“Don’t tell them that!” Rupert said. “They might take it if they know it’s not ours.”
“We’re not taking anything,” James said. “I just want to know what happened.”
“We look for them,” the girl continued. “But we don’t find anything. I don’t know where they are.”
“We could help you look,” Catherine said.
“Really?” the girl perked up, but Rupert cleared his throat.
“How would you help?” he asked.
“We know that there are a lot of dangers out there,” James replied. “And we would be able to defend you. We’re Sages.”
“Don’t you have plenty to do then?” Rupert asked.
“What do you mean?”
“The Sage Academy…it’s been destroyed. There’s nothing left of it.”
James looked over at Catherine and their eyes locked, but she didn’t say anything. She cast her gaze down to the grass.
James turned back to Rupert. “We were out on a mission,” he said, his voice cracking a little. “But…it doesn’t matter. We’re not fighting in this war. We just want to live in peace.”
“Fine,” Rupert huffed, “but if you try anything, I’m going to beat you up.”
“Agreed,” James laughed, throwing his hands up in the air. “And of course, you can still sleep in your beds. We’ll take the floor.”
“They can sleep in my bed,” Benny said, and Rupert rubbed his hand through the little kid’s hair. James and Catherine each took a step to the side, allowing the children to pass between them. James sighed and Catherine shook her head.
“The Sage Academy...I wonder what happened exactly.”
“It’s Harry and Lucy’s responsibility now,” he said. “But I would understand if you want us to go over there.”
“No, no,” she said, rubbing her forearm. “I think this is good for us. Getting involved will only bring us more heartache.”
“I’ve had enough of that,” he said, walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her. “And I need this time to heal.”
“I know,” she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “And I want to see you through every step of the way.”
* * *
“How’s the shoulder?” Daisy asked as Scarlet grunted in response. “That good, huh?”
“Shut up!” the Delilah guard whispered as he hit Daisy in the back of the head with his rifle. The blow caused her to stumble and immediately, two more guards came to her side and picked her up by the arms.
“How much further do we have to walk?” Marie groaned. The guard behind her raised his gun when one of his comrades came to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder, letting him know that she wasn’t to be harmed so harshly. She couldn’t heal like the others.
“We need quiet,” the leader of the pack ordered. “We’re going to be coming across an important sect of the Cimmerian army. You’re going to help us take them down. Don’t worry, you’ll still be watched closely, and any defiance will be met with resistance.”
“I can’t be there,” Marie said as she limped along. The bullet that had gone through her foot had been taken out, but her wound hadn’t been dressed up properly. By putting so much weight on it, she could see herself bleeding through the tightly woven bandages.
“We’ve heard that you’re a strategist,” the leader said, looking back at her for a second. “You will stay back with me and assess the battlefield.”
“If things go bad, I won’t be any help.”
“It’s not my concern. Perhaps your friends will do their job and keep you safe.”
Marie glared at the back of his head. “Whatever deal Tyuin made with you, it’s not worth it. You actually think he’ll honor it to the end? Just because you’re on top right now, it might not stay that way.”
“We’re ensuring that it will stay that way,” he said as he lifted his fist in the air. The guards behind him dropped to one knee after kicking their prisoners to the ground. Daisy ended up scraping her cheek up against a rock.
“If the information is correct, there should be fifty,” the leader said to his second-in-command. “We have twelve plus the Sages. We have to be careful. Unshackle them and send them out first. I want four of us in the treetops above them at all times with poison armament at the ready. If it looks like any of them are going to escape, then feel free to kill them. We don’t need any rogues in the bunch.”
“We’re all rogues,” Marie muttered.
“They won’t risk you harm,” he said as the guards took out their keys, and began working the locks on the steel stocks and gauntlets that kept their arms and legs most immobile. When they were freed, they began stretching. Talia counted the number of Delilah with them—only eight. The four who would be watching them closely had already left.
“What now?” she asked, rubbing her wrists.
“Kill them,” the leader replied through his large, tinted blue goggles. “I don’t care how you do it. But be careful. They are supposed to be a little more advanced than the average Cimmerian. They come from deep within their world—warriors that have been training for centuries. They are the equivalent of Paragon’s Ancient Knights.”
“And you think we have enough men here?”
“We have our weapons,” he said. “And you saw how easily it was able to subdue you. Now, quit talking. Get to work.”
“Hmph,” Talia said as she, Scarlet and Daisy walked toward the talking group. Side by side, they summoned their Sage robes and approached cautiously. It was still morning so they were still having breakfast, talking excitedly over what they would encounter. The Sages pressed their bodies up against a row of trees nearby and Talia stuck her head out. They seemed average, but they were obviously bonded to each other. They all had the same tattoo on the back of their neck—the outline of a crow with razor sharp wings.
“Let’s disorient them,” Talia said to Scarlet. “Fire it up.”
“Sure,” she said through tired eyes. She stretched out her hand and her halberd eidolon appeared. She twirled the staff in front of her and then ran to the right of Daisy and Talia. When she was several yards away, she slammed her halberd into the leaves beneath her feet and a wave of fire spiraled like a beam across the forest and straight toward the resting Cimmerians.
Before the fire hit, their conversation halted and Talia noticed that several of them jumped to attention, sensing danger in the air. The fire hit their campsite and they began spreading out to avoid being engulfed. Talia nodded to Daisy and they flanked them. Talia kept her sword hidden at her side while Daisy twirled her red hook swords.
They reached the first Cimmerian and took him down together, stabbing him through the chest and across the neck respectively. They took down the next without being noticed as well, but afterwards, the Cimmerians were beginning to catch on. A thin man in nothing more than a long t-shirt that reached his knees, ran at Talia with such speed that she raised her sword in defense.
His fist hit the surface of her blade and it vibrated from the shock. He wasn’t strong enough to break it, but it was enough power for her to be alarmed. She swung her blade in front of her, whipping it toward the thin man, but he dodged it with little leaps and pivots. She scowled as she slowly increased her speed, but he matched her in kind. Daisy went in to help but a big man grabbed her hair and yanked her back.
She quickly reached up and cut her hair, chopping off half of once was. She spun around and roundhouse kicked the big man in the chest, causing him to stumble, and then she took off his head. Three more Cimmerians ran forward to replace him and one was still on fire.
Overwhelmed, she swung wildly as they tackled her to the ground. The one on fire punched her across the face and Daisy screamed in fear more than pain. Talia ignored the thin man she was engaged in battle with and threw her sword at the man on fire. Talia’s sword impaled him and he went flying off of Daisy though the two other Cimmerians were still holding her limbs down and hitting her in the stomach and face.
> Talia jumped in the mix and punched them away just as she received a punch to the back of the head from the thin man. She fell to her knees and Daisy reached up with her hook swords, wrapped it around the thin man’s neck and pulled until it was severed.
Talia climbed to her feet as more Cimmerians ran toward them. Daisy stumbled to her feet and just as five Cimmerians reached them, they were consumed by a wave of fire.
Talia sighed in relief and looked around to find Scarlet.
Scarlet was getting angrier by the second. She was wasting a lot of energy, and they were still fighting against her flames. They would be hit by the fire and knocked back, but they didn’t burn. Perhaps they were used to the heat, but if so, what could she accomplish? What could any of them?
“Screw it,” Scarlet said. She spun her halberd above her head in a circle and started putting the whole forest on fire—the flames beginning to even lap at the canopy of the forest above. Talia yelled for her to stop, but Scarlet didn’t hear her. She was ready to consume everything.
“STOP!” the leader of the Delilah screamed in the distance. A few branches cracked and one fell, carrying one of the four watchful Delilah to the ground with him. He reached out to grab Scarlet’s halberd but his hand was eaten by the fire. He screamed and rolled on the ground, trying to put it out.
“I won’t be caged again,” Scarlet growled as the flames grew hotter, creating a crater around her. The leader of the Delilah approached the cone of fire surrounding Scarlet slowly.
“You’ll be destroyed,” he yelled at her, but she just glared at him in hate.
“There are worst things,” she said in a hollow, distant voice. She closed her eyes and a flash of heat burst out from the cone, sending a shockwave of blinding, searing heat across the forest. Anyone that didn’t duck and hide behind a barrier of some kind were instantly obliterated. Scarlet began running the second the shockwave was sent out, and she ran as fast as she could, using the wave as her guide.
Talia and Daisy yelled for her to come back, but she didn’t listen. She continued running, knowing that the Delilah wouldn’t have the energy to follow. Unlike the other Sages, she had no allegiance to them, and nor they to her.
The concept of family was as dead to her as the Sages, Cimmerians or Delilah she had just sent to their graves without remorse. She didn’t look back to see who had survived.
All that mattered was that she did.
Chapter 5 – Sons and Daughters
James rushed to Rupert’s side, sitting at his bedside as the boy began hyperventilating. James patted his back as he looked around the room. No one else had sat up, but that didn’t mean they weren’t awake. The shrill cry had been so sudden and sharp, he hadn’t realized he had fallen asleep until it happened. He perked his ears up and listened for signs of approaching intruders.
Nothing.
He let the tip of his white eidolon stick out of the palm of his hand and it confirmed what he sensed. Nothing.
He turned back to Rupert and noticed that the young boy was staring down at the tip of the eidolon. James sheathed it and gave him a warm smile. “Had a bad dream?”
“No,” Rupert replied. “A memory.”
“What was it about? If…if you want to talk about it.”
“It was about my friends.”
“Are they lost too?”
“No, I know they’re dead. I saw it myself.”
James paused for a second. “What happened?”
“We went outside of Paragon, because we wanted to eat something new. We knew it wouldn’t taste so good, but it was kind of like a challenge. We were going to dare each other to eat the grossest thing we could find. We didn’t get that far. We saw these monsters. They came and ate my friends before I could do anything. It was so fast, and I was so scared. I couldn’t move and I peed my pants. The only reason the creature didn’t eat me was because it was full. That’s what it told me, but he said he would be back someday and gobble me up.”
“What did it look like,” James said with a scowl.
“It walked on all four of its limbs, and there were these bones coming out of its arms. It had black skin that looked like it was moving and its neck was crazy long. I thought I was dreaming until I woke up the next day and saw my friends’ parents crying. I knew that what I saw was real.”
“It’s called a Quietus,” James said matter-of-factly.
“You’ve seen them before?” Rupert said, his eyes widening. It was as if he still hadn’t believed in the creature’s existence until he now heard someone else acknowledge it.
“I have. Fought them too,” James sighed. “The Kingdom I came from…it was attacked by a whole group of them once. They ate and killed many people, and it was terrible. It still remains a part of that Kingdom’s history, and there are even still elderly people that remember that horrible day.”
“Did you drive them away?”
“No, they left, and…well, we encountered them again in the future, but things were different. We went to their homeland, and we found out that there was a difference amongst the people. There were the monsters that we’re talking about, but some of them were good too. They were civil and talked to each other like we’re doing now. Just like how there are good and bad people in every city and land.”
“Paragon’s all good,” the boy said. “There’s no bad guys there, or else, why would they be there.”
“People change,” James said. “Just because someone started out good, it doesn’t mean they will stay that way, even with the best of intentions. People change. Take you, for example. You look a lot different now than you did when you were a baby. You’ve changed, and so has your views on some things. Don’t you agree?”
“Yes,” he said, thinking carefully. “But I’ve never thought about killing someone. That’s evil.”
“Not even when your friends died, or your parents were taken?” James asked the question so suddenly, he didn’t realize how poor in taste it was until it was too late.
“Not even then,” Rupert said, hanging his head low. “I don’t want the creature to die, just to be punished. If he died, his family and friends would miss him. I don’t want to put someone through that.”
A pang shot through James’ heart as he thought of Atianna, and how she fought so hard to see her loved ones again—all consumed by him…the Quietus.
“Even so, people do change,” James reiterated. “No one is completely evil or completely good.”
“Then why are we fighting?” he asked.
James thought over his words carefully, but he wasn’t sure what to say. “What do you mean?”
“Isn’t the whole point of fighting is to stop the bad guys? Because if they win, they’ll kill us or enslave us?”
“Is that what the adults in Paragon tell you?”
“No, it’s what they know,” Rupert said adamantly. He was no longer anxious. He was speaking out of absolute truth now. “The people in Cimmerian chose their fate, and now they want all of us to suffer. I don’t know why they can’t just leave us alone. We’re defending ourselves and they just keep coming because they want what we have. They’re confused and unhappy and they can’t understand that we’ve worked for what we got. Why can’t they do the same?”
“It’s not that simple,” James said. “Not everyone is born living a life of luxury. Some have to fight for it.”
“We would help them if they accepted it.”
“And if Cimmerian had views of things that you didn’t? If they had something you needed, would you accept their help or their advice?”
“No,” he huffed. “Plus, they wouldn’t want to help us, they’re just trying to be pushy and be right all the time.”
“That’s where they both error. They won’t listen to each other and so they fight. And each world believes that leaving the other alone will only cause more suffering, so they push their ways on the other.”
“Then who is right?” Rupert asked. “If Cimmerian isn’t bad, then who is?”
“That’s for each of us to decide,” James sighed, looking over at Catherine’s sleeping body for a moment. “We all have to determine who we are. I’ve been thinking about that for a long time.”
“And did you find out who you are?”
“No,” James said, turning back to Rupert. “I feel incomplete a lot actually. I think…I think that I was starting to learn who I was a long time ago, back when I was in the Sage Academy on Terra. But things escalated, war occurred, the Great Collision changed everything, and here we are. I now know what it means to be a Sage according to Allay’s history. I’m not a person anymore. I’m a soldier, moving on from one battle to the next so others can live their lives and become who they were meant to be. I fight the wars so that they can think in peace. I stopped thinking about who I want to be a long time ago. Now it’s all about the end game, the means to the end. Only saving the most people and preserving their innocence is what matters.”
“But you won’t be happy,” Rupert said. “Are you happy?”
“I’m happy when I’m with her,” James whispered, pointing to Catherine. “But even our relationship isn’t what it could be. We just keep on fighting.”
“Maybe someone else should fight instead.”
“That’s what I’ve been thinking recently, and it’s the reason why we’ve stopped here. We want to try something different. Stop the fighting for a change. Maybe it’s the wrong time to do it, but we’ll never get the chance if we don’t take it. The fighting never ends.”
“So you’re going to stay here with us forever?” Benny asked, appearing at James’ side. James rubbed a hand through the little boy’s head.
“I hope so,” he said, and Benny gave him a big toothy smile.
“Can you be my papa now?” Benny asked with watery eyes. James gulped and looked at Rupert who was expressionless.
The Last War (Book #9 of the Sage Saga) Page 4