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“So happy you suggested that we leave early,” James sighed, stretching his arms overhead. “I was getting bored. They really have no clue what to do in case of an attack.”
“Well, I’m glad you refrained from speaking your mind when Orson goaded you,” Arimus said. “Any response besides full acceptance would have been counterproductive.”
“Just look at this place,” James muttered as Arimus cast his eyes in front of them. They were in the midst of the first major city, Altostratus, and now that they were no longer in a rush to get to the meeting, they could see the sights. Altostratus was said to be the most humble of the four major cities, but it was still more majestic than anything James had ever seen.
They beheld mansions and gigantic cottages were before them, with gardens planted around each building. Everything was placed perfectly to make the entire town look like a painting. Nature was perfectly interwoven with that which was manmade. Vines crept up the sides of homes just far enough. Flowers were in rows along the sidewalks, composed of so many colors that James had trouble naming them all. There was a fruit tree in every yard and a smiling face from every porch. People walked hand in hand, clothed in casual shorts and shirts as if they were on their way to the beach. The sun of Terra was shining bright above, but it wasn’t too hot, as Paragon’s atmosphere had not yet been decimated. Paragon’s natural illumination—a kind of haze that looked like a swarm of microscopic fireflies—only made the city look that much more inviting.
James placed his hands on his hips and shook his head. It was so beautiful that he couldn’t imagine it any other way. And yet, since the city was located along Paragon’s main outer wall, it would more than likely be the first to be attacked.
“I heard that each city is different,” Arimus replied. “This one is supposed to feel cozy. But if one is more inclined to the fancy life, the city life, or an even humbler existence, there is a place in Paradise.”
“Or if one wants to fight,” James said. “They can come to the Sage Academy, where they will learn how even in Paradise, you can be shunned.”
“I take it you didn’t like being called a pawn.”
“What gave it away?” James snapped. Immediately, he turned to his former mentor and his face softened. “Sorry. That was rude.”
“No offense taken. I was distraught myself. Especially with the implications throughout that meeting. I think we’re to be the scapegoats in this.”
“One wrong move,” James sighed. “And we’re kicked out of Paradise.”
“We will survive,” Arimus said, turning to his left. “Ah, he has arrived.”
Kyran shimmered into view and was instantly taken aback by the massive skyscraper James and Arimus had just come out of.
“I thought you said the building only had one room.”
“It does,” Arimus said. “All of the floors above the first are filled with empty space—in case they need it someday.”
“A bit excessive,” Kyran muttered from under a green trench coat.
“Where did you get that?” James laughed, pointing at the coat. Kyran narrowed his eyes, as he was known to do.
“I had Chloe make it for me. I missed being able to hide the lower half of my face.”
“Why not go all out and cover the whole thing? We wouldn’t have to see the ugly all the time.”
“But if no one could see my face, then you would be the ugly one, and we all know how quick you would break down if you didn’t get the attention you crave so much.”
“Geez, Kyran,” James winced. “You don’t have to fight dirty.”
“With the amount of bathing you opt out of, I thought you would be right at home in the dirt.”
“Okay, okay,” Arimus laughed. “That’s enough, you two. Kyran, what’d you find?”
“Nothing unusual,” he said. “It’s strange. Even though one of the King’s top officials was here, there was literally no one here to guard him. He’s as vulnerable as anyone.”
“Wow,” James mumbled. “We might as well just surrender to Cimmerian now.”
“Anything in the meeting?”
“We’re weapons and nothing more,” Arimus said. “And there were hints to what would happen to us should our blades dull.”
“They won’t cast us out. They need us too much.”
“It’s not impossible.”
“At least we know Terra well. We’ll survive.”
“Why is everyone saying that?” James asked. “You two are acting like it’s a foregone conclusion. Nothing’s even happened...yet.”
“James?” Arimus asked, seeing the young Sage scowling and looking out of the corner of his eye. “What’s happening?” Kyran pointed down to James’ left palm and Arimus noticed the tip of James’ white eidolon sticking out of it.
Arimus sucked his teeth. “You really shouldn’t be risking exposure like this. We’re to keep our eidolons sheathed.”
“I’m not going to be vulnerable,” James replied, holding up a finger for silence. “There’s a chase going on.”
“Riveting,” Kyran muttered. “People here play tag all the time. Someone tried to get me into a game earlier. I nearly slit his throat.”
“No, this is different. Someone’s running for their life. They’re getting farther from our location though. We’ll have to act soon.”
“We?” Arimus said. “We should not get involved. We’re to maintain a low profile, remember? It will only strengthen Orson’s case against us if we start getting involved in every skirmish.”
“This is no skirmish,” James said, patting Kyran on the shoulder quickly. “Come on. Let’s check this out. You know you want to. You get to be stealthy again.”
Kyran turned to Arimus. “I do like being stealthy.”
Arimus groaned. “Fine. Do whatever you like. I’ll meet you back at the Academy.”
“See you there,” James said as he looked around him, seeing if anyone was watching. There were only a few people in the street and their backs were turned toward him, so he quickly darted to the right, into a patch of bushes that lay between two houses. He crouched down low as Kyran joined him.
“Go invisible and use your eidolon to try to pick up on what I’m talking about. Until you have a read on them, follow me. But after that, you go on ahead and assess the situation. Come back to me once you’ve gotten some vital information. I’ll be following behind the best I can.”
Kyran didn’t reply. He simply shimmered out of view.
James searched the area in front of him frantically.
“Kyran, did you get that? Hey! Kyran? Oh whatever...” James looked above him and then leapt onto the rooftop of the cottage to his left. Sprinting and leaping as fast as he could, he bounded from rooftop to rooftop, trying to keep his body low so that he wouldn’t be noticed. Once he came upon the mansions he had to use his eidolon to climb the walls, but he didn’t extend his blade all the way. Just enough to stick them into the wall. He was sure whomever lived there was going to be pissed when they finally noticed the grooves.
Once James was at the top of the first mansion’s roof, he felt safe enough to run all-out. He wasn’t sure if Kyran was behind him, but he wasn’t about to lose his focus to find out. The two people he sensed were already so far away, he had to devote all of his eidolon’s energy into keeping track of them.
As he ran, he evaluated what he could. There were two people—yes. One was definitely chasing the other, and it was a chase to the death. The pursuer’s heart rate was calm, even with all of the running, while the one being chased was frantic, and his heart was beating so rapidly that he was on the verge of a heart attack.
One of them was an older man. And James hoped he would be able to reach him in time.
“James,” Kyran whispered into his ear, and James tripped over his own feet, he was scared so badly. His face skidded along the tiled roof as Kyran shimmered into view.
“We can stop running. It’s a mark,” Kyran replied as James rubbed his cheek. It burned, and his right knee was throbbing a bit as well.
“A mark? Who’s marked?” he muttered, climbing to his feet.
“An elderly man from Paragon is marked, and someone from Cimmerian is giving chase. Based on the layout of the city and their current path, he has an eighty percent chance of running into a dead end. He’ll be killed, and it will be over soon.”
“Someone from Cimmerian is giving chase?”
“That’s what I said.”
“Then I want to investigate further.”
“You know the rules,” Kyran said flatly. “If someone is marked, they are fair game.”
“It doesn’t concern you that someone from Cimmerian has snuck into Paragon?”
“I could probably do the same to them if I wanted, and again, they are doing nothing outside of the rules that have already been established.”
“I’m going,” James said, continuing to sprint toward the old man via rooftop. “If I hurry, I can make it in time.”
Kyran ran right beside him. “You’re not going to interfere, are you?”
“I might.”
“That would be grounds for war. You wouldn’t do that.”
“You have no idea what I would or wouldn’t do.”
“You’re an idiot, but when it matters, you put aside your stupidity and don a cap of temporary common sense. You do this, and you will surprise even me.”
“It’s worth doing it for that alone,” James grunted as he leapt across a wide gap between houses. He was almost there...
“Think this through,” Kyran said, barely huffing at all as he kept up the pace at James’ side. “Paragon and Cimmerian both agreed to implement the mark system. A hundred people a year can be marked in Paragon by Cimmerian, and vice versa. Those people are deemed fair game as it’s a way to remove important players on both sides without resorting to war. Anyone who is killed that is not marked can be viewed as an act of aggression.”
“Why is it you only talk a lot when it comes to killing or when you’re insulting me?”
“We all get excited when it comes to things we like.”
“Yeah, right. You’re not a killer anymore. Not like you used to be.”
“You’re changing the subject. Listen to me. You kill this old man’s pursuer, and Cimmerian is justified in starting the war.”
“Not if I mark the pursuer before I do it.”
“It doesn’t work like that, and...that sounded gross.”
James rolled his eyes. “How do I mark someone?”
“You don’t have the authority or the substance needed to do so...watch your footing.”
James turned his attention back to the task at hand and leapt off of the roof just as the back of his sole was beginning to slip. He had no way to stop his descent onto the cottage roof below, but he knew how to roll at the last second.
It didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt.
“OW!” James shouted as he rolled onto his shoulder and leapt back up to his feet. He stumbled for a second and then dropped down from the roof, right in front of the old man who was just coming around the bend. James had beaten him to the dead end—a large patch of soil placed between a cottage and a gigantic cliff face. There was literally nowhere else for the old man to run.
James grabbed the old man by the shoulders (who was still looking backwards at his pursuer) and then hoisted him off of his feet. James threw the old man behind him and then turned in time to see the pursuer come to a halt.
It was a middle-aged man. Lean. Muscular. Bald. The man was wearing Paragon clothing for the area—thin brown pants and a V-neck shirt. But it was also a long sleeve, and his hands were covered by gloves. They looked like gardener’s gloves, but anyone that lived in Paragon knew that no actual tilling and digging was required to get plants to grow. All it took was a drop of the seed, and the atmosphere and soil itself did all of the work. There was no reason for him to wear those gloves...unless he had something to hide.
“Covering up your seared skin?” James asked. The man blinked rapidly as he took one step back.
“Who sent you here?”
“I’m not from Paragon,” James said, glancing behind him to make sure the old man was okay.
“Um, what are you doing then?” the middle aged man asked. “Okay, maybe you’re new here. I’m Xavier, and I was sent to remove this mark from—”
“I know about the marks.”
“Then what are you doing?” Xavier frowned. James was surprised by how well he was holding in his anger. Perhaps Cimmerian made sure to send their more level-headed assassins into Paragon so they wouldn’t do anything reckless.
“I want information.”
“You can’t have any. This is against the rules, and you know this.”
“It doesn’t matter. The fact that you were able to infiltrate Paragon at all makes you an important asset to Cimmerian. That also makes you dangerous.”
“Let me do my job,” Xavier whined, pointing at the old man.
“Why do you need the old man?”
“I don’t have to tell you anything,” he said. “There’s—” He let out a cry instead of finishing his sentence, falling to his knees as Kyran shimmered into view behind him.
“What are you doing?!” James asked and Kyran removed an invisible blade from Xavier’s back. Xavier winced and grit his teeth.
“We’re seeing this to the end. You started it. I’m finishing it.”
“I wasn’t going to hurt him!”
“We have to do more than that now.”
“We’re not going to kill him.”
“No, not us. But someone. We’ll go to one of the King’s officials and explain how important this man is to Cimmerian and that he should be marked immediately. Given that the Sages have never requested for someone to be marked, they are sure to listen and comply. We’ll let this man go in the countryside somewhere so that someone can officially mark him, and then we’ll ensure he’s killed before he gets back outside of the gate.”
“No,” James said adamantly, but Kyran was unmoved.
“Not your call, boss.”
“I’m the leader of the Sages. I’m—”
“—failing. You are a leader by default. Arimus doesn’t want to do it. I’m not good with people. Catherine isn’t here. Achan is depressed. Bastion is hated by Paragon, and the list goes on and on. You only get to be the leader for as long as the orders make sense, and then, you’re just another Sage. This man has to die.”
“No, he doesn’t.”
“You talk with him. Fine. But if you let him go, he will tell Cimmerian all about you. They will know who you are, or someone will. They will retaliate.”
“So killing is the answer then? I refuse to believe that. There has to be a better way.”
“That’s why you never lived up to your potential,” Kyran said, slowly grabbing a handful of Xavier’s hair and pulling at it. “That’s why you failed to overcome Lakrymos...because you’re too scared to get your hands dirty. Open your eyes. We’re all playing in the sandbox.”
“I won’t,” he whispered.
“I know,” Kyran said darkly. “And that’s why I’m here.”
“Chloe wouldn’t want this.”
“And neither do I...but someone’s got to do it. I tried to warn you...but now you’ve forced my hand. Just think about your actions before you carry them out. You don’t know what you might make someone do.”
Kyran yanked at Xavier’s hair and he began to howl. Kyran covered Xavier’s mouth, stifling his cry. “Listen carefully,” Kyran whispered. “You will answer this man’s questions. Do that, and your death will be painless.”
“No,” Xavier snapped as soon as Kyran took his hand away. “No matter what you do, I won’t say a word! You can’t torture me. Someone could come around the corner any minute and then—”
Kyran slammed Xavier’s head into the base of the cliff, knocking him out instantly.
“He’s right,” Kyran muttered. “We don’t have time for this.”
“Then what was the point?” James asked.
“Exactly...what is the point?” Kyran shook his head and then pulled a shiv from underneath his coat. It was made out of sharpened rock.
“You’re going to do this here?” James asked.
“Just prop him up.”
James reached down and grabbed Xavier by the armpits. But as soon as he began lifting him off of the ground, Kyran lunged forward and jammed the shiv into the old man’s head. James dropped Xavier’s limp body and tackled Kyran to the ground from behind. James flipped the Sage over and then punched him hard in the face. Kyran’s eyes were as listless as the old man’s, who was now crumpled into an awkward ball against the cottage wall.
“Why?” James roared in his face.
“Quiet,” Kyran said and James punched him again.
“Why did you do that?!”
“Because there can be no witnesses!” Kyran spat at him. “All that old man would have to do is tell one person about what he saw today, and the result could be the same! Cimmerian has spies just like we do!”
“He was innocent!”
“He was marked! And that means he wasn’t innocent at all.” Kyran shoved James off of him and climbed to his feet steadily as he wiped the trickle of blood coming from his lips. “If you’re important in this war then it means you’ve already gotten your hands dirty.”
“I notice that there’s no mark on your head,” James retorted.
“Give it time,” Kyran replied, stooping down to examine the old man’s body and making sure the deed was done. “Now leave. I’ll secure the assassin’s body until we can procure the mark.”
James didn’t know what to say. All of it happened so fast, and even before his stomach began to tighten into knots, he knew the source of the pain. Though Kyran had committed the murder, he had set the chain of events in motion.
He had been so antsy lately, and so afraid that he would fall back into his old lazy routine due to times of peace that he had gotten careless. And Kyran was right. He was no leader. What experience did he truly have? What successes were under his belt when it came to delegating orders to others?
That would have to change.
James walked away still nervous, but cautiously optimistic.
With Paragon being stuck in a time of peace, now was the best time for introspection.
