Legacy
Chapter 2

Ten yearslater . . .

It hadhappened mere days after his beloved older brother was taken from theworld of the living. James gave nary a second thought to enrollingin King Lionel’s military academy, all in hopes of someday becomingas accomplished a soldier as William. Though his parents were lessthan enthused by the idea of another son joining the king’s army,they did little to stand in the way of James’ greatest desire.

Like mostevery other day, James spent his afternoon refining his craft withAvery, one of the academy’s instructors. Avery had been taught byWilliam the art of swordplay, so it was decided that he would passdown that knowledge to James. Despite the sizable gap in their ages,he and James were the closest of friends.

But ifsomeone unaware of the friendship the two shared had stumbled uponone of their training sessions, they surely would have assumed thetwo were the bitterest of enemies, as neither ever held back when inthe midst of training.

Avery useda temporary lull in the action to further fan James’ competitiveflame. “I don’t recall telling you to take it easy on me,” hesaid. For his taunt, Avery was met with a barrage of attacks,prompting him to laugh boisterously. “That’s the spirit. Asword as magnificent as your brother’s should always be put to suchgood use.”

James’strikes came with far less fervor after that until the youngswordsman eventually brought his assault to an end. “I think we’vedone enough training for one day,” he said. Even ten years afterWilliam’s demise, the mere mention of him was enough to take thefighting spirit completely out of James.

“Agreed,”said Avery, taking a seat on the grassy hilltop. “It’s far toonice a day to be doing such a thing anyway. We should make betteruse of it.”

James satdown beside his friend.

“Are youexcited about your birthday?” asked Avery.

“Isuppose so,” replied James, who was now lying flat on his back sothat he could gaze at the endless sky above. “It’s one of thefew reasons they give us for taking a break from training. And Icould use a break. This place is starting to feel like a prison.”

“You’rejust restless. And don’t complain to me about this place feelinglike a prison. I’ve been here a lot longer than you have. Ifeither of us has the right to complain, it should be me. I stillhave a lot more time to serve.”

“Why areyou two always up here?” asked Jaycee, finishing her trek up thehill. “The hike probably takes more out of you than the training.” She, too, was a student at the academy, but the sword was not herweapon of choice. Jaycee’s choosing of the staff was based on thefact that it was a weapon far less capable of taking a life than asword. The fair young lady then took her usual place beside James.

“I takeit you’ve finished your training for the day,” said Avery.

Jayceenodded. “I don’t think Mateen likes training with me anymore,”she said. “Ever since I beat him in last month’s games, he actslike he has something to prove.”

“Well, noinstructor likes to be bested by one of his students,” said James. “And I’m sure it didn’t make him feel any better that it was agirl who beat him.”

“I makeno apologies for being a girl.”

“I’mglad I don’t know what it’s like to lose to a student,” saidAvery.

“Yes, butyou're still just an assistant instructor,” said Jaycee.

The touchysubject prompted Avery to quickly change the topic. “I supposeyou’ll be joining me and James on our trip,” he said.

“Ofcourse. James can’t have a birthday without me. Besides, hisparents love me. They always treat me so well when we go visitthem.”

“I wonderwhy,” whispered Avery.

“Did yousay something?” asked Jaycee.

“I didn’tsay a thing. Let’s just be glad that we have a reprieve fromtraining for a while. You know, they don’t let just anyone takefriends with them on their birthday. It’s because our little Jamesis the most cherished pupil in the entire academy.”

Night hadreclaimed its place as master of the sky.

Hidden awayfrom prying eyes in the deep forest was the camp of a group ofsociety’s most unsavory. This band of brigands was known not onlyfor the immense size of the outfit but for the brutality for which ithad shown through the years. They were guilty of every major crimeimaginable and sought by every kingdom in the land.

On thisnight, the brigands were celebrating yet another successful plunder. The ale was flowing freely and the venison was aplenty. And nothingwent to waste as what fell from the mouths of the revelers wasquickly snatched by dogs just as mangy as their masters.

Unbeknownstto the brigands, Sage had entered their camp and was watching themintently. Anyone who had seen the young man at the time he had takenWilliam’s life would be more than a bit surprised to replace that hehadn’t aged since that fateful day.

“Filthyanimals,” said Sage.

One of thebrigands discovered the newcomer. “Who the hell are you?” hedemanded to know. To hasten a response, the rogue drew his sword.

Upondiscovering Sage, more brigands began drawing their weapons. Thedogs shared in their masters’ aggression and began barking at theintruder.

“This isa pretty one,” said one of the brigands. “Maybe we shouldn’tkill him just yet. Let’s have a little fun with him first.”

“I askedyou a question,” said the first brigand. “Who the hell are you?”

When ShadowKahn emerged from the woods to take his place beside Sage, the dogsbegan to whimper. The brigands also became less aggressive. Theyhad no way of knowing who the man who had entered their camp was, butthere was something very unsettling about him that made them wary.

“Who areyou?” asked the brigand in a far less authoritative tone.

A man withan eye patch pushed his way through the crowd and took his place atthe front. “What’s going on over here?” he asked.

“Raspheet,”said the brigand. “Two intruders have trespassed into our camp.”

Raspheet,the leader of the brigands, pushed the man away. “I’m notblind,” he exclaimed. “I still have one good eye.” He thenbegan looking over Shadow Kahn and Sage. “You two must not knowwho we are, or you wouldn’t have dared set foot in our camp. Still, what could have possessed you two to come here?”

“Ourbeloved King Lionel,” said Shadow Kahn.

The mentionof the king’s name prompted Raspheet to spit on the ground and theother brigands to hurl insults at the man mentioned. “You twowouldn’t happen to be friends of his, would you?” he asked. “Because he’s sentenced many in our ranks to their deaths, whichmeans we don’t take too kindly to him or his friends.”

“Is itretribution that you seek?”

“Ofcourse we want revenge,” said Raspheet. “But his army’s toopowerful. No army, let alone a group of bandits, would stand achance against him.”

“What ifthe odds were more heavily in your favor?”

“Even ifsomeone could make that happen,” said Raspheet, “why should Ilead my men to what might turn out to be their slaughter?”

“Otherthan to punish the man who has punished so many of you?” askedShadow Kahn. He then presented a small velvet bag, which he tossedto the crowd. When it hit the ground, out spilled a number of goldcoins. Seeing this, the brigands made a mad scramble for the money. They clawed at and bit each other over ownership of the treasure.

“Hmph,child’s play,” said Raspheet.

“There isfar more where that came from,” said Shadow Kahn. “I havemountains of these trinkets and absolutely no use for them. But ifyou have better ways to make this amount of money, then we shall takeour leave. Come, loyal Sage.”

“Wait,”said Raspheet. “I don’t know what your reasons are for wantingthis, but you seem just as thirsty for the king’s blood as the restof us, maybe even more to make a request to the likes of us.”

“So . . .what is your answer?” asked Shadow Kahn.

“If youcan make good on your promise,” said Raspheet, “then we’ll joinyou.”