Patricia Moore
Stories
14
Chapters
5,808
Words
3.9 M
Comments
0
Reading
13 d, 9 h
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Beam had seen such a thing himself, in his own progress. The sacrifices did not seem to be in vain – he would make sure that they weren't. But now, he had to deal with their consequences. "Still… This too is training," he told himself, remembering Dominus' words and the promise of progress. Once this was done and out of the way, it would be a huge weight off his shoulders. With those reassurances on his mind, he stepped out into the clearing where his hut once lay. Three heads turned upon his…-
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Beam listened to the list with wide eyes, as though opening them wider would help him process all the information being fired at him. He heard the mention of Battle – the strategy board game that Dominus had been teaching him as of late – and paled. He could hardly imagine scraping a single win past Dominus. In all their recent games he'd been beaten so thoroughly that it seemed like an impossibility. He paled even further at the mention of making a friend and of getting on better terms with the…
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Dominus squinted at the boy as he slowly walked towards him, pointing a finger. He looked closely at the boy's eyes, searching for any sign of deceit. "Are you telling me, that you'll slay the Pandora Goblin in my name?" It was only then that Beam had enough self-awareness to feel embarrassed. He grew red all the way to his ears, knowing how ridiculous it sounded. He had nothing at all to back up that foolish promise. He was not yet fast, nor strong, nor skilled with the sword, or sharp with his mind.…
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Beam nodded seriously. "I will. No matter what it takes, I will." He said it with such ferocity, that even Dominus was inclined to believe him, despite how impossible he knew the task to be. "We will see," Dominus said at last. Not wanting to risk putting him in a bad mood, Beam changed the subject with a smile. "So what about my speed then?" He asked. "What do you mean 'what about my speed'?" Dominus replied, with more than a hint of impatience. "Well, I'm still wondering why it went…
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Soon, he was crawling back up the muddy path towards Dominus' feet, somehow his clothes having remained clean, yet his hands were covered in filth. He collapsed on a knee beside Dominus, a look on his face that indicated he was displeased in some way. "What?" Dominus asked, after waiting in silence for a few moments, the only sound being Beam's heaving breaths. "I've gotten slower…" Beam said, realizing for himself that it was true. He knew his body rather well. And he was getting to know it…
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Beam soon found those words to be true, though he had not heard them. His breathing was catching up to him, and by the time he finally made it to the banks of the river, he was thoroughly out of breath. "And that should have been the easiest part too…" he realized in horror, being downhill as it was. Now he had the rushing waters of the mountain river to cross, before transitioning to the other side, and its increasingly more rocky terrain, that looked more like a rock climbing course than a running…
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And then Beam wandered off the mountain path, staring down into the ravine as he went, eyeing up the river that would soon be his obstacle. But before that, he noticed an even more pressing problem. Just a few steps away from his path, and he saw the way down was nearly as vertical here as it appeared on the opposite side of the river. Looking at the height difference between where he stood now, and where the river was, he reckoned it was about the height of a three-story house, which wouldn't be too…
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But whilst Dominus' words held truth – they were a truth that didn't apply to Beam. For the curse that he bore, such progress was meant to be beyond him, and yet here he was, mere days after receiving the blessing of Claudia, rocketing forwards so quickly. For anyone else, it would be understandable – it would even be expected, especially after receiving the blessing… but for Beam, it was an unbelievable feat. Dominus could hardly understand it. Every time he thought he'd put a finger on the pulse…
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This was his seventh lift – or sixth in the eyes of Dominus, given the one that didn't count – and it was more than obvious that the boy was reaching his limit. He tore off his shirt, somehow hoping that the reintroduction of cool air would spur on his strength, if only a little, and he gripped the stone as tightly as he could, aiming to rip it off the floor even faster than the last. But the stones were growing slick and his hands were growing tired. They were already damp and slippery from the…
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He eyed Dominus to make sure he was doing it right. It was Dominus after all, who had told him to pick it up in such a manner, and lift it as high as he had. It wasn't ordinarily how he'd go about handling stones. Dominus motioned with his hand for Beam to continue, as he himself set a battered black kettle on the now recovering fire. Beam made to move on to the next stone, as he had the previous day. "Ah," Dominus said, motioning for him to go back. Beam frowned. That was a habit of Dominus' –…
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