Kalon

Chapter One-Hundred-Twenty-Five: Ularak - Part Three

Galactic Quadrant: Darna Quadrant

Ruling Government: Talum Merchant Federation

Solar System: D-447

Planet: Ora

Location: Orarak City, above the planet's surface.

Everyone has finished their laps, except me. I cannot run any further, my body barely limps up the steps as I walk them. The only thing keeping me going is the anger that wells like a boiling ocean trapped in a small bottle, it is the steam driving me forward.

I will not give him the satisfaction of watching me fail. That is all I have left of my pride. I cannot give up. If he means to break me, he will fail, not I.

When I finish my last lap, I do not know how long it has been. My mind is fuzzy, and my steps are uneven. I use the walls to support me as I stagger back towards the assembly room. The halls stretch for what feels like an eternity. Above me, I hear the hum of a Bipki drone watching me, following me, watching my suffering.

I approach the assembly room now, my eyes taking it in. I see everyone sitting, eyes closed, sitting in positions like they are meditating, facing the center. Dargo sits upon the pedestal, he does not look to acknowledge me. Moving towards the room I strip and get in the showering device, the cool water is a salve to my body. The machine blows air once I finish, drying me off. Hobbling to my bunk, I see a fresh set of clothes, a food ration, and water on it. The clothes are folded in a way that I recognize, it must have been Nevari who prepared them. I'm too tired to care. Changing and eating quickly after, I move into the room with the hundreds of others and find a spot near the back, and try to find my focus.

***

Images of pain fill the sea of my soul as I meditate, the blood and slaughter of my people. The horrors I have committed to survive. I search for a light but see none, there is only anger and pain where I look. Luna told me during our travels that a peaceful mind is what is needed to break the boundaries. The Sage taught the same principles without telling me of the bounds, and yet, when I broke the Netheric boundaries, it was not peace that drove it… it was necessity. I would have died without breaking them… I would have lost Luna if I did not. Each time it was not peace that drove me.

Perhaps that is why I have not broken the Etheric boundaries. It is said that one cannot break both… but I do not believe it, I have felt the edge of the Etheric, I felt it when Amara and Leora guided me with Etheric Maka. I know it is there, I know I can shatter it.

Peace is where I will find it, and I must find that from within myself.

Hours pass, and I search, but the fire that once blazed is cold ash, I try to remember the light of Amara and even Leora. Searching deeper still, for the serenity it gave me, sparks in the darkness, embers begin to flicker. I call upon the words that were written.

Alakin dom Jukora – Chosen by the Gods

To what end have they chosen me? I have seen a future which these hands have wrought, one so terrible I would gladly endure this place in its stead. Focus… remember the rhythms that Luna showed. Remember the vibrations of Maka that Amara taught. There… there it is.

It is slow at first but I begin to feel it, the burn of its warmth melting the ice around my soul. It gives rise to motion within me, I feel it flowing inside my body, mixing with the rage, forming something new, something I have never felt before. It is anger but it is calm. It is purpose but it is peace. There is resonation somewhere in the center of it.

I am close to understanding the feeling as it grows within me, I am sure of it. Something draws my focus as I hear commotion in the real world, the light fades as I open my eyes. My body feels somehow lighter, the fatigue less demanding.

"That's enough, now we train. Pair up with those of your marking and wait for instruction," Keeper Dargo says loudly.

Nekam finds me and we pair up, I am reluctant to pair with him, as he has only one arm to defend himself. Still, as withered and tired as I am from the extra laps, with a hand behind my back, it would be on more even footing.

The words are still fresh in my mind. There is a calm in me now, the anger beginning to sleep once more.

"Begin," Dargo says loudly to the room.

Nekam and I give our customary bow and take our positions. I place one of my hands behind my back, his pride is stung, but he nods. It will be a hard fight, he is the one who taught me the blade, he knows the secrets of my art as he was their painter.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

He moves towards me quickly now. I feel he wants to turn but he does not, a trick, one I do not fall for, as I am wary of him. My mind is still not fully in the fight, it lingers on the feeling from before.

"Kalon, do not shame me by daydreaming. Come, show this old man what you have learned."

"You are not old yet," I say refocusing myself, fighting back the anger that spurs from speaking with him.

"The grey in my beard disagrees," he chuckles, lunging forward.

The chuckle flares at my nerves, this is the second time he has been happy in my presence, as though there is not an ocean of blood from him that is owed, as if… no, be calm. Find the rhythm.

There is a quick succession of moves from him, his style has changed slightly to incorporate Dargo's advice. It is becoming more fluid with each movement. When he is going right, he changes left then back again as I move to parry him. Vek, he has improved so much in one day. A feeling of jealousy that he received instruction washes over me, but is quickly slashed away by my focus. I do not need Dargo to hone my skills. In truth I am happy the field is more level. Beating Nekam with my enhanced body would not have been satisfying.

Rolling towards him, I strike as I roll, swiping at his ankles, he jumps landing on his one hand then back up again. He is still limber and able, even missing an arm. This much about him I can respect. Running toward him I keep the momentum, but my leg cramps, and I stumble. Sekat. The focus leaves me as the frustration rises, my legs need more rest.

"It would appear the seed does not wish to sprout," Dargo says as he walks by me.

Holding back my tongue I rise from the ground and go again, a flurry of strikes at Nekam, he deflects all but one which grazes his hip. He drops the stance simulating injury as we have always done, and we continue. I do not need to pretend my leg is injured when he strikes me next, it is already becoming a burden to my frustration. Dargo makes his rounds to us again and holds a hand up stopping the fight.

"Your blade's song has grown softer, but your feet still dance to its tune," he says showing Nekam a full strike from start to finish, he is like a snake, his whole body coils, then unleashes with the strike, even the air rushes around him, causing others to look.

"Thank you, my Keeper," Nekam says, testing the move and then nodding to me.

"Reset your injuries and try again," Dargo says, crossing his arms.

Nekam is upon me a moment after I return the nod, he moves low and then strikes high, knocking the wind out of me as I topple over. I am too weak after all the training, too weak from what Mallock and his people did to me. Rage spurs deep as pride is wounded yet again. I could push Maka from the air into my frame and surely beat the pulp from Nekam's body, but that would not be fair. I will not be like those who have cheated me in the past. Dargo approaches me now slumped on the ground.

"Ready to give up?" he asks me.

"No," I seethe, the fire igniting in me as my eyes hollow and my rage comes rushing back.

"Change partners!" he says loudly to the room.

A man who wields a spear comes before me now, I recognize him as one of the last standing the day before. We bow and it begins immediately. My leg's pain far from my mind, the rage masking it. I close the gap, vying to take away his reach advantage. He stabs in rapid succession but I am the rage that flows, I roll to the side of him and jump into him sideways as I land, knocking him off balance. I slide my dulled blade along the fingers that hold the spear, he does not let go, he does not want to honor it. My rage rises as the calm that once mixed begins to leave.

I do not hold back my strikes as they come, I stab where his arteries are, and he recoils in pain, but does not honor them. He is like all those who cheat me. I rush him again, turning the hilt of my blade to strike him more firmly. Still, he does not honor it. It reminds me of my fight with Barnak's grandson, Henek. I remember how Henek and his father Keno cheated me. At every turn, I was made to have a disadvantage.

"You're strong for how deceptively frail you look," the man growls at me.

"Were you searching for an easy match?"

His nostrils flare at my insult, telling me it is true. I know his type. I still look like I have not eaten for a season. If I had not already passed the fourth boundary, I am certain my body could not go on. I would have died before I even came close to the end of the first lap.

The man I fight, his eyes mirror my own, rage and frustration. He is larger and well-fed, but I am more skilled. He throws his spear at me, I try to grab it from the air but miss, my frame betraying me. He rushes me now trying to tackle me, his hand grabs my shirt so he can use his size to bully me, I punch his elbow joint bringing our heads colliding together, I am dazed, him more so.

Pressing him now, I strike in his nerve bundles with my fists, I strike to inflict pain, he backs away, but I do not let up. His face becoming Mallock's in my eyes, every torture that was brought to me pushing through my fists. Even when he is on the ground, and I am pummeling him... I do not stop. The rage surges into my fists as the blood spatters on my hands. I feel someone pulling me, but I keep swinging, yelling aloud in frustration, my Kuwathi eyes glowing. A stronger yank puts me in a headlock, I scratch at the arm, elbowing backward, my mind back in the frost when it was kill or be killed, there is death and screams everywhere.

"Be calm, be calm," Nekam's voice says to me, the rage flares again, remembering he sold me, but I find the calm, somehow even in my resentment of him, he leads me there.

My hands stop clawing and they clutch his arm, I fight back the tears that wish to fall, Kuwathi do not cry, it is a sign of weakness. I was supposed to return strong… I was supposed to show them that I thrived without them… all they see now is a withered and broken man who cannot control his emotions. The shame of it… the injustice… be calm… be calm.

"That's it, breathe, Yalla." He tells me, his words quelling the rage, bidding it to slumber once more.

The word he spoke resonates with me… Find the calm within.

"You are calm?" he asks me, I nod and he releases me.

Looking at the man on the floor, I see he is unconscious, his face badly beaten, I look at my fists and see they are raw, but not as much as they should be given my frail body and thinned skin. I fall to my knees filled with shame and regret. Losing control of oneself is among the greatest acts of shame my people can commit.

Dargo whistles loudly and points to the man. A medical drone flies towards him and scans the man, administering medigel, a layer of film over the wounds forms. Now approaching me Dargo pulls one of his sheathed blades from his hip and runs it slowly across my chest, a red marking appearing. He does not grin, he simply leaves me in my shame, upon my knees.

"Again," he says loudly to the room.

People who had grown quiet to look upon what I have done follow his instruction and begin once more. I make my way over to the red-marked group, but there are no open pairings, so I watch as my hands begin to tremble. I must learn to control myself, or the rage will consume me like I saw in the visions with the golden eyes. Moving to the wall I sit and try to meditate. There is no peace in me at first, but after a time I begin to find it once more. The rage has grown silent, slumbering deep within, its appetite quelled, for now...

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.