Story of Raidarian Peace

CHAPTER 5 “SOARING MOUNTAIN”

After half a day, the long journey through the cave known as Rabbit Hole was completed. Ahead, the first glimpses of light appeared.

“Why hasn’t anyone sealed off this cave from this side?” one of the smugglers asked.

“I think they’ve never been in these caves themselves,” another replied. “Finding them here is not easy.”

“There are plenty of entrances on this side of the cave, and only one on the other side, which is closed. Even if they did find it, they probably wouldn’t figure out where to go,” said a robust smuggler. “Not knowing where these caves lead, you don’t know if they pose a danger.”

They emerged in a dense forest. Birds were singing, and crickets chirped. It was getting dark, and something came into view in the distance.

“So, we are in the Kingdom of Floating Mountains,” Miri said with a smile, looking around.

“I can’t believe it… These are the Legendary Floating Mountains,” said Rein.

“A Reydarian who has never seen the Floating Mountains,” Akras said, smiling. “That’s amusing!”

“Mountains are just mountains,” the robust one said.

“Beautiful… You’re wrong! Seeing them again and again, time after time, I never cease to admire them,” Miri retorted.

Rein went to his horse, which was tied to a small column of horses.

“Well, how are you, my friend?” Rein asked his horse. “Isn’t the local company getting on your nerves?”

Rein began to untie him from the common tether.

“Well, finally, freedom!” said the man leading the horses through the cave. “The air is fresh!”

Iziro approached Rein and asked, “So, ready?”

“Almost,” Rein replied. “I just don’t understand which way to Aeris.”

“How do we get to Aeris from here?” Iziro asked loudly.

“We’re all going there!” the robust one said.

“Since you’re our escorts, then escort us!” Akras said, smiling.

Rein clearly got angry again and said, “You’ve long understood that the escort is over as soon as we left the cave. And now, please, don’t let us down and fulfill the agreement at least once in your life.”

“Go that way!” Akras said, pointing towards a massive floating mountain. “Behind that gigantic mountain is Aeris. However, it’s faster for everyone to go the same way. Since we agreed to part ways, but we’re all going there, it means we’ll go first, and you follow us. If you don’t want to keep meeting along the way, of course.”

“Why are you leading the way again?” Rein asked. “Planning to betray me once more?”

“There are more of us!” the robust one said. “We go first!”

“Let them go!” Iziro said. “We don’t need unnecessary conflicts.”

“Why are you always on their side?” Rein asked Iziro.

“What do you want? To overpower them all? Cut someone’s head off?” Iziro replied. “Maybe just support instead of unconditionally taking their side every time. You belittle us in their eyes…” Rein added sadly.

“You definitely have self-control issues. You’re overly aggressive all the time. Your anger rules you, not your reason. That’s your problem,” Iziro stated.

Meanwhile, the group of smugglers moved forward into the depths of the forest towards Aeris.

“You talk as if I was wrong, and he doesn’t want to betray us…” Rein said, rolling his eyes like a little girl.

“Whether you’re right or he is doesn’t matter,” Iziro responded.

“Fine… Then tell me. Explain what you think is important and why, because I simply don’t understand you,” Rein said.

Iziro pondered, looked at the sun, and said, “Let’s make a camp! We’ll set out in the morning. I think if Aeris is beyond that mountain, the journey won’t be a short one.”

Rein, still not hearing explanations, interpreted the silence as irony. Some time later, Rein gathered firewood, and Iziro gathered leaves and berries.

“Where’s the game?” Rein asked indignantly.

“You’ll be on a diet until Aeris,” Iziro replied. “Consider it the beginning of your training.”

“What training?” Rein asked in surprise.

“You wanted explanations, right? You’ll get them! But first, we need to fill your cup,” Iziro replied.

Seeing plants instead of food, it was hard for Rein to contain his anger, but he held on as best he could.

“Well, that’s fine,” Rein said somewhat sarcastically. “Training… Interesting. Maybe you’ll explain something at least…”

Iziro and Rein set up tea and food from a set of various herbs cooking on the fire.

“Do you want me to explain what usually takes a long time to learn? In normal circumstances, such training needs to be earned before grasping it,” Iziro said. “I wouldn’t say you’ve earned it, but in your case, your behavior and lack of skills could hinder the accomplishment of our most important mission, so I will teach you. And mind you, it will be difficult! You expressed the desire yourself!”

Iziro stood up, closed his eyes, and folded his hands.

“Repeat after me,” Iziro said.

“Isn’t this foolish?” Rein asked.

“I can stop the lesson,” Iziro replied.

So, Rein stood up, closed his eyes, and folded his hands. The rays of the setting sun penetrated through the forest canopy, falling on their faces and clothes. Iziro began speaking over the crackling sound of the fire.

“You can think during a battle. For many, this is challenging, but it’s not enough to fight a legion alone. I will teach you control over your emotions, allowing your mind to unlock its potential and enabling you to calculate more and feel better. Breathe deeper and feel the slightest breeze of the spirit in your body. Your task is to feel and understand how the soul is connected to each organ in your body. With the mind and spirit, you will learn to control your emotions. It’s difficult, but it’s possible. It requires a strong mind and an even stronger spirit.”

“I have a strong mind and spirit,” Rein said.

“Your spirit is broken,” Iziro countered, “and it has only just begun its recovery, and your mind is not strong enough.”

“I defeated everyone I fought before, and I’ve fought a lot…” Rein argued.

“Don’t argue with your teacher! Back in my day, you’d get a beating for that. All your previous opponents were children,” Iziro said.

“Then maybe you can fight Magala for me?” Rein suggested.

“Be silent and meditate!”

After that, Rein took a deep breath and got to work. Throughout the evening, Rein tried to identify the movements of his soul in his body but found nothing.

The next day, as they set out on their journey again, Iziro began moving strangely in the middle of the forest, smoothly progressing along the path sometimes facing forward, sometimes sideways, sometimes in one direction, sometimes in another.

“Tie up the horse!” Iziro said. “Our path is important, but it makes no sense until you have enough wisdom to continue our journey.”

“Is this some kind of dance?” Rein asked.

“Your body is large and strong, allowing you to fight against the weak and slow, but I will show you how to fight against the strong and fast. What I am doing is the defensive technique of the mountain monks. But to fully grasp it, you need knowledge and wisdom; understanding all the interconnections of this world; you need to achieve unity with it… with everything that surrounds you. This will allow you to temper your body and mind, enabling you to toughen your spirit so that it cannot be broken again,” Iziro explained.

“And will this dance help with that?” Rein asked in surprise.

“It only seems simple, but to apply it in combat, you will need to train your body every day… I thought this would be familiar to you,” Iziro replied. “And to apply it most effectively, you’ll need the next lesson.”

“I’ve trained not only my body but also my mind… You’ve heard my story,” Rein argued.

“Then your mind was trained by your teachers long ago. Remember when was the last time you seriously did it yourself, unlike training your body?” Iziro said, looking at Rein’s muscles.

“Alright… maybe not for a while,” Rein admitted.

“Repeat after me,” Iziro said.

“Hmm… okay.”

“This dance is a set of movements used for attack and evasion in most possible situations, and this dance is not the only one.”

“It looks strange,” Rein said. “I feel even stranger doing it.”

“Don’t you see the resemblance between what I did in battle before and this dance?” Iziro asked.

“It looked different back then!” Rein retorted.

Then Iziro turned to Rein and, dancing, slowly began moving towards him.

“What are you doing?” Rein asked.

“Dodge!” Iziro commanded.

“If these are attacks, they are too slow. I can just step aside,” Rein said.

“Approach and dodge!” Iziro insisted.

“Alright… but it’s too slow, so it’s too easy!” Rein remarked.

“You want it faster? Fine…”

When Iziro sped up, Rein dodged for a short while, or more accurately, until he was sent flying into a tree from a strike to his body.

“Ah… When you sped up, it felt more like how you fought before,” Rein said, rubbing the spot where he was struck. “You hit hard!”

“Do you want to do it too?” Iziro asked. “Train your speed and striking power every day on anything.”

Afterwards, Iziro approached the tree under which a bewildered Rein sat, and he struck it hard and fast with his palm and then with his fist.

“Like this!” Iziro said, offering a hand to help Rein stand.

“Alright… I got it… The dance is good… Train the body every day… But what about the mind?” Rein asked.

“I’ll tell you about that in the next lesson. Usually, it’s done earlier, but I thought this lesson would be closer to your understanding, so I decided to start with it.”

On the long journey, they stopped near water bodies and large boulders, as Iziro instructed Rein to train his spirit and body.

Once, during spirit training, Iziro said, “Meditation is the pinnacle of concentration and also the most powerful manifestation of spiritual strength. You must learn meditation, but it is extremely difficult. Preceding it will be concentration, as it is easier. Still, it requires practice as it is challenging for the unprepared. For now, just practice meditating and focus more on sensing the movements of the spirit in your body.”

Frequently, during the regular breeze, they stopped so that Rein could feel it, concentrating his mind on these gentle gusts. Iziro said that the wind is one of the manifestations of the soul of this world.

During their physical training, in addition to the regular muscle workout, they trained something else. Moving slowly, they practiced dance-like combat movements with and without weapons like sticks. One day, Iziro said:

“While training, it’s not always about hitting faster and harder… When starting to learn something, it’s smarter to move slower so that your body can adapt. Then it’s important to build up strength and speed.”

When they took a break near a river, Iziro, noticing a fish swimming near the riverbank, said:

“Watch that fish and mimic its movements. Fish are one of the many animals that can be in harmony with the world almost from birth.”

“So, wisdom is in their blood?” Rein asked.

“Not entirely,” Iziro replied. “Some might say that to some extent, fish are wise, but for now, it’s important to learn how they move, so mimic them.”

“Just don’t tell me you learned to move like that by watching a fish…” Rein commented.

“No… In the village of Oi, there were teachers. They taught entire groups of those who deserved such a right. My teacher always said that the whole secret is to move like a fish, using your mind, but if necessary, to strike like lightning.”

“Well, I hope this slave will help me move like her and strike like lightning,” said Rein.

“This slave won’t teach you to strike. You’re already not bad at it…” Iziro laughed. “But if you train more often, you’ll strike even harder.”

“In essence, everything related to physical training depends on practice,” Rein said.

“You’re right about that,” Iziro said. “You gain wisdom.”

They walked along the forests under massive stone mountains hovering in the air above them. Iziro stood in the midst of the mountain-shaded forest and said,

“Finally, the time for the last lesson has come,” Iziro said.

“Really?” Rein replied, stopping.

“You probably already understand that understanding everything depends on practice. It may seem banal to you now, but realization comes to a person not immediately – and so it is with everything. You know a lot, but there’s also much you don’t understand. I’ll teach you how to quickly grasp everything you didn’t know before.”

“Do you see that berry?” Iziro asked.

“Yes,” Rein replied with confusion.

“You need to look at it. You should do it for a long time, thinking about nothing else. Don’t pay attention to anything else. If you do this often, over time, you’ll be able to concentrate on your own specific thoughts just as easily – this will mean that you’ve mastered concentration.”

“After my concentrations on the wind around and searching for its breezes inside me, which I still haven’t been able to detect, this seems quite easy,” Rein said.

“Exactly! Thanks to your past training, it’s already easy, but I should have said this so that you understand why all this was done. By now, you should be closer to meditation. Thanks to the search for the spirit’s breezes, even concentration on nothing seems not so difficult anymore. Previously, in challenging situations, you were indecisive and couldn’t determine your actions, which significantly slowed you down, in addition to your armor and sword. The ability to concentrate, which you probably have already mastered, will help you think only about the most important things at the right moment, significantly speeding up your actions. But all of this was not just for that – the ability to concentrate easily is needed to grasp this lesson. The easier concentration comes to you, the easier and faster the understanding of things you need will come to you at the right moment. And this speed of understanding increases from the knowledge you already have. It’s impossible to grasp everything at once. Perhaps it’s impossible to grasp everything at all. But you can maximize preparing your mind for what awaits you. Reflections contribute to this preparation. Meditation helps the mind rest and the ability to concentrate on essential thoughts. Meditating, you also relax your spirit, not just your mind. But a tempered mind, through reflections, tempers your spirit. Knowledge dispelling fear tempers the spirit. The spirit also tempers the body, prepared for the trials of fate. I’ve given you the path to acquiring knowledge. I’ve given you the path to strengthening the body. Everything, as I’ve already said, tempers your spirit. If you were looking for a secret, here it is. Everything is interconnected! And all your questions will dissipate over time with your alignment on this common path.”

“Wow!” exclaimed Rein. “And what’s next?”

“Next is just training!”

“Alright,” said Rein with a strange expression on his face.

Then they continued their journey. As they moved forward, Rein repeated the movements that Iziro showed him. In the morning and at sunset, they trained their bodies, reflected, and meditated, trying to feel the interaction of body, mind, and spirit. The training went on day after day.

At one moment, under the moonlight, near the glowing campfire, Rein asked Iziro,

“Today, I was contemplating how to use my mind more effectively in the upcoming tough battles. I’ve come to a rough understanding, but can you give me some guidance on how to do it better?”

“Do you see that leaf?” asked Iziro.

Rein looked at the leaf swaying in the wind.

“Do you understand why it moves up and down?”

“The wind hits it from below and above,” replied Rein.

“Exactly like with an opponent… They move up, down, left, right – your task is to understand why, to anticipate how they will behave in the future. His movements can be influenced by both his thoughts and external factors. The goal of your contemplation is to calculate what can be anticipated in advance and what cannot be quickly calculated during a battle.”

After these words, Rein lay down, closing his eyes.

The rest of their journey was beautiful. Moving along the forests, Rein couldn’t stop marveling at the floating mountains – their size, beauty, and the fact that a massive piece made of rocks and soil could simply hang above the ground. The so-called floating mountains were everywhere, large and small, covered with greenery or completely lifeless. The largest mountain obscured the sun on the ground, creating a huge shadow. In these darkened places on the ground, strange plants grew, completely unlike others. And in the distance, the city-state of Aeris could be seen.

“Look!” said Rein. “We’ve arrived.”

“Not yet,” objected Iziro. “I have to tell you something else.”

Rein stood up, pretending to listen attentively.

“No matter how much I tried to teach you to resolve any conflict peacefully, Raidarians are a warlike people. Who else but us would know that? Today we’ll have our last break before Aeris, and by tomorrow evening, we might be there. But until we reach it, I want you to know… Don’t rely on your heart in battle; it’s not your friend. Rely only on your mind, and under its command, you can use your heart for your benefit. I know you might have figured this out after all these training sessions and my instructions, but I decided to say it because it’s particularly important. And now, let’s have a break right here, and let’s increase the number of training sessions since we probably won’t have much time for it in Aeris. Let’s start right now!”

The next day, Rein greeted with unusual muscle pain. After a terrible storm, not forgetting the morning meditation and their regular training, they set out towards Aeris.

Having traversed a long and challenging path through the mountainous terrain, Rein and Iziro finally entered populated areas. Carriages and wagons often traveled the roads they passed, people walked, or another rider quickly galloped ahead. Occasionally, they could encounter Raidarian soldiers in full gear, usually passing in small groups, but they paid no attention to their fellow Raidarians.

“Look,” said Rein. “I used to be so afraid to return to my homeland, and they don’t even pay attention to me.”

“Yes,” said Iziro. “Your fears were not as significant, but if you had the mark of an exile on your cheek, I think it could have been much more difficult.”

Rein walked, observing the local stunning landscapes, and suddenly decided to ask Iziro:

“Iziro, how did you become a monk? How could a Raidarian come to that? You weren’t even exiled like me. You’ve told me so much, but you haven’t shared your story.”

“Oh,” Iziro began with sadness. “Honestly, I was hoping you wouldn’t ask about it. It’s an extremely sad story.”

“What’s sadder than mine?” Rein asked, smiling.

“Alright… Since you’ve shared your story with me, I think it’s fair for me to tell you mine. When I was a child, my father died in one of the battles, or at least that’s what I was told. My mother struggled to live alone with a child, especially in Illyrion. She did her best until she fell ill, and we ran out of money even for food. That’s when I decided I had to follow my father’s path, that I had to become an empire warrior, but a better one than he was. In my eyes, it would solve all our problems because the empire always paid generous money to warriors. I still remember the day they executed Emperor Saron; it was a sad day, but everyone quickly accepted it and continued living as if nothing happened. Soon after that, I joined the military academy. Years passed, and I grew stronger and faster. As I matured, the first military campaigns in barbarian lands or beyond the Sea of Seos seemed so easy for me, as if I were born for it. Since childhood, I was passionate about drawing, so my brothers in arms nicknamed me ‘the artist.’ Every time after another massacre for the glory of the empire, they teased me, saying I had painted another beautiful picture. Through friends, I sent letters with money to my mother in the capital, but soon I learned that she had died. That’s when I lost the meaning of what I was doing, but I continued because I knew nothing else and couldn’t do anything better. One day, I was assigned to reconnaissance in the territory of the Last Kingdoms. In a small group, I stumbled upon dozens of squads of local knights. I fought as best as I could, but there were too many of them. Winning was impossible, but I somehow managed to escape the pursuit. On horseback, I reached the nearest village and lost consciousness due to blood loss. But when I woke up, I realized that I was helped by a wonderful young lady who lived there. Despite considering me an enemy on her lands, she saved my life and nursed me back to health. And I was doomed to fall in love with her head over heels. Raidarians, as if deliberately delaying retribution for so long, allowed me to become attached to her and the people of that village as much as possible. When they came, I killed many of my own to save her and everyone I had come to know in that village during the long time I spent there. In the end, I lost her and almost everyone I intended to save. Raidarians burned the village to the ground, as if mocking me for saving my life. My spirit was broken… But I kept going until I stumbled upon a person who showed me the way to the village of Oi in the mountains. The teachers healed my spirit, body, and mind, and tempered them in exchange for my vow never to kill again. And then they released me when I was ready for it. I left the village of Oi with a mission – to help those in need, those who couldn’t help themselves, especially those with broken souls like mine. That’s how I met you, and that’s how I found a mission even more important than my previous one.”

“You’re right, it’s indeed very sad,” said Rein. “I sympathize, friend! Or should I say, teacher now?”

Rein placed his hand on Iziro’s shoulder, slightly surprising him. At the same time, Rein noticed people and cargo being lifted onto a huge floating mountain.

“So that’s how they do it. I thought the pictures from the books I read as a child were lying to me. Isn’t it amazing?” asked Rein.

“But you lived in Illyrion,” Iziro wondered. “Have you ever been to the underground part of the city?”

“You know I was forbidden to leave even the castle until… Until my uncle banished me.”

“Oh, right. I apologize; I assumed maybe you didn’t tell everything back then.”

“Whatever it was, it ascended towards the floating mountain. A special lifting mechanism was used for this purpose. Long and extremely strong Reynian vines were stretched from the mountain to the ground. Tightly pulled vines helped stabilize an extensive platform made of interconnected logs, where the cargo was placed. There were also vines pulling the platform upwards, so the lifting mechanism itself was located on the floating mountain.

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