***
The night was as uneventful as they come. Whenever it was James’ turn to watch on guard, he would just stand at the base of a tree, trying not to talk so he wouldn’t wake the others. Simultaneously, he would desperately try to find other forms of entertainment, so he wouldn’t be stuck thinking about Achan and Catherine being together.
James didn’t hold anything against Achan. He knew Achan was the better man, yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t meant to just stand idly by while everyone’s lives went on. He had been idle for years, and he was sick of it. Days used to turn into months in a matter of minutes. James would simply sleep a day or two away, only to wake up for the bare necessities. His life had been a daydream, staring out of a window for hours on end, laughing at his father’s attempts to get him to do some work. He had thought it was a good life, full of luxury. No hardships or trials. He had loved it, but what kind of life had it been after all? He was simply taking up space, barely a handful of people being aware of his existence. What did he matter in the grand scheme of things?
The Academy had given him a second chance to redeem the life he had never appreciated, and yet every time it seemed that James finally found something to fight for, it was taken away as quickly as it had arrived. He had not only lost a best friend and his first chance at love (for now that he thought about it, he was sure Catherine was fond of him), but now he wasn’t even a Sage, a bodyguard, or someone that could protect her. His life was meaningless.
“I have to find meaning,” he said under his breath.
“What?” Tyler asked, startled. He had fallen asleep.
“Never mind me. I was just thinking out loud.”
“Yeah, you do that from time to time.”
“What?” James exclaimed, appalled that he did it often enough to warrant such a response.
Tyler yawned and ignored him. James sighed and looked to the sky. The morning sun began to beam through the canopy. Eerie green illusions danced around them as the haze began to smother what little sunlight had broken through, as if to steal their hopes and dreams in one fell swoop. James shuddered at the thought of dying during their time in the forest, as he had many times the night before. Clutching his sword fervently, he tried to soothe his nerves as the rest of the group began waking from their slumber. Achan wasted no time in surveying the emotions of his team, wondering if the night’s sleep had calmed them down, or simply given them nightmares to combat. Feeling somewhat satisfied, he allowed himself to yawn without restraint before pushing himself to his feet. James observed the entire ritual, just in case he had the privilege of leading a team himself one day.
“How much further to the shrine?” Aqua inquired, a question that was on everyone’s minds.
“We’re practically there. Another hour or so,” Achan replied. “I wanted to set up camp here because I didn’t want to run into any animals while we were sleeping. From this point on, however, is where we need to be cautious from what I’ve heard. The stone, when it is done reading the ether, emits a weird kind of aura that attracts the local wild. They’ll be distracted by the stone for the most part but that doesn’t mean we can just walk up and take it. The closer we get to it, the harder it will be, and once we take it, I’m assuming the animals will turn on us.”
“We seriously only have an hour left?” London asked. Was it too good to be true?
“The test was designed to last three days. One to get there, one to get back, and one, you know, in case anything out of the ordinary occurs.”
“Which it probably will,” James spoke up. “If I know Arimus, then he and the other teachers designed this with just enough time to make it out. I keep thinking about what Kyran said, and how few recruits actually make it out alive from this exam. We have to be ready for anything.”
“As long as no one deviates from my orders, we should be fine,” Achan stated matter-of-factly. “I’ve known about this trip for weeks, and I’ve been studying my behind off for the past three days. Not to mention I’ve had plenty of discussions with Elder who has surveyed this forest with his parents on numerous occasions. As a matter of fact, I asked Elder, who had been too terrified in the past to take the infantry test, to join me here because of his expertise.”
“He speaks the truth,” Elder hastened to say. “The only reason I came is because my friend needed me. Otherwise, I am just fine being a simple scholar. I have no aspirations to go into battle for the sake of fighting.”
“These facts should be able to ease your troubled minds. Just stick with one another. I can’t stress that enough.”
The group nodded here and there. James clutched the hilt of his sword with determination. He had something to prove, not just to Arimus and the proctors, but his team as well. He had to prove that he was needed.
The troop marched on, cautious and anxious, constantly aware of their surroundings, struggling to be absolutely silent. It didn’t take long to notice the radiating green glow in front of them, just beyond the trees. Knowing instantly that it was the stone, the troop slowed their march, as if delaying a trip to the gallows.
Achan looked behind him at his team, saw the sweat pouring from their faces, the downcast stares, the shuffling of their feet, and laughed within himself. He knew it was not the animals they would have to worry about. He had talked about them thoroughly with Elder. None would prove a threat. It was what would happen after the stone was switched. That was the problem. He didn’t know exactly what happened for sure, but he had heard the rumors, and that was enough.
Achan sighed.
“They Say the Sage,” Achan began singing as loud and heartfelt as he could, startling his colleagues and awakening the forest around them.
“With one swing, can level…an entire tree…
But what, I ask, does it compare….to the might of the Infantry!!
The Cry of our swords…collectively!!
Swarming the cowards…our enemy!
They Say the Sage…with their honor and might…have no fear…
Oh, how they fight…
The Earth cowers…under their weight
But no Sage could…begin to take…
The POWER! Of the Infantry!
Hear their roar…oh, how they sing!
When they join…hilt to hand…
Come my brother, be a man.
Join our cause, the Infantry!
What is mine, is yours to keep.
We are one, and we are strong,
With one war-cry, our enemy gone!”
Achan began repeating his created song with conviction and power. James could feel Achan’s love for the infantry, even from where he stood in the back, and it brought up within him an urge to fight the fear that tried to quench his spirit, and to join Achan in song. Like all the troops before him, he began listening even more intently, word for word, learning little by little the song that began to bring them together as one. The animals scurried away, at least those that weren’t engulfed in the glow of the stone. And the troop began to laugh as they saw the animals run. Squirrels and birds, chipmunks, and deer, running or flying away in fear.
Nothing intimidating.
Nothing to even cause an inkling of fear in the hearts of the recruits.
James was shocked. Was the whole point of the test simply to scare recruits about the unknown? To cause most to quit after talk of death and eternal damnation? Was Elder in on it too? Did he tell that story to cause them to give up and turn back?
Achan couldn’t be in on it. His love for his team and his determination to keep going forward was evidence enough. He wanted them to succeed. Still, even with his heart-felt song bellowing through the foliage, James felt a twinge of shame. He was not yet convinced that being a part of the infantry was better than being a Sage. Even if a Sage was a loner, and even if they were only tools of the King, couldn’t they accomplish more than the infantry? He couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe there was more to Achan’s disdain for
Sages than simple logic. Maybe something had happened to him that had taken away his faith in them.
Maybe.
“I had a feeling about this,” London exclaimed, “that there was nothing to worry about. I knew it. Elder, you had me going with that story of yours. It was crazy to begin with, and I almost believed it!”
London laughed as Elder cleared his throat.
“I wasn’t lying.”
“Oh, just let it go already, man. Seriously.”
Achan ignored them as he pushed away the last set of branches, to see the stone they had come for. Sitting on top of a marble surface, it emitted a beam of light that stretched beyond the sky into the green haze, as if trying to cut through it. Achan examined it closely, as it felt warm even from a distance. The song had stopped. No one said a word as he inspected it for signs of danger.
“All we have to do is switch it. Right?” Rahima spoke up, eager to leave. It was too quiet.
“Shush,” Achan said quickly as everyone huddled around to see. Achan noticed the eerie silence immediately. “Someone watch our back, please.”
James obediently turned around to face their trodden path. To his surprise, many of the animals had doubled back and come close to see the stone. James hissed at a few of them, but they didn’t budge. Achan tapped the stone with his index finger. Seeing that nothing happened to it after careful inspection, he clutched the stone with both hands and lifted it off the pedestal. It was surprisingly light, and Elder quickly put the replacement in its stead. It didn’t glow as brightly as the one they had just taken, but it did emit a low light from deep within its core, as if a sole candle was lit in a gigantic room of darkness. Alicia put the stone in the bag she was carrying, as she was the one of the few people who actually had extra room. Achan sighed as they surveyed the area. Nothing happened.
“Is that it?” London asked. Larry repeated London’s question and got no answer as Achan made a motion for everyone to be quiet. Everyone stood still, but it appeared they were in the clear.
“Well, I guess that’s it,” Chrillian replied. “Let’s head back!”
The group began to celebrate a little. James looked for the animals and saw that they had shrunk back into the forest. He glanced toward Achan who noticed the same thing.
“Everyone stay alert! Maintain!” he yelled as they all calmed down. “I need you to look around the shrine. There’s got to be a sign or something, to let us know where we are.”
“I see what you mean,” Elder nodded.
Tyler saw it first, after only a moment of searching. He gave a cry of surprise and all swarmed to look at what he was pointing at. Standing just amongst a few bushes, barely noticeable, stood a worn and rusted sign that read, “Here lies the Prattle Kingdom’s border. Crossing is at your own risk.” The pedestal itself was just inside the Allayan border.
“You don’t think…” James considered, “that there are people from another Kingdom around, do you?”
“Possibly,” Achan replied. “Langorans to be exact.”
“Are they serious?”
“In general, no, but if what I’ve heard is true, we should get out of here as fast as we can. I know for a fact that Langorans will not stray into open Allayan territory.”
Achan checked to make sure that the stone they had placed on the marble surface was secure, and then he began to run. The troop followed suit, sensing the anxiety in their leader. Achan kept the pace at a jog so he could speak of his concerns to his team.
“The Langorans are a lazy bunch, sitting around all day, eating and drinking. That’s all they do. However, one can’t discount the fact that—like all of the Kingdoms—they have uncanny abilities at their disposal. One of them being that they have superhuman strength that lies dormant within them. Strength they can release at any time. It lasts for only minutes, but the results are disastrous. The longer they literally lie dormant, or the more they simply sleep and do nothing but sit around, the more powerful their strength is when it’s released.”
“But if they’re so lazy, why would they come after us now?” a recruit asked.
“It’s not the Langoran citizens I’m worried about. It’s the POW’s.”
“POW’s?”
“I’ve heard rumors that there are prisoners of war deep under the ground of the stone we just switched, secured by a lever that the stone rests on. When the stone is lifted, the lever is released until another stone is put back in its place. I tried replacing it quickly in case the rumors were true, but I don’t know. I hear that for every second the lever is released, one Langoran’s chains are loosed.”
“How long did it take you to get the stone in place,” James asked nervously.
“Five seconds,” Achan said, “which is long enough. I’m just a little worried because I figure, if these Langorans have been in a prison for so long, provided this is one of the shrines in which the stone has not been replaced recently…that means they’ve had plenty of time to store up energy, and honestly, if they have all that pent up strength ready to be released, who better to let it out on than some Allayans? The ones who put you there in the first place.”
That sunk in as the troop picked up the pace. James looked behind him only for a moment. Seeing nothing suspicious, he kept his gaze forward, concentrating on the trail.
“We keep moving until we get out of the forest. No breaks,” Achan muttered. Kyran’s words echoed through James’ mind. The words that James had referred to once as Kyran’s prophecy.
Few survive this exam.
The Last of the Sages (Sage Saga, Book 1) Page 14
