Chapter CCXXIX: Day One – The Dance of Candles ~Naaro

"Yyyyah!" The last of the stone golems struck the ground as Naaro stood in a post-swing stance, a wooden tonfer in each of his hands. "Well done," Rody congratulated. "You have learned that a weaker material like wood can defeat a stronger one, like stone. It is not the composition of your weapon that counts, but rather the skill with which you wield it." Naaro nodded and looked to the morning sun. It was about 10:00, and he had been up training with Rody since 4:00. Naaro had already taken a beating in an introductory spar, nearly had himself incinerated in a lava-walking test, and gotten his foot crushed while dodging boulders moving near light speed. He could only wonder what his next challenge was. "Come with me," Rody instructed, turning and walking into a nearby cave. Naaro soon entered behind him to find a series of candles arranged atop 6-foot tall poles. The roof of the cave was about 8 feet above the candles and littered with sharp stalactites. Naaro looked over at Rody. "Alright Naaro, here is your task," he began. "You are to jump from candle to candle, landing on each one time and busting the bubble hanging from the ceiling above it. If you put out a single candle, you lose, if you fall, you lose, and if you fail to break all the bubbles, you lose. Sound simple?" Naaro nodded. He looked up at the roof once more, and bubbles appeared above the candles. Rody turned to the cave’s exit and began to walk out. Before he left Naaro’s range of hearing, he said, “Begin now, Naaro. I will be waiting back at our camp.” With those words, he walked out the door. Naaro turned to the candles, and prepared for his task.

With a deep breath, Naaro leaped into the air and landed on the first candle. He spent no more than a fraction of a section standing on the tip of the flame as if it were a solid and not a gas, leaping to the next candle and popping the bubble above. His head came dangerously close to the stalactites, and he was worried about that. This was his mistake, as his worrying caused him to stand too long upon the next candle and singe his foot. “YEOWCH!!!” he cried out as his leap turned into a fall, the candlestick snapping and tossing him to the ground. He hit hard. He rubbed his head in pain, muttering “Oww…” The candlestick mended itself magically, and the flame was re-lit. Naaro got back up, ignoring his pain, and tried again. The first was a success: he popped the bubble and leapt to the next candle gracefully. This time he got past it too, making it to the third. He kept on going, his confidence ever-growing. By the time he reached the 6th candle, he was feeling pretty cocky. He decided to land on the edge of the candlestick instead of the flame itself. The instant he did, he regretted it. The candlestick gave, and he was tossed into 3 more, bringing them with him in his trip to the cave wall. He hit with a loud thud, and slowly slid down the wall to its base. As he lie slumped on the floor, fragments of 3 candlesticks piled under him, he groaned, “This is gonna be a long day…”

Naaro had started this task at 10:00 in the morning. It was now 10:00 at night, and he had still not succeeded. Several different things had prevented him from finishing this task: sometimes he remained too long on a flame for its solidity to last; others it was that he missed a bubble and, in the process of worrying about that bubble, botched his jump and injured himself further. Naaro’s toes were reminiscent of a 4th of July barbecue, and his body had been bruised quite a bit by the several falls it had taken. He must have attempted this at least 500 times by now…when would it be over? Naaro dejectedly picked his body up from the cave floor and prepared to challenge the candles once more. There had to be some trick to it…what was it? Naaro hoped he’d find out soon as he leapt up to challenge the candles once more, expecting to get another injury. What he got, however, he did not expect.

*It is the Dance of Candles…dance to the tune of the tiny fire!* a strange voice beckoned to him via telepathy. He pondered it, and his mind accepted it, all before his toe touched the first flame. *1…* he thought to himself, landing on the first flame and popping the bubble above. He leapt to the next flame in a dance-like form. *2…* He landed it just as well as he had the first, and continued on. *3…* The pattern soon became the only thing running through his mind as he leapt from candle to candle, as if dancing with his love…*1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3…* As he popped the last bubble and leapt from the last candle, all that was left was the landing. *3…now land it!* his mind demanded as he flew toward the ground. His feet hit the dirt with a pleasurable thump, and he stood as if he were a gymnast who had just completed a perfect routine. Rody was there, applauding. “Well done, well done!” he chuckled, pleased by Naaro’s performance. “Excellent work, Naaro! Now you’re finally ready for a true day of training!” When Naaro heard that, his euphoria sunk into disbelief. “What?” he uttered. “That wasn’t even part of the real training?!” Rody shook his head, chuckling. “Of course not! I was merely seeing if you could tolerate the training you’re going to receive! And, my boy, you did very well!” Rody grinned and applauded. Naaro groaned. His eyelids suddenly increased dramatically in weight, and closed over his eyes. He collapsed to the ground, falling into an impenetrable slumber. Rody continued chuckling and applauding until he noticed the snoring of his student. “Hrm…” he looked at Naaro thoughtfully, running something through his mind at a steady rate. “He’s definitely a strong one…he’d be the mortal who could do it…but…can ANY mortal do it? Very puzzling, yes, hmm…” Rody turned back toward the camp he and his student had set up, and held up a hand, pointing a finger backward at Naaro. The sleeping Karmali’s body levitated, and smoothly followed Rody as he walked back to the camp.