The next day training went off surprisingly smoothly. Of course, by smoothly, I mean Reggie didn’t try to kill me. At least as far as I was aware. In fact, he didn’t say a word to me, which was just fine. Gus was slowly getting better at keeping up with us, but it wasn’t going to be long before we had our mission. Even more concerning is was that Katherine was still in the infirmary, she seemed to be doing fine, but the doctor insisted she isn’t ready to start training again. All these concerns rushed through my mind as I dodged swing after swing of Gus’ training weapon. While he still hadn’t hit either of us yet, it was getting harder for us to land hits on him. His attacks were getting quicker and more precise as opposed to large sweeping attacks that left him wide open. “Distracted, are we Mak?” I heard Katherine chide as I nearly get smacked in the arm by Gus. “What?!” I yell as I jump away and take a look at the entrance.
A wheelchair-bound Katherine rolled into the room with Krimsun. “All right, which of you pipsqueaks is brave enough to spar with me!?” she challenged as she began to push herself out of her chair. Krimsun quickly pushed her back down, “You’re not fighting anyone today,” she said firmly, “As we discussed, you will observe the training. I don’t need Glentha on my back for letting you reinjure yourself.” Katherine huffed angrily, “Fine.” She muttered before rolling over to the side of the room to observe. As Kat watched our training I could see her clawing at her armrest. Every time something of particular note happened, she’d scrape it harder and yell something. “You call that a swing Gus? You missed him by a mile!” she’d holler. “Careful Reg, he almost cut that carrot of nose you’ve got clean off!” and “Come on Mak, I know you’re faster than THAT!”. I’m sure she thought she was being helpful… Probably.
“Will you shut up!” Reggie finally snapped as he hurled a dagger at her. Kat caught it in her gauntleted hand, “You call that a throw!?” she mocked, “If you can’t even hit me while I’m in a wheelchair then surely I’m healthy enough to spar!” Katherine looked up hopefully at the nearby Krimsun who responded only with the most intense glare of disapproval that I have ever witnessed. “Alrighty then…” Katherine whispered in a mix of fear and disappointment before turning her attention back to our training. Shortly after that awkward exchange, we broke for lunch.
Naturally, Reggie opted not to sit with us. Gus tapped his spoon on his bowl in anxiously, as we sipped what I assumed to be chicken soup. “Reg seems upset today, more so than usual,” Gus noted. “Yeah…” I mumbled. Telling them about what I saw last night would probably be counter-productive, I didn’t have proof of anything, just more questions. “Maybe he lost a piece of copper again?” Katherine joked, “why is he so fussy about money anyway?”. Gus’ face suddenly turned a bit serious, “I’m sure he has his reasons…” he said. His response caught me off guard, perhaps Gus knew something about Reggie? “Gus, did you know Reg before we started at the guild?”I asked. He took another sip of soup and crinkled his nose and he forced himself to swallow, “Yes, we both lived here in the city for a couple of years when we were kids, He told us with a nostalgic sigh, signaling that he about to begin one of his stories.
“Back when I was a child, my family moved from Giant Country to the city so we could take care of my ailing human grandmother,” Gus said before taking another reluctant spoonful of soup. “During this time, I was enrolled at the local academy, it was far more… posh… than I was used to. My family isn’t really rich, but my grandmother was on the board of education, so I was able to attend. Anyhow, to make a long story short, Reg was also a student there and was one of the few kids that didn’t mind that I was half-giant.” I gave a look of doubt and Katherine interrupted, “Really? Reggie?” she said incredulously. Gus nodded, “Indeed, honestly, his attitude these days is… different, in more ways than one. But, try to be understanding, I’m sure he doesn’t mean anything by it.” Gus said timidly. “Right…” I mumbled meekly. “Doesn’t mean anything by it?” Katherine spat, “Oh here we go…” I thought. She stood up from her seat, “He hasn’t just been rude, he has been downright cruel to Mak! I can’t just let that go! I ought to smack his smug little mouth off his…” Katherine stopped as she saw Gus had a kind of sad, distant look in his eyes, she then became aware that others in the meal hall had begun to stare at us. Sitting back down she mumbled, “Sorry Gus, got… carried away. Reggie just, just, ugh.” Katherine proceeded to slurp down the rest of her soup and then rolled away from the hall. “Sorry, she… Didn’t mean anything by it…” I said. Gus nodded and we finished the meal in uncomfortable silence.
All I wanted to do was crawl down into my den under the deck at Uncle Aldan and Aunt Clementina’s house. Sadly, there was no such place like that here, nowhere for a small creature to hide. “I guess that leaves one place,” I thought to myself as I headed down to the workshop. Before I made it through the door I heard Wisebeak’s orotund voice, “Hoohoo! Well if it isn’t young Mak!”. He ambled over to me as I made my way in, his massive eyes looking at me curiously. “I see that you’re out of your wheelchair! Excellent, what brings you here today?” I feigned a smile, “Just wanted to tinker a bit. How did you know it was me?” I asked, trying to steer the topic away from myself. “Hoohoo, well it was your breathing my boy! Your breathing and your heartbeat, no one else in the guild has one quite like yours!” he spoke while adjusting his spectacles. “Wow, you must have quite the hearing,” I commented as I make my way over to a workbench, “I can track someone by their footsteps, but not much else.” The smithy pointed at me with a raptor-like claw, “I’m sure you can do it too! Your kind have nearly as fantastic hearing as we. It is simply a matter of enhancing it further with enhancement magic!”
It took me a moment to respond as the talons pointed at me instilled a primal urge to flee, but I collected myself and replied, “Enhancement of the senses? I’ve never tried that.” Wisebeak scoffed, “That’s because old Aldan taught you! Humans rarely think about any senses aside from sight!” he stopped for a moment and then whipped over to his workbench, “One moment!” he shouted as he began to tinker. He worked at an incredibly quick pace in spite of his bulk, and he soon had a pair of goggles. “Put these blinders on, and the next time you train, focus on using your sense of hearing and smell.” He said as he handed me the goggles. “Thank you, sir, I’ll give them a try,” I said, a bit unsure of it. And then I noticed the time, “Speaking of which, my lunch break is almost over. I’ve got to get ba- Wait. How did you know Aldan trained me?” I asked as I headed out the door. Wisebeak laughed, “I saw that you are on the same team as young Katherine, and Aldan was an old friend of mine. And there is no other man crazy enough to train a Nequese!” he replied jovially.
I ran up to the training room to find everyone waiting rather impatiently. “What took you so long, runt?” Reggie sneered. Kat moved to run over his foot with her chair, but Krimsun stepped in-between them, “What have you got there, Mak?” she asked, gesturing to the goggles in my hand. “Uhh… Blinders, captain.” I replied. Krimsun almost gave some kind of expression, a smile perhaps? “I see…” she said thoughtfully as the rest of the team gave puzzled looks. “Oh, so that’s how it is! The rodent thinks he is so much better than us that-” Reggie began to go off but was interrupted by Katherine’s wheel on his toe. “Let’s not waste time, you may proceed with your modified training. Gus, Reggie, let’s begin!” Krimsun ordered.
I put the blinders on and was immediately plunged into a world of blackness. Flicking my ears and wiggling my nose I tried to picture my surroundings and focus the sounds and smells of the training room. “Begin!” Krimsun shouted, and I sprung towards where I assumed Gus to be. THUD! My head pounded as I realized that I had slammed myself right into a wall. The sounds of Reggie’s laughter echoed through my sore head. The thumping of Gus’ footsteps drew nearer, “Are you alright?” I heard him ask. “I’m fine… Just need… practice.” I muttered as I tried to get my bearings. This was going to be much harder than I thought.
The following hours were not my finest, to say the least. Between the soreness of my body from slamming into walls and attacks to the soreness of my pride from Reggie’s constant mockery, it had been an exasperating experience. “Well, at least Gus got a chance to hit something!” Reggie quipped at the end of the day’s training. “Sorry, Mak.” The gentle half-giant apologized. I simply nodded my head. “I encourage you to continue this form of training… After the mission,” Krimsun said half-encouragingly. “Understood,” I said with a sigh.
Naturally, I snuck out of the barracks at night to practice. It wasn’t as if I was going to get any sleep anyway. This time, I had pre-emptively set up some magical waypoints with my portals, one of my bunk and one out in the courtyard. I hadn’t done this since when I was back at home and used it to get to my little burrow. And to cheat at hide and seek and tag. There was a small wood on the guild grounds for training, I figured it should be empty right about now. I slid through my portal and emerged into the courtyard.
It was a dark and peaceful night, the crescent moon shedding little light through the cloudy sky. The only unnatural sounds coming from the fountain behind me. It was perfect for my training. I put my blinders on and got to work. The first task: get to the woods. I took a deep breath and centered myself, I looked for the smell of the pine I had seen earlier and listened for the rustling of trees. A slowly made my way to the stationary target, SNAP!, I jumped at the sound of the twig under my foot. The sound of the trees vanished as my heart pounded. My mind began to fill my covered eyes with images of my past. The Nequese cave began to appear, the bodies, the wolf-snakes, Katherine’s motionless body… “No!” I said aloud. I couldn’t let my thoughts stop me, I needed to focus. The trees, the insects, the birds, a thousand different sounds and smells. I needed to change my mental image to what is here and now, not there and then. Another breath. Time to get to work.
I trained that night until I could barely move. I was able to get a better picture in my head of my surrounding, but I still couldn’t reliably move around without bumping into things. I considered that this may have been a waste of time, but if I gave up this fast Reggie would never let me live it down and Katherine would pester me to continue. But that was all I could do for one night, I returned to my bunk through my portal and collapsed from exhaustion, getting the first peaceful sleep that I’ve had in a long time.
ns 15.158.61.12da2
