***
The next morning didn’t start off right.
James was ready to eat the breakfast of champions only to find out that he had overslept. And once again the cold cafeteria doors met him with an unrelenting, merciless stare. James jiggled the handle, starving for even a pear—the fruit he had tried once and swore he would never eat again. But the guardians to sustenance held their ground, and James, though frustrated, muttered about how his plan to beat Dominic was still going to work, with or without food in his belly to give him energy. He was just about to head over to the hall early when the cafeteria doors opened slightly and a tiny black eye sneered at him through the crack. James caught a whiff of a wonderful array of syrup, sausage, and possibly, hopefully, buttermilk cakes.
“Is there any way I can get inside and get something to eat?” James pleaded to the eye. He had already made up his mind that he wasn’t too proud to beg for what he wanted.
“Breakfast ends at 10:00 sharp. Sharp,” the man stressed as he glanced away from James’ hungry stare.
“Oh c’mon, what’s the big deal?” James practically cried as he heard the soft laughter of students eating happily in the background.
“They came promptly. You came at your leisure. Leisure begs discipline. You will learn,” the man said, irritated. Something about the voice gave James a flicker of recognition.
“Kyran, is that you?”
The eye squinted and disappeared. James caught a flash of a sausage link being happily thrown to a recruit who—to James—appeared to be frolicking over to catch it, but all this was in the split second before the door slammed in his face. James didn’t bother knocking. Kyran wasn’t going to budge.
James moped over to the hall where the second day of the Sage test would begin. Arimus and Dominic were already waiting, exchanging a few small words to pass the time. It was apparent they didn’t want to talk to one another, but they preferred it over the awkwardness that would ensue if they didn’t. James put on his best fake smile and acted like he had twice the energy he had showed yesterday.
“Your breath reeks,” Dominic stated, arms crossed, as James forced out a hello. James frowned and lost his composure. Suddenly, visions of his fellow recruits frolicking through breakfast valley swam through his head, only enraging him further. His stomach grumbled at him in reply.
“You overslept again, didn’t you, James?” Arimus mused as James sorrowfully looked to his mentor.
“I couldn’t sleep well. I was thinking too much.”
“Hopefully about a way to improve,” Dominic said flatly as he handed James a sword. “I really want to continue my own training today so let’s get this over with. Since you didn’t have breakfast, you should be out a lot quicker than yesterday.”
James fought back a smile. Dominic thought even less of him than before. Excellent.
“Are you sure you are up to this?” Arimus asked out of concern. “We could hold off until lunch.”
“Oh c’mon, Arimus,” Dominic said. “Don’t give him special treatment. He was the one who slept in. Don’t punish me for it.”
Arimus stood erect and silent, knowing that Dominic was right.
“Like yesterday —no eidolon, so let’s get this going,” Dominic stated in a bored tone. This time he didn’t even bother taking a defensive stance.
James wasn’t fooled. He knew that although Dominic looked like he was barely aware of his own existence, he was on guard. James grudgingly acknowledged a glimpse of his own ego in Dominic’s display. And as a result, he knew that Dominic would never let himself be beaten by someone as inexperienced and weak as he was. He was putting on a good show, but on the inside, he was waiting for the unexpected.
And this was precisely what James wanted him to do.
James knew how the fight would play out before it even began, based on the type of person Dominic was. Arrogant and confident, yet apprehensive of uncalculated risks and especially defeat. He was the type of person who would never let a loss go, so he was always on edge, always thinking of what could happen. James preferred going into the second day of the test with Dominic at the peak of his cautiousness rather than with him becoming more careful with each of James’ attacks. Now, James could simply bring Dominic’s expectations down and strike when the moment was right. It was all he had, and it would work. He had gone over every scenario he could imagine last night and for the first time ever, James not only cursed his overactive imagination, but after realizing that sleep was nowhere in the vicinity—he blessed it.
He hoped Arimus would be pleased.
“Watch yourself,” James yelled as he lunged at Dominic, who expectedly dodged the attack. James fought back another smile as he fell on his back from a well-placed body slam. He barely felt the pain, already expecting it and rolling with the throw to negate some of the force. Still, he put on a good show, cringing in pain as he held his left shoulder blade. He growled in false anger and lunged again with the same desired result. James lunged again and again, hoping Dominic wouldn’t notice that he put little energy into his attacks. Occasionally, James swung aimlessly at Dominic’s head or torso to mix up the pace, and from the shaking of Arimus’s head, and the yawns coming from Dominic’s mouth, he could tell that his deception was going quite well.
“Are you done yet?” Dominic rolled his eyes as he held James at bay, his massive arms squeezing James’ biceps and keeping him from making a move. Dominic let go and sent a fist plowing through James’ diaphragm. James fell hard and fought the surge of pain that attempted to paralyze his body. Arimus ran his fingers through his beard.
“A few more minutes, and we’re done for today,” Arimus stated flatly as Dominic nodded with newfound energy.
“Good. In that case, I’ll make sure he won’t want to come back tomorrow. Get up, James. I have something to show you.”
“Fine,” James spat as he felt the adrenaline course through his veins. It was now or never. All the strength he had been saving for the last five hours wasn’t going to go to waste. If only he had that extra edge he would’ve gotten from those cakes.
James lunged and purposely missed once again, but he knew what was coming. Dominic was a bully. The type of person who would hurt you simply because he felt superior, and James anticipated this. Like yesterday, the last few minutes of his session with Dominic would be the most painful. See, Dominic loved that physical, personal gratification he got when he left a mark on you. He wanted visible confirmation of your defeat.
He would show no mercy, and James wanted him more than ever to be that way.
Dominic swung a downward right hook toward James’ cheek. James weathered the blow, while calculating the exact direction of its continued swing: where it would land after it reached its destination.
The punch hurt, but he knew it would, and if he didn’t act now, he might never get another shot. James reached out and grabbed Dominic’s wrist with his right hand, holding it with all he had. Already catching himself from his fake lunge, he thrust his body to the left into Dominic’s torso with a cry of rage. Dominic let out an “OH!” in surprise as they tumbled to the ground, but James wasn’t about to let go. James awkwardly tried positioning his left hand, which held the sword, to pretend like he was going for the cut. Dominic thought so too and responded accordingly. Dominic grabbed James’ wrist, holding the sword high above his body, but James didn’t want to cut him.
James head-butted Dominic in the nose as hard as he could, hearing him cry out in unfamiliar pain as James followed this moment of helplessness with a swift blow to his left cheek and a knee to his stomach. Dominic’s grip held onto his left wrist but James still didn’t want to cut him. Giving him a lesson in humility was satisfying enough.
Dominic angrily tried to turn the blade and pierce it through James. James let go of the sword which fell swiftly into James’ free right hand. James slammed his foot on Dominic’s right wrist to prevent him from going for it and quickly back-rolled off
of Dominic. Dominic, fully enraged, clamored to his feet and ran toward James who threw the blade as hard as he could. Dominic pivoted to the side as he instinctively had done over and over throughout the day but it wasn’t fast enough.
His eyes widened in horror as the blade nicked his right cheek. An almost microscopic drop of blood emerged, and James stood still, calm, waiting for Dominic’s next move.
James made up his mind he wouldn’t throw a smile. It was something Dominic would do, and James could not—would not— be associated with a man like him. James instead looked to Arimus for approval. Arimus didn’t move, but what he couldn’t hide was the pride in his eyes as they glimmered for a second in awe. That was all James needed.
Dominic didn’t look at either of the other two men in the room, but instead picked up the sword that had clanged at the far end of the hall. He held it for a second, staring at the speck of red that stained the edge, and threw it in disgust to the side. He turned around and glared at James, his jaw struggling to keep his teeth from gnashing—he was so furious. Arimus chuckled lightly.
“Well, I hope you’re happy.”
“I’d say so,” James mused.
“Dominic won’t hold back anymore. He will be on guard for the rest of this test.”
“Haven’t I passed?”
“Have you? Do I really need to explain?”
“No…” James sighed, throwing his head down to the floor. “I get it. Even though I nicked him, it didn’t happen when his eidolon was out so…yeah, I’m not even sure I would count it myself. But…I figured that as long as I could make him release his eidolon, I’d at least dodge being the laughing stock of the Academy. Guess I’ll have to come up with a plan for tomorrow on how to cut him.”
“So you’re really not counting this?” Arimus asked curiously.
“Would you? His eidolon was nowhere to be found. How could I take the Sage classes when I haven’t even seen an eidolon?”
“Very noble of you. And you are right, of course. The purpose of this exam is to get past his eidolon. Which he has yet to engage you appropriately with.
“Sad thing is, I’m already so tired, and that was my only real attack.”
“You’ll be able to sleep soon enough. Dominic looks like he’s determined to make sure you become good friends with your pillow tonight.”
James gulped and watched as Dominic placed his fist onto his left shoulder.
“Okay, so that was my fault,” Dominic admitted. “I should’ve known someone from the village would try some underhanded tactics. I’ll admit you fooled me, but that’s about as close to a compliment as you’re going to get. Arimus! Please don’t tell me he passed.”
“Don’t worry,” Arimus chuckled. “He must cut you with your eidolon unsheathed.”
“Good. Then we only have one day left together.”
“I still have today,” James retorted. Dominic laughed like a mad man as he closed his eyes.
“Oh, today is already gone.”
James wanted to make it through the flash of light. He needed to. He had to see this eidolon edge for himself, so he swallowed his pride and looked away slightly, only managing to catch a glimpse of Dominic barely lifting his fist from his shoulder and unsheathing his soul’s edge.
The light that engulfed the room was brilliant—as if a million white magnolias had burst around them, each overlapping the other to create a soft and delicate array. James wanted to reach out and touch what he saw, this wallpaper of petals that dared to slow his adrenaline rush. The light lasted briefly, taken away in an instant.
And James turned to see Dominic bearing his eidolon edge.
It was similar to a machete, though not exactly, and the grip was made of a rubber that was easy on the hands. The cross-guard was a bright gold, appearing to be more for show than actual worth. The blade itself was the most impressive. Considerably longer than a machete’s two feet, this boasted at least five. The blade’s edge was outlined in blood red, its central ridge decorated with numerous gold symbols. It could’ve been mistaken for a normal, albeit colorful blade, if not for the aura emanating from it. The same eerie gold color that shaded the symbols glowed dangerously around the entire sword and slightly around Dominic’s hands and forearm. Dominic didn’t appear to change except for his demeanor. He was tranquil and at ease, as if meditating with open eyes. James moved forward cautiously, knowing that Dominic wouldn’t hand him the sword that was thrown to the side. Not yet.
Dominic remained undisturbed. His eyes fell softly to his feet as he sighed deeply. James waited for the eye of the storm to pass. The blade hummed a noticeable yet unheard tune that James struggled to hear. It was like hearing one’s own blood course through one’s veins in the dead of night. It didn’t get any louder.
“My only regret,” Dominic spoke calmly, totally out of character, “is that this is all I can manifest. A true Sage would be able to transform his entire being in that flash of light. It’s so soothing yet causes so much anxiety, all at once. I have only a short time to release my eidolon before that light fades. I never get a chance to transform anything else. Only my eidolon…but I guess for now, this is all I can do. For now.”
James began sweating as he heard Dominic speak. He was more afraid of this new Dominic than the old one. Was this confidence and this peace part of what it meant to be a Sage? It wasn’t what he said that scared James, but how he said it—as if James wasn’t even there, like Dominic was in his own world of tranquility. James could only imagine that the moment it was disturbed, the blade’s song would be heard, causing the world to go deaf.
James looked at Arimus for a response. He showed none, having no fear because he wasn’t the recipient of Dominic’s upcoming attack; but he was in awe over the vision that lay before him.
“It never gets old,” Arimus said. “Seeing an eidolon. It’s very aura makes me want to flee, as if I have more to fear than physical death from that blade.”
James didn’t respond. He knew exactly how Arimus felt. There was a terrible and beautiful sensation that inhabited the room, making him feel as if he had nothing to fear from this life any more. His very soul was about to be condemned.
“Are you sure he’s not a Sage?”
Arimus looked into James’ eyes and fought back a shudder.
“Yes. Believe it or not, he is not yet a Sage.”
“The Maker help us…” James prayed as Dominic inhaled a breath and stared directly into James.
“No—” James squeaked, to call off the session before Dominic could move, but the Sage-in-training refused to hear him.
James hardly saw anything. It was like questioning if you saw a ghost or not. One moment Dominic was there and in the next he wasn’t. All that lay before James’ eyes was a vague banner that hung on the back wall.
James felt the calf of his right leg raise to get ready to run.
And the eidolon cut him.
He held his breath in shock as his vision cleared and Dominic stood in front of him—face to face—staring down into his soul. The eidolon bore the weight of Dominic’s two hands as it rested—so to speak—on James’ left breast. The eidolon had barely scratched him, barely cutting through the first layer of skin, but still James couldn’t move. He waited for the pain.
“The moment you breathe, the pain will come,” Dominic said matter-of-factly. “With my eidolon unsheathed, it is easy to know the exact point where I should rest my blade on your body, and at what depth I should make my incision. The vein underneath will burst and cause you unbearable pain. I can hear your every heartbeat. I can see your every muscle twitch. I don’t have to be able to read your thoughts to know what you are about to do. This eidolon is able to perceive more than I could ever imagine. It is my very soul taking in inconceivable information through thousands of unknown senses…this eidolon, right here, knows how to take you out with the most minimal effort.”
James refused to breathe, barely able to hear Dominic’s
words as the eidolon nuzzled him. He could feel his lungs coughing, reaching upward for precious oxygen.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, James,” Dominic whispered to his face. James’ lungs cried out in agony. He answered…and darkness clouded his vision.
The Last of the Sages (Sage Saga, Book 1) Page 8
