[The Lone Gunslinger, Chapter 11, Talon Dagger, Part I] "Good morning, Tani." "Say it in Daraian, Hero." "Suata raela, Tani." "Kea ora suata ge a okasek, Hero, suata raela." "I am pleased to see you too," I whisper and smile shyly. "Aww, I'm pleased to see you too," whispers Jaco. "Except I don't see you anywhere." "Not you, bone-skull," I whisper to Jaco. "Are you with Tani again?" whispers Jaco. "Leave me alone, I'm busy," I whisper. "Busy doing what?" asks Tani. She's turned and is standing almost on top of me. "I… uh… I…" Tani raises her hand and strokes my ear. "Still getting used to your ear-bug?" Tani almost presses her mouth against mine and whispers. "Hello, Jaco." "Oh tell the strumpet to go sit on an egg," whispers Jaco. "He says hi," I whisper. "Coward," whispers Jaco. "Wrap it up, lover boy; we have training in ten minutes." "Are you coming to the competition?" asks Tani. "I…I…uh…" "I hope you compete," says Tani. Tani turns away and flips her long black hair in my face and my legs threaten to buckle under me. She looks over her shoulder and gives me a smile before walking away, her wings ruffling slightly as she walks. I think they are very nice wings. I shake my head and run back to the barn where I find Jaco waiting. "I thought we were going to eat breakfast together," Jaco accuses, he looks annoyed. "Tani invited me to compete." "Oh really, so two months and you're all Raven now." "It's none of your business." "Hero, seriously," says Jaco. "You'll get eaten alive, and even if you did win, do you have any clue how fertilizing an egg works?" "You're just jealous Tani likes me, leave me alone." "I'm not jealous, the more boys she gets to compete the higher her status is," says Jaco. "She's using you." Moro has filed to postpone the trial several times, and now it's been two months and I have no idea when the trial is going to happen. Moro says the delay is important but while we wait Jaco and I would lose too much training time, so Moro brought in some other Ravens our age and has set up a temporary Temple school. Tani is the best part of the whole thing. I get to spend time with Tani, maybe not much time, she is seeing every available boy on the farm, or Embassy, or whatever this place is today. Tani hasn't chosen a new partner, yet, she has a more immediate need, she is carrying an unfertilized egg and only has a few more days before it becomes a serious health issue. Tani could die if the egg isn't fertilized. The competition that is being held is also part of the changes Moro has made, or actually changing back to the way it used to be a long time ago. The males interested in Tani will fight for the honor to fertilize the egg, and Tani has made it clear she wants me in the competition. "Are you even listening to me?" asks Jaco. "Huh, I wasn't listening." "The other males are Third Years, and you're a First Year," says Jaco. "You are going to get hurt." "So what?" "All the males competing are in heat," says Jaco. "They will rip you apart." "I'm sixteen and a half and I think I'm in heat, like all the time. I'll be fine, come on, I get my Talon dagger today." Jaco trots alongside me and we join the circle of Raven students waiting for Moro to arrive. I'm surprised when Moro arrives at the training circle with a Priestess, it's the first Priestess I've seen but I'm sure she's a Priestess. She's dressed in a long flowing black gown and has a dangerous predatory sense about her. "Suata raela, students," Moro greets us. "Suata raela, Master Moro," we all say together. "All of you know Priestess Yeana, she has come to guide our newest Raven through the dagger ceremony," says Moro. "If it is the Goddess's will," adds the Priestess. Moro gives the Priestess a withering glare while the circle of Raven students slaps their hands against their own Talon daggers in the symbol of approval. "Also, our time here is nearly over," announces Moro. "We will be moving to a more permanent home, as you have all volunteered for." The Ravens slap their hands against their daggers again, though I have no idea what Moro is talking about, I didn't know we were going to be leaving the farm. I wonder where we are going. "Errol," continues Moro. "The trial is tomorrow morning, I do not expect it to last more than a few hours but you will need all the training you have received to win the day. Tell me what you have learned, tell me of the Raven." I'm relieved that the trial is finally going to happen and I glance at Jaco and he nods to me encouragingly and I repeat the litany I've been taught. "A Raven is still, a Raven is quiet, a Raven is unseen in the shadows, a Raven watches and waits, and when a Raven strikes it is without fear or mercy." "Very good," says Moro. "There will be a moment during the trial when it will appear that all is lost, you must have faith in your Raven brothers and sisters and remain still and quiet as a Raven should." The Priestess walks over to me and I think she wants to eat me, I'm certain she isn't happy to be here. "Follow," orders the Priestess. I follow the Priestess and try to imitate the gliding walk she is so effortlessly executing. Jaco shoves me from behind and I glance back at him annoyed. "Stop it," says Jaco. "What?" "You look like a wounded giraffe," whispers Jaco. "Walk normal, everyone is laughing at you." "How am I supposed to learn to do it if I don't practice?" I whisper. "We'll practice later," whispers Jaco. "This is serious, we're going to find out what House you belong to." Jaco is referring to the etching on his Talon dagger. Everyone has an etching on their blade of their House bird, but I wasn't born on Darai so the Goddess will decide what my House bird will be. Jaco hopes it's a Jackdaw, Tani thinks it will be a Magpie, and Moro wants it to be a Raven. The other students are in a line behind us following and Moro is at the back of the procession. The Priestess leads us into the woods at the edge of the farm; it's cool under the trees, and pleasant. The procession ends at an altar with a crackling fire someone has built for the ceremony, but the flames are not like anything I've ever seen. The flames are orange, like normal, but the edges are tinged in black. I know it's all made to look like magic, but I'm not from a primitive species to be fooled by such silliness, there is advanced Daraian technology at play here. The Daraians love their mystic ceremonies and pretend magic, and I have to admit that I kind of like it too; it's fun. The Priestess motions everyone into a semi-circle in front of the altar and then takes a position behind the altar, stepping up onto a platform. She raises her hands and says a prayer in the Daraian language. I can only say a few phrases in Daraian so far, but I'm learning. "Errol of Brocal's farm, Hero of the Gunslingers, Student of the Raven Temple, come forward and receive your gift from the Goddess," incants the Priestess. I'm not sure I believe there is really a Goddess, and I know there is no magic. The vision Jaco gave me of Darai I'm certain was Daraian technology, and I'm certain the flames are the same. I step up to the altar and look to see if I can find the machine making the flames. I don't see any sign of a machine, but that doesn't mean it isn't there. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do and look up at the Priestess. "Have no fear, young mammal, reach into the flames, reach back to the blessed world of Darai, and receive the gift the Goddess gives," explains the Priestess. Oh, I see. The dagger is inside the flames, it must already be there but I can't see it. I doubt I'll be reaching across a million light years to the other side of the galaxy to grab a dagger from the Raven Temple. I reach inside the flames, they are cool but I already suspected they would be. I feel around inside the flames for the dagger, but there's nothing there and I pull my hand back out and look at the Priestess confused. "You do not believe," says the Priestess. Okay, I can do this, they want me to pretend. I close my eyes and envision that I am reaching across the galaxy. I open my eyes and put my hand inside the flame again and whisper to myself, I believe. This time my hand disappears; my arm stops at the flame and my hand is gone. I pull my arm back and my hand is still attached. I try it again and get the same effect, my arm disappears at the point it enters the black flames. I do it a few more times, watching my hand appear and disappear. "Hero, knock it off," whispers Jaco. "She's getting mad." I glance up at the Priestess and her scowl is obvious. "Sorry," I grin and plunge my hand back into the black flames and feel around for the dagger. I don't feel anything at first, and then my hand brushes against something; a hilt, I think. Yes…it's a dagger, and I wrap my hand around it and pull it from the dark flames and hold it in the air. I expected the other Raven students to smack their hands against their Talon daggers to congratulate me, but there is silence. The Priestess's gaze is fixed on my dagger, and I look up at the Talon dagger…but, it isn't a Talon dagger at all, it looks similar to a Talon dagger, sort of the way a tree is similar to a bush. This dagger is the mighty oak of daggers. The blade is vicious looking with curves that roll down its edge like the tides of the ocean, and much longer than a Talon dagger, in fact, if it were much longer it could be a short sword. The metal of the blade is black, but different than the black Talon dagger. A Talon dagger, like Jaco's, is made of a black metal and reflects no light, but this blade is capturing the light in a prism of dark colors swirling in the metal, the blade seems almost to be alive. "What House are you?" shouts Jaco unable to contain himself any longer. I turn the unusual blade around and look at the etching in the metal, but I'm not sure what to make of it and look up at the Priestess. The Priestess holds her hand out and I hand her the blade and she inspects it carefully before giving it back to me. "Keal of House Keanuai," announces the Priestess. Jaco leads the stampede by jumping up and rushing over to see the new unusual blade, the other students rush up behind him and crowd around to ooh and ahh at the blade. "It's not a bird at all," exclaims Jaco. "It's a Keanuai." "Huh, it looks like a Beastie Cat pouncing to me," I say. "The Daraian word for tiger is kean," explains Jaco. "The Keanuai are the smaller sub-species of tiger you call the Beastie Cat." "Is House Keanuai a good House?" I ask. "There is no House Keanuai," Tani purrs, pushing in and pressing against me to Jaco's obvious annoyance. "That species of kean only exists on Raunu Major, and I've never heard of a House Keanuai." "What's this mean, Priestess?" asks Jaco. "I do not know," says the Priestess. "The Will of the Goddess is often a mystery." "Maybe it's because you were born on Raunu," says Jaco. "What's Keal?" I ask. "Keal is Daraian for tiger cub," says Moro pushing Tani out of the way to look closer at the blade. "Priestess Yeana works in the Hatchery at the Temple, her job is to name the new Hatchlings. Your Daraian name is now Keal." "I have a lot of names," I say. "At least I won't be called Hatchling anymore." "Oh yes you will," says Moro, "but that is not important. Now, you will be taught the secret of the Talon dagger, and we will see if that strange blade works the same. You have trusted Jaco with secrets of the Gunslingers, of which he has already refused to share with us." "Sorry, I can't break the trust he gives me," says Jaco. "No matter, but we expect you to keep this secret from the Gunslingers, Keal," says Moro. "Now watch." Moro pulls his Talon dagger and throws it at a tree. The dagger plants itself into a tree almost thirty feet away. "Look at me, Keal," says Moro. I do and he holds his hand up. "Where is my Talon dagger?" asks Moro. "It's right there." I look at the tree and start to point… but… the Talon dagger is gone. I look back at Moro and his Talon dagger is in his hand. "How did you do that?" I ask. "Now throw your blade at the tree," orders Moro. I heft the blade a few times, aim, and throw it at the tree. The knife misses the tree by a good five feet and lands in the bushes. The other students laugh at my bad throw, I've never thrown a knife before. "Retrieve your blade," says Moro. I start to run out to get the blade but Moro tells me to stop. I turn back and look at Moro. "Hold your hand up," says Moro. "Imagine the blade in your hand, the weight of it, the feel of it, the blade is part of you." I hold my hand up and try to imagine it in my hand. I'm not sure what Moro expects me to do, but I try to imagine what it felt like in my hand… and then… the knife is in my hand. "Wow, that is awesome technology," I say amazed. "How did it do that?" "We do not know," says Moro. "All Talon daggers are made by the Goddess and we have never been able to duplicate one, and we believe there are other secrets to this weapon we have not yet learned." "You must fear the Talon dagger," adds the Priestess, "or it will turn on you." I notice an exchange of glances between Moro and the Priestess; I think they disagree on something about the Talon dagger. Perhaps this is one of those philosophical differences they are fighting about at the Temple. "You must respect your blade," says Moro. "But, this is not the only weapon you must show respect for, there are two others as well." "What?" I ask. "The Carinian Trident is also made by a God," says Moro. "There are secrets to it that I believe not even the Carinians suspect." "What's the other one?" I ask. Moro reaches into his long leather coat and retrieves a Gunslinger revolver and hands it to me. "Hey, this is my gun, how did you get it." Moro waves his hand dismissively; I don't think he is going to tell me how he got my gun. "We know the Gunslingers have a relationship with Jon Black, whom we know to be a demi-god. The Gunslingers can draw one of these from their holster with an inhuman speed that can only be attributed to a divine hidden technology within the gun, put there by Jon Black." Moro has just given me a secret he didn't intend, and I force myself not to let it show on my face. I need time to think. I don't know if Jon Black is a demi-god, but I do know for a fact that the Gunslinger revolver doesn't have any hidden technology. The Gunslingers revolver was invented by the ancient Cettise, all Gunslingers know that now, and Jaco knows this too, he has been in the classes with me. Why doesn't Moro realize that the fast draw ability of the Gunslingers is created by hours upon obsessive hours of endless practice? The real secret of the Gunslingers isn't even a secret. The Gunslingers have shunned most technology in favor of physical perfection. We have a type of 'natural selection' just like the Ravens, but it isn't necessarily intelligence the Gunslingers are looking for, they want those with the potential of performing nearly impossible physical feats, and of course courage that borders on insanity. But there is still something… tugging at the back of my mind. I think Moro has given me the answer to something very important. Moro takes my gun back and tucks it away. "All of you may have the rest of the day to get ready for the competition," says Moro. "Class dismissed. Keal, head over to the Battleship, they can make a sheath for your blade." The class disperses but I stay a few minutes to watch the Priestess put the alter fire out. I still can't find where the hidden technology is controlled from that created the fire and I lose interest and head toward the fields with Jaco. "Trial is tomorrow," says Jaco. "Yea, about time, but I'm not worried. I've figured this whole thing out." "I figured it out a long time ago.” "Why didn't you tell me?" "You get mad when I don't give you time to figure stuff out on your own, so what have you figured out?" "Well, I think the charges against me are pretty clever, and I think the Brocal's are too stupid to have thought of it themselves. I think the Ravens wanted me for a couple months to teach me some stuff, and to see if I can be trusted, but the Gunslingers would never have just turned me over to them." I watch Jaco's face to see if he reacts to my guesses but he's keeping his face neutral. I don't think Jaco was involved, but you never know. There is a small untrusting part of me that is a barrier between us, I just don't know. "So anyway, I think the Ravens fed the idea to the Brocal's, got me arrested so I would be sent here, and the Ravens could, well, basically kidnap me for two months. There is just no way they had a whole fleet sitting around waiting, or have pulled off this Embassy farce without having it all planned out, or have a bunch of Third Year students sitting around waiting, they were just too prepared. I think the Masters of Manipulation planned all of this." "I agree," admits Jaco. "If I were smarter I would have realized right away it didn't make sense. When I heard what happened I ran straight to the local Raven Alliance and should have known something was up when House Raven's head attorney just happened to be on Ranou." "Are you manipulating me too, Jaco?" Jaco is silent for a long moment while we walk and finally says, "Yes." "How?" "Little things, a thousand times a day to get you to do stuff I want you to do." "Like?" "You quit too easily during hard training and I do things to keep you going, or to eat Daraian food you don't want to try, or to run back to the barn to get the books I forgot because I'm being lazy." "You're a nut, that's normal stuff and I know all that already." I stop walking and sit down in the tall grass. We are out of sight of everyone else and this is a good spot. I lay back and cover my face with my hat, and set my new knife across my chest. "You're taking a nap?" asks Jaco. "Don't say anything yet," I reply from under the hat. "Lie down and pull your hood over your face like you are going to take a nap too, and make sure you cover your mouth, and do not whisper." I can see Jaco from under the corner of my hat lying down and cover his face like he was covering his face from the sun so he could take a nap. I don't think Moro will suspect two teenagers wanting to take a nap; we do tend to sleep a lot. "Ask me in a whisper now if I'm going to compete for Tani, and play along," I say out loud. "Are you really going to compete?" whispers Jaco. "Yea," I whisper. "Why?" whispers Jaco. "Tani's pretty, and I think I've got a thing now for Daraian girls, they're different and I like it," I whisper. "You're going to get hurt, brother," whispers Jaco. "That's my problem, brother, mind your own business," I whisper. "I know what you're doing," says Jaco out loud. "You think Moro has hacked into our Com-link, and you think he has a satellite watching us. That's why you had us cover our faces, so he can't read our lips while we're talking." "I think we are in danger, brother," I say out loud. Jaco turns his head, and looks at me. I can just see one eye and the corner of his mouth. I called him brother out loud, will he understand my code? Then Jaco winks and grins. Good, he picked it up. Jaco realizes I think there is a bug on one of us and Moro can still hear us even with the precautions I've taken. I'm learning to be a Raven and I'm doing my own manipulation. Moro will think that I think whatever I say out loud is safe and will be our true feelings and thoughts. "How are we in danger?" asks Jaco. "I think Tani is a plant, to see if I'll chase the girl, which will prove we are a brother partnership, and not the other kind of partnership." "Okay, you really are becoming a good Raven," says Jaco. "I can't even follow your twisted thinking." "Look, there are two factions in the Temple, right?" I explain. "One faction wants the old ways, that's Moro and his bunch, and the other faction wants the new ways, that's the Priestesses. Moro needs a brother partnership to prove the old ways will work, and that's where we come into all this mess. If we prove to be a brother partnership, we are safe and Moro will leave us alone. But, if not, he will burn us at the stake and show the Temple he can defy them whenever he wants. Moro wins either way." "So, you don't like Tani?" asks Jaco. I think he is genuinely confused now. I have to pause for a moment exasperated; I tell Jaco that Moro might burn us at the stake and all he worries about is whether I like Tani. "Yes, I do, I really do have a thing for Daraian girls, their awesome, and that's why everything Moro is doing is kind of stupid." "Brother, you don't know how to fertilize an egg, and I don't want to explain it." "So what, it'll be fun to figure it out, but it doesn't matter, because I know I'm going to get beat to a pulp, but that's okay because the egg deserves the strongest male to fertilize it." "Brother, you really have become a Raven, you are just as sick and twisted as the rest of us," says Jaco. "You convinced me, brother," I explain. "Not Moro, not anyone else, you have. I agree with natural selection as it was originally intended. I get it, natural selection or extinction. I was left an orphan because maybe I didn't have the strongest father, no, the old ways are the best ways. I will do what is best for the whole." I can see Jaco's face. He doesn't have his usual grin and there is a worried expression on his face. I think he might think I believe what I'm saying out loud, and not just for the benefit of the listening Moro. I think natural selection is twisted and amounts to whole scale murder. We have to find a way to help the Daraians. Jaco stops talking and I fall asleep in the warm sun and dream about Daraian girls. I really do like the Raven girls, I think it's their long black hair that I like best, and that they are so…umm…I don't know--confident and strong. [End Part I] Special Notes: I put this link down here so only the readers will see it. If you would like all the stories ever written up until this chapter in one file, you can get the pdf here: "Children of the Empire"