Editor's Note: This is the seventh installment of an 11-part short story written by Shawn Smith, a junior English major from Keene, N.H. A new installment will be presented in each issue of The Norwich Guidon during the 2001-02 school year.

Reality's End

by Shawn Smith

Part 7

I arrived at the now dark training area; the sun had long since set and the moon was a mere crescent in the sky while the stars twinkled around the celestial body. The air was chilled and I could see my breath as it exited my mouth. I still had my brown robe on and the ever-mysterious sash around me as I walked about the grounds.

Then, there was bright light in all directions. It blinded me for a moment before I allowed my ability to adjust my eyesight quickly. The light came from torches that hung on the walls, but I'm sure that they weren't there before.

"David Sands!" a voice called out.

I tried to determine where it came from, but it seemed to be everywhere at once. I stood in a defensive stance with my guard up as I looked about me. "I'm here!" I answered back.

"Stand ready to defend yourself!"

Damn, I said to myself as I sensed the presence of three very powerful individuals. They were moving to surround me and then pound me into the ground, or so they thought. I closed my eyes and projected a blast of gale-force wind all around me, not only to knock my attackers to the ground, but to also extinguish the flames of the torches. The only problem with my strategy was that my opponents anticipated my action and pushed it back at me.

I was flung high into the air, but from there I could see where the attackers stood. I held myself aloft as I prepared for the first strike. The group of three looked for me only for a few moments before I felt their scans find their target; they had sensed where I hovered in midair and were ready to come up to greet me.

"Not likely. Not this night," I muttered as I shrouded myself in the night's shadows. I sucked in a quick breath, then dove straight at one of the attackers.

This particular attacker was none other than Master Orin-Tsung. He sensed a presence that moved at high speed toward him, but couldn't see exactly where I was. However, he did sense my biologic energies as I came screaming at him. He flipped backward and threw a focused bolt of static electricity right near the spot where I would land. It hit me square in the chest and I toppled and spun in the air before I smacked into the dirt. The master ran to where I lay, picked me up by the scruff of the neck, and tossed me into the nearest wall with a rush of telekinetic power.

I felt something give in my back when I hit-and hit hard. I gritted my teeth as I tried to regain myself, but the pain was intense. I focused my power on healing my injured spine, but another master got a fistful of my hair and yanked me back up. I couldn't make out the face because I was blinded by pain, but I certainly felt the impact of her fist and knee as they made contact with my ribs and stomach. When she let go of my hair, I dropped like a marionette with its strings cut back on the ground. I heaved my guts out for only a moment before I felt another powerful surge of electricity run its way throughout my body. It lifted me off the ground enough for a kick to thrust me back a good ways from my attackers. Dirt flooded my mouth while I skidded on my stomach. I came to a stop and even in my delirious state, I only counted two different attacks. Where was the third?

"Aaasahhh!" A loud cry from in front of me followed by a kick to my face told me where the third aggressor was. The blow wrenched my neck enough to cause my vertebrae to crack as my feet landed where my head was just a second ago. Now on my back and dazed like hell, I was open for more punishment.

"You are special, that much I can tell . . . you don't realize what kind of strength you have, David-san." I could hear Kumiko telling me those words in the courtyard as I was bleeding from my nose, mouth, and face.

"Pick him up," Master Orin-Tsung ordered. His voice dripped with hostile intent. He wasn't out to teach me a lesson, he was out for blood.

I focused enough energy to clear my sight and heal the damage to my ribs, stomach, neck, and spine. If there was anything that a fighter feared, it was injury to the mid-section and the spinal column; without them repaired, I wouldn't be able to fight at all. My face remained bloody so that I would still have the appearance that I was beaten. As I felt myself lifted off the ground again, I combined the studies of mind and life to sense exactly where all three attackers were.

"Keep him still," Master Orin-Tsung ordered again. I could read his mind. He wanted to deliver the final blow. Not this time, my friend.

Two arms braced me on either side, but there was no need to actually see my targets. I struck the one to my right first with a side kick to the ribs, then the left with my now free hand to her temple with a straight punch. Now, I was free to deal with Master Orin-Tsung.

He made no sound as he glided on his standing leg while he threw a front thrust kick at my stomach. I sidestepped and blocked the kick, then immediately countered with a backfist-palm-heel combo first to his nose followed by his ribs. He grunted loudly as both strikes landed hard and fast, which left him bloody and sore as he cradled his now broken nose in one hand and his ribs in the other.

I jumped and spun in the air, and as I came back around my right leg was already set to deliver a crescent kick to the side of his head. When I didn't see him in front of me, I continued the motion of the spin until I landed again with both feet into a fighting stance. I searched the training area for any sign of him, but I found nothing-until I noticed small droplets of blood on the dirt. The trail made its way to the right of me toward a weapons rack. One of the katanas was gone.

"Son of a-"

"KIAI!" the master shouted behind me.

I dove on the ground and rolled to get to my feet quickly again. I spun around to see the master rush at me with a gleaming blade in his hand and an equally gleaming set of teeth. As he slashed horizontally, I hollowed out my body by a thrust of my hips backward as I leaned my upper body forward. The blade missed its mark and he promptly slashed diagonally and to my left toward the ground. I swept my left foot around to the side parallel to my right while I leaned right with my head as far back as possible. The katana missed yet again and I kicked the master in the back of the head with a strong right-legged roundhouse followed by a rear leg sweep with my left.

He toppled onto the ground, but still maintained his grip on the hilt of the sword. He tried to get up, but I smashed his sternum with my left heel and as he lurched upward I threw a quick hook kick to his skull. He moaned and clutched his chest in pain, but still held tightly to the katana.

I leapt over him and landed on his elbow joint with my knee. I heard bone crunch and tendons tear loose as my bony knee found its target. I ignored his screams and bent his wrist straight up to loosen his grip on the sword. He screamed as I put a good amount of pressure on his wrist to disarm him of the weapon, and sure enough the sword dropped out his hand.

The other two attackers tried to surprise me, but I still sensed where they were. I placed my foot under the katana's blade and kicked it up toward me. I caught the handle and twirled it around in my right hand before I set back up into a suitable fighting stance. As the first one-a master, by the look of it-came at me, I cast out my free hand and projected magick of fate at her legs to make her trip over herself.

As she slipped in her steps and started to fall forward, I levitated low to the ground and spun in the air straight at her. My leg was chambered for a side kick, and as I came around I threw it right into her stomach. I was moving so fast that she didn't have time to blink or utter a single word. She was hurled backward and on the ground, no movement. I landed and stared at her body as the last attacker threw a punch at me.

I stepped to my left as I sensed not only where the attack came from, but also what technique and hand that he used. The middle punch didn't even graze me as I bashed his face with my right elbow, then reached up with my left hand and grabbed the back of his robe. I twisted my hips and drove my left knee into his solar plexus three times. I released my grip when I placed my left foot back down and pushed him away with an added force of telekinesis to the center of his body.

He flew through the air in a parabolic arc and crashed on the dirt. A cloud of dust circled the impact point as he flopped and groaned on the ground. He, too, was a master as all three sashes were almost identical save for the stripes of white against the black to indicate their full rank in Tir-An-Yi.

"Very good, David. Very good indeed."

I slowly turned to face the direction the voice of High Master Jensen came from, but saw nothing but night air. I breathed out and a cloud puffed out between my lips. "Thank you, High Master, but I'm not sure I understand."

"You're being tested, David. Surely you could've figured that out."

"But Master Orin-Tsung," I turned to where he lay on the dirt, but there was nothing, "is-gone?"

She laughed boisterously as I stood in confusion. "Everything is not as it seems, my student, or have you forgotten that?"

"Of course not, High Master, but-" I tried to find the other two masters, but they were gone as well. What in the hell was going on here?

There was a rush of air straight at my face as a portal formed a little ways from where I stood. The silver ripples parted to reveal the form of High Master Jensen as she stepped through. When she completely emerged, the portal rapidly dissipated and the night air returned to its normal state. She wasn't wearing her traditional brown robe, as she always did. I blinked my eyes just to make sure it wasn't an illusion, but it was real. She had donned a black robe with a Sixth Master's sash-an archmaster-around her waist.

"Yes, David. I, too, was a student of Master Akagi's. Now you will fight me, and we'll see who is better with the blade." She produced a katana from behind her back, but I didn't see any sheath tucked in the sash. "You're not the only one who can create small portals into other places, David Sands. En garde," she smiled.

I breathed deeply and reestablished my fighting stance. I held the katana out in front as I shuffled my back leg behind my front and then shifted my front leg forward again. I moved toward the High Master as she began to circle me in her own fighting stance. We circled each other for a few seconds before she made the first strike.

"Hiya!" she yelled as she used combinations of slashing techniques against me.

High, low, and middle attacks all came at me at once. I parried as best I could before I had to step out and to the right to escape the intense barrage of swordsmanship. I whirled the blade about, but she struck the very tip of my sword and it spun harmlessly out my hand.

"Try not to be so showy, David!" she mocked me. She thrust her blade forward and I dodged it, only to have a hook kick planted in my chest.

The wind was knocked out of me and I felt the light swipes of her blade across the front of my torso and arms, but it was still enough to draw blood. I gasped and sucked air as the rage built up again. She had showed me up with my own weapon and then cut me and slashed my clothing. Damn her-

"Don't you dare let that anger defeat you! You have to control yourself, even against an opponent that could beat you," her voice called.

I looked up and saw her circle me in her fighting stance. I gritted my teeth and straightened myself. If this was a test, then I'd be damned if I failed it. I felt my energy flow across my cuts and heal them instantly as I reached my arm out and pulled my discarded katana to my hand. The ivory-colored hilt touched my palm and my fingers encircled it in a firm grasp.

She charged again and I brought my katana forward to defend myself. Her blade clashed with mine as she swiped high, then low. I took the offensive and locked our blades together and made a circular motion in front of us as she backed up to the wall. I flicked my wrist and sent her katana into the air and pointed my blade right at her throat. She gasped as I leaned forward to deliver what seemed to be a death strike. I grinned as I applied the same light slashes that she had done across my own body. However, I didn't draw blood, only tore the black material of the robe in neat lines.

I backed off and whirled my katana in the air as a salute. The High Master bowed, then produced two more katana from behind her back. She attacked with both blades simultaneously as I readied myself again. She began with a high slash on the right, then a low one on the left. I parried the first attack, then levitated high above her and stomped my heel into the top of her skull as she went low. She stumbled for a second before she looked up and shot a bolt of energy out of her eyes at me. The blast struck me in the groin and I fell to the ground. I sputtered and spat air as I searched for my weapon. Where was it?

"Looking for something?" High Master Jensen asked me in that mock tone again.

I shot a quick glance at her and saw the katana as it hovered beside her. I pounded my hand on the ground and got back to my feet. My weight suddenly dipped as my right leg gave out from under me. I had done something to it, but it wasn't broken. Before I could administer aid to my injured leg, she flew forward and kicked me in the jaw with a spinning crescent. I went tumbling through the air again and landed hard on the dirt. There was a considerable amount of dust around me and in my mouth as I spat saliva and blood on the ground.

"Had enough yet?"

I located her and brushed some dirt away from my lips. "No, High Master. I haven't even started."

I pushed my ability through my body and as soon as my leg returned to normal, I shifted my weight onto my toes and rose right off the ground. I summoned enough wind to brush all the dirt off my robe and then directed it at the High Master. The dust swirled around her like a whirlwind, but I knew that wouldn't obscure her vision for long. She would no doubt scan around her to find where my mind and body were, as I had done against the other three. There was just one chance. I focused on the flow of time around me while at the same time visualizing the compositions of her katanas; I would disrupt time enough to triple the speed of my movements while I caused the sword blades to crack and fall apart.

The miniature tornado waned as the particles of sand and dust were being dissipated by High Master Jensen's magick. It wouldn't be long until it was completely gone and my opportunity lost. She started to step through the swirls of the air around her as I combined my knowledge to create my effect.

My entire body began to shake as I altered both time and the matter that made up the blade. Both knees started to buckle as my energy collided with a much stronger one: High Master Jensen's katanas. She must have enhanced them with her own magick because I couldn't break it. The bonds were just too great to be tampered with, and I released my focus from the blade. I devoted my focus solely to the flow of time as I felt my body begin to get lighter. Time was releasing me from its grip enough to move at incredible speed and not a moment too soon.

The katanas swung again at me, but I dodged them with ease and circled around High Master Jensen. I could see each individual movement of her body as my perception of time also became increased; her eyes didn't even flutter as I moved, and her clothing just drifted around in the air before it slowly sank back down into place.

I unleashed a sequence of open-hand and closed fist strikes to her head and body before I finished with a strong sweep at her right heel. From my point of view, I counted around twenty seconds before she hit the ground, but for her it was instantaneous. The very slow glimmer from the torches' light against one of the katanas caught my eye and I leapt after it. I grabbed the hilt and tucked the blade at my side as I flipped and landed on the ground. Now that the sword had joined me in my new temporal state, it would move accordingly as my perception became its. I didn't wait to count the time between my landing and the subsequent kick-up of dust as I turned around into a fighting stance to face the High Master.

I heard the drawn out birth of a moan from her as she lay on the ground. I dashed over and hauled her to her feet. Her facial features moved in slow-motion as her eyes gradually rolled into her head and a slight trickle of blood slowly oozed from her forehead. I held her in place while I positioned the edge of the blade by her throat. Thinking she was out cold, I slipped back into the normal stream of time.

"Do you submit?" I asked her calmly.

A string of unintelligible sounds came out of her mouth. She rolled her head from side to side while the blood dripped down her face.

"I said, do you-"

Her head snapped upright and her dark blue eyes blazed through mine. "You should take better care of the weapons you use, David."

I spied the blade of the sword and saw little pockets of rust begin to appear. The rust spread to half the blade, then to the whole thing as I was flung backward from a burst of electrically charged air.

When I fell on the ground, I noticed that the katana was gone from my hand, but it wouldn't do me any good now. She had used magick of time to accelerate the age of the sword enough to rust it right through. Apparently, she made it strong enough to resist immediate effects against its structure, but not eventual decay. Wait, where was the other one?

"Asaah!" the High Master yelled as she came down with the other katana at my mid-section.

My eyes bulged in my sockets as I attempted to roll out of the way, but the blade still found its mark. The edge sliced through my right side and blood poured out the open wound. I screamed in pain and managed to complete the roll as the blade was thrust into my left shoulder blade from the back. I was pinned to the ground by her katana, and I tried desperately to pull it out but couldn't. It was lodged in too deep and my arm wouldn't bend far enough to reach it. I was bleeding worse now.

"You've been beaten. Do you yield?" she asked. She twisted the sword around and made more blood flow.

I felt lightheaded as a pool of blood formed around me. I didn't think had I much longer to go until I was unconscious or even dead. I shivered both from shock and from the thought of my return to that limbo between life and death. Would that same figure save me as it did before? I had to believe that it would, but it wasn't something I could count on. No, I had to save myself this time.

"David, yield to me. Now."

I couldn't give in. I wouldn't give in. I felt the icy cold hand of death try to draw me toward the abyss of darkness again. No, it wouldn't have me. It would never have me. Never.

"AAHHHHH!" I screamed as the High Master bent the blade at an angle and eased it inside my shoulder even more. Where was that power that I felt before? Why couldn't I call it back? I started to black out and shiver as the pool of blood grew wider. My strength was leaving me, but I had to hold on. One last burst of energy to dislodge-damn, the pain was really bad now. More blood. Was there enough time?

I reached around my back with my right arm and grabbed hold of the blade. At the same time I pulled upward, what seemed like that last of my powers raced through my body. My muscles bulged and grew beyond their normal girth as I ripped the blade from my shoulder. The sound of metal grinding against bone made me nauseous for a moment, and I swallowed several large chunks of food that came up into my throat. As I threw the weapon to the ground, I placed both hands on the ground and shot both legs straight up into the High Master's chin. My clothing tore in the places where my muscles bulged the most as I arched my back and bent my knees to let my feet touch ground again. I flipped completely over, but I stumbled and fell back down while the world spun in my head. The dizziness didn't help my nausea at all, but made it worse. I held my right side gingerly with my left hand as I retched twice. The sound of the High Master as she moved around in the dirt forced me to turn around.

"Yield, High Master. Yield now, or I will finish this," I breathed.

She moaned and shook her head as she rose back up to her own feet. "No. You must finish it, if you can."

With the last of my meal swallowed down again, I managed to lift myself off the ground and stagger forward. My left arm braced my slashed and bloody side while my right dangled uselessly with each step. I looked as though I were intoxicated, but my mind was quite clear. That's when I saw it. The single shimmer on the ground would be my beacon for victory. Each step toward it was harder than the next as I teetered about. High Master Jensen saw what I was going for, and quickly ran to intercept me. I was grinning broadly as my ability was slowly returning with each step. The hole in my shoulder and gash in my side were closing up and the flow of blood was only a mere trickle. She came at me with a hook punch to my gashed side, but I blocked it with my right forearm and threw a front snap kick to her face. I pounded her torso with a series of punches and open-handed strikes, then threw a strong hook kick-roundhouse combination to the sides of her head. The combination was so quick and powerful that she didn't even have a chance to block the first kick before the second sent her flying into the wall to her right. Nothing was in my way now. The advantage would be mine.

The katana's blade was covered with gore, but its now tainted steel still reflected light from the supernatural torches around the walls. I held onto the hilt with a weak grip and dragged the blade across the ground as I walked to the crumpled form of my opponent. The bloody mess that caressed the steel blade mixed with dirt, the shine dulled by the mixture of granules and my own coppery fluids.

My right arm and side still burned with pain, so I was forced to switch the katana over to my left hand. I preferred to fight right-handed, but fortunately I was ambidextrous and very adept with weapons. I twirled the sword at my side as I waited for High Master Jensen to get back up. As she did, I gradually advanced with a prominent hunch on my right side. I felt my powers slip a little, but I kept the blade held out in an offensive posture to deliver a strike if necessary.

She had her head bent down and her hands on her temples as she massaged them. I felt her scan my presence, and she immediately jumped into a fighting stance. I got in close to her and created an effect that just happened to trip her up as she settled into her stance. The High Master fell right on her backside, and I followed up with a strong thrust of the blade aimed at her throat. A gasp escaped her lips as I came forward with the blade, but I stopped right before impact.

I held the razor-sharp tip to her tender flesh for a while before I stood up as straight as possible with the katana back at my left side. A gleam of light danced across the unsoiled portions of the blade as it was raised high and driven into the ground beside the High Master. I said nothing, only bowed and stepped away. She smiled at me and stood up.

"We have nothing more to teach you in the world of physical combat, David. But your journey into the realm of magick is far from over. When you are well enough, I will show you the next crucial step that you must take."

"Of course, High Master."

"For now, let us tend to our wounds and reflect on what has happened tonight."

I bowed and followed her out of the training area. The light from the torches was extinguished just as quickly as it had appeared, and the only thing that could be heard was the chirps of crickets as they wandered in the night air.

As we rounded the corner of the doorway, I suddenly felt very weak. My whole body was cold and my side and shoulder leaked new blood from the freshly opened lacerations. The magick had somehow worn off without me noticing it, and I didn't have the strength to do anything about it. My muscles shrank back to their original size as I tried to grab hold of the nearest wall, but my legs failed me and I fell to my hands and knees.

"David, are you all right? David? David!" the High Master yelled.

I couldn't respond. I was too busy coughing up blood and wheezing. The whole corridor spun around as multi-colored dots danced across my vision. A strange smile formed as my head sunk lower and lower to the floor.

The High Master picked me up and opened a portal. She clutched me tightly as we went through the silver ripples. When we passed to the other side, I was nothing but dead weight, but she kept me close to her body. She lightly slapped my cheeks to wake me up.

"David, can you hear me?" she asked in a panicked voice.

"Harammph," I mumbled. "Joobar kitanbe. Ubah recka." I was totally incoherent and my speech slurred badly.

My sense of sight was getting worse as the blood kept dripping from my wound and on the floor. I barely distinguished human figures and other objects, but could understand where I was. She had led me into a purification spring with several Brothers that stood by as attendants to treat injuries.

I was stripped and dropped into the warm water. The inner power of the spring shocked me back to life as I let out a yelp. The water around me bubbled and fizzed while the magick penetrated my body; my wounds no longer bled and my energy slowly returned. I sunk deeper into the warmness and started to drift off to sleep.

"David!" the High Master shouted. "You have to stay awake. Do you hear me?"

I shifted my weight and looked up at her. "Yes, I hear you. I hear . . ."

"Damn you, stay awake!" she shouted again. She drove a powerful surge of magick through my mind to wake me up.

I almost jumped clear out of the water before my hands found the sides of the spring to brace me. My eyes were wide and my mouth was curved in a neat O as I felt heat come back into my face. I settled back into the water and sat cross-legged with my arms outstretched.

"Just relax, David. All things will be clear in due time."

A simple nod was all the response I gave. Magick flowed around and through me as my body healed. I watched her leave the room, and the Brothers began their long vigil through the rest of the night.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 8

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