A Lesson

Day 147

Geist looked at the note in his hand one more time before lifting it to
the flame of a torch and destroying it. It was a crowded hallway in the
Sword's Edge base, but no one looked as he did this since notes such as Geist had received
were often given, with an order to destroy on them. Such was the way of
life among the Sword's Edge. He waited until the appointed time and arrived
at the appointed place, a storeroom at the outer edge of the base. He
waited for what seemed like forever outside the door before it opened and a
wrinkled hand beckoned him to come inside. As he walked in he saw that
the room wasn’t a typical storage room. It was quite large in fact
and the only thing the room seemed to be storing was a small cupboard
with a large, beautiful katana displayed atop it. Standing beside the
cupboard was a robed figure who seemed to be looking at him from under a
hood.
 
"Close the door and come over here," the robed figure said.  Geist hastily
complied, obviously he had been chosen for an important assignment. "Come
and sit before me, young Geist. You have much to learn this evening."
Geist once again followed his orders quickly, making not a sound because
he knew that whatever assignment or test he was about to be given was an
important one.
 
Over the next few hours his hidden teacher told him many things about his
clan; about the times before Hyru and the clans fall from grace. Most of
this confused and surprised him because it differed so much from the stories of
his youth and the one mission that his clan had: The total domination of
Monic. He never dreamed that his clan could was once like the Shadow-Tal
radicals and their misguided quest for freedom. After several hours of
speaking the robed figure finally retreated to a seat near the back
wall and as Geist mulled over the new information and conflicting
signals, the robed figure seemed to smile...