The Last of the Sages (Sage Trilogy, Book 1) (19 page)

“It will do us no good arguing like this. I’ve never experienced anything like this myself, but I also can’t just dismiss it either, and that scares me even more. If I get so much as a small cut while I’m taking this test, while I’m under this green sky, I’ll be terrified to no end, and we all will be too. I acknowledge that openly, but now that we know we’re all going to be scared, we just have to deal with it. We have to get to the end, exchange the stone and hurry back as quick as possible. Afterwards, we can decide if we want to continue in the infantry or not. I’ll admit, with this new information, I may have quit earlier, but now I also understand why it’s good the quitters of the second test don’t know about this. Better to live their lives in ignorant bliss for a moment while they are still safe in Allay. Should I leave now, this night will always linger in my mind. I will never be able to look up at the sky again without wondering if I see a hint of green behind a cloud. But it’s too late for me to turn back now. I will at least finish this mission, what I’ve started.”

London nodded his head in reluctant acceptance, clenching his jaw in suppressed anger. They were already a day into the forest. No point in going back empty handed.

“Well, whether this is true or not, we stick with one another,” London breathed out, shaking. “Make sure none of us get killed under this.”

“Thank you James, for the boost in morale,” Achan yawned as he turned over to his side. “Now all of you get some sleep. We could stay up all night discussing things we have no control over and in turn, forget about the things we do.”

Achan turned over and began breathing heavily as everyone found a spot to lay their head. No one spoke, but no one could sleep either. Elder sighed as he lay down next to James.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have been so hasty in telling my story,” he muttered.

“We have the right to know,” James replied. “Then we can all decide what we want to do with it. I’m learning more and more that it’s a long, hard journey to accomplish anything in life.”

“Still want to be a Sage, huh?”

“More than anything. Your story only made me want to help even more.”

“Are you sure you want to help others? Or you just want all the glory of being a Sage?

“…I’m not sure myself, to be honest with you…I know that since I’ve joined the academy, I’ve met different people, some I might even consider a friend, and I couldn’t imagine anything bad happening to any of them. Then again, I don’t want to die either, so it’s kind of a hard decision.”

“Thinking about Catherine? I know you two were good friends.”

“She’s one of the people I was talking about. Yes.”

“We all think the same way. She is to be the heir to the throne, and as her people, we must be at the ready to be her sword and shield. Of course, you were referring to her in a different manner, am I right?”

“You’re too analytical for your own good, Elder.”

“You’re not the first to tell me so. Well then, I’ll leave you with a word of advice, just my own. If you are unsure of where you stand with Catherine, then don’t bother pursuing it any further. There is too much at stake with her, the Kingdom, and every other Kingdom on this planet, for one man with an ego trip to mess it all up. Just leave her alone.”

“Well, at the same time, I’m not going to let that bonehead, Dominic, marry her.”

Elder laughed before he glanced over at Achan.

“I don’t think you have to worry about that. He would kill me for telling you, but Achan is madly in love with her and he has the same aspirations as you, and if you don’t mind me saying so, he’s a little more efficient in serving her as King than you or Dominic.”

“I do mind you saying so,” James sulked as Elder laughed again.

“Just worry about yourself. Work out your own demons first, before you try handing them off to someone else.”

James grunted in response and turned over, thinking about what Elder had said. He couldn’t deny Achan was the better man. Unselfish, brave, well-respected, maybe he would make a great King. Catherine would almost certainly find him more desirable than an unstable man, unsure of what he wants, who is loyalties were…whether they be for others, or himself…

But that didn’t mean he could just pretend the feelings he had weren’t there either…

* * * * *

The night was as uneventful as they come. Whenever it was James’ turn to watch on guard, (which always ended up for some reason with Rahima and Tyler, both anti-social) he would just stand at the base of a tree, trying not to talk so he wouldn’t wake the others. Simultaneously, he desperately sought other forms of entertainment that would cast away his thoughts of Achan and Catherine being together.

He didn’t hold anything against Achan. Jame
s
kne
w
he was the better man, yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t meant to just stand idly by while everyone’s lives went on. He had been idle for years, and he was sick of it. Days would turn to months in a matter of minutes. James simply sleeping a day or two away, only to wake up for the bare necessities. Staring and daydreaming out a window for hours on end; laughing at his father’s way of trying to get him to work. He thought it was a good life, full of luxury. No hardships or trials. He loved it, but what kind of life was it after all? He was simply taking up space, barely a handful of people being aware of his existence. What did he matter in the grand scheme of things?

The Academy gave him a second chance to redeem the life he never had and yet every time it seemed he found something to fight for, it was taken away as quickly as it came. He not only lost a best friend and his first chance at love (for now that he thought about it, he was sure Catherine was fond of him), but now he wasn’t even a Sage, a bodyguard, or someone that could protect her. His life was meaningless.

“I have to fine meaning,” he said under his breath.

“What?” Tyler said, startled. He had fallen asleep.

“Never mind me. I was just talking out loud.”

“Yeah, you do that from time to time.”

“What?” James exclaimed, appalled that he did it often enough to warrant such a response.

Tyler yawned and ignored him as James sighed and looked to the sky. The morning sun began to beam through the tree skyline. Eerie green illusions danced around them as the haze began to smother what little sunlight had broken through, as if to steal their hopes and dreams in one fell swoop. James shuddered at the thought of death during their time in the forest, as he had many times the night before. Clutching his sword ferociously, he tried soothing his nerves as the rest of the group began waking from their slumber. Achan wasted no time in surveying the emotions of his team, wondering if the good night sleep had done well to calm them down, or simply gave them nightmares to combat. Feeling somewhat satisfied, he allowed himself to yawn without restraint before pushing himself to his feet. James observed the entire ritual, just in case he had the privilege of leading a team one day.

“How much further to the shrine?” Aqua inquired, a question that was on everyone’s minds.

“We’re practically there. Another hour or so,” Achan replied. “I wanted to set up camp here because I didn’t want to run into any animals while we were sleeping. From this point on however, I hear this is where we have to be cautious. The stone, when it is done reading the ether, emits a weird kind of aura that attracts the local wild. They’ll be distracted by the stone for the most part but that doesn’t mean we can just walk up and take it. The closer we get to it, the harder it will be, and once we take it, I would assume the animals will turn on us.”

“We seriously only have an hour left?” London asked. Was it too good to be true?

“The test was designed to last three days. One to get there, one to get back, and one, you know, in case anything out of the ordinary occurred.”

“Which it probably will,” James spoke up. “If I know Arimus, then he and the other teachers designed this with just enough time to make it out. I keep thinking what Kyran said, how few recruits actually make it out alive on this exam. We have to be ready for anything.”

“As long as no one deviates from my orders, we should be fine,” Achan stated matter-of-factly. “I’ve known about this trip for weeks, and I’ve been studying my behind off for these three days. Not to mention I’ve had plenty of talk with Elder who has surveyed this forest with his parents on numerous occasions. As a matter of fact, I asked Elder, who had been too terrified in the past to take the infantry test, to join me here because of his expertise.”

“He speaks the truth,” Elder hastened to say. “The only reason I came is because my friend needed me. Otherwise, I am just fine being a simple scholar. I have no aspirations to go into battle for the sake of fighting.”

“These facts should be able to ease your troubled minds. Just stick by one another. I can’t stress that enough.”

The group nodded here and there. James clutched the hilt of his sword with determination. He had something to prove, to not just Arimus and the proctors, but his team as well. He had to prove that he was needed.

The troop marched on, cautious and anxious, constantly aware of their surroundings, struggling to not utter a sound. It didn’t take long to notice the radiating green glow emitting in front of them, beyond the trees. Knowing instantly that it was the stone, the troop slowed their march, as if delaying a trip to the gallows.

Achan looked behind him at times, seeing the sweat pour from their faces, the downcast stares, the shuffling of their feet, and laughed within himself. He knew it was not the animals they would have to worry about. He had talked about them thoroughly with Elder. None would provide a threat. It was what would happen after the stone was switched. That was the problem. He didn’t know exactly what happened after for sure, but he had heard rumors, and that was enough…

Achan sighed.

“
They Say the Sage,
”
Achan began singing as loud and heart felt as he could, startling his colleagues and awakening the forest around them.

“
With one swing, can level…an entire tree…

But what, I ask, does it compare….to the might of the Infantry!!

The Cry of our swords…collectively!!

Swarming the cowards…our enemy!

They Say the Sage…with their honor and might…have no fear…

Oh, how they fight…

The Earth cowers…under their weight

But no Sage could…begin to take…

The POWER! Of the Infantry!

Hear their roar…oh, how they sing!

When they join…hilt to hand…

Come my brother, be a man.

Join our cause, the Infantry!

What is mine, is yours to keep.

We are one, and we are strong,

With one war-cry, our enemy gone!”

Achan began repeating his created song with conviction and power. James could feel his love for the infantry, even from the back, bringing up within him an urge to fight the fear that tried to quench his spirit, and join in song. Like all the troops before him, he began listening even more intently, word for word, learning little by little the song that began to bring them together as one. The animals scurried away, at least those that weren’t engulfed in the glow of the stone. And the troop began to laugh as they saw the animals run. Squirrels and birds, chipmunks, and deer, running or flying away in fear.

Nothing intimidating.

Nothing to even cause an inkling of fear in the hearts of the recruits.

James was shocked. Was the whole point of the test simply to scare recruits about the unknown? To cause most to quit after talk of death and eternal damnation? Was Elder in on it too? Did he tell that story to cause them to give up and turn back?

Achan couldn’t be in on it. His love for his team and how he was adamant in going forward was evidence enough. He wanted them to succeed. Still, even with his heart-felt song bellowing through the foliage, James felt a twinge of shame. He was not yet convinced that being a part of the Infantry was better than being a Sage. Even if a Sage was said to be a loner, even if they were said to only be a tool of the King, couldn’t they accomplish more? He couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe there was more to his disdain for Sages than his simple logic. Maybe something had happened to him that took away his faith in them.

Maybe…

“I had a feeling about this,” London exclaimed, “that there was nothing to worry about. I knew it. Elder, you had me going with that story of yours. It was crazy to begin with, and I almost believed it!”

London laughed as Elder cleared his throat.

“I wasn’t lying.”

“Oh, just let it go already, man. Seriously.”

Achan ignored them as he pushed away the last set of bushes to see the stone they came for. Sitting on top of a marble surface, it emitted a beam of light that stretched beyond the sky into the green haze, as if trying to cut through. Achan examined it closely, as it felt warm even from a distance. The song had stopped. No one said a word as he inspected it for signs of danger.

“All we have to do is switch it right,” Rahima spoke up, eager to leave. It was too quiet.

“Shush,” Achan said quickly as everyone huddled around to see. Achan noticed immediately. “Someone watch our back, please.”