The Weaponsmaster

Chapter 18

Drea dreamt of the same forest that night, but this time, only Shawn and Korena were with her. It seemed they would be her teachers.

Shawn sat over by one of the trees while Korena stood with Drea in the center of the clearing. It was obvious Shawn was a more laid back type of person.

            “What are we starting with?” asked Drea.

            “Information,” responded Korena. She motioned for her to sit by Shawn. “Do you know why you’ve been able to remember the weapons you’ve been using?”

Drea thought for a moment before Korena continued. She really didn’t know how she knew how to fight, she just knew how. “You’ve been remembering our memories,” said Korena. “See, all Weaponsmasters stay alive in the form of a spirit for the next Weaponsmaster. It is both a curse and a blessing to live on in this way, but it is our job even after death to pass our knowledge on. So when someone new becomes Weaponsmaster, all of us who’ve died as Weaponsmasters become part of them. We are then able to share our memories with that person, despite our uh passing. Our spirits are with you, not our bodies.”

She walked around for a moment before returning her attention to Drea. “All the times you’ve been in trouble, we’ve used our memories and power to help you out. We’ve been guiding you.”

So Korena and Shawn were the reasons Drea was able to kick over Crystal and fight with Danny and otherwise look like she knew what she was doing. She was amazed that their memories had helped her so much, and that she was able to remember things that happened a lifetime ago or longer. It made her feel like she wasn’t human, but more than that, it made her feel like she had accomplished nothing on her own.

Seeing the look on her face, Shawn said, “Don’t think that what we’ve shown you is the extent of your power. We may’ve helped you out, but you still did that stuff on your own. We only helped you regain our memories. You did everything else alone.”

She wasn’t sure if he was just lying to make her feel better, but judging from his now serious face, she decided to believe him.

“Did you help me conjure up the golden shuriken?” It had been a question that bothered her since that night.

The two of them looked at each other for a moment, serious expressions on their faces. Korena was the one to respond. “We showed you how to create weapons, but you were the one who actually materialized the shuriken itself. You’ll need more training though if you are to do it again.” They looked a bit frazzled, as if she had asked a strange question, but didn’t say any more.

Korena interrupted the silence. “As Weaponsmasters, we also have a weapon that is our favorite.” She held her hand up to reveal three thick needles in between her knuckles as Shawn held up a staff engraved with etchings. “We learn these weapons, and then pass our knowledge down to the next, becoming masters at every aspect of the one weapon. Of course we are still considered masters at every other weapon, but there will always be one that we prefer to fight with. This allows the next Weaponsmasters to gain even more knowledge on a specific weapon. For instance,” she got up and motioned for Drea to do so as well, “I want you to throw these needles at that tree to make a straight line.”

            Drea took the needles from her hand and automatically remembered how to use them. She threw them against the tree, taking a perfect stance, and the needles landed in a vertical line up the tree. Her precision with the needles brought up one nagging question though. “If I know how to use every weapon, then why couldn’t I figure out how to use the scythe? Any why didn’t I remember enough about the sword of knife to be a master with them?” She’d at least been able to wield the sword and knife, but now well enough to be considered a Weaponsmaster, and the scythe felt anything but comfortable in her hands.