Of Heroes And Villains (Book 4) (30 page)

“If only we could find that Ephai,” Catherine said. “That would end them both.”

“It won’t be that simple,” Talia interjected. “Like I said, Ephai can’t be manifesting them both at all times. For example, this Ephai needs to sleep at some point. No, there is something else going on here. We can’t come up with a plan until we know what we’re dealing with.”

“James?” Catherine bit her lip as she looked over at her husband. He hadn’t said a word since they left Allay.

“Hmm?” he gave her a face that reminded her of death. He was pale, and he was so exhausted that she thought he was going to faint at any moment.

“Are you okay?”

“No,” he said flatly, facing forward. She reached out and caressed his arm. He didn’t acknowledge the touch.

“James, talk to me. What are you thinking about?”

“What will happen to Allay? Honestly. Tell me.”

“What do I think will happen under Lakrymos’ rule?”

“Yes. Give me the whole picture. I’ve thought about it, but I want to hear what you have to say. And don’t hold back. We all need to hear it.” The group stopped walking so that they could hear the worst of it.

“This is just conjecture…but I think that he will cut off all relations with the Langorans and Prattlians. I get the impression that Sages are all that matters to him. He will destroy the peace we worked for. He’ll probably try to kill them all at some point, in order to take their land and supplies. If he thinks a full scale invasion is coming, then he will probably want to set up other bases, not just have a last stand at Allay. At least, that’s what we would do. Not the killing part, but we would certainly set up bases.

“The people will all become Sages or die, except for the servants or important suppliers. Our people will become cold hearted warriors. I don’t know what he will do if these Yama are beaten back. If he’s trying to be really thorough, he’ll probably take the fight to them at some point.”

“And what happens to us in all of this? What are we doing? Just surviving one battle after another? The Langorans and Prattlians will not even have a chance unless they wound Lakrymos early, which they won’t, considering their numbers and recent reconstruction.”

“I don’t know,” Catherine replied. “Even if we went in seclusion, and returned when we were strong enough to take them both on, it might be too late.”

“That’s what I thought,” James said. He turned to Catherine, and the look he gave her was as if he was giving her an urgent, silent message.

“What is it?” she asked her husband, afraid of the answer.

“What matters more to you? Us being together, or the security of our people?”

“You know the answer to that,” she whispered. She didn’t want to say it, but they both knew what mattered. James took her into his arms, but she still resisted a little. Though he was pressed up against her, she kept her upper half away from him. She didn’t know what he was going to do. The way he grabbed her was so immediate, so rough. He was beginning to scare her.

“What if I told you that I might have a way to save our people?” he asked her, the windows of his soul were distant and hollow. She wasn’t sure who this man was that held her. “Would you want that?” he asked her.

“I would…but I don’t see how.”

“We wouldn’t be together for some time, but I could save the Kingdom.”

“James, please tell me you’re really saying,” Catherine cried. It sounded like he was about to break up with her. His face was so cold and still. His arms were urgently pressed around her hips, but there was no warmth coming from him. She had never seen that side of him before.

“What is the one factor that can turn the tide of this for all of us? What can defeat Lakrymos and Orchid? What could defeat the Yama if they appear? The one thing.”

She read his mind before he had even finished speaking.

“Bastion,” she whispered, and he nodded slowly.

“That’s the key,” he said. “Now, we could all go off somewhere in the ruins of the old world and ride this out. We’ll be hungry, paranoid, and cold, but we’ll have each other. Who knows? We might be able to make a little life out there. But it will not last. Our conscience won’t let us, and eventually, we’ll find ourselves storming Allay anyways, just to gain back some self-respect and dignity. Just to have something to fight for again. We can do that. It is a viable option.

“Or…I can return to Allay, and ask to be a part of the Sage Academy. I might have to do some things that I won’t be proud of, but so did Kyran back then. I could work with Bastion, even if it’s minimal. I could train him, not to strengthen his power, but his heart. I can help shape him, and perhaps someday, when the time is right, he can restore the peace we lost.”

“Or you could be killed the moment you walk through that courtyard.”

“Or that,” he said with glazed over eyes. “But that’s the risk I would have to take in order to help our cause. In the meantime, you go to Languor, and you prepare for everything you could possibly think of, even places to hide in case these Yama appear.”

“I won’t see you,” she said. She found herself against his chest suddenly. She didn’t remember when she accepted his embrace, but it must have been around the time his plan began to sink into her mind. It was cruel—to love her husband all the more when he was away, but she knew she wouldn’t be happy without helping her people in some way. Her duty was simple a part of her, as James would always be the other half of her soul.

She felt horrible for agreeing with him, but it had to be done. No life, even with the two of them together, existed without Allay. They were all intertwined.

“I’ll steal away when I can,” he whispered into her hair. “But that probably won’t be for a long time. If I were you, I wouldn’t stay awake at night, wondering when.”

“Will I even recognize you when I see you next?” she asked him suddenly. That was what she feared most. In order to gain Lakrymos’ trust, James would have to go beyond the necessary missions Kyran had carried out. There was no telling what horrors would be committed by her husband’s hands. Was she willing to just let him stain them for a hope? An uncertain future?

“I doubt it,” he said, “but I’ll always love you. That will never change.” He kissed her on the forehead. “I’m scared too…but I’ll survive. When I became a Sage, I decided that I would carry out my duties to completion. No matter what that meant.”

“This is not the work of a Sage. I don’t know what this is.”

“Maybe it is,” James sighed. “Perhaps we’ve gotten the stories all wrong. Maybe the Sages were able to become the greatest warriors of our land, and Allay became the most prosperous Kingdom because of what they were willing to do to achieve their vision.”

“Don’t lose your soul over there,” she cried into his shirt. She hit his chest once with a closed fist, as if she was pounding the message into his heart. No matter what he did, he was forbidden to enjoy it. He could never do it willingly.

“We’ll find out when I die,” James said, raising her face to his. He stared into her eyes, and he smiled warmly, trying to sear the memory of her into his mind. He would not forget her. They would see each other again someday.

James kissed her. Hard. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back, with just as much intensity. He came up for air, but then he had to kiss her again. Her soft touch, and the smell of the flowers in her hair—it could be the last beautiful thing he ever experienced. Soon it would be the copper, sweaty smell of blood, and the cold and crisp air that hung throughout the Kingdom like winter.

Catherine was the opposite of those horrors.

She was spring incarnate. Vibrant, beautiful, and full of life. She resurrected the dead in others. The lost dreams and ambitions that were once weighed down by fear of failure and crippling disappointment, were born anew in her presence. Wherever she went, she planted a seed of hope and joy into the hearts of others, and therefore, she needed to live a long and fulfilling life. Every single person she touched and inspired, was just one more soul she had taken to Paradise, in this life, and the next.

He was more than happy to succumb to the cold in order to preserve her.

When their lips parted, her nose was red, and her face was stained with tears. He kissed each one that fell, before they could fall from her trembling cheek.

“Soon,” he said to her, caressing her cheek one more time. Catherine closed her eyes and stood there, sniffling and swallowing her grief. His touch vanished, and she felt her blood run cold. She heard him take a footstep, away from her, in the opposite direction from where she was headed. And it all felt so wrong. She couldn’t watch.

She just…couldn’t watch.

“I’m coming too,” She heard Daisy say. She heard Kent make the same declaration.

James nodded and waved for them to follow. Catherine opened her eyes. James didn’t look back at her. He had already said his farewells. Now he had to focus on the future, whatever that held for him. Against his will, Catherine was forced into the past, and an uncertain future.

“Farewell, my husband,” Catherine whispered to the air. No one acknowledged her words.

But James did hear them.

He would never forget the way she said them.

They soothed, and haunted. All at once.

*              *              *

“Stand with me,” Lakrymos ordered, and Bastion obeyed. He glanced back at the Academy only for a second before looking up at the sky—to see what the legendary Sage saw. “Do you wish you were with your classmates now? To sleep when history is about to be made?”

“No, sir,” Bastion said. He fought back a tear. Though it was different, in many ways, it was his captivity in Quietus all over again. Except this time, he would be the butcher. He would rip the children from their homes and subject them to terrible, terrible things. All for the greater good.
Lakrymos’
greater good.
The Kingdom’s
greater good. Never his own. He would become a legend, and his name would be whispered at bedtime to the children who had not been taken, singing his praises and describing his exploits. People would grow jealous and wish they were him. They would idolize him. They would worship him.

And all he wanted to do was laugh a little bit. Read a book. See Daisy one more time…

“I want you to be with me when the sun rises,” Lakrymos said. “For then we will begin our walk through the village, culminating with our final destination—the castle. I will take the throne, and you will sit by my side. The Kingdom will know that I have chosen you to be more important than they. Do you believe this?”

“That I’m more important?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t think I am,” Bastion said, his eyes becoming heavy with exhaustion. “I may be strong, but I have weaknesses, just like everyone else. The villagers have talents that I do not.”

“I will hear no more weak talk, Bastion. You will be a god among men now.”

“Yes, sir,” he said, clenching his fists.

Why? Why even go on? What was the point of living anymore? He would never be happy again. As long as he was in Lakrymos’ shadow, there would never be an ounce of freedom. Maybe…maybe it would better to just shut down. Just like he had done in Quietus. Forget about emotions. Forget love and friendship. They were never going to be a part of his life. He might as well just give in. To Lakrymos. To the urges. To the rage and the pain. Because what else was there? What hope did he have otherwise?

“It appears we have a visitor.” Lakrymos said, averting his gaze from the skies to the courtyard entrance. The words broke Bastion’s train of thought, as he followed his new master’s line of sight.

Neither of them expected to see James step through the door, walking forward boldly with two young Sages at his side. Bastion’s eyes lit up once he recognized their faces. But then he erased the emotion from his face. No, this had to be a trick. They couldn’t be there.

He saw Kent’s smiling face, and he nearly laughed. He gazed into Daisy’s eyes and he found himself sighing heavily. Was it possible that it was them? And not just a manifestation?

“James,” Lakrymos said, his voice full of amusement as the three Sages stepped in front of him. “You are full of surprises.”

“I’ve come to serve.”

“Right,” Lakrymos laughed. “Of course, you are.”

“I want to fight for our ideals, and what we believe to be the best way to fight the Yama.”

“You think that hugs and kisses will stop the Yama?”

“It’s hard to say. I haven’t met them. But it will be good to have other options.”

“I’m listening.”

“You think that only brute force will keep the Yama back, but you can’t be 100% sure that is true. The Kingdom of Allay has a deep hatred for the Quietus people that continues to this very day, yet we’ve discovered that they’re not the ruthless, cold-blooded killers we believed them to be. Those so-called nightmares had families, and children. They hungered and loved to play as we do. Basically, they were people like us, just with a different history and some conflicting opinions. If you are sincere in defeating the Yama, you should give my way a chance—no matter how small that chance may be. Who knows? We could be fighting with our last troop, and suddenly, my way gets through to them.”

“And I am supposed to believe that you are just going to be a good little boy and follow orders this entire time?”

“You will be my King, and therefore I will follow orders, but I will make my opinions known, so that if your orders result in mistakes, you’ll consider taking my advice next time.”

“You won’t try to take over my throne?”

“Not if you stay on your toes. Think about it. If I’m able to take you out so easily, how could you have fought against the Yama?”

“I don’t know, James. What do you gain from this? Just the opportunity to say ‘I told you so?’ A failed attempt at assassinating me?”

“No, this is personal for multiple reasons. When I was forced to join the Sentinel Academy, I didn’t know what it meant to be a Sage. The day I unleashed my eidolon, I thought I had earned that title. A Sage named Chloe taught me otherwise. She opened my mind to greater things, and I was able to transform myself. I was able to eventually embrace my Quietus and Allayan heritage equally. I became the strongest warrior in all of Allay. And yet, I still had no idea what a Sage was. Then you came along, and you turned everything I believed upside down. The legendary Lakrymos was nothing like what I thought, yet somehow, I respect you now more than I did when I heard the bedtime stories. If we journey together, I hope to learn what it means to be a Sage. And perhaps, you will learn from me that power and strength aren’t always the answer.”