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Chapter 8: Ready and Able

Jason parried the blade, sharp enough to draw blood and teach, but too dull to really be of any true danger. Still it hurt.

The blade came back and he ducked under it, only to have his feet kick out from underneath him. It had happened before and so Jason rolled out of the way of the strike coming to finish him off.

“Good!” Vilany shouted. The badger stood up, no longer brandishing his dual training blades. He was sweating profusely and it only highlighted his corded muscles under his fur. Despite his age, Vilany was still a force to be reckoned with.

“I learn fast,” Jason smiled and went for his own strike once he was on his feet.

Vilany easily swatted the blade aside and then countered with his own attack. They went back and forth for a bit until Vilany suddenly upped his game. He slowly increases the tempo of attack. The blades came in from the left, the right, above, below, all directions and immediately Jason was being pushed back across the training ground.

A crowd was beginning to form. It was always a bit of a show, watching the Master-At-Arms go up against the person harboring the soul of an angel. At first it was obvious that Jason wasn’t getting any experience from Antes. He stumbled and he got hit a lot. It was fun to watch for a while and then it got boring, but over several months, Jason improved tremendously.

Fights that used to last seconds now lasted minutes and after the one time that Jason actually got a strike in, there were always a few watching, ready to call in a crowd. Now that Vilany was giving it his all, the crowd formed.

Vilany presses his advantage and Jason, struggling to block the attacks, but still succeeding, was pushed back closer to the edge of the field where he would eventually be pressed against a fence.

The previous month, the army had packed up and moved camp to its wintering ground to the north of the wasteland that Jason had called home for three months. The tent city turned into an actual city, the city of Galenwood, which sat on the northern tip of the Autumn Woods which meant that the weather was always that of Fall, a good place to settle an army long term.

Normally the Templar Army would have disbanded. Soldiers would have gone back to their homes, but Gorgon was still about. The demon lord was looking for something, or just looking for trouble, but there had been a few engagements as the demon tried to push into well established lands under the protection of Heaven.

Antes had joined the fight a few times, taking Jason’s body and had made sure to instruct Jason as much as he could during the fight as well. Kieth had been there as well.

The lone human had turned out to be a natural sorcerer. He had an affinity for fire magic and had quickly became very proficient at it. He could call down fire from the sky or create a shield that warmed friends and scorched enemies. While he didn’t enjoy the killing that came with war, Kieth learned to respect it. He’d do what was necessary because he vowed, along with Jason, to rescue Anthony and Janice, wherever they were.

Kieth sat on top of a fence at the edge of the field and watched as Jason barely managed to keep his head.

“C’mon,” he said to himself, but a few others nearby heard and they rooted as well. Few disliked Jason. They heard his story and it sparked their hatred for the slavers of the Autumn Woods. There was even talk of invading to free the slaves there and a few of the minor kingdoms that were often victims of the slavers and bandits were becoming the strongest voices.

Jason parried left, ducked right, leapt backwards. All the attacks were mere centimeters from hitting him and eventually he would fuck it up and get hit. He couldn’t. He could feel all the eyes watching and judging him. Word would spread that he had been beat again and maybe word would spread to somewhere Anthony was.

A flare of inspiration hit Jason and after he blocked a swing from Vilany, he twirled and struck for Vilany. The sudden offensive caught Vilany off guard, but decades of war kept Vilany well guarded against surprises. Still, Jason went on the attack. He struck again and again, feeling a coolness wash over him. He felt something new, something that had always been there, but not available to him. It filled him with power.

With the tables turned, Vilany moved to quickly regain control of the situation. He blocked all of the attacks and then saw an opening. He took it.

The opening had been false, created to lure in the prey and it worked.

Jason swung with his arm and then there was silence. He had swung with his off arm, but he was holding something no one expected.

“Well, I’ll be,” Vilany said between labored breaths and stood up straight. His sword was cut in half, barely a foot after the pommel remained while he couldn’t move the other because he had a sword of ice at his throat.

The entire crowd was silent and then burst in cheering.

Jason stood straight, removing the blade so that he wouldn’t accidentally stick himself or Vilany. He inspected the blade. It was a simple straight blade, but made completely of ice. It didn’t look at all like the blade Antes used. Antes’ was massive, like a claymore, Jason’s was a simple long sword. Just as sharp though.

“When did you learn to do that?” Vilany asked. He threw aside his practice blades. The squires would pick them up. “Better yet, what else can you do?”

“I’m not sure,” Jason answered and held up the ice blade. With a single feeling, not even a thought, the blade vanished into a fine mist. It was as if a door had been opened inside of him. He simply knew how to do a lot more, but he decided to keep that for later.

Practice came to an end right then. The crowd lingered for a little longer, giving congratulations before parting to continue their duties. Kieth had his own training to go to with Kline and so, Jason had the rest of the day to himself.

Back at his own assigned quarters, which were quite luxurious compared to most others, Jason meditated. It had been something he had taught himself to better talk with Antes. It also helped ease his mind.

“How’s your talks with the rest of the angels go?” Jason asked.

“Very good,” Antes said and he shared his memory.

“We’ve been lenient too long with Hell,” Gabriel said, his wings of actual feathers flapped in his frustration. He was among the oldest of the angels and most trusted, but was often the voice of force among the Council. “They destroy everything and we let them. What happened to the days when we took to the skies in force?”

“We all know what happens when the armies of Heaven rise to meet the denizens of Hell,” Bellart, a relatively new addition to Council, the Jaguar was more a voice of reason, often relying on history to back all of his arguments. “Tristram cannot happen again. If we go out in force... he will rise to meet us. Just as he always had.”

There was a lasting silence before Antes spoke up.

“I may have a solution to this problem,” he said. Antes had decided to appear in the council in The form of Jason. Just as Jason had accepted what he was now, Antes did so too. There was no getting his old body back. It was still taking time for the others to get used to it.

“Go ahead, let’s here it,” Vartos, a senior member of the council, second to Gabriel, said with a wave of his hand. He was a large rhinoceros in gilded gold plates and had wings made seemingly of light and had a halo of the same type.

“As you know, I have made a vow to my vessel... companion, Jason. Vowed to rescue his friends in return for the use of his body to hunt down Malus, who we can assume survived much in the same way I did.” Antes cleared his throat quickly. “My Templar contacts have made headway on that and say that one of the humans is in Vimora.”

There was a restless murmur.

“And what do you propose?” Bellart asked with a slight twinge of sarcasm to his voice. He still needed to learn his place. Not all angels on the council were equal and one as young as Bellart had little power to throw around, especially at a senior member such as Antes. “Vimora lays deep in the Autumn Woods.” He moved to the edge of his seat. “One does not simply walk into Vimora.”

“No,” Antes admitted and then looked at Gabriel who was already smirking. “But we can march on them. The Templar armies are ready and already at their doorstep. They’d lay siege to the city within a few weeks. We only send as many of us as we usually do.”

The council members turned to each other and spoke quietly and respectfully.

“It has merit,” Vartos said. “Military excursions to eradicate slavery have come up before and we have the army to do so as well now.”

“I would lead such an attack,” Gabriel pounded his chest. “And it would be an honor to have Antes by my side as well.”

With the support of the two most senior angels, everything else fell into place quickly and Jason was pulled from the memory, back to the present.

“I’ll need to speak with Knight Commander Thedius to begin preparations,” Antes said.

“Go ahead,” Jason said, knowing that Antes already had control well before he even finished.

Antes assumes his normal angelic form and went to find Thedius. It wasn’t hard. The aged Templar rarely left his map room where he was always deciding plans and going over scenarios with his lieutenants.

Upon seeing, Antes, Thedius dismisses the entire room, leaving them alone.

“What can I do for you, old friend?” Thedius asked, leaning on a massive wooden table covered in maps of every nearby location. There was already a map of the Autumn Woods ready with marching plans showing a clear route to each of the major slave cities.

“I think it’s about time we went on the offensive,” Antes said. “First stop, Vimora.”

The next several hours were spent fine tuning a rough draft. Vimora had been a slave city since it’s inception as a slave trade hub nearly a thousand years ago and due to its central location in the region, had quickly grown into a fortress city. It would not be easy, but the slavers had no real army, they hired mercenaries from distant lands to guard them and their only loyalty was to the promise of money. Their spirits would break faster in combat than any Templar. That’s what Thedius was relying on.

Jason watched the entire thing unfold with definite interest. The movies always depicted combat planning as an intricate affair with lots of backups. In reality. Thedius planned on hitting the city hard from the front and sides while leaving a rear guard to keep an escape route open if need be. It was Antes who was more scheming.

He planned on using the distraction of the attack to sneak into the city and look for both Anthony, Janice and Malus. He also planned on enlisting the help of one of his oldest friends, Hermes. The actual Hermes from Greek mythology. That got Jason even more excited. He had been entranced by the Iliad in junior high and had a fascination with mythology ever since. How many of the other gods existed?

The plan was set. Now it was just a matter of getting to Vimora. Jason prayed that Anthony was alive and well.