Hail to the Queen (Sage Trilogy, Book 3) (34 page)

“What happened?” Catherine asked as Zain chuckled and moaned.

“Oh, just survived an attack by our enemy over there.” Thorn raised an eyebrow as he saw Catherine and Zain glare at him with vengeful eyes, preparing to engage him head-on.

“T
wo leaders of their respective Kingdoms,” Thorn said in awe. “And they both survived my attempts to kill them. I must be getting rusty.”

“This is the King of Zen-echelon,” Catherine declared as Zain scoffed and threw off his smoldering
, holey robes.

“Yeah, I figured,” he said, spitting out a tooth. “And the type to let his little minions do all the work. Why don’t you come over here and fight us?”

“Not my thing,” Thorn said through narrow eyes. He looked down at Scarlet curiously. “That would just go completely against who I am. You know Thorn isn’t even my real name?”

“Who cares?” Zain spat.

“I chose it because it fits me so well. My Kingdom, my manifestations…they’re all so beautiful in their own way. They cause so much destruction in such a magnificent and extravagant way that they draw all the attention…right off of me. Like a rose, all people can see is the flower while the thorns lie in wait, ready to wound the unsuspecting. They focus so much on the beauty of it all, while the real threat is right beneath it…all along.”

“And like a thorn,” Zain laughed. “You can’t actually kill anyone. All you can do is prick them a little and piss them off.!”

“A thorn can kill,” Thorn replied, glaring at Zain in anger. “If used properly. Allow me to show you what I mean.”

Thorn sheathed his steel blade, picked up Scarlet by the hair, and threw her to his right into the chain
ed cage. She clutched her head and called forth her halberd, ready to join in at any given moment. Thorn relaxed his body and waited for someone to make a move.

“You wanted me,” he said. “You have me. I was going to let you three go since you survived my first attempt. I figured the game could be more fun if we all met again in Allay. But since you want to die so badly, and I’m in an irritable mood…I’ll accommodate you.”

Catherine struck first, forming a purple sword with her energy. She aimed it right for Thorn’s head but he easily dodged it and backhanded her across the helmet. Just as she went off balance, Zain also joined in, having puffed up his Langoran muscles and formed steel, spiked gauntlets on his fists, nearly a foot in diameter. He swung to kill, but Thorn was able to dodge each blow like he was moving in slow motion, and eventually he just grabbed one, lifted Zain in the air with one hand, and threw him into the destroyed wooden tower. Scarlet growled and stuck her halberd in once she saw an opening, but Thorn grabbed it at the last second and began to crush it with his bare hand. She snatched it back and stared at the King in horror who just blew her a kiss back and turned his attention to the Princess who had resumed her swinging.

Catherine shouted in agony as Thorn
dodged and literally punched away at her armor, one piece at a time with deadly precision. Just as he aimed to stab through her neck with his blade, Scarlet saw no choice. She had to get the Princess out of there. She smacked Catherine in the stomach with her staff and batted her away from Thorn just as he narrowly missed the fatal blow. As soon as she had flown back a safe enough distance, Scarlet placed the tip of her halberd into the ring, and most of the arena burst into flames, extending high up into the air. Zain and Catherine watched from the other side of the ring of fire as Scarlet paced around Thorn, waiting for her to make the first move.

“Scarlet! You can’t!” Catherine shouted
, but Zain held her back.

“No. She’s giving us an opportunity to retreat and fight another day. He’s too strong for us. I see that now. We need a plan.”

“I can’t leave her in there! I can save her!”

“No. You can’t. Her mind is made up. And I’m sorry for doubting you earlier.
My anger clouded my judgment. Take me and my people to Allay for refuge. You have my word that we won’t attack you. We cannot defeat this enemy alone.”

“Go!” Scarlet shouted as she faced Thorn. “I will give you time to escape. Watch the Reds.”

“Or is it I who is letting them escape?” Thorn said calmly. Scarlet clenched her jaw.

“Scarlet, try to survive,” Catherine pleaded. “Don’t just give up.”

“I won’t,” she promised. “Now get out of here.”

Zain pulled Catherine back and they retreated through the hole from where the Reds had c
ome earlier. Scarlet clutched her halberd tight and Thorn laughed.

“This will
make the third time we’ve faced each other, counting that little excursion earlier, won’t it? Third time’s the charm.”

“If you win…and you take my soul, will I be with Lem?”

“Of course,” Thorn replied. “A good old fashioned family reunion.”

“At least I’ll have that,” Scarlet replied, nodding her head. “Well, let’s get to it. It’s about to get hot.”

Scarlet placed the tip of her halberd once again into the ring’s floor and the entire arena suddenly erupted into flames like it was one big oven, filling in the ring of fire and attempting to consume them both. The flames roared and increased in heat and intensity as both she and Thorn stared each other down, fighting against the makeshift solar flare with all their might. Scarlet grit her teeth and struggled to keep her eyes open as the burning sensation steadily increased. Soon, she lost her hair, and her clothes began to melt. The halberd in her hand began to crack, and she leaned on it for support. Thorn was beginning to squint, but otherwise, he stood tall, bearing it. Scarlet scoffed and flashed him a smile.

“Now for the grand finale!” she shouted as the fire began getting hotter, faster and faster
as it spiraled out of control into the air, melting everything around them and spilling out into the streets, consuming the houses still standing and extending all the way to the castle itself.

Thorn winced and wavered in his stance. Scarlet
just cackled as she increased the heat and soon, the King of Zen-echelon had enough. Just as Scarlet had begun to laugh hysterically at his plight, he sped forward and severed her head with one swift movement. The fires immediately died down as if they were sucked into a vacuum, and the halberd in which Scarlet’s lifeless body was leaning on, cracked in half. No longer carrying her weight, her body fell to the ring and burst into ash as Thorn sniffled and rubbed his eyes.

“Now that was a valiant effort,” Thorn said to the pile of ash. “You forced my hand.”

With those last words, a rose colored dragon swooped down to retrieve him and he jumped onto its back. Heading upwards, he surveyed the area below, overcome by fire, devastated by his red creatures and Scarlet’s kamikaze attack. Even the castle had been completely reduced to rubble.

The Kingdom of Languor had been destroyed.

With the people forced to relocate and seek shelter, there was only one more place that both Prattle and Languor would head. His final destination: Allay.

*              *              *              *              *

James and Arimus had passed Allay long ago, but the young Sage still couldn’t help but keep looking over to his right, thinking that he might see a glimpse of the outer wall, maybe even a group of recruits embarking on their infantry exam. But it was okay. Their mission was far more important than relieving the past. James sighed as he pushed himself forward. His legs had wanted to give out a long time ago, but he fought on, trying to let his mind wander elsewhere.

There had to be answers at the Sage Academy. It was his only hope for defeating Thorn and maybe even getting strong again. The way he felt now, he figured that even L
eidy could beat him in a fight if she wanted, Sage powers and all.

James smiled when he thought of his old friends. Leidy, Jennings, even Korey…it was all so simple then. Just getting up from a long slumber and thinking about how to have fun that day. There was no conflict or suffering, but there was also no pu
rpose. No sense of belonging, and though it was nerve-wracking, thinking that now he had a part in whether the world would fall or not, he wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

His mind suddenly strayed to Catherine, and he couldn’t help
but feel a wave of emotion wash over him. With the mission at the forefront of his mind, he had thought little of her and even if she was safe. Perhaps his mind was becoming more like a soldier’s. Was this how Catherine thought? Always of the next move? Never any time to dwell on leisure or how to achieve personal happiness in the future? Was that any way to live? It seemed like whether it was a life without purpose, or a life with only one – both sounded excessive and undesirable.

Well, he thought. I will do my best to end this so we can have that middle ground.

James smiled and found the strength to move faster, speeding with Arimus through the trees so quickly that the human eye wouldn’t be able to pick up on them. James’s body was becoming so gelatinous from the strain that he had to begin concentrating more on his balance than speed, and so he was looking at his feet when Arimus happened to stop in front of him.

Arim
us grabbed the back of his collar just as he sped past and pulled him to his side.

“Slow down,” he chuckled. “We’re here.”

James huffed and leaned onto his knees as Arimus studied the surrounding area.

“Is there anyone nearby?” James heaved.

“Not yet, but that could change. I know you’re tired, but let’s continue forward, even if it’s slowly.”

“Okay,” he sighed as she stood up and looked beyond the trees around him.

The Sage Academy was like a building out of time. Made of a material that James had never seen before, the structure was in the shape of a cozy but large, shiny red house, with a wide staircase leading up to the raised entrance and a triangle made of gold for the roof. It suddenly turned more quaint when he noticed the hundreds of steel eidolon replicas placed around the staircase and dug well into the surrounding grassy yard, somehow still lush and vibrant green.

Arimus waved James on who stared at it curiously.

“I thought it would look a little more…I don’t know…it doesn’t look like a place where Sages would go. It’s like we’re about to step inside someone’s home…who happens to collect eidolon replicas for fun.”

“We’re not inside yet,” Arimus laughed as they climbed the stairs. Right before they reached the top
step, the staircase shifted and began moving downwards, deep into the ground below. Descending down a long, tight tunnel, Arimus decided to sit down on a step as James wasn’t sure how to move.

“This is strange,” he said and the old Sage just chuckled.

“Yes, I’ve heard of this. I didn’t believe it when someone first told me about it as a child. I have no clue how this works.”

“You’ve never been here?”

“No, I haven’t. I was much too busy keeping the Sentinel Academy’s true motives a secret. I actually debated sending Kyran here before Alexander attacked, and we were forced to leave Allay sooner than expected.”

“How far down does it go?”

“Not sure. Just enjoy the ride.”

*              *              *              *              *

Zain and Catherine managed to leap off the Kingdom wall just as the flames lapped at the soles of their feet. Landing in the Langoran forest below, they rolled and tumbled, but as soon as they were able to regain their balance, they kept running forward. Catherine didn’t need an eidolon to know that an attack of that magnitude was meant to be a last resort. There was no way Scarlet would have unleashed such power unless she had no choice.

“What now, Princess?” Zain asked as they ran side by side through the trees. “Are we going to just leave my people behind?”

“I asked Kyran to take as many as he could to Allay. If we keep running, we’ll eventually catch up with them.”

“Not if he’s making multiple trips.”

“Based on that last attack, I would say there’s no one left to retrieve…anyone who survived will be in the tunnels, as long as those Reds aren’t there.”

“And the Prattlians? They are also headed to Allay?”