Victor Deus (Heritage of the Blood Book 1) (7 page)

“Good morning Victor,” came the familiarly melodic voice of Shaylyn.

Having been found out, he gave a quick angry glare at the door before he cheerily replied. “Good morning Shaylyn.” He opened his betrayer all the way, without another noise from the thing, and took a step into the main room.

Shaylyn turned around gracefully and flashed him that loving smile that she had ready for him every morning. He remembered telling her that if he ever met an angel, he was sure that it would look just like her. Even though she was not his real mother, he knew that she loved him as if she was. She had told him the basics of the story of his birth, as she knew of it, on his sixth birthday last year. She thought that he was ready to know at the time, and she still felt that she was right. He knew there was a lot expected of him, even if he didn't know exactly what, but he just wanted to be a kid. He did not yet fully appreciate the burden that had been placed on his shoulders, but he would eventually. Of course, his being a kid was a lot different than any other kid would consider
just being a kid.

He had started training as a shaper at the age of three, right after he learned how to read and write. She had also taught him Elven and Draconic to prepare him for his studies and life. Then, when he had turned five, she started to teach him self-defense, and the art of the blade. He was still rather clumsy at times, but she wanted to get the basics ingrained into him. All of that training didn't leave a lot of room for actual playing around. Shaylyn always seemed to find a way to make the lessons fun so that he didn't seem to notice, or care about, the difference between training and playtime. Shaylyn often told him that she wished that she could have raised him like a normal child. She knew that his life would be nothing close to normal, and that he would need to know what she had to teach him, and he accepted that as fact.

“It's about time you got up; I was wondering if you had died in there. It wouldn't be good for you to have died on the morning before your birthday.”

Victor quickly assumed his best “manly pose,” which was funny to see a scrawny seven-year-old boy try to pull off. Then he stated boldly, “I can't die, who would be here to protect you.”

Her smile slipped a little, “and you think that I need protecting?”

He replied without missing a beat, “of course, you're a girl!”

Now she was becoming a little exasperated with him. “Oh, and who told you that boys can protect girls better than girls can protect themselves?”

Looking up at her like he had never thought to argue the point before he simply stated, “My teacher at school. She said that the role of the man was to protect life and provide for the family.”

“Oh, really? What else did she say Victor?” She let him know that she was a bit agitated by her tone of voice, and the look she shot him.

He gave her a look that said he was worried about making her mad, but when he realized that he wasn't going to get breakfast until they had finished the conversation, he went on. “Well she said that women were weaker than men and that it was our duty to protect them because they…” he hesitated, “…cannot protect themselves. Is that not right?” He said this all with the most innocent expression that he could muster.

He saw her thinking, and her entire posture reflected the fact that she was inwardly debating with herself. He thought that she might get angry, though she had rarely ever gotten even upset with him. Instead, she scooped him up off the ground and kissed him on the forehead.

“You sweet innocent child, what have I taught you over all these years? Better yet, instead of telling me what your teacher said let me ask you what
your
opinion is on this before I start another long lecture.”

He looked at her with those eyes that a soon-to-be seven year old should not possess and gave her a slight smile. “That's what I thought.” That's all he said, then he looked at her and smiled like he had done something right and he should get a present.

After a few moments, she could bear the silence no longer. “What do you mean that's what you thought?” He knew that she knew he was waiting for the right moment to say whatever it was that he was going to say, and he knew it annoyed her sometimes how well she had taught him to play a crowd. After a few seconds of silence, he started to explain himself.

“Well, I told the teacher that it really depended on the person. I explained about a lot of the women you have told me stories about, like the Tyradril Sisters, High commander Marisa Windsbane, and the evil priestesses of the god of pain. I told her there were a lot more examples, but I'm only six years old and I can't be expected to know all of them. Then I told her that by all accounts those women that I mentioned could hold their own, if not even best, the hardiest of men.”

As the smile returned to Shaylyn's features, she embraced Victor into one of her famous hugs that he secretly loved so much. After struggling out of her grasp and regaining his breath Victor took the cue to continue. “So, she gave me the look of death… She said that just because there are
some
women in the world that have extraordinary abilities, that doesn't mean that you could treat women like you would a man. I looked at her and I said that if a woman was charging at me with a sword, I was not going to stop her, have a polite conversation and casually ask her if she knew how to use it before I defended myself.” After a moment of thought he said, “ I still wish they'd put me in a higher class.”

“Victor, you are already studying with children three or four years your senior, you cannot expect an institute to raise you up grades without even testing you. Remember, if you were on the mainland the children you are studying with would be considered exceptional also. You are in as high of a grade as you should be, and I'm not going to force you any faster than I already have, the institute can teach you common things that I would never think to teach you.”

He had surprised her yet again. She had known since before his birth that he was not going to be anywhere near the average man, assuming the men and women of Terroval could even be considered average in any sense of the word. Another thing she knew was that he was destined to great things depending on the direction that life and fate took him. She had originally planned to wait to teach him how to shape the world around him until he was fourteen. Who could have guessed however that the boy's talent would first show itself at the age of three! She would have been more surprised if she was still getting over the shock of how much control he had over his movement and speech by the age of two. With his abilities came a wisdom that was unnaturally beyond his years. She knew he had been marked, and that could have been part of the reason that he was so advanced for his age. This also made her a little afraid, because though prophecy stated that he would influence a great number of events, and that he would do great things, it didn't say what type of great things he would do.

For what is a great thing?
She knew that the Idea of great things varied from society to society. What the people of Terroval called a great deed was often unheard of in the rest of Terrazil, and the things that someone from Tellerose considered a great deed would simply be considered a duty in Terroval. She wished however that it were as simple as that. Because not only did the definition of greatness change from society to society, but it also changed depending on the moral fiber of a person or society. Over the years a great many people had joined the ranks of the rest of the creatures exiled to this continent, and it was known that they had created cities, and their own civilizations. What she was afraid of was what those men would call greatness, and if that were the type of greatness that Victor would one day rise to attain. She knew that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and if Victor was going to be anything, he would be powerful. She also knew that the other side would have their chance with the boy.

Her main goal had been to instill in the boy the value of life, whether it be human, Elven, or otherwise. She also had taught him that his life was to be considered paramount, but not to get so wrapped up in saving himself that he allowed others to die needlessly. She had told him all of this more than once. She also explained to him that since he was to consider his life paramount that if anyone or anything was attacking him trying to take his life that he should kill them without hesitation. One of the biggest lessons had been explaining that you need not feel remorseful for killing something that was trying to kill you, but to be remorseful simply for the fact that you had to take a life.

She was not only amazed with his initial mastery of Shaping, but also of his love for combat. When he had turned five, she had gotten him a wooden sword and dagger, which they practiced with whenever they could. He had quickly learned all that she could teach him about melee combat, and he even outstripped her in close combat now because of the things he had taught himself through his reading. Eventually she knew she would have to find someone better than her to teach him; however, she already knew that he would eventually have a great teacher for these things, maybe several. He was also shaping up to be a good cook. His knife skills were already superior to those of most of the cooks she had met in her life, and she knew he would only become better as he grew into his body more.

Now, she just stood staring into the eyes of a boy that would become a great man in the eyes of all good people, as long as he stayed on the right path. She was now, and knew she always would be, in awe of this boy. Some of the things that had taken her around fifty years to even form opinions on had taken less than seven years to nearly master. She wondered what power this boy would hold if he managed to get as old as she herself was, or even as old as Elyas. With that thought, she felt a chill go down her spine and quickly forced her thoughts back into the present. She found herself staring into the face of a boy who looked like he had a million questions.

“What's wrong? Was I wrong in what I said?” Victor asked with curiosity marring his features.

She kissed him on the head. “No dear, I would say that what you said is just about perfect.”

“Then why are you crying?” Sadness darkened his features and compassion lit his eyes.

“I'm just so proud of you!” She stated as she realized that she was indeed crying. She hoisted him up in the air so that she could look at him better.

“Good, then can I cook breakfast?” he said with a smirk and then a bunched up nose.

“What do you mean, I was cooking breakfast. Is my food not good enough for you?” She said with a questioning glance.

He looked at her and grinned, “Oh no, you cook great, but I wouldn't tell that to the bacon just now.”

She turned her head around to see strips of what used to be bacon that were now in more of a charcoal form. She set Victor down and went over to the stove to remove the pan from the heat. When she turned around Victor was standing in a pose that somehow reminded her of her grandfather. Then he said something in a tone that she had not heard since she was with her grandfather. “This just won't do Shaylyn… won't do at all.” She couldn't help but pull him up into another embrace.

“You're going to be seven tonight Victor, do you feel any different?”

He once again managed to escape her grasp and backed up a bit to get out of hug range. “No, I don't feel any different than I did yesterday… maybe a little hungrier, but that's only because I have no bacon in my belly, and you know how much I love bacon.” He sent her a disarming smile that would charm the skin off a snake.

“You're going to be trouble with the ladies Victor Deus, mark my words.” She thought it was bad enough that he could master Shaping, and martial arts so quickly, but it was his shear will and personality that would really make him dangerous in the future. “I got you a present, but you're going to have to promise me that you won't use it until you need it.”

With that, his ears perked up, and his eyes went wide. “Oh really? What is it?”

“It's something that was given to me a long time ago when I was a little older than you, but you are much farther along in your training and understanding than I was when I received it.” She went to the stove to clean out the pan so that she could make a new batch of bacon. “It is very special to me, and I would hate to think that you would misuse something special to me.”

“I would never do that Shaylyn, I know better than that. What is it?” He looked up at her with eyes that could see through a person in a moments notice, but instead seemed to stop straight at her heart.

“It's in the chest over there. She motioned with her head, since her hands were full, and continued to cook the bacon. However, a smile had taken hold of her face.

With the speed and grace of a small fawn, Victor sprang over furniture and dodged this way and that to get to the chest on the other side of the room. He was not supposed to go into this chest, so this was a real treat. When he got there, he had to put all of his energy into stopping, and he managed to slow his momentum enough, with the help of a chair, that he came to a halt about half a foot in front of his destination. He looked back towards Shaylyn to make sure that he had her permission to open it. When she nodded ever so slightly to him, he just about jumped out of his pants with excitement. He had always wanted to look in the chest, but it was one of a very short list of limitations that Shaylyn had placed on him. Therefore, he had respected her wishes.

The chest was locked by what he considered to be a rather simple lock that only a Shaper could open. He had been able to open locks like this since he was four and a half, but he knew that she knew that he could open it. Therefore, he had always figured it was a kind of test to see if he would go into the chest without her permission. Never one to fail a test Victor had steered clear, but now he got to open it. Victor concentrated on the chest, and felt where the bond had been created. Using his will he pushed the molecules apart before moving his hands to the lid of the chest.

He reverently opened the top, and peered inside. In the chest on top of everything else, there was a sheath. In that sheath was a neatly adorned handle, that Victor had seen many times before on his outings with Shaylyn. He reached down and pulled the dagger from its sheath. It had a curved blade, and he could feel the shaping that had gone into its creation. “Thank you soooo much!” He then put the dagger back in its sheath and began to put it on.