Shadow of the Unicorn

Chapter 3

They dismounted and Baye drew his sword, said he with a grim smile, "this may be a tad unpleasant until you master this particular skill. I am going to run you through and you must concentrate, even with death itself staring you in the face, you must hold yourself together until death or unconsciousness seize you, or until you can heal the wound. We will repeat the process until I am certain you can do it under any circumstances, it must become second nature. Are you ready?" Jace nodded, smiling incredulously at the thought that he was going to just stand there waiting patiently for his mentor to kill him!

While he had successfully managed to maintain his concentration on several occasions where it was threatened, he had also nearly lost hold of it just as often, so Baye was determined to see that he could maintain control under any and all circumstances, so it was that he would somehow injure or distract the boy, sometimes to the point of death, but more often just enough to strain his concentration. At first the boy jauntily held his ground, fending off all attempts to thwart him with ease, but Baye continued to press him, grew ever more persistent, and at last Jace found himself on the defensive, barely hanging on, but determined not to fail. Baye struck him one last blow, upside the head with his sword hilt, and the boy crumpled to the ground, an awful light filled the clearing as he fell. The Messenger shook his head and knelt beside his senseless apprentice, who was radiant as the sun.

Jace gasped awake, groaned at his failure, and quickly hid the luminescence. Baye smiled reassuringly at him, "I'm pressing you hard lad, you are doing well, but that isn't good enough. Are you up for more?"

Jace smiled as he gained his feet, "do your worst, sir!"

Baye set himself for another round and for several more to follow, each time the boy managed to fend him off for longer periods of time and under more stressful or distracting circumstances. Barely clinging to consciousness, let alone staying upright, but feeling as if he finally knew what he was doing, Jace braced himself for Baye's final stroke as the man's sword quickly pierced his heart. He groaned as he fell into darkness, but the clearing remained blissfully dim in the gathering dusk. Baye smiled down at the crumpled form proudly, that last bout had pushed them both to the limits of their endurance, and if the lad could withstand that, he should be able to maintain control under whatever conditions he encountered in the field.

Adan sat his unicorn on the far side of the clearing, a look of horror painted on his face as he watched Baye run his apprentice through the heart with his sword and then smile proudly down upon his handiwork. The man must have felt eyes upon him, for he lifted his head and looked directly at the aghast apprentice. Adan took up his reins, ready to flee, but the unicorn stood as if rooted to the earth. He frowned at the shaggy head and concentrated, still awkward in his attempts to communicate with his mount through thought alone. The faithful beast turned his head and looked at his master with one great eye, pleading for understanding as he actually took a step towards the murderer. It seemed even the unicorn was part of the treachery this night or perhaps bewitched by the fiend! He jumped from the saddle, hoping to make a run for it, but Baye's unicorn blocked his path and his own told him in no uncertain terms that he must speak with the man who had just murdered his best friend. With a sigh, he turned to face his doom with as much courage as he could muster.

Baye stood a polite distance from Adan, waiting for some sign that the boy was ready to talk. The lad's unicorn informed him that the boy was resigned to his fate, Baye thanked him for his help, and approached the boy. He saw terror in Adan's eyes but also a courage that refused to back down, even at the approach of a traitor and murderer. He stopped a safe distance from the boy, that he might not terrify him more, and said quietly, "I am sorry you had to see that."

Adan quivered but said in astonishment, "how is it you have not broken Oath?"

Baye grinned, good humor rather than menace filling his countenance, though unease tinged his voice, "there are some things you cannot know, lad, but things are not as they seem."