The Sorcerer's Dragon (Book 2) (19 page)

He started disappearing into the air as his body turned into ash.

“And that was just two of them,” a voice said behind her. She swung her eidolon and Ember caught it with one hand. She crushed it and Remi cried out in pain, falling to her knees as the shards of her soul sprinkled down around her.

“You have a strong will,” Ember said. “To still be awake after losing two eidolons like that.”

Remi tried to catch her breath but the wind was knocked out of her. She gasped and fell over onto her side, heaving as the dust around her lips kicked up into the air. Ember watched her with no expression on her face.

“I don’t see it,” she said. “I don’t see what makes you special.”

“You wouldn’t,” Kace said, dropping down between them.

“Run along,” Ember said casually. “Casimir is wounded enough already. I don’t want to make his heart bleed from losing one of his favorites.”

“I’m not a thing,” Kace growled, dropping to all fours and slowly transforming into his Quietus form. Ember looked at him with a bored expression. “Your Master is on the roof, having lost a considerable chunk of his power. I would go to him instead of foolishly attacking me.”

Kace growled at her through his sharp fangs as Ember looked back to Remi. Remi still hadn’t gained her strength, but she had caught her breath. She was trying to slow down her breathing as she listened to Ember speak.

“I’ll be leaving now,” she said. “And with the dragon in tow.”

“Why do you want her?” Remi asked. “Why is she so important?”

“Knowledge is the Sorcerer’s greatest weapon,” she replied. “And the dragon possesses much of it. Having been around for a long time, she has seen much. She has killed many, and with each death, she gains insight. Not to mention that she was once the pet of one of the most powerful of us. Since he’s let her go, we’ve been searching for her ever since. But our vision was blinded by the veil over her mountain. Darkheart was hidden from us. But the moment she stepped past the veil, we realized where she had been kept.”

“You knew that I would find her,” Remi said, sitting up. “I had a better chance of finding her since I was a weapon too.”

“Exactly, but it doesn’t matter now. We have what we want.”

“What happened to Darkheart?”

“It’s gone,” Ember said coldly. “The mountain and all of its inhabitants are gone.”

“No!” Alicia growled from behind Ember, back in her clothes. Ember turned and scowled at her.

“How did you break free of my warriors?”

“I’m stronger than I look,” she said, gritting her teeth as tears streamed down her eyes. “You killed them all?”

“Every last one,” Ember said with no remorse. “But it wasn’t personal.”

Alicia growled and clutched her chest as she staggered up against the clay house. Her teeth began to grow sharp as her right hand began to turn a deep, dark red. “I’m tired of being used,” she said. “I’m sick of people like you thinking you can decide who I am.”

“I know what you’re thinking,” Ember warned her. “Don’t. I only need you alive. Your limbs are expendable.”

“They’ll grow back,” Alicia growled as she clenched her fists tight. She pushed herself off the wall and glared at Ember with murderous intent.

Kace attacked first, lunging right for Ember’s throat. Ember jammed her arm straight through his stomach and out the other side as Alicia opened her mouth and shot a stream of fire at her back. Ember ignored it as Remi rolled to Ember’s left and cocked back her arm. She lunged in to punch the Sorcerer’s cheek and then activated her armor form at the last second to keep up the momentum. Ember was hit with the steel at full force.

Ember didn’t move through it all.

She swiped her free hand up and chopped off Remi’s armored right arm. Remi’s armor form disappeared as she jumped back and put a hand to her stump. Thankfully, she hadn’t lost any flesh in the process. Ember threw Kace’s unconscious body into the wall. He slumped down into a bloody mess.

Ember turned around to face Alicia, her face taking all of the fire that the dragon Mistress could spit out. Ember stepped forward slowly and Remi ran between them. Alicia stopped her assault.

“Get out the way!” Alicia shouted.

“It’s not working!” Remi said as she stared Ember in the face. “And you’re not taking Alicia.”

“I am,” she said when Casimir landed behind her.

“I’m awake,” he declared flatly, then he vanished and reappeared in front of Remi. Remi staggered back in surprise as he pushed Ember away with both hands. The Sorcerer stumbled back and grinned a little.

“I need an answer,” Casimir said into the air. Remi huffed and looked at Ember.

“Let’s go,” Remi declared. Casimir nodded and a pillar of light engulfed them all. Remi couldn’t see if Ember was attempting to stop them or not, but what she did feel was safe. One second she was breathing in the thick dusty air of Cimmerian and in the next, she found herself in a field of short grass, dandelions and clean thin air under a warming sun.

“We’re safe?” Milo said as they all found themselves sitting in the grass. Alicia, who was sitting next to him, tackled him to the ground and rubbed her rough skinned cheek against his. He screamed in agony as she laughed.

“That we are,” Casimir replied, standing up to face them all. “While we are under this barrier, we are blinded from the other Sorcerers, but take one step outside of it, and this field and all that it entails will be compromised. This location can only be used once. Once any of us leave, we’ll be hunted.”

“Where is this?” Remi asked, inspecting her lost arm.

“Paragon, technically, but far off in the countryside. In the last century, only two people that weren’t Sorcerers came out this far, and due to the barrier, they didn’t see anything that I didn’t want them to.”

“Another cage,” Alicia muttered as Casimir sighed.

“In a sense, yes,” he said. “But at least we are trapped together.”

“What do we do now?” Remi asked, standing up. “That Sorcerer back there…we didn’t even annoy her, let alone hurt her.”

“She’s the least of our problems unfortunately. She will undoubtedly tell the others of what I did here today. All of their plans will be altered, and new strategies will be put into motion, no doubt involving the three worlds entirely.”

“And what did you do exactly?” Alicia asked.

“Have you ever played a board game with a child? And then they get so mad that they overthrow the board instead of losing the match? In a sense, I childishly knocked over their game.”

“Weren’t you involved in it from the start?”

“Not as much as you might think,” he said. “But what matters now is that Alicia is still safe with us. We can take the time to determine what she knows that they don’t. We need to find out what they don’t want leaked out into the war.”

“Besides your existence?” Milo asked. “I mean, knowing that you all are really out there is a big deal.”

“Not really,” he said. “Our presence won’t change the war. That is certain.”

“But why?”

“It will merely postpone it, as both sides come together to combat us. They would lose, and consequently be enslaved. The Sorcerers don’t want this. They would rather the mystery hang over them, so that they can manipulate the course of events in the background.”

“But why?” Alicia asked. “Why do all of this?”

“Because at some point, one Sorcerer will win their game. One single Sorcerer will defeat all of the others and become more powerful than the rest, incorporating their power into his or her own.”

“And then what happens?”

“Well,” Casimir said. “That Sorcerer becomes God.”

*              *              *

“Do you trust him?” Remi asked as Milo examined her ‘wounds.’

“Not yet,” Alicia said, stretching her neck up to see Kace and Casimir discussing something in the distance. “But I don’t think he wants to harm us.”

“Not yet,” Milo said.

“We’re in over our heads,” Remi admitted. “The war between Cimmerian and Paragon…it pales in comparison to this.”

“No, it matters,” Alicia sighed. “Because it’s probably being orchestrated by the Sorcerers entirely.”

“We’ll have to question everything we’ve learned,” Remi said. “Everything. The Great Collision. Bastion. The Sages. The war. Everything.”

“We have a little time,” Milo said. “But not much. The Sorcerers will be looking for us more than before. We’re an actual threat now that we’ve aligned with one.”

“Do you trust him?” Remi asked him.

“I don’t know about trust…but right now I’m kind of looking at it the same way you and Olivia thought of each other when you journeyed together. You might not ever be the best of friends, and you ended up becoming enemies in the end, but in that moment, you needed each other. Right now, he needs us, and we need him.”

“No, it’s worse,” Alicia said. “We need him far more. You saw how little we did against Ember. How are we ever going to be strong enough to combat that?”

“We’ll have to learn what the Sorcerers know,” Remi replied, staring at Casimir and Kace. “You heard what Ember said. Knowledge is the weapon the Sorcerers employ. At one point in history, forming an eidolon was seen as the most powerful thing one could achieve in their growth as a warrior. Now it’s looked down upon, and the more I use it in this world, I see just how weak it is. The Sorcerers have been around for centuries. They know a lot more than we do. That’s the only difference between us and them. We might not be able to beat the Sorcerers in hand to hand combat, but we might be able to outsmart them.”

“And how are we going to do that?” Milo asked.

“I’m going to get close to Casimir,” Remi whispered, staring at him hard. “And we’re going to pay attention closely to everything he has to say.”

“Still, it could be a long time before we’re even smart enough to take down a Sorcerer.”

“Won’t know until we try,” Remi said, rising to her feet.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“I’ll be back,” she said as Kace came walking toward her.

“What are you up to?” he said with a smile. She ignored his attempts at small talk.

“What’s Casimir up to?”

“He’s practicing with barriers. A main part of it is illusion, but he also employs pain to keep out the wandering stranger.”

“Is it around him now?”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t get too close. It really hurts.”

“No worries,” she said as she continued on. Kace grabbed her free arm and she swiveled her head around to glare at him. “You don’t get to touch me like that again,” she said firmly. He let go as his eyes softened.

“Sorry,” he said. “I was just protecting you.”

“No more,” she said. “Like I’ve been saying since the beginning, I don’t need you to keep me safe. You need me. Listen, we have a lot to talk about, but now’s not the time. I need to talk to Casimir, and—”

“—but he’s—”

“—you don’t tell me what to do,” she snapped. “As of right now we don’t have a relationship. We’re not dating. We’re barely friends, and if you want to keep it that way, you’ll let me be.”

“Fine,” he said, shaking his head. “But just so you know, I never meant to hurt you.”

“I know,” she said. “And that’s the only reason we’re still talking. Now let me go talk to Casimir.”

Kace walked off and she continued forward.

Hitting the barrier was a strange sensation at first. Her mind was almost humming, telling her that danger was near and she should turn back. It was that feeling of being watched by a sinister force—unknown and full of terrible intentions. She knew it was lie, for she could see Casimir with his eyes closed and hands clasped, muttering inaudibly as the invisible barrier around him expanded.

Without even taking a step forward, she found herself further inside, and it felt like her blood was beginning to boil. She was hit with vertigo. Her body began to sway against its will, but her will was still sharp. She told her body to stop. She commanded it to take a step forward. To defy all warnings and proceed, because it was the only way to get stronger.

And it wasn’t out of pride. No, she had lost her pride a long time ago. It had died when she was still little and she had given up all hopes of ever finding peace in her life. This was different. She kept moving forward out of duty. Out of a sense of justice that extended beyond herself.

To still be alive at this point was a miracle.

And if she had a purpose out there that was deeper and more powerful than she had ever dreamed of, she was going to reach it. It didn’t matter what the Sorcerers could do. They could bleed just like her. She just had to find the right blade to break through their skin. And even if they did manage to kill her, at least they would think twice next time before they messed with lives that weren’t their own.

They were stupid to write her off.

They were blind if they didn’t fear her.

She wasn’t strong at all by their standards, but that would change.

Eventually she would gain their attention, but by then it would be too late. Like a plague, she would spread her influence, encouraging others to join in the fight. She would increase in number and overcome their strongholds with their collective might. She couldn’t be broken down physically for she had already been there. Her spirit couldn’t die for she knew who she was. Every death they forced upon her that contained the face of her friends—she would use it as fuel. She wouldn’t give up. She wouldn’t stop.

For unlike the Mistress Dragon, she was able to sift through the voices of the dead.

She had plenty of practice.

The little boys that cried until they starved to death. The little girls that were preyed upon. The elderly that were treated like animals. She had seen people turn into ash and vanish right next to her. In the dead of night, when her illness kept her awake, she would hear their shrieks, and she would weep, knowing that there was little she could do in her current condition.

But she was stronger now.

And they would all recognize it.

As she took another step forward, she could see Casimir’s eyes widen. He screamed for her to get back—she could see his lips moving. But she could not hear him. She refused to, for they only served to hold her back from increasing her potential.

She bit her lip and tried to crush the pain surging up within her. She accepted it, for she knew that if she survived, she would already be one step closer to her goal.

She lifted her head and glared at Casimir as she took another step. She was now only a few yards away.

And he finally gave up warning her.

He just watched.

As she slowly made it through the barrier and out the other side.

She collapsed at his feet and he stared at her in amazement, wondering who this creature before him was. And to his surprise, she didn’t faint. Instead, she climbed to her feet. She took a deep breath and then held it in her lungs until she was on both feet and eye level with him.

Casimir didn’t say anything. He was in awe.

There was absolutely no reason for her to go through the barrier like that, and yet, she had just done it, before his very eyes, and for a reason that he could only begin to fathom.

Was she crazy?

Remi didn’t say anything either. She looked into his eyes and waited for him to speak first.

He searched her gaze, still trying to get over the feat she had just accomplished.

He was beginning to see now.

It was not the Dragon that the Sorcerers should have been trying to retrieve.

It was her…the woman standing in front of him.

Remi was dangerous.