Faith United

[Breaker]

“Attack me now, with all of your skill.”

The soldiers of the Faith United were shirtless in the sun, already covered in sweat as their feet shifted on the sandy shore. They formed a circle around me, wielding staves and cudgels. Each breath I took seemed to make them readjust and reconsider. None stepped forward to begin the assault.

Another thirty soldiers - my honor guard - in leather armor stood at ease in the shade of the nearest trees. They heckled the warriors on the beach mercilessly, calling them cowards for not attacking outright.

“Perhaps my personal guard needs some personal training,” I grinned at the men surrounding me, and then shouted to those under the trees. “Get over here and assist your compatriots. Bare Steel!” I looked around like a fox taking its pick of the chickens. “A thousand gold pieces to any man who lands a blow.”

That catalyzed something. I heard a heavy footstep behind me, and the air shifted as a staff whummed toward my torso.

I ducked and stepped backwards smoothly, using the force of the staff wielder’s swing to throw him over my shoulder. Despite the soft sand and the gentleness I’d tossed him with, the force of the throw left the man breathless and stunned.

Suddenly staves and cudgels struck at me from all directions. I bobbed and weaved among them like an owl navigating tree branches at night. Wooden weapons whistled by my head and wafted warm air all around me, but none landed so much as a glancing blow. I disarmed and disabled my assailants with short strikes and swift maneuvers, leaving a trail of groaning but largely unharmed soldiers in my wake.

With raucous battle cries my honor guard raced to join the melee, drawing swords and hefting spears. The danger of their weapons made little difference; they could not touch me. I floated like a swan and struck like a ram. I was a bear among wolves, a dolphin among fish… a god among men.

“We yield!” The captain of my guard cried as he swung his sword and missed so badly he spun around and sat down. Only a dozen of the original thirty remained standing, and they swiftly sheathed their weapons and showed their empty palms. “By the blood of Hromagh, Breaker. The way you train us, I’d think you don’t want us around.”

The men helped each other recover while I flicked specks of dust from the double-stitched lines of my pants. I missed the powers Am’aleh had once granted me, missed the ability to cleanse my body with pure water and leave it perfectly pristine. I had almost broken a sweat during the training, and the feeling was decidedly human.

A plume of dust announced the arrival of a messenger on a horse. The compact fellow galloped his steed down the earthen trail and pulled it to a stop. The horse remained still as he dropped its reins and slid to the ground, sprinting to the beach with his eyes on me.

“An urgent message for you, my lord,” he said, “from the encampment!”

I took the proffered envelope and broke the wax seal, sliding the single piece of parchment out into my hand. My eyes scanned the words, becoming hard as hazel stones.

“What does it say?” A familiar, feminine voice wafted to my ears on the wind. I looked toward the ocean. Am’aleh rose from the waves, a liquid personification of beauty, and glided toward me with flowing, even strides. She stopped just behind me and leaned over to read the letter.

I looked out at the men assembled on the beach before me. They had barely reacted to Am’aleh’s arrival. Anger burned inside me like a forge’s fanned coals.

“Ingrates!” I roared at the soldiers, “A Thayne stands before you. Fall on your knees!”

A wave of sideways glances passed between the soldiers, and then one by one they knelt in the sand. Am’aleh smiled at me, and then faded back into the sea.