“Then even though you feel fine right now, we’re not guaranteed to last for the whole three days, given its instability. We have to move on.”
“Catherine, wait!” James said, grabbing her arm as she turned to leave. “At least give it another hour. We’ll have time to strategize.”
“Okay,” Catherine agreed, examining his face. “But not a minute more.”
“And before we work out the details of our next move, I have to ask you something.”
Catherine waited patiently, wiping one of her locks from her eyes.
“Does this change anything?” James whispered. “Between us? The fact that I’m part Quietus?”
“James, is that what’s worrying you?” Catherine scoffed.
“I was just thinking of Achan, and how you said the two of you couldn’t –“
“- he told you his secret?”
“Back in the Langoran forest.”
“Then let me explain. I didn’t reject Achan because he was of Languor. I’m not that petty. It was because he was a spy, and he had been raised as one since he was a child. Given the fragile status of our Kingdom and the fact that the organization he belonged to is still functioning, I wasn’t feeling inclined to give him my heart.”
“I just wanted to make sure.”
“I hope this helps,” Catherine said, walking towards him and giving him a tender kiss on the lips. James smiled and took her into his arms. Catherine smiled and hugged him back, nuzzling her head into his chest just as the sound of nails scraping against glass broke through their embrace.
A literal tear had appeared in the sun as if it was made out of paper.
And a smiling Quietus was standing on the other side.
* * * * *
“Kyran! Kyran, wait!” Dominic yelled as loud as he could, but the assassin refused to slow down. The moment he decided it was all clear in the meadow; he took off without hesitation, leaving the Quietus forest and thoughts of current events to the side. It was no time for a touchy-feely Kyran. That man wasn’t supposed to have been born in the first place. He was inherently flawed and considered an unrealistic future. That man began to actually look forward to a time in which he could spend every day with the woman he loved and married.
That man was a fool.
“Kyran, please!” Dominic shouted again, and Kyran considered stopping but then quickly dismissed the notion. No, there was too much at stake. James couldn’t keep the Princess safe forever, even with that impressive construct he had created – a construct that she had taught him…she…she…
“KYRAN!” Dominic screamed, bringing the assassin to a sudden halt. The young Sage nearly bumped into him. Kyran refused to turn around, even with the sun baking him under his long, black trench coat.
“What is it?!” Kyran whispered harshly from behind his collar. Dominic leaned onto his knees, gasping for air.
“There’s...there’s no one chasing us. We don’t have to run so fast.”
“James and Catherine will die if we don’t complete our mission soon,” Kyran said matter-of-factly. “And we already spent too much time in the forest waiting for the chance to leave. How are you tired already?” Kyran began to walk off.
“Wait!” Dominic pleaded, waving a hand in surrender. “I need a moment to rest. We’ve been running…for hours now. I don’t remember the forest being that massive.”
“We’ve only reached the edge of the meadow,” Kyran said flatly. “It’s almost as if the forest grew larger in our absence.”
“Didn’t Arimus and Scarlet burn half of it down?”
“They did. But the forest may have properties similar to its masters. It may be able to regenerate, and with a vengeance.”
“Do you have an idea where they are? I can’t sense them.”
“I surmise they would be at the Conun lodge if they survived. In any case, we’re going straight to Prattle.”
“But they wouldn’t head to the lodge without us,” Dominic said, wiping his brow. “Not unless something was wrong.”
“There is a lot wrong,” Kyran glared at him from over his trench coat collar. “But that is to be expected, considering where we were.”
“How are we going to do this?” Dominic said, shaking his head. He plopped backwards onto the meadow grass, brushing the palm of his hand across its surface. The noon sun was high in the sky, baking them both in its merciless rays and making the air thick and stifling. Yet Kyran barely felt the discomfort. He had only one thought and one thought only: to complete the mission. Anything else would draw his attention to her. The woman whose name he wanted to forget.
“This mission is a bust,” Dominic said to the ground. “We should consider just going back to Allay.”
Kyran sneered at the response, looking back at the young, muscular Sage, brimming with more physical strength he could ever muster, and yet had the gall to speak of quitting.
“I thought you were powerful,” Kyran said calmly. “James, a commoner, is still working toward our success. Why aren’t you?”
“WHAT?!” Dominic barked, snapping his head up in fury. “That hobo back there is not working! He’s barely lifting a sword! Right now, he’s with Catherine and having a grand time, consoling her....making her laugh…putting his dirty, putrid, vile, common lips to hers. No, Kyran, he isn’t thinking of the mission at all!”
Dominic rose to his feet in rage, staring boldly into the assassin’s eyes and clenching his fists to the point that his fingernails began to cut into his palms. Kyran was unmoved, his small dark eyes steady, as he listened attentively.
“We’re in this predicament because of him!” Dominic yelled in Kyran’s face. “If we were focused at all times then we would have come to Quietus unified! We wouldn’t have been distracted by empty hopes and wishful thinking! The Princess would have had her head on straight and we would not have lost people! We don’t even know if Arimus and Scarlet are alive! James’ could lose his concentration and break their protection any second! We wouldn’t have lost Achan to those swine! Chloe wouldn’t have –“
Kyran swung his hand forward and grabbed Dominic by the throat, cutting off the young Sage’s ranting as he sunk his fingernails into his veins. The assassin grit his teeth and stared intensely into the eyes of his cohort, choosing his words carefully.
“Don’t ever say that name again,” Kyran seethed in anger. “Never.”
“Let me go,” Dominic strained to say. He grabbed Kyran’s forearm with both his hands but somehow his teacher had gained some uncanny strength. No matter how hard he tried to pry his fingers away, Kyran would not budge.
“Remember what I said,” Kyran said sternly before releasing his grip. Dominic coughed and clutched his throat while he reached for Kyran.
“No matter what is said,” Dominic groaned. “We have to face reality. We may be the only two Sages left to get this done. And no matter how much you don’t want to admit it, that’s not enough. Prattle…maybe. But Zen-echelon? Doubtful. Especially if they’re supposed to be our greatest threat. We should take the stones, rebuild Allay, and wait for the attack, if one ever comes.”
“Only a coward would say that,” Kyran said, looking down at the hand gripping his coat. “We move forward.”
“We need the others,” Dominic said, gaining his resolve. “Bottom line.”
“And we would have them,” Kyran said, removing the young Sage’s hand carefully.
“If not for James,” Dominic spat as he rose to get into Kyran’s face.
“IF NOT FOR YOU!” Kyran snapped at him. Dominic was taken aback at the emotional display and took a step away from him. “YOU ARE THE REASON WE FAILED! WHY THERE IS SO FEW OF US! OUR MISSION WAS STEALTH, BUT YOU BECAME EMOTIONAL! YOU COULDN’T STAND TO SEE JAMES WITH CATHERINE AND YOU ALERTED THE QUIETUS OF OUR PRESENCE! WITHOUT YOU, CHLOE WOULD STILL BE ALIVE!”
Kyran suddenly lunged forward with blinding speed and stuck his invisible dagger into Dominic’s heart. Dominic didn’t even see it coming. He clutched Ky
ran’s arm and stared into his eyes with confusion as his vision darkened. The young Sage tried to speak, but he had suddenly lost the strength to call the words forth.
Kyran’s body had moved on its own, before the thought of killing Dominic even came to him, but still he felt no remorse. And to prove it to himself as well as the young Sage, he dug the dagger in deeper and twisted, making his fate certain.
Once he was satisfied the deed was done, he removed the blade, grabbed Dominic’s shirt as he fell, and wiped the blood off of it. He let the young Sage fall to the grass, and there he stayed, only his eyelashes twitching and his lips trembling, still trying to ask “why?”
Kyran scanned the young Sage’s body for any items of interest, saw there was none and patted his coat’s right pocket. The stones of power were still there: Quietus and Languor. Kyran readjusted his collar so that it covered the lower half of his face. He wiped his hair forward to cover most of his eyes, and then he turned around and walked away from Dominic’s fallen body, strategizing on how to best retrieve the stone of Prattle.
Chapter 2 – Bloodline
“James, hold on,” Catherine sobbed. “Just hold on a little bit longer.”
“I can’t,” James cried, clutching his temples with the palms of his hand. His eyes were wide and bloodshot, his breathing erratic as he fought to keep the manifestation together. Catherine looked back at the Quietus that had reared its ugly head at them beyond the tear. From the way his eyes were darting back and forth she figured that he couldn’t see them just yet. But it was just a matter of time. The fact that a tear had appeared in the manifestation at all was evidence enough.
“They’re all around us,” James whispered as she could hear the scurrying of Quietus joining their suspicious brother. Catherine sighed and began concentrating on the stone within her. It was always so strange activating it. She never felt it there, clinging to her heart like a parasite, draining her life force away with every use, yet she never forgot about it. And whenever she began to transform, she stared at the change in her body with wonder and puzzlement. What was the source of such power? Where had the stones come from….really? She never had the time to dwell on it. Her focus was always on the mission, on protecting Allay and its inhabitants. And from their travels it seemed like the other Kingdoms treated their respective stones the same. They just used it power, fused it within their own bodies or their loved ones, and relied on it to keep them safe from foreign armies, but what was their origin? Who had crafted such masterpieces? Was it the Maker? The Dark One? Or something even more mysterious?
“Catherine, stop,” James said weakly. “I’ve got this.”
He was glaring at her with maniacal eyes, seeing his failure coming to fruition. But she didn’t care about his protests. She was going to use the stone, no matter the cost. She felt her curls straighten and begin to reach out to the sky like each strand was trying to fly. Her body begin to glow a strange electric purple and unknown symbols began erupting all over her skin, tattooing her body and branding her from head to toe. Violet bracelets, fused with powerful energy wrapped around her wrists, and she felt her muscles constrict, shedding the little fat upon her. Her adrenaline was pumping but the stone guided it from within to maximize its’ efficiency and her eyes felt like they were on fire. James’ mouth dropped as the world around them began to crack and tear. Catherine walked to him, radiating with power, cupped his chin in her hand and lifted his eyes to hers, paying no attention to the destruction of their haven.
“Let go,” she whispered, and then she leaned in, and kissed him. James eyes widened even further, but the emotions flooding through him was enough to knock him off balance. He couldn’t hold on anymore…so he gave up on the manifestation, letting Catherine take over.
“Thank you,” Catherine whispered, allowing her lips to part from his. “Now sleep.”
James closed his eyes and she gently guided him down to the sand beneath their feet, which was beginning to shake like it was in the birthing pains of an earthquake. He began snoring almost instantly, and Catherine smiled.
Finally! She thought. I can do something!
Catherine watched in awe as the manifestation disappeared abruptly. It was as if someone had taken a rag and wiped it away like dirt. In one instance they were there, and in the next, they were back in the middle of the crater.
The Quietus sniffing around them jumped back in surprise as the couple appeared out of thin air. Some of them had been only inches away, and with a yelp of shock, they scurried a few feet away to gain their composure. Catherine grinned and waited, ready to cut them down one by one. She remembered Chloe’s death all too well. How she had taken on over a thousand warriors, but had underestimated their collective power. She had gotten desperate in the end, too worried about protecting her friends and her Princess. Catherine was not going to make the same mistake.
She numbered them as they circled her. There were at least a hundred. Not elite warriors, but dangerous nonetheless. And James was still sleeping soundly behind her. She had to ensure his safety too. Catherine clenched her fists and gathered the energy circling her to them.
She refused to move from her spot.
A Quietus unsheathed a scythe from his forearm and lunged from her left. Catherine snapped her head toward him, scowled and pointed a finger his way.
He turned into dust instantly.
The other Quietus began murmuring amongst themselves excitedly. Their brother’s death had the opposite Catherine had intended.
They began jumping towards her in unison, yelling proudly and raising their scythes high in the air. Catherine knew she didn’t have the sense of a Sage at her disposal. The stone granted her only raw energy, but she had to work with what she had.
She sent out a pulse, in the form of a visible, electric purple breeze that rippled over the crown of her head and spread to the other end of the crater. As the pulse hit each Quietus in the air individually, it cut their attack short, keeping them stationary in the mid-flight as they flailed their arms for traction. Once she was certain that she had caught each one in her proverbial web, she sent out a burst of energy this time. It rippled just like the pulse, but once it hit each Quietus, it disintegrated them on impact. The last Quietus on the outskirts of the wave cried out in rage as he too was consumed and turned into dust. Once the ashes settled and Catherine was certain there wasn’t anyone else nearby, she decided to move.
She scooped up James and threw him over her shoulder, surprised by how much brawn the stone was giving her. She began running, straight up the crater toward the Quietus King’s throne. On the other side of it was a part of the forest that eventually led back to the meadow and Prattle.
It was the smarter move.
Sure, they might be able to get more rest and information looking for James’ mother, but it was a risky move. If she had left James’ father for her Kingdom, why would she help them? And what if it just ended up being a trap? They would be at the mercy of their sworn enemies. And besides, Dominic and Kyran had gone through the forest.
She picked up the speed as the incline grew steeper, happy to see that there weren’t waves of Quietus waiting for her. Once she jumped over the hump at the top and reached the throne, she stopped and put out a hand in front of her to attack.
So…there was one Quietus after all…
But it was just her…if it was a her. The only real indication was the softer face. Other than that, she looked very much like an ordinary Quietus. The same pitch-black rippling skin. The slicked back hair. The scythes protruding from her forearms. Her chiseled frame…
Catherine ceased her examination and got ready to defend herself when the Quietus smiled and pointed towards James.
“And where…are you going with my son?” she asked, her voice calm and soothing. Catherine’s eyes widened as she glanced momentarily at the body slung over her shoulder.
Was this a trick?
“Get out of my way before I’m forced to use my power. I have no quar
rel with you,” Catherine said firmly. The Quietus didn’t budge. Its smile was beginning to make her nervous.
“You have two options, Princess,” the Quietus replied. “You can come with me now and meet your true enemy, or you can leave, and fail at the mission you and your Sages have staked your lives upon.”
Catherine sent out a pulse from the aura radiating from her body, informing her that no one was trying to creep up from behind. As far as she could tell, there was no trap being laid.
“What enemy?” Catherine asked, remaining cautious.
“While you were in hiding, a…I dare not say a man…came through our Kingdom walls and began killing our brethren. You can only imagine how disconcerting that was for us considering recent events. We gathered arms against him, and he surrendered once he saw our numbers. But he won’t provide us any information as to who he is or his origins. He says he only wants to talk to you or James, and that you’ve been hiding in the crater all along.”
“Quietus rarely take prisoners,” Catherine said, attempting to interpret the Quietus’ thick accent. “And considering he killed some of your people, I’m surprised he’s still breathing.”
“We’ve already tried killing him,” the Quietus’ demeanor wavered. “Our scythes and our swords cannot pierce his skin.”
Catherine felt a shudder ripple throughout her body. A man that a Quietus couldn’t wound? Who did she know that could possess such power? She had seen the might of the Langorans, witnessed firsthand the tactical mind of the Prattlians and saw friends crushed under the raw power of the Quietus. No Kingdom boasted an invincible warrior. Even the Quietus King had been killed…so who was this man? Could he be…from Zen-echelon?
“How can I trust you?” Catherine said finally. The Quietus sighed and relaxed her stance. Immediately, her tar like skin began rippling from her fingertips and towards the center of her chest, revealing tan human skin underneath. The rippling black was sucked away from her limbs and eventually disappeared somewhere beneath her skin. Her scythes retracted and her hair softened and fell apart into loose, fine strands of brown. The Quietus had become a woman, wearing nothing more than a loose green t-shirt and a pair of leather pants. Catherine noticed her own throat began closing up the moment she saw the color green, but she maintained her gaze, and refused to power down, despite the woman’s show of faith.
Hail to the Queen (Sage Trilogy, Book 3) Page 2