“You know you couldn’t belong to any particular Kingdom.”
“You’re right about that,” Bastion chuckled. “But I just want to know how you feel about it.”
“I don’t think I’m in a place to be making decisions for people. I’m not even sure about myself at times. So I would say no to the leadership bit.”
“Then what do we do? Stay in seclusion?”
“Solitude is never fun.”
“So we’re going to be around people…but not really involved.”
“What’s all this ‘we’?” she giggled. “I might find a sexy man over in Prattle and live the rest of my life with him.”
“Mm-hmm,” Bastion replied, playing along, but still a little hurt. Lily reached out and rustled his hair.
“Hey, I was just playing around.”
“But I’m serious about what we should do afterwards though. I’m really not sure.”
“Let’s put it this way…” Lily said, casting her eyes to the ground. “You spend a lot of time alone thinking about how life should be and how the world could improve, right?”
“Yeah, all the time,” Bastion said, stopping to face her.
“And you see reasonable solutions to those problems?”
“Yeah. They seem pretty clear.”
“To the point that you don’t know why others can’t see the solutions, right?”
“Yep.”
“The thing is…you think about problems we all face. You see the solutions…and in your case, you actually have the power to solve them. If you have the capability, you can’t let fear stop you. Face your problems, for both your growth and the well-being of us all. Once the fear is defeated, you’ll realize that that was the only thing really standing in your way…and fear isn’t even real. It’s all in your head. I wish…I wish I had the freedom that you do. But I don’t. I’m limited in my abilities. But you’re not. And that also gives me hope. Whoever made me…even if they summon me back or turn me into a stone, never to express who I am again…I know that you’re still out there, untethered…and fully able to get me back.”
“And I will,” he said, kissing her on the cheek. She rustled her hand through his hair again, but softer this time. Bastion reached out to caress her arm when suddenly…
He realized that his left arm was nowhere to be found.
A pool of blood splashed onto Lily’s dress, and she screamed, her eyes widening in horror as Bastion felt the vertigo hit him. He stumbled forward but his eidolon shot out from the palm of his right hand, catching his fall as the tip slammed into the dirt. He propelled himself back up and searched the area. He couldn’t see anything, even under the dim moonlight, but his eidolon was shrieking, begging him to run. A familiar scent reached his nostrils. A slick, oily smell mixed with the rusty taint of dried blood.
“Quietus,” Bastion shouted, letting them all know that he had identified them. Lily clenched her fists as a faint blue aura began radiating around her knuckles.
“Let me take care of them,” she said. “You just heal.”
“Do you see where my arm went?” Bastion winced, his exposed nerves causing the rest of his body to twitch uncontrollably.
“No, it’s gone,” she replied, and Bastion concentrated on the healing. The Quietus were still nearby, but none were attacking. “Do we want to fight them?” she asked. “I know that you wanted to avoid them if possible.”
“It’s not because we can’t take them,” Bastion said through grit teeth, mad that he had to use up a lot of energy into healing. “It’s because there are so few of them left that I don’t want to accidentally kill any.”
“Even after what their people did to you?”
“I’m in the position of power this time. So I’m going to do the right thing. Let’s get out of here.” Bastion began sprinting to the left, and toward the heart of the village, past the small forest and streams under the cover of darkness, caused by the blanket of trees. He could hear the Quietus giving chase, but at least he was giving them the chance to turn away. This was not their fight.
“Is your arm ready?” Lily asked, running right next to him.
“It will do for now,” Bastion said, waving it at his side. “But thankfully my right is the dominant one. I’ll be fine.”
“And what’s the plan now? Are we heading straight to Seeker?”
“That’s right,” he said. “No point in drawing this out. We need to finish this.”
They cleared the forest within a few minutes and Bastion could no longer hear or sense the Quietus behind him. Good. They would be able to report to Seeker about how they attacked Bastion and took his arm, and that would be an adequate enough involvement to keep their place in the forest. There was no point in fighting beyond what was necessary. Though they were a warrior race, even they knew that they had to be conservative in the battles they undertook.
The main village was as dreary and silent as the outskirts, even with all the buildings in place. No one walked the streets and no torches were lit. From what Bastion could sense, it seemed that they were all staying low, either sleeping the conflict away or trying to stay as silent as possible. Though they weren’t under invasion per se, Bastion couldn’t help but think of the Siege of 88. Once again, the villagers were sticking their heads in the proverbial sand. When would they grow tired of their oppression and fight back? Seeker, their King, had to be making decisions that they were against. Why couldn’t they vote him out of power? Could nothing truly be done?
Bastion sighed as they came upon the meadow. He expected it to be just as dead as the prior two areas, but they had no such luck. There were four Yama and three Sages standing before them, standing in a line side by side, and waiting patiently with their swords and eidolons held respectively at their sides. Seeker and Mason stepped out from the middle of the group with wide grins on their faces. Bastion stopped in his tracks and Lily followed suit, waiting for the tyrant King to say his peace. Bastion thought about making an attempt on Seeker’s life. With his speed, he might be able to, but he could tell that the Yama and Sages before him were not an ordinary bunch. Each one of them were about to burst with energy and they were all swelling with power underneath their stable and stoic faces. He turned his attention to Seeker.
“A deal with the Yama?” he scoffed. “Really?”
“What does it matter to you?” Seeker replied with a sneer. “You don’t belong in Allay anymore. As a matter of fact, your presence here means you are trespassing.”
“I could leave, but something tells me that you don’t want that.”
“Oh no,” Seeker smiled. “I want you to try to stop me. I want to end you here, so that it’s one less liability to account for. Your death would benefit me greatly.”
“As would yours,” Bastion said, gripping the hilt of his eidolon tight. His black Sage robe slowly materialized over his body. “I hope those skinny legs of yours sure can run. I’m not going to let you go this time.”
“I have no need to run,” Seeker said. “You’ll see in a moment.”
“The Sages here…I know them because we were part of the same Academy. Have you forgotten that I was the strongest student?”
“That’s why we have these four Yama here—to increase the odds,” he said. “You’ll see. Mason,” he said, turning to the young Sage, “would you like to join this battle as well?”
“I’m so glad you asked,” he said, unsheathing his yellow eidolon. “I do have a gripe to pick with the outcast here, and this…who is that?” he asked, pointing his eidolon toward Lily.
“Doesn’t matter,” Lily said, crossing her arms.
“Probably another Sage,” Seeker replied in a bored tone. “Another one of those that left with Catherine and her ilk.”
Bastion gave no warning of his approach. He knew he had to catch them by surprise just in case they were stronger collectively.
The move worked.
He was able to slice his Gladius through one of the Sages and cut off the right l
eg of another before one of the Yama swung at his head with his large jagged sword. The blade just narrowly missed his temple as he spun around and dodged the tip. Mason and Seeker maintained his distance as the rest of the group dove right into the scuffle.
Lily roared and blocked one of the Yama’s blades with her forearm, then she punched him in the face, sending him sliding into the grass face first. The sole unharmed Sage tried slashing at her back, but she roundhouse kicked her eidolon with her foot, chopping it in two large chunks. The Sage crumpled in a heap.
Bastion summoned another Gladius into his weakened left arm and kept the four Yama from landing any critical blows, though he was unable to regain the offensive. He kept backing away as they slashed at him furiously, picking up their speed with each step. He matched their speed and then exceeded it just in time. He wasn’t sure of their limits, but he knew the power clash wouldn’t last forever. At some point, he would hit a wall of how much energy was available to him, and then they would begin cutting through. Bastion grunted as a tip of a blade nicked his left forearm. The nicks were beginning to annoy him, and they were getting deeper with each successful hit. He couldn’t rely on Lily to help. Not yet. She was just beginning to engage Mason.
“I’ve got you,” Mason declared boldly, though Lily could see him quivering.
“Okay,” she laughed, sprinting toward him, but at the last second she saw that his quaking had been a ploy. A feign. She stopped in her tracks just as two gigantic Yama came running from the tree line at the edge of the meadow, bounding right toward her. Seeing them caught her off guard and Mason took the advantage. He sliced his eidolon as hard as he could at her head. She saw the blade at the last second and threw her head back, but the blade was still able to cut into her cheek deep.
She was able to heal it and close the wound quickly, but when she turned to look back at Mason, Seeker’s face behind him was all she could see.
It was one of recognition.
“The colors!” he exclaimed as the huge Yama ran past him and attempted to grab her with their massive hands. “She has the stone! Get her!” Lily dodged the grabs and punched at one of the Yama in the abdomen but it was like he didn’t even feel it. Instead of reeling back, he kept encroaching on her. The second big Yama grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into his arms as the first one motioned with his hand for a weapon in a “gimme” gesture. Mason was happy to throw him a standard sword. The giant Yama stabbed Lily in the chest and began twisting as she tried to wriggle out of the other Yama’s arms. The second Yama stopped twisting the blade after a few seconds, for he realized that all was not as it appeared to be.
He turned to Seeker and motioned for the King to come to his side. Seeker was cautious, but obedient, approaching carefully as he examined Lily from head to toe. Once he was able to see inside her open wound, his eyes widened in horror. He looked up into her eyes and saw the terror he was hoping to see. The terror that confirmed his suspicions.
That she was the stone.
And not that she possessed it.
Lily screamed as Seeker violently reached out and grabbed the sides of her face, manically grinning as he shouted at her, screaming for her to be absorbed into his body, and to give him the power he craved.
Bastion heard her cries and he knew that they were both in trouble. No matter how hard he fought back, the Yama weren’t being pushed back.
And why not?
Why couldn’t he overcome them? When they were the ones who were afraid of him and his power? What was he lacking? He had all he needed at his disposal, but he didn’t know how to unlock it. When he transformed and lost himself…Lily had said that something else controlled him, but whatever took over his body, it always led toward self-preservation. Its goal never steered away from survival.
Whatever it was, it wanted him to live.
And in a situation like this, was that really so bad?
Bastion let himself get cut by the Yama.
Four blades slicing through his torso, breaking bone and ripping muscle and tissue. The shock of the blow was so mind-numbing that his eyes rolled in the back of his head, and his body staggered backwards. His grip loosened over his eidolons but in the next second, they tightened. His head snapped back. His stance stabilized.
And his eyes were as black as night.
He leapt forward and stuck his eidolons through the chin and into the skull of one of the Yama, killing it instantly. He wretched his blades from his enemy and then swung them in an arch, decapitating another. The remaining two came at him together, swinging their blades down upon his head, but at the last second, he blocked both with his Gladius eidolons, having them stretched overhead in an X position. He broke the X formation and slashed through both of the Yama’s swords, shattering them to pieces. The Yama staggered back in surprise.
He decapitated them both without a second thought.
Without hesitation, he ran to where Seeker, Mason, Lily and the huge Yama were. He ran up the back of one of the Yama and thrust both of his eidolons through the base of its skull. He then leapt to the other’s back before it could react and performed the same action. He then leapt into the air, ready to attack Seeker and end it all…when Seeker looked up at him and smiled.
With a naked hand outstretched, the center of Seeker’s palm began to glow a faint blue.
And then he shot Bastion with a blue beam of energy so powerful and dense that it incinerated the robes off the young Sage completely. Bastion fell onto his back in the meadow with the wind knocked out of him, and his mind suddenly filled with unnerving clarity. He leapt to his feet and felt the ache of his joints, the sear of his flesh and the tightness of his muscles under his smoking clothes. He had survived the attack, but it had certainly taken its toll on his body. It had been more than enough to knock him out of his manic state.
“I like your girlfriend,” Seeker replied, licking his lips.
“Shut up,” Bastion seethed, the eidolons in his hands shining so bright that Seeker could barely see the boy anymore. “Just let her go.”
“She’s a stone,” he scoffed. “What do you care?”
“She’s not a stone. She’s a person…and I love her.”
“Then I’m definitely not giving her back. You’ll have to take her from me.”
“Please,” Bastion said, the words cutting him deep. Sure he could simply engage in battle with Seeker, but he knew that with every attack his enemy released, Lily would be used like a weapon. She could beg and plead all she wanted for her host to stop, but she would have no control…no say. And the longer the battle waged on, the more her humanity would wane, realizing that it was better not to express herself until it was all over. And until then, it was better to stay silent and to go cold.
To become the stone.
He didn’t want her to feel that way for a single second.
“Are you begging?” Seeker asked him, and Bastion nodded.
“What do you want from me?” Bastion asked, letting his arms hang down to the ground.
“You would give yourself up in exchange for her well-being?”
“I would,” he said. “Because she’s the only one in this world that understands me. I lose her…and there’s no point in going on. I need her to survive.”
“You didn’t always have her,” Seeker said warily. “I don’t get it.”
“That’s how love works I guess. You’re just existing until the one that completes you comes into your life. Then you forget what life was like before them—or worse, you remember all too well. Either way, you can’t go back to that time in your life. Death is better.”
“Interesting,” Seeker said, glancing over at Mason. Mason was chuckling under his breath, bowing his head while he closed his eyes. “Yes,” Seeker said, turning back to Bastion. “My sentiments exactly. While it is just wonderful that you’ve found love, even if it is from a stone, you have to remember…now that I have her, I wouldn’t give her up for anything. With this stone in my grasp, Allay gains more powe
r. I gain more power. And I can cut you down myself. There is no downside to keeping my hold over her. You just have to ask yourself if you’re willing to die trying to get her back. Because that’s all that faces you now. That, and running…you can do that if you’re feeling like a coward.”
Bastion didn’t respond. He steeled his resolve and glared at Seeker, watching the King’s hands glow radiantly.
I have all the power I need. The words echoed through his mind. He didn’t need to lose consciousness to reach a deep pool of power. It was right there all along. Deep inside of him.
He just needed the motivation to reach it…and Lily was his muse.
It wasn’t about him anymore.
It was about her.
It was never about him.
It was always about them.
Was that the lesson the mysterious controller was trying to teach him in his subconscious? Why the puppet master was keeping him alive for so long? In order for him to understand?
That his life was not his own, but for the survival and progression of the human race?
He was made to help them evolve into something greater than themselves. Surely this was it.
He was the beacon of hope that all could strive for.
He was the light in the darkness of their minds.
When they would grow tired of the daily grind, the suffering and travesty that plagued their lands. The threats of invasion or slavery. The weight of debt. The mourning and the loss…he would be there to guide them. To lead them to better.
He had all the power he needed.
And so did they.
They too were being controlled by one thing or another, losing themselves and their consciousness and then acting out of anger, frustration and anxiety. They didn’t know how to solve the equation. To learn the lesson. To reach the solution.
But he had.
He understood.
You have all the power you need. Let me show you how to reach it.
It was as if time slowed down for Bastion. For in that instance, he said no to the fear that clawed at him from the inside. He let go of the past. He stomped out the frustration and the anxiety. He embraced confidence. He befriended strength. He transformed his mind.
The End of the Fantasy (Book #6 of the Sage Saga) Page 13
