Power Awakens

Jaac came round on the main sofa in his Mother and Father’s house. His mother instantly rushed over and started to fuss over him in the way that only a doting mother can. She smothered him in kisses and questions, motherly love and affection. His mother always smothered him with love and although this was sometimes irritating and embarrassing, especially in front of his friends, he actually loved her back with the same intensity. Jaac’s mother, Kaitlin, was one of the friendliest and caring people Jaac new. All his friends and family loved her, in fact everybody who knew her loved her.

Kaitlin devoted herself to her remaining children, as she had lost her oldest two to the pox. Jaac sat up and his mother brought him a jug of water to sip. Kaitlin shouted over to Jaac’s father who was in the small garden they used for growing fruit and veg, “Petrek, Petrek, come quick! Jaac’s awake!!”

Petrek came into the main room followed by Eddick his brother. Petrek, although he adored his son in much the same way as Kaitlin, had a very different way of showing this. Petrek would always treat illness or injury with scorn and derision, this was his way of trying to strengthen his children against the future and attempt to build up their will by constantly challenging them, in the hope that they would try all the harder to do whatever it was that Petrek said they couldn’t do. Petrek referred to this as reverse psychology, whenever he talked to his friends about it. Of course to Jaac, at sixteen he just felt put upon and humiliated, Jaac could never do anything good enough for his Father, and he was convinced his father saw him as a weakling and someone who was not physically robust.

Petrek came over to the sofa “At last, you’ve finally decided to get up then, fancy letting a mere Necro Warrior nearly take you out, you’re almost as soft as Eddick here.”

Eddick grimaced at the remark but he remained silent. Petrek was the oldest brother of eight children, seven of which lived in Dublain in the Kingdom of Isles. Although Eddick was taller than Petrek, it was Petrek who looked the more imposing. At five and a half-foot he was considered short for a human, however he was nearly the same across as he was tall, and he had an enormous barrel shaped chest. Short though he was, Petrek radiated physical strength.

As a Captain in the Royal Guard assigned to the Archduke who was the ruler of Bowltown and the surrounding county, Petrek was also an expert in most martial forms and had reached the level of Profent many years ago. A number of the Royal Guard argued he was ready to take the test for Master, but no Master had set foot in Bowltown for nearly twenty years, and it takes at least two Masters to witness the testing before they would declare for another.

“Come on Jacko“ muttered Petrek, “get your lazy ass outta bed you’ve got to prepare yourself for naming day, that’s tomorrow in case you’ve forgotten, you must be feeling better by now, just fight it, don’t let it beat you”

Jaac always wondered why his father called him Jacko, one day he’ll have to ask him, in the meanwhile he gritted his teeth and attempted to get out of bed, for some reason his father always made him feel that he should try harder, and Jaac would do anything to make his mother and father proud, including putting up with pain.

He could see his younger sister Lily smirking behind their father, she didn’t understand him and their relationship was tempestuous at best. They spent more time fighting than talking to each other and to see him laid out in bed must have made her day. She was full of little tricks and digs to make him look bad in their parents eyes and he was always getting a clip off his father for things which she had orchestrated to make him the culprit. He would be glad to be away from her after naming day when his trade had been chosen. Although being a big brother if she was ever in trouble no matter how much she caused for him, he would always be there for her.

As Jaac moved his legs off the bed he gingerly tensed his upper torso, a lancing pain raced up his back, Jaac was just going to relax slowly back onto the bed when his da glanced his way. Jaac just couldn’t bare the thought of his da thinking he was weak, so he bit down even harder and he forced himself off the bed. As he slowly straightened his body he barely held in check a whimper, it felt as if a red-hot poker was being dragged across his back, he could feel his skin ripping as he moved his body to a normal relaxed upright position. Although it was only a minor wound, the Necro’s throwing star had glanced off Jaac’s shoulder blade, it had sliced through the top layers in Jaac’s back and shoulder muscles, and this was still incredibly painful as every movement pulled on his back muscles.

As Jaac moved away from his bed Kaitlin came to help him sit on a small chair in the dining room. His father and Uncle Eddick had moved to the dining room and they were sitting down over a cup of mead, heads together talking in whispers but looking very serious. Jaac strained to hear the conversation but he could hear nothing over the bustle of his mother tidying up the main room and Lily complaining about the dress she was expected to wear for the naming day celebrations. What was it with girls and their clothes? Jaac shook his head and went back to concentrating on Petrek’s conversation with Eddick

As Petrek glanced at his son from the dinning room, he once more whispered to Eddick “…. but are you sure, thirteen of the Vardis Clan dead before they started following you and then Jaac?”

“Yes” whispered Eddick “Thirteen dead before they finally centred on the one reason they came to this world, all thirteen had been involved in some kind of Necro ritual which the Dublain Majee said allowed them to focus on a future Nexii point, the only reason he was able to determine this was because the last of the thirteen had only been dead for two hours when the local guard found him. The Majee said that he could just grasp the residues of the Necro ritual, this allowed him to determine the basic nature of what they where looking for, but not the specifics. Although the Dublain Majee is exceptional, almost Master Class level, he could only determine that the Necro’s were looking for an individual who would form a Nexii. He also concluded that the individual would be from the Vardis Clan.”

Eddick continued “We found the remaining twelve Vardis in the house they had been renting, every last one of them where similar to our Jaac in size, build and age, including two of Jaac’s cousins, I’m sorry Petrek I know you liked Jonna and Keeth. You need to come back and see your brothers, it’s been hard on them losing their young ones.” Eddick sighed as he downed some more mead “Go easy on Jaac too he’s gonna be devastated when he finds out, they where always good to him when you visited. One last thing, the Majee said that apparently the Necro’s had found the individual behind the Nexii point, this could be determined by the residues left behind in the ritual killing, don’t ask me how he did it but he was pretty sure. The reason I went back to Dublain was because I had a run in with a quad of Morr’s and I needed to talk to that Majee.”

Petrek looked at his little brother with pride “I still can’t get over you being attacked like that and surviving, you’re definitely a chip off the old block there.”

“That’s the reason I set out for Bowltown immediately, there was only Jaac who fit the descriptions that Necro’s had been putting around Dublain town, and he is definitely the only Vardis who fit that description.” Eddick sighed “It’s a good job we have such a big family Petrek, otherwise they would have found Jaac earlier”

“Are you sure its Jaac they’re after?” Petrek snarled.

“As sure as I can be brother” Eddick confirmed, he looked saddened.

With suppressed rage Petrek spoke in a low clear voice, “We’ve got to find out why, and kill the bastards, anything happens to my son and I’ll not survive it, neither will the bastard that tries anything. I’ve already lost two boys, he’s my only son and I love him more than life itself?”

Petrek once again looked at Jaac, he was really concerned, he knew that whoever sent the Necro’s would not let this lie, an individual Nexii is an extremely rare find and someone was obviously interested in killing the Nexii before he came into his inheritance. Although he was worried, he was also proud in a strange sort of way, his son was a Nexii. Petrek had never met an individual Nexii, it was said that if you had the training you could feel a Nexii point occurring and you could see the aura of a Nexii. He needed to find out more, the Archduke’s Majee was one of the best in Bruk, only the King had better, well in actual fact he had two Majees that were better and one of them female at that, but these things didn’t concern Petrek at the moment, he just needed answers about his son and he needed them now.

Once more Petrek turned to Eddick “At tomorrows Naming day the Archduke and Majee Fraykus will be in the Stalls, I’ve never seen Majee Fraykus get involved in the naming day event before as we already have over six resident Profent Majees in Bowltown and two of those Latents, however, I may be able to get a few moments of his time later, he owes me a couple of favours”

“To tomorrow then” said Eddick as he guzzled his mead. “To tomorrow” returned Petrek and gulped his mead down. “Now” laughed Petrek “To some serious drinking” Eddick poured two more glasses of mead, but before he finished pouring his own cup, Petrek had already downed his mead.

Laughing again at Eddick’s surprised look Petrek shouted “Come on Eddick, lets get to the drinking, if you can’t handle it maybe you better get yourself to bed” With renewed vigour Eddick set to his mead, this time he would not collapse, Petrek might be his older brother but this time it would be. Petrek who would be the first to fall asleep or go to bed, anyway this mead didn’t even taste so strong. As he gulped it down Eddick couldn’t help but wonder why Petrek was smiling.

Jaac could see the mood had lightened in the dining room so he felt more at ease as he levered himself up from the small chair and shuffled further into the dining room. “Uncle Eddick, what’s going on with the Necro’s, can I have some mead and are you coming to my Naming day?”

“Whoa Jaac” laughed Eddick “Slow down, which one do you want me to answer first?”

“All of them” smiled Jaac

“Ok, ok” muttered Eddick “Yes, I’m going to your naming day, no you can’t have any mead until after your naming day, and no we don’t know what’s going on with the Necro’s, but me and your father are going to find out.”