Zachania (9 page)

When the
soldier had run out of ale he lifted the drenched and coughing
cadet’s head up by holding tightly onto his hair. “You still want
to drink with us do you boy!” He shouted violently.

Suddenly the
man’s arm was grabbed violently from the side which made him
relinquish his grip of the cadet; he turned angrily in the
direction to see Talon standing beside him.

“I will drink
with you!” Talon calmly remarked

The soldier
smirked as he gazed Talon up and down in disbelief at this young
fool’s arrogance.

“So a man
appears from within this crowd of fools.” the soldier replied as he
grabbed hold of Talon’s friend once again by the throat. Talon
gazed deep at the man before him; it was obvious that this soldier
was a man of violence. A man full of courage with no objections or
shyness to battle, yet Talon felt a weakness in him, he sensed a
feeling of uncertainty in the eyes of the soldier before him, it
was like a taste of the man’s aura, and Talon felt sure that this
man’s uncertainty would give him notice of his actions.

“Take your
hands of my friend NOW!” Talon ordered.

The soldiers
face now turned to one of surprise at the severity of Talon’s
demand, it was not what the soldier had expected and a short
silence fell between them as the atmosphere turned to
expectation.

Talon sensed
that the man was about to strike. His young mind was suddenly
filled with voices, he could hear the thoughts of the soldiers
companions urging there friend to teach him a lesson, then just
before the soldier struck out, Talon sensed an overwhelming feeling
of the soldiers rage.

As the soldier
tried to strike Talon, Talon’s intuition helped ready himself,
somehow Talon knew exactly what the man was going to do, the blow
was parried and Talon pushed the soldier flying onto the
ground.

One of his
companions tried to grab Talon, but Talon once again felt the
attack before it happened. He stepped gracefully to one side
avoiding the soldiers lunge and in one swift movement forced his
elbow to smash into the man’s face, sending the soldier reeling to
the ground holding his face in pain. The third soldier moved
angrily to confront Talon, but Talon just took one step back and
stared at him sensing a deep fear within the third soldier.
Something inside in the blinking of an eye told Talon that this man
did not want to fight, he gazed deep into the man’s eyes, it was a
stare of strength and certitude as he looked deep into the very
depths of the man’s soul.

“Don’t be
afraid of me!” Talon suddenly said “I will not harm you unless that
is what you seek” he added calmly.

The soldier
seemed to freeze with fear and stood speechless as one of his
companions; the one who Talon had pushed first had risen to his
feet and was reaching for his knife.

Talon reacted
with the speed of lightning as his foot rose into the air and
kicked the knife wielding soldier hard in the face who in turn was
sent crashing over three tables before falling limply to the
ground.

“Take your
friends and leave now!” Talon ordered the soldier before him in a
tone of voice that showed he was in complete control of the
situation.

Without saying
a word the two soldiers picked up there unconscious friend and
scurried out of the tavern.

Talons friends
slowly gathered round him in disbelief at what they had just
seen.

“What did you
do to them Talon?” one said to him.

“I have never
seen such terror in a man’s face before.” another commented.

“Three cheers
for Talon.” another cadet shouted “and three cheers for the Chow
military school!” another Added.

The next
morning at the Chow military school began with unusual peculiarity
as the schools corridors and halls, usually bustling with noise,
remained silent and empty because it had long been tradition that
the day that followed the Festival of Pass be known as a day of
rest. A day that once a year the schools cadets could remain in
there bunks and dormitories.

Last night’s
celebrations had gone on well into the early hours of the morning
and when General Chow walked along the quite corridors on his way
to see General Krustov at first light he could not help himself
feel pride at the schools marvellous design.

When Chow
reached General Krustov’s room he knocked gently on the door.

“Come!”
Answered Krustov who had long been awake and was already sitting at
his desk in anticipation.

“Good morning
General, I have the papers you requested.” Chow answered as he let
himself in and joined him at the table. Krustov immediately began
to read the papers and when he had read them he sat back and sighed
out aloud.

“OUTSTANDING!,
he remarked tapping his hand on the papers “ those are the finest
scores I have ever seen, and not one discipline admonition in three
years of tutelage amongst them, it is truly astonishing.” he
added.

The old General
Chow smiled proudly “I told you he was my finest cadet.” he
responded proudly.

“Yes that he
certainly is.” replied Krustov as he steered his eyes back onto the
papers.

“Tell me Chow,
what of his family? What we really know of them?” Krustov
asked.

“He was born in
Tallasian where his father is the teacher of our gladiator school
there”

“Yes, yes Chow
I know all of this, it’s in the report, what I want to know is what
you know of them.” Krustov interrupted.

“Well we don’t
know that much more, we know that he comes from a long line of
Gladiators both his father and Grandfather fought many victories
inside the arena.”

“What do you
know of his Grandfather?”

“Not much
really, we know that he lives in Tallasian with the family and I
understand that he is a very quiet man who keeps his business to
himself.”

“Has his family
always lived in Tallasian?”

“Once again
that is unknown, only his father has ever paid taxes, before him
his family were just peasants.”

“Is there
anything wrong General?” Chow inquisitively added.

General Krustov
leaned back in his chair and hesitated slightly before giving his
reply.

“There is
nothing WRONG Chow it’s just I find it difficult to believe that
Talon comes from peasant background, upon meeting him I sensed an
air of significance about him, he has an ambience about him which
one could almost call aristocratic.”

“Yes I have
sensed that many times my friend, he radiates self-belief and
assurance.” Chow replied.

The two
General’s gathered their thoughts for a moment before Chow leaned
across the table to get closer to General Krustov.

“Krustov we
have known each other for many years now.” Chow’s voice then
reduced to a whisper before continuing.

“I have come to
think of you as a close and trusted friend Krustov, and it was I
who asked specifically for yourself to be this year’s guest of
honour, at the Festival of Pass, for I know you well enough as a
man of fairness who acts upon what he sees for himself and not what
he hears.”

“Go on.”
Krustov said now keen to hear where this was going.

“What I ask of
you is an act of humanity on behalf of Talon, I urge you to ensure
that he is granted a fair chance. I have come to know him well and
I feel incontestable that given an unbiased chance he would serve
our Empire greatly, I ask you as a friend not to allow this
exceptional boy’s civilian background to hinder his career.”

General Krustov
breathed in deeply at his friends’ earnest plea.

“What you
request is difficult Chow.” he said truthfully.

“His family’s
civilian background cannot be blindly ignored, it is a highly
unusual dilemma that we have before us. Even him being in the
position he is in now is quite unique, his father was granted an
almighty homage in allowing his son to enlist…true we have before
us a young lad with exceptional abilities, but it is also valid
that the law restricts him from certain positions, for example he
may never be allowed to hold a station where the Emperor or high
councils safety is in imperilment, nor shall he ever be promoted to
a rank higher than Captain. These examples are regulations of the
Empire and neither you nor I Chow can change them.”

A short silence
fell between them as General Chow showed his obvious
disgruntlement.

“Chow my dear
friend.” Krustov said as he reached out to grab Chow’s arm “All I
can give you is my assurance that Talon will be given every chance
to succeed, I shall personally oversee his progress, beyond that
there is nothing I can give.”

“Thank you
General.” Chow warmly replied before rising to his feet.

After showing
General Chow out of the room, General Krustov sat back down at his
desk; his mind was still full of unanswered questions. Questions
that he needed answers for, Talon had intrigued him and out of his
own personal interest he wrote two letters to ambassadors at the
Imperial embassies in Zanlia and Tallasian both asking for any
history on Talon’s family. He then called in one of his personnel
consuls and instructed him to take total charge that these letters
arrived at their destinations.

Two days
quickly passed for Talon and his two chosen companions before they
were summoned to the quarters of General Chow for a final briefing
and well wishes before their journey onto the Palace land
commenced.

The three
cadets were welcomed by Chow and asked to sit down; the whole
affair was kept on an informal basis. These three cadets were now
men of status, men soon to be given the rank of captain and apart
from Talon, men who were on the right path to one day becoming
General’s themselves. Chow now showed this in the new respectful
way that he addressed them.

“Gentlemen once
again I must begin by congratulating you, I feel certain that the
three of you will do well in your new posts, and once again I must
comment on what a great honour you have all achieved with your hard
work,

The Palace land
is soon to be your home and you must remember that only the very
highest merit of soldier is permitted beyond the great wall. This
and many other prizes that you will soon be privy to are your
rewards for three hard and gratifying years of study. Secondly I
would like you all to know that you have all filled me with pride
it has been a great honour for me personally, and this school to
have been involved with three exceptional students as yourself, I
wish you all the best of luck in your new positions.”

General Chow
then asked the three men to stand.

“As from this
moment you are all dismissed from the Royal guard. Tomorrow at dawn
you shall leave this place and make journey for the Palace lands,
once again I bid you good fortune on your new tomorrow’s ...
Dismissed.”

The three men
sharply about turned and left the General’s quarters, only Talon
mouthed a silent thank you as they left.

Talon returned
to his room, he lay down onto his bed and thought about his
packing, his mind then began to drift onto tomorrow’s journey. He
began to wonder what the Palace lands would look like, to him and
every other cadet it was a place held in great mystique. Cadets
were never tutored upon the subject, the Palace lands was a subject
shrouded in secrecy. Talon had never seen a map of it or engaged in
any conversation of substance about it.

Talon found
himself smiling and he clapped his hands loudly together in
excitement, three years of study had now paid off, Talon could not
wait for his reward.

The next
morning Talon woke just before the crack of dawn, he knew that the
beginning of his journey was going to be the traditional farewell,
where everyone in the school would be on parade to pay their
respects to the three chosen cadets. Talon was barely awake when a
first year cadet knocked on his door.

“It begins.”
Talon thought excited as he opened the door.

“Sir I am here
to present you with your Palace guards uniform, you are to wear
this attire when you leave, your escort shall be here shortly.”
replied the cadet rather sternly before he looked over both his
shoulders to see if anyone was looking then he added “ Good luck
Talon.” with a wink as passed Talon the uniform.

When Talon shut
his door he laid out his new garments onto the bed where he gazed
at them for a few moments.

It was like
nothing he had ever seen before, the collar and the lapels were
embroidered with gold leaf thread.

He
enthusiastically pulled it over his head, the garment reached to
just above his knees, he then pulled a thick black leather belt
adorned with the emperors seal around his waist before reaching
down to his boots, he pulled on the new leather boots also coloured
black and fastened there binds.

He then rose to
his feet standing tall and proud as he looked at himself. Instantly
he felt more important, Talon then reached down onto the bed and
picked up his new sword. He gasped wondrously at the beauty of it
and admired its blade that was sharpened to a razor, its handle was
long and made of gold with a fine leather twine twisted around it.
Talon swiped the air a few times as he marvelled at its balance. He
then carefully put it down and reached for his new shield that was
shaped like a diamond with a golden Imperial emblem in its middle.
He ran his hand over its finely sculptured finish and once again
marvelled at its design.

When the
escorts came for Talon they found him dressed, eager and waiting,
his belongings had been packed and one of his escorts took hold of
them while the other escort draped a large blue cape around Talons
shoulders before ushering him out of the room.

Once Talon was
outside and into the square he could not help himself fill with
delight at what he saw.