The End of the Fantasy (Book #6 of the Sage Saga) (20 page)

“Go in first,” she ordered Daisy. “Wake Bastion up quickly.” Daisy ran inside while Talia and Catherine readied their eidolons and took a defensive stance.

“I will not fight you out here,” Ecio said firmly. “We will take this inside.”

“I don’t take orders from you.”

“Willpower is always subservient to might,” he said, and Catherine had enough. She ran forward while her Sage robes disintegrated and when she was a few yards away from him, she summoned them once again, forcing the transformation to be slow so that she could blind her opponent.

It had no effect.

Ecio cocked back his fist as she prepared to swing her eidolon forward, and before she could thrust it another inch further, he quickly punched her in the middle of her chest, sending her body flying into the Yama Headquarters building. Crashing through the clay wall and into the sphere in the middle of the room, a number of alarms began blaring, so loud that she cupped her ears the moment she regained awareness. Once her ears were muffled, the pain around her body registered and she began throwing up. Talia rushed in after her, jumping over blocks of clay and debris.

“Catherine, please tell me you’re okay,” Talia said, crouching down to examine her. Catherine sat up and wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve. She noticed that her Sage robes were torn and shredded.

“We need Bastion,” she rasped and Talia nodded in agreement.

“You called?” Bastion muttered as he appeared behind them. Daisy and Lily were at his side.

“The Emissary is here,” Talia said quickly and Bastion’s eyes went wide.

“That was fast,” he said as his eyes darted to Lily. She got the message. She began transforming as he looked down at Catherine. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be alright in a few weeks,” she groaned in a low voice. “But I’m more concerned with you. Are you okay?”

“I was trapped there but thankfully Lily and Daisy cut me out the machine.”

“But the job is done?” she asked, looking behind Bastion and seeing the Emissary stepping through the large hole in the building. He didn’t appear worried as he examined the damage. He simply stepped in casually, as if he had just arrived early to a party.

“It’s done,” Bastion said boldly, saying it more to the Emissary than Catherine. “The gates are open.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Ecio replied with confidence. “But we must settle this. And I would prefer it if we do it where the equipment won’t be further destroyed.”

“That’s it!” Bastion shouted quickly, waving to Talia with one hand and absorbing Lily in stone form with the other. “Destroy the building! The gates are open so if we can take out this place and the other one, we’re in the clear. It doesn’t matter what he—” Bastion gasped as Ecio appeared in front of him with his hand firmly around the young Sage’s throat. Ecio clenched his jaw as Bastion prepared to kick him in the chest, but the Emissary didn’t give him a chance. Ecio threw Bastion across the room and into the middle door, sending him somersaulting head over heels inside. Ecio turned to the Sages and picked them up one by one by the throat or hair, throwing them into the same doorway individually. No matter what they did to fight against his freakish strength, it didn’t matter. He was too strong, and far too fast.

Bastion stood up awkwardly, nearly stumbling over his own feet as they adjusted to the plush, dark blue carpet beneath him. He barely had time to take in his surroundings when Daisy came flying in from in front of him. He caught her in mid-air, and then watched as Catherine and Talia followed after, skidding on the floor as they groaned. Ecio walked in with a wide stride, and then he slammed the door behind him.

“I lied to you,” he said to Bastion directly as he punched the wall above the doorway, causing the clay to crack and fall behind him, blocking the exit.

“A lot of people do,” Bastion said, putting some distance between them. “I don’t take it personally anymore.”

“This is where one of us ends,” he said. Bastion noticed that the room would accommodate them comfortably. A quarter square mile, the hall was wide enough for an individual to train in without restriction. Adding a few more people to the room wouldn’t hurt much. The hall was dimly lit but he could make out paintings on the side walls with scratched out faces. The entire floor was carpeted and there were thin and tall candlesticks in each corner of the room. Ecio let him catch his breath before he continued.

“I will let your friends leave if you agree to keep the bridge intact.”

“No,” Bastion said firmly. “I don’t believe you.”

“It was worth a try.”

“You look a lot younger than I thought. Tillian and Veer said you only had four years left. Guess that was a lie too.”

“I am done with my position. It is time for another to be enslaved to the machine. I will live my life ruling over Paradise.”

“That’s all people like you want to do. Rule over someone else.”

“It is the only thing that satisfies me in life.”

“That’s sad.”

“That’s inevitable.”

“So what do we do?” Bastion asked Catherine, looking to her for answers. Catherine gave him a weary look.

“I wish I knew,” she muttered. “But to be honest, I don’t. We’ll help the best we can, but this is your battle, Bastion. You’re the one that will decide how this day ends.”

“Then all of you get back,” he said, pointing to the left wall. Catherine was shocked but he didn’t want to hear a retort. “You’re right. You will just get in the way. Sorry.”

“I understand,” Catherine said as Talia and Daisy helped her to her feet.

“Don’t intervene, no matter what you see. Not unless he attacks you or I’m definitely dead.”

“We won’t,” Catherine said in awe. “Show us what you can do. Show us that our faith in you was not in vain.”

“I’ll do my best,” Bastion replied, turning to face his enemy. Once he was sure they were well out of the way, he took a deep breath and summoned his Sage robes. One second they weren’t there, and in the next, they blinked into existence. He looked down at his right hand but he didn’t summon his eidolon. He closed his fist and then directed his full attention at Ecio.

“Let’s make this quick.”

Ecio clenched his fists tight as he scowled at the young Sage.

Bastion smiled, and then they both left the spot where they once stood.

Catherine, Talia and Daisy barely saw a thing.

Ecio did not scare him.

Nothing did anymore.

He supposed it came with the territory when one had escaped death so many times. Though the battle before him was sure to be the end of his journey one way or another, the outcome did not worry him. He was just happy for it all to be over. And the sooner he sent Ecio to Oblivion, the sooner his new life would begin. And so he had a lot of motivation backing him. Surely that would be enough to give him a slight edge.

Yeah,
he smiled at the thought.
It will be enough.

Ecio dropped his guard for a second at the sight of Bastion’s smile. He hadn’t noticed it until the moment he was about to thrust his hand through the young Sage’s chest. They were moving so fast that it was almost impossible for him to see it, but see it he had. It flashed before his eyes and he questioned its purpose, though he should have focused solely on the battle at hand.

And Bastion drew first blood.

The young Sage slammed his palm smack against the Emissary’s chest, and his eidolon popped from the center of his hand, just enough to stab through Ecio’s armor, skin, muscles and heart. The sudden jolt threw Ecio off guard even further. Though the wound was already beginning to heal upon the exit of Bastion’s eidolon, there was no longer a clash of equal speed and strength. He had been relinquished to the unsettling side of the defensive, and Bastion knew it.

Bastion roared a battle cry as he slammed his fist into Ecio’s chin, the eidolon once again popping out for a second, just enough to plow through his jawline and nearly through the roof of his mouth. If he hadn’t stretched his neck upwards at the last second to travel with the eidolon, the young Sage would have hit his brain for sure. Ecio pushed Bastion away with all his might and the Sage went flying to the back wall. Somehow, Bastion was able to catch himself in mid-air and he ended up landing on it with feet first.

Ecio began healing the wound in his mouth as Bastion launched off the wall and into a full sprint. Leaving his line of sight, the Emissary relied on pure instinct to find Bastion, and so he swiveled around to look right behind him. He threw his hand forward and his palm slapped directly into Bastion’s. Both of them released an eidolon at the same time, but only the tips scrapped against each other and neither of them gained the advantage during the exchange. Bastion feigned left and swiped at him from the right. Palms slapped against each other again, and again, and again, until it was just a matter of who was faster.

Bastion picked up the speed, pouring energy into his legs and hands, moving fluidly as he attempted only killing blows, remembering what Lily told him about finishing his battles early.

Ecio blocked them all and tried to enact his own killing strokes, only to have his attempts returned. The sounds of their hands hitting against each other made their ears ache and their palms were beginning to bleed from the sheer force of their parries. Bastion was sure his hand was going to break at any second, but he didn’t care. He continued the assault until he was sure Ecio was getting ready to take the initiative. Then he went first instead.

The moment before their palms slapped together, Bastion did the unthinkable. He went for a head-butt, and the risky move paid off. As his skull cracked Ecio’s jaw, the Emissary let out a small whimper. Bastion didn’t stop to rest or consider his own throbbing forehead.

He let his eidolon stick halfway out of his knuckles, and then he punched Ecio across the face as hard as he could. The blow was to make the Emissary stagger but Bastion didn’t realize that Ecio knew how to deal with pain—and that he figured out a long time ago that the best time to attack a powerful opponent who had the upper hand…was right as they thought they had won.

As Ecio fell, he summoned his eidolon from the palm of his hand and extended it as far as he could, sending the blade straight into Bastion’s stomach. The sharp sensation was so strong that Bastion closed his eyes for a second, and he knew it was a mistake. Ecio caught himself from falling and propelled himself forward, right into Bastion. Being so close, Bastion used the opportunity to thrust his eidolon into Ecio’s chest, but it didn’t sway the Emissary. With a grunt, Ecio reached forward and plunged his hand straight into Bastion’s chest. Bastion screamed in agony as Ecio ripped the stone away from Bastion’s heart and simultaneously kicked him away.

Bastion went sprawling to the ground, blood pouring out of his chest. He wanted to retaliate, but he knew that healing was the priority. Ecio scoffed as he took a few steps back, clutching the stone of great power in the palm of his hand.

“I’m surprised you didn’t use this,” he said, looking over it. “You might have won.”

“That’s because it’s not a
thing
to me,” Bastion gasped, steadying his balance and slowly trying to stand. The wound in his chest had closed, but it was still sensitive. From how Ecio was acting, his attacks couldn’t have hurt too much.

“You really fell in love with this thing?” Ecio scoffed again. “It’s an object. Nothing more.”

“Her name is Lily,” Bastion said, clenching his jaw as water began to well up in his eyes. “And she’s all I’ve got…don’t hurt her.”

“You must be joking.”

“Let her go,” he whispered, his eyes blinking rapidly. He took a deep breath and forced his body to stop trembling. Whatever shock it was trying to get over, he couldn’t go unconscious.

“I have no intentions of doing so.”

“Then you’re going to use her?” Bastion asked in disgust.

“I could,” Ecio said, running a hand through his hair.

“Yeah, you could, but you don’t know how much of your life you’ll have to use to put me down. It will be more than you think.”

“Doesn’t look like it.”

“Then absorb her. Use her. See what happens.”

“You know what the alternative is if I don’t, do you?” Bastion closed his eyes. Yes. He knew the alternative all too well, but it was the only way. The moment Ecio ripped her away from him…he knew what had to be done. He should have been a better protector, but Ecio was more experienced than he, and in only a couple of seconds, he had done more damage than he thought possible. He couldn’t drop his guard again. No matter what he felt. No matter what pain Ecio caused.

“Yeah, I know what happens,” Bastion said. “You kill her.”

“That’s right,” Ecio said, expressionless. “Because I can’t allow you to have it back.”

“That’s the thing. Even if you did give her back to me, I couldn’t use her.”

“That’s a lie.”

“I can’t,” Bastion said, shaking his head. “Not after all we’ve been through. Not after what I know about her. Disrespecting her like that…it would be worse than death. And I know if the situation was reversed, she would feel the same.”

“So you’re fine with her dying?”

“No,” Bastion said as Ecio crushed Lily in the palm of his hands.

He did it so sudden and casually that Bastion didn’t even react at first. It felt like he had been stabbed. But by something far worse than any blade could manage.

He felt the loneliness.

With a simple close of his hand, Ecio had destroyed the only thing that mattered to him. It was settled now. There were no more attachments to the world he now lived in, and the last thing he wanted to do was feel that familiar ache in his chest once more. No…those days were over. And so, he knew that the only way to insure he couldn’t feel it again was to die, and there was no way he was going out without Ecio’s head—severed and at his feet.

Bastion clenched his fists.

“I’m sorry,” Ecio scoffed. “Did I hurt your—” Ecio’s taunt was cut short as a blade fired up from the floor, through his right foot, his leg, his torso and out his neck. Ecio grunted as a few more blades began to fly out from underneath him, but he had already dodged them instinctively. And Bastion was right behind him again, slashing at his back with all the strength he could muster behind his Gladius. Ecio groaned and punched Bastion in the face, sending him flying in a spiral to the floor.

And then an eidolon went flying out of his chest, and he noticed that it had a hook at the end of it. The eidolon came back toward him and tried pulling him down but he was too strong for it. He kept himself upright and reached behind him to grab a fistful of Daisy’s hair. He began yanking it from her scalp when Catherine’s eidolon sliced through it, freeing the young Sage.

Bastion punched Ecio in the face with his eidolon again, the blade slicing through his cheeks. Ecio screamed and thrust his palm forward, summoning his eidolon to stab him, but Talia got in the way, using her own eidolon to block the attack. Her eidolon shattered on impact, and Bastion narrowly threw her out the way so that Ecio’s sword didn’t take her head off.

Bastion swiped at Ecio’s neck with his Gladius again but the Emissary dodged the blows easily, backing his head away at the last second each time. The tip of another eidolon smashed into the back of his head and it shattered on impact. Ecio was so furious to learn that he could have been killed that he turned to see the end of Catherine’s eidolon—only the hilt—falling from her hands. Catherine went to punch him in the back of the head and he elbowed her in the face. She cried out and clutched her nose.

Ecio went to kill her once and for all but Bastion jumped on top of his chest, sending him crashing to the floor. Bastion reached for the sides of his head but he kicked Bastion off of him and into the back wall. He leapt to his feet and Talia slashed at his eyes with her new eidolon. He grabbed its blade and crushed it in his bare hands. This time, she went unconscious instantly, crumpling to the floor.

He began healing his eyes when Bastion punched him again, scattering his thoughts. Without pause, Bastion continued the assault, punching Ecio with his eidolon over and over in the face, trying to get through to his skull but settling for the pain when each blow failed. Ecio refused to fall. He screamed. He swore. He spat, but he was losing his ability to fight back. The pain was beginning to stack, and his foes were relentless.

Bastion kept hitting him.

Even after Ecio took out his violet sword eidolon and began slashing at Bastion’s midsection. Over and over. Cutting the same spot. Taking out his heart. To the point that he was cutting faster than it could heal. He only needed one more. And one more. And just one more. Surely the next one would sever the last vein. The last artery. Just keep cutting. Ignore the eidolons slashing at his back. Hacking at the legs. Ignore them as they begin whacking at the back of your head. They won’t break through. They won’t break through. Just keep cutting. Cut. Cut. Cut. Cut. Cut. Cut. Cut. Cut.
DAMN IT WHY WONT HE FALL!

“BECAUSE YOU’RE STILL BREATHING!” Bastion screamed in his face. Ecio blinked and it was the moment the young Sage was looking for. He reached in, with no regard to his own life, and grabbed the sides of Ecio’s head. As Ecio plunged his eidolon straight through Bastion’s heart and the tip of the blade exploded out of the young Sage’s back, Bastion summoned two eidolons, one from each palm—to drive out from his hands and right into Ecio’s temples.

The blades criss-crossed.

And Ecio’s body shut down.

Bastion sighed in relief, but then a moment of rage flashed across him, and he swiped his hand one last time toward Ecio, severing the Emissary’s head. Bastion’s eyelids began to fall as he glanced over at Catherine for a moment.

“Burn us both,” he said.

And then he didn’t feel the ache in his heart anymore.