Of Heroes And Villains (Book 4)

by Julius St. Clair

  Oltain took a seat, removing his Quietus skin so that he could feel the polish with his own fingers. He didn’t want to damage the wood. James smiled, but he made no sound. He didn’t want to scare Oltain back into his Quietus state, where he was more on edge and more prone to violence. Seeing him outside of his transformation, he appeared so harmless.

  He was a red headed, freckled teenager, with a gaunt frame, and hair that had been cut in random places. His once fine hair was now damaged and coarse. His eyes though—green and hungry, were still filled with wonder and awe. He couldn’t stop himself from running his fingers along the chair’s armrests, even when Catherine quietly entered the room.

  She closed the door behind her, and folded her hands, waiting for Oltain to notice her arrival. In the meantime, she stole time away to glance over at James, who gave her a smile that melted her from head to foot. It was still amazing how a mere gaze, especially when he had been gone for a while, just paralyzed her. She wished that feeling would never change.

  James chuckled to himself and pointed at her. She looked down and stifled a laugh. Her royal dress, once a silk robe of white and gold, was now covered in juice and grease stains. Catherine shrugged her shoulders and a giggle escaped from her lips. Oltain’s head snapped up, and suddenly, his hands gripped the armrests.

  “I’m sorry to startle you,” Catherine said, brushing her hands across her dress. “I’m also sorry for my attire. I was told to come meet you here immediately. I didn’t have time to change.”

  “Who are you?” Oltain asked, his grip on the armrests loosening. James tried to keep his smile from getting too wide. Catherine’s unintentional magic was already flooding the room. Her ability to gain the love and trust of all those that met her. Even her enemies, at the very least, respected her.

  “I’m Queen Catherine, the current ruler of Allay. Welcome to our Kingdom,” she said, extending a hand out toward him. Oltain looked at it like it was about to bite him.

  “Why would you shake my hand? I’m a Quietus.”

  “Oh,” Catherine paused, and then extended the hand out even closer. “Well then, Mr. Quietus, welcome to our Kingdom.”

  “My name is Oltain,” he said, eyeing her hand warily. With hesitation, he took her hand and shook it quickly. He leaned back in his chair once the deed was done, unsure what to make of the Queen before him.

  “So you found a Quietus?” Catherine said to James.

  “There’s a whole group of them,” he replied. “They’ve been living in the ruins of Prattle. They didn’t know what happened to Thorn, or how we’ve formed peace treaties. We told him that they were the only Quietus we’ve found in the last five years.”

  “So all of this is true?” Oltain asked, his eyes widening. “Thorn is dead?”

  “Yes,” Catherine said, folding her hands again. “And we can show you around our Kingdom to prove it, as long as you maintain that form. Unfortunately, there is still some prejudice against the Quietus people, but we will deal with that in the future. I think that for now, you would want to stay hidden regardless, in order to properly assess the situation.”

  “I’ll also be defenseless,” he said, to which Catherine smiled.

  “I’m sure you have some kind of contingency in place, in case that happened.”

  “Arimus would be killed,” James said, catching Catherine’s attention. “He’s still in Prattle as their hostage. Oltain is here to confirm our story and report back. I’ll show him around myself, and then I have to head back out as soon as possible.”

  “I hope you’ve entered sleep into that equation.”

  “I’ll manage,” he gave her a smile. “But before we do a tour of the Kingdom, I do need your help with something. The Quietus told us that we weren’t the only Sages to contact them, and I’m not talking about the youth who came to the throne room. A couple adult Sages went to the Quietus and threatened them, saying that they were going to take back what was theirs, and they needed the Quietus to join them.”

  “Sages? From here? What could that mean?”

  “I don’t know, but it’s unsettling. While I’m taking care of this with Arimus, you should have Talia look into it.”

  “But what if Talia is one of—no, we can’t start thinking like that. She’s shown nothing but loyalty to us. Honestly, James, if what you say is true, then we’ll have to be very careful on what actions we take. Where do I even begin?”

  “If you’re not sure of who we can trust, then you’ll have to carry out the investigation yourself, which will be next to impossible with your status. You can’t manifest a different appearance, especially since other Sages will be able to see through it. I don’t know, Catherine. I think you’ll just have to ask Talia to investigate on your behalf. I would start with the Orders. I can help as soon as I get back.”

  “No, we’ll take care of it. You’ll need your rest, and the Sage Academy’s opening can’t be delayed. That will raise too much suspicion. Everything must appear normal.”

  “While we’re out,” James said to Oltain, “if you see any of these Sages, make sure to point them out.” Oltain nodded, and James rose to his feet. Oltain followed suit, staring at the Queen the entire time.

  “Hopefully, we’ll see each other again soon,” Catherine replied, as they began to head back out the way they came. James sighed and looked back at her. He wanted to kiss her terribly, but he knew he had to stay focused on business. All he could give her was a look of desire. His eyes were tired and sunken, his shoulders tight and stressed, and all he could think about was holding her. It would have almost been better if he hadn’t seen her at all. Their short time together just made it that much harder to concentrate.

  “I love you,” she mouthed to him silently. A smirk escaped from his lips, and then they were gone, leaving Catherine to ponder her next move. If the Quietus was not lying…the news was quite unsettling. Rogue Sages…what could that mean? Especially with so many impressionable young ones in Allay? If anyone sought to amass an army of Sages, it wouldn’t be difficult. The young ones hadn’t yet tasted the rustic flavor of war. They hadn’t seen the horrors that came of it, and the consequences that lasted for generations. She overheard them in the meadows. Many of them longed for battle, and apparently, there was someone out there, seeking to give them exactly that.

  There was a lot of work to be done.

  * * *

  Unexpectedly, Daisy didn’t run. Bastion laughed to himself as he released his eidolon completely, engulfing the area in a snap of light. In one second, it blinded her, and then it was immediately over. Daisy clutched her hook swords tight and faced her opponent. Bastion stuck his Gladius out toward her, beckoning her, goading her to attack first.

  He didn’t expect her to take the bait. She was full of surprises.

  She tried to slash at his head, but he raised his eidolon to block it. At the last second, she stopped her assault, and before he could register her movement, one of her blades was at his side, nearly grazing against his ribs. But he was faster. He adjusted to meet her blade with his own, but then she stopped short of her intended path and changed her trajectory. He smiled as they continued their strange dance, but he knew what she was doing.

  She refused to clash blades, for she knew that hers could be broken. Instead, she was taking her time, aiming for areas of his body that weren’t guarded, and then using bursts of speed to stop her momentum. The problem was, it wouldn’t work if he went on the offensive.

  Bastion dodged a swipe at his legs by taking a step back, and then he swung at Daisy’s abdomen with about half his speed. Somehow she caught wind of the attempt, and one of her hook swords met him. They clashed, and of course, her hook sword was cut in half on impact. The half that had broken off fell into the grass and disintegrated. Bastion sheathed his sword, and got ready to catch Daisy as she fell.

  But it wasn’t until the last second, when his arms were already stretched out, that he sensed trickery. His eye had caught it out of the corner. It wa
s the fact that her other hook sword was still whole, gripped firmly in her left hand. He caught her in his arms, and then she stabbed him in the back, the weapon changing into a regular straight sword on impact.

  Daisy’s eyes snapped open and she grabbed his shirt collar with her right hand, pulling him in toward her. The pain had not yet registered, but the pressure still took his breath away. She forced the blade to plunge in further, until part of it emerged through the other side and out his chest. He tried to cry out, but he gagged and choked on a thick fluid instead. Daisy used some of her strength to propel him forward even more, sending him flying over her and face first into the grass. She climbed to her feet as Bastion remained paralyzed. He grit his teeth and tried to jump to his feet, but the sensation was unlike anything he had ever felt before. Daisy stretched out her right hand, and another hook sword appeared.

  She used the sword in her left hand to grab the back of his collar and lift him a few inches off the ground. With the right hook sword, she wrapped it around his neck, forcing him into a position in which he could easily be decapitated. Bastion’s eyes went wide as he felt the blade’s edge graze his throat.

  A flash of light shoved Daisy off her feet, and she landed on her back in the grass. The light vanished and Bastion was standing over her, a Sage robe replacing his village clothes. A robe of pitch black, with silver streaks running down the arm sleeves. A symbol of a hand holding a straight sword was in the middle of his chest, emblazoned in gold.

  “Bastion,” Daisy said to him in awe. “You did it! You were ab—“

  Her voice was cut short as Bastion’s hand wrapped around her throat and lifted her off the ground. Her eyes went wide in horror as she stared into the all-black, dead eyes of Bastion, glaring back at her with absolutely no emotion and no restraint. She knew she had only a few seconds before she was to be crushed.

  She groaned and tried to concentrate on a counter measure, but her mind was getting fuzzy, her vision cloudy. She was just about to lose unconsciousness when she was suddenly relieved from Bastion’s grip. Her knees hit the ground and she started coughing. The dry heaves made her throat even sorer than it already was, but at least she was alive.

  She clutched her throat just as two hands grabbed her shoulders.

  “Daisy, talk to me,” Bastion pleaded. She lifted her head and her eyes met his. He was crying. His eyes searched her face frantically. She gave him a weak smile and then held up a finger for him to wait. He let go of her shoulders and sat down in the grass with her, waiting nervously as she concentrated on healing her wound.

  It took a couple minutes, and even when she cleared her throat, it felt like the impressions of his fingers were still there, but at least nothing hurt. She cleared her throat again and faced him.

  “I’m sorry,” she said with a chuckle. Bastion scoffed and shook his head.

  “What are you talking about? I’m the one that nearly killed you!”

  “You got a hold of yourself in the nick of time,” she said, reaching forward to wipe the tears off his cheeks. “I pushed you too far. I knew I was doing it…but I had to see what would happen. You didn’t disappoint.”

  “What are you talking about?” Bastion said in exasperation.

  “I had to see what your weaknesses were. Caught an unintended glimpse of your potential too.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Your Sage robes…have you ever transformed before?”

  “No…” he trailed off, examining his hands. “Never.”

  “Your body just reacted. I’ve never seen anything like it. I don’t know what to think.”

  “When you stabbed me,” he said, placing a hand over his chest, “I couldn’t move. All I could think about was the pressure, and how my body wouldn’t do what I told it to.”

  “The only reason I was able to get to you in the first place was because you dropped your guard,” she groaned, beginning to rise to her feet. Bastion took her arm and helped her up the rest of the way. “The pros and cons of dual wielding. Both swords only contain half power each, so if one gets shattered, you’re still fighting strong. Not as big of a shock on your system. We did learn some valuable information though. Something you should really be careful of: you can’t take too much pain.”

  “You stabbed me in the back and through my chest,” Bastion said. “I don’t think anyone can take that much pain.”

  “The difference with you is that you’re not used to pain, period. You might have been slapped or punched in the face. Maybe you tripped over your own two feet a few times. But it never hurt, did it?”

  “No,” he said truthfully. “Today was the first time I felt anything like it.”

  “That means you don’t know how to deal. You’ll either clam up, or you’ll go crazy. Not good in either scenario. At least you were able to get a hold of yourself before you went too far.”

  “Barely,” he said. “But I don’t think it’s because I became aware. I…”

  Daisy’s jaw dropped before she realized it. He would need more work than she thought.

  “Are you telling me that…that…”

  “I’m sorry,” Bastion replied, casting his head down. “I think the only reason I stopped is because my body didn’t know how to maintain my Sage form. I became aware simply because that form ended. If this hadn’t been the first time…I’m sorry. I would understand if you don’t want to hang around me anymore. I—I can handle things on my own if I have to.”

  “No,” Daisy said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I told you already. We’re in this together. Our destinies are intertwined, and that’s that.”

  “I never want to hurt you again,” Bastion said, his eyes steady on hers. “I promise you. No matter what happens.”

  Daisy took her hand off his shoulder and bowed her head. Then she reared back, and punched him in the face as hard as she could. Bastion staggered back and put a hand to his cheek.

  “What was that?” he cried out, scowling at her. She raised her fist again and approached him. He kept on backing up to avoid her. “Hey! What are you doing? Hey!”

  “You promised you’d never hurt me!”

  “But why are you trying to?”

  “You nearly killed me back there!”

  “I didn’t mean it! I—cut it out!” he said as she kicked him in the leg. “I thought we were in this together!”

  “We are, but you think I’m just going to let that go? No, if we’re going to be friends, then you have to pay for what you did. Hold still!”

  “I knew you didn’t forgive me!” Bastion shouted as he began running away. Daisy donned her Sage robe and took off right after him.

  Chapter 11 – Nightmares

  Catherine sat in her throne chair, staring off into space, when she heard footsteps coming from the entrance to the castle. She shot up to her feet, knowing that visitors arriving at such a late hour in the night couldn’t be a good thing. She was surprised to see Seeker and four other members of his Order walking toward her, escorted by several of her guards. Her guards surrounded the Order members like a bubble, and for a second, Catherine couldn’t help but wonder how loyal they were to her. The news that James had brought her unsettled her deeply. She knew that the peace could be unraveled with the slight pull of the thread, but she never dreamed that threats against it would come so soon.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Catherine demanded. One of the guards, a man named Pine, stepped forward.

  “My apologies, Your Majesty,” he said. “I would not have disturbed you if I didn’t already know that you were in the throne room. Seeker claimed that it was important.”

  “I didn’t know Seeker had such pull,” she said, to which Seeker’s eyes smiled. “Fine. I’ll hear him out.” The guards backed away, and Seeker stepped forward and bowed. Catherine resisted the urge to roll her eyes

  “What is it that you need, Seeker?” she asked. “What’s so urgent that it couldn’t wait until morning?”

  “Is it true?” he as
ked. Her heart skipped a beat. He couldn’t be here for that. It wasn’t possible.

  “You will have to be more specific.”

  “You have a Quietus hiding within our Kingdom,” he said with confidence. The guards that had escorted him gave him and the Queen concerned glances. Out of the corner of her eye, Catherine caught a glimpse of Zhou emerging from behind the throne platform. She sighed and kept her focus on the soon-to-be Order Master.

  “Even if I did, it is none of your concern.”

  “So it is true.”

  “This is not a trial, nor do I have to entertain your line of questioning. Is there any other business that you are here for? Because if not, I will have to ask you to leave.”

  “You do know what this will mean, don’t you?” he said, with such a threatening tone that the guards formed a bubble around him and his Order members once more. “This will cause dissention and mistrust between the court and the Orders. I understand that not all must be shared with the public, but a Quietus, an enemy of the Allayan people—if one has been found, it needs to be shared. The villagers need to know in order to take precautions should another Siege be laid upon the castle.”

  “No such thing will happen. All you need to concern yourself about is that the court has everything under control.”

  “I have talked extensively with the Order of Prattle and the Order of Languor. We are all in disagreement with what to do with the Quietus and what their arrival would mean to the Kingdom.”

  “No surprise there,” Catherine sighed. “But again, it is none of your concern whether there is a Quietus here or not. Guards—“

  “—wait!” he shouted, throwing up his hands in the air. “We have decided that it is time that you choose an Order to back once and for all. Since this Quietus’ arrival is the first conflict coming up against our Kingdom, we have all taken different stances on the matter. If you but hear us out, you can then choose the Order that aligns with your views. Then you can have that Order serve as your official spiritual voice for the people.”