Dawn of Fire

1. Sparks-2

His sadistic tendencies grew more ruthless as time passed as if consumed by the very spirit of wrath and vengeance. Despite the war and turmoil, life still managed to retain some fragile semblance of innocence and safety in quiet nooks of the land. Dain and Dorian resided in a secretive little haven called Genrou’s Grotto, where Julius had raised and trained them for years.

After nearly ten minutes had passed, Dain sat up in his bed, supporting himself with his arms. Dorian mumbled in his sleep across the room. An occasional twitch of his arm shook his sheets.

“Hey, Dorian. Wake up,” Dain whispered.

Dorian was unresponsive. Dain shook his head, knowing his friend would rather sleep all day than face Julius’ brutal training regimen, a sentiment he understood all too well. Dain rolled to the edge of his bed, trying to escape the tangle of sheets knotted around his ankle. “Let go…” he murmured. With one decisive tug Dain freed himself and jumped to his feet with a quick swivel. He landed with a stumble, managing to steady himself. “Like a kitty,” he said with a wide smile of dexterous satisfaction. Dain stretched his stiff body, yawning, before wandering to the corner of the room where his armor lay on a rigid stand. His curious blue eyes rolled toward his greaves, then back toward Dorian moments later. Dain’s mouth creased from end to end. He quietly chuckled as he grabbed one of his greaves. Dain swiveled his hand front and back to gain momentum and tossed the greave toward Dorian’s bed with gritted teeth. The weight of the greave landing near Dorian’s feet shook the bed, jarring him awake.

“Get away from her! Are we under attack? S–sword, where’s my sword?” Dorian yelled, frantically wrapping himself deeper into his sheets. Dain doubled over laughing, clutching his stomach with both hands. Dorian’s eyes darted around the room before noticing the greave resting near his feet.

“That wasn’t funny, Dain. You had me worried. I thought we were being attacked,” Dorian scorned, clutching his pulsing head. Locks of his dark brown hair dangled between the cracks in his fingers. “My head is killing me. We didn’t get into a fight last night, did we?”

“I don’t think so. There may be a few barrels that would beg to differ, though. They won that fight…kicked your ass, too. It was a landslide.”

“Got nothing on those stairs, though. I don’t remember much, but I clearly remember your face getting real intimate with the dirt last night after a bad step.”

“What can I say she fell for me.”

“Why are you so dirty?”

“Oh…yeah…well. Funny story…”

“Chicken coop?”

“Chicken coop. I don’t remember how I got there. The window was open when I woke up.”

“We have to stop drinking.”

“Said the man before taking another sip.”

“Yeah…yeah…”

“Julius wants us to get up. It’s time to train.”

“Couldn’t you have just let me sleep a few more minutes? I had a fascinating dream.”

“You were dreaming, huh? What about? Let me guess…the girls from the tavern last night?”

“Hey, hey, quiet. If Julius knew we went to the tavern last night, he would kill us both,” Dorian whispered.

“Aw, come on, Dorian. The worst he would do is make us train a little harder.”

“Listen, Dain. I’m older than you, so that makes me responsible for taking care of both of us. That includes making decisions that benefit us both.”

“Yeah…by like a month!”

“Still older.”

“Oh, well…I guess he’ll just kill you, then.”

Dorian squinted his eyes, glaring back with his usual intensity.

“Okay, dad, whatever you say,” Dain replied, rolling his eyes.

“I’m serious, Dain. Be quiet about it. If I have to do another sit-up, my abs are going to give birth to more abs. Agreed.”

“Okay. You got it. My lips are sealed. Not another word about it.”

Dorian and Dain began their routine as usual, first, washing up and changing into their training equipment. Each passed the other equipment scattered in various corners of the room. It was second nature to them, a daily ritual of synchronicity. Dorian caught one of his boots and slipped it on before catching the other moments later. Dorian tossed Dain too many items at once, causing Dain to drop both his boots and his belt.

“Really, man?”

“Gotta work on those hands. You’ll never get married with that kind of average.”

“Ha, ha…you’re a riot, Dorian. Maybe we should go on the road. Con a few people. With material like that, we’ll be rich by nightfall.” “Smartass,” Dorian murmured with a laugh.

Dorian readied his lightweight armor while Dain combed the room for his missing sock. Both Dain and Dorian’s silver cuirasses were covered in dents and had lost their luster after many years of training. Dorian slipped on his snug-fitting brown and black jacket over his lightweight cuirass while watching Dain crawl across the ground, peeking under his bed, in search of his elusive article.

“Have you seen my sock?”

“No. Maybe it got warped to another dimension or something.”

“You’re in rare form today. Keep that up, and I might have to make you vanish too.”

“Maybe it ran away after your little…recreational activity last night.”

“W…what?”

“I wasn’t asleep yet, Dain. It was before you crawled through the window to do something most foul.”

“Oh…well…I…have no idea what you’re talking about, stranger.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I can’t find it.”

“Funny thing socks…you can always just get another one.”

“All right, all right. I’ll get another. That’s so strange, though. They always just seem to vanish.”

Once dressed, they left their sharpened silver swords on their racks and set off toward the training grounds through the nearby woods. Dain pondered what kind of training Julius could have prepared for them while Dorian dwelled on his dream.

Dorian seemed distant, more so than usual. It was very different from the jovial troublemaker he was the night before. Dain noticed his friend’s sullen mood almost immediately. Dorian was often in some sort of eternal stupor in the absence of a good drink, but Dain noticed a rare sadness in Dorian’s eyes that he seldom had seen before.

“You okay? You seem down today,” Dain asked.

“Yeah. I’m fine. I just can’t stop thinking about that dream last night,” Dorian replied, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

“She must have been a real looker if she’s got you flustered like this.”

“It wasn’t about a tavern girl. I…It was about my mother.”

Dain’s playful smile disappeared in an instant. The topic of parents was a touchy subject for them both.

“I’m sorry for joking around so much. I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay, Dain. You can’t help it that you’re too ridiculous for your own good. Besides, you’re terrible at reading people.”

“What? I am not. I can read people.”

“Oh, really?” Dorian questioned, raising his hand to his chin.

“Yeah, really!”

Dorian smiled and recounted the previous night in the tavern. “Okay.

How about Malina? In the tavern last night,” he said with a smile.

“I thought we weren’t going to mention last night again?”

“That’s beside the point. Anyway, Malina was all over you last night. She was shooting signals at you like arrowheads, and you didn’t even have a clue. Face it, Dain, you’re terrible at reading people.”

“That’s not true. Malina kept talking to me because I’m always so polite to her. We’ve known each other for years. She’s a good friend. Besides, she was drunk.”

“She only had one drink, Dain, and she blushed every damn time she spoke to you.”

“Fine then, genius…at what point in our conversation did she ever show any interest in me?” Dain inquired, c*****g his head in anticipation.

“One, she smiled at you a total of six times. Trust me, I counted. Two, she mentioned that she would love to travel to a big city one day with someone special. She said that while she looked, you squared in the eyes and smiled. She even threw a giggle in there afterward. Three, she asked you if you had anyone special. When you said no, her face lit up like a firefly festival. Four, she’s always liked you, and I can’t believe you have never noticed. Finally, Five, you’re an i***t!”

Dain realized the misread signals and slapped his forehead in embarrassment. “Damn it!”

“Dain, you can’t afford to be this stupid. We have danger going on all around us, and you can’t even read a woman,” Dorian said, shaking his head.

“Well, in my defense, no man can read a woman. That book is written in a foreign language that no man can comprehend. And I didn’t see you getting lucky last night. Besides, you can’t read people any better than I can.”

“On the contrary, I can read people much better than you can. For example, I knew that Julius would booby trap the walk over here to keep us on our toes.”

“Julius did what?” Before he could react, Dain’s feet snapped from under him. Moments later, Dain was staring at the ground, hoisted into the air by a rope trap set by Julius, hidden amongst the fallen leaves.

“See…” Dorian teased, throwing his hand up in casual dismissal.

Dain thrashed against his restraints, manically waving his arms to escape.

“This isn’t funny, Dorian. Stop laughing and cut me down!”

Julius stepped from behind a nearby tree to confront the boys. “My word, Dain, I worry about your safety sometimes. That was the most obvious trap that I could have set.”

“I’m sorry, Julius. I was distracted.”

“Yeah, by your own stupidity,” Dorian teased.

Dain shot Dorian a sarcastic stare as he slowly spun.

“There will always be distractions and traps in the real-world boys, especially if the Baron is involved,” Julius instructed.

Dorian’s eyes flamed to life as he spoke. “The Baron, huh? What’s that guy’s deal? I wonder if we will be strong enough to fight him one day. I’d like to put my fist right in his face.”

“The Baron is powerful, but he is not invincible. He hides behind his generals, his army, and the fear he creates. He is not immortal. Many see him as the definitive word in his land, but it is not an admission of respect. It is one of fear.”

“That’s not what I asked, Julius,” Dorian replied, locking eyes with his mentor.

“One day, Dorian, I believe you two will be strong enough to change this world, or better yet, unite it. I wouldn’t be training you if I believed otherwise.”

Dorian tapped Julius’ shoulder, satisfied with his mentor’s optimism.

“Well, I’m just thrilled at your confidence in us, Julius, but you two are still aware that I am upside down in a tree, right?” Dain interjected. “And spinning. I think I’m going to hurl.”

“Cut him down, Dorian.”

Dorian climbed the tree branches and cut Dain free with his small knife.

Dain dropped to the ground, groaning. “I said, cut me down, not drop me!” “Take it up with the tree, not me. It’s the root of all your problems,” Dorian retorted, jumping from the tree, landing gracefully.

“Oh, you’re such a noble friend. All hail lord jester. Stop stealing my act,” Dain sarcastically replied. Dain staggered to his feet and caught up with his friend and mentor. After a short walk, an opening of pristine land emerged in the middle of the forest. The terrain was expansive and untouched by war. The battered remnants of used training dummies littered the earth. A dilapidated wooden shed sat nearby, concealing more of Julius’ weapons and toys. Julius approached the humble shed and swung open the creaky doors.

Dorian and Dain waited outside, exchanging sleepy yawns. Julius stepped out moments later with three short wooden swords. The swords, like their armor, had been dulled from countless sessions. The boys had trained with Julius so much that they knew every imperfection and chip on their weapons. Without warning, Julius tossed the blades, testing their reflexes. Dorian caught his sword, while Dain fumbled with his, ultimately catching it before it fell to the ground.

“You don’t waste any time getting started, do you, old man?” Dain said.

“I never like to waste my students’ time, Dain. And If I hear that blasphemy come out of your mouth again, I’m going to show you what arthritis truly feels like. I see no old man here.”

“Oh, so grumpy gramps. You know there was this one old guy I knew that was really grumpy.”

“Indeed, he was. That is until he beat his student to death. A very tragic story actually,” Julius replied, his eyes suddenly serious.

Dain’s playful smile vanished. “Wait, really? Is that a true story, or did you take creative liberties?

“Enough talking. Let’s get started,” Dorian interrupted.

Julius stood with his sword hidden behind his back. His left palm faced his two pupils as if he meant to parry their attacks by hand. The boys locked eyes with Julius, both waiting patiently for their moment to strike. They noticed their mentor seemed different than usual. His stance was slightly off-balance, unsure, and his eyes seemed saddened somehow.

“Begin!” Julius said.

Dorian and Dain traded a glance of silent declaration, sealing their plan with a nod. They carefully stepped toward Julius, their eyes fiercely fixed on their opponent. Both Dain and Dorian spontaneously poked their swords toward their mentor, trying to break his guard. Julius parried their attacks with ease, maneuvering his feet like a graceful dancer. His movements were incredibly fast for his age. He seemed to know Dorian and Dain’s actions before they even made them. With each missed attack, Dorian grew more frustrated and began attacking wildly. Julius parried the wild display while he lectured.