The End of the Fantasy (Book #6 of the Sage Saga)

by Julius St. Clair

  Still, he didn’t waste any time in creating the same slashes and hole as he did on the Oblivion gate. Upon completion, he took a glimpse inside Paradise as well, and he saw the meadow of tall grass and roses that Tillian and Veer had shown him. No one was there at the moment, but he wouldn’t have time to chat even there had been.

  Bastion stepped away from the Paradise gate and looked around him. How was he going to get out now? Could he just will it? Or was there a lever on the outside that Lily would have to pull? How would he even get the message across?

  “Hey!” Bastion shouted, waving his hands toward the spiraling ceiling. “I’m ready to get out of here!” There was no answer. He waved his hands again and shouted as loud as he could, but if there was a response, he couldn’t identify one. He looked around him and sighed.

  Now what?

  * * *

  “How will we know when his work is done?” Daisy asked, watching as Bastion’s lifeless body twitched.

  “I don’t know,” Lily said, looking over him with concern. “He’ll find a way to tell us. Somehow.”

  “I should really check on Catherine and Talia,” Daisy said, beginning to back away. Lily glanced at her suspiciously.

  “I thought they told you to stay here with me.”

  “Yeah, I know. It’s just I don’t like seeing him like this. I’m sure he’s not in pain…but he’s got to be uncomfortable at least.”

  “You said your name was Daisy, right?”

  “Yeah,” Daisy said, keeping her eyes away from Lily’s.

  “Bastion talked a bunch about you. He looks up to you.”

  “Don’t know why.”

  “Maybe it’s because you were one of his closest friends.”

  “Yeah,” Daisy scoffed. “Some friend I was. I left him when he needed me most.”

  “You did what you had to do, and for what it’s worth, I’m glad you did. I wouldn’t have met him otherwise.”

  “Yeah,” Daisy replied, looking back at him. “I guess it all worked out. I’m happy that you two found each other.”

  “Thank you,” Lily said, blushing. A low rumble was heard from outside and Daisy sprinted to the entrance and wretched open the door. Catherine and Talia were right outside the entrance with their eidolons held high before them, blood dripping from the tips.

  “What was that?” Daisy asked and Catherine let out a chuckle.

  “Looks like they’re done playing around. Talia, you ready for the second round?”

  “You mean the round that counts?” Talia asked. “Ready when you are.”

  Daisy looked ahead to see the great army before them. There were Yama in the forefront, picking themselves up and dusting their armor off, but what lay behind them was the scariest. A row of Delilah, about twenty in all, were standing nearly shoulder to shoulder, staring them down, and waiting for the right moment to strike. They were still wearing their Delahcourt garb and there was no signs of them wanting to change. The only consideration for their style was that their sleeves were rolled up and anyone with long hair had pinned it up into a bun.

  Beyond the Delilah was a man. A man in a suit of thin armor. There were Yama around him but they made sure to keep their distance, giving him so much space that it was as if they were terrified of his presence. His breastplate was grey with blue banners extending from his torso up to his shoulders and over his back like suspenders. His gauntlets had sharp claw like hands at the end and they were sharp at all points. His armored pants were steel and his boots chimed and clanked whenever he took a step. Only his face was visible. A middle-aged man not yet past fifty and possessing a countenance that was still young and vital. His blonde short hair blew in the wind as his grey-blue eyes showed little signs of awareness. It was as if the whole world stopped upon his arrival. All were silent, even the Yama, and Daisy was sure that no matter how the battle ensued, facing him was the final hurdle.

  “Do you see him? Talia asked them, unsure herself of what she was seeing.

  “He might be the Emissary,” Catherine replied. As if hearing her, the mysterious man nodded in her direction slowly. Daisy sighed and took out her hook sword eidolons, gripping the hilts so tight she thought she might break her hand.

  “Is Bastion okay?” Catherine asked and Daisy cleared her throat.

  “As far as we know. He can’t tell us what’s happening, but there’s no sign that he’s being attacked.”

  “We’re going to need him,” Talia said. “We should see how far along he is.”

  “Wake him,” Catherine said. “We’re going to need him.”

  “Sure,” Daisy said, beginning to go back inside when a loud authoritative voice stopped her in her tracks.

  “WE WILL NOT YET FIGHT,” the Emissary said, his voice echoing across the cliff side. He glanced at the Delilah and Yama around him with contempt. “Leave. Those who called you here are already dead. Go back to Delahcourt and wait for my orders.”

  The crowd didn’t respond. They simply left, as if his words controlled them explicitly. The Emissary, Ecio, lifted his head and gazed upon the Sages.

  “There is a hall inside, a room fashioned expressly for me and my training sessions. We will go there, where we can finish this without harming the machines. Much of this land has networks of wires underneath it, extending for miles. The hall will ensure their safety.”

  Daisy shuddered at the sound of his voice, and she wasn’t sure if it was a good shudder or a bad one. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was the enemy, she might have fallen in love. His voice was deep but smooth as silk. And his confidence was overwhelming.

  Catherine, on the other hand, found it all unnerving.

  “Go in first,” she ordered Daisy. “Wake Bastion up quickly.” Daisy ran inside while Talia and Catherine readied their eidolons and took a defensive stance.

  “I will not fight you out here,” Ecio said firmly. “We will take this inside.”

  “I don’t take orders from you.”

  “Willpower is always subservient to might,” he said, and Catherine had enough. She ran forward while her Sage robes disintegrated and when she was a few yards away from him, she summoned them once again, forcing the transformation to be slow so that she could blind her opponent.

  It had no effect.

  Ecio cocked back his fist as she prepared to swing her eidolon forward, and before she could thrust it another inch further, he quickly punched her in the middle of her chest, sending her body flying into the Yama Headquarters building. Crashing through the clay wall and into the sphere in the middle of the room, a number of alarms began blaring, so loud that she cupped her ears the moment she regained awareness. Once her ears were muffled, the pain around her body registered and she began throwing up. Talia rushed in after her, jumping over blocks of clay and debris.

  “Catherine, please tell me you’re okay,” Talia said, crouching down to examine her. Catherine sat up and wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve. She noticed that her Sage robes were torn and shredded.

  “We need Bastion,” she rasped and Talia nodded in agreement.

  “You called?” Bastion muttered as he appeared behind them. Daisy and Lily were at his side.

  “The Emissary is here,” Talia said quickly and Bastion’s eyes went wide.

  “That was fast,” he said as his eyes darted to Lily. She got the message. She began transforming as he looked down at Catherine. “Are you okay?”

  “I’ll be alright in a few weeks,” she groaned in a low voice. “But I’m more concerned with you. Are you okay?”

  “I was trapped there but thankfully Lily and Daisy cut me out the machine.”

  “But the job is done?” she asked, looking behind Bastion and seeing the Emissary stepping through the large hole in the building. He didn’t appear worried as he examined the damage. He simply stepped in casually, as if he had just arrived early to a party.

  “It’s done,” Bastion said boldly, saying it more to the Emissary than Catherine. “The gates are o
pen.”

  “That doesn’t matter,” Ecio replied with confidence. “But we must settle this. And I would prefer it if we do it where the equipment won’t be further destroyed.”

  “That’s it!” Bastion shouted quickly, waving to Talia with one hand and absorbing Lily in stone form with the other. “Destroy the building! The gates are open so if we can take out this place and the other one, we’re in the clear. It doesn’t matter what he—” Bastion gasped as Ecio appeared in front of him with his hand firmly around the young Sage’s throat. Ecio clenched his jaw as Bastion prepared to kick him in the chest, but the Emissary didn’t give him a chance. Ecio threw Bastion across the room and into the middle door, sending him somersaulting head over heels inside. Ecio turned to the Sages and picked them up one by one by the throat or hair, throwing them into the same doorway individually. No matter what they did to fight against his freakish strength, it didn’t matter. He was too strong, and far too fast.

  Bastion stood up awkwardly, nearly stumbling over his own feet as they adjusted to the plush, dark blue carpet beneath him. He barely had time to take in his surroundings when Daisy came flying in from in front of him. He caught her in mid-air, and then watched as Catherine and Talia followed after, skidding on the floor as they groaned. Ecio walked in with a wide stride, and then he slammed the door behind him.

  “I lied to you,” he said to Bastion directly as he punched the wall above the doorway, causing the clay to crack and fall behind him, blocking the exit.

  “A lot of people do,” Bastion said, putting some distance between them. “I don’t take it personally anymore.”

  “This is where one of us ends,” he said. Bastion noticed that the room would accommodate them comfortably. A quarter square mile, the hall was wide enough for an individual to train in without restriction. Adding a few more people to the room wouldn’t hurt much. The hall was dimly lit but he could make out paintings on the side walls with scratched out faces. The entire floor was carpeted and there were thin and tall candlesticks in each corner of the room. Ecio let him catch his breath before he continued.

  “I will let your friends leave if you agree to keep the bridge intact.”

  “No,” Bastion said firmly. “I don’t believe you.”

  “It was worth a try.”

  “You look a lot younger than I thought. Tillian and Veer said you only had four years left. Guess that was a lie too.”

  “I am done with my position. It is time for another to be enslaved to the machine. I will live my life ruling over Paradise.”

  “That’s all people like you want to do. Rule over someone else.”

  “It is the only thing that satisfies me in life.”

  “That’s sad.”

  “That’s inevitable.”

  “So what do we do?” Bastion asked Catherine, looking to her for answers. Catherine gave him a weary look.

  “I wish I knew,” she muttered. “But to be honest, I don’t. We’ll help the best we can, but this is your battle, Bastion. You’re the one that will decide how this day ends.”

  “Then all of you get back,” he said, pointing to the left wall. Catherine was shocked but he didn’t want to hear a retort. “You’re right. You will just get in the way. Sorry.”

  “I understand,” Catherine said as Talia and Daisy helped her to her feet.

  “Don’t intervene, no matter what you see. Not unless he attacks you or I’m definitely dead.”

  “We won’t,” Catherine said in awe. “Show us what you can do. Show us that our faith in you was not in vain.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Bastion replied, turning to face his enemy. Once he was sure they were well out of the way, he took a deep breath and summoned his Sage robes. One second they weren’t there, and in the next, they blinked into existence. He looked down at his right hand but he didn’t summon his eidolon. He closed his fist and then directed his full attention at Ecio.

  “Let’s make this quick.”

  Ecio clenched his fists tight as he scowled at the young Sage.

  Bastion smiled, and then they both left the spot where they once stood.

  Catherine, Talia and Daisy barely saw a thing.

  Chapter 19 – A Legendary Battle

  Ecio did not scare him.

  Nothing did anymore.

  He supposed it came with the territory when one had escaped death so many times. Though the battle before him was sure to be the end of his journey one way or another, the outcome did not worry him. He was just happy for it all to be over. And the sooner he sent Ecio to Oblivion, the sooner his new life would begin. And so he had a lot of motivation backing him. Surely that would be enough to give him a slight edge.

  Yeah, he smiled at the thought. It will be enough.

  Ecio dropped his guard for a second at the sight of Bastion’s smile. He hadn’t noticed it until the moment he was about to thrust his hand through the young Sage’s chest. They were moving so fast that it was almost impossible for him to see it, but see it he had. It flashed before his eyes and he questioned its purpose, though he should have focused solely on the battle at hand.

  And Bastion drew first blood.

  The young Sage slammed his palm smack against the Emissary’s chest, and his eidolon popped from the center of his hand, just enough to stab through Ecio’s armor, skin, muscles and heart. The sudden jolt threw Ecio off guard even further. Though the wound was already beginning to heal upon the exit of Bastion’s eidolon, there was no longer a clash of equal speed and strength. He had been relinquished to the unsettling side of the defensive, and Bastion knew it.

  Bastion roared a battle cry as he slammed his fist into Ecio’s chin, the eidolon once again popping out for a second, just enough to plow through his jawline and nearly through the roof of his mouth. If he hadn’t stretched his neck upwards at the last second to travel with the eidolon, the young Sage would have hit his brain for sure. Ecio pushed Bastion away with all his might and the Sage went flying to the back wall. Somehow, Bastion was able to catch himself in mid-air and he ended up landing on it with feet first.

  Ecio began healing the wound in his mouth as Bastion launched off the wall and into a full sprint. Leaving his line of sight, the Emissary relied on pure instinct to find Bastion, and so he swiveled around to look right behind him. He threw his hand forward and his palm slapped directly into Bastion’s. Both of them released an eidolon at the same time, but only the tips scrapped against each other and neither of them gained the advantage during the exchange. Bastion feigned left and swiped at him from the right. Palms slapped against each other again, and again, and again, until it was just a matter of who was faster.

  Bastion picked up the speed, pouring energy into his legs and hands, moving fluidly as he attempted only killing blows, remembering what Lily told him about finishing his battles early.

  Ecio blocked them all and tried to enact his own killing strokes, only to have his attempts returned. The sounds of their hands hitting against each other made their ears ache and their palms were beginning to bleed from the sheer force of their parries. Bastion was sure his hand was going to break at any second, but he didn’t care. He continued the assault until he was sure Ecio was getting ready to take the initiative. Then he went first instead.

  The moment before their palms slapped together, Bastion did the unthinkable. He went for a head-butt, and the risky move paid off. As his skull cracked Ecio’s jaw, the Emissary let out a small whimper. Bastion didn’t stop to rest or consider his own throbbing forehead.

  He let his eidolon stick halfway out of his knuckles, and then he punched Ecio across the face as hard as he could. The blow was to make the Emissary stagger but Bastion didn’t realize that Ecio knew how to deal with pain—and that he figured out a long time ago that the best time to attack a powerful opponent who had the upper hand…was right as they thought they had won.

  As Ecio fell, he summoned his eidolon from the palm of his hand and extended it as far as he could, sending the blade str
aight into Bastion’s stomach. The sharp sensation was so strong that Bastion closed his eyes for a second, and he knew it was a mistake. Ecio caught himself from falling and propelled himself forward, right into Bastion. Being so close, Bastion used the opportunity to thrust his eidolon into Ecio’s chest, but it didn’t sway the Emissary. With a grunt, Ecio reached forward and plunged his hand straight into Bastion’s chest. Bastion screamed in agony as Ecio ripped the stone away from Bastion’s heart and simultaneously kicked him away.

  Bastion went sprawling to the ground, blood pouring out of his chest. He wanted to retaliate, but he knew that healing was the priority. Ecio scoffed as he took a few steps back, clutching the stone of great power in the palm of his hand.

  “I’m surprised you didn’t use this,” he said, looking over it. “You might have won.”

  “That’s because it’s not a thing to me,” Bastion gasped, steadying his balance and slowly trying to stand. The wound in his chest had closed, but it was still sensitive. From how Ecio was acting, his attacks couldn’t have hurt too much.

  “You really fell in love with this thing?” Ecio scoffed again. “It’s an object. Nothing more.”

  “Her name is Lily,” Bastion said, clenching his jaw as water began to well up in his eyes. “And she’s all I’ve got…don’t hurt her.”

  “You must be joking.”

  “Let her go,” he whispered, his eyes blinking rapidly. He took a deep breath and forced his body to stop trembling. Whatever shock it was trying to get over, he couldn’t go unconscious.

  “I have no intentions of doing so.”

  “Then you’re going to use her?” Bastion asked in disgust.