Hail to the Queen (Sage Trilogy, Book 3) (25 page)

“Thank you, King,” Catherine smiled as she looked to her Sages. “But now that we’ve decided to jo
in forces, what do we do now? Are there any weaknesses that you can ascertain?”

Each of the Sages thought her question over carefully. Arimus finally sighed and spoke up.

“Thorn…is playing a very intelligent game. I can’t say for sure what he’s hiding…but his attitude is a giveaway. One minute he’s leveling a Kingdom and threatening us all. The next, he’s talking to you like an old friend. His demeanor is very off-putting and I suspect it’s so we don’t discover his secrets. By always guessing at his true nature, we are constantly at a disadvantage. Still…he is not a god, and he can’t be all-powerful, no matter how much he pretends to be. He must have a weakness.”

“He has a carrier for
his stone,” Kyran confirmed. “He told me so.”

“It makes sense considering the power he displayed,” Arimus said. “
And even if he was able to use the stone himself, he wouldn’t, considering he would have died after all the manifestations he just produced.”

“His carrier is his weakness,” Catherine said thoughtfully. “But it’s one that’s not easily accessible. We know it, and unfortunately, he knows it. She, whoever she is, has to be in Zen-echelon, but I’m not even sure a collective attack with all the Kingdoms would be enough. There has to be another way…something we’re missing.”

“He can’t be everywhere at once,” Kyran said. “He has manifestations and people to watch for him…but I’m sure he’s not omnipotent.”

“Then it would have to be a surprise. We would have to sneak into Zen-echelon without his knowledge and kill the carrier.”

“And how will we accomplish that?” Tyuin asked. “No offense, Princess. But it sounds just as impossible as storming his Kingdom outright.”

“What are the odds that he’s watching right now?” Catherine asked first, as everyone at the table considered the question.

“Slim,” Arimus declared. “But possible. I doubt he has someone posing as one of the Prattlians, but he could have a small manifestation listening in our conversation.”

“Regardless, I’ll say this,” Catherine raised her voice. “The only way we can bot
h have a chance at winning, is to gather us altogether first. His plan is to take out the Kingdoms one by one, but not all at once. Why? Because his power will be stretched thin, and there is the possibility of failure. Based on what Arimus said, he’s very confident, and I’m sure that means he doesn’t like to lose. His ego would be damaged and wounded…so this is what we do. We gather the Kingdoms against him as one. We congregate in one place and wait for his attack. In order to defeat us, he will have to concentrate most of his power on our army. Even if he leaves behind a little of his power and manifestations in Zen-echelon, we will have a team of warriors to dispatch them there. This is the only way. It gives him a chance to wipe us all out at once while also providing the opportunity to get to his carrier. If he doesn’t act at all after we’ve come together then all that does is force a stalemate. In which case, we would use that time to strengthen our forces – something he doesn’t want to see happen.”

“It’s insane,” Arimus nodded. “But it’s the only way.”

“Before we carry out that plan,” James said. “There’s one issue we have to deal with first. Dominic and Alexander…one sergeant specializing in combat, the other in intelligence. It makes sense that Thorn would recruit those two – he’s covering his bases. Let’s say there’s someone out there that’s very strong. Maybe a Langoran or a Sage. Perhaps they couldn’t kill Thorn, but there’s always the chance he could be wounded, giving others the opportunity to finish him off…now he doesn’t have to worry about it. Dominic handles those people. He’s the executioner. Alexander – he’s there to constantly assess whatever plan we come up with and counter it. Being a Prattlian, I’m sure that won’t be hard for him. Bottom line is that both need to be dealt with, or we’re only going to get so far. Thorn won’t have to engage us directly if he doesn’t want. He can keep on sending his little manifestations while Dominic and Alexander are on the frontlines, doing his dirty work.”

“He speaks the truth,” Kyran admitted. “The boy is right.”

“Then that’s our job,” Catherine said. “I don’t know how Alexander survived, but he’s our responsibility. The same with Dominic.”

Arimus and James
gave each other an excited look. They were both eager to settle the score.

“We will go above ground and head for Languor, ready to engage Dominic or Alexander a
s they reveal themselves, and hope to win. In the meantime, Tyuin, you and your people use your knowledge to devise a way to expand these tunnels and get to Languor right way.”

“Only by going
underground?” Tyuin said in disbelief. “That will take days!”

“I’m sure your Prattlian minds can come up with an efficient way to make it go faster. But don’t worry, that’
s all you have to worry about. Just get there. Talk to whoever is in charge and tell them what’s going on. We’ll cover your backs. If we don’t make it to Languor within five days, then head immediately to Allay and tell the people what happened. They are apprehensive when it comes to strangers, but they are good-natured. You can convince them.”

“We’ll get started right away,” Tyuin said as he and his wife nodded to the two guards in the room. They left quickly, relaying the message to the other guards and the people outside.

“Our enemy is not giving us the luxury of time,” Catherine said to her Sages. “Any sleep you managed to get in the past couple of days will have to sustain you. If there is nothing else, we must be going now.”

Catherine got up from her seat and made her way to the door. Eve
ryone followed but James who had fallen deep in thought.

“Catherine, wait!” James shouted at her
, coming out of his daze. She turned with a curious expression on her face. “What about Quietus? If he’s headed there…shouldn’t we help them?”

“I’m afraid we would be too late,” she said with weary eyes. “We have to move forward…I – I’m sorry, James.”

The other Sages looked at him suspiciously, but no one said a word as they left the room to prepare for their journey. James sat in silence for a moment, closed his eyes, and then shot up to join them. This was no time to dwell on his heritage, his mother…if he would ever see her again…

None of that mattered.

There was only the mission.

There would always be the mission.

And anything besides it, whether it was love, family, or a life of peace…

W
as just a fleeting thought,

A
nd a hopeful dream….

Scarlet insist
ed that she go first as she removed the wooden planks that comprised the gazebo floor. Since the entrance to the tunnel didn’t have a ladder, she had to literally burst through the wood, leaving it wide open afterwards. She examined the area, listened through the stillness and was starting to give the okay when she heard a distant rumbling, very faint, but still cause for caution. Arimus jumped up next and Scarlet clutched his shoulder and pointed out towards the west.

“Based on our location,” Arimus sighed. “It must be Quietus. Their battle has already begun.” The others jumped to the surface one by one and listened for the sounds of war to reach their location. “It sounds fierce.”

“If anyone has a chance against Thorn, it’s them,” James said. “Unfortunately, I’m sure Dominic’s there to ensure they only achieve so much. Add that to the fact that Chloe’s killed their King and elite warriors - it will be a lot harder to succeed.”

“Yes, I was thinking about that too,” Catherine said as she began walking forward. Her Sages followed as they listened. “I don’t know if my parents are still alive, but I’m sure they’re in no condition to communicate with me if they are. Thorn wouldn’t allow a letter to be sent
to us unless he was in control of the contents.”

Catherine pulled out t
he letter from beneath her clothing and examined its words.

“This can’t be from my father,” she said with confidence.

“Perhaps he sent it before Thorn got a hold of him,” Arimus suggested, but Catherine shook her head profusely.

“No, I doubt it. If Thorn has been watching all of our movements, I’m sure he would have seen the letter. Even if this is the hand of my father, no doubt Thorn had already examined the c
ontents and allowed it to reach its destination.”

“Which means he may have been the driving force in our mission,” Scarlet mumbled as Catherine ripped the letter to shreds and threw it to the side.

“We’ve already determined that the alliance of our Kingdoms is essential to our survival. With this letter driving us, not only did he ensure that we weakened each of them, but we took away their stones as well. For all we know, Thorn’s plan could have been to wait until we collected them all and then just took them from us in Zen-echelon.”

“Is that why you left the Prattlian stone with Tyuin?” Arimus asked.

“That was part of it. But mostly because it’s better if we don’t have all of them in one place.”

“With the stones in our possession, we are a big target.”

“That’s the point,” Kyran said flatly. “We want Dominic and Alexander to come for us.”

“Exactly,” Catherine said. “So stay alert. I’m sure we’ll run into some kind of trouble before we reach Languor…”

*
              *              *              *              *

The dreams were vivid and crisp. There he was, standing in the middle of an army of Quietus, none of them armored, but all transformed. Their hair slicked back and their scythes drawn, gazing out at Thorn who motioned for them to attack…

But none moved. Thorn smiled. And then he motioned for Dominic to do what he did best.

The young Sage ran throughout the crowd, swinging his sword at their throats. Even as they were decapitated, their bodies stood vigilant, at attention towards the man that created them. Without a move to regenerate, without their heads being reattached quickly, the bodies eventually began to crumble and fall. Dominic kept moving, row by row, line by line, but James couldn’t move. He only waited for his turn. And when Dominic came upon him, he did not resist, he did not plead. In fact, he stretched his neck further to the sky, and let the Master’s sergeant complete his work.

“WHAT?!” James woke up with a shout, but the word didn’t sound the same. Before he realized it, his Quietus legs began running, bounding through the trees. He didn’t need an eidolon to know where his body was headed: The Kingdom of Quietus.

“No!” James growled and the body stopped. His legs continued to quiver as he tried to constrict his muscles in the moonlight. He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, carefully retracting the scythes that stuck out of his forearms. Concentrating on one body part at a time, he meticulously reverted back to his normal form. Once he was in full control, he dropped to his knees and panted in exhaustion. Sweat poured down the sides of his temples and suddenly, he felt a hand brush against his back. He threw himself forward in fear and scurried back onto his butt. It wasn’t until his non-Quietus eyes focused, that he realized it was not an enemy at all. Just the woman he loved.

“I take it you couldn’t sleep,”
she whispered gently, sitting down next to him. James stared at her with rapidly blinking eyes, still breathing erratically.

“Catherine, you shouldn’t sit so close. I don’t know what just happened.”

“I’m not afraid,” she admitted. “I know you won’t hurt me.”

“Just myself,” he huffed as he leaned his arms onto his knees. “Did I wake the others?”

“No. Well, Kyran was awake, but then again, he’s like a cat. He naps. Never really slumbers.”

“Was he surprised to see a Quietus suddenly jump up
from our area and start running?”

“I didn’t see you transform until you were quite a distance
away. I don’t think he saw.”

“But you did.”

“I was concerned so I followed you. You know it’s hard for me to sleep considering what’s going on, but we need our rest, even if it’s only an hour or two. It was crazy of me to think we could get to Languor without stopping.”