The Sorcerer's Ring (Book 1) (20 page)

The monster roared and attempted to punch her in the face as hard as it could, and he barely activated her armor form in time. He smashed his knuckle against her steel body and howled in rage—not at the pain, but the frustration that he couldn’t get to her.

“Let me,” the armored man said, handing Kace’s lifeless body to the monster. “Don’t break him yet. We need him for leverage.”

The armored man unsheathed his sword and examined her steel form meticulously.

“I’ve got you,” he said, getting ready to make an incision. She deactivated her form and summoned her white Sage robes as she leapt forward with eidolon in hand. Yet somehow, the armored man blocked her attack. Parrying her thrust upwards, he kicked her in the chest and she went sprawling to the dirt. The armored man sneered at her.

“You killed my friend, and seriously wounded Dominic. That won’t go unpunished.”

“Mm-hmm,” she said, jumping to her feet. Using bursts of energy, she struck at the armored man, knowing that the odds of her succeeding were slim. She would activate her armored form occasionally, right when he was about to hit her, but he would always stop, as if he could read her mind.

“You’re predictable,” he said as he kicked her in the chest again. She didn’t fall, but it seriously hurt. She clutched her breast as he shook his head. “You’re inexperienced. Untalented. Weak. I don’t get why you’re even trying.”

“Because someone has to,” she whispered. She grit her teeth and decided to try a different approach. No more killing strikes. Just aim to wound.

She nearly stabbed his arm when she lost her left instead.

Her left arm went flying behind her as the armored man snickered.

“Was that what you meant to do?” he said casually as the pain flooded her. This pain, she was not used to. It wasn’t a dull never ending ache. It was a violent screaming baby, demanding to be fed with attention. The world around her lost all meaning and purpose. There was only the roaring sensation coming from her arm.

“It’s okay. It was a clean cut,” she heard him say, but his voice was distant. It was so soft she wasn’t even sure he had said it or if she had made it up. She tried to concentrate on his voice, in order to bring her back to reality. With a little more clarity, she began focusing on the wound, closing it up completely. She had healed minor cuts before through mediation, but not one this big. There was no way she could save her arm, and so she might as well concentrate on stopping the bleeding.

But just as she was nearly done, she felt her other arm leave her.

The pain came back.

She thought she was prepared as she had experienced it once already, but she was tired now.

She couldn’t give the pain what it wanted, and so she lost herself completely. Lost in a trance, she fell to her knees and then onto the side of her face, watching as blood left her body. She blinked rapidly as her thoughts left her. Her body went numb and soon the pain left her. It still screamed, but it was like someone had taken it away from her. She heard it, but it no longer affected her in the same way.

She nearly smiled.

She felt blissful.

Almost whole again.

It was a good feeling.

NO! her mind snapped at her. NO! GET UP! GET UP! GET UP! Remi’s eyes fluttered and she gasped for breath. She hadn’t realized she had been holding it in. Her senses were getting sharper but so was the agony. She accepted its rage and its cries. She acknowledged it without succumbing. She started closing the wound on her right arm.

No! Not that!

Barely conscious, she leapt to her feet and jumped backwards, several feet away. The armored man snapped his head back in shock as she concentrated on her wound, closing it completely.

“What are you doing?” he shouted, his arms slack as he couldn’t fathom her still standing. Her body was already weak. She was sick. And then she had lost both arms. How was this even possible?

Remi lifted her head and glared at him, her arms no longer there. His eyes went wide as she looked past him and to the monster in the background, still holding Kace.

She transformed the lower half of her body, forming a makeshift skirt as her white Sage robe only covered her waist and legs. And then she leapt into the air over the armored man’s head, aiming straight for the monster with no weapon at her disposal.

She landed a couple yards away from the monster and Kace when she heard the armored man’s footsteps coming from behind.

She stuck out her tongue and curled it.

It wrapped around a hilt.

She bit down on it hard to keep it secured.

She spun around, using her strengthened legs for momentum.

And she stabbed the blade of her eidolon through the armored man’s throat. His voice caught in his throat as she leapt back and slammed her body into his, bringing them both down to the ground.

As she kept the hilt of her eidolon caught firmly between her teeth, she used the weight of her body to ensure that he wouldn’t be getting back up.

The monster roared and threw Kace to the side. He cocked back a fist to punch her, and that’s when the Sages came. Catherine, Daisy and Talia all leapt into the air, and each of them thrust their eidolons into the crown of his head, standing on his shoulders and using the weight of their bodies to press their blades further into his skull. The monster toppled over and didn’t get back up.

Remi groaned and stood to her feet, still delirious.

Her left leg was severed.

Remi fell over onto her face as she heard Catherine scream Dominic’s name. The three Sages rushed him and as Remi’s mind faded, she could hear them scuffling with him in the distance.

Suddenly, she felt a burning sensation where her leg once was. She screamed out in agony as she was woken back up. Why couldn’t she sleep? When would the torture end?

Someone stretched out on the ground next to her. The familiar face was level with hers. Their cheek on the ground like hers.

She could barely see who it was as her vision had gone blurry, but she could hear the whispers. The soft, sweet whispers, losing volume by the second.

“I’m here, Remi,” the voice said. “It’s me, Olivia. I cauterized your wound for you…you didn’t have to do this alone, Remi. I would have fought with you. Eckard too.”

The face inched closer.

“I think I’m going to ride your coattails for a while. Since we’ve separated, I’ve been through Oblivion trying to find you, and now that I have, I see that you have a great thing going. I want to see Paragon, Remi. I know you’re going, and I know the Sages will take you there.”

The face inched even closer, until their noses were nearly touching.

“I know I’m a traitor. And when you wake up…if you ever wake up…you can scream about it all you want. But it won’t matter. Because I will have proven myself to them, and honestly, they’ll always remember your weakness. It follows you around like body odor you can’t wash off. I’m sorry to say this, but it’s true. I’ll try to be good from here on out, but I had to remind you.”

The face moved so close that their lips were practically touching.

“I had to remind you that no matter what you do, you’ll never be as good as me.”

Remi’s eyes shut.

And she slept.

She was groggy, but at least she was awake. Stretching her arms absentmindedly, she yawned and felt crust in her eyes fall. She reached up to rub her eyes when she realized that something was wrong. What touched her skin was not flesh.

She lowered her right arm.

How did she have an arm?

She examined the construct attached to her shoulder as her vision slowly cleared. It was mechanical in nature, a combination of steel and wood, and painted to match the color of her skin as much as possible. She examined her left side and saw that there was a similar arm attached to that side as well. It was then that she noticed the bed she laid on.

It was the most beautiful bed she had ever seen, quite unlike the small cot she would curl up on at home. There were lavish gold colored comforters, fluffy white pillows propping up her back, and a sheet under her that was smooth to the touch.

The old her would have laid back down to sleep. But she figured that she had slept enough. It was time to figure out where she was.

She took her time. She sat up and looked around the room she had been placed in. There were large bay windows behind her and outside was a valley as wide as she could see. There were so many flowers and different species of birds flying about that she figured she had to be dreaming. She blinked her eyes and took in the ambience for a moment before turning back to the room. The ceiling was high above her and a chandelier hung from the center, outfitted with triangular diamonds and red wax candles. The room itself had a solid gold colored wallpaper and a glass coffee table sat in the center of the lush gold and white rug, with a book and a quill pen sitting on top of it. There were other large bay windows around her, but they had curtains over them, keeping the mysteries that lay beyond the panes hidden.

She shifted her legs and then remembered Dominic’s last attack.

She threw the covers off the bed and examined her severed leg, now outfitted with the same kind of prosthetic as her arms. She closed her eyes to think when someone knocked on the open door. She looked up to see Catherine giving her a great big smile. She no longer looked dirty or tired. She was chipper, and she was wearing a long lacey white dress. She would have assumed it was a bride’s dress if it wasn’t for how short the skirt had been cropped at the knees.

Catherine ran forward on her bare feet and then plopped at the end of the massive bed. She kicked her legs over the side as she leaned onto her elbows and stared up at Remi.

Remi laughed. “What in the world are you doing?”

“Just waiting for you to get out of bed.”

“You’re acting like a little kid,” Remi snickered.

“Maybe because I feel like one,” she said, sliding off the bed and onto her feet. She practically bounced over to Remi and took her mechanical hands into hers. Remi winced at the sight, but Catherine’s joy was undeterred.

“You’ll get used to them. I promise.”

“How do you know,” Remi asked, staring down at them. “They feel…so cold.”

“Why don’t you look at it this way,” Catherine said with a wink. “They’ll be stronger than your old arms.”

Remi’s eyebrows perked up. Well…that was true.

“Come on,” Catherine said. “Just watch the leg. There’s a couple of crutches under the bed you can use for walking around. I want to show you some things.”

“Are we in Paragon?” Remi asked and Catherine pursed her lips.

“What do you think?”

“Yeah,” she laughed as Catherine grabbed the crutches.

“Sorry I’m being so annoying,” she said, handing Remi the crutches. “My head has been in the clouds lately. It’s been so long since I had a break. Years.”

“How long was I sleeping?”

“Two months.”

Remi closed her eyes to let that sink in. “And Allay?”

“Safe for now,” Catherine said. “Dominic’s also under Paragon’s custody. I’m sure they have a lot of questions for him.”

“He won’t break out this time?”

“I’m sorry for that by the way,” Catherine said. “I didn’t think he was still in a position to lash out. You would still have both of your legs if we had been paying more attention to him instead of the monster.”

“You did nothing wrong,” Remi mumbled. “But I am a bit concerned. Why is Allay safe now when it wasn’t before?”

“Because Paragon has sent reinforcements. A little late if you ask me, but at least they’re there. We were escorted here after we said our goodbyes to Tyuin. Every guard he lost is being replaced by someone even stronger, but of course, that doesn’t make the hurt go away. We all lost something that day.”

“So what do we do now?”

“Cimmerian is quiet at the moment. Probably trying to figure out their next move. They know that one of the Sorcerer’s weapons is safe here in Paragon, and they probably didn’t expect to lose as many as they did in the end. There’s going to be a lot of time taken out to reassess. So we’re at a standstill for now. As for what we do, it’s time to…how did Kace put it? Compare notes.”

“Kace!” Remi shouted as she put the crutches under her armpits. “How is he?”

“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” she said, pointing toward the door. Kace was poking his head in the room with wide eyes.

Remi giggled. “What are you doing over there? Get your butt in here!”

Kace laughed and entered the room. Two months had certainly passed. There was no evidence of the damage his body had taken in Allay, and it was apparent that he had been working out. Most of all, she loved his smile. Whatever was going on in Paragon, he was happy.

“I want to show you around,” he said, putting a hand on her back and helping her stand. The prosthetic leg combined with the real one was unsettling. She found herself wanting to shift most of her weight to her real one, subconsciously believing that the fake one would break. She tried her best to balance herself evenly.

“This will take some getting used to,” she said, using the crutches to propel her forward. She noticed how light she felt. And her body wasn’t aching or nagging of exhaustion like usual.

“They have a full blown school here,” he said as he walked beside her. Catherine gave them their space, but she followed along as they talked.

They walked past a few more open rooms down a luxurious hallway, lit up by the sun from all the windows placed in the walls. Finally, they hit the open air.

They were on a stone bridge, but there were platforms everywhere that one could take steps down to. From looking over the edge of the glass railing, she saw that the steps and platforms went down for miles. They were very high up in the air, yet when she looked out in the distance, she could see rolling hills and meadows and animals lazily mulling around. It was a surreal sight. To know that they had to almost be touching clouds yet the land was easily visible.

She looked over the railing again and squint her eyes. She could see the bottom now. She closed her eyes and then reopened them. She couldn’t see it anymore

“This is cool,” she said as Kace laughed.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of things your body can do that it can’t out there in Terra. We’re a lot stronger here for one. I doubt you’ll feel any sickness.”

“Wow,” she said, not even sure how to take that fact. No more illness? She could finally find out what it feels like to be normal…

“You mentioned a school,” she said. “What’s that?”

“This is part of it,” he said, pointing to one of the stone platforms. A few students were sparring with each other. Kace pointed to another, and she could see a couple fighting in full Sage garb, clashing their eidolons against one another. “It’s not a Sage school,” Kace said. “It’s for anyone that’s willing to grow. Here in Paragon, there’s not too many places like this unfortunately.”

“I see,” Remi said as one of the students looked familiar. When she squint her eyes, she realized that it was Olivia, trading blows with another student. Neither were using weapons. They used close quarters combat, flipping each other and trying to strike at each other’s abdomen. Kace sighed as he noticed what she was looking at.

“I was skeptical about her when she came with us to Paragon,” he said. “I was watching her the whole time and I even told Catherine what she did on Terra. But…she hasn’t shown any signs of being the person she once was. I don’t know what happened to her when we ditched her, but it seems like it was all for the best. She’s rising in the ranks around here. All she does is train.”

“Oh yeah?” Remi said with no emotion whatsoever. A tingling in the back of her mind struggled to remind her of something important, but she couldn’t quite reach it yet. She still didn’t trust Olivia, but perhaps Kace was right.

People could change, right?

“What else?” Remi asked as they moved along. They walked past platform after platform for an entire mile until they reached the next building—a glass tower with stone pillars and cornerstones. It stretched so high that even when she squint her eyes, it took a while before she could see the top. Having her eyes readjust was also disconcerting.

“What’s in here?”

“Hold on,” Catherine said, pointing behind Remi. “I would like you to meet someone first. My husband, James.”

Remi leapt in shock when he appeared behind her.

“Oops, sorry about that,” James chuckled. “Didn’t mean to scare you.” He was so average looking that it made Remi want to weep. He wasn’t tall nor short. Not fat nor skinny. He just was. His hair was short, and he wore a blue Sage robe, but otherwise, there was little to his physical individuality.

“You haven’t changed a bit,” Catherine laughed and James fake pouted.

“Says you. I’m the big cheese around her now. I would mind your manners if I were you.”

“Oh please, just point out a platform and give me a time.”

“I was just playing,” James sulked, rubbing his short hair. “You’ve gotten so violent since we’ve been apart.”

“I haven’t been prancing around in Paragon for twenty years,” she said, sticking her tongue out at him. Kace rolled his eyes and turned to Remi.

“Don’t be around these two alone. You’ll lose your mind and consider working for the enemy.”

“Prancing,” James huffed. Catherine laughed and threw her arms around him, giving a big kiss. Remi looked for a brick platform to sit on. Kace laughed as she walked away, but he didn’t follow. He let her enjoy the new world for herself. There would be plenty of time to spend together.

Remi sighed and sat over the edge of the platform. It was weird feeling one leg dangling and the other…just not being there, but that was the situation she was in. When she leaned back onto the palms of her hands, it was awkward and for a moment, she thought of what would happen if she jumped off.

But it was a thought. Nothing more.

“Shut up,” she whispered to herself anyways, just for extra measure.

Her thoughts weren’t real unless she made it so. That much she had learned, and she would carry that lesson with her for the rest of her life. What did she have to be upset about? She had an awesome boyfriend. She was living in freaking Paradise, and even her body had gotten an upgrade. No more aches in the arms. No more wobbling legs. Okay, one leg.

She would be okay.

No, she would be more than okay.

“Hey,” James said as he sat down beside her. “Sorry for that. I’m still not used to Catherine being around so I just lose my mind and forget everyone around me when she’s near.”

“It’s okay,” Remi chuckled. She stared out over the expanse of blue sky. It was like an ocean, and she was dangling her legs within it. It was an incredible sensation.

“So you’re the leader around here?” she asked. James shrugged his shoulders.

“People look to me for answers, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m in charge. That was mainly a joke back there.”

“But you do call the shots.”

“Yep.”

“So…what’s the plan? What do we do next?”

James laughed. “You’re not playing around.”

“I’ve been playing around and sitting on my butt since I was a baby. I’m ready to get up and do something.”

“In that case, I have plenty of things you can do. With a war just beginning, there’s no shortage of missions. The most important, in my eyes at least, being the one you already imposed on yourself—finding the other Sorcerer weapons.”

“I can get started on that as soon as I’ve trained a bit.”

“Sure,” he said. Remi looked at him in surprise.

“You really don’t care about my health? Or that I’m rushing into things?”

“Should I?”

“No.”

“Then I don’t.”

“I don’t get it. This is our first conversation together, and you’re acting like you’ve known me since I was born. Like you trust me with your life.”

“Let me put it this way. I know what it’s like not to feel wanted. To be looked down upon and thought of as worthless. But once you find that well of power within yourself, and start changing your world, there’s nothing that can stop you. So why should I try? You say you can do this, then you can do it. End of story.”

“I can see why Catherine admires you.”