How He Was Trained
“Focus!” Nathanial said the words sharply, annoyed at the young boy in front of him. The sandy brown hair was plastered around his young face. He couldn’t be more than ten, in fact, he was ten if Nathanial remembered correctly, his wife’s favorite child. The one that caused painful things to run through Nathanial.
“I am,” the young boy said, his violet-colored eyes narrowed slightly. There was no love loss here.
“Not enough. You're letting them get to you. Focus.” The boy looked at him and then down to where his brothers trained.
“Loren!” Nathanial snapped and he whipped his head back to look at him. “Tell me what you see, every detail five minutes from now.” Loren clenched his hands.
“Then change one detail,” Nathanial said. It was an order.
After a moment Loren’s eyes turned a silver white, and he began to speak. Loren told him where and what each of his brothers would be doing, how they would move. How Nathanial and Bael would move and speak training the others. When he was finished everything he said was starting to happen.
“But the point is you can’t know every detail and I’ve already missed something so hit me and get it over with,” Loren said staring his father down. Nathanial stood there for a moment, he was quick this one. A slow humorless smile spread over Nathanial’s face.
“Smart,” was all that Nathanial said, he did not reach out and strike the boy. However they both knew that was what had changed. Loren understood the lesson.
“Why don’t you care?” Violet eyes met Nathanial’s black ones. Loren did not understand why their father did this to them. Trained them so hard, had let this awful thing happen. They were just children and owned by demons.
“Because your talent dictates that I don’t,” Nathanial answered.
“No you lie,” Loren said it simply and calmly. “It’s an excuse.”
“Perhaps.” He wasn’t going to explain himself to this young boy. Even if they shared blood. Nathanial was going to do what he had to. One day this boy would see, it was all about survival and the weak would not make it.
“I know you see like I do,” Loren said. Nathanial was surprised that the boy knew this. He took a glance down where the others were below them. Valarius, his eldest, was the only one that looked up.
“Pointless chatter. You aren’t finished training,” Nathanial said to him.
“Like you care,” Loren said “You won’t be able to see us much longer. I’ve already seen it, already know we will be removed from your sight.” Nathanial was confused by what Loren meant, but then he looked ahead with his foresight and he saw it too. The slow blackness these boys would cause in his vision. This let him know several things, Loren could see far more than Nathanial, and he would be able to manipulate far more than even he knew.
Nathanial crouched down so he was level with Loren’s gaze. It took him a moment, but he saw the weapon Loren could be. He’d just shown him he was capable of many things and Abaddon had no idea of this. The demon saw his sons as weapons, a means to an end, but he really had no idea just what they were all capable of. Nathanial did, and Nathanial knew exactly what he had to do to make sure Loren knew too.
“You know what your flaw is Loren? You care far too much. It will hold you back,” Nathanial told him like he was talking to an adult. Not a ten-year-old child. However Loren and his brothers never had a childhood, and they were all old souls in young bodies.
“And you don’t care at all. I guess we’re evenly flawed.” When talking with his sons, he sometimes forgot that they were children. That was fine, they could not be children anyway. Nathanial stood up and pulled a small dagger from behind him.
“We’re going to play a game Loren,” Nathanial said.
“Fine.” Was all that he responded with.” Nathanial flicked his wrist sending the dagger straight into the floor where Loren’s foot had been. Loren had quick moved it and looked down with a bit wider eyes.
“That’s one point for you. Shall we see who reaches one hundred fist?” Nathanial held his hand out and the dagger came to him. He flicked it again and it barely grazed Loren, but still a bit of blood appeared.
“One. It appears we are even at the moment. If you want to win prepare yourself, you already know mercy is not for us.” Loren squared his shoulders and looked at him. Nathanial found it interesting that he could not see the outcome. Loren it seemed was well equipped for this game, neither knew how it was going to end.
“Throw it again father,” he said with anger and bitterness. So he did. He didn’t know if he was more satisfied when he hit Loren or when Loren dodge it.
Nathanial wasn’t sure if he cared to know if he was indeed feeling pride for his son. This made him throw the dagger harder and faster uncaring of the audience blow them. Unlike the others, this child made him feel. Something he hated greatly because all he could feel was anguish and pain. Why?
Why did this one boy do that do him, he knew it had to be the duel talent that Loren possessed and the anger sharpened in Nathanial until his focus was only him and the boy.
They moved across the balcony, as if they were one, looking as if it was a planned show they were putting on. Loren’s violet eyes growing darker by the second, neither knew which would win this game until the end. However Loren looked at his father and was determined that this time he beat the man who put them in this hell.
