This scene originally followed the first scene in the prologue. It was deleted at the behest of the editor.
“You mustn’t falter when making a fatal thrust.”
From his high perch in the amphitheatre, Aidan watched as the gray-robed figure in the arena below demonstrated how to deliver a killing blow, the glaive in his hand glinting in the morning sun, his face a mask of fierce determination. “Any hesitation on your part will cause your death. Never doubt that.”
“I will cut them down by the thousands,” Connor Bruce called out, his voice surprisingly deep for his youthful age.
“If I leave any for you,” Aidan scoffed, with a not-so-gentle elbow to his best friend’s ribs.
Laughter swelled, and carried on the fragrant breeze. Around him, nineteen other Guardians followed the verbal tutoring of their assigned Elder-in-training, a requirement before they could move to the practice field for hands-on training.
“Ha ha. Very funny, Cross,” their Master drawled, his cowl thrown back, revealing a face that looked a few centuries younger than he actually was.
Aidan couldn’t help but note how filled with vitality Master Sheron was, such a marked difference from the fully-Inducted Elders who governed over them all. Whatever it was that happened during Induction, it seemed to drain all personality and life from them, leaving them colorless. In much the same way as the Nightmares did.
“You’ve got that look on your face,” Connor muttered.
“What look?”
“The ‘I’ve-got-one-hundred-questions-to-ask’ look.”
Shrugging, Aidan asked, “Don’t you ever wonder why anyone would want to become an Elder?”
“No, I don’t.” Connor crossed his massive arms, and shook his blond head. “Tell me where the fighting is. That’s all I want to know.”
Not for the first time, Aidan was struck by how powerful his friend was. There was no doubt about it–Connor Bruce would mature into a huge man. He didn’t have the speed or agility that Aidan boasted, but he made up for it in pure brute strength.
“Don’t you want to know what we’re fighting for?”
“Huh?”
Aidan studied the adolescent trainees around him. They all wore deep red robes, just like his own, to distinguish their chosen course of study. They had all toiled along with him to prove that both their physical and mental attributes were adequate for Elite training. The road ahead of them was long, but they’d traveled a great distance already. Why they were traveling, however, remained a mystery to him.
“Wine, women, and kicking ass, Cross. The life of an Elite Warrior. What more do you want?”
“Answers.”
Connor snorted.
Dropping the subject, Aidan waited until the day’s training was over, and then lagged behind to speak to Master Sheron.
The young Elder laughed when he saw him waiting patiently, and returned his respectful bow. “You never quit. That persistence will make you a good warrior, if you get that far.”
“Oh, I will.” Aidan had no doubts about that.
“Teenage invincibility.” Sheron smiled. “I miss it.”
“Confidence,” Aidan corrected.
“Okay. I’ll go with that. What’s your question today? Glaive-making? Robe color-selection? Best way to woo a trainee?”
“Why do you want to be an Elder?”
Sobriety quickly overtook the other man’s features.
“You’re an excellent instructor, Master. You should be an Elite, not teaching wanna-bes.”
Sheron ran his fingers through his long, dark hair and shrugged. “I didn’t make the cut.”
“What?”
Over the last few months of training, Aidan had considered a hundred reasons for why the talented Master was not fighting in direct combat. Failure to pass the Gateway Challenge had not been one of them.
“Very, very few of the trainees will become Elite, Cross.” Sheron’s dark eyes were sad.
“How few?”
“In this class, I think you, Connor, and Reston are the ones most likely to succeed.”
“Three?” Aidan’s eyes widened. “Out of twenty?”
“Yes. This will be considered a successful class if I can manage that. The rest will become Healer Guardians, or Players. I don’t think there are any Nurturers in an Elite class, they’re usually too tenderhearted to desire a life of combat. But I think Claudette would make an excellent Sensual. Some, perhaps, will choose to be Masters.”
Gesturing his intent, Sheron moved to leave the training field and Aidan fell into step beside him. They passed beneath the torii gate exit and traveled a short distance down the gravel path. A table and benches waited beneath the shady overhang of a large tree, and they settled down to talk.
Aidan set his elbows on the table and his chin in his hand, the wide sleeves of his robe pooling on the stone tabletop. “What is the Gateway like?”
“Like nothing you can imagine until you’ve been there.”
“That bad, huh?”
Holding both hands out, palms parallel and facing each other, Sheron explained, “There are many planes of existence, young Cross. Humans exist on the one here to the right. We once lived in this one, on the left.”
“Until the Nightmares came, and took over our world,” Aidan supplied.
“That’s right. The Nightmares were spreading, killing everything. The Elders barely had time to create the fissure that allowed us to slip into this conduit plane between the two. Here, we are on equal ground with them, ephemeral as they are. But while we have created a home, they can only infect the things they touch. That’s what the Gateway is like, a festering wound.”
“Can’t the Elders create another fissure?”
“Since we can’t be certain what we would find on the other side, the answer is no. What if we only compounded the problem? We have a balance against the Nightmares now. We wouldn’t if we were battling against an additional threat.”
Dappled sunlight moved across his Master’s somber features. “And we couldn’t, in good conscience, leave the mortals defenseless against the Nightmares, could we? We are the only barrier between them and the humans. Since we created the opening that allows the Nightmares to enter, it would be wrong to flee and leave the Dreamers with our aftermath.”
Aidan blew out his breath. Unlike smarter parasites who knew from whence their meal came, Nightmares drained their hosts to death. Leaving the Dreamers unprotected would ensure the extinguishing of humanity, perhaps their entire plane of existence.
He could picture it. The endless nightmares they would suffer. Afraid to sleep, unable to work or eat. An entire species decimated by horror and fatigue. Madness would ensue.
“So how do we get ahead?” he asked. “How can we reach a point where the balance is weighed more heavily in our favor, instead of just even?”
“By destroying The Key. Right now, half of our energy is expended in the search for it.”
Scowling, Aidan muttered, “I don’t understand The Key. Where did the legend originate?”
“Where all legends are born–in the distant past.”
There was nothing that irritated Aidan more than when his superiors began to speak in riddles. “I have trouble believing what I can’t see, Master. It pisses me off that the Elders keep so much from us.”
“But you wish to be an Elite Warrior?” Sheron asked with raised brows. “The success of the Elite is based entirely on what you cannot see. It’s not the glaive that kills Nightmares, but the power of our determination that inspires fear. It is the one thing we share with them–killing through terror.”
Killing through terror. Aidan sighed inwardly. That was the cause of the rift between him and his parents–one a Healing Guardian, the other a Nurturer. They couldn’t understand the path he had chosen, and the constant questions they pestered him with had eventually driven him away. He couldn’t seem to explain why he needed to be working against the Nightmares, not cleaning up after them. “What does The Key have to do with that?”
“That’s the reason we must find The Key. The Nightmares found a Key into our old world, and they seek another to enter this one. If the Gateway were to be opened, we would be defeated by their sheer numbers. But if The Key is found and dealt with, we could better manage the few that make it past our barriers. We would all work less and enjoy life more.”
“I’m going to find The Key,” Aidan said with utter conviction. “And destroy it.”
Sheron’s grimness was banished with a wide grin. “I think you could, Cross. Of all the students I’ve had the fortune to train, you are the most idealistic. I hope you never lose that desire to affect change.”
“I won’t.”
“Or that youthful confidence.” Laughing, Sheron rose. “Come. Let’s find ourselves a drink. I think I’ve answered enough of your questions for one day.”
“But I have more!” Aidan protested, jumping to his feet.
“You always do, but they will have to wait.”
Disappointed, Aidan nodded and mentally made a list of queries to pursue tomorrow. They traveled back to the barracks in companionable silence, and both stopped in accord at the highest point in the road, looking across the lush green land that separated them from the Temple of the Elders…
What are your thoughts on the deletion of this scene? Do you agree, disagree, no preference?
Tia Sweat Says:
I Disagree with the deletion of the scene. It would have added to the depth of the book. Its very refreshing to read a smart romance novels. Most try to rush through the plot to get to the sex scenes, which the dialogue ridiculous and an underdeveloped plot. Most people would love to get deeply involved with the characters and their world and then read about their sexual exploits. It would make our reaction to them much more visceral.
Ann Says:
I also disagree with the deletion of the scene. This scene fleshes out story background and characters.
Camila Says:
I like this scene a lot. We basically get all this information from Aidan’s thoughts in the book, but here we get a better feel of the relationships that exist between him and both Connor and Sheron. And, also, it is cute to see him as a teenager.