Thelion
03-08-2008, 07:37 AM
<span style="font-size: small;">The young man stood with bow in hand, and target staring him down from better than fifty paces away. He had trained hard and long thus far, though it was not nearly long nor hard enough for the likes of his master, Taindor. Jaxa could not recall the where or why of their meeting, nor of his entering into servitude under the tutelage of the harsh and unforgiving man, though he would not dare forget the lessons he had been taught. The welts across his back and chest bore silent testament to the consequences of forgetting such things, and Jaxa was nothing if not a quick study. To cross Taindor was tantamount to a sentence of torture, and the young man was not eager at all to be subject to such punishments again.He drew the arrow, halting his draw only when he felt the touch of the fletching across his cheek. He held the bow gently though firmly, and ignored the whole of the realm save that small part of it wherein he sought to set the arrow. With a slow and measured motion, he released the shaft, praying that the arrow would find its way to its target without interruption nor distraction. Otherwise would only see the boy to a pain he cared not to imagine.His eyes closed and he found himself holding his breath, offering his entire person if the arrow would but find rest in the mark of his target...Taindor lashed out with the bull whip, the leather striking Jaxa across the shoulders, tearing tunic and flesh in the effort to impart the lesson at hand. "Damned fool!" his master screamed, his rage almost as painful to the young man as the lashing he had taken. "Maybe you didn't hear me, child! It is not enough to hold and release with accuracy. You must believe! You must not think, or hope, or pray that you will strike the target! You much know that you will! Now, again!"Jaxa forced his back to straighten as he drew another arrow from the quiver that lay before him. He knocked the arrow slowly, for he was quite cowed by the terse and terrible manner of his master.He must know.The words echoed in his mind over and over, and even as he pulled the arrow to full to full draw, he realized that he had achieved that which his master had demanded of him for so long.He believed.And as though in harmonic resonance with his belief, the arrow flew wide of its mark, and again, the bull whip lashed out, dropping Jaxa to his knees, pulling tears from his eyes, and an arrogant and unsympathetic kick from his master that sent the young hunter sprawling face first upon the ground."Stand up, you sniveling whelp, and shoot again!"Jaxa did as he was bade, and wondered how long it would take before his master tired of these beatings, and let him be.Or until he himself could no longer stand the pain, and he died there on the practice field.Either option suited the young man just fine.**********Jaxa awoke with a start, the sweat running down his face and cheeks without restraint. The nightmare had come to him again, and he wondered how many more nights he would be cursed with the visions demanded by his dreams. He had been apprentice to the Master Taindor of Qeynos for better than seven years, and each day of that time had offered him only new fodder for his nightmares. He moved to sit up in the make-shift bed, though the pain from the wounds both old and new, convinced him that perhaps a more prudent course of action might be warranted. How many scars did he carry from his day and years of training?Ten?A hundred?A thousand?He chuckled at the irony, for in truth the actual number mattered not at all. He was where he was, and none of the hope, prayer or want would change any of it. He would carry the pain and anguish of it all for the rest of his days.He thought about his time with Taindor, and realized that, though his own pain was quite unbearable, there was a greater pain that he could not ignore, nor deny. How many times had he witnessed Taindor reprimanding one of the younger fighters in his charge, sending the child to pained tears or worse? How many times had Jaxa wanted to intercede, knowing beyond knowing that he could not, nor would if he could? He had stood and watched, listened, and accepted the tortures of his master without question nor conscience, not only to himself, but to those of his own ilk without the strength nor stomach to survive such things.Small consolation then, that he had finally reached his last day of servitude to Taindor. He had completed his training, taken his beatings and learned all that the master had to teach him. Admitting such a thing was perhaps the least arrogant act in which he had seen Taindor engage, and Jaxa wished that it was enough to erase his hatred of the man. Surely he had taught him the means and manner of a killer, but in the cold and grey light of dawn, was that enough to bury nearly a decade of pain and torture? Surely this was not the way of things. Surely there were more civilized ways to bring someone to skill in their chosen profession? Taindor might have been the most knowledgeable warrior that Jaxa had ever seen, and he might have been lucky indeed to be apprenticed to him, but he was also a foul and uncaring monster, who enjoyed inflicting pain as much as he enjoyed offered knowledge.Surely no lesson was worth such a price.Jaxa put such thoughts aside. They mattered not at all, anymore, for he had come to his convocation day; the day he would leave the hearth of his master, and seek his own way in the realm. Still, with as much want as he tried to dismiss such thoughts, he knew he would never be rid of them.Not completely.Without warning, screams of terror called to the young hunter from the compound without, and he jumped to his feet, tossing on his clothing and gathering his twin blades as quickly as he was able. The steel was new and unfamiliar in his hands, for it had been delivered to him as a gift. He had ascended to a post of honor, and such a token from one's master was commonplace, though Jaxa had to admit that accepting such a gift from his pig of a master made him ill at ease, at best. His gatherings complete, he rushed out of the small shack that served as his bed chamber, and burst upon the practice field that separated his hovel from the living quarters of his master.Surely enough, he saw cause there for screaming.Orcs had invaded, and invaded in numbers.Jaxa tried to take accounting of the number of the horde that he saw, though there were far too many for any accurate tally. Almost without thinking, he lifted his blades and set to killing, dropping three orcs before they could know that he was upon them. Another was to him, sword in hand, before Jaxa could realize the happening. He drew his blades and set to melee with the beast, sending it to its end with as much skill as he had the others. His path clear, Jaxa moved forward, determined to discover the heart of the invasion.He fought as a thing possessed, each tremble of pain that he had taken in his training translating into a fury he could never have imagined on the battle field, and it was the orcs that he faced that paid the price for such understanding in blood. One after the other took his blades to their flesh, and died for the want of it.Jaxa stopped for a moment and took his breath, for it was as though he were too tired to go on. As though in answer to his concern, a scream came to him that he knew only too well, and the hunter moved forward, with care, his swords at the ready. He did not have to move far or long before he came to see he that had offered such a scream.Taindor was in the hands of the orcs.They held him to the ground, two at his shoulders and one at his waist, while a fourth stood above him and brandished a wicked looking dagger with hatred burning in his eyes. Jaxa's master struggled mightily, though in truth the reality of his circumstance could not be denied.He was dead, and all in the fracas new it.Jaxa reacted precisely as his training would demand. He raised his blades and readied his stance with a measured intention that would ne'er be denied. It was a though all of his lessons had come back to him through the pain, and forced their way into his consciousness. He did not think he would hit his target. He did not hope, nor want, nor pray that it would be so.He simply knew it.As he readied his attack, his eyes found those of Taindor. They held the gaze of the other for a time, and Taindor let a subtle smile wash over his face. His best student; his most accomplished apprentice had come, and had more skill than was needed to deal with the likes of these that held him.The orcs were dead, and he was free, he knew.Taindor closed his eyes and waited for the absolution that Jaxa offered.It was an absolution that would never come.**********Jaxa walked away from the memories and pain that had plagued him since his apprenticeship had begun. He walked away from the good and the bad, from the right and the wrong of it, and he cared not at all for the end results.He had made his choices, and he would live with them, or die with them.Precisely as Taindor had.Precisely...</span>