Solace and Nox: A New Light

Chapter 18

"Sir, I don't think I can do this," Trace said, voice shaky.

Raiden held a practice spear towards his new pupil. The end of the spear was very dull and rounded, so there was a very low chance of someone being pierced by it. Trace stood awkwardly with the weapon in his hand. Raiden was in the standard battle stance.

"Never say you can't do something," Raiden replied. "The moment you say you can't, is the moment you give up. Can't only exists in quitters. Anyone can do this, but you have to work at it. So let's go again."

Raiden showed Trace the correct stance, and he tried to mimic it. Markis would jump in here and there to reposition Trace's legs, or the way he was holding the spear. Raiden was having difficulties teaching him, but he wasn't going to give up. He made Trace a promise. He would make sure he was prepared for anything that came his way. Raiden wasn't going to lose Trace like he lost Myles.

"Again!" Raiden shouted. If he was paid a gold piece for every time he said, "Again," he would be wealthier than the King Lotharius. Repetition was the key to perfection. The more the maneuvers were practiced, the more the subject would commit them to memory. After several months of intense training, the maneuvers would be part of their muscle memory. In combat, Raiden doesn't even think about the fight. He sees what the enemy is about to do, and acts. No thinking involved. It was instinct.

That is what created a soldier. Instinct.

"Let's go again, and then you can be done for the day," Raiden said.

Trace had a look of relief on his face. He was ready to be done. Raiden had been kicking his butt.

Raiden took his position in front of Trace, and readied his spear.

"Wait, you want to go against each other?" Trace asked incredulously.

"Of course," Markis said. "You're training with the best, so you're going to eventually have to fight the best."

"Come on, Trace," Raiden coaxed. "It'll be fun."

"For you," Trace mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," he said.

Raiden smiled. "That's what I thought."

Raiden remained in his position while Trace tried to remember how he was supposed to stand. Markis stood in between them.

"When I get safely out of the way, begin," Markis said. He leaned heavily on his cane and wobbled out of the way.

"Begin!" he shouted.

Trace immediately charged at Raiden. That's when Raiden's instincts kicked in. But instead of beating his opponent, he was going to make it difficult for his opponent to hit him.

Trace jabbed forward with his spear, and Raiden jumped back. He recovered and made a wide swing. Raiden rolled toward the attack, and the spear zipped over his head. Just to play with him, Raiden poked Trace with the dull end of his spear. He jumped and immediately swung. Staying low to the ground, Raiden rolled again, avoiding his attack completely.

Markis smirked. He knew exactly what Raiden was doing. Raiden had done this exact thing to Markis countless times. It was a beautiful thing... unless you were Raiden's opponent.

Trace was already sweating. He stepped away from Raiden, keeping him in swinging distance. They circled the training grounds, staring into each other's eyes. Trace's eyes were full of stress. Raiden could tell that Trace didn't feel ready for this, but Raiden was going to make him feel comfortable on the battlefield. Raiden was going to train Trace to be a soldier.

He was going to raise him from the ashes, like a phoenix.

"Remember, a good defense is a great offense," Markis shouted to Trace.

"Which is exactly what Raiden's doing," Trace called back. "If I do the same thing, we'll be circling each other for hours."

"What do you think you're doing now?" Markis asked sarcastically.

Raiden smirked. His sapphire eyes glinted as Trace held a defensive stance.

It was Raiden's turn.

As soon as Trace went defensive, Raiden switched to offense. Trace was bound to face an opponent who was thirsty for blood. Opponents who attack without thinking, keeping an offensive tactic the whole battle, don't usually think things through. They make stupid mistakes. Bloodthirsty opponents were bound to lose, if their opponent was smart with how he approached the battle.

Raiden made a downward swing, and Trace blocked it correctly. That was good. But he wasn't fast enough to block the following attack. As soon as Raiden's spear was blocked, he used the deflection to propel his next move. He swung at Trace's side, and he staggered from the blow. Raiden attacked Trace relentlessly, silently hoping to himself that Trace would be smart enough to find a way out of this scenario.

Raiden made several quick, precise attacks, hitting Trace with the stick, and never the dull stone on the end.

"Don't let him overwhelm you!" Markis shouted. "Look for an opening!"

Raiden continued to attack, as he watched the gears in Trace's mind turn. He took the blows, but never dropped, never backed down, and never dropped his weapon. That was a good start.

Suddenly, as Raiden was making his wide swings, his spear hit Raiden right in the gut, knocking the wind right out of him. He took a second to catch his breath, which was the second that Trace needed to strike. It was perfectly executed, and Raiden couldn't have been more proud.

Only problem was... Raiden was the victim of a perfect attack.

Trace came swinging down, while Raiden was at his most vulnerable. Raiden tried to get out of the way, but he ended up getting smacked down. Trace put his foot on Raiden's back, putting his spear to his back, signalling that he won the match.

Raiden had the capability to continue, but decided to let his pupil have this victory.

"Congratulations," Markis said, wobbling towards his friends. "You won your first fight."

"I could have continued," Raiden said defensively.

"You keep telling yourself that," Markis said, bumping into Trace with his armless side. "You did amazing. See what I mean by looking for an opening? That's what's going to save your life in the field."

Trace smiled proudly and the two of them walked off, celebrating Trace's victory.

Raiden got to his feet, staring at the spear in his hand. There was a great feeling of power when he fought. He didn't even have to use his magic to feel that power. It was probably something most soldiers felt.

But sometimes, it scared Raiden. Raiden's biggest fear was that the power he felt in battle would one day overwhelm him. What if he turned into one of those bloodthirsty soldiers? What if he turned into some kind of monster when he experienced that power? What if he couldn't come back from that monster, if he ever fell into that darkness?

That's why Raiden didn't accept the king's promotion. That's why he refused to fight on the front lines. Yes, the army would be much more threatening with him at the reins, but he just couldn't do it. It terrified him.

Raiden returned the spear to the barrack, and when he came back into the light, he saw something.

Up on the rooftops was a shadow. It was the same shadow that he had been seeing the past couple weeks. When he saw the shadow, only one thing came to his mind.

Was it Cytra?