Morgan Rice - A Sea of Shields

“Grab your spears, come back, and try again.”

“YES SIR!”

They sprinted across the arena, heading for the spears, and as Thor watched, a voice startled him:

“Thorgrin.”

Thor looked over and saw the face of a boy he dimly recognized, a boy who looked back at him with hope.

“Do you remember me?”

Thor squinted, trying to put a name to the face.

“I remember you,” the boy said. “You saved my life. You may have forgotten, but it was something I will never forget.”

Thor narrowed his eyes, beginning to remember.

“Where was it?” Thor asked.

“We met in the dungeon,” the boy said. “You had been accused of killing King MacGil. I was there on charges of thievery. You saved my hand from dismemberment. It is a kindness I will never forget.”

Thor suddenly remembered it all.

“Merek!” Thor said. “The thief!”

Merek nodded and smiled. He extended his hand, and Thor shook it.

“I have come to repay the favor,” Merek said. “I heard you’re recruiting for the Legion, and I want to volunteer.”

Thor looked at him in surprise.

“I thought you are a thief?” Thor asked.

Merek smiled back.

“And what better skill could you want for the Legion? After all, to win battle is to steal men’s weapons, to steal men’s courage. A thief is quick and bold, willing to go where others will not, cunning, fearless. A thief takes what others want. He does not ask permission. And he does not hesitate. Aren’t these the traits of victory?”

Thor examined him carefully, thinking it over.

“You have a way with words,” Thor said. “I will give you that. And you have thought this through. But you are missing something. The most important thing, in fact, that a thief lacks. Honor. At the heart and soul of a warrior is honor. And it is honor that a thief lacks.”

Thor sighed.

“You might be the best warrior here,” Thor said. “But I cannot allow a stain upon our honor.”

Thor turned away, but Merek placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Please,” Merek said. “Give me one chance. I realize my ways have been dishonorable. Yet times were desperate for my family, and I had no choice if I was to support them. Surely I cannot be blamed for that. It is easy to speak of honor when one has the luxury of sitting in a tower and looking down on others who have nothing. No one handed me anything in life. I had to take what was mine.”

Thor grimaced.

“No one handed me anything in life, either,” he countered. “Yet I never stole from anyone.”

Merek swallowed, desperate.

“Which is why I’m asking for forgiveness,” Merek said. “And vowing to change my ways.”

Thor looked at him.

“That’s right,” Merek said. “I vow to never steal from anyone again if you accept me into your Legion. I’ve come here not to steal. I’ve come here because I want a better life. I want to leave my old life behind. I want to become a better person.”

Thor looked him over, debating. He remembered when he himself pleaded for a spot, for just one chance, whether he deserved it or not.

“You are very determined,” Thor said. “And you seem sincere. And I suppose you are correct in that everyone makes mistakes, and everyone deserves a second chance.” Thor nodded. “I will give you that chance. You may try out. Abuse it, and I assure you I will kick you out of our arena.”

Merek smiled wide and clasped Thor on the shoulder.

“Thank you!” he said. “Thank you, thank you!”

Thor smiled back.

“Now go and grab a spear with the others, and let’s see what you can do.”

Merek, jubilant, ran off into the group of boys and grabbed a spear.

Merek was the last one to throw, and Thor watched with interest as Merek’s spear sailed through the air and hit the target perfectly.

A bull’s-eye.

All the other boys looked to him in shock, and Thor stared back at him in wonder. He was shocked, too. And impressed.

“Again!” Thor called out, wanting to see if it was a fluke, and if the other boys could get closer.

The boys ran off to retrieve their spears again, and as they did, Thor turned as a lone boy walked through the Legion training ground gates, and right up to him. Thor recognized this boy, too, standing there with his face and clothes covered in dirt, but from where, he could not remember.

The boy stared back.

“I’ve come to try out for your Legion, as you invited me.”

Thor studied the boy, younger and smaller than the others, and tried to place him.

“I invited you?” Thor asked.

“You told me I could try out. Don’t you remember? In the Empire. In my father’s cottage. I saved your group from the monsters of the jungle. I’ve crossed the ocean to find you. I know I’m young. And small. But let me try, with the others.”

Thor stared back, dumbfounded, it all coming back to him.

“Ario?” Thor asked.

Ario nodded.

Thor was in shock; he could hardly believe this boy had crossed the world to come here. That said more to Thor than just about anything. He remembered the boy in the Empire as being agile, fearless, attuned to every noise in the jungle. And he recalled him saving them from that Gathorbeast. If it weren’t for him, they’d all be dead.

Yet, at the same time, Ario seemed so small, so young.

Thor kept one eye on the large group of boys, who had just finished hurling another round of spears. They all came closer this time, many more hitting targets, and Thor began to feel some hope.

“Bows and arrows!” Thor called out.

All the boys turned and ran to the long stretch of bows and arrows lined up along the side of the grounds, and all took aim for the distant targets.

One at a time, they fired, and Thor shook his head as too many of them missed.

Thor looked over at Ario, still standing there.

“I do remember,” he said. “And we do owe you our lives. Yet you are so young. And small. I fear you would get hurt, boy. I asked you to come back when you are older—and you are hardly older. I am sorry you crossed the ocean. But I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

Ario frowned.

“I am more capable than any of these other boys!” he yelled, determined.

Thor smiled.

“Are you?”

Thor nodded to the bows.

“Is your aim more true than the others, then?”

Ario smiled back.

“Give me a chance.”

Thor sighed.

“Okay,” he said, giving in. “One chance.”

Ario rushed forward, grabbed a bow, set an arrow, and fired, barely pausing to take aim.

Thor watched as the arrow sailed through the air, past the target, and realized the boy had chosen the farthest target on the field—and hit it perfectly.

Thor looked back at the boy, mouth agape. He had never seen such a fine shot.

“How did you do that?” Thor asked.

The boy shrugged.

“In the jungle, you learn to fire. It is a way of life. With these other boys, it’s training. With me, it’s survival.”

Thor nodded back approvingly.

“You have proved me wrong,” he said. “Join the others.”

Ario smiled wide.

“Thank you, sire,” he said, elated. “I shall not let you down!”

Ario ran off and joined the others.

“Retrieve your arrows and fire again!” Thor boomed out, and they all broke into action.

“Thorgrin!”

Thor turned, recognizing the voice, and was surprised to see Erec and Kendrick standing there in their armor, facing him earnestly.

“Can you leave the Legion affairs for a few moments?” they asked. “We have business. Join us. We have an important matter to discuss with you.”

Thor wondered what the matter could be; they had never pulled him aside before.