Truancy Origins (23 page)

“The first step towards conquering your fear, Umasi, is
understanding
it,” the boy said patiently, knocking aside a feeble attack by Umasi. “They say that you fear the unknown, and there is truth in that. More significant, however, is that fear
is
the unknown.”

Umasi said nothing but gripped the hilt of his sword, raising it challengingly as he glared intensely at his spectral opponent. The boy regarded Umasi for a moment, his blade lowered at his side. A split second later, he lunged, his body suspended horizontally in midair as it swung its sword around in a powerful arc at Umasi's neck.

“Understand the nature of weapons, and you will be undefeatable.”

Umasi had been anticipating an attack and easily blocked the blow, but the attack possessed such impossible force that the next thing Umasi knew, he was hurtling backwards through the air like a rag doll.

“Understand the nature of death, and you will be immortal.”

Umasi hurtled through the air disoriented, and the wind rushed in his ears as he plummeted—but despite all that, the boy's echoing words couldn't have sounded clearer; they whispered at him from all directions as if their source was inside his own head.

“Understand the nature of failure, and you will be
unstoppable.
”

Umasi finally hit the ground, his right shoulder slamming down first and taking the brunt of the blow. After that initial impact, Umasi bounced once and then rolled a few more painful yards before coming to rest, chest heaving as his newly battered limbs ached.

“So, tell me Umasi,” the figure called mockingly from a distance. “What is this? A dream, or a nightmare?”

Umasi forced himself to his feet as his muscles groaned in protest, raising the sword that he had somehow managed to grip even as he was thrown through the air.

“I'm . . . not . . . scared!” Umasi breathed defiantly.

Umasi lunged, rushing recklessly at the smirking figure. His bones rattled painfully with each heavy step that he took, and even as he increased his pace, he knew that his efforts were hopeless. Still, Umasi ignored himself and only continued to charge at his motionless foe, his sword stubbornly raised.

“There's brave, and then there's careless,” the boy chided. “It's time that you learned the difference, Umasi. Bravery can be a strength. Recklessness is never anything but a weakness.”

In spite of this warning, the shadow remained perfectly still as Umasi hurtled towards him. Possessing none of the boy's impossible speed, Umasi had only covered half the ground between then when suddenly what felt like a wall of freezing wind slammed into Umasi, bowling him over.

“Having problems?” the boy asked sympathetically, looking completely unaffected by the gale. “You haven't been able to lift a finger against the cold while awake, I'm not surprised that it's the same here.”

Umasi's eyes widened, and memories of ice and chilling cold came rushing back. Umasi suddenly found himself shivering, his eyes shut and head aching furiously as the relentless wind pounded at him. Still he stood his ground, but moved no farther even as the wind subsided, paralyzed by indecision. He felt a heavy feeling in his heart, and as his limbs grew numb he realized that he had failed.

“Beaten so easily?” the boy said, disappointed. “Come on, we can't have that.”

The figure swiftly swung his sword three times through thin air, and there was the whistling of something sharp rushing through the air. Umasi opened his eyes and saw nothing . . . and that's when he felt something like wind slice right through his shirt and skin. A instant later, the pain erupted and Umasi stared downwards to see three long gashes across his chest. The wounds were shallow, but they bled profusely, were white and numb with sudden cold.

“Well now, I see that you're moving again,” the boy said cheerfully. “At least the vagrants have already taught you to struggle when someone threatens your life directly.”

Umasi's head snapped up as he glared furiously at his enemy, pain and cold forgotten as he readied his sword. The boy smiled back, and then took a single step forward. There was a sound of billowing wind, and then a powerful gust propelled the boy through the air with even more speed and force than ever before. Bracing himself, Umasi stood his ground and arced his blade around at his oncoming foe. Their swords collided with the impossible force that Umasi had come to expect, but this time he gritted his teeth and dug his feet into the ground, even as the freezing wind that had propelled his opponent forward slammed into him. Umasi was pushed back, but not thrown.

“Better!” the boy exclaimed, again swinging his sword diagonally at Umasi.

Umasi blocked the blow, but there was more force behind the deceptively casual attack than any before it. Taken completely by surprise, Umasi was flung into the air again, his ascent aided by another gust of wind that followed in the sword's wake. However, this time Umasi swiftly recovered from his shock and, feeling completely calm as he soared through the air, performed a midair somersault before landing elegantly on his feet. The boy looked delighted as Umasi turned to gaze at him serenely.

There was a moment of perfect stillness, and then the boy's arm snapped
forward, launching his sword like a bullet. Umasi neatly sidestepped the projectile as his enemy outstretched his arm again to catch another sword that descended from the sky as if by unspoken command.

Umasi lunged again, but this time his steps were steady, his breathing was even, and his mind was focused. The boy, however, grinned confidently as Umasi charged, and raised his new sword lazily in defense. Umasi's eyes narrowed, and he struck as soon as he came within range. The two blades clashed, and for a moment nothing happened.

Then Umasi's blade began to crack, and then shattered into a thousand glittering pieces as though it were made of glass. The boy laughed, and swung his sword at Umasi's neck. Umasi blocked the blow with his bare hilt alone, and his opponent's laughter was suddenly cut short as he outstretched his arm to grasp a new sword that obediently descended from the sky. A determined gleam shone in Umasi's eyes as he tossed the old hilt aside, and the boy frowned beneath his hood as he launched himself into the air, flying up to seize one of the many swords still hovering above.

“That wasn't bad, Umasi,” the boy admitted, “but now is when your real test begins.”

“No,” Umasi disagreed quietly.

“No?” the boy asked, suddenly sounding uncertain.

“No,” Umasi repeated firmly. “I don't know if this is a dream or a hallucination or even an afterlife . . . but I do know that this is no nightmare.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I'm not afraid of you at all,” Umasi answered simply.

“That's admirable, but Umasi,” the shadow warned, “don't forget that even the fearless can die.”

The boy suddenly shot downwards at Umasi, and as he did there was a burst of black smoke from which emerged three identical figures, each wielding a sword. Umasi managed to block the first blade, dodge the second, only to have the third hit its mark, cutting deep into the side of his waist. Two of the shadows faded away into black smoke, but the third pointed his sword at Umasi—a sword now dripping with blood.

Umasi clutched his side, feeling the unpleasant fluid stain his clothes and hand. The pain was surprisingly bearable, but the bleeding was bad. Combined with the cuts he had suffered earlier, Umasi knew that this wound could mean trouble. What had happened to those old cuts, though? They were hardly hurting at all. Umasi looked down at his shirt, and his eyes widened. No torn fabric, no blood, no wounds . . . but why?

Because I forgot about them!
Umasi realized, looking up at the boy, who he now imagined was grimacing under his hood.
This is
my
dream, aren't I the one in control here? Wasn't I always the one in control of this, and my life?

“That's not a bad conclusion,” the boy conceded, addressing Umasi's unspoken thoughts. “However, you overlooked something.”

“And what would that be?”

“While nightmares are entirely out of control,” the boy explained, “no one can fully control their lives or their dreams either.”

Umasi lunged forward at the same time as his enemy, and their blades slammed together with tremendous force, though neither was fazed. As they sprang apart, both swords began to crack, shattering like glass, leaving behind only useless hilts. The boy called down another sword from the sky, but Umasi skipped backwards a step and then lightly leapt high up to where the swords lay suspended in the air. Seizing the hilt of one of the swords, Umasi used its stationary hilt to swing himself around so that he plummeted down towards his foe, pulling the sword down with him as he fell.

The boy smiled ominously, and a distant howling announced the impending danger. As Umasi plunged downwards, a powerful, freezing gale slammed into him. But to Umasi's elation, the wind had seemingly no effect; it did not slow him, it did not chill him, it didn't do so much as tug at his hair. It was as if the wind never touched him at all. Reacting quickly, the boy slashed his sword through the air twice, invisible blades of wind slicing again through the air. But this time Umasi simply swung his sword sideways, and a powerful gust swept aside the unseen attacks.

By now Umasi had almost reached the ground, and the boy had but a split second left to dodge. Shooting backwards like a bullet just as Umasi swung his sword downwards, the foe managed to evade the blow, though Umasi cut a long gash through his jacket. Umasi himself landed softly on the ground, straightening up to eye his opponent calmly. For a moment the boy idly examined his cut jacket, and then laughed, a sound that boomed strangely throughout the white emptiness.

“What's so funny?” Umasi asked curiously.

“Well, you've certainly overcome some weaknesses,” the boy admitted. “But you just have so many that I hardly know how to proceed. Let's try your confusion, shall we? That's a common fatal flaw.”

“What do you me—” Umasi began, and then stopped as he looked down.

The ground had not changed in appearance—it was still a plain, pure white. But as Umasi began to fall, he realized that somehow the ground hadn't been ground at all—or at least it wasn't ground anymore. It was interesting, Umasi thought placidly as he fell, how this space really had no walls, no sky, no floor at all.

But enough of that.

Umasi didn't know how or why he could, nor how or why he knew he
could—he only knew that he did. His descent first slowed, and then stopped altogether as Umasi hovered calmly in midair. Looking up, he could see the dark figure floating, waiting for him. Umasi allowed himself a small smile, and then shot upwards towards his enemy, enjoying the feeling of incredible speed as he flew through the air. As Umasi drew closer, the boy erupted into a familiar burst of black smoke, from which emerged another three, all swiftly plunging down to meet Umasi.

Umasi easily spiraled to the side to evade the first figure's sword, slicing neatly through its middle as he did. The attacker erupted into black smoke as Umasi blocked the second shadow's sword and then swiftly plunged his own through its hood. As the second figure also dissipated, the remaining boy swung his own sword at Umasi with tremendous force, but Umasi lazily blocked the blow, holding his sword with only one hand.

There was a cracking sound, and a moment later the boy's sword shattered into glittering, useless shards. The shadow stared at the remaining hilt as though it had betrayed him, and then glared at Umasi's own sword as if expecting it too to shatter at any moment. When it didn't, the boy scowled and shot back up into the air, flying towards the massive cloud of swords with Umasi in close pursuit.

The shadow grabbed a sword as he flew through the cloud, and then seized a second and slammed them together. The two swords fused as easily as if they were made of clay. But he wasn't done yet; as he flew past more layers of swords he seized two more and added them to his increasingly huge weapon until he held in his hands a massive claymore nearly as tall as he was. Glancing down at the pursuing Umasi, the boy suddenly began spiraling around like a corkscrew with his sword outstretched, cutting through dozens of swords all around him. These broken blades fell downwards in a glittering, deadly rain.

But Umasi didn't waver, and as he passed through the steel hail, the blades clattered against each other and bounced off him harmlessly, none of them giving him so much as a scratch. And so he calmly emerged from the cloud of swords unscathed, and the boy spun around to see him still in pursuit. In that moment, Umasi could've sworn that he saw a triumphant grin flit across the boy's hooded face. Then the shadow ceased its ascent, and instead plummeted towards Umasi, massive sword outstretched.

The huge blade cast an ominous shadow over Umasi, but Umasi felt a strange, peaceful calm in the place of all the fear, doubt, confusion, and general internal chaos that he had become used to. As Umasi drew closer to the source of the darkness, its shadow shrank, and Umasi raised his small sword to meet the enormous one that fell towards him.

The two blades met, but there was no clash. Both Umasi and the boy watched in delight as Umasi's sword cut neatly through the claymore like paper. An instant after he had severed the massive blade, Umasi angled his sword sideways to cut his foe as they passed each other by. For a moment, Umasi and his opponent were both suspended motionless in midair.

And then Umasi found himself on hard, white ground once more, standing back to back with his enemy. There was no trace of swords, either in their hands or in the sky—just pure, white emptiness. Out of the corner of his eye, Umasi saw a hooded head turn towards him, and he saw lips move, speaking to him, asking him a question. Umasi could not hear what was being said, but nonetheless he nodded.