Heir Of The Fallen Flame

Chapter 25: Here To Suffer. And Slice Vegetables

A wooden bucket of freezing water crashed directly into Kael’s face.

He shot upright with a strangled gasp, sputtering as water soaked through the thin blanket beneath him.

“What in the…”

“Sunrise passed already.”

Master Liam stood in the doorway holding the empty bucket. The old man looked fully awake. Worse, he looked energetic.

Kael wiped water from his eyes furiously. “You threw water on me!”

Liam snorted. “You complain loudly for a man who wished to become stronger.”

Kael looked around wildly. The small room smelled faintly of old wood and herbs. Sometime during the night, Lyra had apparently vanished because her sleeping mat sat empty near the far wall.

“Where’s Lyra?”

“Awake.” The old man said, "Something that appears difficult for you.”

Liam shook his head and walked out of the room with a lousy house escaping his lips as he clears his throat.

Half-awake and deeply offended by existence itself, Kael dragged himself outdoors into the cold mountain air.

Mist rolled heavily across the hills while pale sunlight crept over distant peaks. Somewhere nearby, wood cracked rhythmically. Kael turned toward the sound, eyes barely fully opened.

Lyra stood in the middle of the training field swinging a sword. Sweat glistened along her neck, strands of hair sticking to her face.

Each strike cuts through the air cleanly; Step, turn, strike. It almost looked like a sword dance.

Kael tilted his head up as though to get a better look at Lyra under heavy eyelids. “How long has she been awake?”

Liam dumped a sack onto the ground beside him. “Since before dawn.”

Kael stared at Lyra again. That explains why she's so good at combat my swordsmanship.

The sun was rising right behind her and for a second, Kael lost his train of thoughts as he watched her. She looked…ethereal, sword glistening.

The corners of his mouth lifted without him meaning to. “Woah.”

Liam ignored him entirely before tossing a knife directly into Kael’s chest. Kael yelped and barely caught it by the handle before it hit him.

Wide eyes stared back at the crazy old man, was he trying to kill him?!

“Why did you..” he started breathlessly but Liam interrupted.

“At least you have something useful.” The old man said, clamping his arms behind his back.

Kael stared at the knife in his hand in horror and back at Liam. This man wanted him dead for sure, he just couldn't prove it yet!

Liam kicked the sack open and potatoes spilled everywhere, then carrots followed, onions and then turnips.

Kael blinked. “…What is this?”

“Training.”

Kael stared at the old man expectantly but Liam simply stood still, watching him as well in utter silence. Realization slowly crawled across Kael’s face.

“You cannot be serious.”

“Cut them.”

Kael stared at the vegetables like they had personally betrayed him.

He turned to Lyra who was very much busy with her practice. “You brought me across half the realm to chop onions?”

She gambled at him with arched eyebrows, what was he yapping about again?

“You lack awareness." Liam offered.

“That sounds unrelated.” Kael countered.

Liam pointed at the knife. “Then prove me wrong.” he said, “Thin slices for the carrots, thick for the potatoes and thin for the rest.”

The old man walked away and Kael sighed dramatically before crouching near the sack. “This is humiliating.”

“I can hear you!” Liam snapped and Kael sealed his lips shut.

He picked up a potato angrily and began cutting. Or attempting to. The slices came out uneven; one was One thick, one thin, one somehow launched itself entirely off the chopping board.

Kael frowned harder and tried again only to cut another terrible slice after another.

“Your wrist is stiff.” Liam said.

He was seated at the edge of the cliff, his handbag in hand as he waved it over his face slowly.

Kael looked up. “What?”

“You force the blade instead of guiding it.”

“It is a vegetable, not a duel.”

Liam folded his arms. “And yet the vegetable wins.”

Kael glared at the potato like it had insulted his bloodline.

Hours passed. The sun climbed higher over the hills while Kael continued slicing vegetables under Liam’s relentless criticism.

“Too slow.”

“You grip the knife poorly.”

“You apply too much strength to the blade.”

“My, I can not believe one person could fail so terribly at a simple task!”

By midday, Kael genuinely considered throwing himself off the mountain.

His fingers ached, his back hurt and the onions had begun to sting not just his eyes but his feelings too.

“I do not understand,” Kael muttered while chopping another carrot. “How does this teach combat?”

Liam now sat beneath the crooked tree nearby sharpening his plank with a knife.

Kael cut another uneven slice. “This feels like cooking.” he muttered again as he watched Lyra mediating.

Hell, she hasn't done anything except practice all day and he had admired at first but now? He just feels like Liam wanted him to suffer alone.

“...this lacks any training…” he muttered more aggressively.

Liam pointed toward the carrots without looking up. “And fingers apparently.”

Kael glanced down, he had sliced off a good flesh off his fingers. His eyes darted wide as the knife fell off his hands.

His mouth flew wide open to relax a cry that died in his throat on seeing the death stare he got from Liam.

Kael swallowed his cries, face crumbling in silent tears.

“What?” Liam asked. “Should I get you a feeding mother too?” He asked, crackling with laughter.

Kael bit down his retort as he pulled a loose strip of his clothes, cut it and wrapped it around his bleeding finger.

“But this is not why I came here.” Kael finally said out loud but not enough to hide the pain in his voice.

Liam approached and picked up a single potato from the sack.

“When fear comes,” the old man said quietly, “the hand reveals the truth before the mouth ever can.”

With one smooth motion, Liam tossed the potato into the air and swung his dagger in the air. The potato slided into even pieces before hitting the ground.

Kael blinked. “How did you..”

Liam handed him two different bowls this time. “Since you failed at awareness, let's see if you have patience.”

The old man placed them carefully on the wooden porch. One bowl held rice and the other sat empty.

Kael narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“Count them.”

Kael stared in disbelief. “You cannot possibly expect me to count grains of rice.”

“You lose focus too easily.”

Kael bit down his retort, the old man wasn't wrong. Hell, he just didn't want to have to admit all of this was bigger than he was. He is a wanted man across the realms! A man deemed a murderer. That sort of thing would make any sane person unstable.

Liam sat cross-legged beside the bowls. “I think you do not yet understand what sleeps inside you.”

Kael met the old man's gaze, he hasn't told him anything about his powers, nor has Kael seen his posters around Meadow.

Kael cleared his throat and started counting the grains instead. The memory of the nymph forest returned but he shook his head, trying to move the thoughts out of his head.

He refuses to think about the harm he's caused. Here was no way to make it better or fix it. He's just a cursed boy with a cursed power he has no control over.

“You trained Zen?”

Liam grunted once. “Unfortunately.”

“And Pelson?”

The old man’s expression changed immediately. Liam stared out toward the distant mountains for several long seconds before answering.

“Yes.”

The old man looked uncertain but now something colder settled across his face. “Pelson was different when young,” Liam said eventually. “Quiet. Brilliant. Too brilliant.”

Kael listened while moving grains of rice one by one.

“He learned faster than the others,” Liam continued. “Most of my students have never been so ambitious.”

The mountain wind strengthened briefly around them. Liam’s cloudy eye narrowed slightly at something only he remembered.

“There was once a temple here,” he said quietly.

Kael looked up. “Here?”

Liam nodded toward the hills surrounding them.

“Before Meadow City existed, these mountains belonged to my order.”

Kael blinked slowly. “You led a temple?”

“For many years.”

“What happened?”

Liam’s jaw tightened. “Pelson.”

Kael stopped counting entirely. The old man rose slowly and walked toward the edge of the cliff overlooking the valleys below.

Kael glanced at Lyra's way. She had stopped training too, her eyes fixed on the old man.

Kael decided not to ask any further. He returned to counting the grain. He'd come here to learn combat and all he's done so far is complain about everything.

“Once you're done with that, the peas come next.” Liam announced.

“Peas?!”