The End of the Fantasy (Book #6 of the Sage Saga) (6 page)

“No, you weren’t,” Lily said through grit teeth. “Why would I kill you anyways?”

“You don’t know even know who your masters are and the kind of hold they have over you. They might be able to control you at will.”

“Or they don’t…and I just would have killed you myself, right?”

“I don’t know,” Bastion said, his eyes searching hers. “Let’s just say that I wasn’t sure about you until now.”

“Yet you were ready to put your tongue down my throat.”

“Don’t be gross.”

“I’m being realistic,” she said, stomping a foot in the ground. “Why would you even make me think you cared about me if you thought I might kill you? I thought you understood me. I thought you knew that I hated to be USED! I made that very clear.”

“I didn’t use you. I wanted to kiss you,” he said, raising his fully formed hands. He used them to take hold of her arms and pull her close to him. He hugged her tight as he spoke into her hair. “And I still do,” he said. “Even you did want to kill me…I wouldn’t stop you.”

“What’s
wrong
with you?” she exclaimed, pushing him off of her. “Why would you just accept death like that?”

“Because I’m sick of life,” he said in exasperation. “Even when I realized that you might kill me…I didn’t fight it because I really wouldn’t have minded dying. This life I have now…it’s not my life. It’s not what I chose. I have this…power or responsibility, whatever you want call it. Whatever it is…I’m not in control. I don’t get to decide my fate or my purpose. At this moment, I’m just mindlessly moving forward, waiting for the day I reach the end.”

“At least you’re completely human,” she replied. “You can make friends and fall in love. Have a life with someone—”

“But that’s the thing. I can’t! Don’t you see? My life is completely bound to whatever I’m purposed to do. Any life I start with someone will just end in death, separation or strife. Any children I have…I’ll be counting down the days until I won’t be able to see them any longer. Any enemy that comes to our shores, I will be called upon to face them.”

“Isn’t that what Sages are though? Soldiers bound to their duty?”

“I DIDN’T ASK TO BE A SAGE!” Bastion screamed. She took a deep breath and clenched her jaw. She didn’t like being yelled at, but she knew he hadn’t meant the outburst to be toward her. “I didn’t want any of this,” Bastion cried, wiping a hand down his face. “I feel like I’m still a child and everyone wants me to make decisions for the entire world when all I want to do is play.”

“Boo-hoo,” Lily replied. Bastion looked at her in surprise. “Big deal. How do you think it feels for me? I could probably be called back to my masters at a moment’s notice. Scrapped and torn apart, my personality wiped clean. It’s horrifying, but I’m not going to let that paralyze me. I have to keep moving forward, try to figure out what I have to do to put myself in a better situation, and if I’m lucky, have a little fun on the way. You know, you should be happy. Because with all this suffering you’ve endured, at least for now, you still have me.”

“And for how long?” Bastion replied, clenching his fists. “How long until you’re taken away from me? Or someone captures you and begins using your power?”

“It doesn’t matter,” she said with a sly smile. “That won’t happen unless you let it. You could divert your focus to something you can do…keeping me safe.”

“And in the meantime…you would be with me, helping me with whatever it is I must do.”

“That’s right. A mutually beneficial relationship.”

“A relationship,” he said, unclenching his fists. “Yeah, I can deal with that.”

“This isn’t a business transaction,” she laughed, stepping toward him.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m saying that we’re helping each other…but let’s enjoy each other too.” She kissed him softly on the cheek, and Bastion kissed her back on the lips. She smiled and he closed his eyes.

He wouldn’t lose her.

He just wouldn’t.

“You tired?” Zhou laughed manically as he cut through another Yama. Sway groaned and kept swinging his eidolon, barely nicking the Yama’s skin. “Come on, put some elbow behind your swings!”

“I got stabbed, remember?” Sway retorted, angrily slashing a Yama in two.

“So?”

“So? So, I got stabbed! This guy…saying ‘so.’” Zhou glanced behind him momentarily to see Sway fighting off dozens of Yama, all clamoring over each other and fighting for their turn at the young Sage. Though they were in the forest, it certainly didn’t feel like it. The very top of the forest canopy was visible and a bit of sunlight still illuminated the area, but otherwise, all they saw was Yama, climbing on top of each other and forming large flesh walls that towered high over their heads. The Yama at the top would jump down into the invisible ring below, attempting to overcome their opponents. It hasn’t worked yet, but it managed to scare Sway every time they tried. He was having enough trouble keeping his eyes all around him, let alone above. He prayed that they wouldn’t begin popping up from the ground. He would have a heart attack at that point.

“It’s just a scratch,” Zhou grunted as he pressed his blade against the abdomen of three Yama, pushing them backwards into the wall. “Let the adrenaline tell you so.”

“There’s no way we’re getting out of this,” Sway muttered. Zhou slapped him upside his head, breaking Sway’s concentration and causing him to get cut by a Yama claw on the leg. He decapitated the Yama and went back to keeping his front clear. “Why would you do that?” he asked Zhou and he heard the Master Sage chuckle.

“Of course we’re not getting out of this,” he declared, almost happily. Sway figured he had just lost his mind.

“I don’t know why you sound so excited about it.”

“Because we’re still fulfilling our duty,” he replied casually, cutting through a Yama’s back. “Don’t focus on the future, and especially not death. Take in the moment and embrace the present. The present will eventually become the future, and all will be taken care of. Our Queen gave us an order. That order is our lives now. Nothing else matters.”

“I don’t know how you can think so linear,” Sway said, his breath beginning to catch in his lungs. He tried to steady it, but the onslaught of Yama wouldn’t allow it. He could feel that his end was near.

“Fine, let’s debate your way of thinking. Let’s say we make it. Good. We survive another day. If we die, as long as we keep the Yama at bay, who cares? We give the Queen what she needs and our fellow Sages the time they need to form a plan, defeat the Yama, and all is well. We did our job. Whether we think of the future, hold on,” he stopped to kick a Yama in the face, and then he swiped through a couple more that had fallen from above, cutting them into pieces by the time they hit the ground. “What was I saying? Oh yeah…whether we think of the future or dwell on the past, the present is all we reside in, so let’s just get the job done.”

“I guess,” Sway gasped. His chest burned, and he grit his teeth as he felt another dreadlock being ripped from the crown of his head. “But even with the whole present thing…you do know that—”

“—these Yama are not the heavyhitters?” Zhou replied. “That these are just the grunts and so that means Catherine and the others will have to face the real threats?”

“Yes,” Sway whispered, falling to one knee. A Yama leapt to back of the young Sage’s throat and began to bite through his neck. Zhou reacted before it could go any further. With a quick swipe of his blade, he sliced off the heads of both the Yama and Sway, sending their bodies down to the ground in a slump. Zhou sighed and turned back to his work, but now he had all sides closing in upon him. He was able to kill a few Yama in the front, but with Sway gone, no one was there to get his back. A Yama leapt onto his back and he stuck his blade through its side. The Yama dropped, but the moment was long enough for the couple of Yama falling from above to land on top of him.

More Yama jumped on him, and he found himself crushed, his face pressed hard into the dirt and dead leaves. He felt his eidolon leave his grip, and a few seconds later, he felt it shatter. Wincing, he fought against the Yama on top of him, but there were too many. They began stabbing him, biting him, breaking him.

And the last thing he saw before his eyes closed for good was the pink hat he had left on top of his dresser back in Allay. He wondered if someone would wear it, even though it wasn’t finished. Without the final touches it was an abomination. Simply a blueprint of greatness.

Why am I thinking of this?
He wondered. He felt his eyes go heavy as he thought of one of the guards wearing the hat around the castle. It made him cringe.

What an ugly hat.

His body went slack.

*              *              *

“Should we take a break?” Lily asked and Bastion yawned. He shook his head no and looked up to the night sky. How long had they been training? When was the last time he ate or slept?

“You’re human, after all?” Lily said, stretching out her arms. “You still have to obey the laws given to them. Sleep is necessary.”

“I’m more hungry than anything,” Bastion said, rubbing his stomach. He sat down on the crater floor and let the dust kick up over him, falling on top of his hair and settling onto his clothes. Come to think of it, it had been a long time since he had showered too. And was he really still wearing the same clothes he had brought from the village?

He considered just stripping and then activating his Sage robe since it would be “cleaner,” but Lily was close by and also, there was that fact that he wouldn’t be able to maintain the form forever. That would be embarrassing to lose consciousness in a fight and suddenly be butt naked. He giggled at the thought and Lily raised an eyebrow.

“What’s so funny?” she asked, sitting down beside him. Even with the dirt all over her, she didn’t look dirty. It was like the dirt had merely infused with her clothing and skin and became a part of her, like it was an accessory to her attire.

“Don’t you need to eat?” he asked her, trying to change the subject.

“Nah, what we ate a couple days ago was enough,” she muttered. “I get hungry, but once I’m full, I stay that way for a while.”

“A couple days,” Bastion groaned. “Has that much time passed already?”

“It’s been five since we ate actually.”

“I barely noticed,” he muttered.

“Good. It means you’re really concentrating.”

“It’s hard to think of food when you’re constantly being ripped apart.”

“How is that going by the way? Did you feel any pain in any of our sessions?”

“Sort of. But it’s been distant. Nothing that would make me go over the edge. I think my body has to know that it’s life threatening.”

“I don’t think we’re going to go that route too often,” she said, folding her knees into her chest. She looked up at the sky and stared at the moon, shining big and bold before them as if it was about to put on a show. The stars around it sat still as if they were the audience on the other side of the stadium. A light breeze nestled against their cold and grimy faces. Lily grinned and Bastion scooted over to be closer to her. He put his arm around her and pulled her close as they stared out over the horizon.

“We’ll eat tomorrow,” he said. Lily didn’t say anything, but he was sure she heard him.

“Do you think we’re making progress?” Lily asked, and Bastion took a deep breath.

“In what exactly? Am I getting stronger? Not really. Gaining a tolerance to pain? Sure. A little. But I wouldn’t say we’re making any huge advances.”

“I was thinking of something. A way that you could get stronger without the daily grind.”

“What’s the rush? Is it the Yama?”

“Just what I’m sensing,” she said, still facing the moon. “Nothing serious yet…but the way things are going, I’m afraid that you’ll have to intervene soon.”

“Why? What’s happening?” he asked in concern, facing her.

“What is your goal as far as the Kingdoms go? Do you want them all to be saved?”

“Is that even possible?” Bastion sighed.

“But what do you want? Like…if Allay is attacked, do we head there?”

“It’s a case by case basis, I guess. Why? Tell me. What’s happening?”

“Languor…they’re going to fall.”

Bastion immediately thought of Kent. His homeland. That’s what was threatened. His first reaction was to go help, but the memories of what he had done there were still fresh in his mind. And besides, was it right to assist so soon? Would he go if it was Allay being attacked? Would he actually make a difference? Or would a few more days give him the edge he needed to bring about the best resolution? Whether he acted or not would have a profound effect on the future of them all.

“What’s the way I can get stronger?” he asked. “Tell me that, and then I’ll choose.”

“I want to see what happens if we were to fuse together?”

“Fuse?”

“I’m the embodiment of the stones of power,” she said. “Take me inside of you.”

“I’m not going to use you,” he said sternly and she shook her head.

“That’s not what I meant. I don’t want you to use me…but of course, if we were in a situation that would destroy us both anyways, I wouldn’t be opposed to it. I wouldn’t easily be captured, and…I could assess your strengths and weaknesses better. We can still talk, it’s just that I wouldn’t have a body that you can see.”

“But that’s like the only reason I even keep you around,” he winked at her. She rolled her eyes.

“You know it’s a good idea.”

“It is,” he said, “and I’m curious to see what we can do together, but if we do this, it means that we can’t help Languor? Why couldn’t we do both?”

“We can. It’s just that you’ll be more likely to use me in that case—in order to save others. We won’t have time to fine tune anything. If we train together…we’ll know what we’re doing.”

“I see,” Bastion said, looking at her as she watched the clouds move. An uneasy feeling gripped him though he had no reason to give it weight. “Let me ask you a question,” he said. “Do you want to help Languor? You have a say in all this too, you know. We’re in this together.”

Lily finally looked at him. Her face was expressionless as her eyes searched his.

“I don’t like the idea of people dying. But if we interfere too soon, and we’re not ready, everyone will die instead of a few.”

“And when will we be ready? How will we ever feel that we’re ready?”

“I don’t know,” Lily said. “But I think when the time comes, it will hit us.”

“The Yama wouldn’t want us to interfere in a battle with Languor.”

“The Yama wouldn’t want us to interfere period.”

“What if your masters are the Yama?” he asked carefully. He knew what he was trying to ask, but he didn’t want to insult her. He was grateful for her company, her warmth, her guidance, her growing love for him. If the situation wasn’t so dire, he would fall in love with her easily. But since the world was now so fragile, and so much was riding on his actions, he had to weigh all possibilities. Even those that kept Lily at bay.

“I thought about that,” she said, rubbing her shoulders. “That they might have me here because it would keep you from taking action. It’s not impossible…but honestly, I just don’t want to see you get killed, and have all of this just fall apart. Acting might be the answer, but waiting might be too. It really is up to you.”

“I don’t know,” Bastion said, wishing the answer would fall into his lap. He sighed and glanced back up at Lily. “We’re going to train a little longer.”

“Are you sure?” she winced. “You know what that will mean, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” he said. “And I’ll have to live with that. But I weighed the pros and cons. Languor is second in strength to Allay, they love to fight, and they have an army. Also, with what I did there recently, my presence might cause more harm than help. Not to mention that I don’t even feel ready…”

“You might not feel ready,” she said, “but remember that you may
never
feel ready.”

“I know,” he said. When he didn’t say anything else, Lily let the conversation go. She went back to looking back at the moon and Bastion felt a lump form in his throat. He watched the moon as well, but his attention wasn’t on it. His mind was racing, playing endless scenarios of what would happen when the Yama would arrive on Languor’s steps and he wasn’t there to intercept…

They weren’t good images.

*              *              *

At first Zain thought it was a dream, but he had never known a dream to continue
after
he had awoken. The second explosion in the distance made it very clear that the Kingdom was under attack, and his first thought was not that it was the Yama, but Allay, for refusing to assist their Kingdom in the upcoming, unconfirmed threat.

But would they be so stupid as to attack them outright? Granted, the new ruler was seen as a haughty and irritable ruler, but even he couldn’t be so stupid that he would ruin the peace between their Kingdoms.

Zain leapt off the bed and let his new bride sleep. She slept like the dead, and for once, he was happy she did. There was no reason to hear her nagging.