The Last of the Sages (Sage Trilogy, Book 1) (21 page)

James looked around the pedestal for a sign of the prison the Langorans had come from. Seeing a large crater created from where the other Langorans crowded under earlier, he took a deep breath and went inside, knowing the monster lost sight of him as he bellowed in anger and disbelief.

It was too dark, musty, and covered in cobwebs and debris. The thick mold that permeated the air was stifling, causing him to involuntarily cough. As soon as he did, he realized his mistake as he heard increased sounds of rustling and grunts of disapproval. A low whine of help made his way toward him. It was impossible to see where it came from, but he knew he had found the right place. He only had to be careful of where he stepped.

As his eyes slowly adjusted to the little light that shone through the cracks in the ceiling, he could see the Langorans, chained to the wall, staring at him in awe. Strangely, they made no advances to attack or break from their chains. If he didn’t know any better, he would almost say they wer
e
afraid of hi
m
, but that couldn’t be. He was just a child to their eyes, and an insect to their physique. What could he possibly do to them?

Still, he remained cautious, stepping around their legs as they huffed, their gazes never leaving his face. The room was long; rows of Langorans were chained to the sides, with only a few yards between each of them, all looking the same - the same clothing, the same muscles. He ignored his fears of one breaking loose and finally made his way to toward the end of the room where loosed chains hung idly from the wall.

These have to be the chains those Langorans came from
,
he thought.

It was there he would make his stand against the Langoran that gave him chase. It was a stupid plan, through and through, but he saw no other options. If he could somehow get the Langoran down into the basement, and even get one chain on him, it would be enough to slow him down exponentially. After, he would slowly but ultimately get all the chains wrapped around him, trapping him back down there. He had faith in the chains’ holding power. After all, they kept so many of the other Langorans at bay…

James knew he was still outside the room, probably wondering if his prey was actually stupid enough to go into a room full of Langorans. James waited for a moment, wondering what was the best way to get him downstairs when something occurred to him. If he came downstairs, wouldn’t he try to free one of his comrades? No, the chains were too tight. He did start out downstairs after all. Surely he tried already, but there was another matter to consider. Suppose he overheard about the stone and how releasing it from its holster would release the chains? What if he happened to stumble across the stone and picked it up? He couldn’t afford to be downstairs with one Langoran, let alone dozens! James began to run toward the door when the Langoran bumbled down the stairs in a hurry. James backed up further into the darkness, knowing it would take a little time for the Langorans’ eyes to adjust. He had but a moment to take advantage of his blindness.

Lunging forward, sword in hand, he aimed for the Langoran’s neck which happened to turn at the last second. Still, it nicked his collarbone, causing the Langoran to reel back in agony. James knew that was all the time he had for a swing and backed away once again, knowing it took only seconds for the Langoran to notice him. The Langoran roared and plowed toward James in fury. James dived at the last second from the raging bull and rolled out the way. The Langoran tried to cease his assault, but his attempt at stopping just sent him sprawling into the back wall. He gathered his footing and turned around to make another pass. James maintained his composure, already feeling his plan going better than he wished.

The Langoran ran once more. James waited for the last second to dodge, ducking down below his reaching arms and making a flesh wound into the Langoran’s left leg
.
If that slows his running down only by a second, it was worth it.

James smiled at the Langoran lifting up his head in anger and screaming at the ceiling. It was hard to maneuver quickly with such a full charge, yet he didn’t seem to get it. All he could think about was his colleagues watching him, being cut down little by little, by a child.

An Allayan child at that.

The Langoran beared his teeth and stuck both arms out to the side as he began his signature sprint toward James. James took note of how he was trying to cover as much escape room as possible, and planned accordingly. Backing toward a set of chains, James backed up until the tip of his fingers grazed the granite wall. The confirmation soothed his soul as his foot brushed against a stray chain on the ground. James sighed. One more time.

The Langoran ran, faster this time, trying to catch James off guard. James waited for a moment of opportunity, and side stepped out the way. What he hadn’t had planned on was the Langoran trying to tackle James. He dove threw the air, doing a sort of swan dive towards him, and although he missed his body, the Langoran’s extended right arm brushed James shoulder as he moved out the way.

The strength surging through just one of those fingertips was enough to almost knock James off balance. James staggered back, grunting, trying to tell his body what to do. He managed to stay on his feet, but he had strayed far enough to bump into the body of a chained Langoran. The chained Langoran head butt him slightly in the shoulder. It didn’t hurt, but the distraction was long enough to give the free Langoran the upper hand, who had enough time to get up from his awkward dive, run over, and take hold on James arm.

Pulling James toward him, he gave James a bear hug from the back, squeezing him until he could hear his bones creaking under the pressure. James tried to fight him, but he knew he was done. All his kicking and yelling at the Langoran wasn’t getting through. And he could already feel his vision blurring from the pain, when a shout momentarily stopped the crushing.

“Let him go!” the mysterious voice said once again, a silhouette sitting to the side of the embrace. James tilted a weary head to the right to see a Langoran, smaller in stature than his cohorts, with even a bit of tuffled hair on the side of his right temple, looking up toward them with anxious eyes.

“I said, let him go!”

“AND WHY!” a voice called from the entrance.  James recognized it immediately as the small Langoran, “would we be so foolish as to do such a thing?”

The pleading Langoran fell silent as Alexander studied James, who was trying to build up his strength for one more game of tug-of-war with the Langoran.

“Don’t worry,” Alexander said. “I allowed your friends to get away, but not without a chaperone. I left one of the Langorans behind to follow them for the best route back to Allay, in which he will kill them on arrival. The only reason I came back here was to free the others with a lift of the stone, but low and behold, what do I find, but you, still alive. That intrigues me, because a Langoran of his stature should have caught up to you and slaughtered you a while ago.”

“You knew…about the stone?” James heaved, wiggling a little. Alexander noticed but gave no response toward it.

“Of course. This isn’t the first time I’ve been ‘freed.’ There was another test some Allayan children were taking in which I had been let go. But I stayed here in patience. I waited for everyone to leave the perimeter, examined the stone for myself, realized that its release freed me, promptly went back downstairs and chained myself back up for the next test. Sometimes the right time to strike is not the first opportunity. See, now is the time. I am fully aware this is an ongoing test, and therefore I determined there had to be some Allayan adults watching in the distance. Of course, this exam is probably not going as planned. They’re probably so concerned with the safety of the students right now, they’ve probably forgotten all about me, if they saw me in the first place that is.”

Alexander rubbed his bottom lip with his index finger and glared at James.

“Tell me something, and it would be wise to speak truthfully…Are you a Sage?”

James didn’t reply, only taking deeper breaths, trying to calm down.

“I ask because you shouldn’t be alive, and I was standing there long enough to see what you trying to do to him, how you were trying to use the chains…or better yet, yes, actually that would make more sense…maybe you are a Sage in training, am I right? That would explain your youth and tactics at the same time, while also explaining why you didn’t just pull out your eidolon to slay him. Maybe you pulled it out once, but you can’t do it whenever you like yet. Therefore you’re taking the infantry exam.”

“You…know about -“

“- the eidolon? Of course! The five Kingdoms were established long before your great grandparents were born. We are all fully aware, generally speaking, of each other’s’ strengths and weaknesses. The eidolon has a lot of power, or so I’ve studied. I would like to see it myself.”

“No.”

“Being stubborn doesn’t make you a hero. Only dead. Break his foot.”

“What?” James said startled as the Langoran released his hold on James, dropping him to the floor. Before James could scramble away, the Langoran smashed his foot down hard onto James’ left leg. He felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it as all feeling immediately left the area. All that remained was the alarming pain that shot up his body. His mind went numb as his screams replaced rational thought. Alexander tried stifling his laughter.

“I said his foot, you fool,” he chuckled. “That’s going to take a long time to heal, if at all.”

The Langoran shrugged his shoulders, a lot calmer now that Alexander was there. Someone to think for him. James reached toward Alexander, unaware of what he was doing, but the Prattlian just stepped away and laughed some more.

“Leave us, fool,” he said playfully to his companion. “Go and hold up the stone, sitting on the pedestal upstairs for no less than ten minutes. I want every Langoran here freed.”

The Langoran nodded and pounded up the stairs as James realized the seriousness of the situation, but what could he do? He couldn’t move due to his shattered leg, and it looked like Alexander was right about the proctors being busy with the recruits. No one was going to save him…

“Now that we are alone, I want you to show me your eidolon.”

“No,” James muttered through tears, despite knowing what happened to him last time he refused. “Why do you need to see it?”

“I want to know all about it, for when we face Allay. When I know how to counter an eidolon, we will take Allay completely. They are already wounded from the siege years ago so it should be easy. Back then, Langour or Prattle couldn’t even breathe on Allay. Now, they are weak and defenseless. Now is the time, while I have my Langoran brothers, fueled by dormancy to strike, and you will help me, by releasing your eidolon.”

“I won’t do it…”

“What is holding you back? Loyalty? Honor? Grandeur? What are these things but fabricated ideals to keep people like you and me from achieving our dreams? We are all selfish. We are brought up to believe desiring things for ourselves is wrong, but innately, we are all overflowing with greed. Should you get a promotion at a job, wouldn’t you accept it? Sure, you would. But why? You have been working hard, and you feel you deserve more, sure…but you are content in your position. You’re making ends meet. Shouldn’t you pass it up for the next fellow, who may need that job just a little bit more? Suppose you fall in love and the people around you disagree? Should you forsake your love for the happiness and tranquility of their minds? The list goes on, Sage. Love and money are two of the biggest desires of all people today and yet to achieve them they require a great deal of selfishness. So what is holding you back from telling me from what I want to know? Fear? Tell you what, I’m a reasonable man. Should you tell me what I want to know right now, I will allow you to join our cause. All you have to do is prove your worth. Give me information, and kill one Allayan, and I will trust you completely. How does that sound?”

“Crazy,” James grunted. “A Sage is not selfish…”

“HA!” Alexander exclaimed, before rustling his hand through James’ hair. “A Sage may not be selfish, but he is a puppet, James. To become a Sage, you have to be willing to give up all your innate desires for what? Death? Because that’s what it ultimately comes down to. A Sage always dies well before his time. That is a common Prattlian saying, for an Allayan Sage.”

“Everyone dies at some point…”

“We get only one life, and after that, we are subjected to Paradise or Oblivion according to our deeds.”

“I think I know where you’re going…”

“A comedian to the end. Yes, I am on my way to Oblivion. My bags are packed, and the transportation won’t be late. When my time comes, I will face the music…should it come. If there is a way to extend my existence, maybe even achieve immortality, who knows?”

“No one lives forever.”

“So we are taught. So we believe. So we fear. We are already eternal beings, otherwise there would be no reason such places exist. Did you ever think of that? Sure, I believe in the Maker, despite how strange that may sound, but I also believe in the Dark one, and let me tell you a thing about the two concerning our existence. There are no neutral sides, in this life or the next. You will always have to choose. Whether you claim neutrality, your actions choose a side. You can’t have it both ways. The already defined ‘good and evil’ are in place. People want to stay gray, stay confused, stay hazy in ignorant bliss, thinking at the end it will save them. That ignorance will save them. But even our own laws frown on ignorance. Break a law in ignorance and you still pay the penalty. Do you understand, now? You have to choose a side, and you have to stick with it with all of your heart and soul. I’ve made my decision long ago, and for my dedication, I will be awarded thusly. Listen, I know you’re only a child, but even a child must decide at some point, and yours is today. My name is Alexander, and I will be the villain of your story.”