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“Killing us will solve nothing,” James replied.
“It will now. If you’re out of the way, I’ll be able to convince Paragon that my people are separate from yours. I can negotiate, and with the contacts I have, that shouldn’t take much. But I can’t do that if all of my Sages and I are in prison.”
“There are other ways to—”
It was obvious that Gideon was done talking. He cocked his arm back and then extended his whip out toward James, heading straight for his neck. James had anticipated something like this, however, and so he easily ducked under the attempt. He unsheathed his black eidolon from within him and sprinted forward, trying to catch up to Gideon before his whip fully retracted.
James didn’t make it in time though and Gideon was able to clash blades with him. The clash of their eidolons ran out as they both leaned into their swords, trying to overcome the other. Chloe ran forward from behind Gideon but their enemy had been waiting for such a maneuver. He summoned a plate of armor to cover his back and it took the brunt of Chloe’s slash.
Gideon relaxed his arms and let James fall forward. Gideon pivoted to the side and stuck the edge of his sword against James’ abdomen. He tensed his arms and tried to slice through him, but he couldn’t move. Arimus’s winds were wrapped all around him.
Gideon grunted as he fought against the strengthening winds, covering both of his arms as if hundreds of hands were gripping them. James rolled away from the blade and tried to slice at Gideon’s abdomen but Gideon had already begun summoning a full suit of armor, delaying the battle’s end and protecting him from harm once more.
Gideon punched James in the face, sending him reeling backwards. James tried his best to ignore the pain as he waved a hand toward Chloe.
“Stop!” he shouted at her. She halted in her tracks. “We’re not going to accomplish anything hacking away at him. This could go on forever. ARIMUS! I want you to keep him still! Put all you’ve got into it!”
Arimus nodded and put all of his energy into his ability, creating miniature tornados and wrapping them around their foe’s limbs like fabric. Kyran reappeared and wrapped his thin arms around Gideon’s, trying to keep him secure. James knew that Kyran was the weakest out of them all so he wouldn’t be able to keep him back for longer than a second if Arimus’ energy gave out, but it was still an extra second.
“Lily!” James shouted, but there was no answer. He sucked his teeth and turned to Chloe. “Cut where I cut. Direct spot. We probably only have one shot at this.”
“STAY AWAY!” Gideon shouted from inside his rocky armor.
“Now!” James shouted. He fused everything he had into his black eidolon. It began rippling like it was Quietus skin and it hummed with power as he grit his teeth, trying to put more and more energy into it. James started sweating and his legs were beginning to feel weak, but he couldn’t stop. This was it. All or nothing.
James sprinted forward, reared back his arm and then slammed it into Gideon’s right side as hard as he could. It stopped about an inch into his three inch armor, but at least he had started the break. Chloe stared at him in shock.
“James, move,” she said, and he glared at her intensely.
“We don’t have time for this. Do it. I won’t die.”
“But you might. You’ve been—”
“NOW!” James shouted at her. He couldn’t worry about how Kyran would feel about him yelling at her. There was no time for formalities. Too much was riding on what happened in the next couple of minutes.
Chloe sighed and then her hair spiked up completely as she fused as much of her energy as possible into her long sword. Once she was finished, she wrapped both hands around the hilt and cocked it back. She gave out a war cry and slammed the blade right into James’, smashing through his eidolon and digging even further into Gideon’s armor, slicing through the last couple of inches and right into his skin.
He gave out a cry of agony but she wasn’t done.
Now that she had broken through his defenses, she wasn’t about to let up.
She crouched low and dug her feet into the ground, making sure she was stable. Then she lunged forward, twisting as she leaned into the thrust. Gideon had no time to reinforce the lost armor around the wound. The pain was too great. Gideon gave out a weak cry and then his body went limp. The armor around his body began to crumble as his body lay onto Chloe’s blade. Chloe lifted a foot and used it to push him off of her blade.
She didn’t want to see the spoils of their victory.
She just wanted to forget the day entirely.
She did what she had to do.
She wanted nothing more.
Chloe turned around and began walking away without another word. Kyran caught up to her and strolled by her side, saying nothing. James watched them walk off in the distance as he felt a wave of exhaustion come over him. He looked down at their foe.
Gideon was unconscious, but still very much alive. Though the wound had been severe, Chloe had made sure not to hit anything vital. James crouched down and kept his hands over the wound, trying to apply pressure. He looked over at Arimus who was now sleeping soundly against the wall. He earned the reprieve.
“Sorry,” Lily said weakly as she stumbled over the debris that came from the broken wall next to Arimus. She leaned against the cottage for support and took a deep breath before walking slowly toward James.
“You did nothing wrong,” James said as she plopped down on her butt beside him. She looked over Gideon with curious eyes.
“Anything that I can do?” she asked.
James shook his head. “No, it’s over for now. I’m just trying to keep him from losing too much blood.”
“Should I go get someone?”
“No. I don’t want to accidentally retrieve the wrong person. He has the ability of a Sage within him. Once he gains consciousness, he’ll begin the healing process, and then we’ll take him away.”
As if on cue, Gideon coughed and his eyes fluttered. “You didn’t kill me,” he whispered, his voice sounding as if his throat was extremely raw.
“Of course not,” James said. “Like you said, we wouldn’t want you to become a martyr.”
“But it doesn’t matter anymore,” he whispered. “You’ve taken my people away from me. The Solons will never see their dreams realized.”
“Solons?” James asked. “Is that what you called yourselves?”
“Yes,” Gideon said. James noticed the rising strength in his voice, and that there was no more blood pouring out of his wound. “We may have traditional Sage abilities, but we still wanted to separate ourselves from the title. For obvious reasons.”
“You never know. You might see it all come to pass in the end...it will just be from a jail cell.”
“It’s hopeless.”
“I suppose,” James said. “But you’ve got a lot of spirit. I’m sure you’ll find a way to keep yourself moving forward. But in the meantime, you’ll have to excuse me if I don’t allow you to regain your strength just yet.”
James punched Gideon in the face four times, making sure he would stay unconscious long enough for them to carry out transferring him to his waiting cell.
***
“ARE YOU SURE ABOUT this?” Arimus asked as James leaned up against the brick wall. They were standing at the base of the stairs leading down to one of the lower levels of the Academy. Few ever went down there unless they were on a mission, and James had made sure not to pass any of them out. Though the students weren’t sure what was going on in Paragon, he would tell them soon. He would hold little back.
“No,” James said, crossing his arms. He could hardly bear to look his former mentor in the face, but no matter what, he would remain firm in his decision.
“Gideon should be given to the authorities, not imprisoned in the bowels of the Sage Academy. His people must know he’s alive. And Orson is still around. He’ll be looking for him.”
“That’s what I’m hoping for,” James replied, staring off to the side. “That the Solons put themselves out into the open. I want to know who they all are, and that won’t happen by giving Gideon over to the King. You know what he’ll do.”
“Perhaps I have more faith in Paragon than it deserves,” Arimus sighed, scratching his beard. “I know. I know. We give Gideon to him and they’ll say that he’s one of us. Just a Sage causing trouble. It could make things worse, but still...I don’t feel comfortable working in the shadows.”
“Then go off into the light,” James said, finally looking at Arimus.
Arimus blinked rapidly. “James...I thought you didn’t want to be the leader anymore.”
“That was before I realized who I have to become.”
“And who is that?”
“A champion of the people. I may not have the love for them that Catherine has. I’m not sacrificial like that. But I do love the principles behind a utopian world, and I think that in time, we just might be able to achieve that. When I was younger, I hated my life because I thought I had nothing to live for...that I was just another person using up the air of others. But I do have a purpose. We all do, and I’m going to help everyone find theirs.”
“Is that the real reason you left Gideon alive? Because he’ll be important in the future?”
“He was able to bring people to his side—Sages that were once under us. I’d like to know why on every level. So I can educate myself, and make smarter decisions from here on out. I don’t want to be blind to what’s going on around me again.”
“You do know that to carry out this mission of yours...you might have to do things you won’t like. You might have to abandon a few principles to maintain these new ones.”
“I know,” James admitted. “But isn’t that part of growing up?”
Arimus thought about it for a moment. “I suppose that’s true.”
“What are you going to be up to?”
“I’m thinking that I’ll stick around,” Arimus stated to James’ surprise. “I want to see where this is all headed,” he said, waving his arms around to indicate the Sage Academy and Paragon in general. “And I want to be a voice of reason in case you go too far.”
“I would love that,” James said, giving him a smile.
“And Orson and the Solons may come after us, especially if they find out where Gideon is.”
“For all they know, they might think he’s dead. It’s not like evidence is left behind after death. Even the blood that’s spilled turns to dust after a couple of minutes.”
“Still, they’ll be looking.”
“Let them.”
“And they’ll try to pin everything that’s happened on us. People will want to know why the Sages didn’t stop the Cimmerians when they invaded. I heard Cirrus is still reeling over their attack. Not much was damaged building-wise, but the weapons were destroyed.”
“The weapons from the Seven Sorcerers?” James asked in surprise. “Did you see them at all when you headed that way?”
“No. Not even a fragment. I heard the King and his officials are looking for ways to put them all back together. It was a devastating blow to their morale, and they’re looking for reasons why their security was so lackadaisical. It won’t be good to hear that Sages were fighting against each other in Altostratus when it was all going down.”
“No one’s come to talk to us yet.”
“It’s only been a couple of days. They’ll come.”
“Any thoughts on what they may do?”
“Not sure. We have to remember that Orson is still in good standing with the King. He’ll be spinning stories in his favor. Of that I’m sure.”
“But he’ll say nothing that will destroy the Sages completely. At least, not until he finds out what happened to Gideon.”
“True.”
“Well, Arimus, I’m going to have a chat with the prisoner before I address the student body. Can you do me a favor and assemble everyone in the meadow below?”
“Not on the center pathway?”
“There’s more room down below. And we’ll be able to mingle afterwards.”
“Mingle?” Arimus chuckled. “That’s certainly new.”
“I’m trying new things,” James said.
“James...I can’t guarantee that Kyran and Chloe will be there.”
“I know,” he said solemnly. “But I think they will be today. They are leaving, after all.”
“I will miss them,” Arimus said. James placed a hand on his shoulder.
“They’ll be back. When we need them most, they’ll return, no matter how much they may not want to. And besides, they’re our link to the Delilah. We’ll all still be in contact with one another.”
“I hope so,” Arimus said. “This Gideon...one person did more damage to us than I ever thought possible. It makes me wonder what other threats are out there. Cimmerian has always been thought of as the enemy, but our greatest threat may truly be internal.”
“Story of our lives,” James laughed. “The freaking story of our lives.”
