we did read books on magic theory and history, but I never felt energy from them before.”
Imeralda nodded, “Let me explain. First, you have a lot more power now, and power calls to power. So, you are a lot more sensitive to the power that the books have. But what separates Grimoires from other books is that they are made like the stone walls of these buildings, by Nymphs. It is thought that the original reason was simply to have books that would not rot over a period of centuries, but the nymph-created paper and leather can hold a faint imprint of magic.
“Each time that the sorcerers cast a spell from the book, it lightly engraved the pattern into the paige. A mage can sense the previous patterns in the book. The ability of such books to show the pattern of the spell means that even a mage who knows a spell by heart can cast it faster by using such a book. It also means that such books are much sought after and never given up freely. Grimoires are nearly never sold, unless the owner dies.”
She paused to make sure they were both following her and then continued, “While the Grimoires are a great tool for quick and accurate casting of a spell, it is even more potentially useful for someone trying to learn magic. Reading a regular book with the spell written down and trying to keep all the symbols and shapes just right in your head even as you fill the complex shape with power requires years to learn. But a powerful Grimoire can quickly show you the shape and help you learn new spells in weeks, instead of years.
“Also, sorcerers, like all people, learn in different ways. Some can quickly grasp a written idea where others will struggle to learn from a book. Or, a magician who is also a gifted musician will understand the flow and pace of the spell much better, like a piece of music. The most powerful Grimoires have had multiple users who are very different in their learning styles. Books like these will allow you not to just learn the spells the best way for you, but in a much deeper, complex way. Spells learned this way can be much more powerful than spells learned from either a regular book or the oral traditions.”
“How powerful and complex do you think the books we have are?” Rodregas asked.
Imeralda smiled and seemed hesitant before saying, “I have no idea. I have touched Grimoires, but I have never been allowed to read one before.”
“Really?” Rodregas answered in surprise. “Well, looks like we are going to have to start using these books,” he said. Doi’van was clearly listening; his huge body very still, but he had not said anything. “What do you say, Doi’van, are you ready to learn some magic? I saw how you reacted to the ley line; you clearly have some power.”
Doi’van tilted his head to me and said, “Really, do you think so? I do feel something now and then, but I have never been tested. People see me and how strong I am, they just assume I don’t have magic for some reason.”
“Wish I had that problem,” Rodregas said. “I mean before, people always used to assume I had neither brawn nor brains.” With a smile he added, “What do you say? Shall the three of us set some time aside to teach each other what we know of magic and see what we can learn from these magic books of Ravenhurr’s?” he asked.
“No,” said Doi’van. “I mean, yes, I would like to learn what you can teach me. I like to learn,” he said slowly but carefully. The big guy was embarrassed. Then he added, “I am afraid my people are not big readers, and, well, they saw me as half-monster and I never learned how to read.” The last words he added very slowly, but then quickly added, “But if you can teach me some basics from the oral techniques that Imeralda mentioned, I would like to learn some magic if I can.”
Rodregas looked at Doi’van; there was something about his expression, a yearning. “Do you want to learn to read?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” Doi’van asked, stepping away from the other two like he was uncomfortable.
“Just what I said, would you like to learn to read?” Rodregas said in a carefully casual voice.
Doi’van responded, “We don’t have time for me to learn to read. You should spend time practicing with these Grimoires. It makes no sense to teach me to read when we are likely to see battle too soon for it to be helpful.” Doi’van’s voice, which was always deep, seemed to have gone down several octaves, such that the earth almost seemed to vibrate. Somehow, while the conversation on magic Grimoires had been of interest to him, the idea of learning to read seemed to terrify him.
Rodregas knew the feeling of wanting something so much that you are afraid to accept it when offered, for fear of failing.
“Well,” Rodregas said, “I think it might come in handy to have you able to read. And if we survive the summer and are holed up here all winter, you might be able to start reading some of these books by then. I fear that I am not a very good teacher, but I have managed to teach a few soldiers over the years who wanted to learn.”
At their nod Rodregas added, “After our noon meal, let’s plan on making it book time. We don’t have a decent lamp to read by, so we will have to do it during the day. We can start by teaching each other any basic magic we know. Then I will work with you on learning to read while Imeralda starts going through these books to see if any of them have some simple stuff that we can work on.” Rodregas finished in his best sergeant’s voice. It held a tone that let everyone simply know that a decision has been made.
Imeralda seemed glued to the books, but Doi’van and Rodregas went to work on cleaning up the rest of the barn. They would not be able to do much more without getting some timber. They all worked or read until it was too dark and than they fell asleep quickly.
The next morning, after they had finished Morning Prayer, Rodregas said, “Alright, are you two ready for a little fighting practice?” At their nod he added, “It is always good to start with the basics. I thought we would go over some fighting forms. Are you two familiar with learning forms, also known as Kata?” he asked. He was expecting Imeralda to shake her head but was a little sur
prised that Doi’van did as well. He clearly knew how to fight.
Rodregas started to explain, “Forms are a series of motions that mock fighting, but also give you an opportunity to work on balance and to visualize and understand your actions and responses to different fighting situations. While strength and speed are important for any kind of fighting whether it is hand-to-hand or swords fighting, good technique is all about balance and center of gravity. What you want to learn is to keep your center low and your balance strong even when you are tired and exhausted.” Doi’van had his normal interested expression, but Imeralda looked unconvinced.
“Ok,” he said, “time for an example. Imeralda stand tall,” Rodregas stated. She put her shoulders back, which caused her firm, rounded breast’s to thrust out. Rodregas didn’t think she meant the gesture to be sexual, but he hesitated at the sight of her superbly shaped body. Rodregas ignored his own rush of hormones and pushed her high on the shoulder and she stumbled back.
“Now,” he said, “lower your center of gravity. Bend your legs, but keep them loose.” She followed his instructions, and he thought this would make her look less striking, but she went from a statuesque dancer to a crouching feline. He breathed in through his nose and tried to ignore his newly youthful hormones.
This time when he pushed her shoulder she went back but did not stumble. “See, you stayed in control. You stumble in a fight and you are dead. With your center low you have control. You are ready to dodge and to strike back as needed. Plus, you have leverage. If you develop good foot work and keep them moving and you keep your center of gravity low, you can win against stronger but less-disciplined fighters.”
They both nodded, for the moment convinced. “Now watch and try to learn this basic form.” Rodregas stepped into position; his knees deeply bent, his hands loose but raised just below his shoulders. He stepped forward and raised his left arm in a sweeping block and then he took another step and struck out in a swift blow to an imagined attacker with his right hand. While he followed a set form in his mind, he also saw his invisible attacker and he struck like he was really there, his blow stopping only when they met the invisible attacker’s form. After sharing a few basic blocks and strikes, he stopped and faced the other two again, and said, “Now, I will repeat that and then you two can take a turn.”
Learning to fight through mastering one’s own form was new to both, and they struggled to follow his example. Doi’van often over reached any possible opponent, while Imeralda’s movements had little of real strength or violence behind them. She kept dropping her hands and leaving herself open to attack.
He restarted slowly going over the first form’s footwork, even the small moves caused his stomach wound to bleed and he guessed he probably needed to wrap it tighter after he was done.
Rodregas kept repeating the most basic form until he felt they were starting to get their center of gravity down, but keeping their feet free to move and their hands up ready to block. He was enjoying teaching Kata, both for himself and because they were both eager students and learned quickly.