The Last of the Sages (Sage Trilogy, Book 1) (27 page)

“Always the kidder, James. It’s good to see you…though, I wish it was under better circumstances.”

“Don’t be silly, I’m here to help.”

Catherine’s eyes darkened.

“Seriously, James. That isn’t funny.”

“Catherine I -“

“- you can’t be here.”

“Let me finish -“

“- it doesn’t matter what you have to say. You can’t help me. I have to do this, alone.”

“Why now?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Why do you have to be alone now? Why do you have to take this test by yourself all of a sudden? Last time I checked, you were a princess, not a recruit. You’re supposed to have bodyguards. Well, you’ve got one.”

“There’s no way I can be a princess, remember?”

“I -“

“ - I have to do this alone, James. You might feel like you owe me one, but honestly, I’ve already forgiven you for what you said. Just let me do this.”

Catherine turned toward Kyran who stood impatiently. Catherine nodded, giving him the okay, when James stepped in front of her.

“No, I refuse.”

“James, I order you to go.”

“To me, you’re not a princess, remember?”

“James, this is no time for games.”

“Who’s playing? Kyran is about to kill you!”

“And if he does, don’t I deserve it? Wouldn’t that mean I’m not fit to lead?”

“Allay needs you. I know you think you won’t be able to do anything by yourself, but that’s what your guards are here for. They’re there to protect you.”

“A lot of good they did my parents.”

“Catherine, is this all it’s about? Listen, your parents were up against impossible odds. Even if they could fight, it would’ve made little difference.”

“I want to be able to at least do what I can. What good can I do if I’m simply a liability?”

“Then I’ll protect you!” James screamed. Catherine struggled not to look in his eyes. “That would be far better than this sick test! That’s exactly how our enemy tried to make me into a Sage! He tortured me and pushed me to my limits, but guess what? It didn’t work! I don’t understand how the Kingdom of Allay can sanction the same tactics!”

“You can’t protect me,” she said solemnly. Even Lakrymos was killed, remember? Not meaning to offend, but what could you do, James?”

“I know I’m not a Sage, but like Arimus said, I don’t give up! I’ll never give up. I’ll leave your side, no matter what! What you’re doing right now is basically suicide, and regardless of what will happen to me for defying Arimus, I will be your shield!”

Arimus stood silent on the balcony, watching Kyran as the two friends talked with each other. He could tell. The assassin was growing impatient. Kyran gripped his blade with new-found purpose.

“Take the test later,” James continued. “When you’ve had more time to train. We’ll even train together for this. We’ll take our time, grow strong together, pass these tests together. I can help you the way you helped me. And when you pass this in the future, I’ll still be there for you. A bodyguard, advisor, a friend, anything you need. Just don’t do this now!”

“You don’t understand, James. I have to do this now. Time is short.”

“I know someone could attack the Kingdom any day, but that doesn’t mean you should throw your life away!”

“That’s not it…not what I meant at all…”

“Shut-up!” a growl roared across the courtyard. Catherine and James turned to see an enraged Kyran take a step forward, gripping the leather of his sword.

“You can’t protect her. You’re incapable.”

“And how would you know?” James spat back. “You’ve been talking a lot since I’ve gotten here, but I’ve barely seen you lift a finger. For all I know, you’re just talk!”

“You get by on the backs of others. Every step you take is on borrowed time.”

“I could say the same about you,” James said boldly. “Black cat.”

“WHAT?” Kyran growled as he struck the ground with his sword, and then immediately after, his speech turned back to its usual dark monotony. “If you call me that ever again, I don’t care what the circumstances are, I will take your head.”

“Mere words, Kyran. That’s all they are.”

“One can say the same for you.”

“Then test me!”

“Fine. If you can protect Catherine, right now, then I will let the test go no further.”

“Agreed!” James yelled as he unsheathed his sword and readied his stance.

“James -“ Catherine began but he put up a hand to stop her.

“Catherine, if I can’t do this, then I don’t even deserve to be here. This is all I have left.”

“James…”

“Take this time to concentrate on the stone and releasing it. I’ll hold him off.”

James charged forward.

He assessed the situation, trying not to let Catherine cloud his thoughts.

Geez, he really is like a ca
t
. James thought as he looked at Kyran, and how he stood completely at ease, as if James wouldn’t even be able to scratch him. He knew he couldn’t unleash a barrage of attacks, and there was little he could do to dodge any assault that came his way because Kyran was supposedly so quick. There was no real tactic he could come up with…

Then again, from looking at how skinny Kyran was, it seemed like he would fall over at any moment. James was definitely bigger than him. Maybe, just maybe he could get enough weight behind him to…

James charged forward, faster than before, putting even his sword down at his side
.
He won’t see this comin
g
. James thought as he tried to tackle Kyran’s midsection. Kyran was unfazed. At the last moment, he curled up the corner of his lip and ran forward himself.

He easily met James halfway and ducked right under the recruit’s tackle, thrusting his blade into and across the recruit’s stomach. James’ assault ended immediately as he tasted blood on his lips. He fell forward and somehow, Kyran was fast enough to remove the blade before he hit the ground. James fell to the gravel hard, skidding his face into it as he clutched his wound. Catherine opened her eyes from concentrating the moment she heard the thud of James’ body. Kyran turned to the princess and glared 

“How much longer do you need?” he growled.

Catherine looked from Kyran to James as he struggled to breathe. Catherine raised four fingers as Kyran shook his head.

“That’s too long. I’m coming now. And this will be it. Either release the power of the stone, or die.”

Catherine nodded as she closed her eyes to concentrate. James heard Kyran’s words loud and clear and he wasn’t going to let it happen. He tried to cry out, but a lump in his throat stopped him. If only he wasn’t such a failure when people needed him most. Sure, he had survived until now, but it was because of freakish luck or refusal to accept the fate before him. No Catherine was about to die, and he couldn’t live up to his promise.

And that made him particularly mad. Because he would survive, and she would not.

And Catherine was the one who deserved to live, to be given whatever her heart desired. She had lost her parents so young, and worked so hard to become the queen Allay needed. While he, on the other hand, wasted his life day after day, contributing nothing to his countrymen, simply taking up their oxygen and water, existing until his next nap.

When he was forced to go to the academy, he eventually saw it as a chance at redemption. But how quickly that passed. From his failure at being a Sage, to failing at even being a proper infantryman, he continuously let himself down. So why was he even alive? What could his reason for being on this earth possibly be? Surely there was a reason. Surely there was more in him. He had fought a Sage in training for three days in a row and lived, being hit by an eidolon as well.

And now he gets stabbed by a regular ordinary sword and he’s down when his best friend needed him more than ever…no, he had more in him. He couldn’t let her die. Everyone needed her. Everyone was counting on her, while he was expendable. Sure his life mattered, but only to him. Who would miss him? Who would talk about his accomplishments? Who would attend his funeral but Catherine, a few friends and his father out of obligation?

He had more to offer and he was going to prove it to her. He didn’t care about the fame anymore, he only wanted Catherine to live, so she would be the vibrant and loving queen he knew she could be. So she could teach others to strive for happiness, so she could help the world.

So she could make a difference.

And wasn’t that worth dying for?

“If you move around,” Kyran muttered, noticing his excessive grunting. “You’ll bleed to death. That I promise.”

Aw, he care
s
James laughed despite his injury. She was the only one that ever cared about how he felt, and he wasn’t about to die and have her last memory of him being one of disappointment. 

James opened a half-shut eye to see Kyran move silently forward Catherine. James thrust his hands away from his stomach and toward the front, brushing something against his leg in the process. James’ eyes widened as he remembered.

The manumit.

A last ditch effort for any infantryman. Well, he had already made up his mind to die for her. He might as well go out in a blaze of glory. Now he just had to get up…

If I only stay still, I’ll liv
e
. The words crossed his mind
.
But then she would die
.
That was all the motivation he needed as he screamed with everything his lungs could muster. Catherine refused to open her eyes, shutting them harder, trying to concentrate on her mission as James screamed more and more, his determination boosting his legs up to stand, lifting his chin to look at the walking barrier between Catherine and her life.

Kyran stared back at him, sickened at what he saw: a recruit standing in defiance, with half shut eyes and gravel/blood soaked clothes. James laughed, short of breath, as he took one step forward.

“I told you, if you move, you’ll die,” Kyran feigned like he cared.

James took a few quick deep breaths just enough to muster a few words.

“If you move, you’ll die!”

Kyran scoffed at the idea.

“I don’t speak to corpses.”

James reached clumsily for the manumit that lay at his side.

“If you take another step,” Kyran replied. “I will strike you down where you stand.”

James ignored his words, lunging forward, concentrating on only hitting Kyran. His tears blinded him as he struggled onto unconsciousness, his footing stumbling as he came closer and closer to his target. Kyran readied his sword to strike as James reached for his weapon.

In all the commotion, he had forgotten that the manumit was on his right side, not his left, yet he thought nothing of it as he felt a hilt, extending out from his left rib. He couldn’t see the light that came with the emergence of an eidolon, nor Kyran, but he could feel him there. A sixth sense of sorts. He could smell the gravel beneath his fingernails as it mixed with the oils of his skin, creating a putrid DNA signature. He could hear the way his heart beat steadily, confident in its master’s ability to provide enough oxygen. He could hear the veins tense in the muscles of his legs as he shifted his weight to attack. He could hear his eyelashes tremble from being exposed too long. He could taste the intent to kill, an acidic rusty taste, or was that his own blood? He couldn’t tell. 

But no matter. All he wanted was to stop Kyran. He could hear hit the vocal chords in Kyran’s throat tense as he began to say a word but James saw no need for that. James didn’t move. His right arm did, with a fluidity that cast James in nothing but awe as he fell to the ground afterwards. His experience as a Sage was short lived, but for the couple of seconds he had left, he would relish in what he felt last from Kyran:

Pure fear.

“Unbelievable,” Kyran muttered in disbelief as a massive red line appeared slowly from his right hip to his left shoulder. Kyran fell backward, his head hitting the gravel without restraint as he fell unconscious.

James muttered an “aw” as he felt the eidolon disappear. He had never gotten to see it. In whatever time he had left, he tried desperately to find Catherine, but his eyes were already darkening.

“…don’t know - time left…” James gasped as he tried not to black out, his arms reaching for her embrace. “Sorry for earlier…”

“Idiot,” Catherine laughed. “I said I already forgave you.”

“Don’t cry over me, too hard now. I’m trying not to…I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too, for the few minutes it will take for you to get to the infirmary and then I can visit you.”

“If you weren’t the princess,” James muttered, ignoring her. “I could’ve fallen in love with you.”

“Aren’t you already?” she mused as James went unconscious. Catherine giggled as Arimus leaped down to the floor below. He walked over to him and examined his body, laughing from within at what he had just seen.

“A little dramatic, isn’t he?” Arimus chuckled as Catherine placed a hand on James’ chest.