That she could fall in love.
And be loved back in return.
On a whim she kissed Kace, and for her, it was the bravest thing she had ever done. For he was the only person she had in her life that actually cared about her, and she wasn’t sure what she would do without him. Yet, she had to take a chance. Because life was short and love was once thought forbidden. Not to mention that she actually had feelings for him.
Negativity began to seep into her mind but she cast it aside. At worst, he would leave her. At best, she would get closer to her goal of daily happiness. Either way, it was worth the risk. Wasn’t anything of value worth fighting for?
“Remi, I—” he began, pulling her away.
“—I’m going to fight,” she declared, her smile so contagious that his lips began to curl up instinctively. “I’m not going to care about what illnesses I have. I’m not going to let it dictate who I am and how I live my life. Overcoming it…if anything, it will just show how strong I really am.”
“Remi—”
“—I’m living life on my terms now. For better or for worse. I won’t know what I can accomplish until I try.”
“Remi.”
“What?” she huffed. She hadn’t realized how fast she had been talking.
“Are you sure you’d want to be with me?”
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. He was the one who was afraid of being rejected?
Remi laughed and threw her arms around Kace’s neck. He slowly put his arms around her waist and she began kissing the nape of his neck tenderly.
“You have nothing to worry about,” she whispered. “You’re the only constant I’ve ever had in my life, and I know that with you…my days will be happier than they’ve ever been.”
Kace grabbed her wrists and pulled her arms off of him.
And then he kissed her.
She felt weak in the knees, but she figured that in this case…there was no cause for alarm.
Chapter 14 – His Name Starts With a D
“And what is this called?” she asked, picking up the well done meat. Kace sniffed it and nearly gagged.
“I believe it’s Terr meat.”
“Terr?”
“Trust me, you don’t want to know. They’re gross.”
“Something else your people told you about?”
“They used to hunt them in the forest by Allay, back when they lived close by. They used to tell me how it was the worse food they’ve ever eaten.”
“Aren’t you curious?” Remi asked, inspecting the slab on her clay plate. “It’s not like it’s poison.”
“Might taste like it though,” he laughed. Remi gave him a smile which quickly turned into a yawn. She stretched without restraint in her wicker chair and allowed her gaze to lazily fall onto the dirt paved roads nearby. She wasn’t sure how fast the villagers moved on a daily basis but she was sure it was quicker than this.
The merchants were leaning onto one elbow, smashing their fists into their cheeks while they mumbled to pedestrians. Restaurants were full for breakfast but hardly anyone was on staff to serve. The patrons didn’t seem to care though. They either napped where they sat or they conversed in slurs. Hardly anyone walked the streets and the atmosphere was eerily quiet considering how loud Allay was last night.
Remi yawned again. “They must be exhausted.”
“I know I am,” Kace chuckled, scratching his chest. “I still can’t believe you feel asleep on my head.”
“I fell off the bed,” Remi retorted. “And you didn’t have to take a snooze at the bedside. What were you doing there anyways?”
“Bad memories of Surmount I guess. I just wanted to make sure no one interrupted your rest.”
“I can’t get doubled marked.”
“At least as far as we know,” he winked at her. He searched around him for something and Remi watched him curiously. She could feel her admiration for him well up within her, but at the same time, she couldn’t help wondering if it was misplaced. After all, she didn’t really know him. Not well. He was gentle and kind and sweet, and his rocking body didn’t hurt. He had proven his loyalty to her earlier when the Langorans appeared so she felt like she could trust him, but there was still something strange about him. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. It was almost like he was in love with her too much…if that made sense.
“What is it you want to do today?” she asked as he inspected the area around his feet. Her sudden question caught him off guard, and he ended up banging his head under the small café’ like table.
“OW!” he yelped. “What’s this made of?”
“I assume oak like everything else here.”
“They should invest in something softer…like pillows.”
Remi snorted. “That’s not a material. That’s what you make out of materials.”
“You’re telling me there’s no such thing as a pillow tree?” he said, sticking his tongue out at her.
“Can’t say that I’ve heard of one,” she giggled.
“Maybe there’s some in Paragon. It would be the place.”
“You’re ridiculous,” she laughed again and he sighed in contentment.
“I love hearing you laugh. You’ve been doing it more lately.”
“It’s because I’ve been happier,” she admitted. “I needed a change of scenery,” she paused to look into his eyes. “And company.”
“You were asking me a question earlier. What was it?”
“You sure you want me to tell you? Last time you got that nasty lump on your head as a result.”
“Ugh! Is there one?” he exclaimed, rubbing the crown of his head. “Yep. Definitely.”
“I was asking you what you wanted to do today.”
“Ah,” he said, glancing over at the dirt road. “Well, what’s there to do?”
“The Kingdom is encompassed by four main walls. The castle and the meadow lie to the north. The eastern wall is where the gardens and fruit trees are, and the village is here in the west.”
“Which leaves the south. What’s back there?”
“Isn’t that where we first started?” she asked, trying to think.
“It was creepy there. The fog and that courtyard with the weird dirt.”
“I don’t hear anyone talking about it,” she said, leaning over in her seat so that she was near the young lady to her right. “Excuse me, what’s in the south of this Kingdom?”
The young lady—a thin girl of no more than thirteen—yawned and rubbed the back of her neck. “What?” she smacked her lips together.
“What’s in the south?”
“Nothing worth checking out. It’s mostly abandoned.”
“Are there any buildings or historic markers?”
“You mean the Sage Academy?”
“I’ve heard of that,” Kace said, perking up. “It was where Sages were born.”
“That place has been shut down since Tyuin became King,” she said. “No point since the atmosphere has changed. Besides, we’re a lot stronger than some weak Sages. Sages don’t even mean anything anymore. They’re like…they’re like…Mom, do you know what I’m saying?”
A middle aged woman walked over with a small tray of bread and butter and placed it in front of her daughter. Remi noticed the insane resemblance between the two. They could almost be sisters.
“You’re talking about Sages?”
“Yeah,” her daughter replied.
“Sorry about that,” she addressed Remi. “Aline speaks her mind.”
“It’s no problem,” Remi assured her. “I welcome it.”
“The Sages used to be the muscle of this place,” the woman replied. “But that was back when the villagers were afraid of their own shadows. As powerful as the Sages were said to be, they sure got beaten quite often. Many died, and eventually the people saw that the legendary stories about them were just that—stories. Nothing to waste your time in aspiring to.”
“I hear that it’s hard to manifest
an eidolon in this atmosphere,” Remi related to her. “And that if someone did, it would be quite a feat.”
“I suppose,” she said, shrugging her shoulders and sitting down across from Aline. “But I guess it depends on what you’re looking for. Releasing an eidolon isn’t actually that hard if you think about it. It’s all tied to one’s will so in theory, if one’s will is strong enough, they’ll be able to do it. I think even I could do it if I wanted, but my abilities are a lot more fluid and practical than releasing an eidolon.”
“What can you do? If you don’t mind me asking?”
“I can manipulate temperatures within my own body and of those I touch.”
“Really?” Remi said in surprise. “I had a friend that could had similar abilities. She could take a sword, for example, and make the blade really hot, to the point it could cut through trees in one slice.”
“Oh no, I can’t do that,” she said, grabbing a slice of bread. “My abilities are purely biological. For personal use, it’s great whenever I’m hot or cold, or I get a little sick. I can burn the cold right out of me. If I’m fighting someone, I can give them a brain boiling fever in seconds with my touch. And there are many other uses for my ability. I just haven’t figured them all out yet. That’s the beauty of training under the new atmosphere and Tyuin’s rule. There are few limitations. An eidolon can break. It can become fragile if you’re lacking confidence. Not to mention that most people these days know how to deal with one if they come across it.”
She paused to take a bite out of the bread, and then frowned once she realized there was no butter on it. Aline burst out laughing as her mother scowled and began applying butter to her half-bitten slice.
“Does everyone have abilities?” Remi asked quietly.
Aline’s mother swallowed her bread. “Not everyone. But more than you might think. From what I’ve seen and heard, Dejas are slaves to what they could do before the Great Collision, but for us—the new generation, or for those that never died prior…we get blessed with these gifts. They just pop up. No willpower required.”
“But why?” Remi asked. “It’s all chalked up to a simple change in the atmosphere?”
“There’s been theories floating around,” she admitted. “But no one has any evidence to back them up.”
“What’s the most prevalent?”
“I would have to say the theory about the seven Sorcerers. Some claim that they are giving us our abilities in order to sway the upcoming war to their liking.”
“If they’re able to bestow that kind of power on people, even from afar…they must be very powerful.”
“They’ve been around for longer than most, giving them plenty of time to perfect and sharpen their abilities and skills.”
“And no one knows where they are?”
“Not anyone that’s talking.”
“How does anyone even become a Sorcerer?”
“Only they can answer that question,” she sighed. “Trust me, if anyone had so much as a clue, there would be a huge expedition to check out the claims. Remember that we are a mix of Prattlian and Allayan, and Prattlians have always been known for their curiosity. Mysteries are the bane of their existence.”
“What’s your interest in the Sage Academy?” Aline asked casually.
“Nothing serious. It’s just that we’ve seen three of the four corners of this Kingdom already. We were wondering what else there was to do.”
“For tourists? Not much at all. Especially since we’re on the brink of war.”
“That reminds me,” Aline’s mother spoke up. “Unless you want to be caught up in the conflict, you should think about leaving as soon as possible. It won’t be long before Cimmerian comes knocking.”
“It doesn’t look like anyone’s afraid,” Kace replied, looking around. Nearly a fourth of the people were asleep at their table or store.
“It’s because there’s no point in worrying. All it does is bring you more grey hairs. Might as well enjoy the little time we have left.”
“Can I ask you a question?” Remi said quietly. “I’m not sure how it will come across.”
“You’ve already asked me this many,” Aline’s mother laughed. “Might as well throw another at me.”
“If I was to look for these Sorcerers…where would I start?”
“You really want to go looking for them? What for? Curiosity?”
“I’d like to know myself, to be honest,” Kace replied.
“They’re the best the three worlds have to offer, right? They’re invincible, right? Well, I was thinking…what’s so bad about trying to learn from the best? Who knows? I might even be able to persuade one to help in the war.”
“They’ve said that anyone from Paragon or Cimmerian that tries to contact them will be killed.”
“But I have no allegiances to either faction. And my purpose is not to end the war. It’s to be the best.”
“And what if they strike you down on sight?”
“Then I’ll be dead.”
“You say that so casually,” Aline chuckled, playing with her fingernails. “But I bet you’re more scared of it than you think.”
“Not really,” Remi admitted. “I’ve faced death before.”
“It never bothered you because you didn’t have anyone,” Aline’s mother said. “Is that it?”
Remi thought about it for a moment. “I suppose.”
“Things won’t be that way forever. Take this young man for instance,” she stopped to nod towards Kace. “I see the way you smirk whenever he catches your eye, and he perks up whenever he looks back at you. It’s obvious the two of you have something going on and who knows how much that relationship may blossom. After a while, you realize that your death isn’t meaningless anymore. It affects everyone you meet, and especially those who love you. You might die, but he’ll have to live on with only his memories of you to comfort him.”
Remi looked to him in alarm, but Kace gave her a weak smile.
“It’s okay,” he said. “You don’t have to worry about me. I think it’s a great plan.”
“Of course you would say that,” Aline scoffed. Her mother shook her head.
“What do you plan on learning from the Sorcerers? And what do you want to do with it?”
“I want to be the best,” Remi declared. “I want to keep growing.”
“But why? What’s the point?”
“Does there have to be one?”
“Every action has a reason behind it. What’s yours?”
Remi bowed her head and took a deep breath. “I’m sick…nothing contagious. But my illness is slowly killing me. I might die tomorrow for all I know.”
“And so you might as well go out with a bang, is that it?”
“Something like that.”
“When did you decide all of this?”
“Last night,” Kace said for her. “When she realized that there was more to life than what she previously experienced. She wants to become a stronger warrior.”
“Oh I get it,” Aline said aloud. “You want to make up for your weakness.”
Remi grit her teeth. “I wouldn’t put it quite like that.”
“The Sorcerers are not the answer,” Aline’s mother replied. “Trust me. They are too old and too sick of people to give you the time of day, wherever they may be. Instead of thinking about throwing your life away, you should consider building a life for yourself. You might even come to call this place home if you give it a chance.”
“But that’s not what I want,” she said firmly. Remi stood to her feet and looked at the mother-daughter duo. “Thank you for the information. I would love to talk more, but I really have to be going.”
“Come back anytime,” Aline muttered as Remi stormed away from the table. Kace expressed his apologies for their sudden leaving and he quickly caught up to Remi, strutting down the dirt roads as if she had a purpose. He caught her arm just as she was about to turn a corner. There were only a couple people nearby to witness it, but th
ey didn’t say a word. Strangers were best left alone.
“What was that back there?” he asked and she glared down at his grip.
“Let me go,” she demanded, but he kept his grasp firm.
“Don’t be like that,” he said softly, his eyes wavering.
“Let me go,” she said, and he did. She rubbed her arm vigorously and then clenched her fists. “What right do you have grabbing me like that?”
“I want to understand what happened back there.”
“They were insulting me. I don’t have to put up with it if I don’t want.”
“Not that. The thing about the Sorcerers. You want to find them? What for? Don’t give me any of that crap about being the best because you don’t care about that. Getting stronger, sure. But not becoming the best.”
“I need a purpose, and they should know what it is.”
Kace searched her eyes. She wasn’t joking. “They’re not all-knowing.”
“And yet, they are the closest thing to gods that we have. There is no Maker. There is no Dark One, but there had to be order before Paradise, Oblivion and Terra collided.”
“You don’t have to risk death in order to find out where you belong in this life. Most people try to figure out their purpose as they go.”
“And some never find it.”
“That’s because they either give up or get caught up in daily life. But that’s not you. That’ s not us. We’re not done with our travels.”
“I don’t have time to find my purpose,” she muttered.
Kace scowled at her. “And why’s that?”
“Because I could die before then.”
“Stop,” he snapped. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“What?” she said in shock.
“I said stop it. You’re being ridiculous. You told me last night that you wouldn’t let your illnesses dictate who you were and what you were about, but that’s what you’re doing right now. The Sorcerers might not even exist for all we know.”
“I know, but—”
“—you have to find a balance in this life. Yeah, you have to be happy, but you can’t just do whatever pops into your head either. Let’s say you do want to find these Sorcerers. You want to hear what they have to say about you and what you should be doing in life, but they may not have the answers, and even if they do…how are you going to ensure you get them? We’re not even in Paragon yet, and already you fight every day to not topple over from exhaustion.”
The Sorcerer's Ring (Book 1) Page 14