Entry Five

Ackar is a most unusual being. Despite his own troubles – his fears that his fighting skills are eroding, his concern that he may be forced into retirement – he has offered to aid me in my quest to return home. He says he owes me for saving his life in the arena in Vulcanus, but I sense there is something more to it. Perhaps he wants… or needs… to feel he is part of something greater than himself.

He reminds me of someone I knew of in my own universe – a hero named Onua. He was tremendously strong, but his power was always tempered with wisdom. Like Ackar, he was a strategist… and also like the Glatorian who rides with me now, he was respected by all who knew him. I can tell from the way Kiina speaks with Ackar that both his word and his approval are things she values.

Ackar has pointed out, correctly, that I have a lot to learn about fighting. He has offered to teach me. Of course, his way of doing it is a bit strange. Rather than teach me maneuvers, he has me watching birds in flight. I am to follow their movements and try to predict if they will turn right or left. It is frustrating work and I do not seem to be very good at it.

Later, Ackar takes me up into the rocks and shows me a creature he calls a rock steed. It is a vicious, reptilian beast, and Ackar says it must be fought before it can be tamed. When he tries to do just that, the rock steed strikes him down. I challenge it… and find that I can do what Ackar taught, predict its movements from the smallest signs. I fight and I drive it off, only to learn that Ackar was not so badly hurt – he simply believed that I would learn best if I believed his life depended on it. And he was right – seeing him in danger crystallized his lessons in my mind. I had no time to think about what I was to do, only time to do it.

A wise being, indeed.