The Sorcerer's Dragon (Book 2)

by Julius St. Clair

“What are you accusing me of?” Kyran said. He wasn’t on the defensive, but he wasn’t attacking either. It was a good sign. James might get the information he wanted out of him after all.

  “When we have our senior training sessions, we go all out. No holding back. But I’ve noticed that as we’ve picked up the intensity, Chloe has been more and more absent. Listen, I get that we’re still in Paragon. We have to enjoy ourselves, but that’s no excuse to habitually miss the most important classes we have here. We can’t get soft.”

  “Is that what I am?” Kyran goaded, taking a step toward him. His eyes were cast down upon him as if he was a bug. “Soft?”

  “No one said it but you,” James said, maintaining his resolve. His instinct was to apologize to Kyran for the unintentional insult. But to get the desired result, he couldn’t back down. Kyran would respect him more for not being weak. For not apologizing.

  “You’ve gotten bolder,” Kyran said. “Don’t know how that’s possible with so much peace and beauty around you. What’s happened to you?”

  James fought back a smile. In the midst of conflict, asking a question was usually a way to diffuse a situation without admitting guilt. Kyran wouldn’t admit it, but he was on the defensive now. It was almost time to strike.

  “I’m the leader,” James said, reaffirming his place in the ranks. “And that means I don’t have the luxury of getting soft, no matter how I may be received on the outside. So while the rest of you can sleep without worry and have fun in the meadows, I’m constantly planning the next move. Moves that won’t be implemented if my star soldiers are nowhere to be found.”

  Now it was time to strike.

  “Chloe will be at our next session,” James ordered. “Period.”

  “Hmph,” Kyran said, pushing him slightly to the side and walking past him. James watched him stroll down the path, until he disappeared into a passing cloud afar off. James sighed and his knees nearly buckled. Arimus burst out laughing.

  “Well done, James,” Arimus laughed. “There’s hope for us all.”

  “That was scary,” James mumbled to himself. “I felt like he was going to kill me.”

  “The thought crossed his mind, I assure you.”

  “It was a risk I had to take. Chloe needs to be training with us.”

  “I know. It was a matter that had been on my mind lately as well, but I wanted to leave the problem up to you. As you said, you’re the leader around here.”

  “How was that decided again?” he groaned.

  Arimus shrugged his shoulders. “Luck of the draw, I suppose. The fact is, we fought for so long down on Terra that once we died, it was like something snapped within us. We just don’t have the same drive we once had. I guess we thought that once we came to Paradise…that would be it. But war is still looming over us, and the stakes are higher than ever…still, it’s difficult to replace that drive we lost.”

  “If Catherine was here, she would be leader,” James said. “Of that I’m sure.”

  “Yes,” Arimus agreed. “But she’s not.”

  “She’s still on Terra,” James said. “And…she’s getting older. While I,” he reached up to caress his cheek. “I stay the same. It’s like we’re ghosts. Our bodies are more like spirits than anything.”

  “A minor inconvenience—aging. At least she’s still alive.”

  “Yes…and I’ m trying to do everything I can think of so that we’re all reunited safely. I don’t want to lose a single person. Not one Sage. Not one Paragon.”

  “As long as you stay vigilant, and do what you have to do, you’ll be fine. Though Kyran will be pissed for a couple days, he will respect your leadership and your decisions more now that you didn’t back down from his challenge.”

  “So what’s on the docket today?”

  “More training with the senior Sages,” Arimus said, uncrossing his relatively new arms. “Scarlet won’t be there though. She and a young one named Eckard went to Terra.”

  “What for?”

  “You don’t remember? It’s their turn to go on scouting duty.”

  “Right,” James said, slapping a hand on his forehead. “I forgot. Hopefully they can find us some allies…what else is going on?”

  “Nothing much. A few of the young Sages are requesting an audience with you.”

  “What about?”

  “They’ve expressed concerns that they aren’t receiving proper training. They want to join the senior classes.”

  James scoffed and shook his head. “They’ll be murdered. And we can’t slow down our training to have them catch up. We don’t have time for that. Aren’t their own classes enough?”

  “Am I correct in assuming that they will be taking a more background role in the coming war?”

  “That’s safe to say.”

  “James, the young Sages died the same as we. Maybe they didn’t deliver the final blows to Thorn or Lakrymos. Perhaps they didn’t do much against the Yama…but that doesn’t mean they are useless. They can learn as well as we. They deserve a chance to show their worth.”

  “It will hold us back.”

  “The King of Paragon and his officials are already wary of us. They think that we’re not completely aligned with him and that we may seek to take Paragon. The last thing we need is for the Sages to be divided. Every soul matters here.”

  “I hear what you’re saying,” James sighed. “But let me ask you this…back on Terra…before we went on that journey for the five stones…why was there a separation between those who released their eidolons and those who didn’t?”

  “We couldn’t have non-Sages joining us because our mission focused on stealth more than anything. Bringing an army to the other Kingdoms’ borders would have incited war. But that’s not the case now. We know our enemy.”

  “But that doesn’t mean—according to your argument—that the infantry was useless. They could have been used as distractions or trained in other ways to improve the success of our mission. Yet you left them behind.”

  “I was wrong,” Arimus said. “I should have included everyone.”

  “You’re just saying that because we’re in Paragon.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When people think of Paradise,” James sighed. “It’s not just about beautiful landscapes and majestic buildings…it’s of peace and harmony. There’s the assumption that Paradise is a place where there is no conflict or disagreement. No discontent. No troubles…which we all know is not true. It’s a wonderful place, but it’s not without its flaws. You want to keep perpetrating the image that all is well, when everyone at this Academy and in Paragon need to wake up from their naps and see what’s coming—sure death.”

  “The decision is yours to make,” Arimus said.

  “I’ll think about it some more, but for now, cancel the meeting. They must be forgetting that with the three worlds connected, the atmosphere began to change…our eidolons are weaker than before. Our soul can’t thrive like it once could…give it a few more generations and we might not even exist…since all we are is soul energy.”

  “It’s possible,” Arimus said solemnly.

  “Time is short,” James said. “So I’m sure the young Sages will understand.”

  Chapter 2 – Wine

  The brand new Sage Academy had once been the castle of an ancient warrior. Fed up with the never-ending cycle of politics and public unrest, he began construction on a fortress in the sky—to separate himself completely from the people. According to the stories, no one was sad to see him go, as he had done nothing but cause discomfort in the overall morale.

  No one knew when he had left his home. All they knew was that it had been abandoned for centuries, and so when the Sages began arriving, with Achan and Chloe appearing soon after, the King of Paragon asked that they set up a home in the abandoned fortress, until they were able to “cleanse themselves from their violent tendencies.”

  Most people that died would receive quarantine within the major cities themselves, but
because the Sages were so much more powerful than the general public, they were asked to be separate. This unofficial decree carried on for the next twenty years.

  Every Sage that appeared in Paragon was asked to live in the new Sage Academy for the first five years of their new life. Not everyone listened, and there were quite a few Sages that left on their own, trying to forge a home in the countryside. It didn’t seem like there were enforcers keeping the Sages in check. It didn’t feel like they were being watched. And the Paragon government insisted that their separation was only to ease the troubled minds of the people, but James knew better.

  He had lived in Allay, so he knew how scared people could be about outsiders. When he would visit one of the four major cities, he wouldn’t get trembling jawlines and shaking hands. He would receive upright noses and clouds of contempt.

  But not everyone was stuck up and egotistical. In actuality, all that he had met outside of the four major cities had been as humble as they come. Warm, compassionate, loving. They feared for their lives in the upcoming war like everyone else, but it didn’t change the way they were. They were in Paradise after all, so for them, it was time to start acting like it.

  But for the inhabitants of the four major cities, there was an undeniable caste system in place, rewarding those with “seniority.” Those who died centuries ago were revered and given lavish gifts and homes. Those that arrived recently were forced to make do with the scraps. And sadly, it was very hard for anyone to rise through the ranks. Though there was no reason for one person to be esteemed over another, it happened on a daily basis.

  James was happy to go to the Sage Academy once he discovered this. It didn’t take long. After a few small conversations with the people in Altostratus, he learned what they really were. In a lot of ways, their superiority reminded him of the Quietus, and all the Sages knew what happened to them.

  “Report,” James said as he jumped onto the square brick platform, sitting out in the middle of the sky with only a small set of stairs connecting it to the rest of the Academy. There were hundreds of them, all connected to one sole quarter mile wide path, also made of brick and lined with plants and other small shrubbery.

  Bastion cleared his throat as he climbed to his feet. He brushed his hands down his black dress shirt, and then he tussled his hair a bit. James watched him curiously.

  “Long night?”

  “Yeah,” he muttered. He refused to look into James’ eyes.

  “Anything you want to talk about?”

  “Not at the moment.”

  “Then report,” James replied.

  Bastion cleared his throat again as he slapped the palms of his hands against his thighs. “Both towers are secure. No conflict. No intruders that we know of. Platforms are secure. No sign of weakness as well as the path in the center holding them up. Still haven’t figured out what’s keeping this thing up though.”

  “It’s been two decades,” James smiled. “I suppose if we haven’t found out by now, we never will.”

  “The two towers on each end of this place extend down into the ground occasionally. I noticed that whenever a new Sage arrives, it reacts on its own, as if it’s alive.”

  “Is it a machine?” James frowned. “Delilah construct?”

  “Nope,” Bastion sighed, his eyes weary and sunken. “New bricks appear out of thin air, like the fortress just pulled out an eidolon. It goes to the ground, lets the person up the spiral stairs on the inside, and then the lower half vanishes again, as if it was never there, and we’ve been floating in the sky the whole time.”

  “Maybe it is still there.”

  “I’ve gone down to see if there’s something physical there, but there’s not. Nothing but air.”

  “There are stranger things in Paragon.”

  “What are we doing?” Bastion asked suddenly.

  James blinked. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “The job you gave me is to figure out how our Academy is in the air. But isn’t there something more important I could be doing?”

  “Like what?”

  “I’m one of the strongest you’ve got. I should be down there on Terra scouting out new recruits and potential soldiers.”

  “That’s exactly why I can’t have you down there. Cimmerian knows about you. Everyone does. If you get sent down there, an arms race will begin, and they will consider you a threat.”

  “Who cares what they think?”

  “Bastion,” James said calmly. “I know you’re upset. But we have to wait. Be patient.”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” he muttered. “I should be patient. I should’ve been more patient when it came to all of this.” He plopped down on the floor and rested his head in his hands.

  “You regret it?” James asked, sitting down beside him.

  “I don’t know…sometimes. I think about what would have happened if I had kept everything the same. If Paradise and Oblivion were still everything people thought they could be, there wouldn’t be this war.”

  “No matter what, there would have been violence. At least now there is an equal chance for everyone. If you didn’t kill the Emissary, then he would be in charge right now while you would be strapped to a machine, wishing you were dead.”

  “The Emissary is dead, but there are still rulers over us. The Kings of Paragon and Cimmerian do what they like.”

  “There will always be rulers, but we keep on living, hoping that they will be efficient and compassionate ones. One gets taken down and another gets put in their place. Think about Allay. There was Catherine’s father, then Catherine, then Lakrymos, then Seeker, and now Tyuin. All of them ruled Allay, but with different styles.”

  “Speaking of Allay, why won’t you go down there?” Bastion asked with a raised eyebrow. “I thought you and Catherine were super close.”

  “We are…but I can’t go down there for the same reasons. It might start the conflict.”

  “But twenty years?”

  “Being together every day for all of eternity isn’t what it’s about. It’s about making the most of the moments you get together. I still love her after all this time because of the memories we’ve made.”

  “Yeah…I understand. But I think me and Lily need a little break sometimes.”

  “Things are bad?”

  “Not bad. Just complicated. You run out of things to talk about when you’ve been together for twenty years and she was once able to scan every memory you’ve ever had. She knows more about me than I know about myself so it gets annoying at times. She analyzes me and tells me what I’m doing wrong and where it all originated from. I can’t stand her sometimes.”

  “You knew all of this about her before you got married. She scanned you before you even got to Paragon.”

  “Maybe it’s because there’s nothing we’re fighting against. So all we have to fight is each other.”

  “You’ll figure it out.”

  “That’s it? No Sage advice? I thought you were the leader around here.”

  “I’m the leader when it comes to the war, not marital strife. How can I give advice on something I’ve never experienced?”

  “Lucky you.”

  “I will say this though. Lily—no matter what she knows about you—has stuck by you all this time, and that’s because she loves you. Whatever she saw in your memories…it was enough for her to stick around, and that means there’s hope for the two of you. If things haven’t gotten stale, then try something new. Go travel throughout Paragon for a while. It’s a big place.”

  “I thought I was needed here.”

  “You are, but it’s not going to do me any good if two of my most powerful warriors can’t even get along. Take some time out. If you’re needed, I’ll send for you.”

  “We might travel far.”

  “Then we’ll hold down things until you arrive. You might not believe this, but we can actually survive without you for a little while.”

  “I’ll talk to Lily about it.”

  “Good
,” James said, climbing to his feet. “So, now that that’s settled, anything else to report?”

  “Nothing important.”

  “Great,” James said, taking a deep breath. “It’s sad. I almost wish there was a little more action going on around here.”

  “Yeah, you don’t want that,” Bastion chuckled, remaining where he seated. “None of us truly do. You know what? That reminds me. There is one thing. Not really related to us that much though.”

  “Go ahead,” James replied, looking directly into Bastion’s eyes. The young Sage shrugged his shoulders.

  “Well, you remember fifteen years ago when we asked who wanted to stay and train, and who wanted to etch out a life somewhere in Paragon?”

  “Of course. We only lost a handful of Sages. I was surprised so many stayed.”

  “It just so happens that one of them went nuts over in the far eastern hemisphere of Paragon, roughly twelve miles south of Nimbus.”

  “The fourth major city? What happened?”

  “It was Linian. All of a sudden he pulled out his eidolon and began waving it around at his workers. He and his girlfriend had built a little farm out there and hired some workers. It’s not hard to thrive in the kind of weather we get.”

  “He was provoked?”

  “From the information I got secondhand…I heard that he was prone to drinking a little too much of the wine, but I don’t believe that for a second. Yes, people can get drunk, but the wine in Paragon doesn’t inhibit judgment nor does it remove any kind of motor functions. It merely makes one a little more giddy and excitable.”

  “Did he hurt anyone?”

  “No. He stopped and was said to be disoriented. That night they found the clothes he was wearing behind the farmhouse. His girlfriend said he had left in the evening and never came home.”

  “He took his life?”

  “That’s what it looks like. You know when we die there’s no trace of us after a few minutes. We become nothing but ash.”

  “Sounds strange, but not weird enough to get Paragon officials’ attention, I gather.”

  “No, they chalked it up to a troubled man who took to too much wine.”