***
At last, with two months gone by, the special training began. Their physical routine finished for the day, they were suddenly taken aside by Garrin Daggerblood. "Now is the time, Squires, for you to earn those Blue sashes you wear," he said sternly. "This training will be much different than what you're used to. As these lessons are not greatly physical in nature compared to the standard Knightly training, very little healing time will be required, and you should have no problem doing this after your usual routine. Your study lessons are now done with."
"Forever?" said Lannon, disappointed.
Garrin nodded. "However, we have a well-stocked library here in the East Tower. You're free to read any of the books within."
"Those study lessons were boring anyways," said Vorden.
"You shall learn the ways of stealth," Garrin told them. "You shall learn to pick locks, conceal yourself from an enemy, and climb up places you would never have dreamed of climbing before. And you shall speak of it to no one."
The special training took place mostly in the evening, and so the Blue Squires were allowed to sleep a bit later than the others. Garrin provided them with blue cloaks and soft boots, and taught them how to walk with silent footsteps on most any surface. He gave them lock picks and showed them how to open even the most complex locks. And he taught them how to climb ropes and rough surfaces.
The Squires came to love this phase of their training, and spent each day looking forward to it--for they were allowed at times to sneak around the kingdom (in carefully selected areas) and even to climb certain walls of Taris' keep.
Around the same time they began these extra lessons, Lannon was called upon by Garrin to unlock the Eye of Divinity.
"You need to learn to use your gift," Garrin told him. "I've waited this long to mention it because I felt you needed time to get used to your Knightly training routine. Summoning the Eye of Divinity will be difficult, and it will be easy for you to become discouraged. But if you work at it the same way you've done with your other lessons, you should be fine. Your friends can help you by giving encouragement and by keeping you focused.
"Each night, you must spend an hour before bedtime on the task of splitting your thoughts in two. You must learn to think of two different things at exactly the same time. This is not as simple as it sounds, for it takes more than just seeing the two things--they must be separated to different halves of your being. Only when you learn to do this will the Eye come forth. You will be allowed to leave your special training early to go practice this. This is a task you must do every night. When the Eye of Divinity is finally unlocked, you will know it without a doubt. And then you must inform me immediately."
Lannon didn't like the sound of this task from the start, and his frustration with it grew on a daily basis. For one hour (and sometimes longer) each night he would lay there struggling to think of two things--usually images such as colors--at exactly the same time. Yet nothing ever seemed to happen. And mixing the colors did not help. Black and white did indeed make grey in his mind, but that did nothing to bring forth the Eye of Divinity as far as he could tell. To do that, he realized, he would have to think of black and white simultaneously without blending them, in different parts of his being rather than just in his mind. But how was he supposed to do that? He felt that Garrin had been unfair to him by asking him to do something without really explaining how.
As the days passed by, the three Squires did little but train and rest, while summer and fall slipped away in a hurry, and the cold and rain crept into the mountain air. Then winter came, covering Dremlock in a blanket of white. One thing that continued to puzzle them was why they still had not been shown any sorcery. And try as they might, they could get no answer.
Lannon learned that his folks were doing well. His father had been cured of his illness, at least for the time being. A cheerful letter from them was brought to Lannon, and he wrote one back, though he knew it would not be promptly delivered, since letters from Knights and Squires were only carried to their destinations twice a year. Lannon was left feeling quite satisfied for a while.
The snow deepened, and massive shards of ice hung from the towers. Some of the Squires faltered and could not go on. These Squires had failed to properly learn the techniques or were too lazy or distracted to keep pace. Others violated the rules once too often and were banished from Dremlock. Vorden, who made time to mingle during and outside of training, usually kept Lannon and Timlin informed of what was going on around the Kingdom. New rumors spread daily among Squires and Knights alike. It was said that the Deep Shadow infested Dremlock, and that some Squires were possessed by it, like puppets controlled by unseen masters. Some claimed Corhen Whiteheart, a Green Knight of the High Council, had looked into these claims too deeply and been assassinated, while Trenton Shadowbane--the Investigator of Dremlock--did nothing. And indeed Corhen Whiteheart was not seen again.
It was also rumored that food and other supplies were running low, that trade had nearly ground to a halt, and that less than a third of Dremlock's Knights still lived, with the others having been killed by Goblins. There were even rumors that Goblins had taken over the entire forestlands of Hethos and were advancing on the city of Kalamede. Injured and half-crazed Knights returned to Dremlock weekly, and the Temple was busy honoring the recent dead. The Squires were never invited to these ceremonies, only learning of them through rumor.
Lannon grew a bit taller and more muscular, and could use his dragon sword with decent skill. Even though he was behind the others in his skills, he had begun to feel like a Divine Squire of Dremlock. Yet the rumors worried him, and made him wonder constantly what kind of future he had here--what the Eye of Divinity would be used for and if it was even needed anymore. Vorden and Timlin could sneak around without being heard or seen, open locks without the need of a key, and climb walls fearlessly to deadly heights. But they had the Knightly Essence, and Lannon did not. So without the Eye of Divinity he guessed he would probably never be a Knight.
Lannon’s task of summoning the Eye became almost an afterthought to his other training, and he usually gave just a halfhearted attempt at it before falling asleep. He began to resent missing some of his special training with Garrin, Vorden, and Timlin. No more had been mentioned about the Goblin Puzzle, and so it seemed something must have already been done about that.
Vorden and Timlin talked little about Lannon’s quest to unlock his special power, apparently having given up on the idea that Lannon would ever develop that particular skill. Like Lannon, they actually knew nothing about the Eye of Divinity beyond the reading of the Sacred Text.
At one point Garrin asked about his progress, and when Lannon had nothing positive to report, the Blue Knight was grim. "You must try harder, Lannon. There is no other way, to my knowledge. It has to be done for one hour a night--no more and no less. If too little time is spent on it, the mind cannot properly warm up to the task, and if too much time is taken, the mind grows numb and confused. There is nothing that Taris Warhawk, myself, or anyone else can do to help you except to give encouragement. Always, throughout history, the Eye of Divinity has been unlocked in this fashion. No one really knows why or how. Keep focusing on two different thoughts, and sooner or later the Eye shall come forth. It has no choice."
"But I read the Sacred Text," Lannon said. "So isn't the Eye already unlocked? Otherwise how could I do that?"
Garrin shook his head sadly. "I wish it were that simple. Being able to read the Text is just a sign that one possesses the Eye. But it does not mean one can summon it or control it. Or can you? You should know, Lannon."
"I can't," said Lannon, with a sigh.
Growing desperate for help, Lannon appealed to Vorden and Timlin. Yet they seemed to take little interest in the matter. Their minds had apparently become melded with their training. It seemed that, to them, little existed beyond their daily lessons and accomplishments. Timlin had nothing to say, and Vorden simply shrugged and told him to keep trying.
<
br /> The time seemed to pass swiftly, and before they knew it, eight months had gone by and had taken them into the heart of winter.
Vorden kept his true feelings well hidden over those months, until finally--for reasons known only to him--they suddenly surged forth. And the rigid schedule of training and resting was shattered.