The Sorcerer's Ring (Book #1 of the Seven Sorcerers Saga)

by Julius St.Clair

  ***

  “Excuse me,” Remi said as she stood behind them. All three of her enemies turned around in unison. She must have looked so unassuming standing before them, not even wearing her Sage robes or keeping her eidolon at her side.

  Immediately they looked for the trap. The monster and the armored man scanned the area as the thin man started backing away, taking his spot in the background. Remi made a mental note to stay as far away from him as possible, and if she felt the least bit tired while they were just standing there, the battle would have to start, whether she was ready or not.

  “Where are your friends?” the armored man asked, his silver eyes narrowing at her.

  “They’re gone,” she said. “You killed too many of their friends.”

  “Then what are you doing here?”

  “I’m here to kill you,” she said, clenching her fists. He noticed the motion.

  “If anything this is a trap,” he said.

  “Not at all,” she said. “It’s just me. I’m not going to run away because the odds aren’t in my favor.”

  “That’s surprising,” Dominic said, appearing from behind one of the houses. “Especially considering how weak you are.”

  Remi tried to keep calm once she saw him though she was screaming on the inside. There were four of them now?!

  “Ah,” Dominic said, pointing his red eidolon towards her. “That’s what I was looking for. That fear. It’s right there, bubbling up inside of you. Didn’t expect to see me so soon, did you?”

  “How did you get out?” she asked as he circled around her at a distance.

  “I could have gotten out whenever I wanted. And ten minutes ago, I wanted to.”

  “Is Tyuin okay?”

  “I don’t know where he is, as far as I know. But the real question is, are you? I’m sorry, you were saying something about not running away. Please continue.”

  “I was going to tell your teammates about my experiences.”

  “To stall,” he said, tapping his eidolon against his leg. He stopped circling to face her directly.

  “No, to make a point.”

  “Which is?”

  “You know nothing about me. I grew up in an encampment that lived to steal from Cimmerian. They were merciless in their pursuits, and they killed anyone that got in their way. You have no idea what I’ve seen and what I’ve done. You know nothing. Think about it. When have I ever backed down since you’ve been watching me? When?”

  “You fainted earlier,” the armored man said. “Against our friend.”

  “I pretended to,” she declared, keeping her gaze fixed on Dominic. “To see if he was willing to hurt one of the Sorcerer’s weapons. He’s not.”

  “We just can’t kill you,” Dominic sneered. “And you’re stupid to come here by the way. We were going to go back to your friends and snatch you from them but now you’re right here. Ready to be captured.”

  “If you can stop me.”

  “Just stop it,” he laughed. “I can sense your power. You’re weak. You’d be lucky to take down one of us.”

  “As long as I take down you alone, it will be worth it,” Remi spat back at him. “You know what I’m going to do to you? I’m going to save you for last. After I take out your little band over there, I’m going to make you my bitch. I’m going to put you on a leash and parade you around . I’m going to dress you in frilly outfits and make you bark whenever I tell you to speak. And you’re going to like it.”

  “Don’t you ever talk to me like that again, you wench,” Dominic snapped. “You have no idea who you’re talking to. If you only knew you would be quivering in—”

  Remi slit his throat with her eidolon and kept on moving. She didn’t want to see the blood, and so she sprinted forward, heading straight for the armored man as Dominic fell to his knees behind her, clutching his neck and gagging.

  The monster stepped in front of her and tried to swipe at her head but she leapt back and dodged the attempt. She wasn’t even going to try to kill the monster because she wasn’t sure if her eidolon would cut through his hide. The thin man was the priority.

  She took a deep breath and thought about how she was going to get past the monster when she felt her energy waning. The thin man was working on her from a distance, and he was trying to take her energy from her as quickly as possible.

  Suddenly the draining stopped as Kace leapt upon him in full Quietus form. She nearly leapt for joy once she saw him claw away at him. Unfortunately, the victory was short lived as the armored man kicked him in the face and then grabbed him from behind, putting Kace in a chokehold and squeezing the life out of him.

  The monster still stood in her way. And she could tell that he was still alert based on the way he kept darting his eyes to the skies. There was no way the Sages were going to step in now, especially after Kace’s attack.

  The monster roared and attempted to punch her in the face as hard as it could, and he barely activated her armor form in time. He smashed his knuckle against her steel body and howled in rage—not at the pain, but the frustration that he couldn’t get to her.

  “Let me,” the armored man said, handing Kace’s lifeless body to the monster. “Don’t break him yet. We need him for leverage.”

  The armored man unsheathed his sword and examined her steel form meticulously.

  “I’ve got you,” he said, getting ready to make an incision. She deactivated her form and summoned her white Sage robes as she leapt forward with eidolon in hand. Yet somehow, the armored man blocked her attack. Parrying her thrust upwards, he kicked her in the chest and she went sprawling to the dirt. The armored man sneered at her.

  “You killed my friend, and seriously wounded Dominic. That won’t go unpunished.”

  “Mm-hmm,” she said, jumping to her feet. Using bursts of energy, she struck at the armored man, knowing that the odds of her succeeding were slim. She would activate her armored form occasionally, right when he was about to hit her, but he would always stop, as if he could read her mind.

  “You’re predictable,” he said as he kicked her in the chest again. She didn’t fall, but it seriously hurt. She clutched her breast as he shook his head. “You’re inexperienced. Untalented. Weak. I don’t get why you’re even trying.”

  “Because someone has to,” she whispered. She grit her teeth and decided to try a different approach. No more killing strikes. Just aim to wound.

  She nearly stabbed his arm when she lost her left instead.

  Her left arm went flying behind her as the armored man snickered.

  “Was that what you meant to do?” he said casually as the pain flooded her. This pain, she was not used to. It wasn’t a dull never ending ache. It was a violent screaming baby, demanding to be fed with attention. The world around her lost all meaning and purpose. There was only the roaring sensation coming from her arm.

  “It’s okay. It was a clean cut,” she heard him say, but his voice was distant. It was so soft she wasn’t even sure he had said it or if she had made it up. She tried to concentrate on his voice, in order to bring her back to reality. With a little more clarity, she began focusing on the wound, closing it up completely. She had healed minor cuts before through mediation, but not one this big. There was no way she could save her arm, and so she might as well concentrate on stopping the bleeding.

  But just as she was nearly done, she felt her other arm leave her.

  The pain came back.

  She thought she was prepared as she had experienced it once already, but she was tired now.

  She couldn’t give the pain what it wanted, and so she lost herself completely. Lost in a trance, she fell to her knees and then onto the side of her face, watching as blood left her body. She blinked rapidly as her thoughts left her. Her body went numb and soon the pain left her. It still screamed, but it was like someone had taken it away from her. She heard it, but it no longer affected her in the same way.

  She nearly smiled.

  She felt bli
ssful.

  Almost whole again.

  It was a good feeling.

  NO! her mind snapped at her. NO! GET UP! GET UP! GET UP! Remi’s eyes fluttered and she gasped for breath. She hadn’t realized she had been holding it in. Her senses were getting sharper but so was the agony. She accepted its rage and its cries. She acknowledged it without succumbing. She started closing the wound on her right arm.

  No! Not that!

  Barely conscious, she leapt to her feet and jumped backwards, several feet away. The armored man snapped his head back in shock as she concentrated on her wound, closing it completely.

  “What are you doing?” he shouted, his arms slack as he couldn’t fathom her still standing. Her body was already weak. She was sick. And then she had lost both arms. How was this even possible?

  Remi lifted her head and glared at him, her arms no longer there. His eyes went wide as she looked past him and to the monster in the background, still holding Kace.

  She transformed the lower half of her body, forming a makeshift skirt as her white Sage robe only covered her waist and legs. And then she leapt into the air over the armored man’s head, aiming straight for the monster with no weapon at her disposal.

  She landed a couple yards away from the monster and Kace when she heard the armored man’s footsteps coming from behind.

  She stuck out her tongue and curled it.

  It wrapped around a hilt.

  She bit down on it hard to keep it secured.

  She spun around, using her strengthened legs for momentum.

  And she stabbed the blade of her eidolon through the armored man’s throat. His voice caught in his throat as she leapt back and slammed her body into his, bringing them both down to the ground.

  As she kept the hilt of her eidolon caught firmly between her teeth, she used the weight of her body to ensure that he wouldn’t be getting back up.

  The monster roared and threw Kace to the side. He cocked back a fist to punch her, and that’s when the Sages came. Catherine, Daisy and Talia all leapt into the air, and each of them thrust their eidolons into the crown of his head, standing on his shoulders and using the weight of their bodies to press their blades further into his skull. The monster toppled over and didn’t get back up.

  Remi groaned and stood to her feet, still delirious.

  Her left leg was severed.

  Remi fell over onto her face as she heard Catherine scream Dominic’s name. The three Sages rushed him and as Remi’s mind faded, she could hear them scuffling with him in the distance.

  Suddenly, she felt a burning sensation where her leg once was. She screamed out in agony as she was woken back up. Why couldn’t she sleep? When would the torture end?

  Someone stretched out on the ground next to her. The familiar face was level with hers. Their cheek on the ground like hers.

  She could barely see who it was as her vision had gone blurry, but she could hear the whispers. The soft, sweet whispers, losing volume by the second.

  “I’m here, Remi,” the voice said. “It’s me, Olivia. I cauterized your wound for you…you didn’t have to do this alone, Remi. I would have fought with you. Eckard too.”

  The face inched closer.

  “I think I’m going to ride your coattails for a while. Since we’ve separated, I’ve been through Oblivion trying to find you, and now that I have, I see that you have a great thing going. I want to see Paragon, Remi. I know you’re going, and I know the Sages will take you there.”

  The face inched even closer, until their noses were nearly touching.

  “I know I’m a traitor. And when you wake up…if you ever wake up…you can scream about it all you want. But it won’t matter. Because I will have proven myself to them, and honestly, they’ll always remember your weakness. It follows you around like body odor you can’t wash off. I’m sorry to say this, but it’s true. I’ll try to be good from here on out, but I had to remind you.”

  The face moved so close that their lips were practically touching.

  “I had to remind you that no matter what you do, you’ll never be as good as me.”

  Remi’s eyes shut.

  And she slept.