Gripping the rings in his hands tight, he began swinging the blades over his head, spinning his body in a circle and slicing through every Yama within a few yards. With a burst of energy thrown into his feet, he increased his speed and began running through the mob, slicing and dicing so fast that the Yama could barely register his movements. All they saw was a lightning blue blur and in the next second, their heads or midsections were severed.
Bastion was so caught up in what he was doing that he didn’t even see the brute appear in front of him. A gigantic, muscle bound Yama that was only a couple feet taller than him but nearly as wide as his entire body standing up. The Yama punched Bastion in the shoulder and he went flying off balance. He had been going so fast that it sent him spiraling into the dirt, his whip blades sliding out his grip and away from him. They vanished as he climbed to his feet, and just as a giant foot kicked him in the chin.
For a big guy, he was quick, but not quicker than Bastion once he got moving. Bastion blocked the next kick with his forearm and pushed the brute back just as a couple Yama leapt onto his back. He easily used their momentum to throw them over his shoulder and onto their backs, putting them in the path of the gargantuan before him. Bastion summoned his whip blades once more, and a lot faster now that he knew the layout. By the time the brute had stepped on and over his fallen comrades, Bastion was finished.
The young Sage slashed at the giant but they barely nicked his massive hide. He forced the whips to vanish and then he summoned his eidolon. He dodged a swipe at his head with a roll and then stuck his eidolon into the giant’s side, forcing him to howl in both rage and pain. But because he had his Gladius and not his whips now, the weak Yama were getting bolder, throwing themselves at him in droves. He was forced to run in order to dodge their tackles and he barely caught a moment of reprieve when someone kicked him in the face, sending him to the ground. Groups of Yama began grabbing his arms and legs. A couple that reached for his eidolon found their arms completely disintegrated. Bastion saw his kicker emerge—Eiko. With his hands still clasped together, his arms were quivering like they were in the midst of an earthquake.
“This is bad,” Lily whispered, and Bastion grunted.
“Yep,” he said as he wretched his limbs away from the weak Yama. He rolled backwards onto his feet and barely dodged a blow from the brute behind him. Eiko introduced his foot to Bastion’s face and the young Sage was sent flying backwards again.
“Get out of here,” Lily said. “Please.”
“Got it. Got it,” Bastion said as he climbed to his feet and began pushing Yama out of the way. He could hear the brute howling behind him, trying to barrel toward him. Eiko was surely not far behind.
“I know you’re thinking of going back there. Don’t do it.”
“I was just thinking…
“Uh-huh.”
“I was thinking that if I am able to defeat these guys…and I mean all of them. I might be able to maintain an element of surprise with the other Yama armies. That could be invaluable.”
“Or that doesn’t work at all and you die.”
“Yeah, that could happen. Or it could not.”
“I’m getting scared now,” she said flatly. “What are you not saying?”
“What would happen if I used your power?”
“And take days, weeks or more away from you? No. I won’t do it.”
“It’s about the journey, right?” Bastion replied as he rolled under another attempt by the brute. His massive, meaty hand narrowly missed the back of his head.
“You should just run.”
“It depends on what our goal is here. If we keep running, when do we stand and fight?”
“Not now.”
“If I want to do this, you don’t have a choice though.”
Lily was silent after he said that, and he regretted his words immediately.
“Damn your choices,” Lily snapped at him. “You don’t get to use me like that.”
“I’m sorry,” Bastion said, still running through the waves of Yama. They were getting harder to push through by the second. Was he losing energy? “I didn’t mean that. What I mean is that what days or more I lose is my own choice. I’m not trying to use you, it’s just that I need you in order to make this happen.”
“Yeah…I hear you. In so many words you just said that you want to use me…like a master would.”
“Then I won’t,” Bastion said as he turned around and faced the brute head on. He punched the brute in the stomach with all his might, but it barely registered a thing. The brute reached for him and he rolled again out the way, just as Eiko appeared. Before he could pivot and sprint in another direction, the Yama had already kicked him three times, all in the chest. Bastion staggered back and right into the arms of the brute who held him tight, keeping the young Sage’s arms pinned to his sides.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Lily screamed as Bastion grit his teeth and tried to fight his captor. But it was no use. Eiko began kicking him repeatedly in the face. Over and over. To the point that his vision was beginning to get hazy. But it wasn’t until Eiko stopped and reached his hand toward Bastion’s chest that the young Sage realized just how foolish he had been.
“He’s going to take me,” Lily said. So matter-of-factly that it sent a shiver down Bastion’s spine. “I don’t know when he noticed that I was there or how he knew…but he’s going to take me.”
Eiko’s fingertips got closer and closer, until Bastion knew that under no circumstances, was he going to let Lily be taken…
His eyes went black.
With a snap of his neck, he thrust his head forward, and without a second thought, he bit off Eiko’s extended fingers.
The act was so shocking that the brute’s grip lightened a bit, and that was all it took for Bastion to break free. Before the brute realized what had happened, Bastion slid under the giant’s legs, unsheathed his eidolon, leapt into the air, and thrust it into the back of his massive head. The brute shuddered and then fell onto his chin. Bastion rolled over the giant’s back and onto his feet. Eiko performed a roundhouse kick toward Bastion’s face but the young Sage ducked while keeping his eidolon held up straight.
In a sense, Eiko cut off his own leg.
Eiko howled, but his cries were soon cut short as Bastion severed his head. He swung his head around, looked at the Yama around him through the pools of black that were his eyes, and then his Gladius disappeared. The whip blades returned.
Spinning faster than before, he continued the massacre. Yama began running away, after seeing their superiors fall, but Bastion made sure that none escaped. He would throw his whip toward the tops of the crater and with a quick swipe, he would take out dozens. He would sense those that had gotten far and he would give chase, running out into the Quietus forest and hunting, just as the previous residents had.
He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but the first thing he was aware of was Lily’s voice.
She was screaming.
“Lily, are you okay?” he asked. He found himself in the Quietus forest, in the canopy of the trees.
“GET ME OUT OF HERE!” she yelled, and he immediately willed her to leave his body. She seeped out of his chest the way she had entered, and he nearly missed catching her when the stone had fully formed and dropped into his hands. He placed it on the clump of branches next to him and a flash of light erupted through the forest rooftops, bursting through every crack in the branches it could find. When the light faded, Lily stood there, hugging herself and shuddering. Bastion tried to reach out for her but she held up a hand to stop him.
“Just give me a moment,” she said, and he waited patiently. He looked beneath him and saw the dead bodies of a couple Yama in the dead grass below. A strange, pungent, rusty smell tainted the air, and whenever a breeze came through, it got stronger, nearly making him gag.
“The Yama are gone?” he asked her, and she blinked rapidly, gathering her thoughts.
“Dead,” she confirmed. “You got them
all.”
“Even the giant? And Eiko?”
“Even them,” she said, looking into his eyes for the first time since she went back into her human form. Her hand was still covering her mouth. “I had no idea what it was like.”
“What?”
“What if feels like when you lose yourself…I had seen your memories…kind of. They were really hazy, but I never knew what it really meant.”
“Are you okay?” he asked, afraid of the answer. Her lips parted slowly as she cast her eyes beneath his, as if she was finding the proper words to say.
“Are you aware of what’s going on when that happens?”
“Not really,” he said nervously. “It’s kind of like my body just takes over.”
“Do you have any idea why?”
“I figure it’s like a survival mechanism, but I never really thought about it. Daisy once said that it might have something to do with my tolerance of pain, and how I never really felt it much in life, so when I do…I kind of lose it. Like a child having a tantrum.”
“I wish that’s all it was,” she chuckled lightly. “But it’s more than that…Bastion, someone is controlling you.”
“What?” he laughed, but her face was dead serious.
“You were no longer in control, and though I could still feel that you were…somewhere, it was like I was standing next to a lake and you were on the other side.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“All I know is that it wasn’t you moving your muscles. How quick you were…how responsive you were…it wasn’t you. Maybe this ‘transformation’ does kick in when you are facing death, but something or someone else definitely takes over. It was insane. I was calling out for you over and over but you weren’t there, and then whatever it was noticed me. It started…I don’t know, it felt like I was being watched, like it was trying to figure out a way to remove me.”
“What does that mean? I’ve never heard or felt anyone else inside of me…do you think someone’s seriously in control? Kind of like James and his Quietus heritage? He would hear voices through Thorn back when—”
“No, I would have known if you were part of two cultures. This is different. It’s almost like…you’re not even human. It felt like you were a candle that had just been snuffed out, and when they were done with you, you were re-lit.”
“That can’t be true,” Bastion said, though he had no argument against it. He had refused to question what happened when he lost himself because he was afraid of the answers. He was already a freak. What good would come of dwelling even further into why?
“Do you remember much about your childhood?”
“Before Quietus?”
“Yes.”
“Who does? I mean…I remember my parents and the village in Allay before I was taken.”
“Did you always have a tolerance against pain?”
“I never really fell as a kid. Not saying that I wasn’t running around. Just lucky I guess. Why do you ask? You think I was made?” He could already see the hurt in her eyes at the implications. He could hear her thoughts: Would that be so bad?
“I don’t know. You seem very human. It’s just when you lose yourself…I don’t know what that is. What that means.”
“Let’s say I was created. By who? And why? The Yama? The Delilah? For what reason?”
“I don’t know,” she said. Bastion stared at her for a moment and then he sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “Well, let’s start heading out. We can talk about this more while we head out.”
“Where are we going?”
“Languor. We’re going to see if there’s anyone left that can help us before we head to Prattle.”
“But aren’t you concerned about what we just learned? There’s the potential that whoever is on the other side of this might be able to control you at any time.”
“Hmm,” he mused. “Then I guess you and I are more alike than we originally thought.” Bastion leapt from the tree branches, leaving Lily up above. She watched him walk away for a moment and then she jumped down and followed behind.
More alike than we originally thought.
Strangely, hearing the words made her happy.
Chapter 10 – Horizon
“It’s so beautiful,” Marie replied as they barely skimmed the top of the ocean. Under the dawning light of the sun, the water appeared to crystalize, and the waves were flowing so gently that it was like a soft lullaby to her ears. She tried to place the sound, but even as a Prattlian, she was at a loss for words. The closest she came to a proper analogy was saying that it was like someone was pouring a pitcher of water into a lake, but she then dismissed the thought. It didn’t do it justice.
The ocean breeze, the salt on her tongue and the smell that pressed into her hair. Why hadn’t she ever gone out over the ocean before? Why had her people let fear rule them for so long? They were missing out on so much.
So, so much.
She gave the sky a big smile as she pressed a hand against the crown of her head, letting the winds take her into a daydream of delectable smells and dainty notions. Yes, it was time for the Prattlian people to become doers. Now more than ever.
She just had to survive the next few days or so.
“Marie, do you—” Talia began.
“Shhhh,” Catherine giggled, waving her hand toward Talia in a motion that looked like she was patting the air. “Let her enjoy this moment.”
“It’s funny how complacent I’ve gotten,” Talia laughed heartily. “After you showed me what you and James could do, I made my own private beach. I go there every day actually. I have a bed on the sand.”
“Oh, that sounds delightful,” she giggled. Catherine looked over at Daisy who was sitting near the butt of the bird. She was staring out over the ocean as Marie had, except her face was not the same. It was one of sorrow. Catherine scooted her butt toward her and tapped her lightly on the shoulder. She jumped a little, as if coming out of a daze, and then she gave them a weak smile. Catherine wasn’t about to let what she saw go.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. Daisy chuckled under her breath.
“I miss Bastion,” she said. Catherine’s smile faded as she glanced over at Talia. Talia pursed her lips and sighed.
“We’ll probably see him again,” Catherine said, putting a hand on Daisy’s shoulder. Daisy shook her head.
“Yeah, but under what circumstances? From what side? What happened in Languor…I can’t get it out of my head. I don’t know if I ever will.”
“You could have told me about this earlier. I would helped anyway I could.”
“I know, but I wasn’t sure how to deal with it. I just decided to pour myself into the mission. Surviving, fighting, stuff like that. Everything we were supposed to learn in the Academy, I’m out here learning firsthand. It’s taken up more of my time than I thought it would. I don’t really have time to think except at night, or like right now…when there’s moments to spare. I don’t enjoy these moments as much as Marie does.”
“It gets hard,” Catherine replied. “But you have to always look ahead, not on what happened. When I think of the past…” she stopped to swallow the lump in her throat. “I think of James, and I know that’s not going to save us. Thinking of the past never does. The only time you should dwell on such things is when you’re facing a tough decision. You call up the past as a reference, like it’s one of the books in your library—consult it, and then put it back on the shelf.”
“Bastion is all alone,” Daisy said, gritting her teeth. Catherine noticed a tear flowing down her cheek. Daisy removed it before it hit her chin, but it had been there just the same. “He’s a good kid. He really is. I liked him. He made me laugh and I was hard on him…but that didn’t mean I didn’t love him in my own way. I was just stupid. Trying too hard to show off how tough I am. I should have just been his friend. All that social crap didn’t even matter. I wonder if he even thinks about me…”
“Bastion’s really strong. He’ll be
okay.”
“He’s strong physically, but not mentally. He’s had a traumatic childhood, and people expect so much of him…or they fear him. He’s trying to work through it all, but he needs help, and I’m not there. I couldn’t look at him after what happened to Kent, and I can’t help but think that I…that I…that I might have killed him…or worse.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“I should have been there for him. Told him it wasn’t his fault. But I shunned him. I treated him like all the other kids back at the academy…and now I have to live with that…and whatever Bastion does next.”
“The Yama’s invasion doesn’t all ride on Bastion. It’s upon all our shoulders. The Quietus, Prattlians, Langorans…even the Yama and Delilah, whoever they may be. We’re all connected. None of us are invincible. None of us have all the power. The fact that we’re heading toward the Yama homeland now is a great accomplishment. I don’t know what we’ll find there, but I know this. All the sacrifices that were made so that we can get there…those debts will be settled. My husband’s death…the only way I can deal with it is knowing that it counted for something. That he might have given Bastion a piece of the personal puzzle he’s been trying to solve. His last words might be just enough for Bastion not to give up, or quit, or Maker forbid, side with the enemy. I just know that he’ll have an integral part in all of this. I’m sure of it. But I have to hope that he’ll make the right choices. As bad as it is to say. It’s better that what happened in Languor happened then, and not now, while the Yama are invading.”
The End of the Fantasy (Book #6 of the Sage Saga) Page 10
