Chapter Nineteen
Breach
Richard sat in the centre of a small courtyard near the front entrance to the floating castle known as Castle Islan. The air was warm and smelled of flowers in the early morning sunshine and Richard felt relaxed just being outside. He wasn't alone however. The Daughter of Water, Zya, sat to his left, while the Daughter of Earth, Maria sat to his right. Master Rio, the Master of Water Magic, stood before them and kept a silent watch over her students as her milky white eyes moved back and forth from each one of them.
It was the first day of Richard's new training regimen and this was his first lesson. He hadn't even eaten breakfast yet and could already feel his stomach starting to gnaw on itself as it wasn't used to this. For so long he had been pampered at the school with three meals a day and snacks any time he wanted them, but it seemed that was a thing of the past now. The first thing every morning he was now required to come down to the courtyard and participate in a meditation session before he was allowed to do anything else, and it sounded like this would go on for an undetermined period of time.
“Close your eyes and empty your mind, Richard,” the elderly woman said in her surprisingly young sounding voice. She must have noticed that he was just staring blankly into space as he couldn't quite grasp what it was he was supposed to be doing. “This training is much more important for you than it is for anyone else.”
“I can't get comfortable,” he complained and shifted his pose. He had been instructed on how to properly meditate, but the pose was the most uncomfortable and unsightly thing he had ever seen before. He was supposed to sit flat on his butt and arc both legs out in front of him, pressing the soles of his feet together and create a circle between his groin and feet. He was then expected to arc his arms towards his sides and create a circle on each side while maintaining his balance at all times. It just wasn't cutting it though.
“This technique has been handed down from generation to generation. You will get used to it eventually,” the Master explained, but Richard couldn't bring himself to believe her words.
“All I have to do is clear my mind?” he asked and the old white haired woman nodded. By this time both Maria and Zya had stopped their own meditation and were now watching him keenly. Richard could feel Maria's eyes on him and had to suppress the urge to look over at the very young girl and make a goofy face. “Let me try a more comfortable pose then.”
He crossed his legs in front of him and relaxed his body, allowing his arms to fall onto his knees with his palms up. He had seen this pose in a martial arts movie once, but he wasn't even really sure if it was real or just something Hollywood made up to look good. Even if it was fake it was still a hundred times more comfortable than the previous position and he found it a lot easier to focus on his breathing like he had been told to. He closed his eyes and tried to let the world slip away from him as he focused solely on his breathing, keeping it even and measuring the ins and outs of it.
“How do you feel?” Master Rio asked with a curious tone to her words. She probably hadn't seen it being done like that before.
“Calm,” he whispered, not wanting to raise his voice. “But what am I supposed to do now?”
