“We have to kill him right?” Chloe shouted as the afterimages stopped and she stood over the surprised King. “Is that what’s next?”
Kyran could hear the wavering in her voice, see the shaking of her hands. Even her blonde hair appeared to be trembling. He knew she was in no shape to take an innocent life.
“Chloe, stay back!” he yelled as he kicked the guard who grabbed him down the stairs. The other guards somehow managed to grab him in the scuffle, and he fought desperately against their collective strength, reaching for Chloe as she unsheathed her eidolon.
“No, my love,” she whispered. “I can do this. I can do it.”
She raised her eidolon to strike down when the King shot the stone’s waves of electricity into her chest. In response she fought through the push and slapped the stone out of his hands, causing it to roll under the bed and out the other side. Chloe took a deep breath and raised the eidolon again as the King screamed.
“NO!!!” Kyran shouted, with more fervency than he had ever shown in his life. If anyone was to take the King’s life, it had to be him. He couldn’t afford for her to start traveling down the dark road he only begun to question. He may never get her back.
Kyran flexed his muscles and used every bit of strength he could muster to shove off the guards and he instantly dived straight toward Chloe. Catching her in mid-air, they slammed against the wall, her eidolon piercing his shoulder accidentally on impact. Kyran fought against the wound’s ache and dove back towards the King who was scrambling to his feet. He took his dagger and made sure to take his life in one slash. With the King dead, the stone’s glow dimmed and Kyran retrieved it, putting it into his pocket before any other complications arose.
The guards ran now that their King was dead, calling for reinforcements as Chloe walked sheepishly over to her husband. She placed a hand on his chest and stared at his shoulder wound.
“I really made a mess of things, didn’t I?” she said low. Kyran brushed the hair out of his eyes and gently cupped her chin.
“You stopped the King. Without you here, I would have failed.”
“But you’re hurt.”
“And you’re not,” he said. “And you are not tainted. That’s enough.”
He pulled her lips to his and kissed her tenderly. A quick kiss, but considering Kyran’s personality, it made Chloe want to explode in joy. He really did love her.
“Let’s get out of here,” she said as she grabbed his hand. “With both the King and Queen dead, there will be a whole Kingdom after our heads.”
The two of them ran out the chamber hand in hand, surprised to see that there wasn’t an army of guards waiting for them in the main hall. Cautiously, they opened the castle doors and stared out towards the city. Already they could see the destruction before them, buildings crumbling and fires beginning to start as the citizens of Languor scrambled in the streets to save their homes or fight against their enemy. Chloe was shocked to see the Kingdom already in turmoil.
“What happened out here?”
“Not sure,” Kyran said. “Though if I had to guess, I take it Arimus found the boys.”
“You know, Kyran…we’ve always called Quietus the dark Kingdom because of what they did to us. How much destruction they caused and how they disrupted our lives for years on end. Looking at the sight before me…I have to wonder, what will they say about us?”
“Everyone has their nightmare,” Kyran said but Chloe was not convinced.
“True, but how many nightmares do you see in the flesh?”
Chloe began descending the steps as Kyran took in the devastation before them. As long as their mission is a success. They retrieve the stones and give salvation to all…it would all be worth it…
But even Kyran had to ask.
“At what price?”
* * * * *
“This way,” Scarlet said as she waved Achan on. They had been running on the outskirts of the Kingdom for over an hour now with no signs of stopping, and she had insisted on activating their eidolons to take advantage of the extra speed.
“KEEP UP!” she shouted as he hurdled over a couple fallen trees. The sunlight streamed through the forest canopy like a sieve, occasionally piercing his eyes with blinding accuracy. Still he ran, regardless of what lay before him. All he could do was run, if nothing else but to take his mind off of what may happen once they caught up to the kidnapper.
“I hear a lot of noise coming from Languor,” Achan commented as he heaved, trying to make his breath more methodical.
“Stop talking,” Scarlet grunted, leaping over a shrub. “Save your breath.”
Achan kept silent and maintained his speed, hoping Scarlet didn’t sense anything was off about him. He almost didn’t see Scarlet come to a sudden stop.
“Settle,” she huffed as she crept down behind some bushes. “Stay low and shush!”
Achan tried to look through the thicket as he made out three figures a few yards away. One of them was undeniably Catherine.
“You’re making a mistake,” Catherine said as one Langoran kept a firm grip on her arms. Even from where they stood, Achan could see that she had been bound at the hands with some rope.
“Hardly,” the man said. “I already told you. This will bring our Kingdom into a new age.”
“The stones are more complicated than you claim. Just because you have the stone of Allay, that doesn’t mean you can just create Sages.”
“Won’t know until we try…Rathe, are you sure this is the rendezvous area?”
“Certain.”
Achan ducked his head lower and looked up at Scarlet carefully. Rathe would certainly recognize him. After all, it was his handler. Only two Langorans knew of his secret mission. One was Xai, the man he talked to in the shopping district. The other was Rathe, the man who gave him his initial training, his cover story, and actually got him into Allay itself. If there was anyone that would ruin everything, it was him. Why did he have to be the one to go capture the Princess?
“Xai is never late,” Rathe said with his signature deep, stoic voice. “Something must have happened.”
“I’ve heard the Sages are attacking Languor as we speak,” the man holding the Princess said. Catherine squirmed.
“Yeah, probably looking for me!”
“It will be worth it if all this goes to plan…Rathe, what happens if Xai doesn’t show?”
“We’ll need to find someone that can take us back to headquarters.”
“You don’t know the way?”
“I’m a middleman. I handle the infiltrators. Though...most of the infiltrators started out at headquarters. They may know the location.”
“Do you have any infiltrators close enough to help? It doesn’t matter if their cover’s blown. This is what we’ve been planning all along.”
“True. Actually I do, he should be in Languor right now. Xai said he spoke with him last night. I’ll go retrieve him.”
“No. No. No!” Achan’s head went off like a siren. It was he that Xai had talked to!
“What’s his name? In case something happens to you too?”
Rathe looked at the Princess as he considered revealing his contact.
“Alright, I guess there’s no point keeping it a secret now that the mission’s complete.”
“I have to go now!” Achan‘s mind shouted as he let out a war cry and leaped over the bushes, narrowly missing Scarlet’s swipe as his pants to pull him back.
He ran as fast as he could toward the men as Rathe’s eyes widened in recognition. But before the handler could say his name, Achan extended his eidolon sticking out his palm and slammed it directly into his right lung. Rathe died instantly, but now he had Catherine to save, and Scarlet had only just hopped the bushes, having recovered from his surprise attack.
“Hey, I know you!” the man managed to shout out as Achan swung the eidolon toward the man’s neck.
“Yeah, I’m a Sage,” Achan said boldly as the blade met its mark. Catherine ran away as soon
as the eidolon connected, right into Scarlet’s arms. Scarlet cut the ropes off and hugged her tight as she spoke into her hair.
“Did they hurt you?” Scarlet asked as Catherine shook her head.
“We have to go,” Catherine said hurriedly. “I don’t know what damage Arimus and the others have caused in my absence.”
“It’s best if we keep you outside the confines of the Kingdom. I’ll go get them. Achan, stay here and watch her.”
“Are you sure that’s best?” Achan asked nervously. Catherine let go of her cousin and looked to him.
“With how valiantly you just saved my life, I couldn’t ask for a better guard. Scarlet, you may go. I’ll be fine.”
Scarlet nodded and took off to the left, taking a shortcut back up to the Kingdom of Languor. Catherine watched her leave and sighed as she heard the screams and cries of its citizens. The noise was too familiar.
With the situation over, Achan plopped down onto the leaves and grass, basking in the sunlight that shone on his face. Catherine stepped around and sat on a boulder behind him, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees, looking straight into Achan’s hair.
“Your hair is red,” she said, catching Achan off guard. Achan chuckled and sat back into the sun.
“Yeah,” he said. “I like it though.”
“I wasn’t implying anything,” she said casually. “I was just commenting on how it’s like a Langoran’s.”
Achan’s body tensed as his eyes stared straight ahead. He started breathing rapidly as he tried not to look back at her.
“I mean, those who do have hair,” Catherine commented. “But yeah, definitely a Langoran’s.”
“If you say so, Princess,” Achan chuckled. Catherine sighed and looked at her hands.
“Where are you from again? What part of the village?”
“Are we having this conversation again?” Achan whined in a playful tone.
“If your Princess wishes it,” she said firmly. Achan looked to his right palm, the tip of his eidolon still sticking out. Based on the distance between them, he could easily kill her, before she even realized what happened…but was it worth it? He had known no other home but Allay, despite being born in Languor.
“The outskirts,” he replied. “Poor district.”
“What was it like out there? Chloe and Kyran grew up in that part of the village. They’ve told me all about it.”
“Then I would just be repeating them.”
“But I want to hear your personal story. Specifics really bring the story to life.”
Achan sighed and bowed his head toward his lap, closing his eyes.
“Catherine, just tell me what you’re really trying to say.”
“Fine,” Catherine said as she stood up. Achan looked again at his right palm, the tip so small it almost looked like a rash.
“Rathe,” she said, looking down at him. “He was the one who snatched me. But before he met up with his friend in the woods, he did get to talk in passing with Xai. They exchanged some interesting information.”
“I’M A SPY!” Achan screamed as loud as he could, jumping to his feet and facing Catherine directly. Catherine’s face showed no remorse as she looked into his eyes.
“And I now I know your secret,” she said, her eyes steadily looking into his. “And we’re alone in the woods. What happens now?”
Achan sheathed his eidolon and dropped to his knees. It was all he could do. He knew this moment was inevitable. Ever since he had joined the Academy, he had admired her from afar. At first it was simply reconnaissance, studying his target. But as the months went by, and he got to observe her interact with the other recruits, he came to an unnerving conclusion…
She wasn’t a fake.
He had had ample time viewing royalty in Languor. After all, it was his sole mission to capture the Princess, and therefore, Xai had arranged a schedule with the King himself, so that he could study the habits of royalty. He got to study the habits and interactions of the royal family first hand, extending also to their guards, the servants, and their butlers and maids. And what he discovered was that none of them acted in private the same way as they did in public. As soon as they were in the same room with another Langoran, they would put on a mask, laughing and exchanging small talk as if they were old friends, when at night, kneeling in their bedchambers they prayed to the Maker for their demise.
Achan was very good at remaining hidden. It was a skill he had acquired in childhood, especially since he was so small compared to the rest of his brethren. So eventually, those he observed even forgot he was there, and then they began to show their true nature. They cursed their family members, backstabbed their friends, even committed murder…all for selfish gain, meaningless trinkets and a little more gold.
He didn’t despise them. He just observed, and accepted that this was who they were. This was who all people were and all that was shown in public was but a shadow. A shade of the monster people swore they weren’t…
So when he was tasked with Catherine, he expected no different. And he had no reason to. Already he had quietly seen the elusive Kyran commit atrocities that were far beyond the actions of his Langoran brothers. Arimus was kind in person, but a ruthless predator and schemer in private. Scarlet was openly abrasive and relished in her temperament. Chloe, his teacher, had gained his respect because he had found that she was the same person throughout the day…but the fact that she continued to take an interest in Kyran, eventually taking it to the extreme and actually marrying the assassin, he determined that she must have secrets of her own. She was the strongest of them. Perhaps she was just that good at hiding too…
But Catherine…Catherine was pure, through and through. As wonderful as she was in front of others, treating them with mutual respect and equality regardless of their status, she was even more impressive in private. Praying for her enemies, meditating on a huge decision she would have to make, giggling at jokes she had heard earlier that day, showing no sign of false humility or humoring a student.
She actually loved them all. Each and every one.
And it didn’t take long before he was madly in love with her. The more he watched, the more he fell. It didn’t take long before he regretted the very mission he was sent to Allay for…
“You are from Languor, aren’t you?” she asked, looking down at him. Achan felt his chest and head pounding as he kept his body docile. He wouldn’t give her an excuse to kill him.
“I am. I was sent to capture you,” he said.
“Last night, that man who approached us in the shopping district…that was Xai, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. I was supposed to deliver you then, but I couldn’t do it.”
“Why?”
“Because I lo-“
“- stop it,” she snapped. “Answer my questions, but don’t try to affect my emotions.”
“I’m not…I’m sorry,” Achan sighed.
“How are you able to become a Sage if you were born in Languor?”
“Typically in a Kingdom, every citizen that is born touches their Kingdom’s respective stone, in order to take part in the power it gives. I was denied that. Though I carry some traits of an Langoran because of my parents, I will never be able to harness the energy every Langoran draws from within. I was in essence, a blank slate.”
“Why would someone do that? It leaves you defenseless, especially in times of war.”
“Because I was born to be a spy. I’m part of a select group, created by the Langoran organization, RAW. They specialize in figuring out ways to overthrow other Kingdoms or making theirs stronger. My parents were known for their expertise in expanding or decreasing their sizes at alarming rates like Keel was able to. So when my father died, and my mother in childbirth, they decided to take me in because of my genetics and ability to adapt. They figured that if anyone could become a Sage in Allay, I could.”
“So when you got to Allay…how were you able to touch the stone?”
“I was beaten to the poi
nt of death and left at the northern wall,” Achan said, remembering the horrible ordeal. “It was a risk, but it paid off. Guards took me to your mother since she was known for compassion. Sure enough, she got close and brought me back to good health. Because I had not been near the stone of Languor, the Allayan one transferred a portion of its essence to me. My handler, Rathe had already secured a cover story and placed me under the care of two other Langorans, descendants of a couple spies put into Allay over a hundred years ago. No one would suspect them.”
“I didn’t know the Langorans had taken such lengths,” Catherine replied. Who else were Langorans? Prattlians? Or worse?
“I signed up for the Academy when I was ordered to by my ‘Aunt Michelle,’ and then I was on my own, left to carry out my mission. But I never wanted to. Catherine, please believe me when I say that my heart was never with Languor. Even when I was in the Academy, I tried my absolute best not to become a Sage.”
“What did it matter if you became a Sage or not? Your mission was me.”
“I found out about your journey over a year ago,” Achan admitted. “I overheard Arimus and Kyran talking about it when I was doing some reconnaissance. I knew that you were waiting for a number of recruits to turn Sage, and when you had enough, you were going to head out. I was determined not to be in that number. But during the infantry exam…it was either sacrifice my teammates or unleash my eidolon and save them. I chose the latter…and here I am…if I could have avoided becoming a Sage, I could at least justify my absence during the journey. I could say my cover would have been blown.”
“I see,” Catherine said, mulling over his words. “So what should I do with you? Let you go?”
The Dark Kingdom (Sage Trilogy, Book 2) Page 16