The Complete Seven Sorcerers Trilogy

by Julius St. Clair

  Remi’s wound hadn’t healed all the way, but her voice was back to a degree. She cleared her throat and tried to hum. It came out like a wheeze.

  “Stupid girl,” Alicia said, cradling Remi’s neck. “What were you thinking? Doing a thing like that for?”

  “Yeah, let’s not do that again,” Milo sighed as the impeding army was only a few miles out now. “Instead we should really be thinking about running.”

  Alicia helped Remi to her feet as Milo wiped Remi’s blood off of his blade in the grass. “Ew, I’ll never look at this the same,” he moaned.

  “I’ll transform,” Alicia replied. “Can you take care of Remi for a moment?”

  “Sure,” he said as Alicia handed her off. Immediately she began taking off her clothes and throwing them over Milo’s head.

  “How am I supposed to see when the enemy arrives?” he said in a muffled voice.

  “You’ll manage,” Alicia muttered as her skin began to harden and expand. It normally didn’t take long to reach her complete dragon form—usually only ten seconds or so—but when she was only half-way through, a spear erupted from her side, launching her forward and pining her to the ground. She roared—a mix between a dragon’s growl and her human yelp.

  “What’s wrong?!” Milo cried out as he dropped Remi onto the grass. She had gained enough consciousness to continue the healing process while she watched her friend writhe on the ground in horror. Alicia roared in pain as she tried to fly up into the air to escape but the spear was attached to a large rope and it kept her grounded.

  Remi abandoned her healing and summoned her purple Falchion eidolon, leaping to her feet and attempting to slice through the rope with all her might.

  But it barely made a nick. Remi scowled as she realized that the rope had to have been crafted differently. Very few things could have withstood that blow.

  “They’re here,” Milo said as Remi rubbed her throat instinctively. It wasn’t bleeding anymore but she could still feel that it was far from being back to normal. Another spear whizzed past her head and another lodged itself in Alicia’s back. Alicia howled as she slumped to the ground, whimpering as a few more spears narrowly missed them.

  “GET OUT THE WAY!” Remi heard someone scream. She looked behind her and ducked just in time as a young Sage leapt over her head and continued running toward the incoming army. With a long sword glowing red, the Sage in the red robe ran at full sprint, swinging his blade into the soldiers that had just reached the top of the hill. He decapitated a couple before he was slashed across the back. He fell to his knees as another Sage came out of nowhere and leapt down onto his attacker, saving his friend.

  Remi looked back to where the first Sage had come from and her eyes widened in surprise.

  She had barely heard them coming.

  A Paragon army had arrived, and not only were they outfitted in armor that she had never seen before, but there were several Sages with them as well, mingled throughout the crowd.

  “We stop them here!” she heard someone yell from the front. Once he saw Alicia lying still, he rushed over and placed a hand on her thick scaly skin. He turned to Milo and Remi as hordes of soldiers ran past him, engaging the Cimmerian army. The clash of blades and the cries of men being slaughtered nearly drowned out his shouts.

  “What is this?!” he shouted for the third time. Milo and Remi stepped closer to him.

  “It’s a friend of ours, nothing more,” Milo said, making sure not to mention the fact that she was one of the Sorcerer weapons—something that Paragon was sure to covet.

  “You’re Remi,” he said, pointing at her. She nodded as he pointed to himself. “My name is Eizel. I knew that Cimmerian was on the march, and that they would attempt a side attack so that’s why we’re here. I met your leader, James, a while back. He seemed like he was a good man.”

  Remi shook her head and Milo cleared his throat.

  “She can’t speak right now,” Milo said as she continued healing her damaged throat. “But I can on her behalf. We’re looking for a means to escape. We’re not really cut out for a battle like this.”

  “Sorry, but if you’re going to escape, it’s going to be of your own accord,” Eizel sighed. “We’re here to exterminate every last one of the Cimmerians and we’re not leaving until that’s done. You’re welcome to wait, but from what I’m seeing, they brought out the heavy artillery.”

  Remi glanced to her side and saw the catapults firing off, rolling gigantic boulders into the Paragon army. Spears—shot out from harpoons—whistled through the crowd, and the Cimmerian soldiers themselves were heavily armored. It was a wonder how they were able to move in such grotesque and ridiculously large costumes. It made their muscles look twice the size they actually were, and yet, the wearers were still able to swing their swords as if they were naked.

  “They are some of the best that Cimmerian has to offer,” Eizel said. Remi could see him trembling. “We don’t stop them here and their next destination will be one of the major cities.”

  Milo looked at Remi, waiting for a signal, but she gave him none. She kept her eyes on the grass, contemplating her next move. When he persisted, leaning his face in until they were almost cheek to cheek, she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and then she pointed upwards, signaling that that was where they should head. Milo was disappointed, but he understood. Whichever way the battle would go, it wouldn’t be swayed by their influence.

  “We’ll make our way out,” he said, nodding toward Eizel. “I hope you and your men can win.”

  “I doubt it,” he said truthfully. “But that doesn’t mean we can run away. Take care.”

  Remi walked over to Alicia and grabbed one of the spears. She pulled at it but it didn’t budge. Remi bent down and whispered something in Alicia’s ear. Milo sighed and watched the battle unfold a short distance away as Alicia slowly transformed back to her human form. The colossal spears fell out of her body as her wounds changed shape, and the fallen spears left a dent in the grass. Remi rubbed Alicia’s back as Milo rushed over and draped her fur coat over her. He kept the rest of her clothes hanging over his arm.

  “Let’s get moving,” Remi rasped. “Once Alicia’s feeling up to it, she can fly us out of here.”

  “Wait!” she heard a familiar voice shout out to her. She turned around to see the other traitor in her life.

  The liar.

  The puppet.

  Her ex-boyfriend.

  “Casimir left you behind?” Milo asked suspiciously.

  The Quietus bowed his head. Remi stared at him. It was funny how he hadn’t changed physically, but yet he looked so much like a stranger. His body was no longer appealing. His hair wasn’t cute. The tattoos and symbols on his body gained new meaning. Where once she thought they represented clues to as who he was, now she thought of them as distractions. They were placed there by his Master and Sorcerer, not Kace himself.

  They were as strange and foreign as he was.

  “What do you want?” Remi asked, her voice gaining strength.

  “I want to come with you,” he said. Remi winced as she saw someone being cut in half in the distant background. They couldn’t stay there long. The battle wouldn’t last forever.

  “Why?” Milo asked in disbelief.

  “Because I’ve been abandoned,” Kace replied. “Casimir said I didn’t do enough to persuade you to his side. He…he wants nothing to do with me.”

  “Then why didn’t he kill you?” Remi asked.

  “Because he’s not evil,” Kace shouted, clenching his fists. “He’s trying to do what’s best for all of us, and he doesn’t have time to entertain those that won’t help his cause. The other Sorcerers have a lot more resources than he does and so he has to work twice as hard and twice as fast.”

  “If you’re worthless to him, then why would you be of use to us?” Milo asked.

  Kace shut his eyes as he tried to hold back his sorrow. “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you more about me and my Master, but
I had to keep it a secret.”

  “No, you didn’t,” Remi said. “You really didn’t. But yeah, you can come with us.”

  “I can?” Kace asked in shock. His eyes shot open as Remi appeared behind him with eidolon in hand. She smacked him upside the back of his head with the hilt and he was knocked unconscious instantly. He fell face first in the grass and Milo came to his side.

  “We’re leaving him here to die?” Milo asked.

  “No,” Remi said. “We’re taking him with us. Because he’s going to be our bait.”

  “Bait? For what?”

  “Paragon and Cimmerian can fight all they want, but it doesn’t matter if the Sorcerers aren’t taking care of. They’re the key to everything, and we’re not going to reach one without giving them something of value. If Casimir is against them, then Kace will be very valuable.”

  “It could get him killed in the end.”

  “If we don’t do this, then that’s exactly what will happen to all of us.”

  Chapter 42 – Bait and Switch

  It took Alicia nearly an hour to feel up to it, but they were eventually able to leave, taking flight above the clouds and over the battlefield below. As they had walked, none of them looked back once, and yet, the sounds still echoed through their minds. Milo shook his head as Alicia flew awkwardly in the air, one wing damaged from the spear earlier. Remi promised that she would get the rest she needed the moment they landed. They just had to get back to Terra. Once they found a secluded spot, they could prepare.

  Alicia grunted and gusts of smoke came from her large nostrils. She began to descend as Remi leaned over from where she sat cross-legged. They were back in Terra, but they weren’t far from Paragon’s borders. Alicia knew they had to remain hidden, so if she was going down already, it had to be out of necessity. Remi didn’t push the issue. Instead, she turned to Milo who was keeping watch over Kace’s unconscious body.

  Remi knew he was awake. He had been awake for nearly fifteen minutes. But since they were still in the air, she didn’t call him out on it. Still, it made her feel uneasy that he was probably plotting against them in the recesses of his mind.

  Alicia landed in a forest and began transforming back to human before her feet hit the treetops. Awkwardly changing some parts of her body and not others, Alicia ended up falling down into a crumple once her wings disappeared and Remi and the others leapt off her back. Remi didn’t bother trying to catch Kace. She waited for him to make his move.

  A few seconds before his back would have hit the ground, he righted himself in the air and landed on his feet. Remi was only a second behind him. The shock of their soles hitting the soil caused them to stagger for a moment but then they both took off running.

  Remi caught Kace quickly as he was still in his human form and she tackled him into the dead leaves. Milo surveyed the area, listening for nearby strangers as Alicia coughed and tended to her wounds. Remi slammed Kace’s face into the leaves and then she unsheathed her eidolon with her other hand. She placed the tip of its blade on the back of his skull.

  “Don’t move, or you’ll die.”

  “That’s what’s going to happen to me anyways,” he muttered, coughing lightly from the dirt kicked up into his lungs. “You’re going to hand me over to the Sorcerers.”

  “Not exactly,” she said, removing her knee from his back and standing to her feet. She waited until he stood up and brushed himself off before she continued. “You really are bait and nothing more.”

  “The bait doesn’t always survive.”

  “It’s the only way,” she said. “The Sorcerers are all that matter and there’s no way for us to reach them without you.”

  “Why don’t you just continue on your journey and look for the other Sorcerer weapons?”

  “That was before we knew how serious things were. I didn’t know the war was in full swing, and I had no idea that the Sorcerers were already fighting one another. It means that we don’t have time to play around and search for people that might not even be there.”

  “What does it matter?” he said in disgust. “It’s not your job, and besides, there’s nothing you can do against power like that.”

  “Casimir was surprised by how much pain I could withstand.”

  “That still doesn’t mean you could fight against someone like him.”

  “So what do we do then? We wait for them to decide the outcome? Because that’s what’s going to happen. They’ll determine how this will end. It doesn’t matter if Cimmerian or Paragon wins, they’ll still control it all.”

  “We are insects to them, and you’re talking about flying right into their net.”

  “But even insects can disrupt someone’s life a little, and that little bit might be just long enough to sway a crucial situation in our favor.”

  “You don’t have to prove yourself,” he said, staring directly into her eyes. “You know that, right? We all know you’re tough.”

  “That’s not what this is about,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s…it’s about not letting others dictate who I am and how I should live my life. I know what doing nothing gets you. It’s horrible. You hate yourself. You lie awake at night wondering if tomorrow will be a better day, but it never is. It’s exactly like the day before. Once in a while, something fun happens or you get a nice bite to eat. Maybe you get a compliment or you meet someone exciting, but eventually, it all goes back to normal. That horrible normal. I would rather die trying to get my life back than live for the next however many decades hating myself and everything around me.”

  “But we’ll die.”

  “And what does that matter? What is your life, Kace? What’s so wonderful in your life that you have to keep on living for? To serve your Master?”

  “I’ve been promised freedom,” he said.

  “And what does that mean?” she asked. “Do you have specifics? Or an empty promise?”

  Kace sighed heavily and lifted his head to the sky. “I have no idea what that means. But…what choice did I have?”

  “We always have a choice,” she said. “Even in the face of death, we can spit in its face.”

  “We’re not all like you.”

  “Then it’s good I’m leading the charge. Now come on back with me so Milo and Alicia can hear what you have to say.”

  “Who said I’m telling you anything?”

  “It’s up to you if you want to keep your head or not.”

  “Damn,” Kace said as he followed her back to where Alicia and Milo were waiting. Both were leaning up against oak trees respectively, making small talk. Remi smiled once she saw how casual Alicia was moving and talking. She was back to normal.

  “So you got taken out back and put down, huh?” Alicia asked Kace. He rolled his eyes.

  “If I’m going to talk, she needs to keep her mouth shut,” Kace said.

  “Alicia, we have to hear him out,” Remi said and Alicia gave him a sly smile. Remi turned back to Kace. “We need to know how we can reach out to a Sorcerer, or Casimir again if necessary. There was a way you could reach him, right?”

  “No,” he said. “Whenever he wanted to meet, he would come to me. There was no way I could contact him.”

  “Why would you want Casimir here anyways?” Alicia asked. “He abandoned us. And just because he said that he’s the good one, it doesn’t mean he is.”

  “You’re thinking that we should try to contact a different one?” Remi winced.

  “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  “That would be really risky,” Kace said. “There’s no guarantee that they wouldn’t wipe us out the moment they found us.”

  “Odds are that some already know where we are,” Milo said. “We have no idea how much these Sorcerers can and cannot ‘see.’”

  “We have information,” Remi replied. “We were all with Casimir, and that means a Sorcerer—no matter who it is—is going to want to find out what we know before we’re obliterated. That’s our trump card.”

  “I would har
dly call it a trump card,” Milo muttered.

  “Fine,” Kace sighed. “I can’t believe I’m doing this, but…there is one place we might be able to reach someone. There’s a cliff near the old Quietus stomping grounds—where their Kingdom used to be. Because it’s pretty secluded, I heard once that Casimir went there to meet with a few other Sorcerers. There’s no guarantee that they still use that spot to meet, but it’s all I’ve got.”

  “Then let’s head there,” Remi said. Alicia began transforming before she even got the word to do so. Remi and the others climbed onto her back as it expanded and Milo kept her clothes safe and intact. Kace reluctantly climbed aboard.

  “Thank you, Kace,” Remi said but he didn’t say anything. She left him alone.

  ***

  “There used to be a forest there,” Kace said, pointing down below as they descended. “A vast forest full of trees and vines and branches so thick that you couldn’t even see the ground. Now it’s nothing but flat dead land and fallen hollowed out trees.”

  “How much further?” Milo asked.

  “Head to the crater there,” Kace pointed. “We’ll wait there.”

  Alicia obeyed as Rem surveyed the area. She couldn’t see anyone, but of course, that didn’t mean anything. The Sorcerers could move faster than her eyes could see.

  Alicia’s feet hit the edge of the crater and a cloud of once-settled dust and dirt flew up into the air. She began retracting her wings as they dismounted, jumping down from her back and turning away as Milo draped her coat over her shoulders. Alicia nodded toward him in thanks and then began scanning the crater bottom with the rest of them.

  “This better not be a trap,” Remi muttered.

  “It’s not,” Kace said. “But if a Sorcerer actually appears, it’s sure going to feel like one.”

  “What do we do now?” Milo asked. “Just wait?”

  “Basically,” Kace said. “Casimir would be the one to make the call, so I have no idea how to get their attention, though I’m sure they already know we’re here. It might just be a matter of taking the time to address us. They might have more important things to do.”