Sage
Sage
“Water,” Vinciei gasped. “I need water.”
Sage leaped down from the table. “Yeah. The nearest water source is like, a mile that way.” Sage hiked her thumb behind, pointing in the general direction of the stream. Zaniel moved, shadows curling around him, but Sage hit him with a blast of magic. Purple and black tendrils laced around him, pinning his hands and legs together.
“Just sit tight, I will deal with you in a second,” Sage said, then moved towards Vinciei. She hacked and coughed, stumbling back as her palm glowed with her gift. Sage picked up the golden knife from the tabletop and then threw a bolt of power right into Vinciei’s stomach. She doubled over, vomiting again while the light faded from her palm.
“To answer your questions - yes, I did see the manor,” she said coldly, stalking towards her. Vinciei tried to crawl away, but her body was being wracked with convulsions and the overbearing need to drink water. Sage knew it well. She’d experienced the effects of Blackthorn berries within the first hours of being in Neaviah. If it hadn’t been for Clara, she might not have survived.
Fitting then, that these two would feel the effects of the berry before they died.
“Yes,” she continued, brandishing the knife, “I was there when Naru saw Clara’s body.” She knelt by Vinciei, who attempted to throw an orb of magic into her face. Sage caught her hand, releasing a wave of her gift and crushing Vinciei’s wrist between her fingers.
Vinciei screamed a hoarse, dry wail that echoed down the cave. Sage heard hurried footsteps and threw up a barrier. Gabriela and Omi skittered to a stop at her barrier, their eyes wild as they took in the scene before them.
Sage crouched over Vinciei as she tried and failed to stop herself from puking again. Zaniel in the other corner, hog-tied and dry heaving.
“The others will be here soon,” Sage said calmly. She met Omi’s eyes and held them. “Do not let them enter this cave.” She said. Omi opened her mouth to say something but Sage said louder, “Do you understand me? Do not let any of them enter this cave.”
Omi shut her mouth and, after a quick hesitation, she nodded.
Sage dipped her chin in appreciation. “Take her, Omi.”
Gabriela tried to protest but the little Demon tugged her back down the cave, her chestnut hair flaying wildly around her as she tried to break free of Omi’s grasp.
Sage brought her attention back to Vinciei, who was dry-heaving through the pain.
“Oh, does that hurt?” Sage asked, furrowing her brows. “My bad. Let me fix it.” Sage said, then squeezed until she heard bones crunching. Vinciei cried out, kicking her legs out, but Sage belted them down with her magic. Vinciei struggled against her magical binds, shrieking like a banshee and fighting like a wildcat.
“You know what would come in handy right now? Some of Kami’s magic. Why don’t you try it?” Sage said softly, leaning closer to her beet-red face.
Vinciei spat at her, but she dodged it. “No? Let me, then.” Sage held out her free hand and gathered the shadows from the cave into a whirling vortex. Vinciei stilled, her eyes widening as the shadows grew in her palm. “Cool, huh? And no, I couldn’t always do this. Not until I touched you.” Sage shook her limp wrist and Vinciei winced. “It took me a second to realize it, but it kind of works the same way Kade and I do.”
Sage wiggled her fingers, and the shadows flew back to the corners of the cave, covering them in darkness.
“You have her gift, which I am willing to bet has been way more than what you bargained for. I couldn’t see it earlier at the temple, but I do now. I thought Kami had gone mad being alone all those years in that wasteland, but it wasn’t that. And it wasn’t the trauma of seeing her entire tribe burned alive. It was all those stolen gifts. It made her mad.” Sage flicked the top of Vinciei’s forehead, making her snarl. She snapped her teeth at her hand, but then doubled over as another wave of nausea came over her.
“Better to let it all out,” Sage said, feigning a pitying look. “Where was I? Oh yeah - you have her gift and the stolen ones, and it’s causing you to go crazy, which I find hilarious. But I have her soul.” Sage said, pressing a finger to her heart. “Separately, they do their own thing. Like drive you into a slow dive into insanity, or give me a taste of what her real gift would be like without all the stolen power. But together,” Sage squeezed her hand and Vinciei convulsed, “Together they can do this.”
Sage dove deep into the vein of dark power that laced between them. She tapped into it, causing it to flare up inside them both. Vinciei cried out as Sage began to take back Kami’s gift.
“You can take gifts. The Kami’s can too, but only if they siphon off souls. But that’s not a gift that can be given, not unless you have the soul of one.” Sage said, pulling harder as she felt Vinciei resisting. “I wondered why Kami would do it - in her last moment of life. She gave me her soul, not to fix my own, but to take back what you stole.”
Vinciei lurched forward, her face twisting with pain as she held onto the stolen gifts with every ounce of strength she had. Sage could feel it fading from her as her own body filled with it.
She knew what it meant. She’d slowly go insane just like Vinciei, but if it meant putting a stop to her, then so be it. But Vinciei wasn’t about to let it go that easily. Which is why Sage had poisoned her. She knew she didn’t stand a chance against either of them alone - but if she could weaken them, then she might be able to.
She was close to getting it all, but she slowed the pull. Vinciei gasped, the look of relief on her face evident. But it was short-lived. Sage stood up, forcing Vinciei to stand with her as her bands of magic pulled her to her feet.
She groaned, head lolling, as Sage positioned her in front of the portal. It flared to life, the rippling surface just behind Vinciei’s head, who glanced back at it in horror.
“Oh yes,” Sage said, breaking out into a cruel smile. “I have thought long and hard about what to do with you. Killing you seemed too kind, considering all that you’ve done. And then I had a thought - you love your power. Your gift. You slaughtered your entire family for it. You killed Kami and Clara and the Hunters for it. So the best thing would be to take it from you. But I also need to make sure you can’t ever get to it again. So,” Sage’s eyes slid to the portal, “I am going to send you to a place where magic doesn’t exist. A world where money is power - and you will have none. But first,” Sage twisted the knife in her palm and drove it into Vinciei’s side. Vinciei cried out, gasping for air as the knife sliced deeper and deeper into her flesh.
Sage moved with the knife until she drove it right to the hilt until her fingers were pressed into her skin. “That’s for Kami.” Sage hissed as hot tears welled in her eyes.
Sage thought of Kami’s body floating away, of Naru wailing over Clara, and she twisted the knife.
Shadows shot out at her, slamming into them and throwing them against her barrier. Sage let go of the knife, tumbling through the barrier as it cracked and broke. She hit the ground and rolled into the wall, her back slamming against the cold stone. She gasped for air as her lungs struggled to work.
Zaniel stood up, swaying on his feet and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He hacked, and black ooze came pouring from his mouth. Sage scrambled to get back up, glancing over to Vinciei, who lay groaning on the ground before the portal. She hadn’t pulled all of Kami’s gift or the stolen ones.
She had to get them back.
Forcing herself to stand, she called on her power and threw an orb at Zaniel. He dodged it and growled.
“I am a poisoner, you idiot. You took too long,” He grinned, showing his blackened teeth. Her gut clenched as she realized he had been purging the poison from his body the entire time. He wasn’t weakened at all.
“You took the antidote, didn’t you?” He hissed, “I smelled it on you but didn’t recognize it.”
“Rosewater,” Sage said, flicking her gaze back to Vinciei. She had to get the rest of her power, or this would all have been for nothing. “Gabriela came up with it.” She’d struck up a conversation with her while they made medicine with Minx. After telling her about the first time she came to this world, and how she ate the poisonous berries, Gabriela laughed and told her an easy antidote for it. She kept a vial of it with her since, just in case.
He rolled his eyes. “Pity.” Sage moved, lurching for Vinciei while she was still on the ground. Zaniel chucked a knife at her, quick as the shadows. It nearly hit her leg. She skittered back as it embedded itself into the stone behind her. She lost her footing as she tried to overcorrect. Zaniel pulled out another knife and aimed it at her.
She tilted backward, and as she began to fall, the knife flew. There was no way to avoid it. She tried to conjure up a barrier, but something blocked her view.
Minx flung herself in between the knife and Sage’s body. Sage tried to scream as the knife landed in her shoulder, the force strong enough to fling Minx back against the cave wall. Sage’s body hit the ground, and she scrambled to roll over, to get to Minx, who slumped down the wall, her face stark white as she looked down to see the dark green poison spider webbing through her shoulder.
The same poison that Zaniel had struck Kade with and nearly killed him. He would have died if Vinciei hadn’t healed him. Sage rolled over and sat up to grab Vinciei - she needed to take all her power and heal Minx before it was too late.
As she sat up, she came face to face with the Railor Maiden. She barely had time to breathe before the golden blade was punched into her gut.