by Jada Fisher
The Sage of the Light began to mutter rapidly under his breath, the words so fast that she couldn’t make them out to save her life. She recognized it as the language of magic, of the old gods, but he spoke far too fast to understand any of it. She knew a few spells that Gayla had used, but she’d never spoken this fast.
Light sprang from him, literally. It looked like a swarm of fireflies had burst from his body, but these were not insects. These were like raindrops of light peeling off his being and floating in the air. Tuni stared at them in awe, her tear-stained cheeks feeling warm. She reached out and poked one. It was warm to the touch.
The strange lights grew greater in number until there were hundreds of them. They spread out from Grear. When they touched Tuni, she sighed, feeling warm and content and better, like the light itself was healing her wounds. And then she realized that they were.
It was a healing glow, a healing spell.
But what kind of spell could not only heal her and those around her, but also save a line of sages from being exterminated? Would it kill Grear?
His brows were knitted together and sweat ran down his face. His grimace was great even with his words, and clearly this was taking a lot out of him, but he didn’t stop.
Before long, someone came up behind Tuni, and she just about cried out. It was Asoka.
The mermaid still looked paler than usual, with blood all over her and a pained expression, but she was up. Asoka was alive. She was alive and awake and standing, and it was a miracle and Tuni wanted to cry and hug her, but she was glued to her spot, cradling Gayla, her tears still falling like a deluge.
So, she’d have Asoka, but there was still the matter of Gayla and the line of earth sages. If they were lost, then so was the whole world.
As Grear continued, Ash and Dorrick stumbled over to them. Both looked exhausted and had their own injuries to contend with, but this spell had them feeling better too. Tuni didn’t know if this was a temporary fix or if all of their wounds would be healed. She still had some pain where Bishta had stabbed her. She guessed that this spell was making the worst of it go away, but they wouldn’t be good as new.
Finally, after several minutes of chanting, Grear stopped, gasped, and looked at her with weary eyes but a satisfied smile.
“It…is done.” And then he fell back and passed out.
“Wait, what is done? Wait!”
But it was too late. He was unconscious, his chest rising rhythmically as he dozed away, exhausted from the effort.
Tuni shook, not knowing what he meant. She looked down at Gayla. Her friend was still unmoving, still cold and lifeless and gone. Another sob threatened to claw its way up her throat and choke her.
And then it started.
First, it was just a whisper, a flicker of an image, and she didn’t know what to make of it. But then it all seemed to come to Tuni at once. A wall, a wave, a storm of images, sounds, tastes, emotions. Memories. Thousands of lifetimes worth rushing into her mind that were foreign to her, yet not at the same time. They were familiar, so painfully familiar, like they were her own.
With a start, she realized why that was so. These were the memories of the Sages of the Earth. And now they were hers, and she theirs.
So, it wasn’t all lost.
This was good news, wasn’t it? The sage line was not destroyed by Bishta. And she was one of the best people for this job, wasn’t she? She had intimate knowledge of the wilds and had been trained by Gayla herself and would have plenty of friends and allies to help her. Really, she was the perfect person to take on the mantle.
So why did she sob so hard that her throat went raw, and her body shook, and her heart wanted to explode in her chest?
It was because this meant Gayla was gone for good. Yes, Tuni could see her again in her memories. Yes, that was better than nothing at all. But it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t the same as being able to talk with her like normal, laugh and cry and tell stories like normal. To hug her, feel her warmth. To experience the unfathomable and unflinching kindness of Gayla the Green, the Girl O’ Green, mythical guardian of the wilds.
This was not the same, and it hurt so, so much.
Because now it was just another loss for her, wasn’t it? She’d lost all her friends, her family, her home, her way of life. Somehow, she was given a miracle, a new life. But now Gayla was gone, and Tuni felt hollow.
Asoka put her good arm around her suddenly and leaned her head against Tuni’s. Dorrick put a hand on her head, and she heard him cry. Ash’s face pressed against the space between Tuni’s shoulders blades, her barky fingers twining in Tuni’s shirt.
That’s right, I still have them, Tuni thought, finally finding a reason to smile. They would be by her side and fight with her. Because the fight wasn’t over. This battle may have been lost, but the war was far from over.
Bishta was still out there. She’d be back, and she’d be coming for Tuni now too, on top of Grear and Asoka and Reshni. Gayla had been the best of them—the oldest, wisest, strongest sage. If not her, then what was Tuni to do? She couldn’t hope to live up to that legacy, could she?
Could she beat Bishta when it came to that? Never mind actually fighting her to the point of victory, could she kill her?
It all felt so impossible, so hopeless, and her body let her know it. It was hard to breathe as her sobs racked her body painfully.
It hurt, it really did, knowing what was to come and knowing that Gayla was gone.
But Tuni would stand and fight and try with all her might to carry Gayla in her heart and live up to the ideals that the fabled Girl O’ Green had taught her. If that was the one thing she could do, Tuni would do it, no matter how painful it might be for her and them along the way.
She knew she had to try. And Tuni wouldn’t be alone. She had Shandi and Dorrick, who would help her every step of the way. She had Ash’yali, a new friend, and the tree folk. She had Baerdon and Ivara and their people if need be. And she had Grear, the Sage of the Light, who would help her in the final battle with the dark sage. She didn’t know if she could count on Reshni. In fact, she had the feeling that after this defeat of her knights at the hands of Asoka and the tree folk, Reshni and them would come to blows soon.
But when that came, she would convince her to join the real fight. They needed to all come together if they wanted to defeat the rogue Sage.
So, she wiped her tears away, grabbed the flower staff, and clutched it to her chest. Her heart beat hard against it.
They would get stronger, they would heal, and they would be ready to fight and save this world from the dark forces that sought to tear it apart.
And then Gayla and the sages of old would smile at them from the other side, and Tuni would be able to join them with a smile as well.
THANK YOU
Thank you so much for reading Bishta the Black. Wow. Another Sage falls to the Black Sage. Can Tuni step up and avenge her mentor or is Bishta inexorably moving closer to her goal of ending the line of Sages forever?
The next story in the Fall of the Sages series is in the editing process now and will be available this summer. Keep an eye out for it on Amazon.
Find all of Jada Fisher’s books on Amazon.
amazon.com/Jada-Fisher/e/B07HFRWS4S
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