The Sage's Reign

by Shakyra Dunn

  “Leilana…”

  Her energy was beginning to wane, the excessive magic use overseeing mind over matter. And yet, the guards drew nearer, attempting to break her guard. She kept both hands in front of her, locked and loaded for any upcoming strikes, but the stance didn’t hold, for after a minute, she was lowering her hands again, unable to keep her focus straight. Her hair sank over her eyes, and for a few moments, she swore that she lost consciousness.

  “I thought that you would be arriving.”

  From the shadows, a gust of wind struck Leilana in the chest, knocking her into the barrier, her head slamming against the invisible force. Solus asked after her, but she didn’t seem to hear. Hinju emerged from the corridor at the opposite side of the room, stepping over his fallen guards, staff securely in his grasp. The elder man’s shaggy hair was resting on his shoulders, and dark circles were forming under his eyelids.

  “I didn’t expect it to take this long. I’m almost relieved to find that you all are still alive.”

  “Hinju,” Leilana grumbled.

  Hinju ignored the younger girl’s obvious cracks at him. “You did well to bring her here, Solus.” He’d finally shown his face again, and he was just as conniving as ever.

  “Don’t make accusations!” Solus exclaimed.

  Leilana rose to a sit, shaking away the haze constricting her vision before facing Hinju, her eyes narrowing. “Decided that your lackeys weren’t good enough to fight for you?” Her hollow tone rivaled ice, which put Solus on edge.

  “They were expendable,” Hinju admitted, shaking his staff, listening to the rosary charms jingle. “No matter. Their work gave me insight on how you’ve developed, Princess Leilana.”

  “And what do you plan to do?” The voice sounded like hers, but it was far from her own demeanor passing through in those leisurely elapsing seconds.

  “There’s little for you to offer. I know all that I need to about you, your brother, even your allies. You no longer have a part to play, and your grimoire is virtually useless to you. You have already woken the potential sleeping within you. The knowledge that you have gained will one day be erased from its pages, remaining with you alone until the second that life is cut short, and your soul dances with the auroras.”

  “I’ve had enough of your deceit,” Leilana snarled, her left hand aglow with a seething lavender aura. “You have caused so many deaths. Your students, the faculty… they all trusted you, and you took advantage of them. There’s no redemption for you no matter how much I wanted to believe that you were an innocent man. This kingdom is broken, a shell of what it used to be. People used to feel safe here, and now there’s nothing left.”

  Hinju was withholding his laughter to the best of his ability, but it emerged as a slight chuckle. “They still have a ruler, one that will fall right before his people.”

  Leilana took a step back as a glyph surged from his staff, engulfing the girl and sealing her in the bubble-like entrapment. She yelled in frustration, trying to fight past the texture, but every strike that she threw out seemed to be negated by the glyph’s compounds. Hinju stepped towards the barrier, staring down at Solus. Solus swallowed as he faced the man, rising to a stand, outstretching his arms to lay upon the coating. The spiral of magic was barely visible beyond the naked eye, but the connection with his own power allowed it to resonate with him. Rem’s inherited skills, blessed upon Leilana, was finding its way to him.

  “I won’t let you have her,” he said sharply. “And I won’t let you destroy this world.”

  Hinju smirked, the man’s confidence amusing. “It’s charming to see that you have become brave. Perhaps it is sound for you to have regained your own mind.”

  Leilana was slipping, rubbing her eyes every few seconds before plummeting to a sit inside of her solitary confinement. Her stamina was continuing to exhaust itself and being trapped in Hinju’s draining sphere did little to ease it. She would never have imagined that they were versed in similar dark arts, but his had more of a veritable source.

  “My mind has always been my own,” Solus tried to reason. “There’s too much that you’ve stolen not only from me but from the rest of the world. Never again.”

  Leilana rested her forehead against the glyph and pressed her hands against the bottom in a failed attempt to stand. She tried to slow her rapid breaths, sweat rolling down the back of her neck. The Orb of Concord shifted into an onyx shade, its essence depleted. Leilana covered her left eye, groaning. The sudden loss in tandem with her weakened state was making her head pound ferociously.

  “S-Solus,” she weakly called out, banging against the glyph once to catch his attention only to fall flat on her stomach again. “R-Run…!”

  Solus was hesitant on the idea of leaving Leilana alone, but Hinju reaching out his hand to touch the barrier made his heart stop. The invisible barrier intertwined with his fingertips, the force becoming tangible. One step beyond his limitations and Hinju would have shattered it right in front of him. Solus himself didn’t know of many that could disperse magic forged by the Vesarus bloodline. He was quick to crawl back, nearly hyperventilating. His fear towards the man was undignified and overpowering for his wavering will, just as his love for her was insatiable and passionate beyond his own belief. He was unsure which emotion won out more, but now, his fractured mind sought a need for escape.

  “You have to!” she exclaimed.

  Solus’s eyes darted between her and Hinju as he jumped to a stand, stepping from the barrier. Electrical surges were flying off Hinju’s fingers, his expression harrowed in concentration. Solus’s gaze landed on Leilana, and she extended her hand, laying it on the glyph. Solus reached for her. Though the distance between them was widening, they would find one another’s hand again soon.

  “I will find you,” he proclaimed. “And I will free you. Wait for me.”

  “Always,” she whispered. As he ran from Hinju’s prying eyes, she fell unconscious.

  The barrier dissipated seconds later, the joint effort of Hinju’s focus on dispelling it in tandem with Leilana’s energy finally coming to a halt working wonders. Still, the man scoffed, tapping the glyph holding his former student. It vanished, stealing her away along with it. He took the path his son walked shortly afterward. They needed to have a long overdue chat.

  Solus didn’t bother to check his surroundings, his thoughts unable to keep up with his feet. The sewers were confusing to navigate, but for the time being, he knew what he needed to accomplish: reaching the castle gates. There was a fatal flaw in Hinju making himself known rather than having waited at the castle. The man had become far too impatient. At the same time, he didn’t acknowledge Rem. He must not have known the prince’s fate. That made them safe, for now at least. Hinju had emerged from the same location where they first ran, which meant that he must have come in from the alleyway rather than from the palace courtyard or whatever location was near that region, just as they did.

  Were they being followed all this time and didn’t realize it?

  He climbed over nearby gates, where he was met with a visible centerfold crack in a wall. Someone had tried to break out, it seemed. He shook out his hands, cracked his neck and popped his left shoulder before charging forward, slamming his weight against the wall. The new exit crumbled to pieces, enough for him to crawl through. The trail was straight-forward from this point on, for there was a dim light a great distance away, barely filling the damp corridor. He clutched his throbbing shoulder with his right hand as he walked. Maybe that move wasn’t the wisest, but it got the job done nonetheless. He’d have to do some patchwork on himself once he was out of the woods.

  Once he’d reached his supposed exit, he pushed past some overturned pieces of wood blocking his way, ducking underneath them, grunting at the dull ache in his limbs. One glance forward brought a new obstacle, and Solus almost groaned but decided to power through it. There were far too many literal uphill battles that he was facing. Grasping a ledge to pull himself to higher ground de
spite the slant, he held tight to nearby walls to keep his balance.

  The scent of vigorous winter air rushed to his nose, welcoming after the repulsive odor of garbage and mildew. There was no sun out to greet him, which meant that he wasn’t lurking in the sewers for more than a couple of hours. He couldn’t stick around to enjoy it for long, taking in his new surroundings. The castle was much closer now, to the point where he had to stretch up his neck to truly marvel at it, which meant that he was near the courtyard.

  He didn’t hesitate to run, not wanting to linger around in case Hinju was still hot on his trail. Luckily, the neighboring areas were fresh enough in his mind for him to navigate with no trouble. The castle grounds were empty—maybe all hands were sent on deck, and Hinju didn’t think much of them reaching their goal—and stone rubble plagued the lifeless grasses. The once luxurious fountain that sat in the center of the field was shattered into pieces, and the water had run completely dry.

  He took a seat underneath the fountain, his back against the stone. He envisioned the budding wildflowers that used to line the courtyard, and how he and Rem used to trample over them carelessly as they laughed and played together.

  Life was so simple back then. How could they have ever known what awaited them? How were they so blind to what the world had in store for two young boys?

  He gazed over the letter in his back pocket after pulling himself together; sitting around was going to backfire. The last words of his closest confidant. The will of the Prince of Adrylis handed down to him. Change was coming. He was finally home again. Their last step towards securing the kingdom and saving Adrylis was finally beginning. Now he just had to save Leilana.

  This is where they were to begin the end.

  It had been hours, but her time in captivity left her feeling as though an eternity slipped by. Leilana was bound to a hanging cage in the middle of a spacious, empty room, her wrists and legs chained down, her back against one of the icy golden bars. She was almost certain that she was in a tower now that she was facing a closed window, watching the light of the sun disappear behind the clouds before vanishing altogether. Nighttime was emerging faster than she had hoped. She spent her time searching for any form of escape, but she was nothing more than a silent, caged bird locked away as a prize to a vindictive ruler.

  Rocking the cage until it fell from its height was a risk. Her distance from the ground wouldn’t leave her without injury, or nausea in the case of merely looking down. If she overcame that adversity, there was no way to reach the window. She could levitate small trinkets, but her own body was a stretch; it was never her strong suit to ascertain such a skill. Chains held her in place, limiting any chances of accessing her magic. Her grimoire was seized before she woke, and the Orb of Concord wasn’t responding to any prior thoughts of wanting to fight back.

  There was no exit. Any attempts were stripped away before she had even a moment’s time to focus on her surroundings.

  She tugged on the chains, the metal clanking as she scooted forward, lacing her fingers around the bars in front of her while continuing to gaze out of the window. The moon was beginning to vanish, signifying that a new one would be emerging within days, slicing her already diminished strength in half. She would need to think of a new plan before that time came—Hinju would be feeling the effects as well. It was the perfect time to strike him down.

  Solus clung to his ribbon tied around his wrist, his hazed vision hovering over the unlit halls. He pressed his hand to the wall as he walked, using the melting candles still aglow for at least a few more minutes to his advantage. Despite how quiet and unsettling the castle was, he didn’t seem deterred by the atmosphere.

  That was until the first wave of the walking dead rounded a corner. Their eyes were void, their movements callous and unnerving. They had been left in the dark for so long that they couldn’t remember anything about themselves. Solus slowly backpedaled, wiping his clammy hands on his shirt.

  “My liege,” a raspy voice emerged from the pack.

  Solus whirled around to find one of the walking corpses extending her bony hand towards him. His mouth went dry. He hadn’t even realized that they were anywhere near them—they made no sounds, and it appeared that at least a few of them were well versed in the art of stealth. She reached out to touch his face, and his grip on his ribbon tightened.

  “My liege,” she repeated, her tone acknowledging a sense of glee despite how worn-out and fragmented that she sounded. “You’ve come home. Welcome.”

  “U-Um, hello,” Solus settled with. “Yes, I’m home.” The ordeal was making him uneasy. He became fixated on the dark circles under her eyes, then the drool running down her chin. Her frock that was no better than a dirt-covered sack, barely held together by a thin string wrapped around her waist.

  “Is there anything I can do for you, my liege?”

  “No, thank-” Solus stopped short. Wait. He could use this. “Actually, maybe there is something that you can help me with. Is Hinju back yet? And did he have a girl with him, or maybe even Kinaju?”

  “The Lord? No one has seen Lord Kinaju. Lord Hinju should be in his quarters.”

  His ‘quarters.’ Solus already had an idea of where that was. There was no greater place to search than the throne room. That was where everything began. “I see. Thank you.”

  “M-My liege,” the woman called. Solus glanced back at her, and the woman fell to her knees, groveling. “Have I served my purpose? Have I done well?” That was an odd statement.

  “You can rest,” he told her. The woman sorrowfully smiled up at him before her body fell flat against the wooden floors, unmoving. Solus was about to approach her to try and wake her again, but he retracted. It was too late already. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the woman until long after he’d ventured into another hall.

  One simple command and she ended her life. They weren’t even words of wishing for the end, a mere misinterpretation. Maybe it was coincidental that she gave up, her body too exhausted to keep moving forward. For weeks, she had been under his control, and after seeing her new master one final time, listening to him once more, she called it quits.

  Was this what Necromancy truly revolved around? Giving orders, sending someone else into the fray that the Necromancer sought to avoid? Was his only meaning in life to push others to do his bidding, to sacrifice those that were unneeded for a greater good? That was the opposite of the vision that Rem had for Adrylis. How could he become king this way?

  Solus glanced out of a broken window. The moon was fading, the clouds dispersing at the faint crack of thunder rolling through. Lightning was forming, the luminosity dazzling the skies for a second’s time before dying down. Order among the world was no better than the sky’s natural weather patterns; destructive and unbalanced but would continue without fail. There was little that he could do to provide Adrylis with peace. He was never as hopeful as Remiel was. Even when he was falling lower than the world that laid on his shoulders, that single word carried him to his desired goals. The kingdom was waiting for him, and they would never be able to see him again. His mission was left incomplete, sent to be carried out by trusted allies.

  Trust. Trust was a fragile term, easily manipulated by a wrongful slip of the tongue, a flick of the wrist, or the strike of a sword. There was trust between them all, but one wrong move was quick to tear it all apart. He had seen it all unravel before. Every friendship was bound by the virtues of trust. So why did Sien and Rem continue to have it in him and Leilana while knowing that they kept secrets?

  Leilana…

  Her sacrifices were never in vain, at least in her own eyes. She saw how much fear resonated with him when Hinju stepped forward, how hesitant he was to stand up to him. Did she know that he shared a connection with Hinju and wanted to protect him? Or was it because of the promise she made at the bonfire? Maybe even her love for him compelled her to help?

  Either way, now it was his turn to protect her.

  Her head was pounding fu
riously, and she could barely keep her eyes open, but Leilana continued to search the room for an escape route. There weren’t even stairs for her to climb to reach another corridor. The door sitting several feet below had lost its doorknob, kicked in by the servants sent to guard the outside right when she stirred awake.

  She kept passing out every few hours, waking unexpectedly to her body slumped over on the metal flooring under her. Every time, she had been hoping that this entire experience was a nightmare. And certainly, it was, one that no amount of sleep would pull her away from. How long had she been confined to these chambers? When was she going to have an opportunity to break free? Surely Hinju would have to feed her or let her go to the bathroom. He had to have some form of morality left if he was keeping her alive for this long.

  Why was he keeping her around?

  Solus peered into the throne room. Hinju was seated in the king’s chair, his right leg folded over his left, staring down at a slip of paper with a rather questionable expression. Solus was unsure of how to properly read it from this distance; he seemed calm, yet contemplative, his eyebrows furrowing. Hinju lowered the sheet of paper in his hand to face his oldest son.

  “At last, you’ve arrived. I was hoping that you would come to me rather than the other way around. There is much that we need to discuss, Solus.”

  “To discuss these matters, you forced me to come here,” Solus concluded. “You stole my sense of solitude by separating me, and I assume you want to know where Remiel is.”