Robed One

7 YEARS AGO

Royle sat brooding upon a rock.

A turmoil of wind propelled armies of sticks and fleets of stones raining upon the forest below like arrows.

Beautiful, beguiling clouds were almost within touching distance up here. A dense clump of trees tossed their heads of black leaves towards the sky, sleek and elongated limbs of brown curling menacingly.

He shivered. One could never get used to that sea of endless black leaves.

A nondescript man sat next to him on an elevated tangle of moss and rock. He wore a jungle of brown fabric that enshrouded his body, lost in the sea of silk that draped around him. A rounded hood covered all his head except a mouth and pointed chin, weathered like the barren expanse of rock he sat upon. He was small in stature, about the height of a Lupolian, the distrusting group that lived on one of the East Peaks.

Royle winced. He had grown up in a village not too far away from the East Peaks.

Abruptly, the Robed One shifted and turned to face him.

   "What is the only thing that a man has left when he falls?"

Royle tried to hide his surprise. Uncertain as of how to answer and weary about sounding startled, he shrugged.

"The ability to pick himself up again," mused the Robed One, eyes faintly distant. "I have come to realise that a man needs only this knowledge to conquer failure," he said, smiling wistfully.

Suddenly, a small white light, barely discernible, emitted from the Robed One's palm. He gently uncurled his hand and in it rested a breathtaking stone of jade.

Royle's eyes grew wide and he gasped in amazement, forgetting the lack of protocol necessary for the differences in status.

"This is the result of a harmony with oneself and the nature of the world," his voice was as smooth as the stone he held.

"You see, all things in life are bound to the world. If you really search deep enough," the Robed One went on, glancing at the stone in his hands, "you will see a tiny thread with which it is in cohesion with life."

Royle's thoughts of dumbfounded curiosity were still unanswered.

"What I just did with the stone is the manipulation of the bonds. You sense the objects around you and ease it to your will. The greater the manipulation, the greater the light emitted. Great feats can be done but it is important that you do what is right, even if it costs you everything."

Royle gathered up his miniscule amounts of courage and spoke slowly, "So can you kill people by just.. Um," he faltered.

"Severing their bond to the world?" suggested the Robed One. At Royle's nod of agreement he continued, "no, though no one understands why. Practically the only thing you can't do is break a bond of a living being completely. You can do things to destroy their bodies, willing a sword to fly and sink into the side of the man attacking you is entirely possible."

"Why are you telling me this?" Royle interrupted.

"I assigned you to High Lord Azmir's guards," continued the Robed One, with no hint of exasperation, "with the knowledge that a day will come when you need to do what is right."

Gracefully, he slid off the rock and faced him.

Royle tried not to stare in awe, it was probably transparent anyway.

"What you seek will always flee but...." the Robed One's words after this were lost upon the wind, gliding away, out of range just as he uttered them.

Royle looked towards him, a question upon his lips.

The Robed One vanished.

First moon was now in front of Royle, rising in open defiance to the sky.