Eldar 3 - Path of the Warrior by Warhammer

Author:Warhammer [Warhammer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

97

Perhaps that was the problem, he realised. Did his instincts make him

predictable? Did he need to intervene occasionally to change his style, to move

against instinct? Was it the ritual itself that had been his undoing?

Sixty-three passes had come and gone since his return to the shrine, during which

Korlandril’s body had been restored to its peak of speed and strength. His actions

were second nature, his weapons once more an extension of his will. He was due to

face Bechareth again in a training duel. Korlandril decided that he would try to

maintain more of a conscious awareness of his actions during the faux-combat.

The two of them faced off in the chamber beneath the shrine, Kenainath hidden in

the shadow, Elissanadrin and Arhulesh calling the winning strikes. Korlandril began

as usual, reacting and acting without thought to the attacks and defences of

Bechareth. The contest was even, with perhaps Bechareth having slightly the upper

hand.

As he ducked and wove, slashed and stabbed, Korlandril allowed himself to

engage more closely with his body. He saw it as a globe of light in his mind’s eye,

his warrior instincts envisioned as a miniature sun, ebbing and flowing with energy,

his body moving around and within it. His conscious thought, his reasoning,

Korlandril saw as another orb, its surface still and calm. As he fought, Korlandril

tried to bring the two spheres together, so that conscious and unconscious might

overlap.

He faltered, allowing Bechareth a strike to the abdomen that would have torn

open his old wound. Korlandril hesitated, a flicker of memory touching on his

thoughts. He retreated into ritual, taking up Hidden Claw, pushing aside the tatters of

recollection.

Korlandril began again, forming the globe of tranquil consciousness, but rather

than imposing it upon the fire of his intuition, he tried to meld the two, to make them

as one. He parried and counterattacked, recognising the move his body had chosen,

and the calm sphere slid a fraction closer into place. He lunged forcefully, his

unthinking will recognising an opening.

Slowly, atom by atom, Korlandril merged the two parts of his consciousness. His

mental exercise was far from finished when Kenainath called for the pair of them to

cease their duel. Returning to repose, Korlandril fixed the last image in his mind, a

partial eclipse of his warrior instinct by the rational mind, hoping to recreate it the

next time he duelled.

Bechareth bowed his head in appreciation and gratitude, a knowing look in his

eye. Korlandril mirrored the respect, his gaze not leaving that of his opponent.

“You are taking steps, moving swiftly on the Path, to fulfil your will,” said

Kenainath, signalling for the others to leave. “Your spirit responds; I sense it

developing, becoming as one. We are all conflicted, many parts vying to win, yet

none may triumph. You must seek balance, in all things not just battle, to be whole

again.”

Korlandril nodded and remained silent.

“Practise your focus, see yourself from the inside, and master your will. The Path

is wisdom, to control that which taunts us, to find true freedom.”

“And when I am done, will I be free of my anger?”

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