The Shattered Path

Chapter 5 - The Initiate

Aerham wanted to run down the long corridor, but it would not have been proper. The Lord of Light, Uth Arthgrin, had elevated him from Learner rank to that of Initiate less than an hour earlier. No one had achieved Initiate rank in only six months, until now. He could be a full Brother of the Sun in less than five years. It was hard to believe! And today would be his first training march, but he would go as a leader, rather than soldier or servant. He would even have his own tent! Well, it would be shared with the other Initiates; but it would be the Initiate tent! They would all be in charge of real soldiers!

Aerham studied the faces of everyone he passed, eager for a sign of recognition. His chain mail hood covered his hair and could have prevented some of them from realizing that they were now under the charge of the same young man to whom they had been assigning menial tasks just yesterday. He wanted them all to see the white tunic which he wore over his chain mail hauberk, bearing the pair of black, crossed swords over a golden sun. It marked him as an Initiate, only a Brother of the Sun outranked him now. He would no longer clean stables or fetch water from the well.

A red carpet reached from one end of the hallway to the other. Servants and Learners weren't permitted to walk on the carpet, instead restricted to walking on the cold stones to either side. Today, Aerham walked on that carpet and the thick fabric could have been clouds beneath his feet.

Reaching the double-doors at the end of the hallway, an aging servant dressed in pristine white pushed the doors and stepped aside as they glided smoothly open. Aerham didn't know the man's name, but recognized his wrinkled face. He might have been the oldest man Aerham had ever seen. He was so wrinkled. Aerham felt guilty having such an old man open the heavy doors for him, but he knew it was his station.

It had still been dark when Aerham had been summoned by the Lord of Light. The sun still had not risen above the nearby mountains, but the eastern sky exploded with burning shades of red and orange. A mist refused to flee before the coming heat, clinging to the cool air. Hopefully, it wouldn't be as hot as the day before.

On any other day, if Aerham had not been assigned chores, he might have gone to the top of one of the four towers and watched the sunlight fill the peaceful valley. He often went there and usually found himself fantasizing about the great battles which have been fought before the Wall of Light. There would be no serenity or fantasies today. He was assaulted by the acrid stench of fresh horse dung and the tumult of those preparing for the march.

The inner courtyard was as busy as Aerham had ever seen it. Dozens of serving men and women clad in white dashed in every direction, carrying supplies, assisting soldiers with equipment, or fetching other needed items. Sweaty men in a line passed bulky sacks along and loaded them on to the back of wagons. A team of four horses had been hitched to each wagon and many of them had left a mark of their passing on the cobblestones.

Two groups of soldiers stood as islands in an ocean of swirling bodies. Fifty members of Ravyn's Might stood in even ranks, wearing chain mail hauberks and yellow tunics with the golden sun emblem upon their chests, broad swords hanging from their belts, and round shields strapped to their backs. The other group, wearing leather breastplates and greaves, was little more than a great mob. Many of those soldiers stood in small circles talking, and some even sat. One soldier was clearly asleep on the ground! They were half of the two-hundred soldiers which Saroken provided to the fortress. The other half would remain to perform their regular duties, which they performed with the same discipline and dedication they now displayed.

Aerham didn't like the soldiers from Saroken. It had been tradition for Minogradia and Saroken to supply soldiers to the fortress, although King Eron of Minogradia had withdrawn his soldiers twenty years earlier, around the time that Aerham had been born.