Infinite Champions (Chapter 3)

Rabente` threw himself back into his chair with a heavy sigh. Despite all that had happened, dinner may well have been the most exciting thing to happen to him all day. They had decided to discuss the days events over their meal, hungry and tired, Rabente` wasn't about to put his favourite dish off a moment longer than he needed to, regardless of the peculiar circumstances.
"I still can't understand for what reason you were chased out of Torra," Manbarta started, referring to the town Rabente` had fled from earlier that day. "You're trying to tell me you were headed for the markets when the others just decided to run you out of town?"
"I suspect they'd been waiting some time for me to actually come to town." Rabente` took a serious tone. "I'm pretty sure they just don't like me. I think his name is Sevhero, ever since I were young he's always singled me out every time I go to Torra, and he was the one waiting for me at the bridge today before I made it back into Lamberdon. I've told you about him before anyway."
"Such trivial interactions, Rab-" Manbarta started with a critical expression, clearly about to make light of Rabente`s plight, but he was cut off.
"Why is this part of what I've told you so important anyway?" he demanded. "I've told you everything that happened to me today, and all you want to discuss is this nonsense with Sevhero? What about the sword? And what about my real father?" Rabente` wasn't usually this aggressive or impatient when talking to his mentor, he could feel himself starting to breath heavily as his heart started beating quicker, it was daunting to raise his voice like this to his mentor.
"If you would just be patient," Manbarta said softly, "Before anything else you need to understand that you're about to learn a lot of things that are very likely going to change your entire life. And before you know these things, you need to realize that these childish interactions with the likes of Sevhero and his friends are also beneath you."
"Then what am I supposed to do? Fight them?" Rabente` asked still quite flustered, tilting his head. "Since when have you ever consented to that?"
"As of now." And he glared at his young protege. He stared into him not as a boy, but as though he were looking upon some well known hero to be recognized and revered. "From now on, when you are in danger, you fight!" and he grinned triumphantly.
"Where'd this all come from?"
"Because that sword," and he pointed to the weapon he had brought home with him, now laying on top of a desk along the edge of the study, "is nothing less than one of the five gifts of gods given to mortal kind!" he sounded excited, which was a rare thing for the elven prince. "Know that in my mind, Rabente`, and in my very heart, I know it for I have seen it with my own two eyes just a generation ago. This is not just any sword, but the legendary weapon handed down from generation to generation among the Champions of The Guardian himself!"

Rabente`s mouth hung open in disbelief, a chill crept through his spine. He stood and turned his head to the sword and started,
"Then that can only mean that.." he swallowed, "that I am.. The Guardian's Champion?"
"And that this sword, is the Generation Blade." Manbarta explained. "Wielded only by those born of the most stalwart hearts, in a long line of warriors of the Cinnamoc."
"Then that also means-"
"Yes Rabente`. You too like the previous owners of that sword, are from the kingdom of Cinnamoc." Manbarta hadn't lied earlier, he was indeed learning a lot of new things, and very quickly too.

Manbarta stood from his chair as well. He was a whole head and shoulders taller than his pupil, but elves were typically tall anyway, so Rabente` never cared so much when Manbarta loomed over him as he did now. Rabente` grabbed the sword from the desk with a shaky hand and inspected it once more. This time with a new found appreciation for the engravings down the side of the blade. Each were the names of every Champion chosen by The Guardian to wield it, from top to bottom in order. His eyes cascaded down the list until his eyes fell upon and read the last name.
"Ruben... " he looked up at Manbarta. "If he is truly my father, and I am to inherit the blade, then why has my name not appeared?"
"A good question," Manbarta mused stroking his beard, apparently still certain of his claims. "I suspect it will appear when you unlock the swords true power."
"It's true power? Are you talking about the spirits?" he gave a puzzled look and Manbarta nodded slowly, now easing himself back into his chair, apparently ready to talk another great deal of the night away.

"You were born not too long after the end of the war of the gods." Manbarta waved a hand for Rabente` to also sit and he did so obediently. "You know I didn't find you but it was my father, his majesty Zanbarta. He didn't find you alone however, in fact he wasn't the one who found you at all." he chuckled thinking about the story, though his appearance soon changed to a look of concern. "You were actually found by the paladin, Gallahad, who had been travelling with father at the time."
"Gallahad? The weinoc paladin!?" Rabente`s eyes widened. He had heard of Gallahad before and actually admired him a great deal from all the stories and legends he'd heard growing up. Gallahad was well known by most people in-fact across Finito since the end of the war of the Gods, and even before then was considered an unbeatable warrior by any who knew of him.
"I thought you'd like knowing that," he smiled. "Somewhat of a fan are you not? You always liked the stories of Gallahad I would tell you when you were little."
"But why keep that from me?"
"Well..." Manbarta scratched his beard and looked up trying not to cross eyes with his student for the moment. "According to father, that just isn't something Gallahad would have really wanted you knowing." he grimaced at Rabente` who just looked confused "back to the point though. Father, and Gallahad reported that when they found you, it was in a burned down hut. Though they found you, both of your parents were dead."
"I know all of this though," Rabente` shook his head impatiently, "you've never kept the details of my parents deaths secret from me."
"Not the point!" Manbarta gestured with his hand a little forcefully. "Think what it means that your father was the former Champion. Noone knew where he'd retired or settled down to after the war. And yet somehow by chance in a few short years after that war ended, his home of all home is burnt down and he dies." Manbarta rested his forehead against his hands and closed his eyes. "You would have to be very naive to not suspect foul play."
"Manbarta..?" Rabente` asked a little calmer now, "Do you know how I survived though? It doesn't seem to make sense."
"Father told me it was the strangest thing, he claims that everything left of the small cottage was burnt black as coal." he lifted his head and looked him deep in his blue eyes, "but the blanket you were wrapped in was as white as fresh, clean linen can get." He smiled now realizing. "You really must be The Guardian's champion, you have his unyielding protection. I'd wager that's how you survived whatever happened that day."
"You think The Guardian protected me?"
"If you are indeed his champion, it would have been in his interest, don't you think?
"But The Guardian hasn't been seen by mortals since the end of the war, or so I'm told. How could he have protected me, and why wouldn't he have protected my parents as well?" Rabente` wasn't wrong to question it either. But Manbarta only nodded slowly, clearly thinking carefully trying to make sense of events before saying anything else, when he spoke.
"It's evident that we won the war, the war of the gods was a conflict between the eldest and the youngest."
"Odian, and Catastrophe." Rabente` exclaimed, nodding to show he understood the history.
"The very same. But Catastrophe's insurgence against Odian was a declaration of war against all of the gods. Arc'hane, The Guardian, and Armazand are all loyal to their older brother, Catastrophe was the only one who dared to plot against him. With the disappearance of Catastrophe since the end of the war, we know that we were victorious." his brow furrowed and he frowned. "But with the disappearance of The Guardian as well, it begs the question; at what cost?" He looked troubled by what he was explaining, and Rabente` started to as well. Not wanting to irritate his mentor, Rabente` chose to assume the answer to his previous question would be coming sooner rather than later, and allowed him to gather his thoughts. It felt as though Manbarta was also trying to wrap his head around a lot of this as well. There was another moment of silence and Manbarta continued once more. "The Guardian has not been seen since the end of the war... but we know him to be alive, wherever he is." He smiled, "The Generation Blade is a piece of The Guardian's body. If The Guardian were gone, the sword would be too." His eyes rolled upward as he though on the subject. "You claim the face of Odian flashed before you just before the sword materialized?" He asked with his head cocked to the side so his pointed ears could hear better.
"Yeah. It was only for a moment but if it were anyone it was defiitely him"
"Perhaps The Guardian is indisposed... The stories usually tell of the gods handing out their own gifts to their respective champions. You're no weinoc, so I doubt you're Odian's champion. And given you now wield the weapon of The Guardian's Champion, I think it probable that Odian may have been filling in for his brother, whom as far as we can guess is either busy, or..." He fell silent, not wanting to continue the train of thought. Rabente` kicked his legs up and crossed them over a foot stall and folded his arms.
"Okay then, I'm the Guardian's Champion. What's next?" and he smirked, more for Manbarta's benefit than his own. "How do I unlock the sword's full power?"
"The Champion's aren't always in service. They are in service if and when the gods deem it necessary. You would not have been given the sword if there wasn't some higher cause that required your help. This may well have something to do with The Guardian's disappearance."
"What could I be expected to do?"
"A lot when that sword is whole," Manbarta assured. "I just wonder..." and he went back to scratching his beard while thinking. "Up until now you've been too young to be a champion, there have never been any less than a generation in age. Before your father died The Guardian was all ready missing. I suspect..." and he paused on that thought for just a moment, thinking carefully before he continued, "that for whatever reason The Guardian is indeed missing, some development has come about recently, to worsen his situation. Such that where he once did not require the aid of a champion, he now does. I only wonder for how long has he needed help, and what kind of trouble the god of protection could possibly be in."

"And in order to help The Guardian, all I need to do is unlock the sword's full power?" Rabente` asked, clearly unaware of how to do exactly that.
"Well it certainly couldn't hurt, though it definitely will not be simple," Manbarta answered with a droll expression. "Furthermore, I suspect that unlocking the sword's full power may only be part of what is required." Rabente` bit his lip and nodded slowly as he looked up and agreed with a sigh,
"You know, you're probably right."
"One step at a time. You were right as well when you asked about the spirits."
"So they are the key to unlocking the sword's full power?" Manbarta nodded and Rabente` continued "So what do I do?"
"You understand the sword is made from the body of The Guardian himself, and you clearly understand that the spirits of our vast world are the same. The Guardian is a god of protection. One of his gifts to the world are the spirits. Powerful entities created from his own body just like the Generation Blade. Typically the spirits are scattered all across Finito, and roam freely as protectors of their realms."
"Shame I've never even seen one," Rabente` complained, and Manbarta chuckled.
"You will. Eventually you will see them all. They are all a part of The Guardian, thus they are all a part of the same body. The power that brings them all together once more is the sword, and they will all yield to it. Some are stronger than others, there are lesser, and there are greater, lad," he made a fist and held it before his student endearingly, "But one thing all spirits have in common is they will all yield to the sword and it's master. They will return to The Guardian's body through that sword until you no longer need them, and when you have them all, you will wield The Guardian's own power in your very hands at will."
"You mean the Rite of The Guardian?"
"I do, lad. I'm not entirely sure of what The Guardian needs for you to do, but if you can restore the sword to it's full power, then you can wield the might of The Guardian as though it were your own. As all champions of The Guardian have done, you too will be able to invoke the Rite of The Guardian, if even just for a short time, and maybe that may find us a way to help him if he truly needs assistance."

Suddenly breaking up the discussion a little bit was a small framed servant girl wearing an apron who strolled into the room with a quick and polite curtsy,
"My liege," she addressed Manbarta, "Young lord," she said to Rabente` with a silly smile about her. They both gave her an approving nod as she shuffled quickly through the study to collect the used dinner plates and mugs they'd both used over dinner. The sound of plates clanking together was all the noise that could be heard for a short while as the young elf girl also hastily wiped a few choice surfaces over with a rag she had been keeping tucked into the apron's front pocket as well. Rabente` stared out the window as he leaned on his elbow while his palm covered his mouth, and suddenly felt a great weight on his shoulders. He'd learned a lot as Manbarta had told him he would, but there was still much that needed to be answered, and he felt a lot of it wouldn't necessarily be answered any time soon either. Without turning his gaze from the window he asked his mentor a little quietly,
"How many spirits are there?"
"Eleven." Manbarta answered flatly, his eye lids beginning to grow heavy.
"Which one first?" Rabente` also sounded tired and weary.
"I'd suggest we look for the Imp spirit."
"I've heard of that one."
"I should hope so," Manbarta said a little dryly while lifting his hands up from the wooden arms of the chair he sat in with no acknowledgement to doing so, so the servant girl could quickly give them a wipe over. She wasn't trying to be invasive of course, her attention to detail is what landed her a job at the princes home in the first place. He continued, "The Imp is a spirit of beasts and creatures, and is found in the forests of Lamberdon. It doesn't get much closer to home than that." He lowered his hands back down and the elf girl shuffled over to where Rabente` was seated still carrying the plates and mugs, and without needing to be asked he did the same as his mentor had. This was a daily sort of thing in the princes home. One might think it strange that royalty would just let a servant shift around them in the middle of an important discussion like this, but such ideals weren't held by Manbarta. He was admired and respected by his people and so felt no need to assert any kind of dominion over anyone, he was just happy to let the girl do her job, and she seemed to understand that as well.

"Am I going to have to travel far?" Rabente asked.
"If memory serves," Manbarta started "You'll need to travel from the deepest reaches of our homeland, to the country of Aneroc and it's many open valleys and towns, to the vast deserts of Cinnamoc, to the heights of Mount Zodiac, you'll need to travel almost everywhere." Although tired, Rabente` looked quite elated with this news.
"Good." Rabente` answered softly, looking almost ready to finally crawl into bed, "when will we set off?" he asked
"We may wait a day or so," the prince said resting his head on his hand, looking ready to go back to sleep as well. "We will need to inform his majesty of everything. He will likely want to see you off properly. I know father never spent all that much time with you, but he likes you a lot. Thinks of you as like a grand child"
"I know, I'm really going to miss father" Rabente` smiled. Rabente` rarely ever called Zanbarta his father, really Zanbarta had barely raised him at all, that was more Manbarta's role, whom he saw as more of a teacher and a friend. Calling him father once in a while was more like a pet name for the kind king who'd taken him in a generation ago, who would often spoil him and lavish him with praise as he grew up, Rabente` took the moment to realize he was truly a good elf. "I'll have to try and spend a little more time with him before we leave if I can." Manbarta smiled at him and they both fell silent for a moment.

"Tea, my liege? Young lord?" The elf girl piped up having finally finished wiping things down, she'd clearly gotten carried away. She always acknowledged Manbarta first, unless the king were present of course. Rabente` thought it was rather a nice touch for a servant girl to address the people in the room in order of hierarchy. Although in all the time she had served in this household she'd never picked up on him not even liking tea. He'd consented to being made a cup once when he was barely old enough to read or write, and although at the time he was excited and couldn't wait to try the hot beverage out, it turned out he didn't like the taste at all and so didn't finish it. Despite that, she still always asked him in the evenings if he would like a cup, and every time he would politely decline. He knew it was petty as he'd never just told her that he simply didn't like it, but he always thought of her critically for it anyway.
"That would be lovely, thank you, have it brought to my room and i'll have it there" Manbarta consented while also conveying his intention to call it a night, and the girl looked to Rabente`.
"Maybe something sweet?" he mused to her. She looked away for a brief second as she thought about it and faced him again to say,
"Tea with more sugar?" there was a moments pause and Rabente` couldn't help but stifle a laugh.
"Yes please."