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84.69% Sage of Shadows / Chapter 83: ANIMOSITY

Chapter 83: ANIMOSITY

The Creation, the oldest epic on Aran, starts with the birth of seven gods. The first three are the Land, the Sky and the Sea; they represent the world. Then came the Heat and the Cold, these two determined the state of the world. When the two maintained an optimal balance, that was what allowed Life to appear. Eventually, the first of the living would fade, paving the way Death's emergence.

The period between the Creation and the appearance of the Argun is too long for anyone to have an accurate estimation especially since all surviving records were vague and incomplete. The Creation was believed to be around six thousand years old, a fact that left countless scholars doubting its authenticity due to the fact that Aran's history- as uncovered in snippets from rock art and primitive pottery- was much longer than that. Another reason why historians were sceptical was the fact that the epic had multiple renditions. Also, the humans back then weren't exactly focused on record-keeping as they were more occupied with trying to survive the Beast Era.

Of course snippets could not be discounted as they often painted a picture of history unknown, or reinforced an accepted truth; like the fact that Tizhura clashed with the Beast God in the first ages. The result was a defeat that caused the Sky Goddess to get lost in the annals of history. The most widely accepted version of this legend had the Lion devouring the Harpy as was often propagated by the Beast God's worshipers. The conclusion did not seem farfetched though, considering the fact that these day Rakka embodied not only the Land but the Sky as well. He was the only god with more than one aspect.

Another fact acknowledged by everyone since time immemorial was the animosity between Vestrava and Atasha. These two, unlike the others, had a physical presence on Aran. Throughout the year they travelled from the desolate continents of the north and south, though never together. While Vestrava chased the warm of the sun, Atasha strayed away from it; compounding the natural seasons and making them more hectic. The two were never in the same hemisphere and, among numerous days of the year, the they only met on two of those on the Equator, spaced six months six months apart. During these Equinoxes their opposing personalities would clash, to the detriment of all fleshly beings on Aran.

The wind smashed against the shut window for the umpteenth time, Sage to put down her book in annoyance. Constant from wailing outside made it hard to engage in activities that required concentration. Added to the wails were the constant taps on the windows. Needless to say, the two sounds acting together were an effective focus killer. She had no clue how many times she had been interrupted, but this would be the last.

Is there anything else to do, she wondered, looking around the room.

On the other side sat Isaac, as he had done since they entered the room. He was stationary, with his back slumped while facing the floor; almost as if the spectacle outside did not bother him. It was not a far fetched conclusion to reach considering the fact that he had lived through more than fifty such days while she was experiencing her first.

Another who was experiencing his first Equinox was Nyx, who was nowhere to be seen. She sensed the cat hiding in one of the room's corners. The emotions fed to her through their bond indicated that he would not be appearing anytime soon.

The Equinoxes represented not only the highpoints of the transitional seasons, but also signified the gods of Heat and Cold trading places. They were more than just day and night having the same length, or the sun finally setting in the far north and vice versa. When the two gods passed by each other, their animosity towards each other was put on full display. Apparently this animosity could be felt on a spiritual level by all creatures of the world, especially the strong ones. During this period the beasts with strong physiques would feel be in constant alert due to feeling a deep-seated dread. As for the ones with magical abilities, any attempt to use those abilities resulted in their mana going out of control and bringing about unintended consequences.

Although she had read about this, believing it was another matter entirely.

At dawn, when the first winds began, she had attempted to see whether the effects as stated or whether they had been exaggerated. Maybe undead were not affected by the Equinox. The line of thought turned out to be wish fulfilment. The mere act of initiating [Mage Hand], a Zero Order spell, nearly caused her mana to go berserk. In quick response she had terminated the spell's casting, however, she incurred damage in the process. Now, since the current state of her mana was fucked up, she could only wait the for wind to die down at the next sunrise for her to be able to heal her the wounds. Fortunately they were not serious and were internal, she did not need to expand effort to hide them.

Still, she was not happy with how everything was proceeding. With her two pastimes swept away, she had nothing to busy herself with.

Leaving the inn was out of the question. It was said that during the Equinox, many creatures found outside would either suddenly burst into flames or have their body randomly be set on fire. Humans, undead, birds and predators; there were no exceptions to this. Statistically, the rate of unfortunate creatures that had this happen to them was abysmal, not even one percent. However, no one was willing to risk the fact that they would be among the unlucky few. For her it would probably be fine if she was frozen; uncomfortable, but the chances of survival were great. However, if she were to catch fire-

She could go to the common room and join in on whatever topics were being discussed there. The Equinoxes were terrible times, but the people had adapted. On these two days of the year, the people usually sang songs of safety and psalms asking for protection the elements. When she had gone down to the common room to eat breakfast for the sake of keeping up appearances, the innkeeper had been muttering a song in which she asked the Dragon God to blow the Tiger away with his mighty breath.

That had been the only singing in the entire inn and it did not take long for it to die down. The problem with that was that there were not many of them in the inn. Not counting herself, Isaac, the innkeeper and her daughter; the only other people in the inn were two mercenaries she had spotted when they first entered. It was hard to maintain a jolly mood with such a small number.

The innkeeper was accommodating, though- being a traditional woman of Lethia- she harboured a distrust for sorcerers, be they alchemist. While chatting with her, the innkeeper had even indirectly revealed the fact that Sage covering wearing a mask made her uneasy, the usual those who wear masks have something to hide schtick. While that was certainly true in Sage's case, she had rebutted the subtle accusation by claiming she had burned her face during and experiment gone wrong and. Playing it up with a few sniffs, she had claimed that she was not brave enough to show her disfigured face to anyone. Her acting fooled the woman, maybe even touched her. After that, the innkeeper's apprehension visibly lessened.

The same could not be said for the mercenary duo. When she and Isaac entered the inn, the two had been too engrossed in their conversation to pay them any mind. However, the previous night at dinner the woman occasionally sneered in her direction for no reason. Her male companion had not been any better. It was fine though; she never had any intention of talking to them.

Then there was the innkeeper's daughter. Sage took one deep breath an released it.

The brat was the last person she wanted to strike up a conversation with at the moment. The previous night the stupid girl had laughably snuck outside their room door and tried to eavesdrop on whatever she thought might be happening inside. The brat's assumption of the relationship between the pale knight and her was highly amusing, but after an entire hour passed and she remained outside the room- believing her actions had gone unnoticed- it became annoying. She had not interacted much with children since leaving Earth, but this incident reminded her of her lack of fondness for them; they were too nosy for the own good.

So, going to the common room was out of the question, leaving her with two choices. The first was something she particularly was not enthused about while the second involved meditation, to be alone with her thoughts. However, her thoughts were a rough path that led to a rabbit hole best left alone; she would not be treading there anytime soon. So, with a strangled groan, she went with the former option.

"Isaac," she began turning to the slouching former Guard Captain.

He responded by looking up from the wooden floor at her, she could feel his glare through his blindfold.

"What!" he asked hoarsely.

"Tell me about yourself."

The man did a doubletake at her request, sitting up straight and giving her a new kind of look. A frown wormed its way to his lips as his head lolled to the side, scrutinising her.

"What for?" the rudeness in his tone was unblemished.

"No reason really," she responded, "just trying to feed my curiosity. Like, why were you kicked out of the Paladin Order."

According to the information received from Sylphia, the details of the incident were vague with obvious signs of a cover-up. The only certainty in the information was that there had been an altercation between Isaac and one of the Imperium's senators.

The Shean Holy Imperium was a theocracy. Although the senate was the civilian branch of its government, every member was a priest of standing with the consul being the Arch Priestess, the leader of the Church of Life. The head of its military wing was the praetor, who ensured the safety of the Imperium's citizens and delegated large scale operations against dangerous nations or individuals. Normally these were the highest ranks in the Imperium, only the imperator outranked the two.

What happened between Isaac and the senator had resulted in the senator's death and Isaac being let go by the Paladin Order. Only the insiders knew exactly hat had happened. Even so, the death of a senator was no minor affair. If Isaac was the culprit, which was the only viable conclusion anyone with two brain cells would come to, he would have been rewarded by relieving his head from his shoulders. Seeing as that had not happened, the had to be a good reason why not. Sage was not particularly interested in learning what it was but, given that she had nothing better to do, she might as well find out.

Except the bastard did not respond. After glaring a her from behind his covered eyes he simply sneered and went back to eyeing the floor. His actions made caused her eyebrow to twitch, but she elected not to pursue it.

"Tell me about your dreams. What do you wish to accomplish in the future?"

The pale knight looked up from the floor again. This time his glare was more intense, she could almost see the black eyes behind the cloth angrily questioning, are you serious? He did not remain silent this time.

"I have no dreams," his tone was silent, oozing of a strong loathing and heartbreak. "You killed every dream I had when you turned me into this!"

"Oh," she replied as the accusation harmlessly bounced off her. "Even though you're undead a bit different now, you are still you. In time you will gain new dreams and something to look forward to."

Her words seem to have struck a chord, causing him to have an unintended visceral reaction. Before she could react, he was in front of her, just shy of grabbing her lapels and hoisting her face him. The expression on his face suggested that had been his intent, but had found himself unable to follow through with the last part. Seeing that it was fruitless, he resorted to verbal violence, blowing cold air into her face with every word uttered.

"How dare you!" he hissed. "How dare you spout such words after what you did to Saana?"

"Get out of my fucking face," she retorted, shooting him a glare of her own.

Unable to refuse, he retreated while continuing to glower at her. "You destroyed my dreams, killed every hope I had for the future. And after what you did to Saana, the Church will hunt you to the ends of Aran and rip you to shreds!" His brows creased further as he continued. "Perhaps that is my new dream, nothing will give me more pleasure than to witness it."

"You'll definitely be there!" she fired back. "Of that you should have no doubt. When they find me, you will be the one helping me kill them!"

Isaac clenched his fists and ground his teeth loudly. "You-"

Fuck off," she cut him off. "Go sit in your chair again and continue brooding. I assure you; you'll be feeling much worse if we ever encounter Shean agents."

With that said she got up from the bed and made a beeline for the door. Chatting up the innkeeper was a better alternative to staying in the room with this bastard.


Chapter 84: DELAYS

"It's finally over!" exclaimed Nyx, coming out of what had been his hiding spot for the past day.

As if on cue, she peeked up from her book at window. Sure enough, stray rays of sunlight were poking into the room. Even the wind had stopped; so abruptly it would have been deemed unnervingly suspicious on Earth. Fortunately, this was Aran; here it signified the end of a dreary day. Her mood lightened at this. She could finally use magic!

Like a starved beast, she grappled her mana, working it in the pattern of 1st Order spell [Heal Undead]. Different from the previous day, there was no push back, no berserking mana slipping out of her grasp and causing damage to her body. The injuries from the previous attempt vanished in an instant.

Gently, she set her book down, got up from the bed and patted her abdomen. The dull pain was gone. Satisfied, she called the cat over to her and handed him the book, which he swallowed instantly. Then her gaze shot to Isaac.

Since their brief dispute, they- more accurately she, since she was always the one initiating conversations between them- had not said a word to each other.

The bastard had some serious balls to speak to her like he did. The fact that he had tried taking the moral high ground was ridiculous. Accusing her of killing Saana, of turning him into an undead? So what! Was he not the one who had attacked her when she proposed they go their separate ways in peace. Was it not the hag who had destroyed the geezer's tower and killed him unprovoked? Were they not the ones who started it? Where then, had he gotten the fucking balls to get in her face like that?

Maybe I've been treating him too cordially, she thought.

The reason she had turned the bastard into her undead minion, more than to aid her in battles, was to watch him suffer up close. She would not deny that she derived pleasure from seeing his despair-riddled starved face on the first day, but since then that satisfaction had continually diminished. It was no longer as fun as it used to be. Now he took her cordiality as a reason to be rude; maybe if she was harsher with him the enjoyment would return.

But that was something to think about another time. At the moment, what she wanted most was to leave this town.

"Get up," she ordered. "Take all your shit. We're leaving."

Without waiting to see if her orders were followed, she turned to the cat and held out her arms. Nyx got the message almost instantly, running up to her and jumping into her arms. She caught him with one hand and tugged him under her breasts while stroking him with the other hand. Then she moved to the door and swung it open.

Getting to the common room, she found an crowd entering. Off the top of her head, she counted more than three dozen people; filling the seven tables while leaving others with no place to sit. They all appeared to be in a joyous mood; one of them had brought a lute, he tugged at its strings as he began a song thanking the Dragon for fending off the Tiger. When she came down the stairs his voice faltered as his eyes fell upon her. However, he quickly recovered and burst into song once again, louder and jollier. Soon others joined in.

Sage went to the counter and slammed the keys down.

"My sincerest gratitude for the accommodation madam," she said, making herself sound cheery. "But we have to get going."

"Oh," the fat woman seemed slightly taken aback. "You're not staying to celebrate?"

"I wish we could, but the road calls."

"Oh right," the woman seemed a little disappointed. "What a shame, especially since everyone seems to be having fun. This time the Equinox one took one of the livestock. A sheep was lost to the Cold Doom and nothing else." After saying this, her face scrounged up in deliberation. "Well, there was also Daisy's horse which was sacrificed to the Great God's flame. The poor dear is not taking it well however."

Daisy, Sage had learned the previous day, was the female mercenary. Her companion was called Terence. Since the two were unfriendly towards her for some reason, she never bothered to find out what they were doing in Tima.

"Say," the innkeeper looked over Sage's shoulder and leaned in to whisper. "Did you and Isen make up? It's not good for a couple to fight longer than a few hours."

"I want to," she muttered back, trying not to let the disgust at her insinuation creep into her voice. With the next sentence she added a whine to her tone; "but Isen can be so stubborn! If only he could see things my way."

"All men are stubborn dear," the innkeeper said, her face suddenly had a far-off look. "You should have seen my husband when he was alive, never been a more stubborn man to walk on Aran I tell you."

"Is that so?"

"Yes." The innkeeper leaned back and looked at her. "It was always frustrating when we fought, but in the end, we always made up. Sometimes you have to be the one to extend the branch of truce."

"I'll keep that in mind," She acceded.

"Good," the portly woman responded with a smile. "Good luck on the road then."

With that, she and Isaac left the inn. They found countless people moving about the streets, most of them headed to the plaza; that place was spewing more jolly noise than the inn. In the stable to the side, she spotted the two mercenaries; they both stood over a scorched carcass while the woman cried into the man's chest.

"Come horse, we're leaving," she yelled to the monstrous steed just metres from them; completely ignoring the pair.

The helhurst expelled a harsh frosty breath through its nose in what looked like protest. However, it could not resist her order and marched up to them. Isaac stepped in front of her and took the beast's reins. Now all they had to do was get the helm and leave town.

Unfortunately, they only travelled a few metres in the direction of the smithy before they were forced to stop when a thin middle-aged woman jumped in their way and knelt in front of them.

"Please great alchemist, I beseech you!" she cried before Sage had a chance to say anything.

As much as she wanted to shove the woman away and leave, there were a lot of onlookers.

"Might there be something I could aid you with madam," she slipped into character. Hopefully it was not something that would take too long.

"it's my son," the woman tearfully looked up at her. "A few days ago he fell ill and has been bedridden since." Then she crawled forward and grabbed her coat. "Please, I don't have coin but can you please spare a potion for me? Have pity on us! My boy is the only one I have in this life. I can't afford to lose him, please!"

Sage removed the woman's hands from her coat and helped her up. She then looked around, spying the dozen plus onlookers, before looking back at the woman.

"My apologies lady, but that is not possible," she politely tried to shoot her down. "Vigour potions cost money to produce. If I give one away, someone else will come with a tale similar to yours. Then more will come until I've donated my entire livelihood."

"You can't spare one?" the woman looked devastated. However, she bounced back a second later and grabbed Sage's coat lapels with newfound determination. "But you can check my boy, right? I heard alchemists know a lot about illnesses, that's how your kind are able to develop cures."

"I-"

"Please!" the woman begged, sinking back to her knees and flashing a desperate face.

Another look around the street and Sage released a sigh. In the next town they visit she would set her boundaries straight from the begin so this shit could be prevented.

"Lead the way," she responded.

She with Nyx on her shoulder and Isaac tugging the reins of the helhurst, followed the woman to her house. It was a not far.

The day before the previous one, Sage had noted that the there was not much disparity in wealth between Tima's townsfolk. Except for establishments like the inn and the smithy, most buildings were roughly of equal size. The same could be said about the house the lady led them to, the only difference being that it was not in the most pristine shape. Large cracks perforated much of its walls and even parts of the door. From the looks of it, the place could shield its inhabitants from an Equinox; however, she was highly doubtful it could protect from winter.

The woman pushed the door and looked back at her. "Please come in."

Sage silently followed her to a room on the far end. In this room, a young man lay on a thin bed. He appeared to be somewhere in his late teens. When she and the boy's mother entered, he turned to face them, his breath short and heavy. Sage noted his bloodshot eyes had a blue colouring at the bottom. Every so often, his hand shot to the side of his neck and scratched.

After hearing the woman's plea one more time, she stepped forward and grabbed the young man's hand. She turned it over and looked at his nails before dropping it. Then she pried his mouth open and was assaulted by what would no doubt have been a smelly breath if not for her mask. She was treated to rows of yellow teeth, but her gaze moved passed them to his tongue, noting its unnatural size. When she was done, she stepped back and looked at the woman.

"Please Lady Alchemist," said woman begged. "What's wrong with my boy?"

"It's nothing serious," she responded, spying the pale knight creep close to the boy and inspect his neck. "The problem can be solved with a stable diet of spinach, beans and dairy products such as milk or cheese. He should also make sure to eat chicken and meat, especially the liver. For your son to recover, he has to eat all these. If you are unable to get these foods then talk to your fellow townsmen, I'm sure they will be willing to help out after you explain it to them."

"Really," the woman looked ecstatic, tears flowing from her eyes as she clasped Sage's hand between her two. "Thank you so much! I hope the Flame blesses you!"

May He never come close to me, she retorted nonverbally before bidding the woman farewell.

It was when they were outside that the bastard knight initiated a conversation between them for the first time.

"He is not malnourished. He's missing blood."

"I am aware," she responded, shooting him a sideways scowl. All she had needed was a single look at the boy to concluded he was suffering from anaemia. The symptoms were quite clear to her; after all, in her past life she had contracted it a few times when she was still an amateur. "The food I recommended will aid with forming new blood."

"That's not what I am getting at," the pale knight responded in frustration. "His blood has been taken."

"So?" she responded dully. "What d'you expect me to do?" Before he could respond, she turned to him and give him a stare. "You do realise what we are right? This has nothing to do with us."

"You-" he tried to say, but she cut him off.

"The only thing we're going to fucking do is leave this town," she said with finality, causing him to harrumph and look away.

When they stepped back on the street, she felt the bastard's eyes drilling in the back of her head; which she opted to ignore as she chose the street leading the smithy.

Unfortunately, it was not long before a they encountered someone on the road who had heard that she had agreed to help the woman. This person, a man on the cusp of old age, then went on his knees and begged her to save his grandson who had also become bedridden.

Listening to him, Sage tried not grind her teeth so loud he would hear them. I fuckin swear this is the last time I'm doing this shit! Where the fuck had these people been hiding that they were only coming out when she was preparing to leave?

This town was merely supposed to be a shelter from the Equinox. Now that the danger had passed, she was eager to be away from this place, especially before anyone decided to hound her for selling potions that were not potent enough. Although her defence was passable, the preferable scenario was one where she never had to use it.

"Fuck it!" she muttered under her breath before turning to Isaac. "Go get the helm and meet me outside town, I'll be there as soon as I can." Then, turning to her shoulder, she said, "Nyx, go with him."

The cat gave her a hesitant look, but when she continued to glare, he gave up and jumped off her shoulder; into Isaac's shadow and disappeared. This caused a few gasps from the people in the street, background noise she was beginning to give less of a fuck about.

"Lead the way," she said after watching the bastard knight drag the horse away.

The man led her to his house, where she checked on a young man with a less sever case of anaemia than the previous beggar's son. After recommending the same diet she had suggested to the middle-aged woman, she left his house. However, this time she crept to an empty alley and activated {Invisibility}. With that, no one would see her; now all she had to do was meet up with Isaac and Nyx outside town and then she would be on her way, far from this place.

At least that was plan… before she felt the distance between her and Isaac and Nyx increase further than it should have. Cursing under her breath, she turned to the northwest of the town. In the distance was a large hill with a castle positioned on the peak.

The dumb fuck Isaac was accelerating in its direction.


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