Chapter 5

Eric awoke with a start early Tuesday morning. He wasn't sure what it was that had woken him but the after images of his dreams were both fascinating and somehow comforting. He tried to remember what it had been about. There had been a fight, a sword fight and he was fairly sure that he had been one of the combatants but the only clear image he could remember was that of him flying on the back of a strange creature, a sphinx or maybe a gryphon perhaps? He shook his head to clear it and headed to the bathroom.

Looking in the mirror, he smiled at the image before him. Although he was still projecting his glamour, he had over the last few days reduced its intensity and he was starting to look more like his new self.

"Another few tweaks today I think" he thought to himself as he appeared to miraculously drop another two kilos of flab and replace it with muscle bulk and he grew another few millimetres. One swift shower and shave later and he was downstairs eating breakfast, much to his mothers surprise and delight when she came down to make her first cup of tea. For once, he actually enjoyed his morning with his family and even his dad was quite amiable towards him.

"Fuckin' hell mate! What've you been eating?" Robin said by way of greeting as he arrived at the bus stop. "That is some diet"

"Well, I was fed up with being the class fat fucker so I thought I would do a little something about it" Eric replied

"I can't believe just how much you have changed. Look at you. You must have lost 3 stone!"

"I know, I was a little embarrassed by it and didn't really want to draw too much attention to myself so I have been hiding it under my old clothes but this morning I thought "Fuck it" and decided to show off all my hard work"

"Good for you mate. So, what did you do over the weekend? Did you see Jenny?" Robin asked with a smutty look on his face.

"Actually I did, and before you ask, no I didn't!" Eric said, guessing what Robin's next question was going to be.

"Why the hell not? Bloody hell mate, that bird is gagging for it!"

"Well, it's a little complicated at the moment but I think that things may start to improve shortly" Eric said with a sly grin.

"You are one lucky bastard, you know that? I would give my right hand to shag her. Fuck, she's so fit!"

"If you gave your right hand, it would be the end of your sex life, Wanker!"

"Bollocks! Anyway, have you decided how you are going to handle her Neanderthal boyfriend?"

"She is not seeing him anymore and me and Tony have come to a kind of understanding."

"Oh yeah, what's that? He understands that you will stand still and let him kick the shit out of you?"

"No, it's a little more amicable than that. He understands that if he comes near me or Jenny again, I am going to fuck him up beyond all recognition."

"How... You taking the piss out of me?"

"Maybe" Eric said with a smile. "Seriously though, me and Tony had a bit of a chat Saturday night and I don't think he is going to be a problem from now on. In fact, he seemed quite relieved that he is not going to be seeing Jenny again."

"Tosser. Bloke must be mad to not want that girl."

"To be honest, I think he has just realised what the consequences would be if the wrong person found out that he had been messing with her. She is only fifteen after all."

Eric didn't usually lie to Robin but everything he had said was the truth, after a fashion; so he didn't let it bother him too much.

"So I take it that Susie is no longer flavour of the month?" said Robin

"Are you kidding? You reckoned you would give your right hand to have a go at Jenny, Well I would happily give up the chance of ever having sex just to be able to hold that girl in my arms!"

"Oh boy have you got it bad or what!"

"I know, and the weird thing is, even with as close as me and Jenny are getting, Susie is still my ultimate dream girl."

"What do you mean; you and Jenny are getting close?"

Eric blushed slightly.

"Well, I like her. A lot. I may even be falling for her but I don't think that even if I were totally in love with her, she could displace Susie"

"Well, my recommendation as your council in this matter is NEVER repeat what you just said to me to Jenny! I think she would have your balls as ear rings before you finished explaining that one!" Robin said with a laugh.

When they arrived at school, Eric was surprised to see Jenny standing at the other end of the corridor and horrified that she was talking to Susie. As he approached he noticed that Susie was giving him a strange look, but then she gave him a heart stopping smile, turned on her heel and walked away with a slightly exaggerated swing of her hips.

"Morning Stud Muffin" said Jenny as she took his arm. This caused quite a stir; there were curious looks from the girls and a few fairly hostile stares from some of the boys.

Eric really didn't care though. It felt great to have the fabulous looking Jenny hanging off of his arm in public.

"Morning beautiful. I really didn't expect to see you here today; I thought you would have taken at least the rest of this week off."

"Well, I was going too but then I thought, "Screw that"! I am fed up of being a victim. That piece of shit ex-boyfriend is out of my life, all thanks to you and it is time I started treating myself and my friends right." she said, giving him a smouldering look which caused him to blush making her giggle. Eric had never heard a more beautiful sound. Even though he personally thought that her laugh sounded like a hyena, it was so good to see some of the old, vivacious Jenny returning that he didn't care.

"Good for you gorgeous. Now, would you mind telling me just what you were doing talking to Susie earlier? Warning her off were you?"

"Quite the opposite actually, I was just telling her what a great guy you are. Oh, that and the fact that you are hung like a horse!" she said none too quietly which made even more of the girls look at him.

Eric blushed furiously.

"You didn't! Jenny I could kill you!"

"Oh don't be daft. Of course I didn't. I started off by apologising to her for being such a bitch to her. I explained what was going on with me and Tony and blamed my attitude towards her on that. Then I just happened to mention that you managed to sort the whole situation out for me."

Eric was stunned.

"Jenny, why would you tell her that? She will never believe it anyway."

"Because if you are ever going to get a shot at going out with her, she needs to know what a great guy you are and what a fantastic catch you would be" and then under her breath "just like I do."

As Eric left his English class, he noticed Susie waiting in the corridor. He gave her a quick but shy smile and turned to leave but she caught his arm.

"Hold on a second Eric, can I have a word?"

"er, yeah. I suppose."

"Jenny told me earlier what you did for her. I just wanted you to know that I think it was very brave of you. I have always figured that you were a fairly decent guy but that really proved it."

She put her hands on his shoulders, stood on tiptoes and gave him a soft kiss on the lips.

"mmm, you taste nice" She said as she broke the kiss.

Eric was stunned. He actually wondered if he would faint his heart was pounding so hard.

"Wow" was all he managed to say. "God I wish she would do that again" he thought

Susie gave him a strange look, hooked her hand behind his head and pulled him down and planted her mouth back on his with enough force that he was convinced she would be bruising those soft, perfect lips of hers. He slipped an arm around her back and cupped the back of her neck, pulling her closer to him. He could feel every inch of her where she touched him, he could smell her shampoo and perfume, could feel the softness of her hair and skin and his world melted into one, perfect moment.

Susie finally pulled away from him and gazed into his eyes. She seemed to shake herself slightly and then looked extremely embarrassed.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I don't know what made me do that. For some reason I just thought you would like it if I kissed you again."

She was blushing bright red and her embarrassment was being made worse by the cat calls and whistles from the other students in the corridor. She picked up her bag and hurried off, leaving Eric standing with his head reeling in the middle of the hall. "Wow" he said breathlessly

"Are you fucking drugging them or something mate?" came Robin's familiar voice behind him before he had a chance to think about what had just happened. "First Jenny hanging off you like I don't know what this morning, announcing that you have a massive cock and now this!"

"How did you know about that? You weren't even there"

"Are you kidding? I found that out about five minutes after it happened. You know what the rumour mill is like in this place. Give it a day or two mate and people will be telling me you screwed her up against the lockers" he said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised."

"So, what did you do to Susie? Threaten to kill a puppy a day until she gave in to your charms?"

"No, she was just telling me that she thought I was a decent bloke" Eric replied lamely.

"Oh for fucks sake! I'm a decent bloke but I don't get chicks snogging me in the hallway do I?"

"You? Decent? Indecent more like! If I were a girl I would run a mile as well. 'Nice tits, can I touch them?' is not the type of chat up line that most girls like to hear. Try being a little less obvious."

"I can't help it if I have an unstoppable sex drive can I? It's just a shame that I don't ever seem to get to test it out." Robin said with a forlorn smile.

"Anyway, when did you become the expert on split-arses?"

"Probably the day I realised that calling girls split-arses was not likely to get me the results I wanted" Eric replied

Robin just laughed. "you may have a point there mate. Do you reckon I should rent some chick flicks to pick up some tips?"

"Or you could just try giving them a little respect and treating them like you want to get to know them rather than wanting to get into their knickers all the time. For some reason, girls seem to prefer that. They are strange that way."

Eric said sarcastically.

"Yeah, birds are all weird. Everyone knows that they are all gagging for it but they make such a fuss if you let them know you are willing to give it to them! I don't think I will ever understand the bitches. Anyway, catch you later. Gotta get to class"

Eric watched in stunned disbelief as his friend walked away and then headed off to his metalwork class.

"Did you put any thought into the engraving for these yet Eric?" Mr Simpkins asked him as he began to prepare to work on his new greaves.

"Yeah, I have a bit of an idea but I will need to sketch it out so you can decide if it is too complex or not and I just haven't had the time to do it yet."

"Well, there is no hurry really; we can't do the chasing in until the piece has been completed and polished. How are you going to start?"

"I was going to make them so that they just covered the tops of my forearms and rivet some leather straps and buckles on to hold them in place but I have changed my mind. I think I am going to make them completely surround my forearms and put a hinge and catch system of some sort on them to make it easier to get them on and off."

"Sounds good. Will mean a bit more work though. What are you planning to make them out of?"

"Steel. I can temper them then to make them tougher"

"You know, they would look really good in brass. You could polish them to a mirror shine and the chasing would look fantastic" Mr Simpkins offered.

"No, brass wouldn't be tough enough. A decent blade would cut straight through them. Steel is my only real choice, although I suppose I could put a brass "Veneer" over the top of them to make them more attractive. More work again and I would have to silver solder the brass on but it might look good."

"I have a better idea. I was going to introduce something new to the class later in the term anyway but I suppose I could bring it forward a bit. We can electro-plate them. That way you will end up with a thin layer of brass bonded to the steel and the silver of the steel will show through the gold of the brass when we do the chased design. That would be quite effective"

"Yeah, that sounds cool. It will also help to keep the weight down a bit." Said Eric.

"Why is that important? I thought that these were for show?" His teacher asked suspiciously.

"Well, I am thinking of joining the re-enactment crowd that Wally knows and if I'm going to be wearing them, I don't want to have to put up with things that weigh half as much as I do!" Eric replied with a hurried excuse.

In reality, he didn't know quite why it was important to keep the weight down, or why they needed to be made of steel for strength but somehow it felt right. Mr Simpkins just nodded and wandered off to check on some of the other students.

Eric spent the rest of the lesson cutting out his pattern for his greaves and beginning to anneal and beat them into a rough shape. In no time at all, the lesson was over and so was his school day.

Eric was greeted by an empty house when he arrived home which suited him just fine. With both of his parents at work and his sister out with her friends, he knew he had a good couple of hours of peace and quiet.

He went to his room and picked up his sword, once again marvelling at the beautiful craftsmanship of the scabbard and the blades furniture that Thomas had given him. He pulled the steel from the leather with barely a whisper and looked at the sword again. There was still a slight glow to the blade and the crystal was getting brighter. Eric could feel the swords pleasure at his touch.

"Yeneya! Oh god, I'd completely forgotten about you little sister. I'm so sorry! I've been so busy with life just recently, I just forgot that you were there. You must have been lonely, can you forgive me?"

The crystal pulsed gently and Eric felt a wave of euphoria pass over him. "Thanks sis, I won't let this happen again I promise. Thomas says that I need to practice using my sword so we will be seeing each other at least daily from now on if that is ok with you?" Again a wave of happiness swept through him which he took to be her agreement.

"Right then, where do I start?" he said to himself as he began to make experimental slices in the air.

"Well, not like that!" Erith said with amusement. "You have pretty much all of my knowledge on swordsmanship but it will take quite a while for you to access it all. On top of that, you have muscles that are not accustomed to being used in the way they will be needed so we need to get training."

"Ok, I'm ready." Eric replied, once more making an experimental cut in the air.

"No, you are not! We need to get you warmed up first. If you start swinging a sword around with untrained muscles, especially when they are cold, you will injure yourself."

The next fifteen minutes were harder than Eric would have ever imagined. Erith took him through some simple stretching exercises and then began to up the pace, concentrating on a routine that would make him more flexible and agile whilst building the strength and the beginnings of muscle memory where it was needed.

By the time Eric actually picked up the sword, his enthusiasm for waving it around was waning. Erith worked him hard but Eric found it easier by the minute. He realised that much of what Erith was trying to teach him was already in his mind, which meant that he only needed to be told once how to do a particular move and he became an expert in it. All be it an expert by proxy as the knowledge wasn't really his but part of what had been shared with him.

Erith had been right about one thing though, Eric was just not used to this form of exercise. Within an hour his muscles were begging for mercy and his moves were becoming more and more ragged. His sword felt like it was many times the weight it was when he first started.

"Hold on a minute. This bloody sword IS heavier than when I started! Yeneya! No wonder I'm so friggin' tired"

Eric could feel Yeneya's amusement and chuckled himself.

"You really are one mischievous little lady aren't you? Still, I suppose it's my own fault for leaving you like I did for the last couple of days."

"It's actually no bad thing Eric. The extra weight will help you build your muscles faster. Yeneya, will you do that each time he trains please?"

"With pleasure. It's fun!"

"you can talk?" Eric said with more than a little surprise.

"Of course I can! I was just letting you suffer for leaving me like that. I took all this effort to be with you and you just put me away and ignored me!"

"Oh. I really am sorry about that little sister. So much has happened to me these last few days I have felt pretty lost. Besides, if you had have spoken to me, I would have remembered sooner wouldn't I? So I think you can take at least some of the blame for being left like that."

Yeneya huffed indignantly but didn't say anything else on the subject.

"I want you to practice what we have covered today for at least an hour every day, more if you can manage it." Said Erith. "What you have learned today will form the basis off all our subsequent lessons so you need to make sure that you can handle the foundations we have laid here effortlessly and without thinking about what you are doing. It needs to become second nature, instinctual if you like. When I see that you are ready, I will release a little more knowledge for you to practice and so on."

Eric groaned. The realisation that he was going to have to go through this type of physical exertion each day made the whole idea of learning to handle his sword a much less fun proposition.

"That's only half of it though Eric" stated Erith. "You also need to start to learn to fight unarmed. There will be times in your life where the knowledge will be needed and you will not always have your sword with you. Actually, this is truer for you than it is for me. A sword or at least a dagger is part of everyday dress here but I imagine that your world would be less than happy to have someone walking the streets with a blade attached to their hip."

"I was wondering when someone would notice that I wouldn't be able to make use of it. I would find myself in jail in fairly short order if I were to leave the house with Yeneya."

"There are ways around that Eric but for now, lets just assume that you need to learn to use the sword, dagger and bow as a minimum. The staff and bolas will also come in handy but that can wait for a later time. In the mean time, we need to get your hand to hand skills up to a standard I am happy with. I know that you have studied one of the martial disciplines for a couple of years now and I want you to continue with your karate lessons but we need to up the pace of the training. I think we will limit the sword training to the afternoons and use the mornings for your unarmed exercises." Erith decided.

"This is beginning to sound like a lot of work. When is someone going to tell me why I need to know all of this stuff?"

Eric felt Brianna's presence in his mind.

"Eric, you're our son and heir. If anything were to happen to you it could have massive repercussions here. We will do all that we can to warn you of danger and protect you when we can but you need to be able to take care of yourself."

"Nan told me that something is going to happen. She said that I would play some sort of role in it but she didn't know what it was or even when it would happen. Is this what you are talking about?" Eric asked.

"Partly. But don't let that concern you too much at the moment. What she was talking about is not going to happen in the immediate future but there will be other things that are sent to test and challenge you. Not all of it will be physical and fighting, some will require magic or your mental abilities, others will need your common sense and level headedness coupled with your compassion. What you can be sure of though, is that your life is never likely to get boring for any great length of time. There will always be people who are drawn to you. Whether you realise it or not, you have an aura about you that projects strength. Some will be drawn to this to test themselves against you, others to seek your help and protection. Very few of them will know why they do this. The ones that you have to watch out for will be the ones that know EXACTLY why they do it. They will be trained and prepared to take you on. I doubt that many of them will be much of a match for you once Erith has finished with you but until that time, you need to be on your guard and train hard so you can be ready to meet all comers." She said with both sympathy and a firmness that brooked no argument.

Eric sighed as he felt Brianna and Erith leave him to his thoughts.

"How can they expect so much of me? They are talking as though I am some great warrior but last week I got my arse handed to me by just three normal people. I am never going to be able to live up to their expectations. I know that I am going to be such a disappointment to them once they realise that they have made a mistake in choosing me." He thought to himself, his mood taking a dark turn.

"I never realised that you were such a cry baby!" Yeneya said in his mind. "If I had known that you would complain about every little thing and admit defeat without even trying, I would have stayed where I was." She continued, the disgust in her tone evident.

"You don't understand sis. Last week I was Eric, fat school boy. This week I am supposed to be Eric, Champion of the Universe or something. I am still the same Eric that I was last week but now everyone expects so much from me. I don't think I can handle it."

"Well, with that attitude, I am not surprised. Do you really think that my mother and father would put their trust in you if they thought that it would be misplaced? Do you think that I would?" she asked him pointedly.

"I don't know what they were thinking! And I say this in the nicest possible way Yeneya, but I didn't ask you to come here. You chose to do it for your own reasons, so don't blame me if I don't live up to your image of me."

"Don't you want me here?" she asked in a hurt voice and Eric remembered for the first time that she was just a little girl by his standards.

"Of course I do. You are welcome to stay with me for as long as you like. I just don't understand why you would want to."

"I want to be here. My reasons are my own for the moment but you have to trust me when I tell you that I didn't make the decision to come to you lightly."

Her last statement gave him pause for thought. Yeneya had given up a lot to be here with him, her life before joining with his sword had been carefree and full of fun. If what Erith and Brianna were telling him as true, her life now would be a lot harsher. She would be repeatedly put in danger and there would be much less fun to be had. Once he realised this he decided that no matter what, he would do his utmost to look after her. After all, she had placed her confidence in him like no other and it was obvious that she cared for him deeply.

"I'm sorry Yeneya. You're right, I am acting like a spoiled kid. I just wish that I didn't have to leave you alone as often as I do. I wasn't messing about when I said that there is no way I can carry a sword in the street or even to school."

"Do you mean that Eric? Would you really like to have me with you more often?"

"Of course sis. You have gone out of your way to be with me, the least I can do is be with you."

"Am I worth a little pain Eric?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"There is a way I can be with you. At least partially but it will be painful for you so I wont ask this of you. If it is what you truly want, then I will tell you how it can be done, if you aren't sure yet I will understand and we can do it later when you get to know me a little better."

"Well the best way for me to get to know you is to spend more time with you. I can't do that with our current arrangement so I will have to do something else. Is it going to be as painful as the transformation?" Eric asked with a slightly worried tone.

"Oh gods no! This will be more like a bad headache. Would you still have done it for me if it would have hurt you that much?"

"Of course. You don't deserve to be stuck here after what you have done for me. I love you sis and I am not entirely sure why. I barely know you but I feel like I have known you forever."

Another wave of pleasure washed over Eric, this time stronger than anything he had ever felt before, even over shadowing the feeling of kissing Susie earlier in the day.

"Sit down Eric, this shouldn't take long and I will try to do it as gently as I can but it will still hurt."

Eric sat at his desk, his sword in his lap looking at the crystal that was Yeneya and waited. Initially he felt a little pressure in his head but rapidly it began to increase until he thought his skull would split in two. Gasping, Eric slid from the chair and onto his knees, still clutching his sword tightly. The pain in his head still expanding, his ears ringing and his vision blurring until he was about to pass out. With shocking abruptness, it was gone. The change was almost enough to finish what the pain had started and he collapsed onto his side, gasping for breath.

"All done" Yeneya said to him.

"That was your idea of a bad headache? I thought my skull was going to explode! You could have warned me!"

"Yes I could have but that would have just made it worse. If you had anticipated that level of pain, you would have fought me and I would have had to battle with you on top of doing what I needed to do."

"Just exactly what did you do?" Eric asked, getting shakily back to his knees and leaning on his chair. His body was un-responsive and he felt dog tired and nauseous.

"I used your magic to create something that you can carry with you and allow me to be with you. If you look, you will find a medallion around your neck."

"How did you do that?" Eric asked in shocked amazement.

"I didn't do anything, you did. It would have taken too much effort for me to try to explain how to do it so I had to cheat and use your body to do it."

"So, are you in there now?" He asked as he pulled the medallion from his shirt. It was a simple gold coloured setting containing a small crystal similar to the one in the hilt of his sword, attached to his neck by a thin, black leather thong.

"No, I am still in the sword. I can come to the crystal any time you are wearing the medallion and holding the sword but it takes effort for me to be away from the sword and I can NEVER be away from the swords crystal for more than two consecutive dawns. If I remain in the pendant for long enough to see a third sunrise, I will lose my place here in your world and will never be able to return"

"Would you like to come with me now?"

"You wouldn't mind? Really? That would be great!"

"So, how do I do this?" Eric asked.

"Just pick up the sword in one hand and hold the medallion in the other and I will pass between the crystals."

Eric did as she suggested and watched as the crystal in his sword lost some of its brilliance. At the same time, the pendant resting against his chest grew warm and began to glow. He felt a much greater sense of closeness to his sister and he knew that she was now in the medallion.

"are you alright? Did it work ok?" Eric asked her aloud.

"Yes, I have never been better. Here, resting next to your heart is where I belong."

"So, how does this work? Can you see things from there? What about if you are under my shirt?"

"As long as I am in contact with your skin, I can see everything that you do. If you pull me from your shirt, I will be able to see for myself."

"Ok, I will keep you under my shirt for the most part. I would hate for someone to snatch you from my neck and run off with you!"

"That is a really kind thought Eric but it can't happen. Only you can remove the necklace and it must be done of your own free will. So, even if someone were strong enough to try to control your mind, you still wouldn't take it off. It has to be a totally voluntary action on your part."

"Cool! I will still keep you under my shirt though. Fashions here are a bit different from where you come from and people would think I was strange if I were to walk around with a big medallion hanging out of my shirt like some 1970's bloke. It will also stop people from even trying to steal you and causing problems. Is that OK?"

"Yeah, that's fine. There will be times when you may want to put me outside though. I can see in the dark better than you can and I can also see peoples auras far clearer than you so I will be a good way for you to judge peoples character if you need me too."