Warning: This section contains violence.
Note: Revised to correct grammar. I was told apparently the past tense of kneel is knelt, not kneel-ed.
Chapter 14: Winter Birthday
"Thanks for coming! Good night! Watch your step!" Sage waved at Luke, Owen and Kathy. She had invited the group over to the farmhouse for Gill's birthday dinner. The dinner had been a blast. Gill had been surprised. He knew that Sage was making him dinner for his birthday, but he didn't expect his friends to be there.
Sage closed the door behind her. She and Gill were now standing in front of the house alone. She shivered and wrapped her arms around her. The winter night was clear and she could see the stars, thousands or maybe millions of them. She could see her breath. She ought to come inside soon, she thought. But she didn't really want to. She wanted to stand here beside Gill forever.
"I guess I should head home soon" Gill broke the silence.
Sage turned her face towards him and feelings surged in her heart. Then without thinking, she tip-toed and kissed him. Gill was surprised, but after a moment of hesitation, he pulled her into him and kissed her back.
"Sage, I lov..."
And that was when the world was blown to pieces.
Sage whipped her head towards the far corner of the farm where the explosion came from. She heard someone, something, screamed.
"Go get my grandpa!" she yelled at Gill before running towards the explosion.
"Sage. No!" Gill was trying to grab her but failed. He had no choice but to run into the house.
"Wizard! Wizard! She is here!" he yelled, grabbed his sword and ran back out. Ever since the incident with the Witch in Fugue forest, he had been carrying his sword with him everywhere he went. Gale trailed behind him with his staff.
As Sage approached the explosion she could see the Witch looking startled. There was another wizard shrouded in gray cloak crouching beside her holding his side. In front of the Witch, a couple of dozens creatures laid dead. The creatures reminded her of the moles, except they were much bigger than the moles she found in the Harmonica Town mines. The moles in the mines were about the size of a cat, while the moles the Witch had brought were about the size of a dog, a very large dog. They had red eyes and rabid foams came out of their mouths. There were about four creatures left standing.
You've got to be kidding me, she thought, and she cursed under her breath at the unfairness of the universe. She was just about over her fear of the moles in Harmonica mines, and now, she had to face even a bigger, scarier one?
"You! You set the trap!" The Witch said.
"Actually, no. That would be my grandpa", Sage said, trying to sound calm. Her legs shook however, betraying her calm voice, and she felt nauseous as fear built in her stomach. Never show your fear, Grandpa Gale had told her. Easy for you grandpa, Sage thought. Finn. Gill. Grandpa. She kept saying their names over and over again in her head, like a chant or a prayer, to drown her urge to bolt.
"Tell me you are sorry..." Sage said, "for killing Finn. And release the Goddess and I won't hurt you".
The Witch laughed, "As if! You think you can hurt me? Look at you, shaking like a rabbit!" Then she commanded her creatures. "Get her!"
Sage hurled a fire ball at the Witch, which grazed her arm. The Witch cursed. The fireball had caught her by surprise. But before Sage could say "take that Witch", two of the moles leaped at her at once. Sage drew up her shield just in time to be rammed by the creatures. The shield held and absorbed most of the impact but she was still pushed backward. Thank Goddess that her grandpa had decided to refine her shield spell, making the shield stronger and more durable than before.
Two moles kept ramming themselves on her shield rabidly, forcing Sage to step backward with every blow. While the other two were circling her trying to find an opening. She tried to hit the two that circling her with fireballs but she kept missing them. Then one of the moles circling her decided to charge forward and this time, she blasted it with a fireball. The burning creature screeched and ran around wildly before it finally collapsed. One down, three to go.
Sage was distracted for a split second watching the burning creature when a strong blast hit her shield. The Witch and the gray cloak wizard had hit her with their blast. Her shield shattered and she was thrown back, wide opened. One mole leaped forward and clamped its jaw on her left leg. Sage screamed. She saw another mole came for her throat so she blasted it heads-on with a fire ball while being dragged away on her leg. Then she saw something sharp and gleaming above her head coming down. The mole released her leg and leaped to the left to avoid Gill's sword. Two down, two to go.
Sage and Gill stood back to back while the last two creatures encircling them. Gale was battling the Witch and her Wizard few feet away, sparks blasting between them.
"Sage..." said Gill.
"Yes?"
"There is something I want to tell you!"
"Okay, but I am kind of busy right now!" Her wounded leg throbbed as she hurled a fireball at the creature in front of her and missed. She cursed. Her snowflake flower bush took the fire instead, and lit up like a bonfire.
"It can't wait...I love you", Gill said.
"What?" Sage whipped around and faced Gill. Of all the times they had spent together, he chose NOW to tell her how he felt?
Gill looked over his shoulder when he realized that Sage had lowered her guard by turning her back against the creature she was facing before. The mole leaped at Sage while her back was turned. Gill grabbed her and dived onto the ground, but the mole's sharp claw managed to cut his arm. Gill gnashed his teeth. He could feel the gash on his arm starting to bleed as he jumped back up to his feet. The creature skidded and turned. But this time Gill was ready. He gripped his sword with both hands beside him, and as the creature rushed towards him, he cut down diagonally from left to right. Three down and one to go.
The last creature rushed towards Gill from the back, only to ram into Sage's shield as she placed herself between Gill and the mole. Then as the creature staggered back from the impact, Sage blasted it with a fire ball. Four down, she breathed.
Sage was about to celebrate, when a terrifying growl roared from behind them. She and Gill turned around.
"You have got...to be kidding me!" Sage gasped in disbelief. Another mole creature had emerged from the dark. It was bigger than a bear, with huge claws, and multiple red beady eyes, on two heads. Two-headed giant mole? Sage silently asked the universe why it was singling her out so cruelly. What bad things had she done in past to deserve this? Her leg was throbbing. And she could see that one of Gill's arm was covered in blood.
"So is this what farmers do in their spare time?"
Sage and Gill whipped their heads back at the same time and saw a very tall man standing behind them gripping what looked like a curved blade in each of his hands.
"Arashi!"
"Who the heck is he?" Gill frowned at Sage. And why did he look like the Mermen King, Gill had wanted to ask.
"Explain later!" Arashi said as he charged into the two-headed mole with a battle cry. Sage and Gill rushed after him.
The three fought valiantly. Arashi moved gracefully like a jungle cat, cutting and slicing with his blades. Gill circled and strike with full force with his sword whenever he saw an opening. And Sage tried to protect the two men with her shield whenever possible while slinging her fireballs at the creature.
Finally, after what seemed to be a very long time, the creature gave up its fight and died. Gill, Sage and Arashi knelt on the ground, breathless. Sage looked up towards her grandfather. She could see Gale was cornered by the Witch and the gray cloak wizard. She pushed herself up and ran towards the battle.
"Sage, no!" Gill yelled, but she ignored him.
Sage blasted the Witch with her fireball and hit her left leg. The Witch screamed and then dropped herself to the ground, rolling, trying to put the fire out. The gray cloak wizard was momentarily distracted by the Witch's scream and was hit by a blast from Gale. He was thrown backward, crashing into the ground.
Gale muttered a spell and a silvery white orb was formed in his hand. He flung the ball at the gray cloak wizard who was staggering to get onto his feet. The orb bloomed into what looked like a net made of silvery ribbons and then they wrapped around the gray cloak wizard tightly, binding him like a cocoon.
"I'll get you for this!" The Witch blasted Sage's shield with powerful magic energy. The shield took three blasts before it shattered and sent Sage flying backward. Three blasts, Sage thought as she hit the ground. Her whole body throbbed with pain, and her bleeding leg was screaming. But she pushed herself up and mustered her shield once more with her left hand. One. A powerful blast hit her shield while she willed a fireball to form in her right hand. Two. The second blast hit and the fire ball in her hand grew bigger. Three. She dived to the side to avoid the blast while at the same time disbanding her shield and hurling a fireball at the Witch.
The Witch shrieked as the fireball hit her right leg this time. She was frantically patting her leg trying to put the fire out, she didn't see a glowing silver orb bloomed into a net behind her. The next thing she knew, she was on the ground, bound tight like in a cocoon.
Gale stood towering above the cocoons of the Witch and the gray cloak wizard. He looked up the sky and reached out with his right hand. Lightning cracked and surged into his open palm and a lightning ball was formed.
"Wait...wait! You are not going to kill them, are you? I mean, I know they deserve it. But death...death seems so...so final," Sage said, breathing hard. "Please, grandpa..." She continued, "I...I don't want their blood on your hand".
The lightning ball fizzled. Just like Angela, Gale thought, and his heart swelled with pride and love.
"Remember this day, Witch," Gale addressed the tightly bound Witch, "remember this moment, when my granddaughter begged for your life. You come after her again, and I will not show you any mercy".
"What are you going to do with them?" Gill asked.
"I am going to create a spell to rob them of their magic power and confine them to the Fugue forest", Gale answered.
Gill nodded. "I will let the townsfolk know that they shouldn't go into the forest anymore".
"So is it over?" Sage asked.
"I think so Sage", Gale responded, gently.
"Good..." she said. She was so tired, and her whole body screaming with pain. She wanted to have a good long sleep, so she closed her eyes, falling onto the ground, losing consciousness.
End of Chapter 14
Author's note: Grrr...action sequences are so hard to write. Not the perfect big bang climax that I had hoped for, but please, enjoy it anyway. And yes, I noticed the plot holes such as why only Sage had shield and the others didn't. Um...I don't know...I can't explain it right now. Sorry :o)