The Adventures of Kyran The Luckless Recruit - Episode 6

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Author: Elyss Koh'inor

20151209 Luckless-Recruit zpszhj2knjd.jpg



Help Kyran the Luckless Recruit navigate a path of danger and excitement! At the end of each episode, vote in the comments to set Kyran in the right direction. If you need to catch up before reading this FINAL EPISODE, you can find the first, second, third, fourth and fifth episode.

Kyran rode off without giving Saiph’s friend an answer. The man would probably think Kyran was crazy if the Recruit told him where he was going.

The Apothecary might do in another situation, but Saiph needed an Aes Sedai.

The sun was going down as Kyran rode towards the forest. He moved automatically, not allowing himself to focus too long on anything. His friend was dying. Saiph may already be dead.

No, Kyran thought. No. He’s alive. The Aes Sedai will heal him.

Kyran couldn’t let himself think any other way.

He was barely aware of entering the forest. Branches whipped past, bare trees stark against the brilliance of a golden sunset. Kyran reined in his horse, dismounting before the animal had fully stopped.

The ground was cold, and drifts of snow remained under the shade of branches. Maybe, just maybe, the melted snow would make the ground soft enough that Kyran could track someone.

He couldn’t think the worst. This was a larger forest than he had thought at first. There was no way to tell if the Aes Sedai was even here, much less find her.

Kyran thought briefly about using the Power. He had controlled it somewhat during the fight with the trollocs, but he had no way of knowing anything that might help him track an Aes Sedai.

His senses were on high alert as he walked through the forest. The light was growing dimmer, and the forest was growing thicker. Even bare branches could block out light from a fading sun.

The Power may not be able to help him find the Aes Sedai, but maybe it could help him look for trails.

Kyran tried focusing on the air just above his hand. He had seen the Aes Sedai make floating balls of light at the Tower before. He felt nothing within himself. No rush of euphoric power, nothing.

A twig snapped.

Kyran stopped focusing on the air above his hand. His muscles went tense, and his horse gave a soft snort. Now that Kyran was listening, there were other movements in the undergrowth.

Another group of trollocs? Kyran slid the quarterstaff Saiph had given him from the horse’s saddle. Another movement. Closer this time. Kyran crouched, eyes scanning the dim forest around him.

A movement behind him. Then in front. At least two. Another movement, off to the side. Three.

Kyran felt a bead of sweat roll down his forehead.

There were sounds from all three spots, rushing closer.

Kyran felt the Power rush into him as his fear spiked. He didn’t think, flinging his hand out towards one of the closer sounds. A ball of fire flew from his fingers.

And then it dissipated, as if it had hit a wall. Kyran felt his connection to the Power cut off, leaving him gasping with its suddenness. He could feel the Power just behind the block, but nothing came to him.

Three, no four figures emerged from the darkness. Two women and two men. Kyran couldn’t see the faces of the women, but the men wore cloaks that obscured their figure.

“Aes Sedai.” Kyran said, lowering the quarterstaff.

“You’ve been moving through the forest quickly young man.” One of the women said. “You are not all that you seem.”

Kyran nodded. “I am a Recruit of the White Tower. I was transported away from Tar Valon by a training accident and a Gateway. Please, a friend of mine is injured and near death.”

“When did you find that you could channel?” the other Aes Sedai said. She seemed younger than the other one, but you could never tell with these Aes Sedai.

“I was attacked, and it just sort of…happened.” Kyran said. “Please, I’ll tell you everything, but my friend is dying.”

“What is your name?” One of the Gaidin asked.

“Kyran! My bloody name is Kyran, now will you help?”

The Gaidin exchanged a look with the Aes Sedai. “There was a new Recruit named Kyran when I was last at the Tower.”

The Aes Sedai looked at each other before nodding. “Where is your friend?”

Kyran told them about the village. They quickly recognized the description, one Aes Sedai preparing to weave a gateway just outside of the village.

“Why did you attack us?” The other asked while the Gateway was forming.

Kyran grabbed his horse’s bridle. “I thought you were trollocs.”

One of the Gaidin frowned. “So there are trollocs in the area?”

“Yes.” Kyran nodded. “My friend was injured fighting five just this morning.”

The Gaidin grunted, but the Aes Sedai eyed Kyran appraisingly. “Did they get away?”

Kyran hesitated. “No. I killed them.”

The other Gaidin chuckled. “Two men against five trollocs, one of them a fresh Recruit?”

“We were fighting on a bridge.” Kyran explained. “I set it on fire.”

The Aes Sedai and Gaidin grew quiet. The Gateway formed in front of them, and the five moved through it easily.

Saiph was alive when they got to him, and the Aes Sedai’s healing put him on the road to quick recovery. Kyran got a better look at the group while the one Aes Sedai was working.

He was pretty sure the Aes Sedai who made the Gateway was a Green, and the Warders were both hers. She seemed stern, and unwilling to trust him. Hopefully he could convince them to let him have a Gateway to Tar Valon.

“Your friend will need rest now.” The younger Aes Sedai said. “We got here in time, but the healing was taxing for him.”

Kyran nodded. Saiph was alive, that’s all that mattered.

The Green Aes Sedai moved closer. “Now I think you should tell us your story.”

Saiph was sleeping easily, and even if he had been awake, the farmer had guessed Kyran’s secret. Kyran gulped, then told his story from the beginning.

The warders scoffed when he told that he had traded away his sword, but the Aes Sedai were silent all the way through. When Kyran was finished, they exchanged looks before leaving the room without another word.

Kyran sat down, the exhaustion of his fight earlier that day and his run through the forest taking their toll. He wasn’t sure what the Aes Sedai would do with him. There wasn’t much he could do whatever they decided.

“Kyran.”

The Recruit started up from his half-dose. Saiph was awake.

“Be careful.” Kyran said, moving to the farmer’s side. “You were just Healed.”

Saiph felt at his side, only half surprised to find new skin covering the wound. “You found an Aes Sedai?”

Kyran nodded.

Saiph laid back on the pillows. “You’ll be going back to the Tower then.”

“I don’t know.” Kyran said, glancing the way the Aes Sedai had gone. “They’re deciding what to do with me now.”

Saiph frowned. “What do you want?”

Kyran stared at his hands. His goal had fallen into his lap, but the decisions of a pair of Aes Sedai could snatch that away.

“I want to go home.”

The door opened. One of the Gaidin nodded briefly for Kyran to follow him.

Saiph smiled as Kyran stood. Kyran smiled back.

The younger-seeming Aes Sedai handed Kyran a folded letter when he came to them.

“That’s for the Amyrlin.” She said. “We have agreed to let her decide upon this matter.”

Kyran looked at the two Aes Sedai. The Green looked irritated. Had they been of different opinions, and that was why they were letting the Amyrlin deal with it?

“I will make you a Gateway,” the Green grunted, before walking to the edge of the village. The two Warders followed her.

The younger Aes Sedai studied Kyran. Her ageless, expressionless face was a little disconcerting.

“Train hard.” She finally said. “You are talented. I would hate to see that talent go to waste.”

She turned and followed the other Aes Sedai.

Kyran walked through the Gateway. He had said his final goodbyes to Saiph before going to the edge of the village. Now he traversed the distance it would have taken him a week to travel in a single footstep.

He heard Gaidin calling orders for a training exercise, and a beautiful shining tower appeared before him.

Kyran was home.

Thank you all for following along with Kyran's adventures! Look out next month for the start of the next six-part story, The Tower Mystery.